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The Cheat Sheet is Your Tool to Success.

What this page covers

  • Emulator or RetroArch core names
  • Expected ROM folder locations
  • Expected ROM file types
  • Expected BIOS (if required)
  • Expected BIOS location
    • Typically, BIOS files are placed directly into the Emulation/bios folder. Do not make or use any additional folders unless otherwise specified on the charts below

Cheat Sheet Table of Contents

  1. How to Use the Cheat Sheets
  2. Cheat Sheets

How to Use the Cheat Sheets

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How to Use the Cheat Sheets Table of Contents

How to Use The Tables

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  • BIOS files are placed directly into the Emulation/bios folder. Do not make or use any additional folders unless otherwise specified on the charts below
  • If the BIOS box contains: N/A, BIOS files are not required to play the respective system
  • The chart can be scrolled horizontally
  • In many cases, BIOS names are case sensitive. Match the casing to the BIOS column in the chart
  • In some cases, BIOS must be named a specific way. Match the file name to the BIOS column in the chart
  • To distinguish from RetroArch cores, standalone emulators are indicated in bold and are written with: (Standalone)
  • If you are on a computer, press CTRL + F or CMD + F together to search the chart

Where do I get the BIOS files?

Legally, BIOS must be obtained from your console. Various emulator websites have guides on how to dump BIOS. Other methods are piracy and cannot be discussed here or on the EmuDeck Discord.

Here are a list of resources for the various consoles:

Where do I place the BIOS files?

BIOS files are placed directly into the Emulation/bios folder. Do not make or use any additional folders unless otherwise specified on the charts below.

Skip to the Charts

Read through the following sections for a quick run-down of when to and when not to place BIOS directly into Emulation/bios.

Where do I find the Emulation/bios folder?

On a Steam Deck

To navigate to the SD Card or a removable storage device, you can click rootfs on the left side in Dolphin (file explorer) and follow one of the below paths.

  • Internal SSD
    • /home/deck/Emulation/bios
  • SD Card
    • /run/media/SDCARDNAME/Emulation/bios
      • Your SDCARDNAME may be mmcblk0p1
  • Removable Storage Device
    • /run/media/deck/DEVICENAME/Emulation/bios

On Linux

  • Internal SSD
    • $HOME/Emulation/bios
  • SD Card
    • /run/media/$USERNAME/SDCARDNAME/Emulation/bios
  • Removable Storage Device
    • /run/media/$USERNAME/DEVICENAME/Emulation/bios

On Windows

  • Internal SSD
    • %USERPROFILE%\Emulation\bios
  • Removable Storage Device or SD Card
    • DRIVELETTER:\Emulation\bios

When to place BIOS Files directly into Emulation/bios

For example, the photo below instructs you to place sega_101.bin (if you are playing JP games) or mpr-17933.bin (if you are playing US/EU games) directly into the Emulation/bios folder. Do not make a subfolder.

Sega Saturn BIOS Example

In Emulation/bios:

Sega Saturn Folder Example

When to create a subfolder

For example, the photo below instructs you to create a dc folder in Emulation/bios and to place dc_boot.bin directly into Emulation/bios/dc.

Sega Dreamcast BIOS Example

In Emulation/bios/dc:

Sega Dreamcast Folder Example

What does N/A mean?

N/A is short for not applicable. When it is written in the BIOS column, BIOS are not required to play the respective system.

For example, N/A is in the BIOS column in the photo below. When you see the words N/A, BIOS are not required.

For some of these systems, including BIOS files may be used to launch into the respective system's boot screen when playing games. A few examples include Game Boy Advance and Gamecube.

N/A BIOS Example

For systems with multiple emulators, how do I select which emulator to use?

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For systems with both standalone and RetroArch core options, or multiple standalone options:

Steam ROM Manager

These systems will have multiple parsers, each corresponding to a different emulator or RetroArch core.

For example: PSX can be played through DuckStation (Standalone), SwanStation, or Beetle PSX. If you prefer to use DuckStation (Standalone) for PSX, enable the Sony PlayStation - DuckStation parser and make sure the SwanStation and Beetle PSX parsers are disabled.

EmulationStation-DE

These systems will have a set default.

