Homebrew Retroarch Emulation Thread (Nightly Builds Included)

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*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