*WALTRESS*

The first ever PowerPC Assembler entirely handwritten in PowerPC! It is 100% Broadway (Wii CPU) compliant. Waltress can also assemble Wii Gecko Codes.

Why the name Waltress? Waltress is one of Daysha's cats, and she is a shy black+brown long hair cat with a gigantic fluffy tail. Waltress is also the site mascot for MarioKartWii.com.

Please read over this document to understand the contents of some of the folders and files present in this zip package.

Created by Vega

Version 0.9

Release Date: March 24, 2024

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You can run Waltress via 2 different methods. Either on the Wii/Dolphin via the HBC app, or on your Linux Desktop via QEMU.

General Overview:

In the root directly, there are the following files and folders...

README #What you're reading right now, lol

NOTES.txt #What features and limitations Waltress has. Also contains notes on how to use special formatting/symbols to "tell" Waltress if your source/code is a Gecko code. Be sure to read this! READ THIS!!! READ THIS!!!

BUGS.txt #Any known bugs that have not been fixed yet. Read this before reporting a bug if you've encounter one.

COMPILING.txt #This file contains guides for compiling the HBC app from source, and compiling the Desktop App from source.

DEBUG.txt #This file contains a guide on how to install & run the GNU Debugger to step-by-step the Desktop App if desired.

script.sh #File used for compiling the HBC app from source.

test_source.s #This is a source file (contains every PPC instruction) which is used during debugging to verify that Assembling and Disassembling outputs are 100% correct

/DV #Desktop application

/DV-Source #Source of the Desktop application

/HBC-Waltress #This folder contains the files for the HBC app. (icon.png, boot,dol. and meta.xml)

/HBC-Source #Source of the HBC app's boot.dol.

/Examples #Contains various Wii Gecko Code examples so you know exactly how to properly label Gecko codes for Waltress

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Using Waltress HBC App (real Wii)

Requirements: HBC (version 1.1.0 or later) installed on your Wii and is running on a clean IOS58. 

1. Copy-Paste /HBC-Waltress folder into the /apps folder of your SD/USB device
2a: Waltress expects a source.s file present in /apps/HBC-Waltress for assembling. Place source.s into /apps/HBC-Waltress folder
2b: Waltress expects a code.txt file present in /apps/HBC-Waltress for disassembling. Place code.txt into /apps/HBC-Waltress folder.
3: Do NOT have both a source.s and code.txt file present in /apps/HBC-Waltress.
4: SD/USB device out of computer and into your Wii
5: Launch HBC. Launch Waltress HBC App. Follow on-screen instructions.
6: Waltress will display a Success Message or an Error Message after usage.

Using Waltress HBC App (Dolphin)

1. Copy-Paste /HBC-Waltress folder into the /apps folder of the location of your Virtual SD Card on your computer
2a: Waltress expects a source.s file present in /apps/HBC-Waltress for assembling. Place source.s into /apps/HBC-Waltress folder
2b: Waltress expects a code.txt or code.bin file present in /apps/HBC-Waltress for disassembling. Place code.txt into /apps/HBC-Waltress folder.
3: Do NOT have both a source.s and code.txt file present in /apps/HBC-Waltress.
4: Launch Dolphin. Launch HBC. Launch Waltress HBC App. Follow on-screen instructions.
5: Waltress will display a Success Message or an Error Message after usage.
6. Alternatively, you should be able to directly open the boot.dol directly if desired.

Using Waltress Desktop Application (Linux w/ QEMU-PPC)

1. *NOTE* that this has only been confirmed to work on Linux Debian 11 & 12. I do *NOT* own a Windows or Mac machine, so I cannot be of help here. If anybody knows how to get this to work on Windows or Mac, please notify me.
2. Install QEMU-PPC
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install qemu-user qemu-user-static
3. Make sure App is executable
cd DV
chmod +x ./main
4a: Waltress expects a source.s file present in /DV for assembling. Place that file into /DV folder.
4b: Waltress expects a code.txt file present in /DV for disassembling. Place that file into /DV folder.
5: Do NOT have both a source.s and code.txt file present in /DV.
6. Launch the App
./main
7. Follow the on-screen instructions.
8: Waltress will display a Success Message or an Error Message after usage.