PS5_MihawkOS-v7.1.0-alpha-7

MihawkOS is a passion project, not a piracy project.

It exists so you can play the games you own on the console you own.

• Piracy is not condoned.
• No games, saves, keys, firmware or exploits are included, and they never will be.
• Use only games and programs you have the right to run: your own copies, bought or installed by you.
• Requests for, or links to, games, keys, firmware or exploits are not welcome in this project's issues or discussions.

MihawkOS's own on-screen keyboard. Games inside MihawkOS no longer freeze waiting for input. Updates that say what they're doing.

An update to the seventh alpha of MihawkOS, the homebrew title that runs Windows games on a PS5 from a desktop of their
own, Mihawk OS. It is still experimental. From Alpha 7, update by replacing the PPSA99170 folder (Alpha 7's own
update cannot install it); from 7.1 on, MihawkOS updates itself.

MihawkOS's own on-screen keyboard

• It works on every firmware now. Alpha 7 borrowed the PS5's system keyboard, which cannot be loaded by homebrew on
  firmware 13.60, so the keyboard never opened there. MihawkOS now draws its own.
• At the bottom of the screen, with the game visible above it. Open it during a game the way you chose in Settings,
  Controls (a two-finger touchpad click, L3 + R3, or OPTIONS + touchpad click).
• Frosted Meadow look: see-through frosted glass that shows the game blurred behind it, glossy Aero keys, soap bubbles
  rising at its sides, and a soft light that crosses the glass once after it opens, then at most every 30 seconds, never
  while you are typing.
• Instant. A key press shows on screen 2 to 5 ms later (measured on a standard PS5, firmware 13.60).
• While it is open it costs the game about 3 ms per frame; closed, nothing.

Games inside MihawkOS

• No more freezing until the mouse moves. In Alpha 7, a game inside MihawkOS could stop for seconds at a time, its
  music still playing, until a mouse or controller input arrived. A wake-up meant for input stayed set when no input came,
  so the game's main loop spun on it and its timers never fired. Our own test program shows it: in Alpha 7 its first
  16 ms wait never returned in 3 minutes; in 7.1 every wait came back on time (longest 17 ms). This test is now part of
  every release's checks.
• Clearer crash reports. When a game inside MihawkOS fails to read a part of a file it has mapped into memory, the
  log now says why, so these crashes can be diagnosed from a report.

Updates

• The update line says what it's doing, in your language: checking, downloading (with MB and percent), checking
  the signature, preparing (with percent), ready. If something goes wrong it says why: the update server could not be
  reached, the download stopped, there is not enough space, or the download did not match MihawkOS's signature (it is
  then not used, and MihawkOS stays as it is).
• It checks every time you open MihawkOS from the home screen, at most once an hour, instead of once a day.
  Returning from a game does not check.
• No double check after an update. MihawkOS no longer asks again right after restarting into the new version.
• Updates that start. Alpha 7's updater wrote the new version without permission to run its programs, so the
  updated MihawkOS could not start. 7.1's updater sets it, and reads a new signed file that Alpha 7 never sees.

Played on the console

This release's build was tested on a standard PS5 (firmware 13.60).

• The full test battery of 121 cases on a freshly restarted console: 119 passed and 2 were skipped by a test-network
  setting (v71-fix-gate-base-2026-11-02).
• 7.1 updating itself to a newer test build: it found it, downloaded it (555 MB), checked its signature, switched,
  and the new version started from the switched folder, its programs allowed to run. Its own restart and a return from
  a game did not check again; opening MihawkOS did.
• Updating from Alpha 7 by replacing the folder: on a console set up with Alpha 7 and its runtime, the 7.1 folder was
  copied over the old one. 7.1 topped up its runtime by itself (12 files, 11.7 seconds), every file matched the package,
  its programs were allowed to run, and the prefix and settings were kept.
• The keyboard: its 5 checks pass on the console (opening it, moving and typing, changing pages, closing), with
  2 to 5 ms from a key press to the screen.

Known limits

• Tested on a standard PS5 (firmware 13.60) only. No PS5 Pro was run with this build.
• The input-freeze fix is proven with our test program, not yet with a game. Testers who saw a game freeze until
  they moved the mouse: please try again and send logs.
• Spelunky 2 stays on a black screen: it asks for memory at addresses the PS5 does not give to programs. Under
  investigation.
• The Witcher 3 started from the Mihawk OS desktop closes itself at once. Start it from the library or Files.
• Only one game at a time runs inside MihawkOS. A second game, and 32-bit games, run the old way.
• A game that freezes on its loading screen may not be closed by itself yet: close MihawkOS from the PS button menu.
• Restart the PS5 now and then. Pipe memory runs out after very many program starts; MihawkOS says Restart the
  PS5 when that happens.
• The per-boot setup is yours: your payloads after every cold boot. Never use rest mode with payloads loaded.
• Not supported: DRM such as Denuvo, and anti-cheat such as Easy Anti-Cheat or BattlEye.

Everything else from Alpha 7 still applies.

Installing or updating

From Alpha 7: replace the PPSA99170 folder in /data/homebrew/ with the new one and open MihawkOS: it installs
the new runtime by itself. Alpha 7's automatic update is never offered 7.1: it would install it without permission to
start, so the update is not published for it. From 7.1 on, the automatic update works.

New install, or from Alpha 6: follow Alpha 7's steps
with this release's zip. Back up your saves first when updating.

Your prefix, your games in C:\Games, Steam and your settings are kept.

No games, saves, keys or firmware are supplied. Use only games and programs you have the right to run.

Source, licences and credits

Changes since v7.0.0-alpha-7. Release source: the
complete corresponding source is the repository at that tag. The keyboard's drawing over the game lives in
PS5_Vulkan (66dad9f), pinned by commit. MihawkOS is free software under the
GNU General Public License v3.0 or later; each component keeps its own licence, listed with its pin in NOTICE.md.

Thank you to the testers who sent their logs and videos, which found the keyboard on firmware 13.60, the freeze that
only the mouse could end, and the update line's silent failures; to Skeuoss for Bubble City, whose bubbles now
rise beside the keyboard too; and to the Wine, Proton, DXVK, VKD3D-Proton and Mesa developers.

MihawkOS is an independent hobby project, not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Sony Interactive
Entertainment, Microsoft, Valve, AMD, Capcom, CD PROJEKT RED or any game publisher. PlayStation, PS5 and DualSense are
trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.; Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Steam and Proton are
trademarks of Valve Corporation; Radeon is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. You are responsible for having the
right to the programs you run, and for whether modifying your console is lawful where you live (LEGAL.md).

Ready to get started? Available releases · Installation guide · Source and credits

Ready to get started? Available releases · Installation guide · Source and credits