kmoody/libretro
1
0 Fork 0
mirror of https://github.com/Abdess/retroarch_system.git synced 2026-10-25 13:19:03 -05:00
Code Issues Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity

docs: rewrite the handheld installer section

Browse Source
This commit is contained in:
Abdessamad Derraz committed 2026-10-23 16:26:51 +02:00
1 parent 801a0150e6
commit 4b8b1f7727
1 file changed
+59 -51
Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files
wiki/installer.md
+59 -51
View File
@@ -868,67 +868,75 @@ elsewhere. A custom BIOS directory is still named directly:
python install.py --platform retroarch --dest /storage/emulated/0/RetroArch/system
```
## On a handheld: the RetroBIOS port
## On a handheld { #on-a-handheld-the-retrobios-port }
On a Linux handheld that runs [PortMaster](https://portmaster.games/) (ArkOS,
ROCKNIX, AmberELEC, muOS, KNULLI and the others it supports), the installer
also runs from the device itself, as a port with gamepad screens. The screens
are PortMaster's own, so the port carries no graphics code.
RetroBIOS also runs on the handheld itself, in the
[full-screen interface](#the-full-screen-interface), with the controller.
Take the file for your system from the
[latest release](https://github.com/Abdess/retrobios/releases/latest), copy
it to the SD card, then start RetroBIOS from the menu.
**Getting it.** Two ways:
| System | File | Copy it to | Start it from |
|--------|------|------------|---------------|
| Any system with [PortMaster](https://portmaster.games/): ArkOS, dArkOS, ROCKNIX, AmberELEC, JELOS, muOS, Knulli | `RetroBIOS.zip` | PortMaster's `autoinstall` folder: `/roms/ports/PortMaster/autoinstall/` on ROCKNIX and AmberELEC, `/roms/tools/PortMaster/autoinstall/` on ArkOS, `/mmc/MUOS/PortMaster/autoinstall/` on muOS, `/userdata/system/.local/share/PortMaster/autoinstall/` on Knulli | Ports, after opening PortMaster once |
| Batocera, Knulli | `RetroBIOS-batocera.zip`, extracted | `roms/ports` on the SHARE partition | Ports, after updating the game list |
| muOS | `RetroBIOS.muxapp` | `ARCHIVE` at the root of the card, then install it from the Archive Manager | Applications |
| ArkOS, dArkOS | `RetroBIOS-tools.zip`, extracted | `tools` on the EASYROMS partition | Options, then Tools |
| ROCKNIX, JELOS | `RetroBIOS-tools.zip`, extracted | `/storage/.config/modules`, over the network share or SSH | Tools |
| AmberELEC | `RetroBIOS-tools.zip`, extracted | `/storage/.config/distribution/modules` | Tools |
- From PortMaster's catalog, once the port is accepted there: open PortMaster,
find RetroBIOS under the Other genre, install.
- `RetroBIOS.zip`, copied into PortMaster's autoinstall folder. The release
process attaches it to each [release](https://github.com/Abdess/retrobios/releases/latest)
cut after the port was added. Releases cut before carry none: when the
latest one lists no `RetroBIOS.zip`, build it from a clone (below). Starting PortMaster then installs it, with or without a
network connection. PortMaster's FAQ names the folder: `/roms/ports/PortMaster/autoinstall/`
on AmberELEC and ROCKNIX, `/roms/tools/PortMaster/autoinstall/` on ArkOS,
`/mmc/MUOS/PortMaster/autoinstall/` on muOS,
`/userdata/system/.local/share/PortMaster/autoinstall/` on KNULLI.
A release cut before these files existed carries none of them. From a clone
of the repository, `python scripts/build_port.py` writes all four into
`dist/`.
