Brian DegenhardtandClaude Opus 4.8
8aba55e4e9
VMManager.cpp (compiled on every target) includes x86emitter.h, which
pulls in x86types.h. That header binds `RTEXTPTR` as a reference to the
x86 register `rbx`:
static constexpr const xAddressReg& RTEXTPTR = rbx;
`rbx` is defined only in x86emitter.cpp, which CMake compiles solely
under ARCH_X86. Binding the reference ODR-uses `rbx`, so on ARM64 it
needs a definition that does not exist. clang (macOS/Linux arm64) dead-
code-eliminates the unused reference and links fine, but MSVC keeps it,
so the Windows-arm64 link failed:
VMManager.cpp.obj : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol
"class x86Emitter::xAddressReg const x86Emitter::rbx"
pcsx2-qt.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externals
RTEXTPTR is an x86 concept (the program-text pointer register) and every
real user lives in pcsx2/x86/** or common/emitter/*.cpp, all ARCH_X86-
only and never built on arm64. Gate the alias to _M_X86 so it simply
doesn't exist on arm64 -- no behavior change on x86, and the spurious
rbx reference disappears on Windows arm64.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
ARMSX2 — Native ARM64 JIT Fork of PCSX2
ARMSX2 is a free and open-source PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator based on PCSX2. Its purpose is to emulate the PS2's hardware, using a combination of MIPS CPU Interpreters, Recompilers and a Virtual Machine which manages hardware states and PS2 system memory. This allows you to play PS2 games on your phone, PC, or gaming handheld, with many additional features and benefits.
Thank You
The ARMSX2 team is eternally indebted to the PCSX2 project it is based on. We are so fortunate to build on their 20 years of hardcore development.
About This Fork
The upstream PCSX2 project ships an ARM64 interpreter build for ARM, but its high-performance JIT recompilers (EE, IOP, VU0, VU1, and vtlb fast memory) are x86-64 only.
This fork exists to close that gap. The goal is to preserve the correctness features of 20 years of PCSX2 development, while generating the fastest native ARM performance possible.
Current status:
- ✅ EE (Emotion Engine) recompiler — integer, float, MMI, COP0/COP1/COP2, branches, load/store
- ✅ IOP (I/O Processor / R3000A) recompiler — full integer, load/store, branches, coprocessors
- ✅ VU (Vector Unit) recompiler — microVU skeleton + Upper FMAC vector ISA complete; Lower ISA and runtime complete
- ✅ vtlb fast memory
- ✅ Native ARM64 binary builds and boots the PS2 BIOS
- ✅ 2D games are already playable
- ✅ PS1 games (IOP mode) run at full speed — e.g. Gran Turismo 2 is fully playable
- ✅ 3D games run (if crash try disabling MTVU)
Why LLMs / AI Were Used
A word on methodology:
The x86-64 JIT code in upstream ARMSX2 is already proven correct — it has run thousands of PS2 titles for years. The challenge in this port is not emulator design or JIT theory; it is mechanical translation of a large, well-understood x86-64 assembly codebase into equivalent ARM64 assembly (via VIXL) while preserving the exact same register-allocation contracts, block lifecycle, and recompiler semantics.
Large language models (LLMs) were used as an accelerant for this translation work — pattern-matching x86 JIT boilerplate to ARM64 equivalents, scaffolding emit routines, and keeping the porting velocity high. The JIT logic (block compiler, dispatcher, analysis passes, flag pipelines, clamping rules, Tri-Ace hacks, etc.) is taken directly from the upstream x86 implementation and validated against it. Nothing was hallucinated from scratch.
In other words: the hard engineering was done by the PCSX2 team over two decades. The hard typing — translating ~50k lines of x86 emitter code into ARM64 — is what AI helped compress.
System Requirements
ARMSX2 targets ARM64 across desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux) and mobile (Android, iOS/iPadOS), all from the single shared core. Our setup documentation page contains additional details on software and hardware requirements.
Please note that a BIOS dump from a legitimately-owned PS2 console is required to use the emulator. For more information, visit this page.
Building
Check out our github actions for the latest build recipe