Refs rested on string addresses. They now name the functions in vox
and vox_dyn that open each file. libHoloPlayCore.so is kept for the
Batocera generator that puts it on LD_LIBRARY_PATH, neither binary
loads it.
Data file refs rested on string addresses and the manual. They now
name the loader functions in the shipped pico8, pico8_64 and pico8.exe.
config.txt is read from the home folder first.
Theme and engine data entries named only scummvm.rc or an engine_data makefile. They now cite bundle_datafiles.sh, which builds the libretro bundle from those lists, the themepath or extrapath the core sets, and the code that opens each file: the theme lookup, the icon, shader, translation and font archives, and each engine's loader.
The DSP refs named IL2CPP methods only. They now carry the addresses
the v0.320 Windows GameAssembly.dll gives DSP1..ctor and
DSP1Core.LoadROM, with the CRC32 constant and the 8 KB buffer sites.
Entries that cited only pc-bios/meson.build now cite the code that opens them.
bios-256k.bin is the firmware of the pc and q35 machines (pc_piix.c:466, pc_q35.c:349) and pc is the machine the core starts for an .iso, so it is required, and a missing image exits in x86_bios_rom_init. bios.bin is read only by the ISA PC or when the firmware option is cleared, so it is optional. qboot.rom is microvm's firmware with ACPI off. The pxe-*.rom images and efi-eepro100.rom are read through a romfile= option, the EDK2 code images through -bios.
The three EDK2 variable store templates and vof-nvram.bin are removed: no code resolves them through the data directory, a pflash drive is opened by path and the core runs from the content folder (ui/libretro.c:697).
Refs cited cpcemu0.cfg lines, the help file and strace runs. Each now
names the loader, the config parser, the M4 board setup or the layout
dialog in cpcemu_portable.exe 3.0.2. The loader never checks length, so
size leaves validation, and NMIROM.BIN gains its own entry.
The release page is public text like the site. render() said "finds
your setup", "file for your system" and "your BIOS folder". The
pronoun test now renders the notes from release.json, once more with
a pack in parts, and fails on any pronoun the script writes.
File refs cited the manifest and set records by data address only.
Each now names the code that reads them in DREAMM 4.0 linux-x64: the
name, size and CRC32 match, the reverse lookup and the set picker.
Notes no longer rest on strace.
Refs were prose. Each now names the function and offsets in the
2026/10/16 Linux AceDL that builds the path, reads the file and fails.
The firmware names the SNA loader opens without the .rom suffix become
aliases, and the plugin ROMs take a minimum size.
ROM, font and CARTS.SHA entries cited the copy in fMSX/ROMs, a file and not a reader. They now cite the system directory taken as ProgDir, the chdir to it, the LoadROM, LoadCart or LoadFNT call that names each file, and the function that opens it.
System ROM entries named only a machine or extension XML. They now cite the rule that ships share (install.py for openMSX, libretro_share.py and installShare for the libretro core), HardwareConfig loading machines/ or extensions/, and Rom.cc resolving the rom by filename then by sha1 in the file pool.
12daa6698 wrote "the file for your system" on the installer page, and
test_site_pronouns failed Validation on it. The line above already
names the file for the system: "Download that file".
Machine ROM entries named only a config.ini, most with no line. Each now gives the config.ini line that names the ROM, then libretro.c building the Machines path and calling machineCreate, readMachine parsing the Slots section, and romLoad opening each slot file.
The original game files named only their .obg, .obs or .obm line. They now cite the CMake rules that configure and install the base set metadata, FindSets and AddFile that scan for it, FillSetDetails that reads its files and md5s groups, and the startup call per set type.
Driver records were cited by data address only. Refs now name the
game loader in ZiNc.exe 1.1 and its fatal paths. The table holds 71
records, so glpracr, glpracr2, btchamp, mgcldate and sfchamp are not
reachable and leave the BIOS notes.
Level, FMV and sound entries named only their gameflow.json5 line. They now cite the release packaging that ships data/trx/ship, the startup load of the mod's gameflow, the reader of the path or sfx_path key, the path patterns it resolves against, and the open of the level file.
The GRP entries named only their grpinfo.txt blocks. They now cite the add_pk3 rule that packs engine/grpinfo.txt into raze.pk3, ParseAllGrpInfos that reads it from ENGINERES_FILE, ParseGrpInfo, and the size and CRC match of GrpScan (the mustcontain pass for blocks without a CRC).
Each IWAD entry named only its iwadinfo.txt lines. It now also cites the add_pk3 rule that packs the file into game_support.pk3, the FIWadManager constructor that reads the IWADINFO lump, the Names parser and the directory scan. Load files cite the Load parser and the loader beside the IWAD, and square.pk3 the -iwad branch.
