Homebrew Retroarch Emulation Thread (Nightly Builds Included)

[Stack3r]

*READ THIS AREA BEFORE POSTING AND ALWAYS POST YOUR SETUP (console, firmware, 3dsx/cia/.3ds)*​

This thread will be updated whenever needed and also when time allows, any issues or updates please feel free to send to me directly. Thanks for viewing! - Stack3r

This thread is about nightly builds, stable builds or even alpha versions of RetroArch, it aims to supply bug reports for devs for proper revisions and support.

*New quick install guide here*

- You will want to use this guide to verify that your 3DS console is properly setup for homebrew and custom firmware

Useful links, troubleshooting, and tips at the end

We would like to keep the discussions here as friendly as possible, and if you think you can contribute in any constructive way, be it for the devs, about the info in the opening post, or in any way you can we encourage you to do so

*You have read and agreed to the forum Terms of Service : don't ask for roms or bios files*

CHECK YOUR ROMS ON RETROARCH PC WITH THE SAME CORE BEFORE ASKING FOR SUPPORT HERE (ESPECIALLY WITH MAME 2000/2003, FBA)

Having sufficient prior knowledge about the actual system you're trying to emulate will benefit you, helping with this is not the goal of this thread. (We are sure you can find those answers elsewhere, be it Google or Youtube, MAME/FBA forums, etc)

(If you want to run IPS patched/hacked/translated roms, please also try them on RetroArch on PC/Mac, since the 3DS doesn't provide the most accurate emulation cores)

Latest Stable Build 1.9.6: LINK
Latest Nightly Builds: LINK

CATSFC SNES Emulator Demonstration

Best core compatibility for your system: *Subject to change with updates
"If you're using .3dsx cores, support will only be provided on 2.7 hax or latest."

As you know, the specs on the systems (old 3ds, 2ds and new 3ds) are quite different, so this can result in some cores running better than others. Below is a list of cores that are best suited for your system to help you obtain the best gaming experience possible.

3DSX builds confirmed working on *Hax 2.7 (Includes Menuhax, Browserhax, etc.) on the latest firmwares.

CIA builds are confirmed working on firmware 9.2 and above. ON EMUNAND AND A9LH

.3DS Rom builds are confirmed working on firmware 9.2 and above WITH GATEWAY
-WE RECOMMEND EXTRACTING THE .3DS ROMS WITH EXTRACTION SOFTWARE TO YOUR SD CARD OR THIS COULD LEAD TO FRAGMENTATION ERRORS
(SKY3DS WILL NEVER SUPPORT THESE)
(PERFORMANCE IS THE SAME AS CIA)

Key:
*: High framerates or around full playable compatibility
-: Playable or struggles with
compatibility
x: Not playable at all, not enough frames

*Catsfc Plus has better sound quality but at the cost of performance
*FBA Roms can take several minutes to load, so be patient. If you get an error talking about ram that means the rom will not load on your system due to the size being too big. Expected ROMSET should be v0.2.97.36, if its not working you either have a bad rom or its from the wrong set.

​

Old 3DS: *If your running on firmware 9.2 or above you want to use the .cia versions of the following due to kernel hax, otherwise use .3dsx

Spoiler: Emulators

• Fceumm (NES emulator)*

• Gambatte (GB/GBC emulator)*

• Quicknes (NES emulator)*

• Catsfc (SNES emulator)x (use latest BlargSnes instead (yes, it's compatible with 2.7Hax))

• *fb alpha cps1 (Capcom Playsystem 1 emulator)-

• *fb alpha cps2 (Capcom Playsystem 2 emulator)-

• *fb_alpha_neo_libretro (NeoGeo AES/MVS (not CD) emulator)-

• gpsp (GBA emulator)-

• mgba (GBA emulator)-

• mednafen pce (PC Engine TurboGrafx16 emulator)*

• Genesis plus px (Sega Genesis emulator)*

• nxengine (Cave Story)* (runs a .exe)

• mednafen wswan (Wonderswan emulator)*

• mednafen vb (Virtual Boy, .cia is needed for this one)x

• fmsx (FMSX PC emulator)* (thanks Daxtsu for the port)

• 2048 (2048 numbers game)*

​

New 3DS: *If your running on firmware 9.2 or above you want to use the .cia versions of the following due to kernel hax, otherwise use .3dsx and you should be fine on N3DS. Also most of the emulators above will work.

