Anything new or fancy like Spotify is highly unable to work. The current version of this project, which has sadly not been updated in some time, lacks many of the newer OS interfaces because most of the apps that have been specifically targeted for support are quite old (from back when computers had about as much performance as the emulated machine).
[Beta] Win86emu: Running x86 apps on WinRT devices
- Thread starter mamaich
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Vistaus
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Well, I dunno about Spotify for Windows, I'm new to Windows 8/RT. But on Ubuntu (which I've used since 2007 after switching from Vista) it doesn't have a fancy interface and AFAIK it's the same interface+toolkit as the Windows version so that shouldn't be the problem, I guess.
doesnt have to be fancy, if its compiled under modern microsoft tools there is no guarantee that its going to run on windows 95 for instance, which is essentially whats being emulated (not strictly true but you can't just expect anything new to run). Or it could have a UI limited to pressing 1 or 2 at a command prompt to do things but have some really complicated things going on under the hood.
Emulation as a general rule usually has a 10-20x performance impact. Now lets take the surface RT at 1.3ghz, lets say its a 10x performance hit from emulation. That gives you a 0.13ghz CPU speed. Without a fair set of benchmarks here we can't prove that to be a true estimate or not, plus different instructions will have different performance hits from emulation (some might be only 2x slower, some might be 42, both a bit extreme, just examples). Using a clock speed as a performance comparison is also incredibly unfair as 2 processors of the same instruction set at the same clock speed are not usually matched in performance, an ARM cortex A15 (as in the tegra 4) is said to have about a 50% increase in instruction throughput than an ARM cortex A9 (which is in the Tegra 3 in the surface) at the same clock speed. But the so called "general" rule does give you an idea of how slow we are talking at least.
A temporary solution is to use spotify in browser. If you make sure to run windows update the flash whitelist is removed. Spotify will then run. Otherwise if you are incredibly opposed to updating and would prefer to run with 8 month out of date firmware (at least) then you can use the flash whitelist tool to listen to spotify. The prior option is of course best.
V
Vistaus
Guest
Well, I've always had Wine running on Ubuntu for 1 program and I never ever experienced any performance drop. Even on a lower-end laptop I used to have (with an APU). So I guess it depends on what you're emulating...
And yes, I know, I'm using Spotify Play in the browser currently but it's slow as hell and it sometimes stutters or completely hangs. Even if I have only the metro Twitter app open and Spotify Play, nothing else. So it's not very usable.
you know wine actually stands for wine is not an emulator. Why would you emulate an x86 system on an x86 system. All wine does is translate win32 API calls to Unix api calls etc. No actual hardware emulation at all, hense why its got such a low performance hit.
You don't need the Spotify app, the web player works just fine. Just pin http://play.spotify.com to taskbar and voilá.
V
Vistaus
Guest
*ahum*
READ my previous post again (2 posts above yours), the web player doesn't work "just fine".
Ah sorry, did not see that. I have never had problems like that with it, I can play games and listen to Spotify just fine at the same time. I have Windows RT 8.1 RTM though, this has better performance than 8.0.
You do appear to be the only one having those issues.... For just about everyone else it works fine.
I downloaded the replacement .dll file and replaced the current one with it...but nothing happens when I run the emulator from the start screen.
Suggestions?
Suggestions?
I knew that was a problem with the jailbreak on 8.1, but what is the point of the .061 update if it can't be used without jailbreak in the first place?
This is a fix for people with an unlocked 8.1. There is a bug with this tool under 8.1 and there is a fix for that bug.
This thread is not for a discussion on unlocking 8.1. Just be patient until unlock would be published.
I didn't try yet. But I think it can't.
If you want to encrypt USB drive. You can use BitLocker with Windows RT. If you want to access BitLocker drive from Linux you can use this. => http://superuser.com/questions/376533/how-to-access-bitlocker-encrypted-drive-in-linux
Thanks mamaich and Hisoft,
Well, it is sad that truecrypt cannot be installed and run in the surfact rt. Freeofte used to run quite well in arm based windows mobile 5 and truecrypt (eds lite version) runs well in armed based android.
anyway, thanks for taking the time to reply my enquiries.
I was hoping to make the jump into windows rt but it looks like i must consider the full windows 8 tablet if i want a tablet with working msoffice as well as able to install truecrypt. (Now, i am beginning to wonder if true crypt can even be installed and run in the full windows8:crying:.)
cphilip
Well, it is sad that truecrypt cannot be installed and run in the surfact rt. Freeofte used to run quite well in arm based windows mobile 5 and truecrypt (eds lite version) runs well in armed based android.
anyway, thanks for taking the time to reply my enquiries.
