[NTLK] ROM Disassembly online?

[Steven Frank]

Sorry to spam the list but as I read your email again I think I still misunderstand the ultimate goal. 

As I understand it, your existing Albert tool takes a ROM file and a symbol file as input and outputs a symbolicated disassembly that can be reassembled as-is into a new ROM. 

So I'm unclear.. What you are proposing sounds like what we already have. :)

Could you unpack this a bit more for me:

"The idea is to upload the comments only, and use a modified assembler to add the ROM code when needed, and to remove the ROM code before pushing any additional comments and findings to git"

A concrete example would probably help me get it. :)

Steven, via iPhone


> On Apr 1, 2015, at 7:08 AM, Matthias Melcher <mm at matthiasm.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi developers,
> 
> seeing that we all work with more or less well done disassembled ROMs, and that we seem to be commenting the same functions over and over again, I was wondering if we could find a way to put the ROM online.
> 
> Yes, I am aware of copyright issues, so I made a cunning plan. Please give ideas and alternatives! Thanks.
> 
> So, let's start a GITHUB setup and put a disassembler there. I have one that is pretty good by now and disassembles about 98% of all code with many symbols in it. It creates readable assembler code for NewtonScript parts automatically as well.
> 
> The idea is to upload the comments only, and use a modified assembler to add the ROM code when needed, and to remove the ROM code before pushing any additional comments and findings to git. There will never be any ROM code on Github, only our comments, and a program that merges and splits code and comments.
> 
> 
> Now for the problems:
> 
> - I have no clue if that is legal - forget clean-room builds after that - I doubt that anyone at Apple cares
> 
> - a single ROM disassembly is 140MB big - how can we create more manageable parts
> 
> - my disassembler is an utter mess (though the created disassembly is beautiful)
> 
> - existing comments have to be merged into this system somehow
> 
> - new comments must match up with the ROM code somehow, for example by address
> 
> - the resulting code can run through an assembler and recreate the ROM (which it currently does!)
> 
> 
> The disassmbler is here:
> https://github.com/MatthiasWM/dynee5/tree/master/Albert
> 
> Some example code is here:
> https://github.com/MatthiasWM/dynee5/blob/master/Albert/NewtonOS/DataAbort.s
> 
> Matthias
> 
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> 
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