Profiling guide - RetroBIOS

How to create an emulator profile from source code.

Approach

A profile documents what an emulator loads at runtime. The source code is the reference because it reflects actual behavior. Documentation, .info files, and wikis are useful starting points but are verified against the code.

Source hierarchy

Documentation and metadata are valuable starting points, but they can fall out of sync with the actual code over time. The desmume2015 .info file is a good illustration: it declares firmware_count=3, but the source code at the pinned version opens zero firmware files. Cross-checking against the source helps catch that kind of gap early.

When sources conflict, priority follows the chain of actual execution:

1. Original emulator source (ground truth, what the code actually does)
2. Libretro port (may adapt paths, add compatibility shims, or drop features)
3. .info metadata (declarative, may be outdated or copied from another core)

For standalone emulators like BizHawk or amiberry, there is only one level. The emulator's own codebase is the single source of truth. No .info, no wrapper, no divergence to track.

A note on libretro port differences: the most common change is path resolution. The upstream emulator loads files from the current working directory; the libretro wrapper redirects to retro_system_directory. This is normal adaptation, not a divergence worth documenting. Similarly, filename changes like naomi2_eeprom.bin becoming n2_eeprom.bin are often deliberate. RetroArch uses a single shared system directory for all cores, so the port renames files to prevent collisions between cores that emulate different systems but happen to use the same generic filenames. The upstream name goes in aliases:.

Steps

1. Find the source code

Check these locations in order:

1. Upstream original (the emulator's own repository)
2. Libretro fork (may have adapted paths or added files)
3. If not on GitHub: GitLab, Codeberg, SourceForge, archive.org

Always clone both upstream and libretro port to compare.

For libretro cores, cloning both repositories and diffing them reveals what the port changed. Path changes (fopen of a relative path becoming a system_dir lookup) are expected. What matters are file additions the port introduces, files the port dropped, or hash values that differ between the two codebases.

If the source is hosted outside GitHub, it's worth exploring further. Emulator source on GitLab, Codeberg, SourceForge, Bitbucket, archive.org snapshots, and community mirror tarballs. Inspecting copyright headers or license strings in the libretro fork often points to the original author's site. The upstream code exists somewhere; it's worth continuing the search before concluding the source is unavailable.

One thing worth noting: even when the same repository was analyzed for a related profile (e.g., fbneo for arcade systems), it helps to do a fresh pass for each new profile. When fbneo_neogeo was profiled, the NeoGeo subset referenced BIOS files that the main arcade analysis hadn't encountered. A fresh look avoids carrying over blind spots.

2. Trace file loading

Read the code flow, tracing from the entry point. Each emulator has its own way of loading files.

Look for:

• fopen, open, read_file, load_rom, load_bios calls
• retro_system_directory / system_dir in libretro cores
• File existence checks (path_is_valid, file_exists)
• Hash validation (MD5, CRC32, SHA1 comparisons in code)
• Size validation (fseek/ftell, stat, fixed buffer sizes)

Grepping for "bios" or "firmware" across the source tree can be a useful first pass, but it may miss emulators that use different terms (bootrom, system ROM, IPL, program.rom) and can surface false matches from test fixtures or comments.

A more reliable approach is starting from the entry point (retro_load_game for libretro, main() for standalone) and tracing the actual file-open calls forward. Each emulator has its own loading flow. Dolphin loads region-specific IPL files through a boot sequence object. BlastEm reads a list of ROM paths from a configuration structure. same_cdi opens CD-i BIOS files through a machine initialization routine. The loading flow varies widely between emulators.

3. Determine required vs optional

This is decided by code behavior, not by judgment:

• required: the core does not start or function without the file
• optional: the core works with degraded functionality without it
• hle_fallback: true: the core has a high-level emulation path when the file is missing

The decision is based on the code's behavior. If the core crashes or refuses to boot without the file, it is required. If it continues with degraded functionality (missing boot animation, different fonts, reduced audio in menus), it is optional. This keeps the classification objective and consistent across all profiles.

When a core has HLE (high-level emulation), the real BIOS typically gives better accuracy, but the core functions without it. These files are marked with hle_fallback: true and required: false. The file still ships in packs (better experience for the user), but its absence does not raise alarms during verification.

4. Document divergences

When the libretro port differs from the upstream:

• mode: libretro - file only used by the libretro core
• mode: standalone - file only used in standalone mode
• mode: both - used by both (default, can be omitted)

Path differences (current dir vs system_dir) are normal adaptation, not a divergence. Name changes (e.g. naomi2_ to n2_) may be intentional to avoid conflicts in the shared system directory.

RetroArch's system directory is shared by every installed core. When the libretro port renames a file, it is usually solving a real problem: two cores that both expect bios.rom would overwrite each other. The upstream name goes in aliases: and mode: libretro on the port-specific name, so both names are indexed.

True divergences worth documenting are: files the port adds that the upstream never loads, files the upstream loads that the port dropped (a gap in the port), and hash differences in embedded ROM data between the two codebases. These get noted in the profile because they affect what the user actually needs to provide.