However, you can change which emulator or RetroArch core is used:

  1. In EmulationStation-DE, press the Start button
  2. Scroll down and select Other Settings
  3. Select Alternative Emulators
  4. Scroll down to the system you would like to configure, press B, and select your preferred emulator

A Breakdown of Libretro Wiki Pages

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When reading a Libretro wiki article, the System directory refers to Emulation/bios. Treat the Emulation/bios folder as the System directory and either place your files directly in Emulation/bios or create a folder according to the instructions on the various Libretro wiki pages.

What is the difference between a RetroArch core and a standalone emulator?

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It mostly comes down to preference.

RetroArch: RetroArch comes with a suite of shaders, bezels, cohesive hotkeys across the cores. A lot of small general emulator enhancements with an emphasis on a cohesive experience (for better or for worse).

Standalone emulators: Standalone emulators tend to be more up to date, more bleeding edge with the latest improvements to whatever that emulator emulates. Standalone emulators tend to come with a lot of additional features for the specific console it emulates. For example, melonDS features native microphone support. In the case of systems with both RetroArch cores and standalone emulators available, the standalone emulator usually also provides better overall performance than the RetroArch core.

Cheat Sheets

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Console/System ROM Folder Name Emulator (Click for Link) File Types BIOS Files
Final Burn Neo fbneo RetroArch FinalBurn Neo .zip .7z BIOS will be searched through 3 folders:
Emulation/roms/arcade/
Emulation/bios/mame/
Emulation/bios/
EmulationStation-DE will ONLY work with the BIOS in Emulation/roms/arcade/ folder
MAME 2003 Plus mame2003 RetroArch MAME 2003 Plus .zip N/A
MAME 2010 mame2010 RetroArch MAME 2010 .zip N/A
MAME Current arcade RetroArch MAME Current .zip N/A
MAME (Standalone) arcade MAME (Standalone) .zip .chd BIOS will be searched through 3 folders:
Emulation/roms/arcade/
Emulation/bios/mame/
Emulation/bios/
EmulationStation-DE will ONLY work with the BIOS in Emulation/roms/arcade/ folder
Neo Geo Pocket & Color ngp RetroArch Beetle NeoPop .7z .ngp .ngc .zip N/A
Philips CD-i cdimono1 RetroArch SAME CDi .iso .chd Create same_cdi/bios folders in Emulation/bios
Place cdibios.zip in Emulation/bios/same_cdi/bios
May substitute cdibios.zip with cdimono.zip or cdimono2.zip

Atari Cheat Sheet

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Console/System ROM Folder Name RetroArch Core (Click for Libretro Article) File Types BIOS Files
Atari 2600 atari2600 RetroArch Stella .7z .a26 .bin .zip N/A
Atari Lynx lynx RetroArch Beetle Lynx .7z .lnx .bin .zip lynxboot.img

Game Engine Recreations Cheat Sheet

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Console/System ROM Folder Name Emulator (Click for link) File Types BIOS Files Additional Notes
DooM doom RetroArch PrBoom .7z .wad .iwad .pwad .zip prboom.wad
EasyRPG easyrpg RetroArch EasyRPG .ldb .easyrpg N/A
Pico-8 pico8 RetroArch Pico-8 .7z .zip .p8 .png N/A EmulationStation-DE does not currently support RetroArch Pico-8
ScummVM (Standalone) scummvm ScummVM (Standalone) Varies N/A How to Configure ScummVM to Work With Steam ROM Manager on SteamOS
How to Configure ScummVM to Work With EmulationStation-DE on SteamOS

Microsoft Cheat Sheet

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Console/System ROM Folder Name Emulator (Click for Link) File Types BIOS Files
Microsoft Xbox (Standalone) xbox Xemu (Standalone) .iso (xiso formatted)
How to convert ROMs to xiso format		 MCPX Boot ROM: mcpx_1.0.bin
Flash ROM Image (COMPLEX 4627 BIOS): Complex_4627v1.03.bin
Microsoft Xbox 360 (Standalone) xbox360/roms Xenia (Standalone) .iso N/A
Microsoft Xbox 360 Live Arcade (Standalone) xbox360/roms/xbla Xenia (Standalone) No file extension N/A

