PS5_MihawkOS-v1.0.0-alpha-1

MihawkOS v1.0.0-alpha-1

Windows programs on a PlayStation 5, started from a desktop of their own. MihawkOS is a homebrew title for
consoles that already run homebrew. It has a Wine runtime underneath (DXVK and VKD3D-Proton for Direct3D, Mesa's Zink
for OpenGL), and Mihawk OS on top: a Windows 11-style desktop with a taskbar, Start, File Explorer and a web browser.

This is the first alpha. It is experimental: expect rough edges, and treat every session as one that can hang the
console (see Known issues).

What was shown on the console

On a PS5 Pro on firmware 10.01, the only console it has run on:

• 64-bit programs, and 32-bit ones natively through WoW64; up to eight at once, with their child processes.
• Direct3D 11 through DXVK, Direct3D 12 through VKD3D-Proton, OpenGL through Zink. Game Mode hands a full-screen game
  the screen directly.
• The DualSense through XInput, the touchpad as a pointer, USB keyboard and mouse; sound through the title's mixer.
• Name lookups, HTTP and strict HTTPS from Windows programs.
• The desktop: taskbar, Start with search and pins, File Explorer, a desktop folder view, and a shortcut for each
  folder in C:\Games with one program at its top. MihawkBrowser, the desktop's own browser.
• PS5 system notifications when something goes wrong, repeated in the launcher afterwards, and a memory guard that
  closes a runaway program before the console stalls.

This release's own runs, 2026-10-19:

• A first install from nothing, of this exact build, on a freshly restarted PS5
  (first-install-unattended-2026-10-19-05):
  • The title folder was copied in, with no /data/ps5proton and no dev.conf. MihawkOS set them up and was granted
    /data access.
  • The guided setup checked the USB drive and installed the runtime from it: 143 pieces, 2,535 files, 1.55 GB in
    46 s.
  • The first Mihawk OS session showed the "Building your Windows drive" screen for its whole 102 s, through all
    three stages (1,008 frames), built the Windows prefix and ended by itself.
  • The setup finished, and a desktop session ran and logged off cleanly.
  • The setup's presses came from a script. An earlier first install, walked by hand with the DualSense, passed every
    step. In an earlier run, an install stopped by a USB drive dropping off resumed on the next try.
• Old 32-bit installers fixed at 0x400000 (run free-0x400000-narrow-2026-10-19-01, same code):
  • A fixed-base test program loaded at 0x400000.
  • The 32-bit and 64-bit cases passed, with 32-bit sound and controller unchanged.
  • A real launcher's NSIS installer installed in silent mode. That run's verdict is FAIL over one fallback; see
    Known issues.
• Full console test battery on this exact build: 93 of 94 cases passed (gate-release-2026-10-19-01). The 94th, a stress test that ends threads in the
  middle of a code conversion, ran correctly (300 kills, none stuck). Its result line was garbled in the log, so the
  battery could not read it and counts it as failed. That parser bug is fixed next, with a full rerun.

It is not a compatibility list: each program needs its own evidence.

Not shown on the console yet:

• installing over HTTPS;
• signed self-updates;
• an old installer driven through its own windows.

Requirements

• A PS5 Pro on firmware 10.01. A standard PS5, a Slim and any other firmware are untested.
• A console that already runs homebrew. On every cold boot, load your console's homebrew enabler (the tested
  console uses kstuff), then elfldr and websrv on port 8080. websrv is required: MihawkOS starts its /data access
  service and every Windows program through it. Don't load a Lapy daemon of your own: MihawkOS brings and starts its
  own. Never load OnionHEN. MihawkOS does not provide, link or explain a jailbreak.
• ShadowMountPlus, your own copy of the stock upstream release (tested: 1.7beta4), to mount the title. MihawkOS
  does not ship or change it.
• A USB drive of at least 1 GB, formatted exFAT or FAT32 with an MBR partition table (not GPT, not NTFS).
• About 3.5 GB free on /data: 1.55 GB for the runtime and about 1.3 GB for the Mihawk OS prefix once used,
  before any game.
• Your own programs and games. Nothing here contains, fetches or shares game data, keys or firmware.

