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RETROARCH - The all-in-one emulator dreams are made of, son

Palom

Member
I was trying to update my install of Retroarch, and it's all kinds of messed up now. I'm using the Windows x64 version.

I downloaded the 12-26 nightly build (12-27 and 12-23 versions are empty), but was getting an error message about missing DLL files (avcodec-57.dll, among others). Unfortunately, the redistribution archive in the x64 nightly directory is empty. There's a "mini" archive, but it only has libwinpthread-1.dll in it. I tried downloading the redistribution package from the x86 version, but it has avcodec-56.dll, not avcodec-57.dll that I was getting the error message about. The Retroarch.7z archive doesn't have any executables or DLLs in it.

So, my install of Retroarch is currently busted, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now to fix it. Go back to the stable version from August?
 

Rufus

Member
So, my install of Retroarch is currently busted, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now to fix it. Go back to the stable version from August?
That would be one solution. First try the complete archive (80MB) from the same folder, it's possible it has everything you need.
 

Palom

Member
That would be one solution. First try the complete archive (80MB) from the same folder, it's possible it has everything you need.
Yeah, that's the Retroarch.7z file. It doesn't have any executables or DLLs or anything. It's just assets, overlays, and shaders, pretty much.

Edit: I seem to have found the missing DLL files. Someone uploaded them to Mega. Seems the buildbot is having issues.
 

Awakened

Member
It still doesn't work...
You're doing something wrong then. I tested that exact core with the exact ppge_atlas.zim file I linked earlier and it worked. That was with nothing but the atlas file in my system\PPSSPP folder too. There are fonts you need in system\PPSSPP\flash0\font to display certain system fonts, but games will still launch fine without those.

Do you have a system folder set in your directory settings? With nightlies and maybe the last stable, RetroArch uses the content directory as the default system directory. So if you don't have one set, it would be a PPSSPP folder inside wherever you have your PSP ISOs.

Also, the core only works with the GL video driver.
 

Alszem

Member
You're doing something wrong then. I tested that exact core with the exact ppge_atlas.zim file I linked earlier and it worked. That was with nothing but the atlas file in my system\PPSSPP folder too. There are fonts you need in system\PPSSPP\flash0\font to display certain system fonts, but games will still launch fine without those.

Do you have a system folder set in your directory settings? With nightlies and maybe the last stable, RetroArch uses the content directory as the default system directory. So if you don't have one set, it would be a PPSSPP folder inside wherever you have your PSP ISOs.

Also, the core only works with the GL video driver.

In system/PPSSPP I have:
/assets
/flash0 (+ the font folder)
ppge_atlas.zim (the one you linked a few posts above)

In Retroarch, here's what I do:
-I load the core (the older version you linked earlier)
-Then, I go to Load Content, Select File and Detect Core
-Find the ROM (I tried copying the ROM files in the PPSSPP folder and it didn't work)
-Open it
-I see "loading rom.iso" for a brief second and then Retroarch crashes.

The directory settings show /Retroarch/system.

I have no idea what I'm doing wrong.
 

Awakened

Member
-Then, I go to Load Content, Select File and Detect Core
Everything besides this sounds right. Can you use the option to just load the ISO with the core, without trying to auto detect which core to use?

Also, can you use other GL based cores like Mupen, Glupen or Reicast? Or just cores in general that require BIOS like Mednafen PSX?
 

Alszem

Member
Everything besides this sounds right. Can you use the option to just load the ISO with the core, without trying to auto detect which core to use?

Also, can you use other GL based cores like Mupen, Glupen or Reicast? Or just cores in general that require BIOS like Mednafen PSX?

Still no success. PPSSPP works fine on its own, which is confusing.

If we're talking about the N64 Mupen core, it does work. I haven't tried the others, though.
 

Awakened

Member
Still no success. PPSSPP works fine on its own, which is confusing.

If we're talking about the N64 Mupen core, it does work. I haven't tried the others, though.
If Mupen works it's probably not a video driver or hardware problem then. I still think the core isn't finding the atlas file. Open retroarch.cfg in a text editor, use CTRL+F to find system_directory and set it to:

system_directory = ".\system"
 

Alszem

Member
If Mupen works it's probably not a video driver or hardware problem then. I still think the core isn't finding the atlas file. Open retroarch.cfg in a text editor, use CTRL+F to find system_directory and set it to:

system_directory = ".\system"

Still not working.

