Homebrew Install RetroArch?

chalupabatman · Aug 20, 2017

I am a bit confused on how to install this retroarch emulation on my Wii U. I have a raspberry pi 3 set-up with retorarch and retropi and emulating, but it would be much better if I could do it on my wii u!

I found the guide here:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/retroarch-wiiu-wip.447670/

And I went to the download and downloaded this file:
https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/1.6.7/nintendo/wii/

However - unless I am completely blind, I do not see how to actually install this on my system/?

Marc1984 · Aug 20, 2017

chalupabatman said:
I am a bit confused on how to install this retroarch emulation on my Wii U. I have a raspberry pi 3 set-up with retorarch and retropi and emulating, but it would be much better if I could do it on my wii u!

I found the guide here:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/retroarch-wiiu-wip.447670/

And I went to the download and downloaded this file:
https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/1.6.7/nintendo/wii/

However - unless I am completely blind, I do not see how to actually install this on my system/?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I agree 100% I've been beating my head on the wall for 3 weeks on this. Setup is convoluted to say the least! Is there a template somewhere as far has SD configuration? Any help would be much appreciated!

Corredor · Aug 21, 2017

There are two versions: .elf and .rpx. If the version of HBL is lower than 1.4, you must use .elf version, otherwise it is preferable to use .rpx. After you extract the file to the root of your SD card, you'll have this file structure:

\ (root)

\retroarch

\cores

\info
a lot of .rpx or .elf files

\wiiu

\apps

\a lot of folders*

name_of_the_folder.rpx or name_of_the_folder.elf (e.g., retroarch.rpx)
icon.png
meta.xml

* If you want to load the cores in retroarch app, instead of launching them in HBL, you can keep only retroarch folder inside of \wiiu\apps (and obviously \retroarch folder in the root of your SD card).

chalupabatman · Aug 21, 2017

@Corredor - I will have to check which version of HBL I just installed, but out of curiosity why are the .rpx preferred over the .elf? I use .elf for everything else that I can think of related to HBL

Marc1984 · Aug 21, 2017

Corredor said:
There are two versions: .elf and .rpx. If the version of HBL is lower than 1.4, you must use .elf version, otherwise it is preferable to use .rpx. After you extract the file to the root of your SD card, you'll have this file structure:

\ (root)

\retroarch

\cores

\info
a lot of .rpx or .elf files
\wiiu

\apps

\a lot of folders*

name_of_the_folder.rpx or name_of_the_folder.elf (e.g., retroarch.rpx)
icon.png
meta.xml

* If you want to load the cores in retroarch app, instead of launching them in HBL, you can keep only retroarch folder inside of \wiiu\apps (and obviously \retroarch folder in the root of your SD card).

I'll try this tonight when I get back from work. As far as background etc do they "auto-populate?" Like if I do the auto update for the cores, will it pull all necessary files?

Marc1984 · Aug 21, 2017

*update* now I just get a USB error of sorts.... smh

Corredor · Aug 21, 2017

chalupabatman said:
@Corredor - I will have to check which version of HBL I just installed, but out of curiosity why are the .rpx preferred over the .elf? I use .elf for everything else that I can think of related to HBL

RPX is the native executable file for Wii U.

Marc1984 said:
I'll try this tonight when I get back from work. As far as background etc do they "auto-populate?" Like if I do the auto update for the cores, will it pull all necessary files?

You can download the assets in Retroarch app or extract the assets files from PC to the folder SD:/retroarch/media/ (folder /media is created after you boot Retroarch for the first time).

Marc1984 said:
*update* now I just get a USB error of sorts.... smh

What's the error? If the latest version crashes, you can try older (stable) versions. I'm using 1.6.0: https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/1.6.0/nintendo/wiiu/

Marc1984 · Aug 21, 2017

I have teamviewer installed if someone wants to help me make sense of this

Corredor said:
RPX is the native executable file for Wii U.

You can download the assets in Retroarch app or extract the assets files from PC to the folder SD:/retroarch/media/ (folder /media is created after you boot Retroarch for the first time).

What's the error? If the latest version crashes, you can try older (stable) versions. I'm using 1.6.0: https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/1.6.0/nintendo/wiiu/

I think I'm using 1.5.4 it's the version available via the Homebrew store. Is that not a good one to use? Also, how do I load roms so that they display box art?

ploggy · Aug 21, 2017

Marc1984 said:
I have teamviewer installed if someone wants to help me make sense of this

I think I'm using 1.5.4 it's the version available via the Homebrew store. Is that not a good one to use? Also, how do I load roms so that they display box art?

