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Abdessamad Derraz
6409757c39
# Conflicts: # CONTRIBUTING.md # scripts/check_release_assets.py # scripts/generate_readme.py
233 lines
8.7 KiB
Markdown
233 lines
8.7 KiB
Markdown
# First install
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One path, from an empty BIOS folder to files the emulator can read. Every step
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shows what the screen looks like when it worked.
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If something on this page does not match what happens, the last section covers
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the cases that come up.
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## Before starting
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Three things, and a few minutes:
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- The BIOS folder the emulator reads. The installer finds it by itself on most
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systems. On a handheld, that usually means plugging the SD card into a
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computer.
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- `curl` or `wget`, and Python 3.8 or newer. The command below checks for both
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and stops with a message if either is absent.
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- Room on the drive. The size depends on the platform and changes with each
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release: the run prints it before downloading (Step 3), and asks first when it
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reaches 1 GB. The installer also measures the free space and refuses before
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writing anything if there is not enough.
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Nothing is written outside the BIOS folder, and games and saves are never
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touched.
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## Step 1. Run the command
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On Linux, macOS, a Steam Deck, or a handheld running Batocera, Recalbox,
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KNULLI, ROCKNIX or Lakka:
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```bash
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curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.sh | sh
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```
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On Windows, in PowerShell:
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```powershell
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irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.ps1 | iex
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```
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PowerShell's execution policy does not block that line. The policy governs
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script files, and this command never writes one. Changing the policy is not
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part of installing anything here.
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On Android, from Termux, three commands instead of one:
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```bash
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pkg install python
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termux-setup-storage
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curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.sh | sh
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```
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Before running anything, that first line downloads the installer, compares it
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against the SHA-256 written inside the command's own script, and refuses to
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continue if the two differ. To read the script first:
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```bash
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curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.sh | less
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```
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## Step 2. Watch it find the platform
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The first lines name what it found and where it will write:
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```
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RetroBIOS 8c0e9c762d2f
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Detecting platform...
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Found Batocera at /userdata/bios
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```
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The code after RetroBIOS identifies the installer: it is the start of the
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SHA-256 the command checked before running it.
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That path is the one thing worth reading twice. If it is not where the emulator
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keeps its BIOS files, stop with Ctrl+C and see the last section.
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## Step 3. Let it work
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The examples on this page follow the Batocera list as published on 2026-10-21.
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The figures change with each release.
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Two phases follow. The first reads what is already in the folder, which takes a
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few minutes on a memory card because every file is hashed:
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```
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Fetching file index for batocera...
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14481 files (9.1 GB)
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Not installable: 399 files (79 required, not found: 399).
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Checking existing files...
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0/14481 present (0 verified, 0 wrong hash)
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```
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`Not installable` counts the files of the list that the collection does not
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hold. They are named at the end of the run (Step 4).
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On a first install the present count is zero, which is expected, not a fault.
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On a later run it counts what is already there, and only the rest is
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downloaded. A download of 1 GB or more is confirmed first
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(`Download 9.1 GB to /userdata/bios? [Y/n]`).
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The second phase downloads what is missing, one line per file:
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```
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Downloading 14481 files (9.1 GB)...
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Press Ctrl+C to stop. Running the same command again carries on from here.
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[1/14481] 3do_arcade_saot.bin ok
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[2/14481] 3dobios.zip ok
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```
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Ctrl+C is safe at any point. Files already installed stay, and running the
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command again picks up where it stopped.
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## Step 4. Read the end of the run
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This is what a finished run looks like:
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```
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Done. 14481 files installed, 0 files already up to date.
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Location: /userdata/bios
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399 files were not installed: the collection does not hold them, or its copy fails their check.
