Exomizer 2 website

Exomizer is a program that compresses files in a way that tries to be as efficient as possible but still allows them to be decompressed in environments where CPU speed and RAM are limited. For some popular 8-bit computers using 6502 compatible CPUs it can also generate executable files that decompress themselves in memory when run.

The exomizer program itself is a console application written in ANSI-C.

Exomizer operates in two major modes. It has a raw mode that compresses plain files and produces plain files. This mode is used by the raw subcommand. All other subcommands use the second mode. It requires all source files to be targeted to be decrunched at specific addresses in the 16-bit address space of the target computer. In this mode, no file can be larger than 64kB since all data must be addressable using 16-bits. The targeted mode has the following features:

• It reads plain or .prg files to any given address.
• It can produce stand-alone self-decrunching files for the following targets:
  • Commodore VIC20, C64, C16/plus4 and C128
  • Atari 400/800 XL/XE
  • Apple ][+ and //e
  • Oric-1 and Oric Atmos
• It can produce files for both "in memory" and "from disk" decrunching.
• It handles RLE-sequences well, no packer is necessary.
• It is able to link/combine more than one source file into the same crunched target file.

Exomizer version 2.0 has been released and is available for download. Included in the downloadable zip file are the source code and precompiled binaries for DOS and Win32. It also includes a makefile for Gnu make and gcc so it should be easy to build on any system where these tools are available.

Any suggestions, comments and/or bug reports can be sent to me, the author.

• 2013-04-14: Exomizer v2.0.7 released

  Changes since the 2.0.6 release:
  • Bugfixed commodore sfx targets to automatically disable irq when decrunching over system areas. This was reported for the plus4 target by Luca/FIRE. This fix together with moving the decrunch table to zero-page, -Di_table_addr=0x2, allows decrunching $0200-<end of mem> without corruption for all commodore targets except for the vic20-configs that have a memory hole at $0400-$1000.
  • Bugfixed z80 decrunchers from Metalbrain.
  • Bugfixed sfx c16/plus4 target where the default decrunch effect could corrupt memory while decrunching data that covers $0be7, reported by Luca/FIRE.
  • Added feature to sfx-mode that complains if the data it too big to fit in the available memory of the selected target, suggested by Luca/FIRE.
  • Added c16 target, -t 16, like -t4 but with smaller memory, suggested by Luca/FIRE.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. Download it here.

• 2013-01-27: Exomizer v2.0.6 released

  Changes since the 2.0.5 release:
  • Improvements to the z80 decunchers, now smaller and faster.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2013-01-12: Exomizer v2.0.5 released

  Changes since the 2.0.4 release:
  • Added two flags -C, and -M <length>, that trades crunch result for speed. -C enables more imprecise rle matching and -M limits the maximum sequence length. It is now possible to really speed up crunching, even for "worst case"-type files.
  • Now skips the DAG traversing of the final pass if the encoding hasn't changed since the previous pass.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2012-08-16: Exomizer v2.0.4 released

  Changes since the 2.0.3 release:
  • Bug fixed in the z80 decruncher.
  • Enabled complete sfx basic mode support for the Apple II target. This mode and target combination now generates headerless files for easier import into disk images. The included exo20info.txt file contains more details about this.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2012-03-25: Exomizer v2.0.3 released

  Changes since the 2.0.2 release:
  • z80 decruncher improvements by Antonio Villena.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2011-08-19: Exomizer v2.0.2 released

  Changes since the 2.0.1 release:
  • Added 6809-decruncher contributed by Edouard Forler.
  • Fix language errors in the documentation. Thanks to Csabo/LOD.
  • Remove bogus printout about the default decrunch effect when using a custom decrunch effect. Bug reported by Csabo/LOD.
  • Fix bug that prevented the correct error message from showing when trying to combine a basic start and a non rom config for the sfx command. Bug reported by iAN CooG.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2011-02-06: Exomizer v2.0.1 released

  Changes since the 2.0 release:
  • Fixed a bug in the logging framework that caused the desfx command to loop.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2011-01-22: Exomizer v2.0 released

  Changes since the 2.0 beta 7 release:
  • Fixed a bug in sfx decruncher setup where data was copied unnecessary.
  • Added the i_line_number symbol to be able to change the default line number of the basic line of the sfx decruncher.
  • Added various improvements and documentation of the desfx command.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2008-09-08: Exomizer v2.0 beta 7 released

  Changes since the 2.0 beta 6 release:
  • Fixed a bug in the 6502 forward decruncher regarding literal sequences longer than 255 bytes.
  • Added z80 decruncher source code contributed by Metalbrain.
  • Added experimental desfx sub-command to decrunch a sfx-generated file.
  • Fix broken ROM/RAM banking NMI handling for the Atari target of the sfx sub-command.
  • Added flags to customize enter and exit code for the sfx sub-command.
  • Added loading of Oric tap files to the sfx sub-command.
  • Oric 1 target of the sfx sub-command supports starting basic-programs.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2007-01-28: Exomizer v2.0 beta 6 released

  Changes since the 2.0 beta 5 release:
  • Bugfix: sfx -t 128 placed decrunch table at $0334, not at $0b00 where it is supposed to be.
  • Bugfix: sfx -t 128 was unable to bank RAM/ROM properly.
  • Bugfix: Now works when compiled in a setting where unspecified char types are unsigned.
  • Added experimental Oric 1 target to the sfx command. (not properly tested, comments are welcome)
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2006-10-08: Exomizer v2.0 beta 5 released

  Changes since the 2.0 beta 4 release:
  • New option -f to the mem and level sub commands that enables forward crunching.
  • Added a forward decruncher contributed by Krill / Plush.
  • Fixed a bug that made the sfx sub command fail on big endian architectures.
  • Added a dasm syntax version of exodecrunch.s.
  • Changed exodecrunch.s to support literal sequences by default.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2006-07-08: Exomizer v2.0 beta 4 released

  Changes since the 2.0 beta 3 release:
  • Change email address.
  • Don't use setjmp/longjmp due to obscure bug when building using mingw with -O3 -fomit-frame-pointer.
  • Add multipass functionality to the assembler in order to be able to do more complex things in the decruncher source.
  • Fix the sfx decruncher to work for a wider range of i_load_addr values.
  • Add optional offset,len for raw command file reading.
  A complete changelog is included in the zip file. (download removed)

• 2005-11-14: Exomizer v2.0 beta 3 released

  First public 2.x beta release. (Download removed)

If you're looking for builds for other operating systems, here's some external links:

• Exomizer built for AmigaOS 4 is available for download here.
• Exomizer port for MorphOS is available for download here.

For older releases, see the old website here.

Latest update 2013-04-15.