Spoiler: Emulators

• Nestopia (NES emulator)*

• Catsfc (SNES emulator) (most games are fullspeed, unless you try chipset specific games)*

• *Catsfc Plus (SNES emulator)-

• snes9x (SNES emulator)-

• *fb alpha cps1 (Capcom Playsystem 1 emulator)*

• *fb alpha cps2 (Capcom Playsystem 2 emulator)*

• *fb_alpha_neo_libretro (NeoGeo AES/MVS (not CD) emulator)* (try running clones/bootlegs for the biggest roms, like kf2K3bla for KOF2003) thanks @wangtang32000 and @duwen

• gpsp (GBA emulator)*

• mgba (GBA emulator)-

• mednafen pce (TurboGrafx16 emulator)*

• Genesis plus px (Sega Genesis emulator)*

• nxengine (Cave Story)* (runs a .exe)

• mednafen wswan (Wonderswan emulator)*

• mednafen vb (Virtual Boy, .cia is needed for this one)x

• fmsx (FMSX PC emulator)* (thanks @daxtsu for the port)

• 2048 (2048 numbers game)*

Cores that require BIOS: (needs to be the right file, with the right name, at the right place)
Gpsp - (retroarch/cores/system)

• gba_bios.bin (16384 bytes large, MD5 sum: a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6) (IT'S EASY TO FIND A FAULTY BIOS, SO PLEASE CHECK)

Sega CD - Location retroarch/cores/system

Spoiler: BIOS Names

• bios_CD_E.bin (MegaCD EU BIOS)

• bios_CD_U.bin (SegaCD US BIOS)

• bios_CD_J.bin (MegaCD JP BIOS)

(USE FULL CD images for this emulator)

PC Engine - Location retroarch/cores/system

• syscard3.pce (PCE-CD BIOS)

(USE FULL CD images for this emulator)

NeoGeo - Location : next to your roms (compatible with unibios 3.1 : Core Options>NeoGeo UniBIOS Enabled)

• neogeo.zip

(Side note : make sure you understand the concept of romset version and clones or child/parent rom system, clone or child roms are usually very small roms, since they contain only differential code from the main/parent rom this applies for other region of the rom or revisions (Street Fighter 2 comes to mind) for example meaning : YOU NEED THE MAIN ROM NEXT TO THE "SMALL" ONE)

MSX - Download Here, Location retroarch/cores/system

Spoiler: Rom Names

• MSX.ROM (MSX BIOS)

• MSX2.ROM (MSX2 BIOS)

• MSX2EXT.ROM (MSX2 ExtROM)

• MSX2P.ROM (MSX2+ BIOS)

• MSX2PEXT.ROM (MSX2+ExtROM)

(You also probably want to set your system to MSX2/MSX2+ :Quick Menu>Core Settings> Machine> MSX2 or MSX2+.Thanks @SeongGino )

*Quick troubleshooting tips*

Spoiler: Tips

- To access the in-game menu, touch the lower part of the lower touch screen
- To turn off the lower screen, touch the upper part of the lower screen (you can also turn off verbosity, which is on by default with nightly builds)
- To run MAME or Full FBA, you will have to create a XML file so homebrew can run the cores under another application such as youtube or monster hunter demo, for ram purposes. Heres the link to the post for how it should be written. LINK (thanks @vague-rant)
- Delete your sd:/retroarch/retroarch.cfg if things aren't working or your controls break (thanks @Rj.MoG)
- Those are nightly, bleeding edge builds, compiled every night at an arbitrary time so newer build might not always or might even be broken so don't be afraid to rollback to an older version if a newer one is broken (thanks @Rj.MoG )
- To use the circle pad/analog pad as Dpad :
General menu > Settings > Input > Input User 1 Binds > User 1 Analog To Digital Type > select "Left analog" or tart a game and then open the emulator menu, go to Core Input Options and change "User 1 Analog to Digital Type" to Left Analog. (Thanks @RegularMoron and @daxtsu )
- To map extra buttons to RetroArch functions : (zL/zR to Save/Load save state or fast forward hold/fast forward/toggle/pause/frame advance on L/R/U/D on C-Stick :
General menu > Settings > Input > input hot key bins > load state (press a button) etc
- For now RetroArch config is shared between core. Save/Load config is broken. just make changes and quit RetroArch (and press start), relaunch RetroArch, your changes should be saved.
(An alternative would be using Configuration Overrides) (thanks @Radius4 )
- If you're using smea's HAX/.3dsx builds, you can hold L+R+Down+B to go back to the Homebrew Launcher, sometimes even if RetroArch crashed.

​

*Important Links*
Libretro Wiki (Go here for most of the common issues): LINK
Retroarch Changelog: LINK
FBA Master Romlist: LINK
Homebrew Launcher: LINK
For CFW users : AGB_Firm Signature Patcher + GBA ROM Converter (GBA ROM Injection) : LINK
Noobs all in one guide for emulators: LINK

I would like to thank @aliaspider and the whole RetroArch team for their hard work
Please show some gratitude here or on their board, also consider subscribing to their Patreon page here: LINK

 

[DogParty]

New thread :0

Anyone have any info on whether Ninjhax 2.5 improved the speed of 3dsx builds? Thanks, y'all!

