emulator: CPCemu
type: standalone
core_classification: other
source: "https://www.cpc-emu.org/"
upstream: "https://www.cpc-emu.org/"
profiled_date: "2026-08-08"
core_version: "3.0.2"
display_name: "Amstrad - CPC (CPCemu)"
cores:
  - cpcemu
systems:
  - amstrad-cpc
mode: standalone

notes: |
  Amstrad CPC emulator by Marco Vieth and Rainer Loritz, closed-source freeware
  for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. Machines are the CPC 464, 664 and
  6128; the firmware identifier and the message catalogue also know the 464+,
  the 6128+ and the KC compact.

  Two packages were used. The 3.0.2 Windows portable and macOS builds of
  2025-04-24 carry the same fourteen ROM files and the same data files, and
  provide the path constants, the message catalogue and the v3.0 help file. The
  2.5 Linux x86-64 build of 2022-08-13 is still the newest Linux release, the
  3.0.2 Linux archives listed on the download page being absent from the
  server, and provides the runtime behaviour:
  file opens traced with strace, required and optional decided by removing,
  truncating and patching each file and reading the emulator's own messages.

  ROMs live in ROM_PATH, "./ROM/" in the shipped configuration, resolved against
  the working directory; the macOS build reads them from the application bundle
  Resources folder. Slots are filled by ROM_BLOCK lines naming a ROM number, a
  file in ROM_PATH and a 16 KB block position inside that file:

    ROM_BLOCK = 255, "CPC6128.ROM", 0    lower ROM
    ROM_BLOCK = 0  , "CPC6128.ROM", 1    foreground ROM
    ROM_BLOCK = 7  , "CPCADOS.ROM", 0    AMSDOS
    ROM_BLOCK = 6  , "M4.ROM"     , 0    M4 board

  The shipped cpcemu0.cfg repeats the first three for every CPC_TYPE from 0 to
  5, with CPC464.ROM for types 0 and 3, CPC664.ROM for type 1 and CPC6128.ROM
  for types 2, 4 and 5, and adds the M4 line once for all types. A file named by
  a ROM_BLOCK line that cannot be opened prints "ROM: Cannot open file" and ends
  the process with status 3 before audio initialisation, whichever slot it fills
  and whether or not the matching device is enabled; deleting the line instead
  lets the emulator start.

  The machine is identified from the foreground ROM, not from the lower half and
  not from CPC_TYPE. CPCemu reads the four-byte CPC ROM header at the start of
  block 1: byte 0 has to be 0x80, and byte 2 selects the machine, 0x00 for the
  464, 0x01 for the 664, 0x02 for the 6128. A random block 1 gives "ROM: No
  foreground ROM found.", an unlisted version byte gives "ROM: Unknown ROM
  version.", and both end on "CPC type not configured or ROM for CPC type not
  available. Unable to continue." The modification byte is ignored, the lower
  16 KB half is never inspected, and padding past 32768 bytes is accepted, so
  the length requirement is a lower bound: a block 1 has to exist.

  Types 3, 4 and 5 need ROM images the packages do not carry. The help file
  states they have to be supplied in CPCEMU.CFG first, and no filename for them
  is compiled into the binary, the user names the file in the ROM_BLOCK line.
  Left on the shipped configuration those types load the 464 and 6128 files and
  report the machine those files describe. There is no cartridge support, the
  file types handled on the command line are dsk, sna, cfg and zip.

  M4 board emulation is on by default. HACK.ROM, the board's lower ROM, is
  opened at every startup whatever M4_ENABLED holds, after M4_SD_PATH +
  NMIROM.BIN has been tried, so a NMIROM.BIN placed on the emulated SD card
  replaces it; with neither present the emulator prints "Unable to load
  HACK.ROM" and keeps running. M4.ROM contents are checked, a zeroed file boots
  the CPC and reports "M4 ROM not valid." The firmware updater downloads
  M4FIRM.BIN from spinpoint.org and rewrites M4.ROM and HACK.ROM in place.

