F-Secure is blocking emulator r39

Johan Kårlin · Post by **Johan Kårlin** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 12:00 pm

For better or worse I am using my work computer to develop for the X16. It is the only computer I have. So far there have been no problems but now my antivirus program, F-Secure, blocks the new release of the emulator. It says it is an "unusual program". I have no problem with earlier versions or any other tool that I use which include VS Code and ACME. Unfortunately (I understand this is a good thing for security reasons) I cannot control F-Secure in any way. Is there something I can do to make the antivirus program accept it?

desertfish · Post by **desertfish** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:45 pm

contact F-Secure to tell them it's a false positive?

(what even does "unusual program" mean...)

Ed Minchau · Post by **Ed Minchau** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:10 pm

I used to get that with Avast - the emulator is an exe file it hadn't seen before. Avast just ran a thorough virus scan the first time I used emulators up to r38. It didn't do it for r39 however. Maybe F-secure can do a virus scan on that program and then allow it? Or you might have to slip the IT guy a bottle of scotch.

SlithyMatt · Post by **SlithyMatt** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 5:47 pm

Can you install the gcc/cc65 build chain and just make your own build?

Johan Kårlin · Post by **Johan Kårlin** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:19 pm

I tried to make a full scan, it didn't help. I think the next step will be to try to make my own build. Last resort, talk to the IT department. In that case I will hope for mercy because I have to be very creative to explain how this relates to my work ...

svenvandevelde · Post by **svenvandevelde** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 9:28 pm

On 4/10/2022 at 2:00 PM, Johan Kårlin said:

For better or worse I am using my work computer to develop for the X16. It is the only computer I have. So far there have been no problems but now my antivirus program, F-Secure, blocks the new release of the emulator. It says it is an "unusual program". I have no problem with earlier versions or any other tool that I use which include VS Code and ACME. Unfortunately (I understand this is a good thing for security reasons) I cannot control F-Secure in any way. Is there something I can do to make the antivirus program accept it?

Reported to BITDEFENDER exactly the same. Funny enough the box16 was compiled on my laptop. The virus hit I get is Gen:Variant.Lazy.160886.

svenvandevelde · Post by **svenvandevelde** » Sun Apr 10, 2022 9:35 pm

On 4/10/2022 at 9:19 PM, Johan Kårlin said:

I tried to make a full scan, it didn't help. I think the next step will be to try to make my own build. Last resort, talk to the IT department. In that case I will hope for mercy because I have to be very creative to explain how this relates to my work ...

Compiling box16 is very easy.

- Download Microsoft Visual studio community.

- run install and select "c++ desktop applications". Nothing else is needed.

- once installed open studio.

- open in studio the box16 project.

- build as "release", so ensure you're not building as "debug".

After the make is finished, search for the created binaries and copy them to your usual box16 folder.

Done

Johan Kårlin · Post by **Johan Kårlin** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:52 pm

On 4/10/2022 at 11:35 PM, svenvandevelde said:

Compiling box16 is very easy.

- Download Microsoft Visual studio community.

[...]

After the make is finished, search for the created binaries and copy them to your usual box16 folder.

Done

Hm, things suddenly got both easier and more complicated. I wasn't aware about box16 but it seems lika a good or actually better alternative. So I downloaded and compiled it, no problem. I copied the r39 rom.bin to the ouput folder. It starts without F-Secure complaining about it, there is some information in a first window but then a completely white and blank window opens and nothing more happens.

Some more questions if you have the paticence:

1. I have VS2022 so I upgraded the project. Maybe I have to install VS2019?

2. Should I compile the latest version of the source files or go for the latest release from last year?

3. Does rom.bin from the official release 39 of the emulator work? (It seems to work.)

4. If I get this working, is it compaitble with the official r39? After all, the reason for doing this is to upgrade my programs to work with this release.

desertfish · Post by **desertfish** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:37 pm

On 4/11/2022 at 2:52 PM, Johan Kårlin said:

then a completely white and blank window opens and nothing more happens.

This has occurred for other people as well, usually it was related to incompatibilities in the integrated graphics card of a laptop. Are you on a laptop? Try forcing the use of the discrete graphics card for box16 (if your laptop has one of these)

svenvandevelde · Post by **svenvandevelde** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 7:10 pm

On 4/11/2022 at 2:52 PM, Johan Kårlin said:

Hm, things suddenly got both easier and more complicated. I wasn't aware about box16 but it seems lika a good or actually better alternative. So I downloaded and compiled it, no problem. I copied the r39 rom.bin to the ouput folder. It starts without F-Secure complaining about it, there is some information in a first window but then a completely white and blank window opens and nothing more happens.

Some more questions if you have the paticence:

1. I have VS2022 so I upgraded the project. Maybe I have to install VS2019?

2. Should I compile the latest version of the source files or go for the latest release from last year?

3. Does rom.bin from the official release 39 of the emulator work? (It seems to work.)

4. If I get this working, is it compaitble with the official r39? After all, the reason for doing this is to upgrade my programs to work with this release.

No worries. You have a lower end graphics card. The solution is to disable the vertical synchronization using the option -vsync none.