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Needed to start an emulator (79 files):
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dark-forces (theforceengine): DARK.GOB, SOUNDS.GOB, SPRITES.GOB, TEXTURES.GOB
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dark-forces-ii (openjkdf2): openjkdf2/episode/JK1.gob, openjkdf2/episode/JK1CTF.gob, openjkdf2/episode/JK1MP.gob, openjkdf2/resource/Res1hi.gob, openjkdf2/resource/Res2.gob
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diablo (devilutionx): devilutionx/diabdat.mpq
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doom3 (dhewm3): base/pak000.pk4, base/pak002.pk4, base/pak003.pk4, base/pak004.pk4
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droidworks (openjkdf2): dwCD.GOB, dwHD.GOB, dwMin.GOB, dwStream.GOB
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fallout (fallout1-ce): fallout1-ce/critter.dat, fallout1-ce/master.dat
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fallout2 (fallout2-ce): fallout2-ce/critter.dat, fallout2-ce/master.dat
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fury (fury): fury.grp
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... and 9 more systems (--check --verbose lists them all)
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Each emulator's page says what these files are: https://abdess.github.io/retrobios/emulators/
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To check this later, run the same command with --check.
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```
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The word `Done` and a location are the confirmation. Any other ending (`Stopped`,
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`Finished with errors`, `Nothing was installed`) means something was left undone,
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and the run says which case it was.
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The lines between `Location:` and the `--check` hint name the files of the list
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that the collection does not hold. `Needed to start an emulator` gives, for each
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system, the emulators that read it and the files they cannot start without. On
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the run above, all 79 belong to games (Dark Forces, Diablo, Doom 3, Tomb Raider
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and the others): the engine reads them from a copy of the game itself. The
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other 320 are optional, and the emulators reading them start without them.
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## Step 5. Confirm it later
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The same command with `--check` reads the folder and writes nothing:
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```bash
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curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --check
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```
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```
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Checking existing files...
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14481/14481 present (14481 verified, 0 wrong hash)
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All files up to date.
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```
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The files the collection does not hold are listed after it again, as long as
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they are absent from the folder. `0 wrong hash` is the line that matters. A number there means a file is present
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whose contents the platform will reject, and running the install again replaces
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it.
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## When the screen says something else
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### No supported platform detected.
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At a terminal, a menu follows that line. The platform is picked by its number,
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then the run asks for the BIOS folder, offering the platform's usual folder on
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this system as the default when it has one.
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Without a terminal, or with `--no-input`, the run stops there and prints the
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command to use instead, with the platform and the folder named:
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```bash
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curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.sh \
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| sh -s -- --platform retroarch --dest /path/to/system
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```
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The accepted names come from `--list-platforms`. For where each platform keeps
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its BIOS folder, see [Getting started](getting-started.md).
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### Error: Python 3.8 or newer is required.
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No Python 3.8 or newer was found: Python is missing, or older. The message
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names the command that installs it on the system it runs on: `sudo apt install
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python3` on Debian and Ubuntu, `sudo dnf install python3` on Fedora, `sudo
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pacman -S python` on Arch, `xcode-select --install` on macOS and `pkg install
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python` in Termux, where it offers to run that command itself (Termux installs
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without root). On Windows, `install.ps1` offers to run `winget install
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Python.Python.3.12`. On a handheld running Batocera or Recalbox it is already there, so
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this message usually means the command ran on the computer rather than on the
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console.
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A stock RetroPie 4.8 image is Debian Buster, where `python3` is 3.7.3 and apt
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has nothing newer, so the same command changes nothing. The RetroPie pack from
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the [releases page](https://github.com/Abdess/retrobios/releases/latest),
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extracted into `~/RetroPie/BIOS/`, installs the same files.
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### Error: the downloaded installer does not match its expected fingerprint.
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Nothing was run and nothing was written. The download did not match the
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fingerprint the script carries, which is almost always a transfer cut short.
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Running the command again, on another network if possible, is the answer.
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### Cannot create ...
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The user running the command cannot write there. On Batocera, Recalbox and
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ROCKNIX the BIOS folder belongs to root, so the same command with `sudo` in
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front of it succeeds.
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### Not enough space on the drive holding ...
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The run stopped before writing. The message names how much is needed and how
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much is free. `--dest` installs to another drive.
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### The game still shows a black screen
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A file can be in place and still be the wrong one for that game, or the console
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may need a file that nobody has dumped yet.
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[Troubleshooting](troubleshooting.md) goes through that case.
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## What comes next
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- [Troubleshooting](troubleshooting.md), when a game does not start
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- [FAQ](faq.md), for what the words mean and why a pack is this large
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- [Installer](installer.md), for every option, what it detects and what it is
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allowed to write
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