psxrecomp/docs/beetle-linux.md

Building psx-beetle on Linux

The psx-beetle oracle builds and runs on Linux with the same wire protocol as on Windows. Verified 2026-07-02 (Kula World boots to demo gameplay; ping/screenshot served over the TCP debug protocol).

beetle-psx checkout

runtime/src/beetle_libretro.cpp targets the C++ beetle-psx tree. Upstream master has since been converted to plain C (libretro.cpp -> libretro.c, PS_CPU class dropped), which no longer compiles against our integration. Pin the checkout to the last compatible commit — the same base docs/beetle_wtrace_hook.patch was generated from:

git clone https://github.com/libretro/beetle-psx-libretro.git beetle-psx
cd beetle-psx
git checkout 5759277b          # "audit pass" — last C++-tree base we target
patch -p1 < ../docs/beetle_wtrace_hook.patch
patch -p1 < ../docs/beetle_sio_trace_hook.patch
patch -p1 < ../docs/beetle_cdcmd_trace_hook.patch
# cdcmd re-inserts the wtrace globals + typedefs — drop the duplicate block
# in libretro.cpp / mednafen/psx/psx.h if the build errors on redefinition.
# Also needed (not yet in docs/*.patch): rtrace/irq callbacks, guest-cycle
# accumulator, PS_CDC::PSXRecomp_GetDecodeVolume, cdc/dma irq peeks. Apply
# from a prior local beetle-psx tree or re-land those hooks by hand.

beetle_cdcmd_trace_hook.patch adds a CD-command trace callback (fires per command dispatch in cdc.cpp) exposed as the cdrom_cmd_dump / cdrom_cmd_reset debug commands — used to oracle-diff the Kula World CD read sequence.

beetle_sio_trace_hook.patch adds FrontIO::SetSIOTraceCallback (fires per completed SIO byte exchange) — an integration hook beetle_libretro.cpp needs that predated the committed wtrace patch.

Build

# Static lib. On unix the artifact is named mednafen_psx_libretro.so but is
# an ar archive (STATIC_LINKING=1); stage it under the name cmake expects.
make platform=unix STATIC_LINKING=1 HAVE_LIGHTREC=0 -j"$(nproc)"
cp mednafen_psx_libretro.so libmednafen_psx.a

cd ../runtime
cmake -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DPSX_RECOMP_UI=OFF -DPSX_DEBUG_TOOLS=ON
ninja -C build psx-beetle

# Run (SDL window; use software renderer if GL context is flaky).
# Beetle looks for lowercase scph5501.bin in the BIOS directory (SHA1
# 0555C6FA… — SCPH-5501). Symlink or copy next to SCPH1001.BIN.
# Default debug port is 4380 (override with --port).
SDL_RENDER_DRIVER=software ./runtime/build/psx-beetle ../bios/SCPH1001.BIN --disc <game.cue> --port 4380

# Headless (if xvfb is installed):
# xvfb-run -a ./runtime/build/psx-beetle ../bios/SCPH1001.BIN --disc <game.cue>

Wire smoke: {"cmd":"ping"} → backend=beetle. Screenshot via screenshot. gpu_frame_dump is a native (psx-runtime) command — Beetle does not expose GP0 OT dumps yet; compare visuals via screenshot / vram_peek.