 

[AtlasFontaine]

This thread is 100 times better, gj

 

[Stack3r]

This thread is 100 times better, gj

Really?

 

[RegularMoron]

Well. That was useless.

 

[Rj.MoG]

You should at least explain common errors and what version of the FBA romset to use. Those were 90% of the questions in the last thread

 

[Stack3r]

Well. That was useless.

Ehh, majority rules. A fresh start is probably whats best anyway plus the original is in the OP at the bottom.

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

You should at least explain common errors and what version of the FBA romset to use. Those were 90% of the questions in the last thread

I will im just at work atm

 

[daxtsu]

Nice opening post, but I have a couple tiny nitpicks:

• "as well" isn't one word (similar to a lot, it's not one word).
• TurboGrafx16 isn't a PC, it's a home console (even if it's called the PC Engine ).

I was going to say fMSX isn't a "PC" emulator, but it's technically right, just not in an IBM PC sense, heh.

Anyway, this is looking good so far.

 

[Rj.MoG]

Also what to name the bios, where they go in the subfolders, common mistakes (like disabling 3ds controls) explain that the fastest fix is to delete your CFG file and to try that before asking any questions. That should be like bolded at the top of the thread. and maybe explain some common problem roms like SM All Stars.

 

[kedest]

Is anyone else experiencing this graphical glitch in DKC1? It only occurs in recent builds. I've tried 26/10 and 24/10. Reverting back to 18/10 fixed problems

I'm wondering if something in my own configuration is causing this, or if this is a glitch in the build itself

 

[Cyan]

I closed the old thread from here https://gbatemp.net/threads/retroarch-nightly-builds-here.396843/
I hope this one will be maintained (and not 200 page of shitpost or war), make it interesting and worth it.

 

[duwen]

You should at least explain common errors and what version of the FBA romset to use. Those were 90% of the questions in the last thread

Things I'd like to see included in the new OP:

• a list of what romset each core requires (where applicable)
• details of which cores require bios roms, what they need to be named, and where they should be placed
• a brief overview of compatibility for the cores
• links (as well as the links already included, and a link back to this thread, perhaps also include a link to the Retroarch wiki)

 

[~Rainbow Mika]

On the O3ds part, you should put a symbol so people will know what cores runs at 60/stable fps (im talking about 3dsx).
Like for example:

*Full Speed
+Decent Speed/playable
-Dont Mind it

Quicknes*
Picodrive*
Genesis Plus GX* (Only SMS/GG)
Gambatte*
fMSX*
mednafen PCE FAST+
CatSFC+
gpSP-
pcsx-
fba cps1 & cps2-
mednafen vb-

 

[Arseface_TM]

details of which cores require bios roms, what they need to be named, and where they should be placed

This alone would prevent most of the new user questions and false bug reports.

I don't think a compatibility list should be made this early, as things change to much.

 

[Stack3r]

Nice opening post, but I have a couple tiny nitpicks:

• "as well" isn't one word (similar to a lot, it's not one word).
• TurboGrafx16 isn't a PC, it's a home console (even if it's called the PC Engine ).

I was going to say fMSX isn't a "PC" emulator, but it's technically right, just not in an IBM PC sense, heh.

Anyway, this is looking good so far.

Thanks, I fixed these issues

 

[Real_Redwolf]

I think that this new thread is necessary since teampleb was banned and can no longer upkeep or maintain the old one.

Also, does the list for the best cores on the o3DS mean for *hax 2.5 or for kernal? By that I mean do all of those work on *hax 2.5 at fullspeed or close to fullspeed now?

 

[duwen]

This alone would prevent most of the new user questions and false bug reports.

I don't think a compatibility list should be made this early, as things change to much.

Yeah, I know - what I meant by 'brief overview of compatibilty' was more like detailing special chips that aren't supported, formats that iso's and archives need to be in, known games that are problematic... that kind of thing.

 

[Stack3r]

I think that this new thread is necessary since teampleb was banned and can no longer upkeep or maintain the old one.

Also, does the list for the best cores on the o3DS mean for *hax 2.5 or for kernal? By that I mean do all of those work on *hax 2.5 at fullspeed or close to fullspeed now?

It means for kernel and what the o3DS can handle right now, kernel hacks runs them close or at fullspeed for o3ds and n3ds

 

[TheCasketMan]

So still no dynarec on 2.5?

 

[Stack3r]

So still no dynarec on 2.5?

As of now that's correct