  Alongside the ROMs the binary reads its own payload from the program
  directory: cpcemu.msg, the message catalogue, whose absence leaves every
  message unprinted; cpcemu.dat, colours and key tables; cpcemu.hlp, the online
  help opened on F1; cpcemu.dbf, the poke database opened from the poke menu;
  and cpcemu0.cfg, the template used when no user configuration exists.
  Configuration is looked up first in the user profile, ~/.CPCemu/cpcemu.cfg on
  Linux, then cpcemu0.cfg in the working directory; with neither, startup stops
  on "CPCEMU: Use INSTALL first". The disc, tape and snapshot folders and the
  M4 SD card folder hold user content.

files:
  # -- Firmware, lower ROM in block 0 and foreground ROM in block 1 --
  - name: CPC6128.ROM
    path: "ROM/CPC6128.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: true
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: b96280dc6c95a48857b4b8eb931533ae
    sha1: 5977adbad3f7c1e0e082cd02fe76a700d9860c30
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/CPC6128.ROM, cpcemu0.cfg ROM_BLOCK 255 and 0 for CPC_TYPE 2, 4 and 5"
    note: >-
      CPC 6128 firmware and BASIC. Loaded for the shipped CPC_TYPE 2 and opened
      twice, once per block. Foreground ROM header 80 01 02 00.

  - name: CPC464.ROM
    path: "ROM/CPC464.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: a993f85b88ac4350cf4d41554e87fe4f
    sha1: 56d39c463da60968d93e58b4ba0e675829412a20
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/CPC464.ROM, cpcemu0.cfg ROM_BLOCK 255 and 0 for CPC_TYPE 0 and 3"
    note: >-
      CPC 464 firmware and BASIC, selected by CPC_TYPE 0 or the -t 0 command
      line. Foreground ROM header 80 01 00 00.

  - name: CPC664.ROM
    path: "ROM/CPC664.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: 5a384a2310f472c7857888371c00ed66
    sha1: 073a7665527b5bd8a148747a3947dbd3328682c8
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/CPC664.ROM, cpcemu0.cfg ROM_BLOCK 255 and 0 for CPC_TYPE 1"
    note: >-
      CPC 664 firmware and BASIC, selected by CPC_TYPE 1 or the -t 1 command
      line. Foreground ROM header 80 01 01 00.

  # -- Disc ROM, slot 7 --
  - name: CPCADOS.ROM
    path: "ROM/CPCADOS.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: true
    size: 16384
    md5: aa2fb251814bd971b2b9874ab0971b3f
    sha1: 0e247123b9d3204784eeadb4629b9d35b9dfd984
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/CPCADOS.ROM, cpcemu0.cfg ROM_BLOCK 7 for every CPC_TYPE"
    note: >-
      AMSDOS disc ROM, the 8 KB image zero-padded to 16 KB. Declared for every
      machine by the shipped configuration, so startup ends on status 3 without
      it; dropping the ROM_BLOCK line instead boots with "ROM: No AMSDOS ROM
      found." and no disc support. Length is not checked, an 8 KB file installs
      the AMSDOS speedup all the same.

  # -- M4 board, ROM slot 6 plus the board's own lower ROM --
  - name: M4.ROM
    path: "ROM/M4.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: true
    size: 16384
    validation: [signature]
    md5: 28a7e368badca8299ba24a15bb4ebe9b
    sha1: 05f9447d307ab17eae9e2100f91c36b0c9560d4b
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/M4.ROM, cpcemu0.cfg ROM_BLOCK 6, M4_ENABLED = 1"
    note: >-
      M4 board firmware by Duke. Declared by the shipped configuration, so
      startup ends on status 3 without it even when M4_ENABLED is 0. Contents
      are checked, a zeroed file boots and reports "M4 ROM not valid."

  - name: HACK.ROM
    path: "ROM/HACK.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    size: 7994
    md5: ffcbcbce32223a152753d30766ad6215
    sha1: 582dd1706391f6f0161ad3486ae75a04fb0f7d5b
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM_PATH + /HACK.ROM, opened after M4_SD_PATH + NMIROM.BIN"
    note: >-
      M4 hack ROM, the lower ROM behind the Shift+F1 menu. Opened at every
      startup, and superseded by a NMIROM.BIN on the emulated SD card. Missing
      prints "Unable to load HACK.ROM" and emulation continues.

