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aPS3e - RetroBIOS
Type standalone
Classification Community forks
Source https://github.com/aenu1/aps3e
Upstream https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3
Version 2.41
Profiled 2026-08-11
Cores aps3e
Systems sony-playstation-3
dev_flash
  • path: config/dev_flash/
  • source_ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/vfs_config.h:15, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_rp3_impl.cpp:127-129

  • note: Mounted at /dev_flash and rooted at the config directory. Written only by the firmware installer, which extracts the dev_flash_ packages of the PUP into it. sys_external:

    • path: dev_flash/sys/external/
    • source_ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/PPUModule.cpp:2608-2610, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_prx.cpp:207
    • note: Firmware SPRX modules. liblv2.sprx gates the boot and pulls the rest in; each module can be forced to LLE or HLE through Libraries Control, which the shipped configuration leaves empty. flashATRAC.pic...
    • critical_file: liblv2.sprx

sys_internal:

- **path:** dev_flash/sys/internal/
- **source_ref:** aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_prx.cpp:33-34
- **note:** Internal modules, libfs_utility_init.sprx among them.

fonts:

- **path:** dev_flash/data/font/
- **source_ref:** aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/Modules/cellFont.cpp:226-241, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/Modules/cellFont.cpp:281, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Overlays/over...
- **note:** Faces cellFontOpenFontset maps by type, and the directory the overlay searches for its own list. A fontset the emulator does not implement falls back to SCE-PS3-RD-R-LATIN.TTF.
**files:**

- SCE-PS3-RD-R-LATIN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-RD-L-LATIN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-RD-B-LATIN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-RD-R-LATIN2.TTF
- SCE-PS3-RD-L-LATIN2.TTF
- SCE-PS3-RD-B-LATIN2.TTF
- SCE-PS3-MT-R-LATIN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-NR-R-JPN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-NR-L-JPN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-NR-B-JPN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-YG-R-KOR.TTF
- SCE-PS3-SR-R-LATIN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-SR-R-LATIN2.TTF
- SCE-PS3-SR-R-JPN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-VR-R-LATIN.TTF
- SCE-PS3-VR-R-LATIN2.TTF
- SONY-CC/SCE-PS3-DH-R-CGB.TTF

certs:

- **path:** dev_flash/data/cert/
- **source_ref:** aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/Modules/cellSsl.cpp:110
- **note:** Root certificates cellSsl enumerates.

vsh:

- **path:** dev_flash/vsh/
- **source_ref:** aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/util/sysinfo.cpp:651-653, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/PPUThread.cpp:4433-4441, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Overlays/overlay_user_list_...
- **note:** vsh/etc/version.txt supplies the installed firmware version, compared against the PS3_SYSTEM_VER a title declares. vsh/module/eseibrd.sprx is precompiled at boot and vsh/resource/explore/user carries ...

ps1emu:

- **path:** dev_flash/ps1emu/
- **source_ref:** aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp:2171
- **note:** ps1_newemu.self, the argv[0] of a PS1 Classics boot.

pspemu:

- **path:** dev_flash/pspemu/
- **source_ref:** aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp:2199
- **note:** psp_emulator.self, the argv[0] of a PSP minis boot.
dev_flash2
  • path: config/dev_flash2/
  • source_ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/vfs_config.h:16, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_fs.cpp:28
  • note: CELL_FS_FAT on CELL_FS_IOS:BUILTIN_FLSH2. Mount point only, created empty.
dev_flash3
  • path: config/dev_flash3/
  • source_ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/vfs_config.h:17, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_fs.cpp:27
  • note: CELL_FS_FAT on CELL_FS_IOS:BUILTIN_FLSH3. Mount point only, created empty.
Technical notes

PlayStation 3 emulator for Android, distributed on Google Play as aenu.aps3e and aenu.aps3e.premium. RPCS3 is vendored whole under app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3 rather than pulled as a submodule, and a JNI layer of about six thousand lines replaces the Qt front end. The vendored tree reports itself as 0.0.41-alpha.1 at RPCS3 commit 40e9ee5a. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/git-version.h:3, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/rpcs3_version.cpp:29

Source drops land on successive branches, not on the default one. Release 2.41 of 2026-07-30 is the commit titled 2.41 at the head of main4; the lightweight tags 2.39, 2.40 and 2.41 all sit on the head of main2, an April tree that predates every one of those releases and whose generated git-version.h was never filled in. main4 is the tree read here. No versionName is usable either: the only gradle file committed is app/build.gradle.bak, which carries the placeholder 1.19a and is renamed and completed with the signing block at build time. ref: aps3e/README.md, aps3e/app/build.gradle.bak:16