I was hoping to make the jump into windows rt but it looks like i must consider the full windows 8 tablet if i want a tablet with working msoffice as well as able to install truecrypt. (Now, i am beginning to wonder if true crypt can even be installed and run in the full windows8:crying:.)
cphilip
V
Vistaus
Guest
It was an issue with the Surface RT I had for a weeks and I can prove that because the problem is solved now on my Surface 2. Performance of Spotify Web Player is close to superb now, hardly any issues anymore.
Hi master. Are .NET-apps still a nogo for your tool? I tried copying the mscoree.dll from my desktop, then he asks for mscorees.dll, after including that, he asks for Regestry-pointing to .NET, after giving him "DirectRegestry", he tells me he cannot load C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\mscoreei.dll alltough its there. And this is the point i got stuck.
Thank you soo much for your great app.
(Im just asking now, because its been a long time and prehaps you managed it. -Don't want to steal your 8.1-jailbreak-time
)
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96The project is abandoned.
As I no longer own a Windows RT device and I'm not willing to use Windows RT anymore, unless Microsoft would make it more open (at least to run your own desktop apps) - I've decided to stop working on this project.
As usual I'm publishing complete sources of this tool. Feel free to use them in your own projects or to continue developing this one - only leave my copyrights somewhere.
Don't ask me how to build the sources or to explain anything in them. Figure that out yourself.
The project is abandoned. Sorry.
I'm presenting a tool that allows running a set of x86 Windows applications on Windows RT (ARM) tablets. Its goal is to support all apps except for those that:
- require much CPU power,
- use complex features that were cut out from WinRT like D3D9 extensions or OpenGL,
- require drivers or specific services,
- make heavy use of COM interfaces,
- use undocumented windows internals,
- apps that use .NET framework,
- x86 Metro apps,
- 16 or 64 bit Windows programs,
- buggy apps that require special workarounds.
The tool is currently on a beta stage, so don't expect much from it. It is far from being complete, but at least it runs something.
Current version: 0.061
Just a minor update. The project is not dead, I just had no time to continue the development.
Attached the fixed ntdll.nt.dll that works under Windows RT 8.1 (Microsoft removed some NTDLL exports, so I had to add more stubs). This fix is not needed on RT 8.0.
To install it: extract the attached 0.061-ntdll.nt.dll.zip to c:\x86node\windows\SystemNT\ overwriting the existing file.
Autostarting x86 programs does not work on RT 8.1 ("can't install CreateProcessInternal hook"). I'll look on this later.
Don't ask on jailbreaking the 8.1 beta in this thread - there is a good progress on it, more info would be on release (in october or when WZOR would leak the RTM).
Current version: 0.06
Seems that archive is too big to be attached, so I've uploaded it to google drive and here
Installation: extract the archive on your unlocked Windows RT device, run the MSI file and follow the instructions.
Note: Uninstall the previous version before installing a new one.
List of compatible apps is in this post: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=40924456
Trademarks
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. ReactOS is a registered trademark or a trademark of ReactOS Foundation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Disclaimer
This software is provided "as is". Use it on your own risk. I make no warranties as to performance, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. No oral or electronic communication with me shall create a warranty of any kind. Under no circumstances should I be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software, even if I has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
I'm trying my best to make the software working, but I can't guarantee that it is free from defects.
All beta versions of this tool would be freeware. You may freely use it for your own, embed it into your tool, but you can't use it commercially without my confirmation. You can disassemble, analyze or modify this tool for yourself - later I'll provide SDK and document its internals. The only thing that is prohibited is changing embedded copyright notices. I reserve the right of making the project commercial, but this does not mean that this would ever happen.
This software contains unmodified binaries from the ReactOS project: a registry editor, cmd.exe, ole32.dll to name the few. Those binaries are left unmodified and are covered by LGPL license. Future versions may contain redistributable binaries provided by Microsoft and/or other companies.
Some more information may be found in my blog. If you want to support development - use the link or press the button on the left side of the post.11Changes:
15 may 2013: DInput and DInput8 changes for Fallout2 keyboard compatibility.
12 may 2013: A minor update. Fallout 2 now works, tested on Russian version from 1C.
01 may 2013: Added the ability to automatically launch x86 applications. Added the shell32 interfaces - so that installers now work (at least NSIS and InstallShield installers are known to be working).
05 apr 2013: Fixed a few bugs.
