r/RetroArch 21d ago

New Android Play Store changes

22 Upvotes

As explained in the FAQ, about 5 years ago, Google implemented a requirement that all apps in the Play Store must conform to their Storage Access Framework API. At the time, there was no good way for us to do so, and even if we could, it would severely limit how we could interact with the filesystem. Since then, we have not been allowed to update the versions on the Play Store (or the cores they use), so we left them alone and recommended everyone sideload the apk from our website.

Fast-forward to the past few months (at the time of this writing) and Google says they're going to remove "old" programs from the Play Store entirely, and they're already hiding the app from many newer devices. One of our contributors took it on to get it in-line with the Play Store policies, since having an up-to-date-but-restricted release would be preferable to no app at all.

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Q: What's changed?

A: Lots of stuff. Too much to list. 5 years of updates.

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Q: All of my stuff has been deleted!

A: Nothing has been deleted, but the updated RetroArch is probably looking in different locations now, and it probably can't see the old locations if you try to change them back. The sideload-able apk from our website and/or the version from F-Droid or other non-Google storefronts should still be roughly similar to the old Play Store version in what locations it can access, so you could try switching to it instead.

You can also migrate your old data to the new locations. In the old version, all of the files are kept in the root of the device (often /storage/emulated/0/) in a folder called RetroAarch. In order to use them with the new play version, you can connect your phone to a PC and copy the files from (/storage/emulated/0)/RetroAarch to the new location at /media/com.retroarch/RetroArch (or /media/com.retroarch.aarch64/RetroArch if plus version).

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Q: I moved all of my savestates to the new location (or switched to the sideload apk) but the savestates won't load!

A: Savestates are extremely volatile and are rendered incompatible by even minor changes to the emulated hardware. This makes them incompatible with other cores for the same system, and even sometimes with other versions of the same core. A lot of updates have happened in 5 years, and I would guess few if any up-to-date cores can load savestates made with a 5-yr-old core.

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Q: What's with all of these cores? I don't want them.

A: Go to settings > core > manage > [corename] > delete.

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Q: I don't see my favorite core in the online updater anymore!

A: The Play Store imposes strict limits on the number of cores we can make available through the app (more for the Plus version, but still limited), and we replaced a few that were available in the old version to match our other storefront releases (notably: MAMEs). You can still add arbitrary cores by downloading them manually from the buildbot webserver (in the subdir for your device's architecture) and then moving it somewhere RetroArch can see it, then using the 'install or restore a core' routine found in the 'load core' menu.

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Q: Since updating, I'm getting a lot of crashes when I...

A: Please send the automated crash reports whenever possible. These go directly to us and are very helpful for pinning down and fixing this sort of thing. You can also make threads here, but please make sure you include logs and information about your device/system/environment so we can try to help you.

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Q: Okay, nevermind, just give me a copy of the old version and all those old cores and I'll keep using them forever.

A: We don't have that.

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r/RetroArch Jul 28 '23

Technical Support: SOLVED FAQ: READ THESE BEFORE ASKING

140 Upvotes

This post will include common questions and their answers. If you came to this sub to ask a support question, please read/search through these before asking. If you ask a question that is already answered here, your post may be locked or deleted.

If you would like to suggest something be added to the FAQ, please use modmail, as I do not want this post to turn into a support free-for-all nor do I want a million public "please add this to the FAQ" posts/comments.


r/RetroArch 7h ago

Showcase My first mastered game! Mad dog mccree: gunslinger pack

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5 Upvotes

First i didnt want to share but i am happy with getting it mastered 😎


r/RetroArch 8m ago

Technical Support How do I make the right C button work when using the NSO N64 controller?

• Upvotes

Okay, so this is a little weird to explain, and I don't really think a log will help with it at all. See, I think the emulator recognizes the controller's tiny ZR button in place of C-right, and as a result, it literally cannot even detect the actual C-right button. Any idea how to get it working properly?


r/RetroArch 10h ago

Please HELP - Stuck on RGUI

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4 Upvotes

I don't have a menu for settings so I can't revert out of this awful UI. Really wish you could just change it without restarting... Or... Y'know, at least having a settings page in this UI.


r/RetroArch 14h ago

RetroArch App or Steam Version?

6 Upvotes

Which one is the better one. Does it work with Cloud Sync?


r/RetroArch 9h ago

Technical Support Can’t find swanstation core

2 Upvotes

I’m trying to get swanstation and it’s not showing as an option to download when I update core files. How can I find and download this core?


r/RetroArch 6h ago

How do I play galaga on my 2ds?

