libretro/emulators/aps3e.yml

emulator: aPS3e
type: standalone
core_classification: community_fork
source: "https://github.com/aenu1/aps3e"
source_branch: main4
upstream: "https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3"
profiled_date: "2026-10-06"
source_commit: "c6ca18217f2f1563235f83d94df78e35423a1720"
upstream_commit: "1f080485b95db2700c5cf244b1314f73b6cf564e"
core_version: "2.43"
display_name: "Sony - PlayStation 3 (aPS3e)"
cores:
  - aps3e
systems:
  - sony-playstation-3

notes: |
  PlayStation 3 emulator for Android, distributed on Google Play as aenu.aps3e
  and aenu.aps3e.premium. RPCS3 is vendored whole under app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3
  rather than pulled as a submodule, and a JNI layer of about six thousand lines
  replaces the Qt front end. The vendored tree reports itself as 0.0.42-alpha.1
  at RPCS3 commit 1f080485.
  ref: app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/git-version.h:3,
       app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/rpcs3_version.cpp:29

  Source drops land on successive branches, not on the default one. Release 2.43
  of 2026-10-05 is the commit titled 2.43 at the head of main4; the lightweight
  tags 2.39 to 2.43 all sit on the head of main2, the default branch, an April
  tree that predates every one of those releases and whose generated
  git-version.h was never filled in. main4 is the tree read here. No versionName is usable either:
  the only gradle file committed is app/build.gradle.bak, which carries the
  placeholder 1.19a and is renamed and completed with the signing block at build
  time.
  ref: aps3e/README.md, app/build.gradle.bak:16

  Emulator paths derive from APS3E_DATA_DIR, set by the Java layer to the
  external files directory of the package. The config directory holds dev_flash,
  dev_hdd0, custom_cfg and the global config.yml; caches live beside it. The
  custom font directory sits at the data root, and the custom GPU driver
  directory sits in internal storage because the external filesystem cannot
  carry an executable mapping.
  ref: app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_rp3_impl.cpp:139-145,
       app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Application.java:21-64

  The PS3 firmware is required and nothing runs without it. Three independent
  gates enforce it: the game list refuses to launch an entry when the marker
  config/dev_flash/.installed is absent, the quick start wizard keeps its Next
  button disabled on the firmware page until that marker exists, and the boot
  path itself returns firmware_missing when dev_flash/sys/external/liblv2.sprx
  is not a file. The third gate covers the intent launched directly against
  EmulatorActivity, which does not pass through the game list. The shipped
  configuration leaves Libraries Control empty, so liblv2.sprx keeps its default
  entry in the module list and the check fires.
  ref: app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:144-146,
       app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:188-191,
       app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/QuickStartActivity.java:317-319,
       app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp:2829-2849,
       app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_prx.cpp:86,
       aps3e/app/src/main/assets/config/config.yml

  Overlay text is drawn from a font list chosen by the Font File Selection
  setting. From Firmware, the default, asks for Arial.ttf, arial.ttf, the
  Android system face at /system/fonts/Roboto-Regular.ttf and then
  SCE-PS3-VR-R-LATIN.TTF for Latin, SCE-PS3-SR-R-JPN.TTF and SCE-PS3-DH-R-CGB.TTF
  for the CJK base, and SCE-PS3-YG-R-KOR.TTF for Hangul. The SCE faces are
  resolved against dev_flash/data/font and dev_flash/data/font/SONY-CC, so they
  come from the firmware rather than from a separate download. Custom points all
  three classes at one file and reverts to From Firmware when that path no
  longer exists.
  ref: app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_rp3_impl.cpp:204-234,
       app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Overlays/overlay_fonts.cpp:112-117

  Vulkan is reached through a loader chosen before the emulator starts. The
  global config YAML is read directly for Use Custom Driver and Custom Driver
  Library Path, and the named library is opened through libadrenotools as a
  custom driver when both are set and the path exists; otherwise the system
  libvulkan.so is dlopened. Drivers are imported either as a bare shared object
  or as a zip whose meta.json names the library.
  ref: app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:952-976,
       app/src/main/cpp/vkapi.cpp:18-33,
       app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/EmulatorSettings.java:1232-1327

  Encrypted disc images are decrypted by the ISO loader. Launching an ISO makes
  the Java layer look for a sidecar key beside it, trying the base name with
  .dkey and then with .key, and hand the descriptor down beside the image. At
  most 32 bytes of the key are read: a full 32-byte read is taken as a hex
  string, a 16-byte file as raw bytes, and the result is installed as an AES-128
  decryption context. A 3k3y watermark at offset 0xF70 is recognised separately
  and needs no key.
  ref: app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Utils.java:185-205,
       app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/EmulatorActivity.java:148-154,
       app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Loader/iso.cpp:362-408,
       app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Loader/iso.cpp:517-562

