user/kernel API how do identify them on the SDK API?

[Heimdall]

Hi guys,

How can I know if a function I'm using runs in either kernel mode or user mode?

It would be nice to add it to docs in the .h files.

[J.F.]

One quick way is look at the lib it's in - if the name ends in _driver, it's kernel mode.

libpspaudio.a - user
libpspaudio_driver.a - kernel

libpspctrl.a - user
libpspctrl_driver.a - kernel

libpspdisplay.a - user
libpspdisplay_driver.a - kernel

libpspge.a - user
libpspge_driver.a - kernel

[Heimdall]

Thanks, that's a good start, still related to the initial question but maybe a bit off topic, does anyone know how can i use the http://silverspring.lan.st doc,stubs information?

I see that there are some new functions decoded however there is no info on return values/arguments, is there a place to see it? or this hasn't been decoded yet?

[SilverSpring]

Yep look at the lib name. Some say ___ForUser and some say ___ForKernel

Eg.

IoFileMgrForUser
IoFileMgrForKernel

LoadExecForUser
LoadExecForKernel

If the libname start with sce then the ones with _driver at the end are kernel libs.

Eg.

sceCtrl
sceCtrl_driver

scePower
scePower_driver

If it doesnt have the _driver suffix then it's almost certainly a user lib.

Also almost all usermode functions have kernelmode equivalents.

Regarding the libdocs, I added the stubs with updated functions so you can add to the OBJS = in your makefile to use them.

They are new-style stubs but to be honest I never got the new-style stubs to work, only the old-style stubs.

Code: Select all

prxtool -n libdoc.xml -u somemodule.prx

will create an old-style stub for somemodule.prx. Then just add to OBJS in your makefile.

Or alternatively you can create the stub from an individual module's xml. Download an xml, eg. http://silverspring.lan.st/1.5x/kd/i2c.xml and

Code: Select all

prxtool -t i2c.xml

add sceI2c_driver.o to the OBJS and start using one of the functions in your app.

Regarding the prototype for a particular function, it's upto the dev to work out the prototype and proper usage if they want to use the function. The api is too large to fully document so it's upto each individual to work it out themselves. You don't need to create a .h file, as long as you pass the correct arguments that the function is expecting (though the compiler will throw you a warning).

The libdoc.xml can also be used in prxtool to resolve symbols for disassembly.

Code: Select all

prxtool -n libdoc.xml -o somemodule.asm -w somemodule.prx

will disassemble somemodule.prx with the updated names added in the libdoc.

or alternatively

Code: Select all

prxtool -n libdoc.xml -o somemodule.idc -c somemodule.prx

will create an IDC script to use in IDA disassembly.

[Heimdall]

Thanks! Very valuable information.