Miscellaneous Consoles and Handhelds Cheat Sheet

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Console/System ROM Folder Name RetroArch Core (Click for Libretro Article) File Types BIOS Files
3DO 3do RetroArch Opera .iso .chd .cue and bin panafz1.bin
NEC TurboGrafx-16 / PC Engine tg16 or pcengine RetroArch Beetle PCE .pce .cue and .bin .ccd .iso .img .bin .chd syscard1.pce syscard2.pce syscard3.pce gexpress.pce
NEC TurboGrafx-16 CD / PC Engine CD tg-cd or pcenginecd RetroArch Beetle PCE .pce .cue and .bin .ccd .iso .img .bin .chd syscard1.pce syscard2.pce syscard3.pce gexpress.pce
Wonderswan & Color wonderswan RetroArch Beetle Cygne .7z .pc2 .ws .wsc .zip N/A

Nintendo Cheat Sheet

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System ROM Folder Name Emulator (Click for Link) File Format BIOS Files
Nintendo 3DS (Standalone) 3ds or n3ds Citra (Standalone) .3ds .3dsx .app .axf .cci .cxi .elf .cia is incompatible with EmulationStation-DE and Steam ROM Manager .cia can only be used if installed and played through Citra's GUI Place aes_keys.txt (for encrypted ROMs) in: Emulation/bios/citra/keys
Nintendo 64 (Standalone) n64 Rosalie's Mupen GUI (Standalone) .7z .bin .n64 .ndd .u1 .v64 .z64 .zip N/A
Nintendo 64DD (Standalone) n64 or n64dd Rosalie's Mupen GUI (Standalone) .7z .bin .n64 .ndd .u1 .v64 .z64 .zip Nintendo 64DD BIOS: 64DD_IPL_US.n64 64DD_IPL_JP.n64 64DD_IPL_DEV.n64
Nintendo 64 n64 RetroArch Mupen64plus-Next .7z .bin .n64 .ndd .u1 .v64 .z64 .zip N/A
Nintendo DS (Standalone) nds melonDS (Standalone) .nds .app Nintendo DS BIOS (Optional): bios7.bin bios9.bin firmware.bin Nintendo DSI BIOS (Optional): dsi_bios9.bin dsi_bios7.bin dsi_firmware.bin dsi_nand.bin
Nintendo DS nds RetroArch melonDS .7z .nds .zip Nintendo DS BIOS: bios7.bin bios9.bin firmware.bin
Nintendo Game Boy (Standalone) gb mGBA (Standalone) .7z .gb .dmg .zip N/A
Nintendo Game Boy gb RetroArch SameBoy .7z .gb .dmg .zip N/A
Nintendo Game Boy gb RetroArch Gambatte .7z .gb .dmg .zip N/A
Nintendo Game Boy Advance (Standalone) gba mGBA (Standalone) .7z .gba .zip N/A
Nintendo Game Boy Advance gba RetroArch mGBA .7z .gba .zip N/A
Nintendo Game Boy Color (Standalone) gbc mGBA (Standalone) .7z .gb .gbc .dmg .zip N/A
Nintendo Game Boy Color gbc RetroArch SameBoy .7z .gb .gbc .dmg .zip N/A
Nintendo Game Boy Color gbc RetroArch Gambatte .7z .gb .gbc .dmg .zip N/A
Nintendo GameCube (Standalone) gc or gamecube Dolphin (Standalone) .ciso .dol .elf .gcm .gcz .iso .nkit .iso .rvz .wad .wia .wbfs .m3u N/A
Nintendo NES / Famicom nes or famicom RetroArch Mesen .7z .nes .fds .unf .unif .zip FDS (Famicom Disk System) games require a BIOS: disksys.rom in Emulation/bios
Nintendo NES / Famicom nes or famicom RetroArch Nestopia .7z .nes .fds .unf .unif .zip FDS (Famicom Disk System) games require a BIOS: disksys.rom in Emulation/bios
Super Nintendo snes or snesna RetroArch Snes9x .7z .bs .fig .sfc .smc .swx .zip N/A
Super Nintendo Widescreen sneshd RetroArch bsnes hd beta .7z .bs .fig .sfc .smc .swx .zip N/A
Nintendo PrimeHack (Standalone) primehacks PrimeHack (Metroid Prime) (Standalone) .ciso .dol .elf .gcm .gcz .iso .json .nkit.iso .rvz .wad .wia .wbfs N/A
Nintendo Switch (Standalone) switch Ryujinx (Standalone) .kp .nca .nro .nso .nsp .xci .nsz Place prod.keys in: Emulation/bios/ryujinx/keys Install firmware through Ryujinx GUI
Nintendo Switch (Standalone) switch Yuzu (Standalone) .kp .nca .nro .nso .nsp .xci Place prod.keys in: Emulation/bios/yuzu/keys Place Firmware files in: Emulation/bios/yuzu/firmware
Nintendo Wii (Standalone) wii Dolphin (Standalone) .ciso .dol .elf .gcm .gcz .iso .json .nkit .iso .rvz .wad .wia .wbfs .m3u N/A
Nintendo Wii U (Standalone) (Proton) wiiu/roms Cemu (Standalone) (Proton) .rpx .wud .wux .elf .wad .wua Place keys_txt (for encrypted ROMs) in: Emulation/roms/wiiu
For more information, read the Setting up Cemu (Proton) Questionnaire
Nintendo Wii U (Standalone) (Native) wiiu/roms Cemu (Standalone) (Native) .rpx .wud .wux .elf .wad .wua Place keys_txt (for encrypted ROMs) in: /home/deck/.local/share/Cemu/
For more information, read the Setting up Cemu (Native) Questionnaire
Nintendo Wii U (Standalone) (Windows) wiiu Cemu (Standalone) (Windows) .rpx .wud .wux .elf .wad .wua Place keys_txt (for encrypted ROMs) in:%USERPROFILE%\emudeck\EmulationStation-DE\Emulators\cemu
For more information, read the Setting up Cemu (Windows) Questionnaire

