Developing dedicated or multiplatform software through a virtually-emulated machine environment is not new in the coding world, but it's not exactly commonplace either. Coder MK2k (known for Sleep'n'Wake) decided it was high time to share such an experience with other homebrew developers.

So the developer created a custom, but variably open Gentoo Linux environment emulated through VMware coupled with pre-installed modules, Samba file sharing support, PSP toolchain, and PS2 toolchain. MK2k did this to provide an alternative to the Cygwin/PSP toolchain combo, which the coder had a bit of tiresome wrestling with.

What is this exactly, you ask? It's relatively simple in a sense. You run a localized version of a virtual machine emulator for your respective operating system, be it Mac OS X, other compatible flavors and kernels of Linux, or Microsoft Windows. VMware Player is compatible with all three. Virtual machine (VM) emulation then runs by setting up your host machine (the computer running the VM) to load up a virtual machine (the VM using your computer's hardware to run another "computer").

With the virtual machine set up, you can then do everything you would do to a newly assembled computer. Defining your hard drive setup (limited by how much space you actually have on your real hard disk) would provide you with a virtual hard drive, which can be further configured for partitions or operating system (OS) installation. Coders often use VM emulation to load OSes of a totally different kernel. Windows XP "VMing" Windows 95, Linux "VMing" Windows 98 or vice versa, for example.

MK2k provides a virtual hard drive for your use - much thanks to PSPUAE member FOL's hosting - which comes preloaded with Gentoo and tools to start you off. Of course, you are free to install your own Linux-compatible tools for your development preference, plus helper utilities for special testing or connectivity. The download runs a little under 1 GB in total, but the entire virtual hard drive has been divided further into files generally around the 100 MB range for short, dedicated download bursts.

A readme sits ready with the multiple file download list, and this is where you should start for more specific information on installation and running VMware Player. MK2k advises you to course through it while downloading the files, and if you're a particular about data integrity, you're even provided a checksum file reference to weed out defective archives.

Oh, and we suggest you also grab the Browser Appliance from VMware to browse the Internet from within the virtual machine emulation. It could help loads if you have more questions for MK2k or other devs who tried this contribution. Happy coding!

Visit: QJ.NET's PSP Development Forum

Visit the download site via the read link below. Also thanks to bobtentpeg for the tip!