libretro/emulators/lindbergh-loader.yml

emulator: Lindbergh Loader
type: standalone
core_classification: embedded_hle
source: "https://github.com/lindbergh-loader/lindbergh-loader"
upstream: "https://github.com/lindbergh-loader/lindbergh-loader"
source_commit: "0af606d845b70339c335785c0eba68b47b78df3c"
profiled_date: "2026-08-08"
core_version: "2.1.4"
display_name: "Sega - Lindbergh (Lindbergh Loader)"
cores:
  - lindbergh-loader
systems:
  - sega-lindbergh
mode: standalone

notes: |
  Runs the original Sega Lindbergh game binaries on Linux, built and executed
  as 32-bit x86. The launcher picks the game ELF, exports
  LD_PRELOAD=lindbergh.so and an
  LD_LIBRARY_PATH covering the loader directory, the original directory, the
  game directory and ".:lib:../lib", then system()s the ELF
  (src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:315-378, 874-929). Platforms invoke it as lindbergh-loader
  (Batocera package and generator, RetroBat, ES-DE find rule LINDBERGH-LOADER).

  The Lindbergh hardware is emulated inside lindbergh.so with no external
  firmware. Hooked open() and fopen() redirect /dev/lbb (baseboard), /dev/i2c/0
  (eeprom), /dev/ttyS0 and /dev/ttyS1 (drive, ride, motion boards and card
  reader), /proc/bus/pci/01/00.0 and /proc/bus/pci/00/1f.0 to /dev/zero and
  answer from code (src/lindbergh/hook.c:43, 530-615, 641-853). The security board is DIP
  switches and test/service lines computed in securityBoard.c:98-140, with no
  keychip dump. eeprom.bin and sram.bin are created on first run and their
  contents synthesised: eepromSettings.c builds every amSysDataRecord section
  from constants and recomputes the CRCs (eeprom.c:33-48, baseBoard.c:60-74,
  eepromSettings.c:24-120). Card_01.crd and Card_02.crd are written from a
  56-byte header held in the binary (cardReader.c:227-247). lindbergh.ini and
  controls.ini are optional; both fall back to compiled-in defaults and can be
  emitted with --create (config.c:510-516, src/lindbergh/sdlInput.c:790-795).

  The one hard external dependency is the NVIDIA Cg runtime. findLibCg() checks
  LIBCG_PATH from the ini, then /app/lib32/libCg2.so, $APP_IMG_ROOT/usr/lib32/
  libCg2.so, ./libCg.so and $LINDBERGH_LOADER_CURRENT_DIR/libCg.so, and exits
  when none is present (src/lindbergh/shaderPatches.c:1028-1108). Cg 3.1 is a separate
  requirement: the game ELFs link libCg.so and libCgGL.so, which upstream
  vendors as libs/Cg-3.1.zip and installs into the runtime library directory
  (scripts/appimage/make-appimage.sh,
  scripts/flatpak/com.github.lindberghloader.yml:181-189, 242-245). Batocera
  copies per-game Cg variants into the ROM directory
  (lindberghGenerator.py:1027-1050).

  Shaders come from the game dump, not from the loader. cacheModedShaderFiles()
  reads ../fs/shader and /data/Shader relative to the ELF, patches the Cg
  source and serves the result back through the fopen, fread and ftell hooks
  (shaderCache.c:474-488, 555-678, src/lindbergh/hook.c:778-808, 1140-1212).

  Boot logos and console fonts were user-supplied until 2.0.1, which added
  built-in copies compiled into lindbergh.so and served from
  resources/logo.h and resources/font.h. The originals are read only when
  DISABLE_BUILTIN_LOGOS or DISABLE_BUILTIN_FONT is set, from the game
  directory (src/lindbergh/hook.c:655-744, 874-926, fread hook at 1159-1181). Batocera
  exposes both switches as ORIGINAL LOGOS and ORIGINAL FONTS.