AdvanceMAME reads its sets from dir_rom, a list of folders
(advance/osd/fileio.c:74, doc/advmame.d:680,699-701). EmuELEC's
advmame.rc sets dir_rom /storage/roms/mame (advmame.rc:11), and
advmame.sh rewrites /roms/mame to /roms/arcade when it is started for
the arcade system (advmame.sh:26-30). The extractor kept the keys under
the BIOS root alone: it now records those under the roms root too, and
a key the script rewrites gives one record for arcade and one for every
other system. A configgen record carries the systems it is written for.
The profile lays its 29 sets out at the top of dir_rom. On EmuELEC they
land in roms/mame. The 12 root archives AdvanceMAME alone claimed there
now hold the copies of the cores that also declare them (mame, geolith),
none of them lost.
A destination outside the BIOS tree is no proof of content: the moved
entry resolves by its layout path alone. roms/mame/konamigv.zip took
bios/Arcade/MAME/konamigv.zip, MAME 0.289's set, by that tail.
GZDoom collects its IWAD candidates from [IWADSearch.Directories], reads
the support WAD there and the Load files from the IWAD's own folder
(src/d_iwad.cpp:456-476, 593-624, 862-901). RetroDECK lists
RETRODECKROMSDIR/doom there (gzdoom/rd_assets/rd_config/gzdoom.ini:9),
which component_prepare.sh:27 rewrites to $roms_path/doom. The extractor
read only the BIOS placeholder of a preset: it now records every line
naming the BIOS or the roms folder the script rewrites, with that sed
line in its source. $roms_path, whose default is the roms root
(config/retrodeck/retrodeck.json:5), is read as that root.
The profile names IWADSearch.Directories as a pool and lays its IWADs
and their support and Load files out at its top. On RetroDECK the 20
held IWADs land in roms/doom, the 23 others are named missing there.
The root copies stay for prboom and uzdoom, which claim them. No other
platform hands GZDoom that list, so none changes.
MAME splits rompath, samplepath, hashpath and pluginspath on semicolons
and tries each directory in turn (src/emu/fileio.cpp:53-58, 330-392,
src/emu/emuopts.cpp:44-46, 53). The launcher records spell those lists
with the game's own folder in them, which handed_directories skipped:
- RetroBat passes -rp bios;<rom directory> (Mame64.Generator.cs:93-96)
and -rompath bios/psxmame/bios;<rom directory> to pSxMAME
(PSXMame.Generator.cs:38-48).
- KNULLI passes -rompath <romDirname>;/userdata/bios/mame;/userdata/bios
(mameGenerator.py:116-122).
- RetroPie writes rompath $romdir/mame;$romdir/arcade;$biosdir/mame
(mame.sh:133).
A semicolon list now gives each directory but the game's folder. A pool
that already lists the folder the files take keeps them there, and a
pool standing for the whole layout holds its files, never its folders.
The MAME profile names its sets at the top of the rompath and its
search settings as pools, pSxMAME its sets and rompath.
RetroBat's -sp and -hash records split on `bool hbmame = emulator ==
"hbmame"` (Mame64.Generator.cs:30): bios/mame/samples for mame64,
bios/hbmame/samples for hbmame.
Manifests: RetroBat gains the 12 pSxMAME sets in psxmame/bios and drops
samples/bbc.zip, read by nobody, which mame/samples/bbc.zip already
serves. KNULLI drops the same copy. RetroPie gains the 1427 MAME sets
in BIOS/mame, the root copies staying for the libretro cores. EmuDeck
names samples/bbc.zip as read outside the BIOS folder. RetroDECK's
samplepath is $bios_path/mame-sa/samples (mame/component_prepare.sh:94,
117): bbc.zip moves there from bios/samples/. Its MAME runs with the
-rompath ES-DE passes, %GAMEDIR%;%ROMPATH%/<system>, so the standalone
sets are named as read outside the BIOS folder and the root copies stay
for the libretro core. The 1427 sets
of RetroBat, KNULLI and EmuDeck stay at the BIOS root, listed in their
rompath. No file of any manifest is lost.
getromdatabydata clears bytes 0x10-0x2f and hashes the first 0x1c000
bytes, and 0x50000 too for a 512 KB file. The table SHA-1 of each
CyberStorm and Blizzard PPC image is now declared with that transform.
