Codespaces

Github Codespaces lets you spawn a complete Dreamcast development environment in your browser in a matter of minutes.

The only things you need are:

• a browser
• a github login.

No need for a complex installation process anymore !

Steps Overview

The main steps to get a Codespace working, are:

• Login into github
• Create your code repository, or fork one
• Add a .devcontainer/devcontainer.json file to that repository
• Create & launch your codespace, and enjoy the IDE in your browser !

That's all there is to it.

Free github accounts get 120 free core hours per month.

Example 1: Build an .elf from a KallistiOS example

To compile the executable .elf file from a KallistiOS examples in a Codespace:

• Login into github
• Got to the KallistiOS repository
• Click on the "Fork" button, this will create a KallistiOS repository inside your account
• Click on the "Add File" button, then "Create New File"
• Name the file: ".devcontainer/devcontainer.json", and paste the following contents:

// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. 
// For config options, see the README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/alpine
{
	"name": "My_Codespace",
		
	// Either use a pre-built image (= a Docker container)...
	"image": "ghcr.io/kos-builds/kos-ports-dc:sha-656a397-14.1.0",
	// ... or use a Dockerfile or Docker Compose file. More info: https://containers.dev/guide/dockerfile
	//"build": { // Path is relative to the devcontainer.json file.
	//    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
	//},
		
	// Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
	// "features": {},

	// Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
	// "forwardPorts": [],

	// Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
	//"postCreateCommand": "source /opt/toolchains/dc/kos/environ.sh",

	// Configure tool-specific properties.
	"customizations": {
	    "vscode": {
	        "extensions": [
		    "ms-vscode.cpptools"
	        ]
	    }
	}

	// Uncomment to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
	// "remoteUser": "root"
}

• Click on "Commit changes", then "Commit Changes" again to save the file
• Go back to the root directory of your repository
• Launch your Codespace by clicking on the "<> Code" button, then "Codespaces" - "Create codespace on master".

• This will launch Visual Studio Code in your browser. The first time it will take a couple of minutes to launch, after that it will be faster.
• 3-bars-Menu at the top left - Terminal - New Terminal
• cd examples/dreamcast/2ndmix
• make clean
• make
• You should now have a "2ndmix.elf" in that folder
• Navigate to that folder (examples/dreamcast/2ndmix) on the file tree on the left, right-click on the file, and choose "Download..."
• Congratulations ! You successfully built an executable file for the Dreamcast. You can now upload that file in your favorite emulator, or send it to a real Dreamcast via a Coder's Cable or a Broadband Adapter

Example 2: create a .cdi from the .elf of Example 1

Having an .elf executable file is nice for small tests, but often you'll find yourself needing to build a .cdi disc image file:

• If you closed your codespace, you can reopen it by going to your code repository, click on the "<> Code" button, then "Codespaces", then on the auto-generated name of your codespace.
• Since our codespace does not contain mkdcdisc (the tool to build .cdi files), we'll add that to our codespace:
  • Open a terminal in your codespace (3-bars-Menu at the top left - Terminal - New Terminal)
  • cd /opt/toolchains/dc
  • git clone https://gitlab.com/simulant/mkdcdisc
  • cd mkdcdisc
  • meson setup builddir
  • meson compile -C builddir
  • cp ./builddir/mkdcdisc /opt/toolchains/dc/bin
• Build the .cdi file for 2ndmix.elf
  • cd /opt/toolchains/dc/kos/examples/dreamcast/2ndmix
  • mkdcdisc -e 2ndmix.elf -o 2ndmix.cdi -n "2ndmix"
• Compress the .cdi file into a zip file with parts of max 25 MegaBytes (otherwise your browser will have problems downloading the .cdi):
  • zip -s 25M 2ndmix.zip 2ndmix.cdi
• Right-click on the generated files, and download them into your local folders
• Unzip the files in your local folder to reconstruct 2ndmix.cdi
• Launch 2ndmix.cdi in your favorite emulator, or on a real Dreamcast

Example 3: Configuring a more complex Codespace

If you find yourself always adding the same extra application into the codespace provided in Example 1 (eg: always having to add mkdcdisc, ...), you can simplify your setup by specifying your own Dockerfile, and add setup commands in there:

• Modify .devcontainer/devcontainer.json so that it points to a Dockerfile:

// For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. 
// For config options, see the README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/alpine
{
	"name": "My_Codespace",
		
	// Either use a pre-built image (= a Docker container)...
	//"image": "ghcr.io/kos-builds/kos-ports-dc:sha-656a397-14.1.0",
	// ... or use a Dockerfile or Docker Compose file. More info: https://containers.dev/guide/dockerfile
	"build": { // Path is relative to the devcontainer.json file.
	    "dockerfile": "Dockerfile"
	},
		
	// Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
	// "features": {},

	// Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
	// "forwardPorts": [],

	// Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
	//"postCreateCommand": "source /opt/toolchains/dc/kos/environ.sh",

	// Configure tool-specific properties.
	"customizations": {
	    "vscode": {
	        "extensions": [
		    "ms-vscode.cpptools"
	        ]
	    }
	}

	// Uncomment to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
	// "remoteUser": "root"
}

• ... and add a new file: ./devcontainer/Dockerfile

# Stage 1
FROM "ghcr.io/kos-builds/kos-ports-dc:sha-656a397-14.1.0" as build

# Add mkdcdisc
RUN git clone https://gitlab.com/simulant/mkdcdisc /opt/toolchains/dc/mkdcdisc \
    && cd /opt/toolchains/dc/mkdcdisc \
    && meson setup builddir \
    && meson compile -C builddir \
    && cp ./builddir/mkdcdisc /opt/toolchains/dc/bin

• The next time you create a repository & copy the above 2 files in it, you will get a codespace with mkdcdisc already correctly installed !

Example 4: Build something not from KallistiOS

All the previous examples started by forking the KallistiOS repository, but most often you'll just want to work on your own code / another Dreamcast project, so you'll work from a repository other than KallistiOS:

• login into github
• create/go to your own repository, or fork an existing project (eg doom64-dc, ...)
• add at least ./devcontainer/devcontainer.json, and ./devcontainer/Dockerfile if needed
• create/launch your codespace
• follow the build instructions of that project
• Notes:
  • Everything for KallistiOS should be available in the terminal, you'll find KallistiOS stuff in the folder /opt/toolchains/dc
  • In the file-tree on the left side, you'll see the files of your repository (folder: /workspaces). If you also want to add other folders there, eg /opt/toolchains/dc, execute something like this in the terminal: code -a /opt/toolchains/dc

Tips

• When you're finished with your Codespace, go to
  • the 3-bars-Menu at the top left - "My Codespaces"
  • on the left, select the codespace you were just running
  • click on the 3 dots next to "Active"
  • select "Stop codespace"

Doing this pro-actively will save you some free minutes, since the default timeout is 30 minutes.