I guess I'll stick with the standalone version. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.
 
What's the current status of the Android build? I remember having a reasonably functional version a little while ago but downloading fresh from the Play Store at the moment delivers one with a busted native Android interface as the only way to access the menus. Should I be using the nightlies or something?
 

dock

Member
Having a bit of trouble finding my ROMs in retroarch on windows 10, as scanning folders doesn't seem to work. Is there a system?
 

Awakened

Member
Having a bit of trouble finding my ROMs in retroarch on windows 10, as scanning folders doesn't seem to work. Is there a system?
I never use the ROM scanning since it only picks up ROMs that match no-intro or redump databases. I have a lot of ROM hacks that I hard patched. There are scripts on the libretro forums that will build playlists with every file in a directory though.

Or you can just load core, load content.
 

Simbabbad

Member
If anybody is interested, I designed 1920x1080 overlays to play RetroArch on a 1080p HDTV:

NES%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

SNES%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

GBC%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

GBA%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

Nintendo%2B64%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

Nintendo%2B64%2B%2528mini%2Boverlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

Mega%2BDrive%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

PlayStation%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

Virtual%2BBoy%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

TurboGrafx-16%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

Atari%2B2600%2B%2528overlay%2529%2BRetroArch.jpg

Supported systems are: NES, SNES, GBC, GBA, N64 (for games with large resolution), N64 (for games with smaller resolution), Genesis, PlayStation.

Those overlays are designed for video settings with "Integer Scale" on, the NES and SNES overlays are designed for a 8:7 aspect ratio, the others are for "Aspect Ratio Index" set on "Core provided".

There are also two corrections for the Game Boy and Nintendo DSi "handheld border" shaders, making them darker to be less intrusive, adding details, removing the artificial light source on the screen, or adjusting some elements (the files are to replace the ones under "resources"):


Finally, I also did 30 MAME artworks for games with bezel design, and 12 generic artworks for various resolutions (224p, 240p, etc.). The idea was to make it so the games are resized at an integer scale, so that effects (scanlines in particular) are perfect. Short sample:


Original bezels were sometimes photoshopped a lot so they looked right in 16:9.

And as a bonus, for people playing the Amiga with WinUAE:


The images were taken at 1920x1080 but were resized by Blogger to 1600x900.

All images and the link to the files are on my dedicated blog page (links are at the very bottom).
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 18827

Unconfirmed Member
Can RetroArch play playstation games off of CD? Or do they have to be ripped?
 

nkarafo

Member
How does retroarch compare to stand alone emulators...i.e ePSX or project64?
IMO Project 64 is superior to any RetroArch core because they are all based on the inferior Mupen emulator.

RetroArch also lacks a good Dreamcast core (Demul is superior to Reicast)

Some cores are also broken on RetroArch. Virtual Jaguar, 4DO and PPSSPP have problems that aren't present in the standalone versions.

For anything else RetroArch is just as good or better.
 
Okay, so I just downloaded the 1.4 version from the website and Windows 10 tells me I can't run this on my PC. Is Retroarch not compatible with Windows 10 x64? It has to be, so maybe I'm just downloading the wrong thing?
 
Okay, so I just downloaded the 1.4 version from the website and Windows 10 tells me I can't run this on my PC. Is Retroarch not compatible with Windows 10 x64? It has to be, so maybe I'm just downloading the wrong thing?

Did you grab buildbot.libretro.com>stable>1.4.0>windows>x86_64>RetroArch.7z?

Were you able to unpack the .7z file with 7-zip?

Was there an error message about missing .DLLs?
 
Did you grab buildbot.libretro.com>stable>1.4.0>windows>x86_64>RetroArch.7z?

Were you able to unpack the .7z file with 7-zip?

Was there an error message about missing .DLLs?

Thank you for your response. Yes, I managed to get it started. Not sure what the issue was.

