PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Here you can discuss ReactOS related topics.

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
User avatar
frogz2007
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:34 am

PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by frogz2007 »

I was wondering; Would it be possible to port ReactOS over to the PlayStation 2? I know that ReactOS needs at LEAST 64 MB of ram to run, and the PS2 only has 32 MB. Would it be possible to optimize it, remove the applications, and port it to this platform?
Z98
Release Engineer
Posts: 3379
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 8:16 pm
Contact:

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by Z98 »

Possible, maybe. Feasible, no. The project does not have the resources for such a limited use port.
User avatar
EmuandCo
Developer
Posts: 4723
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:52 pm
Location: Germany, Bavaria, Steinfeld
Contact:

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by EmuandCo »

Limitd in RAM and power. PS2 is a MIPS R5900 with 300 MHz and 32 MB RDRAM. MIPS port would have to be started from ZERO and MSVC won't help us here with a nice and working SEH exception handling, so... more nope than yeah, possible.
ReactOS is still in alpha stage, meaning it is not feature-complete and is recommended only for evaluation and testing purposes.

If my post/reply offends or insults you, be sure that you know what sarcasm is...
User avatar
Swyter
Posts: 114
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:21 am
Location: Spain ← Europe ← Planet Earth ← Milky Way ← Universe

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by Swyter »

Also, every program you wanted to use would have to be recompiled unless you added a x86 interpreter/JIT backend shim PE loader. Limiting the amount of software you could run to open source stuff.

Not to talk about having to write custom drivers for the extremely exotic and specific custom hardware of the console. The console also has a GS coprocessor for rendering stuff, so adding a OpenGL shim to DMA/GS bios calls (?) would be almost mandatory.

Also, and this is a minor grudge, running homebrew is not something you can do in many occasions, it would only work if you added a modchip, used a Swap Magic-like boot disk, or, at the very least, having a Memory Card formatted with something like FMCB.

It sounds like a fun project to squeeze the console. But at least you should be aware of the many complications. Nobody is trying to discourage you from attempting it.
External patch contributor for ux/user-mode/l10n/winapi. Sometimes I fix a bit of everything everywhere.
User avatar
Stakhanov
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2013 10:46 pm

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by Stakhanov »

That'd be useless anyway, the PS2 doesn't not even uses x86/x64...
User avatar
Swyter
Posts: 114
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:21 am
Location: Spain ← Europe ← Planet Earth ← Milky Way ← Universe

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by Swyter »

Stakhanov wrote:That'd be useless anyway, the PS2 doesn't not even uses x86/x64...
Well, Windows RT works over ARM, and if Microsoft hasn't bothered to add a Intel backend for running existing x86 programs, adding that as a open source project seems even less feasible.
I know of a project that attempted to do it by using QEMU and WinAPI bindings with the host ARM system, but the creator abandoned it after being too cumbersome for one person.

The only translation layer that I know of is in Android. Where Intel developed a shim/VM to run native ARMv6 libraries in their x86 processors. They called it libhoudini. But is not open source.
External patch contributor for ux/user-mode/l10n/winapi. Sometimes I fix a bit of everything everywhere.
User avatar
EmuandCo
Developer
Posts: 4723
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:52 pm
Location: Germany, Bavaria, Steinfeld
Contact:

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by EmuandCo »

Swyter wrote:Well, Windows RT works over ARM, and if Microsoft hasn't bothered to add a Intel backend for running existing x86 programs, adding that as a open source project seems even less feasible.
I know of a project that attempted to do it by using QEMU and WinAPI bindings with the host ARM system, but the creator abandoned it after being too cumbersome for one person.

The only translation layer that I know of is in Android. Where Intel developed a shim/VM to run native ARMv6 libraries in their x86 processors. They called it libhoudini. But is not open source.
Well, that layer uses ROS dlls ^^ But anyways, its nothing we could do and/or have spare devs for
ReactOS is still in alpha stage, meaning it is not feature-complete and is recommended only for evaluation and testing purposes.

If my post/reply offends or insults you, be sure that you know what sarcasm is...
User avatar
frogz2007
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:34 am

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by frogz2007 »

Ok. I guess a PS2 port is out of the question. Then, would the Xbox version still be able to be done? I just want to see ReactOS on a game console, more than anything.
User avatar
Swyter
Posts: 114
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:21 am
Location: Spain ← Europe ← Planet Earth ← Milky Way ← Universe

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by Swyter »

frogz2007 wrote:Ok. I guess a PS2 port is out of the question. Then, would the Xbox version still be able to be done? I just want to see ReactOS on a game console, more than anything.
The Xbox port worked back then, now is unmaintained. The drivers are there, but I don't know how advanced it was before stopping.
I remember reading that the original Xbox was nothing more than a glorified PC with a stripped Windows version and a custom nVidia card.
External patch contributor for ux/user-mode/l10n/winapi. Sometimes I fix a bit of everything everywhere.
erkinalp
Posts: 861
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:55 pm
Location: Izmir, TR

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by erkinalp »

Swyter wrote:I remember reading that the original Xbox was nothing more than a glorified PC with a stripped Windows version and a custom nVidia card.
Later XBox variants are similar in this regard.
-uses Ubuntu+GNOME 3 GNU/Linux
-likes Free (as in freedom) and Open Source Detergents
-favors open source of Windows 10 under GPL2
User avatar
EmuandCo
Developer
Posts: 4723
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 7:52 pm
Location: Germany, Bavaria, Steinfeld
Contact:

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by EmuandCo »

XBox 1 was a PC, more precisely a 64 MB Celeron 733 MHz with a slightly custom Geforce 3 GFX. Problem was the "BIOS" which included a whole stripped down Win2000 Kernel. To boot ROS a modded Cromwell loader was used. It is unmaintained, yeah and it won't boot anymore at all in new versions due to the completely overhauled boot process which is very similar to the Windows ways and not a hacky crap we used before.
ReactOS is still in alpha stage, meaning it is not feature-complete and is recommended only for evaluation and testing purposes.

If my post/reply offends or insults you, be sure that you know what sarcasm is...
Z98
Release Engineer
Posts: 3379
Joined: Tue May 02, 2006 8:16 pm
Contact:

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by Z98 »

frogz2007 wrote:Ok. I guess a PS2 port is out of the question. Then, would the Xbox version still be able to be done? I just want to see ReactOS on a game console, more than anything.
Why?
User avatar
frogz2007
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 12:34 am

Re: PlayStation 2 port: Is it possible?

Post by frogz2007 »

Mainly to show the power of ReactOS (or open source in general).
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 44 guests