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rrt/docs/setup-workstation.md

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Workstation Setup

This project targets a Linux host with Wine. The current workspace is a Debian unstable machine with python3, cargo, wine, winedbg, gdb, objdump, llvm-objdump, strings, and Java already present.

Current Local State

  • Ghidra install: ~/software/ghidra
  • Ghidra launcher: ~/software/ghidra/ghidraRun
  • Current Ghidra status: launches successfully in an interactive shell
  • Rizin binaries: /usr/local/bin/rizin, /usr/local/bin/rz-bin, /usr/local/bin/rz-asm
  • Project Wine prefix: rt3_wineprefix/
  • Current prefix architecture marker: win64
  • Preferred Wine runtime: /opt/wine-stable/bin/wine (wine-11.0)
  • Current runtime status: winedbg works with the project prefix and RT3 launches under Wine 11 when started from the install directory

Required Baseline

  • Linux host with Wine capable of running the RT3 install in rt3_wineprefix/
  • A Wine setup that can run 32-bit Windows targets through the chosen prefix
  • Java 21+ for Ghidra
  • Python 3.13+ with venv
  • Rust toolchain for the long-term rewrite, validation CLI, and hook DLL
  • Binutils / LLVM CLI tools for quick inspection
  • 32-bit MinGW linker support for i686-pc-windows-gnu

Preferred Reverse-Engineering Stack

  • Ghidra as the primary GUI disassembler/decompiler
  • Rizin as the secondary CLI-first analysis stack
  • Existing system tools for quick checks: objdump, llvm-objdump, strings, gdb, winedbg

Install Policy

  • Prefer upstream Ghidra releases over distro packages on this host.
  • Prefer upstream Rizin releases or source builds on this host.
  • Do not commit tool project databases or local installs into the repo.
  • Commit only exported analysis outputs that can be regenerated.

Local Python Environment

Create a repo-local virtual environment for committed helper scripts and quick experiments:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -V

Start stdlib-only when possible. Add a dependency manifest only when a non-stdlib package becomes necessary.

Rust Toolchain

This host uses a user-local Rust install. Source it before running cargo or rustup:

. ~/.local/share/cargo/env
cargo --version
rustup target list --installed

The workspace expects:

  • x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu for host tools such as rrt-cli
  • i686-pc-windows-gnu for the rrt-hook DLL

The current missing piece on this host is the 32-bit linker driver. Install i686-w64-mingw32-gcc and keep the workspace linker config pointed at that binary.

Suggested Host Layout

  • Ghidra install: ~/software/ghidra/
  • Rizin install: system package path such as /usr/local/bin/
  • Repo-local Python environment: .venv/
  • Local Ghidra projects: ghidra_projects/ in the repo root or a sibling workspace

Basic Verification

These commands should work before starting analysis:

java -version
/opt/wine-stable/bin/wine --version
objdump --version | head -n 1
llvm-objdump --version | head -n 1
python3 -m venv --help >/dev/null

Rust-specific verification:

. ~/.local/share/cargo/env
cargo test -p rrt-model -p rrt-cli
cargo build -p rrt-hook --target i686-pc-windows-gnu

If the hook build fails with linker i686-w64-mingw32-gcc not found, the Rust target is installed but the MinGW PE32 linker is still missing from the host.

For the current end-to-end runtime smoke test, use:

tools/run_hook_smoke_test.sh

That script builds the dinput8.dll proxy, copies it into the local RT3 install, and launches RT3 briefly with WINEDLLOVERRIDES=dinput8=n,b so Wine prefers the native proxy before the builtin DLL.

winedbg is now part of the known-good runtime toolchain for this prefix. Verify it with:

env WINEPREFIX=/home/jan/projects/rrt/rt3_wineprefix winedbg --help

Launch Pattern

RT3 is sensitive to its working directory because it uses relative paths under .\Data\, .\Maps\, and .\Saved Games\. Launching it from the repo root can make it start and then exit cleanly without showing a usable game window.

Use this exact pattern:

cd /home/jan/projects/rrt/rt3_wineprefix/drive_c/rt3
WINEPREFIX=/home/jan/projects/rrt/rt3_wineprefix /opt/wine-stable/bin/wine RT3.exe

If the game appears to fail immediately, check the working directory before assuming a Wine or wow64 regression.

Canonical Inputs

  • Analyze rt3_wineprefix/drive_c/rt3/RT3.exe by default.
  • Treat rt3_wineprefix/drive_c/rt3_105/RT3.exe as a reference build for later diffs.
  • Record hashes before trusting any symbol map, address note, or decompilation export.