  # -- National firmware, configured by the 3.0.2 keyboard layout dialog --
  - name: CPC6128.ROM.UK
    path: "ROM/National/CPC6128.ROM.UK"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: b96280dc6c95a48857b4b8eb931533ae
    sha1: 5977adbad3f7c1e0e082cd02fe76a700d9860c30
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/National/CPC6128.ROM.UK"
    note: >-
      English CPC 6128 firmware, the same image as CPC6128.ROM. Ships in the
      National folder without being named by any path constant.

  - name: CPC6128.ROM.FR
    path: "ROM/National/CPC6128.ROM.FR"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: 5ee871d5600eb9b5a22989c295f902a5
    sha1: 200d59076dfef36db061d6d7d21d80021cab1237
    source_ref: "CPCemu 3.0.2: National/CPC6128.ROM.FR, keyboard layout dialog on first start"
    note: "French CPC 6128 firmware, configured when the French layout is picked."

  - name: CPC6128.ROM.ES
    path: "ROM/National/CPC6128.ROM.ES"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: 0246740371010333385665dfeb7cd0ec
    sha1: 1acd01c2c03424a78b32c9440f4d890fb1104815
    source_ref: "CPCemu 3.0.2: National/CPC6128.ROM.ES, keyboard layout dialog on first start"
    note: "Spanish CPC 6128 firmware, configured when the Spanish layout is picked."

  - name: CPC6128.ROM.DK
    path: "ROM/National/CPC6128.ROM.DK"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: ca1635fd992e2aa7a776b30da13467e5
    sha1: a9e7ee6355730f319a37c95ca0a714212b88c3b1
    source_ref: "CPCemu 3.0.2: National/CPC6128.ROM.DK, keyboard layout dialog on first start"
    note: "Danish CPC 6128 firmware, configured when the Danish layout is picked."

  - name: CPC6128.ROM.SE
    path: "ROM/National/CPC6128.ROM.SE"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    min_size: 32768
    validation: [size, signature]
    md5: 8ca256a832e83c875f5432b3dee8a36f
    sha1: 6765a91a42fed68a807325bf62a728e5ac5d622f
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/National/CPC6128.ROM.SE"
    note: >-
      Swedish CPC 6128 firmware. Ships in the National folder without being
      named by any path constant, the layout dialog offering English, French,
      Spanish and Danish only.

  # -- Expansion ROMs mapped through a user ROM_BLOCK line --
  - name: XDDOS210.ROM
    path: "ROM/XDDOS210.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    size: 16384
    md5: 1d91a9ef315b302d335cd7e04e8d8d86
    sha1: 2f1bd4d6e2d2e62818b01e6e7a26488362a7a8ee
    source_ref: "CPCemu 3.0.2: ROM/XDDOS210.ROM, cpcemu0.cfg commented ROM_BLOCK 7, help topic DOBBERTIN HD20 ENABLED"
    note: >-
      X-DDOS 2.10 by Dobbertin, the disc operating system of the HD20 hard disk.
      Required in a ROM slot to use DOBBERTIN_HD_ENABLED = 1. Added in 3.0, not
      shipped with 2.5.

  - name: COPYMATE.ROM
    path: "ROM/COPYMATE.ROM"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    size: 16512
    md5: e9c4288eab8885a1e6ae7504a4736115
    sha1: 15d52de01320d9b954e03b4c2e71ec75fd301bbb
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/COPYMATE.ROM, cpcemu0.cfg commented ROM_BLOCK 4"
    note: >-
      Copy utility ROM, carrying a 128-byte AMSDOS file header ahead of the
      16 KB image. Shipped as the example expansion ROM of the configuration
      file and loaded once the line is uncommented.

  - name: multface.rom
    path: "ROM/multface.rom"
    system: amstrad-cpc
    required: false
    size: 8192
    md5: 4c9f014e91d407cc6509fad0095ab909
    sha1: 1431ec628d38f000715545dd2186b684c5fe5a6f
    source_ref: "CPCemu 2.5/3.0.2: ROM/multface.rom, ROM_BLOCK filename or ROM Manager entry"
    note: >-
      Romantic Robot Multiface Two ROM. Ships in the ROM folder for the user to
      map into a slot, no path constant naming it.