LowganDev--PlayfinPS4/docs/building.md

Building

Linux (development and tests)

Ubuntu 24.04 packages:

sudo apt install clang cmake pkg-config libsdl2-dev libgles-dev libegl-dev mesa-utils libcurl4-openssl-dev libssl-dev

cmake --preset linux-debug
cmake --build --preset linux-debug
./build/linux-debug/playfin

Options: --frames N, --hidden, --data-dir DIR, --log-level debug|info|warn|error. Data and log go to ~/.local/share/playfin/ by default. Keyboard: arrows, Enter (Cross), Escape/Backspace (Circle), T (Triangle), X (Square), Q/E (L1/R1), 1/3 (L2/R2), M (Options).

PS4

Needs Docker. The build runs in xfangfang/pacbrew:250221 (OpenOrbis toolchain, clang 12, CMake 3.28) with the dependency packages listed in scripts/ps4/deps.txt, taken from build-deps/ when present (built by scripts/ps4/build-deps.sh), else from the deps release of the repository.

scripts/build-ps4.sh

Output: dist/IV0001-PLFN00000_00-PLFN000000100000.pkg (title id PLFN00000). The app stores its data and playfin.log in /data/Playfin/.

The build ends with scripts/check-ps4-imports.sh, which fails if the executable imports a system module by path (see docs/architecture.md).

Pitfall: the image entrypoint runs cd /src; bash -c "$@", so the build must be passed as one command string.

Before installing on a console: back up your saves and settings, never cut the power during an installation, and prefer external storage for tests.

PS4 package settings

• create-fself gets the toolchain's default program authority id (0x3800000000000035) and auth info (capabilities). Without the auth info the app may not map system flexible memory, and the PS4 musl malloc (which maps 2600 MiB of it on first use, then calls sceLibcMspaceMalloc with a null mspace if that failed) crashes on the first heap allocation.
• param.sfo: APP_TYPE 1, CATEGORY gde, FORMAT obs, SYSTEM_VER 1020, ATTRIBUTE 0x2 (system dialogs follow the console "Enter button" setting).
• Diagnostics build: configure with -DPLAYFIN_GPU_PROBE=ON to log the GPU, the firmware shader programs (interfaces and a test pattern) and full-frame fill/upload timings at startup.
• Debugging a crash on the console: GoldHEN's kernel log server (nc <ps4-ip> 3232, reachable while GoldHEN runs) shows the crash report (signal, registers, backtrace of eboot.bin addresses). The ELF is linked at 0; on the console it is loaded at 0x400000: addr2line -f -C -e build/ps4/playfin <address - 0x400000>. The app's own lines appear there as playfin boot: … (see testing.md).
• The PS4 link uses scripts/ps4/link.x, the toolchain's linker script with .data.* and .init_array.* collected (the original left them as orphans: create-fself dropped the data and prioritised constructors never ran, docs/ps4-notes.md). build-ps4.sh then runs scripts/check-ps4-eboot.py, which fails when an initialised data section of the ELF did not reach eboot.bin (load-time relocation slots ignored).
• Remote testing (tooling outside the repo): Remote Play gives the console's screen and controller input; packages are uploaded to /data/pkg over FTP and installed from GoldHEN → Debug Settings → Package Installer.