So I loaded the BSNES Accuracy Core, and it doesn't look like I can go back in menus and actually select anything if I choose the wrong directory. I have my xbox one controller hooked up and an SNES 30 hooked up. Is there a keyboard command for back since the back arrow, when I click it, seems to refresh the directory rather than letting me go back?

Also, I'm playing on a 1440p monitor with Gsync. I'm mainly interested in SNES, Genesis, and MAME stuff. Is there a good scaled resolution to run this in? Also, do my roms need to be unzipped or zipped to load up properly?

Obviously there are a TON of options with this thing, so I'm a bit lost.
 
Is there anything I need to do to have memory cards work correctly in the PCSX Rearmed core?

The PSX game I'm playing saves without error, but loading says that there is no data on the memory card?

Edit: using 1.3.6 not 1.4.0 fixed it
 

jonathon

Neo Member
Any major changes in linux?
i'm in Testing/Nightly PPA, and with today's updates, retroarch stopped working with retrofe.

Code:
[2017-01-24 17:00:15] [INFO] [Configuration] Importing "/home/jona/Escritorio/RetroFE/launchers/Atari 2600.conf"
[2017-01-24 17:00:15] [INFO] [Configuration] Dump: "launchers.Atari 2600.executable" = "/usr/bin/retroarch"
[2017-01-24 17:00:15] [INFO] [Configuration] Dump: "launchers.Atari 2600.arguments" = ""%ITEM_FILEPATH%"  -L /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libretro/stella_libretro.so"
 
I'm trying to get Netplay setup with my friend and I'm having some trouble. I've looked up online on the RetroArch forums and it looks like they are outdated information now. It looks like the Netplay stuff has been redone for a more easy setup, but I'm running into a few issues still. This is what I am doing

On Host Machine:

1. Log into router and port forward the port 55435
2. In RetroArch, Go to Netplay settings and select "Start Netplay host". A OSD states "Netplay will start when content is loaded.

On Client Machine:

1. Load up RetroArch
2. Go to Settings>Network enter in Host's IP in Server Address
3. Go to Netplay option and select "Connect To Netplay Host". A OSD states "Netplay will start when content is loaded.


Once that is done, on both machines, we try to run the game (Same Retroarch Build Number [1.4.0], Same Core, Same Game), and it says "Netplay failed to initialize..."

We tried different variations, for about an hour, troubleshooting, opening ports on the client side too and nothing seemed to work. Does someone have any experience running Netplay with the 1.4.0 nightly build and have it work? Any steps I'm missing, Any help would be appreciated.
 

Radius4

Member
On nightlies:

- Forward port 55435 or whatever you set in netplay settings:
- Run game
- Select "Start Hosting"

On client:
- Go to netplay tab
- Refresh rooms
- Connect!

That assuming you have a matching CRC/Filename rom

You have to have the same exact core version
 
It should be easy, but I can't figure out how to do two things in the MAME core.

1. I'm using an xinput PS3 controller. How do I get rid of the MAME UI mappings on the shoulder buttons? R2 is f11 and L2 is tab, for example, so I can't use shoulder buttons in games.

2. Is there a way to save input mappings per game in MAME? As soon as I exit RetroArch it sets all inputs back to default.

Thanks. My google skills are failing me so it'd be great if someone had some tips.
 
What MAME core and MAME set should I use? I see multiple versions of the same sets (i.e. Merged, non-merged, split) I'm super confused now.
 

jonathon

Neo Member
how do you guys configure the mame core for atari 5200?
i can run gx4000 with the mame core, but a5200 no.
i have the hash files, the bios file, and the Software List, but a5200 its not working.

Code:
RetroArch [libretro INFO] :: Starting game:/home/jona/.config/retroarch/system/mame/roms/a5200/aep.zip
RetroArch [libretro DEBUG] :: Path extraction result: File name=/home/jona/.config/retroarch/system/mame/roms/a5200/aep.zip
RetroArch [libretro DEBUG] :: Path extraction result: Game name=aep
RetroArch [libretro DEBUG] :: Path extraction result: System name=a5200
RetroArch [libretro DEBUG] :: Path extraction result: Game path=/home/jona/.config/retroarch/system/mame/roms/a5200
RetroArch [libretro DEBUG] :: Path extraction result: Parent path=/home/jona/.config/retroarch/system/mame/roms
RetroArch [libretro DEBUG] :: Searching for driver aep
RetroArch [libretro WARN] :: Driver aep not found -1
RetroArch [libretro ERROR] :: Driver not found aep
RetroArch [libretro DEBUG] :: Searching for driver a5200
RetroArch [libretro WARN] :: Driver a5200 not found -1
RetroArch [libretro ERROR] :: System not found: a5200
 