  Custom cursors and crosshairs load from arbitrary ini paths with no default
  name and no built-in image (crossHair.c:142-186, customCursor.c:26-33).

files:
  # -- NVIDIA Cg runtime --

  - name: libCg2.so
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: true
    validation: [signature]
    description: "NVIDIA Cg 2.0.0.12 runtime used to recompile the game shaders"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/shaderPatches.c:1028-1108, src/lindbergh/shaderPatches.c:1110-1170"
    note: >-
      Searched at LIBCG_PATH, /app/lib32/libCg2.so, $APP_IMG_ROOT/usr/lib32/
      libCg2.so, then ./libCg.so and $LINDBERGH_LOADER_CURRENT_DIR/libCg.so. The
      loader reads 8 bytes at offset 0x226d84 and requires exactly "2.0.0.12";
      a missing file, a different version string or a failed dlopen of
      cgCreateContext, cgCreateProgram, cgGetProgramString, cgDestroyContext or
      cgDestroyProgram each call exit(EXIT_FAILURE). Upstream vendors the build
      as libs/libCg.so and both installers rename it to libCg2.so so it can sit
      beside the Cg 3.1 library of the same original name that the games link.

  - name: libCgGL.so
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: true
    description: "NVIDIA Cg 3.1 OpenGL runtime linked by the game binaries"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:336-378, scripts/flatpak/com.github.lindberghloader.yml:181-189"
    note: >-
      Resolved by the dynamic linker for the game ELF through the
      LD_LIBRARY_PATH the launcher builds, not opened by loader code. Upstream
      takes it from Cg-3.1_April2012_x86.tgz and ships it in libs/Cg-3.1.zip.
      Game dumps generally carry their own copy in the game directory, so the
      Batocera generator only writes one when the file is absent or differs.

  - name: libCg.so
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: true
    description: "NVIDIA Cg 3.1 runtime linked by the game binaries"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:336-378, scripts/flatpak/com.github.lindberghloader.yml:181-189"
    note: >-
      Same origin and mechanism as libCgGL.so, and a different build from the
      2.0.0.12 library the shader recompiler loads. Batocera keeps the two Cg
      generations apart as libCg.so.harley and libCg.so.other and copies the
      matching pair into the ROM directory per game, overwriting the dump's own
      copy for the titles where it renders shadows and textures incorrectly.

  # -- Lindbergh system libraries kept out of current distributions --

  - name: libcrypto.so.0.9.7
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    description: "OpenSSL 0.9.7 crypto library linked by the networked games"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:336-378, scripts/flatpak/com.github.lindberghloader.yml:244"
    note: >-
      Vendored as libs/libcrypto.so.0.9.7 and installed into the runtime library
      directory by both the AppImage and Flatpak builds. Resolved by the dynamic
      linker for the game ELF.

  - name: libssl.so.0.9.7
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    description: "OpenSSL 0.9.7 TLS library linked by the networked games"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:336-378, scripts/flatpak/com.github.lindberghloader.yml:245"
    note: "Vendored as libs/libssl.so.0.9.7, paired with libcrypto.so.0.9.7."

  - name: libopenal.so.0
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    description: "OpenAL runtime preloaded for Quiz Answer x Answer"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:22, src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:315-328, src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:882-890"
    note: >-
      When the ELF is q2satl_lind the launcher looks the file up through
      findPreloadLibrary and appends it to LD_PRELOAD. Absence prints "You might
      not get sound because libopenal.so.0 was not found" and the game still
      runs. Vendored as libs/libopenal.so.0.

  # -- Lindbergh boot program --

  - name: segaboot
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    description: "Sega Lindbergh boot and hardware check program, version 2.4"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:696-698, src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:892-895, src/lindbergh/hook.c:1625-1632, src/lindbergh/config.h:57-58, src/lindbergh/gameData.c:51-52"
    unsourceable: >-
      Lives at /usr/sbin/segaboot on the board's hard disk, which no dump
      project covers. The /usr partition images that circulate are encrypted
      and no key is public.
    note: >-
      Run as "segaboot -t" under -s or --segaboot. A 32-bit x86 Linux ELF.
      0x38d56318 identifies Segaboot 2.4 and 0xa518b18b the build carrying
      symbols, but neither is a whole-file checksum and neither belongs in a
      hash field: src/lindbergh/hook.c computes them as CRC-32 over 0x4000 bytes starting
      10 bytes into program header index 2, guarded by p_type == PT_LOAD and
      p_flags == 5. Declaring one as crc32 gives verify.py a value it can
      never reproduce. The comparison drives identification only: an unknown
      CRC logs a warning and startup continues. SEGABOOT 0x0027 and
      SEGABOOT_2_6 0x0030 in src/lindbergh/config.h are placeholders, not checksums, and no
      table entry uses them.

