Emulator

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Uzebox emulators

Uzebox has two main emulators: Uzem and CUzebox, both of which can be used for kernel and games development. Uzem is the old official emulator and is part of the main Uzebox repository but it is generally recommended that you use cuzebox for more accurate emulation.

CUzebox

CUzebox is the newer, official Uzebox emulator, entirely written in C. It is very portable and should build and run on almost any POSIX compliant OS with GCC or clang and the SDL2 libraries installed. Windows builds can be downloaded from the forum. There is also an experimental Android port of CUzebox.

See: Official documentation on GitHub

Features

  • AVR core with cycle perfect emulation.
  • Core AVR peripherals as necessary to run Uzebox games.
  • Sound and video output (frame rate synchronized to host if possible).
  • SNES controllers (keyboard for Player 1, game controllers for both).
  • EEPROM including saving its contents alongside the emulated game.
  • SPM instruction and related elements necessary for bootloader emulation.
  • SD Card read and write (writing didn't see much testing yet).
  • SPI RAM.
  • Visual debugging: on the left and right sides, the entire sync signal shows which it compares to a reference extracted from Megatris. On the bottom IO and RAM read and write accesses are shown, which most strikingly shows the RAM tile budget, but knowing exact locations it could be useful for a variety of experiments.
  • Compiles with Emscripten, and it is faster than Uzem, so it could be more useful for providing browser games.
  • Supports the SPM instruction and some related features necessary for bootloaders.

Requirements

For ARM machines, CUzebox requires a Raspberry Pi 4 or an equivalent CPU to run at full speed. A more affordable ARM platform is AMLogic based TV boxes such as the X96 Air and the X96 Max+ which can also run cuzebox at full speed when running Armbian or Manjaro ARM.

Any modern Intel or AMD CPU should be more than fast enough to run CUzebox full speed. Anything faster than a 700 Mhz Pentium 3 should suffice.

Display options

CUzebox's default display settings may not be optimal. CUzebox shows quite a lot of debug info by default but you can push F3 to hide the debug info. F4 toggles the frame rate limiter and also has the effect of resizing the CUzebox window to fit the adjusted display better, if you're not playing full screen. You can toggle full screen mode with F11 and you can push F7 to toggle frame merging if you experience flicker.

Using common USB game controllers

One or two USB game controllers can be used with cuzebox, but they may not be detected properly until the proper gamecontrollerdb.txt file is placed in the same directory as the cuzebox executable. You may get the latest version from here: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gabomdq/SDL_GameControllerDB/master/gamecontrollerdb.txt

Additionally, if you edit the Make_config.mk for cuzebox, you may "leech" off an existing gamecontrollerdb.txt that may already exist on your system.

Generating your own controller mapping line

If the mappings for your controller don't exist, or are incorrect, you may generate your own configuration line that you can append to this gamecontrollerdb.txt file to allow your controller to work properly using the controllermap utility found in the test directory of the SDL2 source code.

The instructions for compiling and running controllermap under a Debian-based Linux distribution are as follows:

sudo apt install libsdl2-dev
git clone https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL
cd SDL
git checkout SDL2
cd test
./configure
make

Plug in your controller

./controllermap

Follow the instructions printed to the console.

Uzem

Uzem is still avaiable for some features but not maintained anymore.

Features:

  • Originally developed by David Etherton
  • Multi-platform (Linux, Windows and MacOS)
  • Implements Atmega644 CPU and peripherals used by Uzebox
  • Video and Sound using [www.libsdl.org/ SDL2]
  • Joystick and mouse support
  • SPI RAM
  • Emulates SNES gamepads, SNES mouse
  • EMulates Uzebox PS/2 Keyboard
  • SD Card (read and write)
  • GDB Server (For debugging)
  • Elapsed cycle profiler
  • Captures/playback gamepads data to/from file
  • Realtime movie recording (requires FFMPEG intalled)

Usage:

uzem [OPTIONS] GAMEFILE


Command line options:

--help -h           Show this help screen
--nosound  -n       Disable sound playback
--fullscreen -f     Enable full screen
--swrenderer -w     Use SDL software renderer (probably faster on older computers
--novsync -v        Disables VSYNC (does not apply to software renderer
--mouse -m          Start with emulated mouse enabled
--2p -2             Start with snes 2p mode enabled
--sd -s <path>      Specify a content path for the SD card emulation. If not specified, it mounts the directory in which the .HEX/.UZE resides.
--eeprom -e <file>  Use following filename for EEPRROM data (default is eeprom.bin)
--boot -b           Bootloader mode.  Changes start address to 0xF000
--gdbserver -d      Debug mode. Start the built-in gdb support
--port -t <port>    Port used by gdb (default 1284)
--capture -c        Captures gamepads data to file (GAMEFILE.cap)
--loadcap -l        Load and replays controllers data from capture file
--synchelp -z       Displays and logs information to help troubleshooting HSYNC timing issues
--record -r         Record a movie in mp4/720p(60fps) format. (ffmpeg executable must be in the same directory as uzem or in the system path)


