This semester, I am taking a class on assembly programming using Kip Irvine'sbook 'Assembly Language for Intel-Based Computers.' Unfortunately, the bookshould really be called 'Assembly Language for Intel-Based WindowsComputers,' as it is written for Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM). It mentionsthat the programs in the book could be converted to TASM assembly fairlyeasily, but they will not run out of the box.
I could run MASM on a Windows virtual machine, but that would be fairly heavyto have running whenever I want to work on assembly. Instead, I wanted to seeif I could run MASM with little overhead using Wine.It turns out that this is fairly easy to do!
Install Wine
Shmup (itch) (amazingman3) Mac Os Version
- Save the Earth from the invasion, one mission at a time.
- Our website provides a free download of ITCH 25.4.1 for Mac. Our built-in antivirus scanned this Mac download and rated it as 100% safe. The software lies within Audio & Video Tools, more precisely Music Production. This free Mac app is an intellectual property of Serato Audio Research.
Good instructions for installing Wine on Mac are availablehere. Instructions forUbuntu are available here. The installprocess for other distros should be fairly straightforward as well.
This Mac download was scanned by our antivirus and was rated as malware free. The most frequent installer filename for the application is: ITCH2.0.120102ReleaseMac.dmg. ITCH 2 for Mac lies within System Tools, more precisely Device Assistants. This Mac application is.
Shmup (itch) (amazingman3) Mac Os Download
The TL;DR for intsalling on Mac is to install XQuartz and wine via homebrew:
brew install Caskroom/cask/xquartz wine
Create a new wineprefix
Commands executed using wine are executed in 'Wine prefixes,' which arevirtual Windows environments of sorts. By default, the ~/.wine prefix isused; configuration for this environment is stored in ~/.wine/*.reg files,and the C: file tree is stored in ~/.wine/drive_c.
We could run MASM in the default wine prefix and it would work perfectlyfine. However, we will be setting Windows environment variables that couldpotentially interfere with other programs running on Wine. If you plan on usingWine for anything else, it is best to install MASM in its own Wine prefix. Youcan create a new prefix as follows:
Wine will initialize a new Windows file system tree at ~/wine-masm/drive_cand open a window for you to configure the system. The defaults are fine, soyou can close the Wine Configuration window that appears.
Download and extract MASM32
I downloaded MASM from http://www.masm32.com/. You can download and run theinstaller as follows:
The first steps of the installer are fairly self-explanatory:
After clicking OK, the installer starts assembling/linking some libraries andoutputs its progress in the terminal:
At one point, the installer asks if I want to overwrite msvcrt.exp. I'vetried it with both yes and no, and I don't think it matters.
A dialog appears asking if you want to create a shortcut to the MASM editor:
We aren't using the Windows desktop, and we probably won't even be using theMASM editor (I much prefer Sublime or vim), so click No.
At the end, the MASM editor appears. You can close this, or check it out ifyou're interested. You can always open it in the future by runningWINEPREFIX=~/wine-masm wine 'C:masm32qeditor.exe'.
At this point, the installation is complete, and you should be able to run theMASM assembler:
Download and extract Irvine's files (optional)
If you are using Irvine's textbook, you will want to download his example andinclude files. The files are available on his website athttp://www.kipirvine.com/asm/examples/index.htm. I am using the 5th editiontextbook, so I downloaded the files fromhttp://www.kipirvine.com/asm/examples/IrvineExamplesVS2008.zip:
Irvine provides some scripts that (quite irritatingly/inflexibly) expect thisdownload to be extracted to C:Irvine:
If you are using a newer edition of the book, the example files are packaged ina .msi installer. You can download/extract as follows:
Accept all the default options.
Set environment variables
We need to set the Windows PATH, INCLUDE, and LIB environment variables so thatwhen we are assmebling/linking, we can find the MASM binaries/includes/sharedlibraries more easily. To do this, open regedit:
Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Environment. Add a new string value (right clickthe right-hand pane, New > String Value) named PATH. Double click this newvalue and enter the following:
Also create an INCLUDE key with value C:masm32include;C:Irvine and aLIB key with value C:masm32lib;C:Irvine. (If you are just trying to runmasm on *nix and aren't using Irvine's book, then you can omit the C:Irvineparts of those keys.)
At this point, you can call masm without needing to specify full binary orinclude paths:
Write a bash function to easily assemble/link/run .asm files
At this point, we could be done. However, specifying all the masm flags canbecome a pain, and we could easily write a bash function to take care of this.In my ~/.bash_profile, I have the following:
Feel free to tweak this function as necessary.
Once you 'reload' your bash profile (. ~/.bash_profile), you canassemble/link/run .asm files in one command:
Conclusion
At this point, the installation is complete, and you should be able to run theMASM assembler:
Download and extract Irvine's files (optional)
If you are using Irvine's textbook, you will want to download his example andinclude files. The files are available on his website athttp://www.kipirvine.com/asm/examples/index.htm. I am using the 5th editiontextbook, so I downloaded the files fromhttp://www.kipirvine.com/asm/examples/IrvineExamplesVS2008.zip:
Irvine provides some scripts that (quite irritatingly/inflexibly) expect thisdownload to be extracted to C:Irvine:
If you are using a newer edition of the book, the example files are packaged ina .msi installer. You can download/extract as follows:
Accept all the default options.
Set environment variables
We need to set the Windows PATH, INCLUDE, and LIB environment variables so thatwhen we are assmebling/linking, we can find the MASM binaries/includes/sharedlibraries more easily. To do this, open regedit:
Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Environment. Add a new string value (right clickthe right-hand pane, New > String Value) named PATH. Double click this newvalue and enter the following:
Also create an INCLUDE key with value C:masm32include;C:Irvine and aLIB key with value C:masm32lib;C:Irvine. (If you are just trying to runmasm on *nix and aren't using Irvine's book, then you can omit the C:Irvineparts of those keys.)
At this point, you can call masm without needing to specify full binary orinclude paths:
Write a bash function to easily assemble/link/run .asm files
At this point, we could be done. However, specifying all the masm flags canbecome a pain, and we could easily write a bash function to take care of this.In my ~/.bash_profile, I have the following:
Feel free to tweak this function as necessary.
Once you 'reload' your bash profile (. ~/.bash_profile), you canassemble/link/run .asm files in one command:
Conclusion
Wine is really handy when it works – and it works quite well in this case,without any DLL overrides or fancy configuration or what not. We are able to runMASM and assembled binaries with little overhead, and we can use our host shellsand editors without needing any fancy tricks!