Each PCSX2 fork declares how its LoadBiosVersion reads the table:
the strncmp length on RESET, the NUL test on names, EXTINFO, and what a
read past the end does, from the source at the pin or the shipped
libemucore.so for NetherSX2 and its Turnip builds. The Recalbox libretro
PCSX2 and PCEE2 check no size, so their 4 to 8 MB bounds are gone, and
the PCEE2 and ARMSX2 arcade images require the COH-H zone.
validation: [romdir] walks a PS2 ROM directory the way the profile's
fork reads it, masked_sha1 hashes a file with a byte range cleared, and
size_multiple bounds a size to a granule. The resolver name steps, the
pack and manifest scans, the emulator expansion and verify call the same
content_fits. A PCSX2 companion is taken only beside an image that
passes, and a companion placeholder no longer seeds a scan of its own.
RetroDECK writes bios/gzdoom into [FileSearch.Directories]
(gzdoom/rd_assets/rd_config/gzdoom.ini:19). BaseFileSearch reads that
list after the program directory for the engine pk3s, and for -file,
-deh, -bex and zvox.wad (src/common/utility/findfile.cpp:224-296).
IWADs come from IWADSearch.Directories and their Load files from the
IWAD's folder (src/d_iwad.cpp:456-476, 613-624, 877-901), so no entry
of the profile is read from bios/gzdoom and nothing is bound.
Dolphin reads its User folder at $XDG_DATA_HOME/dolphin-emu, else
~/.local/share/dolphin-emu (Source/Core/UICommon/UICommon.cpp:449-477).
The profile names both, so a launcher handing that folder places the
layout:
- EmuELEC starts Dolphin with XDG_DATA_HOME=/storage/roms/dolphin
(dolphinSA/scripts/dolphin.sh:28): its 30 files move from the BIOS
root to dolphin/dolphin-emu/ of the install tree.
- RetroDECK links User/Triforce to bios/Triforce
(dolphin/component_prepare.sh:30, 49), where its list already puts
segaboot.gcm. The rest of the User folder sits in the Flatpak's data
directory and is named as read outside the BIOS folder.
An entry only the standalone build reads, path and no standalone_path,
now takes that path as its layout path (Load/Firmware/rtl_bt/), and
the pass copying a name the platform declares elsewhere reaches an
unprefixed path: gba_bios.bin lands in dolphin/dolphin-emu/GBA/.
RetroDECK sets mlc_path to $bios_path/cemu (cemu/component_prepare.sh:14,
29), which replaces the MLC Cemu reads under its user data directory
(src/config/CemuConfig.cpp:25-26, ActiveSettings.cpp:295-320). The
profile names that key, so the layout's mlc01/ folder is placed in
bios/cemu. Two readers kept the binding from reaching the manifest:
- a moved entry kept its standalone load_from, data_dir, and the gap
report set the MLC aside as read outside the system directory. The
platform's folder now replaces the build's own root.
- an entry read outside the BIOS tree was no longer offered to the
launcher layer, so RetroDECK's link of keys.txt to bios/cemu/keys.txt
went unserved. It is offered again, fills no destination by its own
path, and a launcher place it fills settles it.
The RetroDECK manifest gains the 55 MLC files under bios/cemu/. It
drops the root copies of keys.txt, otp.bin, seeprom.bin,
shareddata.bin, cafeLibs/ and resources/sharedFonts/, which standalone
Cemu reads in the Flatpak's $XDG_DATA_HOME/Cemu and names them as read
outside the BIOS folder. The libretro copies under bios/Cemu/ stay.
EKA2L1 keeps its devices under the data-storage folder, data by
default and relative to the working directory
(src/emu/config/include/config/options.inl:45). RetroBat writes
data-storage = bios/eka2l1/data (Eka2l1.Generator.cs:153, 156), so the
layout's data/ folder is placed there.
The SYM.ROM extra at data/roms/nem-4/ of the BIOS root, read by
nobody, leaves the RetroBat manifest: RetroBat declares the file at
eka2l1/data/roms/NEM-4/SYM.ROM, the same slot on its case-folding
filesystem. The files shipped beside the executable are named as read
in the emulator folder.
A record's choice holds only the options of the choice and their
values, or the whole record is said once and ignored: it no longer reaches
the commands printed for the user. A recorded games folder is kept only
under the folder that holds the BIOS folder. A recorded option the list
can no longer apply is left out in one line, never refused. The record is
read only when it is a regular file of at most 16 MiB, its day is unknown
when no clock can show it, one a newer installer wrote is left as it is,
and a setup that cannot be used is dropped alone. The plan opened on the
one setup found keeps that screen's notes under Details.
EmuELEC links /storage/.local/share/flycast to /storage/roms/bios/dc
(flycast.sh:11-14 at v4.8), and Flycast reads
$HOME/.local/share/flycast. Root's home there is /storage
(packages/sysutils/busybox/package.mk:168, profile.d/98-busybox.conf:4,
sourced by flycast.sh:7), which nothing recorded, so the link bound
nothing and flycastsa's files went to the BIOS root.