Install

1. Download PS5_MihawkOS-v1.0.0-alpha-1-PPSA99170.zip and PS5_MihawkOS-v1.0.0-alpha-1-usb-mihawkos.zip, and
   check them against PS5_MihawkOS-v1.0.0-alpha-1-zips.sha256. PS5_MihawkOS-v1.0.0-alpha-1-SHA256SUMS lists every
   file inside.
2. Copy the title: unzip the first zip and put the PPSA99170 folder in /data/homebrew/ on the console (over
   FTP from a phone or a PC, or with a file manager). ShadowMountPlus needs up to about 45 s to register it.
3. Prepare the USB drive: unzip the second zip and copy the mihawkos folder to the top of the drive, not inside
   another folder. Step by step for Windows, macOS and Linux: docs/INSTALL_USB.md (the page the setup's QR code
   opens).
4. Plug the drive into the PS5 and open MihawkOS from the home screen. The guided setup starts: choose a
   language, then the USB drive. It checks the drive and installs the runtime (about a minute). Then the first
   Mihawk OS session builds the desktop's Windows drive (about a minute) and comes back to the setup by itself. Don't
   open a game in that first session.
5. Add programs: copy each program's folder into /data/ps5proton/prefixes/mihawk/drive_c/Games/<Name>
   (C:\Games\<Name>). A folder with one program at its top gets a desktop shortcut in the next session; others need
   a game.json (README, "Adding programs").

Settings has "Check for updates", but no signed update is published for this alpha yet.

Known issues

• Old 32-bit installers that can load only at 0x400000 (many NSIS setup programs) now start: only their helper
  frees that address. One real launcher installer was run in silent mode and installed. Not yet tested: an installer
  driven through its own windows, and sound or controller inside such a program. One open fault: making part of the freed
  range executable can fail (the tested installer didn't need it). A program that runs code there could stop in a way
  only a PS5 restart clears.
• Other homebrew may not start after MihawkOS closes: a known issue with stock ShadowMountPlus 1.7beta4 on 10.01.
  Restart the PS5. MihawkOS waits for an upstream fix.
• No controller in a game started in a brand-new prefix's first session. End the session and start the game
  again. The cause is still open.
• A USB drive that disconnects during the install stops it with a read error. Plug the drive into another port
  (or use another drive) and start the install again: it resumes where it stopped.
• A console hang is possible. If it hangs, wait at least 3 minutes before cutting power. Never use rest mode: it
  unloads the payloads.
• "A program could not start … Restart the PS5": the boot's pipe memory is used up, which only a restart frees.
• A black screen in a game: turn Game Mode off in Settings and relaunch.
• Not supported: kernel drivers and anti-cheat, rumble, moving the desktop focus with the D-pad.

Licences and source

MihawkOS is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. The title as distributed is GPL-3.0:
it links the GPL-3.0-or-later platform layer and launcher UI kit. Each component keeps its own licence. The Wine
runtime and its patch series are LGPL-2.1-or-later. DXVK is zlib. VKD3D-Proton, GnuTLS and FFmpeg are LGPL. Mesa is
MIT. The PS5 OpenGL SDK is GPL-3.0-or-later. The Chromium Embedded Framework is BSD-3-Clause. Wine Mono is MIT with
component notices, and Wine Gecko is MPL-2.0. Every licence text ships with the binaries: the title's licenses/ and
assets' LICENSES/, and the runtime's share/licenses/. The full list, with every pin, is NOTICE.md.

Where the source is. The complete corresponding source of this release is the PS5_MihawkOS repository at tag
v1.0.0-alpha-1, commit 4ae29c8d42a031d2162c6385d32f997beed05c32. That one commit is the exact tree this release was built from. It holds this
project's code, every patch MihawkOS applies to an upstream project (the Wine series in wine/patches/, and the
graphics and DXVK series in platform/), and the build scripts. The scripts pin every other input by revision or
SHA-256 and fetch it from its public home. For the source of an upstream component, build the release from that commit
by its README's steps; or take the pinned revision named in NOTICE.md from its public repository. Wine,
wine-staging, DXVK and VKD3D-Proton are at their upstream repositories. GE-Proton is in mihawk-99/proton-ge-custom.
Mesa (RADV and Zink) is in mihawk-99/PS5_Mesa, and the RADV recipe is in mihawk-99/PS5_Vulkan. The platform layer is
in mihawk-99/PS5_PayloadSDK, and the launcher UI kit in mihawk-99/PS5_VKHomebrewUI. The Lapy daemon is
mpereiraesaa/PS5-Lapy-JB-Daemon, the PRX tools are mpereiraesaa/ps5-native-app-boilerplate, and the OpenGL SDK is
blackbearreloaded/ps5-opengl. The tarball-pinned inputs (GnuTLS, Nettle, FFmpeg, FreeType, Mbed TLS, Monocypher, Wine
Mono, Wine Gecko and CEF) come from the official URLs in the build scripts. All of these were public at the pinned
revisions on 2026-10-19.

Legal

MihawkOS is an independent hobby project. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Sony Interactive
Entertainment, Microsoft, Valve or any game publisher. PlayStation, PS5 and DualSense are trademarks of Sony
Interactive Entertainment Inc.; Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Proton is a trademark of Valve
Corporation. Mihawk OS contains no proprietary Microsoft code, fonts, icons, wallpapers or sounds, and no Windows logo.
This release contains no game files, saves, keys, firmware or exploits. You are responsible for having the right to
the programs you run, ...