04 apr 2013: Uploaded a new build after a long delay. Now emulator supports 256-color modes. But due to a limitation on an updated Nvidia driver - 640x480 and 800x600 display modes are no longer supported on Windows RT. You'll see the black lines to the right and bottom of the screen if the program tries to set such mode.
25 feb 2013: The tool now outputs its version to log. Now one x86 program may launch another - so some of the installers and, for example, 7Z GUI frontend can now run under emulation. Added ~80 DLLs. Some of them are stubs (like D3D9.DLL), others are mostly untested. I have not done all that I've planned for this build, publishing it just as an update to show that the work is going on. Do not expect it to run much more than the previous build.
13 feb 2013: more informative errors from launcher. Emulator now supports program paths with spaces. EXE files with relocations are now processed correctly. Some bugfixes in kernel32 and advapi32.
11 feb 2013: fixed a typo in winmm.dll emulation, now pinball has sound. Also updated the launcher.
10 feb 2013: now the program reached the beta stage.
Known problems
No D3D and most of COM interfaces. Lots of programs would crash, don't run or have different issues.
Notes:
The program keeps its settings in the HKCU\Software\x86node\Settings registry key. Supported REG_SZ (string) values are:
DosboxCore: "dynamic", "simple" or "normal". Dynamic is the default as it is the fastest, but the most buggy core.
LogFile: path to the log file. If not present - log file is %temp%\win86emu.log
Supported REG_DWORD values:
LogLevel: 0=no log (default), 4=max logging
added 13 feb 2013: now default log level is 2: warnings+errors, so you don't need to edit registry
There are several compatibility hacks that may be useful. Compatibility settings are stored in HKCU\Software\x86node\Compatibility\[filename.exe] key. "filename.exe" - a name of the emulated EXE file without path. All values are DWORD:
SetProcessAffinityMask = bitmask. Specify which CPUs to use for running a program, read SetProcessAffinityMask description in MSDN. 0 or unset == run on all cores.
NoRaiseException = 1. RaiseException would just return. Now exceptions are emulated correctly, so this hack is no longer needed.
UseDirectRegistry = 1. Do not redirect emulated registry keys to HKCU\Software\x86node. Be careful when using it.
MaxProcessorFeaturePresent = max processor feature number that is "supported". See the IsProcessorFeaturePresent function in MSDN. All requests for the value above specified would return 0. Default: 0 (IsProcessorFeaturePresent always returns 0).
SimulateAdminRights = 1. Lie to installers that call OpenSCManager function to determine that it is running as administrator, allowing these programs to run without elevation. Redirect the "common start menu" and similar folders to the per-user folders.
You can fake the OS version to a running program. Default XP SP3:
OSVersionLo=dword:00000001
OSVersionHi=dword:00000005
OSVersionBuild=dword:00000a28
OSServicepackLo=dword:00000000
OSServicepackHi=dword:00000003
Some information on the project internals may appear in my blog: http://mamaich-eng.blogspot.ru, but this thread on XDA would be the main discussion place.3
It is better to port free download manager as is is opensource.
FDM may be compatible with some of the future versions, but there would be no internet explorer integration. I'm not going to support all those COM interfaces, at least in the foreseeable future.
I'll pause publishing updates for some time as I'm adding several dozens of new system DLLs to the emulator, and need to make them working before making them public. Ws2_32, msimg32 and other requested DLLs are among them. uTorrent 2.x is working now, though with some problems.
You may see it on the Screenshot
NSIS installers are working too (checked with 7Zip official installer), though they can't create shortcuts as I have not implemented that interface yet.3
Not exactly a port, it is a clean remake based on the old ideas.
The idea is very simple:
- a PE file loader (load files, process relocs, run TLS callbacks in an emulation mode). Support import loops (DLL A imports B while B imports A), ordinals, etc.