  # -- Lindbergh boot assets, replaced by built-in copies since 2.0.1 --

  - name: logo.tga
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    has_builtin: true
    description: "Lindbergh boot logo, read from /usr/lib/boot on the original system"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/hook.c:655-667, src/lindbergh/hook.c:888-900"
    note: >-
      Read from the game directory only when DISABLE_BUILTIN_LOGOS is set.
      Otherwise the logoLL array in resources/logo.h answers the read.

  - name: logo_red.tga
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    has_builtin: true
    description: "Lindbergh Red boot logo, read from /usr/lib/boot on the original system"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/hook.c:669-681, src/lindbergh/hook.c:874-886"
    note: >-
      Read from the game directory only when DISABLE_BUILTIN_LOGOS is set.
      Otherwise the logoLLRed array in resources/logo.h answers the read.

  - name: SEGA_KakuGothic-DB-Roman_12.tga
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    has_builtin: true
    description: "Sega Kaku Gothic console font texture"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/hook.c:718-730, src/lindbergh/hook.c:902-914"
    aliases: ["LucidaConsole_12.tga"]
    note: >-
      Read from the game directory only when DISABLE_BUILTIN_FONT is set.
      The built-in is one shared 128x256 atlas (fontTGA) and one metrics
      table (fontABC) answering all four font paths, so it substitutes for
      the Sega originals rather than reproducing either of them.
      The .abc is the metrics sidecar of the .tga atlas, named for the GDI
      ABC width triple. Header of 28 bytes: renderOffset, renderHeight,
      atlas width, atlas height, lineHeight, then firstSymbol and lastSymbol
      as uint16 and a uint32 symbol count; then one 24-byte record per glyph,
      four float32 giving the normalised UV rectangle followed by leftMargin,
      width, rightMargin and a pad as uint16. Field names come from
      JayFoxRox/lindbergh-tools Utilities/src/font.c, written against a real
      LucidaConsole_12.abc rather than against this substitute.
      The built-in itself is Liberation Mono Bold rasterised at 18 px: 95 of
      its 96 glyphs are byte-identical to that rendering, cropped at the UV
      rectangles its own metrics declare. Liberation carries a 2010 and 2012
      digitisation copyright, so it cannot be a 2005 Sega asset.
      Otherwise the fontTGA array in resources/font.h answers the read.

  - name: SEGA_KakuGothic-DB-Roman_12.abc
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    has_builtin: true
    description: "Sega Kaku Gothic console font metrics"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/hook.c:732-744, src/lindbergh/hook.c:916-928"
    aliases: ["LucidaConsole_12.abc"]
    note: >-
      Read from the game directory only when DISABLE_BUILTIN_FONT is set.
      The built-in is one shared 128x256 atlas (fontTGA) and one metrics
      table (fontABC) answering all four font paths, so it substitutes for
      the Sega originals rather than reproducing either of them.
      The .abc is the metrics sidecar of the .tga atlas, named for the GDI
      ABC width triple. Header of 28 bytes: renderOffset, renderHeight,
      atlas width, atlas height, lineHeight, then firstSymbol and lastSymbol
      as uint16 and a uint32 symbol count; then one 24-byte record per glyph,
      four float32 giving the normalised UV rectangle followed by leftMargin,
      width, rightMargin and a pad as uint16. Field names come from
      JayFoxRox/lindbergh-tools Utilities/src/font.c, written against a real
      LucidaConsole_12.abc rather than against this substitute.
      The built-in itself is Liberation Mono Bold rasterised at 18 px: 95 of
      its 96 glyphs are byte-identical to that rendering, cropped at the UV
      rectangles its own metrics declare. Liberation carries a 2010 and 2012
      digitisation copyright, so it cannot be a 2005 Sega asset.
      Otherwise the fontABC array in resources/font.h answers the read, with
      ftell returning fontABClen.