Ok, so the MAME core (the one without any year next to it) run the 0.174 Romset. I have all of those, so when I go to play a game (let's say Turtles in Time) I hit "tab" to get to the setting, but they are all super tiny and blurry... anyone else have this issue? Anyway to fix it?
 

Awakened

Member
Ok, so the MAME core (the one without any year next to it) run the 0.174 Romset. I have all of those, so when I go to play a game (let's say Turtles in Time) I hit "tab" to get to the setting, but they are all super tiny and blurry... anyone else have this issue? Anyway to fix it?
If you're on Windows, the latest MAME core from the updater should be 0.182 or 0.181. Those don't have the blurry UI problem.
 

linko9

Member
Just discovered this in the past few days after getting my PC hooked up to my PVM monitor. This program is great in that it can enforce display resolutions at a high level so that all emulated consoles display 1 to 1 vertical lines on my monitor with 240 vertical lines. It looks really amazing.

I am however having one problem. For consoles that output 224 vertical lines instead of 240 (like Genesis), I can't find a way to display the image without black bars at the top and bottom of the screen (8 pixels each). I have 2560x240 and 2560x224 resolutions defined for my monitor, and in something like MAME, if a game runs at a native vertical resolution of 224, I simply set my desktop to the 224p resolution, run the game, and it takes up the full screen with 1 to 1 line scaling. However in Retroarch, it does something very odd. Upon booting up a core, it actually changes the way the 224p resolution is displayed in such a way that scrunches up the vertical lines, so that 8 black lines are displayed at the top and bottom. As far as Windows is concerned, the resolution is indeed 224p, and if I exit fullscreen mode, the scrunching persists, and my mouse cursor cannot enter those 8-pixel tall black bars. As soon as I exit Retroarch, the scrunching goes away, and the 224p resolution reaches the top and bottom of the screen again. If I enable windowed fullscreen mode, it actually just treats the screen as 240p (overriding the desktop setting), applying ugly scaling to the picture to make it fill the full screen.

This problem happens whether or not I specifically define video_resolution_x and _y in the .ini file. It's really odd. I should note that because I have a custom viewport of 2560x224 set, the displayed image is identical whether my screen resolution is 240p or 224p; both have the black borders. I can of course remedy this problem by going into my monitor's service menu and changing the vertical stretch, but this is pretty cumbersome, and I'd like to avoid this and have it just work like MAME in this regard. Any help would be appreciated!

edit: Actually, I have another problem I guess I'll mention here: the RGUI ui causes the program to crash every time I load a game. I'm running two monitors, which I assume may be causing it, but I have no problem with the xmb ui. The RGUI looks really nice on my PVM, so its a shame I can't use it.
 
I'm loving the new 1.4.1 update! Netplay is almost perfect! I'm still having a bit of an issue with it though. On the Libretro YouTube and the blog it says that you should be able to load a game, then go into Quick Menu and go down to Netplay, then select Host. Then just wait for someone to join. My best friend and I tired for a couple hours tonight and he can see me in the rooms list, click on me and laid the game, connect and immediately get discconected. We tried this with many NES, SNES, & Genesis games, taking turns being host and client.

The only way we were able to successfully get Netplay working was to start hosting Netplay before we loaded anything. Basically the opposite of what the YouTube video and blog guide said. Hopefully this can get corrected, because I would love to be able to use Launchbox to play games and if someone wants to join, it's as easy as hitting the guide button and selecting host and then playing. Anyways, thanks so much to the RetroArch team! This update is fantastic!!
 

silentQ

Member
I'm loving the new 1.4.1 update! Netplay is almost perfect! I'm still having a bit of an issue with it though. On the Libretro YouTube and the blog it says that you should be able to load a game, then go into Quick Menu and go down to Netplay, then select Host. Then just wait for someone to join. My best friend and I tired for a couple hours tonight and he can see me in the rooms list, click on me and laid the game, connect and immediately get discconected. We tried this with many NES, SNES, & Genesis games, taking turns being host and client.