- a set of wrapper x86 DLLs (kernel32_stub.dll and so on) that "look like" the corresponding Win API functions for an emulated program:
- a 32-bit x86 emulation engine (currently 2 engines: from bochs and from dosbox, planning on adding my own) that intercepts the command "in eax,0xe5", determines which API is needed by a program and passes it to a handler.Code:#define DEFINE_FUNC1(name) \ static const ModuleDef str_##name={DLL_NAME,#name}; \ EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT stub_##name(DW p1) \ { \ DW *p=&p1; \ __asm { mov eax,p } \ __asm { jmp f1 } \ __asm { mov eax,offset str_##name } \ f1: __asm { in eax,0xe5 } \ __asm { mov p,eax } \ return (DW)p; \ } ..... #define DEFINE_FUNC3(name) \ static const ModuleDef str_##name={DLL_NAME,#name}; \ EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT stub_##name(DW p1,DW p2,DW p3) \ { \ DW *p=&p1; \ __asm { mov eax,p } \ __asm { jmp f1 } \ __asm { mov eax,offset str_##name } \ f1: __asm { in eax,0xe5 } \ __asm { mov p,eax } \ return (DW)p; \ } .... DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomA) DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomW) DEFINE_FUNC7(CreateFileA) -- number in macro == number of parameters to a __stdcall WinAPI function. Compiler automatically generates "ret N*4" at the end of such function. I've decided to use such c+asm approach instead of making a tiny assebler stub, as I can easily implement some of such functions in C directly in a stub DLL plus it simplifies debugging. And the functions have a usual C prologue/epilogue, so that the emulated program may even patch them in runtime, for example for hooks. ...
- native (arm) API handler DLLs (kernel32_yact.dll and so on). They are mostly autogenerated too:
Some of the functions require complex emulation due to their absence in ARM or due to the callbacks to x86 code:Code:#define DEFINE_FUNC1(name) \ EXTERN_C DW STUB_IMPORT name(DW); \ -- this behaves like a function prototype to compiler EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT yact_##name(DW *R) \ -- R - pointer to the x86 stack { \ DW r=name(p1); \ // call the func passing it paramers from the emulated stack, p1==R[0], p2==R[1] and so on LEAVE(1); \ // empty macro, as the stack is unwinded in x86 stub DLL now return r; \ } ... #define DEFINE_FUNC3(name) \ EXTERN_C DW STUB_IMPORT name(DW,DW,DW); \ EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT yact_##name(DW *R) \ { \ DW r=name(p1,p2,p3); \ LEAVE(3); \ return r; \ } ... DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomA) DEFINE_FUNC1(AddAtomW) DEFINE_FUNC7(CreateFileA) // as you see - implementation part is identical to an x86 stub, so I can use the same stub-generator tool
Some of the COM interfaces are already implemented, for example DirectDraw and DirectSound, though not heavily debugged. On a desktop emulator build I can already run "Heroes of might and magic 3" and old WinRAR, but there are several RT-specific OS limitations I need to bypass before making them run on ARM. Current work in progress is: overcoming the RT limitations, manually implementing the API functions that callback to a program code (like CreateThread, RegisterClassA and so on), adding stubs for other system DLLs/COM objects.Code:static DWORD WINAPI ThreadProc( LPVOID lpParameter // [0] == orig func, [1] == orig param ) { __EXCEPTION_REGISTRATION_RECORD R; DWORD *Parm=(DWORD*)lpParameter; DWORD *TEB=(DWORD*)PeLdrGetCurrentTeb(); R.Next=(__EXCEPTION_REGISTRATION_RECORD*)-1; R.Handler=(void*)CbReturnToHost(); TEB[0]=(DWORD)&R; // in case of unhandled exception - just return PeLdrNotifyNewThread(NULL,DLL_THREAD_ATTACH); DWORD Ret=EmuExecute(Parm[0],1,Parm[1]); // 1 == number of parameters to the emulated function delete Parm; return Ret; } EXTERN_C DW STUB_EXPORT yact_CreateThread(DW *R) { DWORD* Parm=new DWORD[2]; Parm[0]=p3; // TODO: no out-of-memory checking for now Parm[1]=p4; DWORD StackSize=p2; if(StackSize) StackSize+=1024*1024; // I reserve some space for my own needs (debugging) else StackSize=2*1024*1024; // TODO: I don't support autogrow stacks, so reserve 2 Mb DWORD t=(DWORD)CreateThread((LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES)p1,StackSize,ThreadProc,Parm,p5,(LPDWORD)p6); LEAVE(6); return t; }
Manually thrown SEH exceptions are fully supported, but access violation, int3 and similar OS-generated exceptions would cause program to crash. Some of the TEB fields (TLS and the fields required by the Borland compilers) are implemented too.
I don't make pointer translation in an emulated code nor make parameter checks passed to API. As a side-effect - the emulated program may trash the emulator in memory, but this greatly increases speed.
Most of the x86 EXE files don't contain relocations section and need to be loaded on the specific addresses (typically 0x400000). This is not a problem on a desktop, as I can rebase my emulator's EXE to any address I need, and free the corresponding RAM addrs for emulated program, but on ARM - this is a main problem. So currently only EXEs with relocs are supported for emulation, but there are ways to overcome this problem. And some EXEs produced by old Borland compilers contain "broken" relocs, this is a small problem too.
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