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RetroBIOS

SMS Plus GX

SMS Plus GX emulates Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, ColecoVision and 2 more systems. It reads 3 files, 1 of them required: without a required file it does not start games. A required file is needed only by the machines that use it. Each file below cites the line of source code that reads it.

About this profile
Detail Value
Type standalone + libretro
Classification Enhanced fork
Source https://github.com/libretro/smsplus-gx
Upstream https://github.com/ekeeke/smsplus-gx
Version 1.8, stated in source/system.h
Revision libretro/smsplus-gx@3844b46caa92
Profiled 2026-03-25
Profile YAML, JSON
Cores smsplus, smsplus_gx, smsplus-gx
Systems Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, ColecoVision, Sega SG-1000, Sord M5
Install this emulator's files

For SMS Plus GX inside RetroArch, Batocera or another setup. 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 smsplus
Technical notes

Enhanced fork of Charles MacDonald's SMS Plus 1.3 by Eke-Eke (GX) and gameblabla. Master System, Game Gear, ColecoVision and SG-1000 emulator. Standalone ports also support Sord M5 (behind SORDM5_EMU compile flag, not compiled in libretro build).

BIOS loading in bios_init() (source/ports/libretro/smsplus_libretro.c:219-268). bios.sms is always attempted but only activated when core option smsplus_sms_bios is "auto" (default: disabled). BIOS.col is loaded only for ColecoVision ROMs and required for them. Standalone ports use BIOS.sms (uppercase) instead of bios.sms.

.info marks BIOS.col as optional (firmware1_opt=true) but the libretro code returns false from retro_load_game() when BIOS.col is missing for .col ROMs.

Files

Section titled “Files”

3 files: 1 required, 2 optional.

In this collection: 3 in repo and 0 missing.

Required

Section titled “Required”

BIOS.col required for ColecoVision in repo

ColecoVision BIOS ROM

  • System: ColecoVision
  • Required for ColecoVision games. Read as 0x2000 (8192) bytes into coleco.rom. Without this file, retro_load_game() returns false for .col files.
  • Size: 8.0 KB
  • Collection copy: bios/Coleco/ColecoVision/BIOS.col
  • Platforms: BIOS.col and coleco.rom and colecovision.rom: Lakka, RetroArch, RetroPie. colecovision.rom: Batocera, EmuDeck. Coleco_Bios.bin: BizHawk. Machines/COL - ColecoVision with Opcode Memory Extension/coleco.rom and Machines/COL - ColecoVision/coleco.rom and coleco/boot.rom: Recalbox. bios/BIOS.col and bios/Machines/COL - ColecoVision with Opcode Memory Extension/coleco.rom and bios/Machines/COL - ColecoVision/coleco.rom and bios/colecovision.rom: AmberELEC. bios/BIOS.col and bios/coleco.rom and bios/colecovision.rom: RetroDECK. bios/Machines/COL - ColecoVision with Opcode Memory Extension/coleco.rom and bios/Machines/COL - ColecoVision/coleco.rom: EmuELEC. coleco.rom and colecovision.rom and openMSX/share/systemroms/coleco.rom: RetroBat. colecovision/colecovision.rom: RomM
Source

Optional

Section titled “Optional”

bios.sms optional in repo

Sega Master System boot ROM

  • System: Sega Master System
  • Aliases: BIOS.sms
  • Loaded into bios.rom (up to 1 MB allocated). Only active when core option smsplus_sms_bios is "auto". Displays SMS startup screen before game execution. Standalone ports use BIOS.sms (uppercase).
Source

BIOS_sordm5.bin optional in repo standalone

Sord M5 BIOS ROM

  • System: Sord M5
  • Read as 0x2000 (8192) bytes into coleco.rom (shared buffer). Only in standalone builds (SORDM5_EMU define). Not compiled in libretro. Code does not enforce presence but system needs BIOS to function.
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.