Keyboard control:

F1   Display help
F5   Debugger resume execution (if compiled with DISAM switch)
F9   Debugger halt execution (if compiled with DISAM switch)
F10  Debugger single step (if compiled with DISAM switch)
0    AVCORE Baseboard power switch
1/2  Adjust left edge lock
3/4  Adjust top edge lock
5    Toggle NES/SNES 1p/SNES 2p/SNES mouse mode (default is SNES pad)
6    Mouse sensitivity scale factor
7    Re-map joystick
Esc  Quit emulator

            Up Down Left Right A B X Y Start Sel LShldr RShldr
NES:        ----arrow keys---- a s     Enter Tab              
SNES 1p:    ----arrow keys---- a s x z Enter Tab LShift RShift
  2p P1:     w   s    a    d   f g r t   z    x     q      e  
  2p P2:     i   k    j    l   ; ' p [   n    m     u      o

Using USB game controllers

One or two USB game controllers can be used with uzem, but they may not be detected properly until you press the 7 key on your keyboard to configure the button mappings.

MAME

MAME now includes a Uzebox emulator via the MESS sub-project. Note that it is fully functional, but sound emulation has some occasional issues.

MAME accepts .bin and .uze files at the command line.

To access and play all roms from the MAME GUI, a file named uzebox.zip must be created directly under MAME's /mame-dir/roms folder. This file must contains .bin files, which are like .uze files but with no header. To generate .bin files, run this command (you need a gcc toolchain installed):

objcopy -I ihex bc-dash.hex -O binary bc-dash.bin

The names of the .bin files must match those defined in the file /mame-dir/hash/uzebox.xml to be recognized and loaded by MAME.

To run a game from the command line:

mame uzebox bc-dash.uze

If you only have the MAME binary format of a game, and you want to convert it back to a .hex file, you can use this command:

avr-objcopy -I binary u-type-wip.bin -O ihex utype-wip.hex

Softgun

Softgun is another Uzebox emulator. The current version has some issues with the keymap, the mouse is emulate with keys and the monitor is accessed by VNC. For more details, see: http://softgun.sourceforge.net/uzebox.shtml

ONLINE UZEBOX EMULATOR

The online Uzebox emulator also serves as a backup archive of all currently available Uzebox games.


Bizhawk

Bizhawk is a multi-platform emulator with full rerecording support and Lua scripting that emulates the Uzebox via its Uzem core.


Download

Pre-compiled versions:

Building

Pre-requisites

  • GCC compiler and SDL2 libraries
    • Windows: Download them from http://www.mingw.org/ (Download the installer) and http://www.libsdl.org (Download the *development* libraries)
    • Linux:
      • Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install build-essential libsdl1.2-dev
      • OpenSuse: sudo zypper install -t pattern devel_C_C++ SDL-devel
      • Fedora: yum install gcc gcc-c++ SDL-devel
    • Mac OS X: Download them from Xcode and http://www.libsdl.org

Install

Windows

  • Install mingw in the default location: c:\MinGW
  • Install the core files and MSYS (important in order to use make)
  • Add C:\MinGW\bin and C:\MinGW\msys\1.0\bin to your system's path
  • Add C:\WinAVR\utils\bin to your system's path (you will need Unix style of mkdir and rm)
  • Create folder C:\MinGW\includes\SDL and copy all SDL include files in there
  • Copy SDL library files to C:\MinGW\lib (i.e: libSDLmain.a etc)
  • Copy SDL2.dll into C:\MinGW\bin

Download

Get the lastest Uzem sources from Github at https://github.com/Uzebox/uzebox/tree/master/tools/uzem

Compiling

  • Unpack it
  • Open a command line terminal, go to the tools/emulator/ directory
  • To see the available options, type make help
  • Type make for the default options

This process will create two executables: uzem and uzemdbg.
Important: The uzemdbg is only used for the Emulator development, it generates a lot of debugging messages and is very slow.

Using

Just run the emulator in the command line and pass the game (iHex file) as parameter: uzem path/to/your/game.hex

To see all the options available run: uzem --help

Profiling

The emulator can be used to help optimize code speed. It does so by using the WDR assembly instruction before and after the code to be profiled and output the cycles elapsed in the console. In C, import <avr/wdt.h> and use wdt_reset() before/after the code to profile.

GDB

Uzem implements an internal GDB server (originally based on simulavr) making it an important tool to develop Uzebox games.

Running Uzem in debug mode

The following examples are using the game Arkanoid.
Windows users: Don't forget to use backslash "\"

Execute uzem with the option -d and the game file:

$ uzem -d  ../../demos/Arkanoid/default/Arkanoid.hex

Loading Hex Image...
Waiting on port 1284 for gdb client to connect...