The registry's home_directory now spells that directory as ~ in the
handles and directories of launcher records. flycastsa's ten files
land in bios/dc, where the libretro build already reads them. The
manifest drops dc_boot.bin and dc_nvmem.bin from the BIOS root, which
no emulator reads there, and six arcade archives at the root go back
to the MAME sets the mame cores claim.
Recalbox 10.1.1 builds the wxWidgets-era libretro PCSX2 for x86_64 at
408e3b2 with 0003-bios-path.patch, which moves the BIOS scan from
pcsx2/bios to ps2, and lists it as the libretro core pcsx2 of the ps2
system. Since lrps2-9485a53 took the ps2 name no profile described it.
pcsx2-libretro-408e3b2 is built_by recalbox under the name pcsx2, beside
standalone PCSX2 and LRPS2. It reads <bios>.rom1, rom2, erom, nvm and
mec beside the selected image. GameIndex.yaml and the patch archives are
compiled in.
Two filename-agnostic cores reading one BIOS folder each scan the same
images. The second scan stopped at an image the first had placed, so a
companion only the second core opens never reached the pack: Recalbox's
libretro PCSX2 reads <bios>.erom beside the images LRPS2 placed in ps2/.
The notes open on the command and the handheld app, then the full packs
for a device without internet, the setups the command alone serves, what
changed, everyone who helped since the start (read with gh, --thanks FILE
for a checked list) in a folded block, and the full changelog from the
previous release's record commit.
check_release reports a launcher in the checksum list as unrecorded and
one attached as extra, as it does for install.py. The release steps no
longer run build_port, and the checksum and upload globs name the packs
(*_BIOS_Pack*.zip) so a launcher left in dist/ is never caught.
-romdir replaces the ROM directory (src/getconf.cpp:282-290, 529),
and RetroPie writes -romdir $biosdir/pc88 into quasi88.ini
(scriptmodules/emulators/quasi88.sh:67). Its 19 ROMs move from rom/
to pc88/ in the RetroPie pack, manifest and verify.
build_port's four archives carry install.py pinned by SHA-256, so they
change with the installer, not with the packs. The site now builds them
from its own commit and serves them under get/handheld/. Each get/ page
of Batocera, KNULLI, ROCKNIX and AmberELEC names its file, size, hash,
folder and menu, and get/linux-handhelds/ does the same for muOS, ArkOS,
dArkOS and JELOS. The installer's handheld section opens on a download
table, both tables written from sitehandheld.LAUNCHERS.
An install writes retrobios-backup/<folder>.install.json beside the BIOS
folder: each file it placed with its sha1, size and source, and the choice
it made. The next run for the same setup and folder takes that choice when
the command line chose nothing, in line mode and on the full screen, and
says so. A record that cannot be read is said once and ignored. A record
event reports it.
With one setup found, the full screen opens on its plan, Change where one
row away. The plan's Install row says the size its headline says.
KNULLI sets AetherSX2's [Folders] Bios to bios/ps2
(aethersx2Generator.py:219), yet its 112 PS2 BIOS files went to the
BIOS root. Three causes:
- a record's passes_to was split into words, so "[Folders] Bios"
could not be told from "[Filenames] BIOS". ini_keys() adds the
section-qualified key a profile names in standalone_directories.
- scans_dir records hand a folder too (ROCKNIX's bios/armsx2,
EmuDeck's PCSX2 and ARMSX2) and were not read as handed.
- the agnostic scan looked its seeds up by the id of the profile's
entries, while it walks the copies platform_layouts makes: any
bound layout scanned nothing. Copies map back to the profile's
entries by position.
An agnostic profile's entry the layout reads outside the BIOS tree
is now named by the gap report (outside_bios_folder) instead of
dropped: ARMSX2's arcade/proverb.zip on ROCKNIX and EmuDeck.
AetherSX2 and ARMSX2 resolve their BIOS folder from PCSX2.ini
[Folders] Bios against the data root, bios by default
(aethersx2/pcsx2/Pcsx2Config.cpp:935-946,
pcsx2/Pcsx2Config.cpp:2617-2627 in ARMSX2). standalone_directories
now names that key, so a launcher that writes it places the layout's
bios/ folder: KNULLI sets bios/ps2, ROCKNIX bios/armsx2.
DEV9init opens eeprom.dat from the working directory and maps 64 bytes over the compiled-in image (pcsx2/DEV9/DEV9.cpp:159-176). The profile did not list it.
Abdessamad Derraz