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RetroBIOS

gpSP

gpSP emulates Nintendo Game Boy Advance. It reads 1 file, none of them required: it starts games without them.

About this profile
Detail Value
Type libretro
Classification Community fork
Source https://github.com/libretro/gpsp
Upstream https://github.com/davidgfnet/gpsp
Version v1.1.0, stated in gpsp_config.h
Revision libretro/gpsp@5819380c2ffb
Profiled 2026-03-23
Profile YAML, JSON
Cores gpsp
Systems Nintendo Game Boy Advance
Install this emulator's files

The installer finds your setup and its BIOS folder, then downloads only the files this emulator reads there and checks each one.

Open the Start menu. Type PowerShell and open it. Paste the line. Press Enter.

PowerShell
&([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://abdess.github.io/retrobios/i.ps1))) --emulator gpsp
Platform details

  • gba:

    • bios_size: 16384
    • hle_bios: yes
    • source_ref: libretro/libretro.c:1239-1276, bios/source/core.s (emulator code, libretro port)
    • note: The built-in BIOS (open_gba_bios_rom, 16 KB) is an open-source reimplementation compiled from bios/source/. It implements most SWI calls (SoftReset, RegisterRamReset, Halt, VBlankIntrWait, arithmetic, decompression, sound, multiboot).

No hash or checksum verification is performed. The only check is bios_rom[0] == 0x18 (ARM branch at reset vector).

The bios_type enum (main.h:56-61) defines three modes: auto_detect - try official first, fall back to built-in builtin_bios - skip file load entirely, use open_gba_bios_rom official_bios - try file, warn on failure, still fall back

Technical notes

gpSP is a Game Boy Advance emulator originally by Exophase, forked by notaz for GP2X/Pandora, now maintained by davidgfnet for libretro. Ships a built-in open-source BIOS (bios/open_gba_bios.bin) compiled from bios/source/ that covers most games.

The core option gpsp_bios controls BIOS selection: auto (default) - try official gba_bios.bin, fall back to built-in builtin - always use the built-in open-source BIOS official - try gba_bios.bin, warn and fall back to built-in if missing

BIOS loading path (libretro/libretro.c:1239-1276):

  1. Resolve system directory (RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_GET_SYSTEM_DIRECTORY)
  2. Append "/gba_bios.bin"
  3. load_bios() reads 0x4000 (16 KB) into bios_rom[]
  4. Sanity check: bios_rom[0] must be 0x18 (ARM branch opcode)
  5. On failure, memcpy open_gba_bios_rom[] as fallback

The official BIOS improves compatibility for games that rely on precise SWI behavior or BIOS checksum verification.

Upstream (notaz/Exophase) required the official BIOS with no fallback. The built-in open-source BIOS is a davidgfnet/libretro addition.

Files

Section titled “Files”

1 file: 0 required, 1 optional. 1 has an HLE fallback.

In this collection: 1 in repo and 0 missing.

Optional

Section titled “Optional”

gba_bios.bin optional in repo HLE fallback

Official GBA BIOS

  • System: Nintendo Game Boy Advance
  • Built-in open-source BIOS used as fallback. Real BIOS needed for full SWI accuracy and boot animation.
Source

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”
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Maintained by Abdess on GitHub. Report a problem.

Packs from release v2026.10.10, .

MIT for the tooling and metadata. BIOS and firmware files are third-party system software, preserved for personal backup, archival and interoperability.