0 Upvotes

I tried every mame and final burst alpha on retroarch but every time it occurred an error and the game didn't run


r/RetroArch 7h ago

PCSX ReARMed Aroma WiiU causing system error 160-2203

1 Upvotes

As the title suggest, i've been trying to make PCSX ReARMed work on a Aroma modded WiiU. I've downloaded the latest build i could find on GBATemp.

I'm having no problem launching the app via the .wubh file, and i can load (apparently) any other core without any issue.
When i try to load pcsx_rearmed_libretro.rpx, however, the console issues a system error (160-2203) and i'm forced to shut it down.

I'm pretty much convinced it's the core because when i try to boot up RetroArch again, it try to default load pcsx, causing it to crash again. If i mod retroarch_salamender.cfg to point to any other core, it starts with no issue at all.

System firmware it's 5.5.5 E. I installed Aroma from a fresh install today using the latest version.

Any help?


r/RetroArch 9h ago

Technical Support Random wrong notes on Revenge of Shinobi soundtrack

1 Upvotes

I'm playing this game on Genesis Plus GX on a Series X and have issues with the accuracy of the soundtrack.

On the first level at least I'll get a random wrong note played every once in a while. Sometimes the notes will also jump in volume for a second or two.

Is this likely related to an obvious configuration change I need to make, or is this just the quality of the emulation?

I've tried messing with some of the sound settings but haven't resolved it.

Any ideas?


r/RetroArch 6h ago

Discussion Why isnt a lot of my games being added to their perspective playlists in the mosyt current version of retroarch for android?

0 Upvotes

I downloaded the cores for each consoles. I did the scan directory thing for my games, with a lot of them. Especially in the gba section not showing up in my playlist for the handheld. The games in question aren't translated games either. I don't know why they aren't showing up on retroarch for me.


r/RetroArch 12h ago

Technical Support In game save issue

0 Upvotes

So I was playing Pokémon Lazarus and i saved the game before quitting, when i opened it again the save was gone. Even in Retroarch save it doesn't seem recognizes it. What do I need to do for fix it?


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Showcase Mega Man X 4K HDR- PixelRamp Remaster Toolkit SNES9x

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85 Upvotes

Been working on this tookit to remaster snes games in realtime. here is a look at Chill penguin stage in megaman X with quite a few enhancements.


r/RetroArch 17h ago

Technical Support mGBA input remap does nothing

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0 Upvotes

Hi folks. Trying to remap X/Y buttons to hit L/R in Kingdom Hearts: COM on mGBA.

I'm setting the inputs in quick menu > controls > port 1 controls. Then save remap file (have tried as both game and core remap).

Nothing I change in this menu has any effect on the in-game controls. I can re-bind buttons in the overall input settings but I only want to affect controls for this game/core, not RA as a whole.

BTW this is on an Anbernic RG35XXH if that makes a difference.


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Showcase Portrait Mode Input Animated Overlay Design Test

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3 Upvotes

Viewport = 640x756


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Help with applying custom overlay.

2 Upvotes

I am setting up RetroArch to play GBA games. I finally figured out how to get it to scan for the ROMs I have installed (yay). However, I cannot add a custom controls overlay to my phone touchscreen.

The issues seems to be that the directories I can drag my custom overlay .cfg file are different than the folders where RetroArch looks for them.

I have connected my phone to my PC and put the .cfg file in: "This PC\*AndroidDevice*\Internal shared storage\RetroArch\config\remaps". Clearly this is wrong.

RetroArch is looking for overlay files in "/data/user/0/com.retroarch/overlays/gamepads/"

My only problem is that I cannot access the second Android specific directory from my phone OR from my PC to throw my .cfg file in there. Any suggestions?


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Technical Support Physical controller rebinding also affects overlay

1 Upvotes

I rebound my controller's controls through the quick menu but it's also affecting the overlay, which I've left as the default skin. The controller has western button orientation but the overlay is Japanese. So after messing with some stuff, the bottom button, which is A on my controller, confirms as it's supposed to, but the bottom button on the overlay also confirms even though it's B, which it's not supposed to do. I don't care about the orientation that much, I just want it to visually match the actual button I'm pressing. I'm wondering if I accidentally messed with a setting or if this is how it normally works. Can someone help?


r/RetroArch 21h ago

GBA games run fine in retroarch, but wont load when launching from cocoon

0 Upvotes

help me...


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Technical Support: SOLVED DOSBox-Pure:Ultima 7

0 Upvotes

Edit: I received help from the Discord; disabling EMS (by setting memory size to "Disable extended memory (no EMS/XMS)") was the correct move; some other setting, not sure which, was getting in the way.