Personal Computers Cheat Sheet

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System ROM Folder Name Emulator File Format BIOS Files
Amiga amiga RetroArch PUAE .adf .adz .dms .fdi .ipf .hdf .hdz .lha .slave .info .cue and .bin .ccd .chd .nrg .mds .iso .uae .m3u .zip .7z Read the Libretro Wiki
Amiga 600 amiga600 RetroArch PUAE .adf .adz .dms .fdi .ipf .hdf .hdz .lha .slave .info .cue and .bin .ccd .chd .nrg .mds .iso .uae .m3u .zip .7z Read the Libretro Wiki
Amiga 1200 amiga1200 RetroArch PUAE .adf .adz .dms .fdi .ipf .hdf .hdz .lha .slave .info .cue and .bin .ccd .chd .nrg .mds .iso .uae .m3u .zip .7z Read the Libretro Wiki
Amiga CD32 amigacd32 RetroArch PUAE .adf .adz .dms .fdi .ipf .hdf .hdz .lha .slave .info .cue and .bin .ccd .chd .nrg .mds .iso .uae .m3u .zip .7z Read the Libretro Wiki
Amstrad CPC amstradcpc RetroArch Caprice32 .7z .cdt .dsk .sna .tap N/A
Commodore 16 c16 RetroArch Vice .d64 .d71 .d80 .d81 .d82 .g64 .g41 .x64 .t64 .tap .prg .p00 .crt .cue and .bin .d6z .d7z .d8z .g6z .g4z .x6z .cmd .m3u .vsf .nib .nbz .zip Read the Libretro Wiki
Commodore 64 c64 RetroArch Vice .d64 .d71 .d80 .d81 .d82 .g64 .g41 .x64 .t64 .tap .prg .p00 .crt .cue and .bin .d6z .d7z .d8z .g6z .g4z .x6z .cmd .m3u .vsf .nib .nbz .zip Read the Libretro Wiki
Commodore VIC-20 vic20 RetroArch Vice .d64 .d71 .d80 .d81 .d82 .g64 .g41 .x64 .t64 .tap .prg .p00 .crt .cue and .bin .d6z .d7z .d8z .g6z .g4z .x6z .cmd .m3u .vsf .nib .nbz .zip Read the Libretro Wiki
DOS dos RetroArch DOSBox Pure .zip .7z N/A
NEC PC-98 pc98 RetroArch Neko Project II Kai .d98 .zip .98d .fdi .fdd .2hd .tfd .d88 .88d .hdm .xdi .dup .cmd .hdi .thd .nhd .hdd .hdn Read the Libretro Wiki
Sharp X68000 x68000 RetroArch PX68k .dim .zip .img .d8 .88d .hdm .dup .2hd .xdf .hdf .cmd .m3u Read the Libretro Wiki
ZX Spectrum zxspectrum RetroArch Fuse .7z .tzx .tap .z80 .rzx .scl .trd .tzx .tap .z80 .zx .scl .trd .zip Read the Libretro Wiki

