DietPi-Software | Box64

[ravenclaw900]

Status: Testing

• Test on RPi Aarch64
• Test on PBP

Reference: #3957

Commit list/description:

• DietPi-Software | Begin to add Box64

[MichaIng]

Oh, nice, didn't saw this coming. Coincidentally I stumbled above a Steam on RPi guide today and verified that it contains precisely the steps and hints we do and found. So nothing to update, so far.

So Box64 allows to run x86_64 software and related Steam games, that is awesome news.

[ravenclaw900]

@MichaIng, could you add a Steam package for ARMv8?

[ravenclaw900]

Ah, right, Steam is 32-bit.

[MichaIng]

Hmm, that's actually a problem. I mean I could pack an aarch64 package, but the /usr/lib/games/steam/steam binary stays i386 and the question is whether Box64 can execute it the same way a 64-bit CPU can execute 32-bit executables (being backwards-compatible)?

Actually I'm wondering why ARMv8 CPUs cannot execute Box86 🤔. For Steam, finally Box86 and Box64 both could be installed in parallel to run i386 and x86_64 binaries, and probably then 64-bit games through Steam.

[ravenclaw900]

I had trouble compiling the Box86 binary on ARMv8, though I didn't try to make any modifications.

Scanning dependencies of target PRINTER
Scanning dependencies of target WRAPPERS
Scanning dependencies of target dynarec_arm
[  0%] Built target PRINTER
[  0%] Building C object CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm.c.o
[  0%] Building C object CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/dynablock.c.o
[  0%] Built target WRAPPERS
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/build.make:82: CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/dynablock.c.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
[  1%] Building C object CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_functions.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/build.make:95: CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm.c.o] Error 1
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
[  1%] Building C object CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/arm_printer.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/build.make:108: CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_functions.c.o] Error 1
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/build.make:121: CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/src/dynarec/arm_printer.c.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:164: CMakeFiles/dynarec_arm.dir/all] Error 2
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
Scanning dependencies of target arm_pass0
[  2%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass0.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_helper.c.o
Scanning dependencies of target arm_pass1
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
[  2%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass0.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_tests.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
Scanning dependencies of target arm_pass2
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass0.dir/build.make:82: CMakeFiles/arm_pass0.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_helper.c.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass0.dir/build.make:95: CMakeFiles/arm_pass0.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_tests.c.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:191: CMakeFiles/arm_pass0.dir/all] Error 2
[  2%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_helper.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/build.make:82: CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_helper.c.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
[  3%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_math.c.o
[  3%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_tests.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
[  3%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_helper.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
[  4%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_tests.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/build.make:95: CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_tests.c.o] Error 1
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/build.make:108: CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_math.c.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:249: CMakeFiles/arm_pass1.dir/all] Error 2
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/build.make:82: CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_helper.c.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/build.make:95: CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_tests.c.o] Error 1
[  5%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_logic.c.o
[  5%] Building C object CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_math.c.o
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfpu=neon-fp-armv8’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/build.make:121: CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_logic.c.o] Error 1
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-mfloat-abi=hard’
cc: error: unrecognized command-line option ‘-marm’
make[2]: *** [CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/build.make:108: CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/src/dynarec/dynarec_arm_emit_math.c.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/Makefile2:359: CMakeFiles/arm_pass2.dir/all] Error 2
make: *** [Makefile:160: all] Error 2

[MichaIng]

Does Steam actually execute with Box64, when its i386? Didn't find time to test it yet.

[MichaIng]

I hope you're okay with postponing this to v7.6, so we have some time to test and get it running with Steam.

[ravenclaw900]

No problem.

[MichaIng]

Builds fine on aarch64. One minor quirk is that despite we pass -DNOGIT=1:

[ 37%] Generating ../src/git_head.h
bash: line 1: git: command not found

But it does not break the build. -DNOGIT=1 and -DNOGIT=ON are 100% equivalent, aren't they? (yes it is)
Probably this flag is only about whether the source has been pulled via Git, not about whether Box64 itself will have Git support or not (for whatever is uses this)? Not sure, however, ignoring for now.

I packed aarch64 Steam packages. Now testing whether Box64 is i386 backwards-compatible like x86_64 is. Box86 cannot build or run on aarch64, as of the README: https://github.com/ptitSeb/box86#compilinginstallation

You NEED a 32-bit subsystem to run and build Box86. Box86 is useless on 64-bit only systems. Also, you NEED a 32-bit toolchain to build Box86. A toolchain that only supports 64-bit will not compile Box86, and you'll get errors (typically on aarch64, you get "-marm" not recognized, and you'll need a multiarch or chroot environnement).

EDIT: Doesn't sound promising: https://github.com/ptitSeb/box64#notes-about-32-bit-platforms

Because Box64 works by directly translating function calls from x86_64 to host system, the host system (the one Box64 is running on) needs to have 64-bits libraries. Box64 doesn't include any 64-bits <-> 32-bits translation.

So understand that box64 will only runs 64bits linux binaries. For 32bits binaries, you need box86 (with all the multiarch or proot trickery it imply on 64bits OS). Note that many installer (mojo setup based) will fall back to "x86" when detecting ARM64 OS, and so will try to use box86 for the setup, even if an x86_64 version exist. You can hack your way around with a fake "uname" that return "x86_64" when argument is "-m"

So in combination I don't think that we'll get Steam on ARMv8 running soon. In theory it would work when we provided an armhf toolchain or a pre-compiled Box86 binary and all required shared libraries additionally as armhf versions. At least this is how I understand the statements.

[MichaIng]

# box64 /root/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_32/steam
Dynarec for ARM64, with extension: ASIMD AES CRC32 PMULL PageSize:4096
Box64 with Dynarec v0.1.4 nogit built on Sep 14 2021 19:06:35
Using default BOX64_LD_LIBRARY_PATH: ./:lib/:lib64/:x86_64/:bin64/:libs64/
Using default BOX64_PATH: ./:bin/
Counted 17 Env var
Looking for /root/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_32/steam
steam detected, forcing emulated libudev
This is a 32bits ELF! box64 can only run 64bits ELF (/root/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_32/steam)!
Error: reading elf header of /root/.steam/debian-installation/ubuntu12_32/steam, try to launch natively instead

[MichaIng]

I'll merge. We can do further testing during remaining beta phase. I need to think about some good x86_64 binaries/software to test 🤔.