From a clone of the repository, `python scripts/build_port.py` builds the
same archive into `dist/RetroBIOS.zip`.
| Button | Action |
|--------|--------|
| D-pad | Move |
| A, Start | Choose, continue |
| B, Select | Back, and quit on the first screen |
| X | Tick or untick a system |
| Y | Options |
| L1, R1 | Page up, page down |
| Start + Select | Quit at once (PortMaster port, Tools) |
**What it shows.** RetroBIOS appears among the ports. Started, it runs
`install.py --check --events` and opens on the result: the system's name,
how many BIOS files are present, missing, or present with a hash that does
not match. The menu
offers to update everything missing, to choose systems (each listed with what
it lacks, selected or cleared with A), to check again, or to quit. An update
shows a progress bar, one step per file, then what was installed, what failed
and why, and what the collection cannot supply. Every list has its own Back or
Quit entry, since older PortMaster releases do not read B there.
On muOS the interface runs in muxterm, which already reads Start, B, Y (tick)
and the D-pad. A, X, L1 and R1 come from PortMaster's gptokeyb2 when
PortMaster is installed, and Menu quits.
**What it needs.**
**Without Wi-Fi.** On a computer, download the BIOS pack whose name contains
your system (every part, for a pack in parts) and copy it next to RetroBIOS:
into `ports/retrobios` for the PortMaster port and on Batocera, to the root
of the card on muOS, into the `retrobios` folder of the Tools entry. With no
connection, RetroBIOS installs from it, as
[`--from-pack`](#without-a-network-offline-install) does. With no pack there,
it names the pack and the folder.
- A network connection: the list of files to check comes from the internet,
as do the files. Without one the port says so and offers to check again.
- Python 3.8 or newer. The port uses the system's `python3` when it is recent
enough, else PortMaster's `python_3.11` runtime on aarch64 devices, which it
downloads through PortMaster on first use. An armhf device with an older
Python is told so, with the computer route below.
- A BIOS folder the installer detects (see [Platform detection](#platform-detection)).
On a system it does not know yet, the port says it found no BIOS folder.
**What it needs.** Python 3.8 or newer: the system's, else PortMaster's
`python_3.11` runtime on aarch64, which the PortMaster port downloads on
first use and the Tools entry then reuses. That runtime uses the system's
OpenSSL 1.1, so on an image with OpenSSL 3 only it may not download (not
tried on a device). The BIOS folder must be one the installer detects, see
[Platform detection](#platform-detection).
**The computer route.** With the SD card mounted on a computer, the one-line
command fills it, naming the platform and the card's BIOS folder:
`--platform <platform> --dest <BIOS folder on the card>`. The port's screens
for an unknown system or an old Python name this route.
**Where no terminal shows.** The PortMaster port draws on the console, or in
foot or xterm under a desktop session. Where neither can, it opens
PortMaster's own screens instead: the same check, update and choice of
systems, one list at a time. On Batocera and Knulli the visible terminal is
not verified on a device yet: RetroBIOS tries xterm or foot, then console 4,
and `retrobios/log.txt` names the route it took.
**Which installer runs.** The archive carries `install.py`, the file the
one-line command of the same commit downloads: the build refuses any other
(`scripts/build_port.py` compares it with the SHA-256 `install.sh` pins). A
port that downloaded the installer at each start against a pinned SHA-256
would stop working at the next change to `install.py`, since the pin is fixed
when the port is built. The file lists come from `main`, as for the one-line
command. A newer port version carries a newer installer. When a list is in a
format the carried installer does not read, the port says to update it.
**From a computer.** Onion, MinUI, NextUI, Allium, GarlicOS and the Switch
have no Python 3 to run the installer. Put the card in a computer and run the
[one-line command](#one-line) there with
`--platform <platform> --dest <BIOS folder on the card>`. This works for
every system above too.
The launcher (`ports/RetroBIOS/RetroBIOS.sh`) and its screens
(`retrobios/screens.txt`) read the installer through
[Machine-readable events](#machine-readable-events) only.
**Which installer runs.** Each file carries `install.py`, the one the
one-line command of the same commit downloads: `scripts/build_port.py`
refuses any other (it compares it with the SHA-256 `install.sh` pins). The
file lists come from `main`. The launchers in `ports/` start it with `--tui`,
and read it through [Machine-readable events](#machine-readable-events) for
the rest.
## Without a network (offline install) { #without-a-network-offline-install }