If you want the newest version available (called nightlys) go here: https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/nintendo/wiiu/ and download the latest "RPX.7zip" close to the bottom of the page

the_randomizer · Aug 21, 2017

ploggy said:
If you want the newest version available (called nightlys) got here: https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/nintendo/wiiu/ and download the latest "RPX.7zip" close to the bottom of the page

Keep in mind nightly builds can be more unstable

ploggy · Aug 21, 2017

the_randomizer said:
Keep in mind nightly builds can be more unstable

thats true, but in most cases so are the stable's lol

[off topic: BTW im a member of the switch club too

Got 1 today]

reminon · Aug 21, 2017

Corredor said:
There are two versions: .elf and .rpx. If the version of HBL is lower than 1.4, you must use .elf version, otherwise it is preferable to use .rpx. After you extract the file to the root of your SD card, you'll have this file structure:

\ (root)

\retroarch

\cores

\info
a lot of .rpx or .elf files
\wiiu

\apps

\a lot of folders*

name_of_the_folder.rpx or name_of_the_folder.elf (e.g., retroarch.rpx)
icon.png
meta.xml

* If you want to load the cores in retroarch app, instead of launching them in HBL, you can keep only retroarch folder inside of \wiiu\apps (and obviously \retroarch folder in the root of your SD card).

I can never get the rpx version to work while trying to use just the retroarch folder in apps, and the other retroarch folder with the cores on SD root.

Marc1984 · Aug 21, 2017

How do I get the box art to display and such?

reminon · Aug 21, 2017

Marc1984 said:
How do I get the box art to display and such?

Should just have to scan the rom directory...if the roms match the rom database that retroarch uses it'll add them to categories by console...with boxart

Marc1984 · Aug 22, 2017

reminon said:
Should just have to scan the rom directory...if the roms match the rom database that retroarch uses it'll add them to categories by console...with boxart

So, your suggesting I make a folder in the root of my SD and name said folder roms? I promise I'm not dumb, it's just there is little to none info on how to make this work on Wii U. Thank you everyone for all your input! Feel like you guys have me in the right direction and I'll try the newer stable build. I assume you mean the one on libretro.com, but we all know where assuming gets us

reminon · Aug 22, 2017

Marc1984 said:
So, your suggesting I make a folder in the root of my SD and name said folder roms? I promise I'm not dumb, it's just there is little to none info on how to make this work on Wii U. Thank you everyone for all your input! Feel like you guys have me in the right direction and I'll try the newer stable build. I assume you mean the one on libretro.com, but we all know where assuming gets us

I usually have a "roms" folder on SD root...and in that I have a folder for each system that I put my roms in. For example /roms/snes/

Marc1984 · Aug 22, 2017

Progress has been made, all thanks to you guys!!! I got the SNES 9x to load last night! However, I could not get the retro arch app to load and it would only go to a black screen. Also, should I leave rom files in zip folder or extract?

reminon · Aug 22, 2017

Marc1984 said:
Progress has been made, all thanks to you guys!!! I got the SNES 9x to load last night! However, I could not get the retro arch app to load and it would only go to a black screen. Also, should I leave rom files in zip folder or extract?

I suppose it's personal preference, but I always unzip them...also roms from the no intro romsets have a better chance of being recognized by retroarch while scanning, rather than random roms from the net. The black screen is what I was referring to when I said I could never get the rpx version going.

comput3rus3r · Aug 22, 2017

Marc1984 said:
Progress has been made, all thanks to you guys!!! I got the SNES 9x to load last night! However, I could not get the retro arch app to load and it would only go to a black screen. Also, should I leave rom files in zip folder or extract?

I would like to know this also.

AzerothArg · Aug 22, 2017

Marc1984 said:
Progress has been made, all thanks to you guys!!! I got the SNES 9x to load last night! However, I could not get the retro arch app to load and it would only go to a black screen. Also, should I leave rom files in zip folder or extract?

reminon said:
I suppose it's personal preference, but I always unzip them...also roms from the no intro romsets have a better chance of being recognized by retroarch while scanning, rather than random roms from the net. The black screen is what I was referring to when I said I could never get the rpx version going.

comput3rus3r said:
I would like to know this also.

Check that you are using hbl 1.4. If so, you can try replacing retroarch.rpx on the wiiu/apps/retroarch folder with any of the cores in retroarch folder, simply copy the core (I use mgba, is the one I use the most) and rename it to retroarch.rpx.

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