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Overview

The LV2 system call interface provides direct access to PlayStation 3 kernel services. PSL1GHT defines syscall macros that handle register allocation and invoke the PowerPC sc (system call) instruction.

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Syscall Macros

PSL1GHT provides macros lv2syscall0 through lv2syscall8 for invoking system calls with 0-8 parameters.

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lv2syscall0

Invoke a system call with no parameters. 
lv2syscall0(syscall)
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syscall
u64
required
System call number (e.g., SYSCALL_PROCESS_GETPID)
Example: 
LV2_SYSCALL sysProcessGetPid(void)
{
    lv2syscall0(SYSCALL_PROCESS_GETPID);
    return_to_user_prog(sys_pid_t);
}

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lv2syscall1

Invoke a system call with one parameter. 
lv2syscall1(syscall, a1)
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syscall
u64
required
System call number
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a1
u64
required
First argument (cast to u64)
Example: 
LV2_SYSCALL sysThreadDetach(sys_ppu_thread_t threadid)
{
    lv2syscall1(45, threadid);
    return_to_user_prog(s32);
}

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lv2syscall2

Invoke a system call with two parameters. 
lv2syscall2(syscall, a1, a2)
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syscall
u64
required
System call number
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a1
u64
required
First argument
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a2
u64
required
Second argument
Example: 
LV2_SYSCALL sysThreadJoin(sys_ppu_thread_t threadid, u64 *retval)
{
    lv2syscall2(44, threadid, (u64)retval);
    return_to_user_prog(s32);
}

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lv2syscall3 through lv2syscall8

Similar macros exist for 3-8 parameters:
  • lv2syscall3(syscall, a1, a2, a3)
  • lv2syscall4(syscall, a1, a2, a3, a4)
  • lv2syscall5(syscall, a1, a2, a3, a4, a5)
  • lv2syscall6(syscall, a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6)
  • lv2syscall7(syscall, a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7)
  • lv2syscall8(syscall, a1, a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7, a8)

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Syscall Conventions

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Register Allocation

The syscall macros use PowerPC registers according to the PS3 ABI:
  • r3-r10: Parameters p1-p8
  • r11: System call number
  • Return value in r3 (p1)

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Return Values

Use return_to_user_prog(type) to cast the return value: 
return_to_user_prog(s32);  // Returns (s32)(p1)

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Register Passing

For syscalls that return multiple values in registers: 
#define register_passing_1(type)  (type)(p2)
#define register_passing_2(type)  (type)(p3)
#define register_passing_3(type)  (type)(p4)
// ... up to register_passing_7
Example: 
lv2syscall2(SYSCALL_EVENT_QUEUE_RECEIVE, queue, (u64)event);
REG_PASS_SYS_EVENT_QUEUE_RECEIVE;  // Extract multiple return values
return_to_user_prog(s32);

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Common Syscall Numbers

SyscallNumberDescription
SYSCALL_PROCESS_GETPID1Get process ID
SYSCALL_PROCESS_GETPPID18Get parent process ID
SYSCALL_PROCESS_GET_NUMBER_OF_OBJECT12Get object count
SYSCALL_PROCESS_GET_PPU_GUID31Get PPU GUID
SyscallNumberDescription
SYSCALL_PPU_THREAD_YIELD43Yield CPU
SYSCALL_PPU_THREAD_JOIN44Wait for thread
SYSCALL_PPU_THREAD_DETACH45Detach thread
SYSCALL_PPU_THREAD_SET_PRIORITY47Set priority
SYSCALL_PPU_THREAD_GET_PRIORITY48Get priority
SYSCALL_PPU_THREAD_RENAME56Rename thread
SyscallNumberDescription
SYSCALL_MUTEX_CREATE100Create mutex
SYSCALL_MUTEX_DESTROY101Destroy mutex
SYSCALL_MUTEX_LOCK102Lock mutex
SYSCALL_MUTEX_TRYLOCK103Try lock mutex
SYSCALL_MUTEX_UNLOCK104Unlock mutex
SYSCALL_COND_CREATE105Create condition variable
SYSCALL_COND_DESTROY106Destroy condition variable
SYSCALL_COND_WAIT107Wait on condition
SYSCALL_COND_SIGNAL108Signal one thread
SYSCALL_COND_SIGNAL_ALL109Broadcast to all threads
SyscallNumberDescription
SYSCALL_MEMORY_ALLOCATE348Allocate memory
SYSCALL_MEMORY_FREE349Free memory
SYSCALL_MEMORY_CONTAINER_CREATE324Create container
SYSCALL_MEMORY_CONTAINER_DESTROY325Destroy container
SYSCALL_MMAPPER_ALLOCATE_ADDRESS330Allocate virtual address
SYSCALL_MMAPPER_FREE_ADDRESS331Free virtual address
SYSCALL_MMAPPER_SEARCH_AND_MAP337Map memory region

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Header Files

#include <ppu-lv2.h>      // Syscall macros
#include <lv2/syscalls.h> // Syscall number definitions

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See Also

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