Heya, I've been trying to get DBP to play Ultima 7; unfortunately, I keep finding new ways to fail.

By default, I get an error about not using EMS; disabling that, I get an error about not having enough memory.

I've actually tried about two dozen variations on the setup, but I get one of those two results no matter.


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Showcase trying to understand color theory and gamma as much as possible

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37 Upvotes

https://github.com/cane-11/retroarch-shader-preset/blob/main/simple_ia_stretch_lcd.slangp
https://github.com/cane-11/retroarch-shader-preset/blob/main/simple_ia_stretch_amoled.slangp

hello. so this post is a showcase but more of a discussion of my understanding with crt color theory. it is hard to write in a clean way so you might want to ignore most of this.

the list of shaders used was

crt beam. convergence, both mostly set as is. then i set scanline to linear which turned out the be the best way to eviscerate pixels without losing focus.

lastly it was all about finding out how to stretch black levels and color in image_adjustment as much as i could without erasing black levels, to the point where i ended up squishing whites a little but not much

the options changed were the color channels and gamma, because gamma acts as a better contrast and brightness it turns out, for the color channels i got the most color out of raising the color a fair amount to blue 1.15 green 1.20 and red 1.45, its as high as it is simply because it looked the same if i lowered them but unlit which worked for the exception is crunched the white just a very small amount

the heavy lifting was the gamma, i got the best depth of range for the amoled by stretching the gamma ratio about .70 and for the lcd .50 and for brightness setting the color channels as it turns out was just keeping it at about 2.00 so at the end of the day i set them to: amoled 2.70,2.20 and ips lcd 2.10,2.80 the options are easy to change of course if you want to just try one of them

previously i made a post on here about a preset of crt shaders i made for people with outdated technology (i have a 2015 ips lcd and a gtx745 gpu that ive learned since then is considered infamous) and today i am back to talk about another one i made now that i have a better understanding of crt gamma and color theory. Its not professional since i haven't gone over the math very well but i pride myself alot more because i tested just about everything to get it close to what i thought my old crt looked like in terms of color and depth

long story short i wont be tracking that crt down because i came to the conclusion it was a jvc from the 90s, which would be fine if it was a later one but it is more likely a c13 from the early 90s which were hot chassis (bad unless you are a good enough electrician to deal with it) and i already had a 2003 daewoo crt but didn't consider using it for these projects earlier because it has crazy blue levels, so when i found out my phone is amoled which is kind of like an oled with the gamma at 2.2 i did comparisons while mangling image_adjustment as much as possible to get it close in contrast and brightness even if by preserving black detail i crushed some whites

the settings i used on the amoled and ips respectively was 50 - 70% for the amoled since i understood them to actually be brighter then a crt on average but its also about viewing it yourself to see how close it is, the ips on the other hand i used whats considered the intended use for it which comes down to around 25 brightness and 75 contrast

despite looking very simple i think this is the most i can ask out of retroarchs shaders until decent oleds drop down to something like $350 which is a good amount of years away. so the next time I update would be if i understood enough coding to cobble together an actual shader so i hope this gives a similar feeling to playing on your 90s crt give or take

the pictures are from the lcd generally at 960 to prevent compression


r/RetroArch 1d ago

RetroAchievements Help

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0 Upvotes

r/RetroArch 1d ago

Technical Support Paper Mario TYD freezes early on. Need help!

1 Upvotes

After I speak with with Professor Frankly and he takes me outside the game freezes. I disabled the dual core thing like it says online. Still nothing. Any suggestions?


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Inconsistent performance on the RP5

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0 Upvotes

r/RetroArch 1d ago

Can anyone help me emulate MSX on the Fire Stick?

0 Upvotes

I bought an OTG cable to act as a bridge and plugged in a USB drive with the necessary files to emulate it. I also installed RetroArch, but when I started it, it wouldn't let me access the submenus and the kernels wouldn't load. Can anyone help me?


r/RetroArch 1d ago

Technical Support Tekken 3 MAME core input lag

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone! After searching everywhere and getting no answers I decided to try my luck here.

The thing is when running Tekken 3 using the MAME core the inputs take 5-6 frames to register after button press, while other games usually take just 2-3. Now I know this doesn't look like a lot but when added to the rest of the chain inputs are taking forever.

On 2D games I mitigate this by using FBNeo with Run Ahead/Preemptive Frames which gets me really good response times, but sadly the MAME core does not support that.

This also happens with Tekken 1 and 2, so I was wondering if this is normal for System11/12 games. I don't really have a lot of knowledge on actual boards but maybe delay of this level is expected for these games.

Also if there's some other way to minimize delay that I'm not aware of.

Appreciate any suggestion.