Emulator paths derive from APS3E_DATA_DIR, set by the Java layer to the external files directory of the package. The config directory holds dev_flash, dev_hdd0, custom_cfg and the global config.yml; caches live beside it. The custom font directory sits at the data root, and the custom GPU driver directory sits in internal storage because the external filesystem cannot carry an executable mapping. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_rp3_impl.cpp:127-133, aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Application.java:21-64

The PS3 firmware is required and nothing runs without it. Three independent gates enforce it: the game list refuses to launch an entry when the marker config/dev_flash/.installed is absent, the quick start wizard keeps its Next button disabled on the firmware page until that marker exists, and the boot path itself returns firmware_missing when dev_flash/sys/external/liblv2.sprx is not a file. The third gate covers the intent launched directly against EmulatorActivity, which does not pass through the game list. The shipped configuration leaves Libraries Control empty, so liblv2.sprx keeps its default entry in the module list and the check fires. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:143-145, aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:187-190, aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/QuickStartActivity.java:316-318, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/System.cpp:2747-2767, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/Cell/lv2/sys_prx.cpp:86, aps3e/app/src/main/assets/config/config.yml

Overlay text is drawn from a font list chosen by the Font File Selection setting. From Firmware, the default, asks for Arial.ttf, arial.ttf, the Android system face at /system/fonts/Roboto-Regular.ttf and then SCE-PS3-VR-R-LATIN.TTF for Latin, SCE-PS3-SR-R-JPN.TTF and SCE-PS3-DH-R-CGB.TTF for the CJK base, and SCE-PS3-YG-R-KOR.TTF for Hangul. The SCE faces are resolved against dev_flash/data/font and dev_flash/data/font/SONY-CC, so they come from the firmware rather than from a separate download. Custom points all three classes at one file and reverts to From Firmware when that path no longer exists. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_rp3_impl.cpp:192-222, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Emu/RSX/Overlays/overlay_fonts.cpp:113-118

Vulkan is reached through a loader chosen before the emulator starts. The global config YAML is read directly for Use Custom Driver and Custom Driver Library Path, and the named library is dlopened when both are set and the path exists; otherwise the system libvulkan.so is used. Drivers are imported either as a bare shared object or as a zip whose meta.json names the library. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:875-899, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/vkapi.cpp:21, aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/EmulatorSettings.java:1229-1324

Encrypted disc images are supported by a loader that has no counterpart in the desktop code line. Launching an ISO makes the Java layer look for a sidecar key beside it, trying the base name with .dkey and then with .key, and hand the descriptor down beside the image. The key is accepted at exactly 32 bytes, read as a hex string, or exactly 16 bytes, read as raw bytes, and installed as an AES-128 decryption context. A 3k3y watermark at offset 0xF70 is recognised separately and needs no key. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Utils.java:170-190, aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/EmulatorActivity.java:147-153, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Loader/iso.cpp:354-399, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/rpcs3/rpcs3/Loader/iso.cpp:508-554

One import entry point takes EDAT, RAP and PKG. A RAP is copied verbatim into the exdata folder of user 00000001 and rejected unless it is exactly 16 bytes. An EDAT is parsed for its NPD header, rejected below 0x90 bytes or without the NPD magic, and written to the same folder under the content id the header carries. A PKG goes through the package reader and lands in dev_hdd0. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/MainActivity.java:594-605, aps3e/app/src/main/java/aenu/aps3e/Emulator.java:820-844, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:801-829, aps3e/app/src/main/cpp/aps3e_emu.cpp:783-793

patch.yml, compatibility_table.json and database_config.json ship inside the APK as assets and are not user supplied. ref: aps3e/app/src/main/assets

6 files | 1 required, 5 optional | 1 in repo, 5 missing

PS3UPDAT.PUP required in repo large_file
PS3 system software update package

<game>.dkey optional missing
Redump disc decryption key read beside an encrypted ISO

<content_id>.rap optional missing
PSN content licence

<content_id>.edat optional missing
Encrypted data file for licensed content

<font>.ttf optional missing
Replacement face for the overlay text

<driver>.so optional missing
Replacement Vulkan driver

Generated on 2026-08-23T16:12:06Z