SynthXEX

Copyright (c) 2024-25 Aiden Isik

Licensed under the GNU AGPLv3 or later, using libraries with various licenses. See Licensing.

Description

SynthXEX is the XEX(2) builder (and thus the last step in building an executable) for the FreeChainXenon project. FreeChainXenon is a free/libre/open-source development toolchain for the Xbox 360, designed to do the same job as the official Xbox 360 SDK (building applications which run on the Xbox 360 OS), without the legal and outdated tech issues which come with that.

This was developed by referencing public knowledge on the XEX(2) file format, along with staring at XEX files in a hex editor to decypher aspects which do not seem to be documented anywhere. No Microsoft code was decompiled to develop SynthXEX, and I ask that any contributors do not do so either.

This is in early development and MANY features are missing (most notable exports). No guarantees are made as to the functionality of the program, or it's stability. Functionality may change at any time.

This should support any POSIX-compliant operating system, along with Windows.

Building (POSIX, standard method)

Prerequisites

• A C compiler (GCC/Clang)
• CMake (>= 3.24.2)
• Make
• Git

To install these on Debian: sudo apt install gcc cmake make git

Downloading

Clone: git clone https://git.aidenisik.scot/FreeChainXenon/SynthXEX

Compiling

Switch to the newly cloned directory: cd SynthXEX

Make a build directory and switch to it: mkdir build && cd build

Generate build scripts (replacing <prefix> with where you want to install, e.g. /usr for /usr/bin/synthxex): cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=<prefix> ..

Build: make

Install: sudo make install

Building (Guix)

Prerequisites

• Guix
• Git

Compiling

Choose ONE of the options below.

Compiling & Installing

Clone: git clone https://git.aidenisik.scot/FreeChainXenon/SynthXEX

Switch to the newly cloned directory: cd SynthXEX

Install: guix time-machine -C channels.scm -- package -f synthxex.scm

Compiling Only

Clone: git clone https://git.aidenisik.scot/FreeChainXenon/SynthXEX

Switch to the newly cloned directory: cd SynthXEX

Build: guix time-machine -C channels.scm -- build -f synthxex.scm

Compiling & Installing to Config

TODO

Building (Nix)

Prerequisites

• Nix
• Git

Compiling

Choose ONE of the options below.

Compiling & Installing

Clone: git clone https://git.aidenisik.scot/FreeChainXenon/SynthXEX

Switch to the newly cloned directory: cd SynthXEX

Run: nix profile install .#synthxex

Compiling Only

Clone: git clone https://git.aidenisik.scot/FreeChainXenon/SynthXEX

Switch to the newly cloned directory: cd SynthXEX

Run: nix build .#synthxex

Compiling & Installing to Config

Add SynthXEX to your configuration.nix file:

{ config, modulesPath, lib, pkgs, ... }:

let
  synthxex = builtins.getFlake "git+https://git.aidenisik.scot/FreeChainXenon/SynthXEX";
  synthxexPkgs = synthxex.packages.${pkgs.hostPlatform.system};
in {
  # ...
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
    # ...
    synthxexPkgs.synthxex
  ];
}

Special thanks to:

• InvoxiPlayGames, for help understanding the XEX format
• emoose, for xex1tool, which was very useful for taking apart XEX files and getting info from them
• Free60Project, for documentation on the XEX format, which was useful in the early days
• Vali0004, for helping clean up and harden code, along with Nix packaging
• Several members of the Xbox360Hub Discord server, for a multitude of reasons

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Licensing

SynthXEX

Copyright (c) 2024-25 Aiden Isik

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

getopt_port

Copyright (c) 2012-2023, Kim Grasman kim.grasman@gmail.com

All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• Neither the name of Kim Grasman nor the names of contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL KIM GRASMAN BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

GNU Nettle

Copyright (C) 2001, 2013 Niels Möller

This file is part of GNU Nettle.

GNU Nettle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either:

• the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

or

• the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

or both in parallel, as here.

GNU Nettle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received copies of the GNU General Public License and the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.