6 KiB
A BIOS or firmware is like the brain of a computer or electronic device. It helps the device start up and makes sure all its parts work together smoothly. In emulation, having the correct BIOS/firmware is important because it allows the software to pretend to be the real device and work properly.
That's why some emulators require BIOS and Firmware files to work correctly or at all.
Generally the bios files should be put in ~/retrodeck/bios.
RetroArch (Libretro)
Some cores may need some BIOS files to work or run correctly. Here are the most common systems, if you find more we can add them to this wiki. However the extended information can be found on the official libretro documentation, just search for your core. More info by clicking on the system name down here.
scph5500.bin PS1 JP BIOS - Required for JP games 8dd7d5296a650fac7319bce665a6a53c
scph5501.bin PS1 US BIOS - Required for US games 490f666e1afb15b7362b406ed1cea246
scph5502.bin PS1 EU BIOS - Required for EU games 32736f17079d0b2b7024407c39bd3050
bios_CD_E.bin | MegaCD EU BIOS - Required for MegaCD EU games | e66fa1dc5820d254611fdcdba0662372
bios_CD_U.bin | SegaCD US BIOS - Required for SegaCD US games | 854b9150240a198070150e4566ae1290
bios_CD_J.bin | MegaCD JP BIOS - Required for MegaCD JP games | 278a9397d192149e84e820ac621a8edd
sega_101.bin | Saturn JP BIOS - Required for JP games | 85ec9ca47d8f6807718151cbcca8b964
mpr-17933.bin | Saturn US.mdEU BIOS - Required for US/EU games | 3240872c70984b6cbfda1586cab68dbe
mpr-18811-mx.ic1 | The King of Fighters '95 ROM Cartridge - Required for this game | 255113ba943c92a54facd25a10fd780c
mpr-19367-mx.ic1 | Ultraman: Hikari no Kyojin Densetsu ROM Cartridge - Required for this game | 1cd19988d1d72a3e7caa0b73234c96b4
*only required for a specific game
PPSSPP
Starting everything should be included.
But if you want the original PSP fonts you can place them in system/PPSSPP/flash0/font
MSX / SVI / ColecoVision / SG-1000
Content of blueMSXv282full.zip.
Not the zip itself, its contents must be extracted in ~/retrodeck/bios folder, more info here.
Starting from v0.5.0b this is automatically provided.
Yuzu
Yuzu needs the key files prod.keys, title.keys and the firmware files in the following directories:
Yuzu keys: ~/retrodeck/bios/switch/keys
Yuzu firmware: ~/retrodeck/bios/switch/registered
The directory tree should look like this example:
~/retrodeck/bios/switch
├── keys
│ ├── prod.keys
│ └── title.keys
└── registered
├── 02259fd41066eddbc64e0fdd217d9d2f.nca
├── 02582a2cd46cc226ce72c8a52504cd97.nca
├── 02b1dd519a6df4de1b11871851d328a1.nca
├── other 217 files...
└── fd0d23003ea5602c24ac4e41101c16fd.nca
You can find a complete guide in the Yuzu official wiki on how to extract the BIOS from your Switch.
XEMU (Xbox)
These files must be placed with the correct name in the given folders:
~/retrodeck/bios/mcpx_1.0.bin'
~/retrodeck/bios/Complex.bin'
~/retrodeck/saves/xbox-eeprom.bin'
[OPTIONAL] ~/retrodeck/bios/xbox_hdd.qcow2'
The hard disk is optional as RetroDECK already provides a pre-built 8G Xbox HDD image, free of any copyrighted content, and only containing a dummy dashboard. So if you want to the complete experience you have to provide your own.
Usually those files are dumped/found as:
mcpx_1.0.bin
Complex.bin -> Complex_4627v1.03.bin or Complex_4627.bin
xbox-eeprom.bin -> eeprom.bin
xbox_hdd.qcow2 -> xbox_harddisk-D4920.qcow2
So don't forget to rename them for the RetroDECK standards.
PICO-8
Pico-8 it's not freeware hence it cannot be included with RetroDECK, however it's supported by using these steps:
- Download PICO-8 for
Linux 64-bitfrom the official website or where you bought it. - Extract the zipfile somewhere on your desktop
- Copy the content of the extracted pico-8 folder into
~/retrodeck/bios/pico-8/
MelonDS (Standalone), (NDS)
MelonDS by default needs those files:
~/retrodeck/bios/bios9.bin~/retrodeck/bios/bios7.bin~/retrodeck/bios/firmware.bin
However there is a setting to disable the need of these files by going to: Tools -> Start MelonDS -> Yes -> Config -> Emu settings -> DS-mode and removing the check on Use external BIOS/firmware files.
Please be advised that this operation may prevent the games from running correctly.
PCSX2 (PS2)
There a multitude of PS2 bios for a complete list with the hashes check
Gametechwiki
The PS2 bios could be named in the following ways
By bios version: ps2-0200a-20040614.bin
By system name:SCPH-70012.bin
Put the bios inside the bios folder: ~/retrodeck/bios/SCPH-70012.bin
Here is a list of common used bios with bios versions/system names/hashes.
ps2-0200a-20040614 - SCPH-70001/SCPH-70011/SCPH-70012 - d333558cc14561c1fdc334c75d5f37b7 -PS2 US BIOS
ps2-0200e-20040614 - SCPH-70002/SCPH-70003/SCPH-70004/SCPH-70008 - dc752f160044f2ed5fc1f4964db2a095 - PS2 EU BIOS
ps2-0200j-20040614 - SCPH-70000 - 0eee5d1c779aa50e94edd168b4ebf42e - PS2 JP BIOS
RPCS3 (PS3)
- Download the latest PlayStation 3 firmware.
Tools->RetroDECK Configurator->Change settings->RPCS3->File->Install Firmware.
For more information on how to load the games check the official quickstart guide.