  - name: LucidaConsole_12.tga
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    has_builtin: true
    description: "Lucida Console font texture"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/hook.c:683-695"
    note: >-
      Read from the game directory only when DISABLE_BUILTIN_FONT is set.
      The built-in is one shared 128x256 atlas (fontTGA) and one metrics
      table (fontABC) answering all four font paths, so it substitutes for
      the Sega originals rather than reproducing either of them.
      The .abc is the metrics sidecar of the .tga atlas, named for the GDI
      ABC width triple. Header of 28 bytes: renderOffset, renderHeight,
      atlas width, atlas height, lineHeight, then firstSymbol and lastSymbol
      as uint16 and a uint32 symbol count; then one 24-byte record per glyph,
      four float32 giving the normalised UV rectangle followed by leftMargin,
      width, rightMargin and a pad as uint16. Field names come from
      JayFoxRox/lindbergh-tools Utilities/src/font.c, written against a real
      LucidaConsole_12.abc rather than against this substitute.
      The built-in itself is Liberation Mono Bold rasterised at 18 px: 95 of
      its 96 glyphs are byte-identical to that rendering, cropped at the UV
      rectangles its own metrics declare. Liberation carries a 2010 and 2012
      digitisation copyright, so it cannot be a 2005 Sega asset.
      Otherwise the fontTGA array in resources/font.h answers the read.

  - name: LucidaConsole_12.abc
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    has_builtin: true
    description: "Lucida Console font metrics"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/hook.c:697-709"
    note: >-
      Read from the game directory only when DISABLE_BUILTIN_FONT is set.
      The built-in is one shared 128x256 atlas (fontTGA) and one metrics
      table (fontABC) answering all four font paths, so it substitutes for
      the Sega originals rather than reproducing either of them.
      The .abc is the metrics sidecar of the .tga atlas, named for the GDI
      ABC width triple. Header of 28 bytes: renderOffset, renderHeight,
      atlas width, atlas height, lineHeight, then firstSymbol and lastSymbol
      as uint16 and a uint32 symbol count; then one 24-byte record per glyph,
      four float32 giving the normalised UV rectangle followed by leftMargin,
      width, rightMargin and a pad as uint16. Field names come from
      JayFoxRox/lindbergh-tools Utilities/src/font.c, written against a real
      LucidaConsole_12.abc rather than against this substitute.
      The built-in itself is Liberation Mono Bold rasterised at 18 px: 95 of
      its 96 glyphs are byte-identical to that rendering, cropped at the UV
      rectangles its own metrics declare. Liberation carries a 2010 and 2012
      digitisation copyright, so it cannot be a 2005 Sega asset.
      Otherwise the fontABC array in resources/font.h answers the read.

  # -- Lindbergh runtime configuration --

  - name: lindbergrc
    system: sega-lindbergh
    required: false
    description: "Lindbergh site configuration read by Sega's lxmaster boot supervisor"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/hook.c:650-653"
    unsourceable: >-
      /root is a symlink to /usr/local/root, so the file sits on the same
      unpreserved hard-disk partition as segaboot. Nothing canonical exists to
      reproduce either: every key is a site or unit specific development
      setting, and a stock production machine ships no lindbergrc at all.
    note: >-
      An INI file, sections [develop], [terminal], [segaboot] and [keychip].
      It is read by Sega's lxmaster boot supervisor, not by the games; the
      per-title <id>rc files that do ship in game dumps are xinit client
      scripts, a different thing. The fopen hook rewrites /root/lindbergrc to
      lindbergrc in the game directory, and the loader neither creates the file
      nor substitutes for it.

  - name: gamecontrollerdb.txt
    system: sega-lindbergh
    category: game_data
    required: false
    description: "SDL gamepad mappings added on top of the built-in table"
    source_ref: "src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:415-430, src/lindbergh/lindbergh.c:478, src/lindbergh/sdlInput.c:209-217"
    note: >-
      Loaded from the path given by -d or --controllerdb, passed through the
      LINDBERGH_CONTROLS_DB_PATH environment variable. The built-in mappings in
      gameControllerMappings.c load first and remain when no file is supplied.