Now we just need a decent ARM Linux laptop.
Get a MacBook with Asahi Linux
FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
71–80 of 145 posts
Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
Trust me on this one?
https://dougallj.wordpress.com/2022/11/09/why-is-rosetta-2-f... > Apple M1 has an undocumented extension that, when enabled, ensures instructions like ADDS, SUBS and CMP compute PF and AF and store them as bits 26 and 27 of NZCV respectively, providing accurate emulation with no performance penalty.
Oh yeah, maybe that one was too obscure for me. I don't think I've ever seen something use PF/AF…
You do want FEAT_AFP though, so you do want ARMv8.6+.
Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#73Now we just need a decent ARM Linux laptop.
Anyone can recommend something viable for simple tasks? I don't need 32GB of VRAM, just a reliable machine for everyday tasks that's decent, lightweight, has a good battery.
(I know I'm describing an M2 Air, but I'd like to explore alternatives.)
Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is false. Denuvo DRM works on Linux and has for many years.
I didn't say it doesn't work at all , but it's been problematic. An example: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/05/denuvo-will-lock-you-o...
That issue only happens if there are other issue with the game unrelated to denuvo on wine which requires trying different prefixes resulting in the DRM locking you out. Its the fault of the horrible DRM.
Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#75Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#76How is it different to box64? I couldn't really find much online comparing these two except a brench by box64 themselves.
Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
My understanding is that Rosetta sidesteps a bunch of tricky memory model issues by using non-standard hardware extensions only present in Apple Silicon, so even if Apple did share Rosetta, which they certainly won't, it wouldn't work properly on Valves hardware anyway.
It's not only present in Apple Silicon, it's just not required by the ARM standard. Fujitsu also has an ARM64 CPU with TSO.
There are also RISC-V designs with TSO. If you are targeting x86 workloads, it makes sense to have a per thread TSO mode.
Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#78Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
IIUC that DRM involves kernel level tricks and attestation, which means it'll basically never happen. Online gaming looks similarly doomed.
Plenty of online games work fine. Rocket League, Squad, Arc Raiders etc. are just the ones that I play.
In the case of those which use EAC/EOS they need to be explicitly approved to run under Wine/Proton by the developer. There are some cases (eg. iRacing) where the developer refuses to enable support for whatever reason, and on those we’re still stuck.
Re: FEX-emu – Run x86 applications on ARM64 Linux devices
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looks like they do expensive conservative TSO emulation by default, but they're able to piggyback on compiler work that Microsoft did to make newer Windows x86 binaries easier to emulate. Since MSVC 2019 they annotate the executable with metadata that informs an emulator of when TSO is or isn't needed for correctness. https://fex-emu.com/FEX-2510/ FEX also has settings which weaken or disable TSO altogether, favoring…
So that optimization only works on executables produced by MSVC? Are those annotations documented and/or produced by other compilers?
No.