Uzem will start and wait for the GDB client to connect.

Gdb clients

Now with Uzem running in debug mode, you need the gdb client to debug the game. Following is a list of GDB clients and front-ends you can use.

avr-gdb


Details
Site: http://sourceware.org/gdb/  
OS: Windows, Linux and MacOS  
Type:    Command line  

This is the official gnu gdb client. Windows: It is shipped with WinAvr Linux: Check you distribution.

  • Ubuntu 9.10 provides the avr-gdb package but its version (6.4) has some issues about variables in flash and will crash.

If you want compile the last version visit http://www.nongnu.org/avr-libc/user-manual/install_tools.html for more details.

Build the game and from the same directory run avr-gdb passing the elf file as parameter:

1. $>cd demos/Arkanoid/default/
2. $>make
3. $>avr-gdb Arkanoid.elf

You will get a prompt like this: (gdb)
Then connect to the Uzem:

4. (gdb)target remote localhost:1284

You don't need to use the GDB command "run". You are already with the debugger session started, but still stopped at the first instruction as you can see:

Remote debugging using localhost:1284
0x00000000 in __vectors ()

Go ahead and start debugging your code.

Refer to GDB manual for more information about the available commands.
GDB cheat sheet: http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/GDB-Commands.html

Gdb supports script files to automate the tedious task. Arkanoid has a simple script (file: Arkanoid/default/gdb-script.cfg) to connect to the target, insert a breakpoint at main() and continue until it reaches main. Gsb script are text files with gdb commands, but can create new commands using an internal language and others GDB commands.

Use the option -x like: avr-gsb -x gdb-script.cfg Arkanoid.elf

avr-insight


Details
Site: http://sourceware.org/insight/  
OS: Windows, Linux and MacOS  
Type:    Gui  

avr-insight is a GUI with avr-gdb embedded. For windows users, it is distributed in the WinAVR tool suite and can be started and connected to an already running Uzem like so:

avr-insight -x gdb-script.cfg Arkanoid.elf

KDbg


Details
Site: http://www.kdbg.org/  
OS: Linux  
Type:    Gui  

KDbg is a graphical user interface to gdb. It provides an intuitive interface for setting breakpoints, inspecting variables, and stepping through code.

Note: It is a front-end to avr-gdb, so you still need avr-gdb.

To install, user your package manager.

  • Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install kdbg

As you are going to debug an AVR target, you need first configure KDbg to use an avr-gdb:
1. Start KDbg and go to the menu option Settings/Global Options...
2. From the tab Debugger change the option in the box How to invke GDB: from the default gdb to avr-gdb.

  • Make sure your avr-gdb is in the PATH or just use the full path.

There is no option to connect a remote target from KDbg using the GUI interface, so you will need to close it and open from the shell with the option -r:
1. Start uzem with -d
2. Open a new shell
3. $>cd demos/Arkanoid/default/
4. Build if necessary
5. $>kdbg -r localhost:1284 Arkanoid.elf

The KDbg is running and connected. It is very intuitive, on the bottom you have Stack and Breakpoints and on the right variables and expressions to inspect data. From the menu option View you see Registers and Memory.

Eclipse


Details
Site: http://www.eclipse.org  
OS: Windows, Linux and MacOS  
Type:    Gui  


If you want to use Eclipse for AVR development, you may find the AVR Eclipse Plugin useful.

For directions about debugging in Eclipse with Uzem and GDB, see this page.

Gdb Problems

Starting a debug session with 'steps'.

If you connect to your target and try to step, you may get some errors or gdb will even crash. This happens because gdb client is trying to read an invalid address from SRAM. To avoid this, use a breakpoint into main() (or other function you want) and give a 'continue'.
Filipe's note: It looks like an GDB bug, but I'm getting more details before submit a bug report.

Variables in flash (PROGMEM)

The debugger says a variable defined with PROGMEM is 'out of bounds' and will shows it with a SRAM address (over 0x800000). Gdb can get the variable value, so it knows the variable is in flash, but if you get the variable address and try to overwrite it, GDB thinks it is in SRAM. If you want the real flash address, just subtract 0x800000. If you want overwrite a value, use the gdb command set {type} addr = value.
Example using the global variable const char strEnd2[] PROGMEM = "THAT WAS THE LAST LEVEL" declared in Arkanoid.c:

(gdb) print strEnd2
$3 = "THAT WAS THE LAST LEVEL"
(gdb) print strEnd2[0]=64
Cannot access memory at address 0x80a003
(gdb) print &strEnd2
$4 = (char (*)[24]) 0x80a003
(gdb) set {char}0xa003 = 64
(gdb) print strEnd2
$5 = "@HAT WAS THE LAST LEVEL"

Filipe's note: Again this looks like a GDB bug. I tried change types like 'char *' to 'prog_char *' but gdb still get crazy. I will send a bug report as soon I get finished more tests.


FAQ