The only way we were able to successfully get Netplay working was to start hosting Netplay before we loaded anything. Basically the opposite of what the YouTube video and blog guide said. Hopefully this can get corrected, because I would love to be able to use Launchbox to play games and if someone wants to join, it's as easy as hitting the guide button and selecting host and then playing. Anyways, thanks so much to the RetroArch team! This update is fantastic!!

Interesting I was playing with the feature and I saw you on last night and actually tried to connect with your game. I was able to get connected to you and your friend and watch you play TMNT on Genesis for a moment. This was after I got the exact same core and had scanned the rom into retroarch, as well as had the proper port open. Only then was I able to connect and it worked great.
 
Interesting I was playing with the feature and I saw you on last night and actually tried to connect with your game. I was able to get connected to you and your friend and watch you play TMNT on Genesis for a moment. This was after I got the exact same core and had scanned the rom into retroarch, as well as had the proper port open. Only then was I able to connect and it worked great.

Awesome, yeah, he was hosting and we telling me when someone was spectating. we both had the same core running and the same set roms and had to have the rom scanned in to retroarch, and even then... sometimes games just wouldn't connect. NES downright refused to work even after we verified and played Contra, Double Dragon, Chip and Dale and about 8 other games a few hours before. It was very sporadic. I'm glad netplay is getting there though
 

silentQ

Member
Awesome, yeah, he was hosting and we telling me when someone was spectating. we both had the same core running and the same set roms and had to have the rom scanned in to retroarch, and even then... sometimes games just wouldn't connect. NES downright refused to work even after we verified and played Contra, Double Dragon, Chip and Dale and about 8 other games a few hours before. It was very sporadic. I'm glad netplay is getting there though

Yeah its very huge development but its going to take a lot of testing out and glad I was able to at least connect to you. I think another thing they have to get a handle on is alerting if 2 players are connected or not. I honestly only entered your game because I had no idea if there was another player. I only realized once it connected and said Player 2 Port not available. These are all little things that need to be ironed out though and its promising.

Another thing while I am at it they should handle is having retroarch download a missing core and start the session in that core if you don't have the hosts core. Would make the whole process more seemless if you asked me
 

Knurek

Member
It seems that 'autosave doesn't get saved when quitting with Esc button' bug is back. It showed up back in 1.3.6, but I'm sure it was fixed previously in one of the nightlies. Now it's happening again, just lost ~20 minutes of progress. :\
 

teiresias

Member
This is all concerning the Windows version of RetroArch.

I used to use the blarrg NTSC filters when emulating SNES, but they don't seem to work anymore with the bsnes cores for some reason, so I've resorted to using the built in crt-Royale-ntsc-svideo-256px shader.cgp with NTSC filtering built in, otherwise there doesn't seem to be any option for getting NTSC colors.

I can't seem to use some shader presets reliably at all or after I select them they don't actually load and change the shader settings. Not sure what's going on there - any suggestions?

Also, can anyone tell me what the settings should be to make sure RetroArch is using my gsync monitor properly?
 
I just updated to the 1.4.1 stable release (Android) and I can't seem to access the internal MAME "tab" menu on the latest MAME version. I did a full delete/reinstall of Retroarch after upgrading from a nightly so it shouldn't be an old ini file causing conflicts, at least as far as I know. Core options seems to not have a menu for changing controls around either.

Is digging for an ini file in the root directory the only option?
 

Awakened

Member
I just updated to the 1.4.1 stable release (Android) and I can't seem to access the internal MAME "tab" menu on the latest MAME version. I did a full delete/reinstall of Retroarch after upgrading from a nightly so it shouldn't be an old ini file causing conflicts, at least as far as I know. Core options seems to not have a menu for changing controls around either.

Is digging for an ini file in the root directory the only option?
The old menu mapping for that was removed, since many people complained about accidentally triggering it. In the android version you can use Select + Joy Button 3 to open the menu now. I think 3 is usually the top button.
 
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