  One import entry point takes EDAT, RAP and PKG. A RAP is copied verbatim into
  the exdata folder of user 00000001 and rejected unless it is exactly 16 bytes.
  An EDAT is parsed for its NPD header, rejected below 0x90 bytes or without the
  NPD magic, and written to the same folder under the content id the header
  carries. A PKG goes through the package reader and lands in dev_hdd0.
  ref: app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:624-658,
       app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Emulator.java:820-845,
       app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:878-906,
       app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:860-870

  patch.yml, compatibility_table.json and database_config.json ship inside the
  APK as assets and are not user supplied.
  ref: aps3e/app/src/main/assets

files:
  - name: PS3UPDAT.PUP
    required: true
    storage: large_file
    description: "PS3 system software update package"
    note: >-
      Selected through the file picker and read from a descriptor. The PUP object
      rejects an empty file, a wrong magic, a declared size the file does not
      reach, an unreadable entry table and a failed entry hash. Segment 0x300
      carries the installation package database and segment 0x100 the version
      string; the packages whose names contain dev_flash_ are decrypted with the
      SCEPKG keys and their inner TARs extracted over dev_flash. The Java layer
      creates dev_flash/.installed once the native call returns true. No digest
      of the file itself is compared against anything.
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:664-835, app/src/main/cpp/emulator_aps3e.cpp:1078, app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:591-623, app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml:120-122"

  - name: "<game>.dkey"
    aliases: ["<game>.key"]
    required: false
    size: [16, 32]
    validation: [size]
    size_note: "Read capped at 32 bytes: a file of 32 bytes or more is taken as hex from its first 32 characters, a 16-byte file as raw, any other length is refused."
    unsourceable: "per-disc AES-128 key named after the image it decrypts, one per title, carried by disc dump catalogues rather than by the emulator"
    description: "Redump disc decryption key read beside an encrypted ISO"
    note: >-
      Resolved as a sidecar of the image being launched, .dkey first then .key,
      and passed down as a second descriptor. Up to 32 bytes are read: a full
      32-byte read is taken as a hex string and converted, a 16-byte file as raw;
      any other length fails the key check. An image whose odd regions are
      encrypted does not boot without it.
    source_ref: "app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Utils.java:185-205, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Loader/iso.cpp:362-408, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Loader/iso.cpp:855-882"

  - name: "<content_id>.rap"
    required: false
    size: 16
    validation: [size]
    unsourceable: "per-title activation licence tied to the account that bought the content, never distributed generically"
    description: "PSN content licence"
    note: >-
      Imported through the EDAT/RAP/PKG entry and copied byte for byte into
      dev_hdd0/home/00000001/exdata under the name it was given. The import is
      refused unless the source is exactly 16 bytes. SELF decryption looks the
      matching file up by content id, with a lowercase extension, in the exdata
      folder of each user under dev_hdd0/home, and rejects a content id longer
      than 0x30 characters or outside A-Z, a-z, 0-9, - and _.
    source_ref: "app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:649-653, app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Emulator.java:820-845, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Crypto/unself.cpp:1312-1343, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/system_utils.cpp:396-421"

  - name: "<content_id>.edat"
    required: false
    min_size: 144
    validation: [size]
    unsourceable: "per-content licensed data file, shipped with the content it belongs to"
    description: "Encrypted data file for licensed content"
    note: >-
      Imported through the same entry. The NPD header is read and the file
      refused below 0x90 bytes or when the magic is not NPD, then written whole
      to dev_hdd0/home/00000001/exdata under the content id the header declares.
    source_ref: "app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:654-658, app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:878-906, app/src/main/cpp/emulator_aps3e.cpp:1085, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/system_utils.cpp:440"

  - name: "<font>.ttf"
    aliases: ["<font>.ttc", "<font>.otf"]
    required: false
    config_key: "Miscellaneous/Custom Font File Path"
    unsourceable: "any TrueType, TrueType collection or OpenType face the user picks, with no name or version the code expects"
    description: "Replacement face for the overlay text"
    note: >-
      Copied into the font directory at the data root by the picker, its absolute
      path stored in the configuration. Used for the default, CJK base and Hangul
      classes at once, and only while Font File Selection is Custom. The setting
      reverts to From Firmware when the stored path no longer resolves, so the
      firmware faces cover the absence.
    source_ref: "app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/EmulatorSettings.java:1329-1349, app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_rp3_impl.cpp:215-227, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/system_config.h:402-403"

