Virtual Expression2 PC - Wiremod ALX E2 PC & OS - CHIP-8 Emulator, JPG / GIF / PNG / BMP Image Readers, Midi Player, ZIP Reader

ALX PC — Virtual PC for Wiremod Expression 2

Build your own virtual PC from individual components, boot it, manage files, run programs and games, view images from the Internet, play MIDI files, and connect your PCs together over the virtual network.

ALX PC is a fully functional computer built entirely in Wiremod Expression 2.

It provides its own simplified computer architecture with modular hardware, BIOS, storage, filesystem, networking, graphics, multimedia and applications. Everything is implemented in Expression 2 and designed specifically for the Wiremod environment.

The addon also includes standalone image readers for BMP, JPEG, GIF and PNG, a MIDI player, a Starfall BMP Reader and CHIP-8 Emulator.

Important

Because this addon is distributed as AdvDupe2 files, the alx_pc_readonly folder shown in the AdvDupe2 file browser is READ-ONLY. You cannot save files there.

If you want to access or modify the Expression 2 source code, visit the GitHub repository.

Getting Started

Want to build your first ALX PC? Follow the ALX PC Assembly Guide for step-by-step instructions.

Links

GitHub: github.com/AlexALX/wiremod_e2_os Documentation: GitHub Wiki Bug Reports: GitHub Issues More Screenshots: Imgur Video: YouTube Video (Russian): YouTube Version 1.3 Update Video: YouTube

Features

• Virtual PC assembled from individual components.
• Virtual motherboard with PCIe, PCI and other expansion sockets.
• Virtual hardware including CD drives, HDDs, USB devices, cables and PCIe/PCI cards.
• Virtual BIOS with a complete boot sequence.
• WM1 File System - low-level filesystem designed for wire DHDDs and EEPROMs.
• WCD File System - filesystem used for Wiremod CD discs.
• CHIP-8 Emulator - supports CHIP-8, Super-CHIP, and XO-CHIP specifications with dual resolution modes (up to 128×64), 4-color multi-plane graphics, hardware scrolling, dynamic audio pitch shifting, and local multiplayer.
• E2 BMP Reader - outputs images to a Digital Screen up to 512×512 or a Quad Digital Screen up to 1024×1024.
• E2 JPEG Reader - supports Baseline and Progressive JPEG.
• E2 GIF Reader - supports animated GIFs.
• E2 PNG Reader - for loading PNG images.
• MIDI Player with three playback modes: Synth, Instrumental and Addon.
• E2 ZIP Reader for ALX PC.
• Built-in programs including Console, Burning Software, File Manager, Network Chat and Partition Manager.
• Console with support for drawing on Wiremod Console Screens and Digital Screens.
• Mini-games including Flappy Bird, Pong and Snake.
• ALX OS E2 Executables - runs custom .e2z, .e2p and .e2r executable formats on the Remote Executor PCI board using the RemoteUpload extension.
• DOS-style file management interface for directory listing and file management.
• Text Viewer for viewing text files.
• Networking for communication between ALX PCs.
• Satellite Internet device providing access to the real Internet through the E2 HTTP extension, including file downloading.
• Network devices including switches, routers, laser transceivers and two-way radio devices.
• Basic GFX library for rendering text on Digital Screens.
• ZGPU Image Renderer providing an E2 → ZASM graphics bridge.
• Standalone image readers for BMP, JPEG, GIF and PNG.
• Standalone MIDI player.
• Standalone Starfall BMP Reader.
• Standalone CHIP-8 Emulator.
• And some other features and devices.

Advanced Engineering Highlights

This project pushes Expression 2 to its absolute limits, implementing complex low-level systems entirely from scratch:

• Custom Binary Parsers - Native E2 decoders for Progressive JPG, animated GIF, PNG, BMP and standard MIDI files.
• CHIP-8 Interpreter - A low-level emulator for CHIP-8, Super-CHIP, and XO-CHIP architectures, featuring 4-color multi-plane graphics, hardware scrolling, and dynamic audio pitch shifting.
• Multi-Channel MIDI Synthesizer - Advanced player with 3 playback modes.
• Low-Level File Systems - Custom WM1 and WCD storage architectures for virtual HDDs and CD-ROMs.
• Modular Component Architecture - Custom interconnection layer using Expression 2 Data Signals to simulate motherboard slots, BIOS and boot sequence.
• Network & Router Simulation - Multi-device routing stack featuring virtual switches, laser transceivers and a real-world HTTP gateway.
• State Machine Architecture - Execution splitting across server ticks using finite-state machines to safely handle heavy logic without exceeding E2 Tick Quota and Ops limits.

Recommended Settings

The following settings are recommended for running ALX PC. These values can be increased if needed.

These settings are not required for installation, but can improve performance or enable additional features.

Entity limits in multiplayer

sbox_maxwire_plugs 50
sbox_maxwire_sockets 50

Expression2 settings

For unlimited quota:

wire_expression2_unlimited 1

Alternatively, use higher quota limits:

wire_expression2_quotatick 300000
wire_expression2_quotasoft 300000
wire_expression2_unlimited 0