[
faq ]
- what is ps2pc?
- why bother?
- why not just port bochs?
- how will it work?
- what about a keyboard, mouse, hard drive, etc, etc?
- what kind of speeds do you expect?
- will I be able to play q3arena on my psx2?
- do you have any planned optimizations?
- I can't get any of this to work! aaah!!!
- how can I help?
- can you send me the psx2 devkit?
[ Q1 ]: what is ps2pc?
[ A1 ]: ps2pc is an x86 emulator *for* the Playstation 2. this means you will be able to run your pc stuff on a psx2. you will *not* be able to run a psx2 on a pc.[ Q2 ]: why bother?
[ A2 ]: eh... it's kindof different to emulate the pc on a console system. even if ps2pc doesn't gain worldwide recognition, I'll be really happy when I can run second reality on my psx2. :)[ Q3 ]: why not just port bochs?
[ A3 ]: not a bad idea, but there are a few reasons not to. bochs lacks speed necessary for emulation because it's (mostly) interpretative emulation and it's cross platform. yes, they're adding dynamic recompilation support now, but why wait until that's done when I can start it now? designing a dynrec emulator for a specific target platform would yield the highest speeds possible.[ Q4 ]: how will it work?
[ A4 ]: that remains to be seen so far -- the final code that runs on a real psx2 will have to be transmitted to it somehow. this entails either creating a boot CD (sounds scary), or uploading it via some unit (hopefully there will be a Pro Action Replay made quickly for the psx2). in the meantime (for those of us that have them), can use the psx2 devkit.[ Q5 ]: what about a keyboard, mouse, hard drive, etc, etc?
[ A5 ]: the psx2 has 2 usb ports for connection of a keyboard and a mouse. there is also a pcmcia slot for either hard disk storage or extra ram. and (I don't know much about usb, but...) I think there are usb adapters for hard disks now(?)[ Q6 ]: what kind of speeds do you expect?
[ A6 ]: I'd like to see something in the area of a P2-300. I don't know how feasable this will be to obtain until I have actual hardware to test with...[ Q7 ]: will I be able to play q3arena on my psx2?
[ A7 ]: YES! well, hopefully, someday. :)[ Q8 ]: do you have any planned optimizations?
[ A8 ]: I intend to write windows drivers to access specific hardware acceleration capabilities on the psx2. for example, instead of emulating a low-level PCI video card throughout the emulator, a windows video driver can be made which passes calls directly through to the psx2 hardware. this could also be done for 3d acceleration with direct3d or opengl.[ Q9 ]: I can't get any of this to work!
[ A9 ]: if you don't understand it, it's not for you. all this stuff is geared for developers right now.[ Q10 ]: how can I help?
[ A10 ]: the project is open source... you are welcome to assist in development and submit patches to the code. i'd like to wait a bit before people start submitting until the code base is stable and there's a fairly set-in design. there's supposed to be a mailing list around here somewhere... *ruffles papers* if you really want to help, you must be fluent in C, and be familiar with both the x86 and mips instruction sets. if you're still interested, mail me and let me know.[ Q11 ]: can you send me the psx2 devkit?
[ A11 ]: hahaha. no. go away.