  - name: "<driver>.so"
    aliases: ["<driver>.zip"]
    required: false
    config_key: "Video/Vulkan/Custom Driver Library Path"
    unsourceable: "third-party Vulkan driver built for one GPU family, not an emulator artefact"
    description: "Replacement Vulkan driver"
    note: >-
      Imported as a shared object, or as a zip whose meta.json names the library
      to keep, and unpacked into the driver directory in internal storage. Read
      from the global config YAML before the emulator initialises and opened
      through libadrenotools in place of the system loader. The system
      libvulkan.so is used when Use Custom Driver is off, the path is empty, or
      the file is gone.
    source_ref: "app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/EmulatorSettings.java:1232-1327, app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:952-976, app/src/main/cpp/vkapi.cpp:18-33, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/system_config.h:209-211"

# Layout produced by extracting PS3UPDAT.PUP, and the paths this tree reads from it.
dev_flash:
  path: "config/dev_flash/"
  source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/vfs_config.h:15, app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_rp3_impl.cpp:139-141"
  note: >-
    Mounted at /dev_flash and rooted at the config directory. Written only by the
    firmware installer, which extracts the dev_flash_ packages of the PUP into it.

  sys_external:
    path: "dev_flash/sys/external/"
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/PPUModule.cpp:2703-2705, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_prx.cpp:208, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/Modules/cellSysmodule.cpp:1031"
    note: >-
      Firmware SPRX modules. liblv2.sprx gates the boot and pulls the rest in;
      each module can be forced to LLE or HLE through Libraries Control, which
      the shipped configuration leaves empty. flashATRAC.pic is named by
      cellSysmodule for the ATRAC module path.
    critical_file: "liblv2.sprx"

  sys_internal:
    path: "dev_flash/sys/internal/"
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_prx.cpp:33-34"
    note: "Internal modules, libfs_utility_init.sprx among them."

  fonts:
    path: "dev_flash/data/font/"
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/Modules/cellFont.cpp:226-241, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/Modules/cellFont.cpp:281, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Overlays/overlay_fonts.cpp:116-117"
    note: >-
      Faces cellFontOpenFontset maps by type, and the directory the overlay
      searches for its own list. A fontset the emulator does not implement falls
      back to SCE-PS3-RD-R-LATIN.TTF.
    files:
      - "SCE-PS3-RD-R-LATIN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-RD-L-LATIN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-RD-B-LATIN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-RD-R-LATIN2.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-RD-L-LATIN2.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-RD-B-LATIN2.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-MT-R-LATIN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-NR-R-JPN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-NR-L-JPN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-NR-B-JPN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-YG-R-KOR.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-SR-R-LATIN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-SR-R-LATIN2.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-SR-R-JPN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-VR-R-LATIN.TTF"
      - "SCE-PS3-VR-R-LATIN2.TTF"
      - "SONY-CC/SCE-PS3-DH-R-CGB.TTF"

  certs:
    path: "dev_flash/data/cert/"
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/Modules/cellSsl.cpp:110"
    note: "Root certificates cellSsl enumerates."

  vsh:
    path: "dev_flash/vsh/"
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/util/sysinfo.cpp:651-653, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/PPUThread.cpp:4799-4807, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Overlays/overlay_user_list_dialog.cpp:207, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Overlays/FriendsList/overlay_friends_list_dialog.cpp:85"
    note: >-
      vsh/etc/version.txt supplies the installed firmware version, compared
      against the PS3_SYSTEM_VER a title declares. vsh/module/eseibrd.sprx is
      precompiled at boot and vsh/resource/explore/user carries the avatars the
      user list and the friends list draw.

  ps1emu:
    path: "dev_flash/ps1emu/"
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp:2253"
    note: "ps1_newemu.self, the argv[0] of a PS1 Classics boot."

  pspemu:
    path: "dev_flash/pspemu/"
    source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp:2281"
    note: "psp_emulator.self, the argv[0] of a PSP minis boot."

dev_flash2:
  path: "config/dev_flash2/"
  source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/vfs_config.h:16, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_fs.cpp:28"
  note: "CELL_FS_FAT on CELL_FS_IOS:BUILTIN_FLSH2. Mount point only, created empty."

dev_flash3:
  path: "config/dev_flash3/"
  source_ref: "app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/vfs_config.h:17, app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_fs.cpp:27"
  note: "CELL_FS_FAT on CELL_FS_IOS:BUILTIN_FLSH3. Mount point only, created empty."