Sega Cheat Sheet

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System ROM Folder Name Emulator (Click for Link) File Format BIOS Files
Sega 32X sega32x RetroArch PicoDrive .7z .32x .bin .zip N/A
Sega CD / Mega-CD segacd or megacd RetroArch Genesis Plus GX .7z .32x .cue and .bin .chd .iso .zip .m3u bios_CD_E.bin
bios_CD_U.bin
bios_CD_J.bin
Sega Dreamcast dreamcast RetroArch FlyCast .cdi .chd .cue and .bin .gdi and .bin Create dc folder in Emulation/bios
Place dc_boot.bin in Emulation/bios/dc
Sega Game Gear gamegear RetroArch Genesis Plus GX .7z .gg .zip N/A
Sega Genesis / Mega Drive genesis or megadrive RetroArch Genesis Plus GX .7z .gen .md .smd .zip .bin N/A
Sega Genesis Widescreen genesiswide RetroArch Genesis Plus GX .7z .gen .md .smd .zip .bin N/A
Sega Master System mastersystem RetroArch Genesis Plus GX .7z .gen .sms .zip N/A
Sega Saturn saturn RetroArch Beetle Saturn .7z .cue and .bin .iso .chd .zip sega_101.bin (JP)
mpr-17933.bin (US/EU)
Sega Saturn saturn RetroArch Kronos .7z .cue and .bin .iso .chd .zip Create kronos folder in Emulation/bios
Place saturn_bios.bin in Emulation/bios/kronos
Sega Saturn saturn RetroArch Yabause .7z .cue and .bin .iso .chd .zip saturn_bios.bin

Sony Cheat Sheet

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System ROM Folder Name Emulator (Click for Link) File Format BIOS Files
Sony Playstation (Standalone) psx DuckStation (Standalone) .cue and .bin .chd .ecm .iso .m3u .mds .pbp Example Set:
scph5500.bin (JP)
scph5501.bin (US)
scph5502.bin (EU)
Sony Playstation psx RetroArch Beetle HW .cue and .bin .chd .ecm .iso .m3u .mds .pbp Example Set:
scph5500.bin (JP)
scph5501.bin (US)
scph5502.bin (EU)
Sony Playstation psx RetroArch Swanstation .cue and .bin .chd .ecm .iso .m3u .mds .pbp Example Set:
scph5500.bin (JP)
scph5501.bin (US)
scph5502.bin (EU)
Sony Playstation 2 (Standalone) ps2 PCSX2 (Standalone) .bin .chd .cso .dump .gz .img .iso .mdf .nrg Example Set (EU Set):
SCPH-70004_BIOS_V12_EUR_200.BIN
SCPH-70004_BIOS_V12_EUR_200.EROM
SCPH-70004_BIOS_V12_EUR_200.ROM1
SCPH-70004_BIOS_V12_EUR_200.ROM2

Example Set (US Set):
SCPH-70012_BIOS_V12_USA_200.BIN
Sony Playstation 3 (Standalone) ps3 RPCS3 (Standalone) Game Folder: /PS3_GAME/USRDIR/eboot.bin in Emulation/roms/ps3 An installed pkg file through RPCS3 Firmware installation required through RPCS3 directly
Read the Quickstart Guide for more information
Sony Playstation Portable (Standalone) psp PPSSPP (Standalone) .elf .cso .iso .pbp .prx N/A
Sony Playstation Portable psp RetroArch PPSSPP .7z .elf .cso .iso .pbp .prx The RetroArch core requires ppsspp.zip in: Emulation/bios
ppsspp.zip is provided through RetroArch's downloader. Open RetroArch, click Online Updater > Core System Files Downloader to download ppsspp.zip
Sony Playstation Vita (Standalone) psvita Vita3K (Standalone) Game Folder in Emulation/roms/psvita/ux0 A valid installed ROM file through Vita3K Firmware installation required through Vita3K directly
Read the Quickstart Guide for more information