vita2hos

A PlayStation Vita to Horizon OS (Nintendo Switch OS) translation layer (not an emulator)

How does it work?

PlayStation Vita (ARMv7 CPU) executables can be run natively on Nintendo Switch ARMv8 CPU in 32-bit execution mode.

When loading a PlayStation Vita executable, vita2hos redirects the module imports of said executable to jump to routines that implement the same behavior, by using native Horizon OS services, like the one exposed by the original PlayStation Vita OS modules.

How can I use it?

Running it on a real console

1. Copy vita2hos.nsp to your microSD card (i.e. to: atmosphere/vita2hos.nsp)

2. Create atmosphere/config/override_config.ini and add the following lines to it:

   [hbl_config]
   override_any_app=true
   override_any_app_key=R
   override_any_app_address_space=32_bit
   ; adjust the path according to the location of your file
   path=atmosphere/vita2hos.nsp

   • Note: As long as this file exists you won't be able to use the homebrew menu and instead will always run vita2hos.

     A quick workaround would be to rename the file and restart your Switch. Unfortunately override_config.ini doesn't allow multiple path entries which is why it has to be done this way.

3. Copy a PlayStation Vita executable (.velf or .self/eboot.bin) to sd:/vita2hos/executable

4. Boot (or reboot) your Switch and start any game while holding down R

   • Attempting to use vita2hos via applet mode (album button) will currently result in a fatal error and wouldn't be recommended anyway.

5. Enjoy!

Running it on yuzu

1. Copy a PlayStation Vita executable (.velf or .self/eboot.bin) to sd:/vita2hos/executable (File → Open yuzu Folder → sdmc/)
2. Run vita2hos.nsp
3. Enjoy!

Running it on Ryujinx

1. Copy a PlayStation Vita executable (.velf or .self/eboot.bin) to sd:/vita2hos/executable (File → Open Ryujinx Folder → sdcard/)
2. Disable PPTC (Options → Settings → System → Unselect Enable PPTC (Profiled Persistent Translation Cache))
3. Run vita2hos.nsp
4. Enjoy!

Building

1. mkdir build && cd build
2. Two options:
    a. arm-none-eabi-cmake ..
    b. cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE:FILEPATH=$DEVKITPRO/cmake/devkitARM.cmake ..
3. make (or ninja if configured with -G Ninja)
4. vita2hos.nsp will be generated

I recommend passing -DCMAKE_COLOR_DIAGNOSTICS:BOOL=TRUE, especially when using Ninja.

Project status, compatibility and supported features

This is still in very early stages and therefore it can only run very simple CPU-rendered PlayStation Vita homebrews.

There is very initial 3D graphics support (it can run vitasdk's GXM triangle and cube samples by hardcoding vita2hos's GLSL shaders to match the Cg shaders the samples use).

Special Thanks

A few noteworthy teams/projects who've helped along the way are:

• Vita3K

  vita2hos uses Vita3K's shader recompiler, and some parts of vita2hos's code are based on Vita3K's implementation. Please, consider donating and contributing to Vita3K!

• UAM - deko3d shader compiler

  vita2hos uses UAM (deko3d's shader compiler) to compile shaders. Please, also consider contributing to that project and donating to the developers!

• Ryujinx

• yuzu

• Atmosphère

• Switchbrew

Also special thanks to @PixelyIon and @SciresM for their help, and to all the testers, especially @TSRBerry.

Disclaimer

• Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd
• PlayStation Vita is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment