Lombyte toolchain mirror

A copy of every open-source tool and source that Lombyte needs to build Ratchet & Clank (2002) from C, byte for byte.

Some of these files now live on one old web page or only on archive.org. If an upstream link disappears, Lombyte's setup.sh and compiler build scripts take the same file from here instead.

Note

Every file is byte-identical to the one Lombyte pins (same SHA-256). No game data and no Sony or SN Systems binaries are stored here.

The toolchain

The game was not built with one compiler. Each part of the executable came from a different tool, and Lombyte uses the same split.

Part of the game	Compiler and assembler	Where we get it
Sony's SDK libraries	Sony EE-GCC 2.9-ee-991111-01, then GNU as (sdk-as)	the compiler is Sony's original binary; sdk-as is built from source here
Game code (boot executable)	EE-GCC 2.9-ee-991111b, then SN's Ps2EeAs	the compiler is built from gnu-ee-binutils-gcc-1.1.tar.gz and Lombyte's patches
Most level code	SN EE-GCC 2.95.2 (ProDG, v2.73a), then Ps2EeAs	cc1 is built from gcc-2.95.2.tar.gz, the EE back end of the archive above, and Lombyte's patches; SN's driver and preprocessor are SN's binaries
The rest of the level code	the same game compiler as the boot executable	as above
Linking, disassembly	binutils-mips-ps2-decompals	release binary and source here
Comparing our objects with the game	objdiff	release binary and source here
Splitting the executable, Python tools	splat, spimdisasm and others	python/ here

A few boot units still go through SN's original compiler binary. Lombyte's configure.py lists them in ROUTE_EXCEPTIONS, and that list only gets shorter.

Building a 1999 compiler on a modern machine needs a few old helpers:

• bison 1.28. The old GCC source needs a bison of its own era (1.2x).
• A 32-bit host build. The compilers are built with gcc -m32.
• -fno-strict-aliasing. Without it, a modern host compiler breaks how the old code handles negative float constants.

Why these tools

Same tools as the original build. A match means the same bytes. A compiler that is "close enough" gives different register choices and instruction order, so the code never matches.

Built from source when we can. The game compiler and SN's cc1 are built here from GPL source. A binary we cannot read is a black box. A source build lets us find out why a function does not match and fix it in a small, documented patch (Lombyte's patches/). A patch must copy a change from a later official GCC release, or model something the real compiler did, shown by several unrelated functions. It must not make any other unit match worse.

The source build is as good as SN's own. Lombyte's SN cc1 gives the same assembly as SN's cc1.exe for every level unit it was compared on.

The original binary when it already matches. The SDK libraries match Sony's 2.9-ee-991111-01 compiler with no changes. Its exact source was never published, and we have nothing to fix, so we keep Sony's build.

SN's assembler for game code. The game code was assembled by Ps2EeAs, not GNU as. It pads loops and fills delay slots in its own way, and the game shows it. We use version 1.9.25.758 from ProDG 3.01 with two small changes: no NOPs before div (the game has none) and a bigger stack, so large files do not crash it. It is a Windows program and runs under Wine.

Community tools for the rest. decompals binutils and objdiff are the standard tools of the PS2 decompilation community. They are maintained and know the R5900 CPU.

What we tried and dropped

Alternative	Why it was dropped
A modern PS2 GCC (PS2DEV, GCC 15)	Optimizes in a different way. Tested on known functions, it was far from every one of them.
GCC 3.2.3 (the older PS2DEV recipe)	Newer than the game's compilers. Never built or scored.
SN GCC 2.95.3, ProDG 2.2	No copy could be found. We also decided not to add another compiler line.
SN's cc1.exe under Wine for all level code	Works, but closed, slow and impossible to fix. The source build gives the same output and can be patched.
A second, patched copy of the SDK compiler for two hard functions	Removed. The game was not built that way. The two functions now match with better C and one assembler rule.
The older Ps2EeAs (1.8.19, ProDG 2.0 archive)	Pads loops differently, so whole files do not match.
GNU as for the game code	Does not lay out code the way Ps2EeAs does. GNU as is right only for the SDK libraries.
Compiler patches for single functions	Not allowed. A patch has to model a real compiler trait, as above.

What is not here

Sony's SDK compiler, SN's compiler package, SN's Ps2EeAs, and Sony's SDK libraries. Their licenses do not allow sharing them, and their exact source was never published. Lombyte's setup still downloads them from their public sources. Nothing from the game disc is here either: you need your own copy of the game to build.

Files

File	From	License
binutils-mips-ps2-decompals-v0.10.tar.gz	decompals/binutils-mips-ps2-decompals release v0.10	GPL-3.0
binutils-mips-ps2-decompals-0.10-src.tar.xz	same repository, tag v0.10 (the source of the binaries above)	GPL-3.0, GPL-2.0, LGPL
objdiff-cli-v3.8.0-linux-x86_64	encounter/objdiff release v3.8.0	MIT or Apache-2.0
objdiff-3.8.0-src.tar.gz	same repository, tag v3.8.0	MIT or Apache-2.0
gnu-ee-binutils-gcc-1.1.tar.gz	ps2dev.sourceforge.net, kept by archive.org; GCC 2.9-ee-991111b and binutils source	GPL-2.0
gcc-2.95.2.tar.gz	ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc	GPL-2.0
bison-1.28.tar.gz	ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bison	GPL-2.0
gcc-2.95.2-ee-include.tar.xz	GCC 2.95.2 headers (stdarg.h, va-mips.h, ...) from AngheloAlf/sce_ps2_sdk_24 @ 5c8bdf3, that folder only	GPL-2.0 with the GCC runtime exception
m2c.bundle	matt-kempster/m2c, git bundle with commit a179fa5	GPL-3.0
decomp-permuter.bundle	simonlindholm/decomp-permuter, git bundle with commit fb516c4	MIT
ghidra-emotionengine-reloaded-v2.1.36-ghidra-12.1.2.zip	chaoticgd/ghidra-emotionengine-reloaded release v2.1.36	Apache-2.0
python/	PyPI: wheels (Linux x86-64; CPython 3.13 for compiled ones) and source archives of Lombyte's requirements.txt	each package's own (MIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, MPL-2.0, public domain), inside its source archive

Each file keeps its own license. The GPL programs come with their source in this repository. License texts are in licenses/; source archives carry their own. The scripts in scripts/ are MIT.

Using a file

Check the files:

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS

Put a file where Lombyte's setup expects it (build/downloads/). A git bundle clones like a repository:

git clone m2c.bundle m2c