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 the root of your microSD card and rename it to test.elf

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 the root of the microSD directory (File → Open yuzu Folder → sdmc/) and rename it to test.elf
2. Disable Macro JIT (Emulation → Configure → General → Debug → Disable Macro JIT)
3. Run vita2hos.nsp
4. Enjoy!

Notes:

Make sure to use a very recent build of yuzu, such as Mainline or Early Access Builds.

Running it on Ryujinx

1. Copy a PlayStation Vita executable (.velf or .self/eboot.bin) to the root of the microSD directory (File → Open Ryujinx Folder → sdcard/) and rename it to test.elf

2. Extract main and main.npdm from vita2hos.nsp to a directory

   Using hactool:

   hactool -t pfs0 --pfs0dir=vita2hos vita2hos.nsp
   

   This will extract main and main.npdm to a directory named vita2hos.

3. Disable PPTC (Options → Settings → System → Unselect Enable PPTC (Profiled Persistent Translation Cache))

4. Load the directory containing main and main.npdm (File → Load Unpacked Game)

5. Enjoy!

Notes:

• vita2hos depends on @gdkchan's Ryujinx codemem2 branch
• Some ARM Thumb instructions are not yet implemented on Ryujinx

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
• Ryujinx
• yuzu
• Atmosphère
• Switchbrew

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

Disclaimer

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