RetroBat Setup Guide — Add ROMs, BIOS, and Fix Not Working on Windows

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What RetroBat is: RetroBat is a free Windows all-in-one emulation pack. It bundles EmulationStation-DE as the front-end with RetroArch and 100+ standalone emulators pre-configured. You only need to add your own ROM files and any required BIOS files — no manual emulator setup.

ROM folder location: C:\RetroBat\roms\ (or wherever you installed RetroBat). Each system has its own subfolder:

• roms\nes\ — NES (.nes, .zip)
• roms\snes\ — SNES (.smc, .sfc, .zip)
• roms\gba\ — Game Boy Advance (.gba, .zip)
• roms\nds\ — Nintendo DS (.nds, .zip)
• roms\n64\ — Nintendo 64 (.z64, .n64, .v64)
• roms\gamecube\ — GameCube (.iso, .rvz, .gcz)
• roms\wii\ — Wii (.iso, .rvz, .wbfs)
• roms\ps1\ — PlayStation 1 (.bin/.cue, .chd, .pbp)
• roms\ps2\ — PlayStation 2 (.iso, .chd)
• roms\psp\ — PSP (.iso, .cso, .pbp)
• roms\genesis\ — Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (.md, .gen, .bin, .zip)
• roms\dreamcast\ — Dreamcast (.gdi, .chd, .cdi)

The full system-to-folder map is at C:\RetroBat\roms\readme.txt — RetroBat generates this file on install.

After adding ROMs: restart RetroBat or press Start → Quit → Restart EmulationStation. ES-DE rescans on startup and your games will appear.

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Several systems require a BIOS file to boot games. RetroBat doesn't include BIOS files (copyright-protected) — you must dump them from your own hardware. Place them in C:\RetroBat\bios\.

Required BIOS files and correct filenames:

• PlayStation 1: scph5500.bin (JP), scph5501.bin (US), scph5502.bin (EU) — at least one required
• PlayStation 2: ps2-0230e-20080220.bin or a similar PCSX2-format BIOS — place in bios\
• Nintendo DS: bios7.bin, bios9.bin, firmware.bin (all three required for full compatibility)
• Sega Dreamcast: dc_boot.bin and dc_flash.bin — place in bios\dc\
• Sega Saturn: mpr-17933.bin (US BIOS) or other region variant
• Neo Geo (MAME): neogeo.zip — place in roms\mame\ (alongside your game ROMs)

Game Boy Advance: a GBA BIOS (gba_bios.bin in bios\) is optional — mGBA's high-level emulation boots 99% of GBA games without it.

Verify BIOS is correct: wrong BIOS files often have different MD5 hashes than expected. In RetroBat, press Start → Game Settings → Check BIOS — it lists which BIOS files are detected and whether they're recognized as valid.

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If a game launches but crashes immediately, the wrong emulator or core may be selected for that system.

Change the emulator for a system:

1. In the system view (the main carousel), press Select on the system → Advanced System Options → Emulator.
2. RetroBat shows all available emulators for that system. Switch to a different one:
   • PS2: if the libretro PCSX2 core crashes, switch to PCSX2-QT (standalone, bundled with RetroBat).
   • GameCube/Wii: default is Dolphin standalone (included) — this is correct; don't switch to the libretro core.
   • Nintendo DS: melonDS tends to be more compatible than DeSmuME; switch if games crash.

For a single game: in the game list, press Select on the game → Advanced Game Options → Emulator to override just that title without changing the whole system.

Performance issues: RetroBat uses RetroArch for most systems with default settings tuned for average hardware. If a game runs slowly, press Select on the system → Advanced System Options → RetroArch Core Options to access per-core settings (resolution scale, shader complexity, etc.).

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RetroBat ships its own emulator binaries. Updates can occasionally change configuration files and break previously working setups.

Update RetroBat:

1. From the main EmulationStation menu: Start → Updates & Downloads → Start Update.
2. RetroBat downloads the latest version of itself and its bundled emulators. Your ROM and BIOS files in roms\ and bios\ are never touched by updates.

If an update broke a system:

• The most common cause is a configuration file reset — RetroBat may have replaced a core's config with defaults after updating that emulator's binary.
• Go to Advanced System Options → Reset to Default Settings for the affected system — this re-applies RetroBat's known-good defaults for the new emulator version.
• If the system still doesn't work, check the RetroBat Discord or forum (retrobat.ovh) for update-specific known issues — emulator updates that ship with breaking changes are usually documented there within hours.

VT-x / virtualization error: Android emulation systems (BlueStacks layer) within RetroBat require VT-x/SVM enabled in BIOS. See the cross-linked virtualization fix for step-by-step BIOS instructions per PC brand.