5. Write the YAML profile

emulator: Dolphin
type: standalone + libretro
core_classification: community_fork
source: https://github.com/libretro/dolphin
upstream: https://github.com/dolphin-emu/dolphin
profiled_date: 2026-03-25
core_version: 5.0-21264
systems:
  - nintendo-gamecube
  - nintendo-wii

files:
  - name: GC/USA/IPL.bin
    system: nintendo-gamecube
    required: false
    hle_fallback: true
    size: 2097152
    validation: [size, adler32]
    known_hash_adler32: 0x4f1f6f5c
    region: north-america
    source_ref: Source/Core/Core/Boot/Boot_BS2Emu.cpp:42

Writing style

Notes in a profile describe what the core does, kept focused on: what files get loaded, how, and from where. Comparisons with other cores, disclaimers, and feature coverage beyond file requirements belong in external documentation. The profile is a technical spec.

Profiles are standalone documentation. Someone should be able to take a single YAML file and integrate it into their own project without knowing anything about this repository's database, directory layout, or naming conventions. The YAML documents what the emulator expects. The tooling resolves the YAML against the local file collection separately.

A few field conventions that protect the toolchain:

• type: is operational. resolve_platform_cores() uses it to filter which profiles apply to a platform. Valid values are libretro, standalone + libretro, standalone, alias, launcher, game, utility, test. Putting a classification concept here (like "bizhawk-native") breaks the filtering. A BizHawk core is type: standalone.

• core_classification: is descriptive. It documents the relationship between the core and the original emulator (pure_libretro, official_port, community_fork, frozen_snapshot, etc.). It has no effect on tooling behavior.

• Alternative filenames go in aliases: on the file entry (rather than as separate entries in platform YAMLs or _shared.yml). When the same physical ROM is known by three names across different platforms, one name is name: and the rest are aliases:.

• Hashes come from source code. If the source has a hardcoded hex string (like emuscv's 635a978... in memory.cpp), that goes in. If the source embeds ROM data as byte arrays (like ep128emu's roms.hpp), the bytes can be extracted and hashed. If the source performs no hash check at all, the hash is omitted from the profile. The .info or docs may list an MD5, but source confirmation makes it more reliable.

6. Validate

python scripts/cross_reference.py --emulator dolphin --json
python scripts/verify.py --emulator dolphin

Lessons learned

These are patterns that have come up while building profiles. Sharing them here in case they save time.

.info metadata can lag behind the code. The desmume2015 .info declares firmware_count=3, but the core source at the pinned version never opens any firmware file. The .info is useful as a starting point but benefits from a cross-check against the actual code.

Fresh analysis per profile helps. When fbneo was profiled for arcade systems, NeoGeo-specific BIOS files were outside the analysis scope. Profiling fbneo_neogeo later surfaced files the first pass hadn't covered. Doing a fresh pass for each profile, even on a familiar codebase, avoids carrying over blind spots.

Path adaptation vs real divergence. The libretro wrapper changing fopen("./rom.bin") to load from system_dir is the standard porting pattern. The file is the same; only the directory resolution changed. True divergences (added/removed files, different embedded data) are the ones worth documenting.

Each core has its own loading logic. snes9x and bsnes both emulate the Super Nintendo, but they handle the Super Game Boy BIOS and DSP firmware through different code paths. Checking the actual code for each core avoids assumptions based on a related profile.

Code over docs. Wiki pages and README files sometimes reference files from older versions or a different fork. If the source code does not load a particular file, it can be left out of the profile even if documentation mentions it.

YAML field reference

Profile fields

Field	Required	Description
emulator	yes	display name
type	yes	libretro, standalone, standalone + libretro, alias, launcher, game, utility, test
core_classification	no	pure_libretro, official_port, community_fork, frozen_snapshot, enhanced_fork, game_engine, embedded_hle, launcher, other
source	yes	libretro core repository URL
upstream	no	original emulator repository URL
profiled_date	yes	date of source analysis
core_version	yes	version analyzed
display_name	no	full display name (e.g. "Sega - Mega Drive (BlastEm)")
systems	yes	list of system IDs this core handles
cores	no	list of upstream core names for buildbot/target matching
mode	no	default mode: standalone, libretro, or both
verification	no	how the core verifies BIOS: existence or md5
files	yes	list of file entries
notes	no	free-form technical notes
exclusion_note	no	why the profile has no files despite .info declaring firmware
analysis	no	structured per-subsystem analysis (capabilities, supported modes)
platform_details	no	per-system platform-specific details (paths, romsets, forced systems)

File entry fields

Field	Description
name	filename as the core expects it
required	true if the core needs this file to function
system	system ID this file belongs to (for multi-system profiles)
size	expected size in bytes
min_size, max_size	size range when the code accepts a range
md5, sha1, crc32, sha256	expected hashes from source code
known_hash_adler32	expected Adler-32 hash (used by Dolphin IPL files)
validation	checks the code performs: size, crc32, md5, sha1, adler32, signature, crypto. Can be a list or dict {core: [...], upstream: [...]} for divergent checks
aliases	alternate filenames for the same file
mode	libretro, standalone, or both
hle_fallback	true if a high-level emulation path exists
category	bios (default), game_data, bios_zip
region	geographic region (e.g. north-america, japan)
source_ref	source file and line number (e.g. boot.cpp:42)
path	destination path relative to system directory
description	what this file is
note	additional context
contents	structure of files inside a BIOS ZIP (name, description, size, crc32)
storage	large_file for files > 50 MB stored as release assets
agnostic	true if any file under the system path within size constraints satisfies the requirement
unsourceable	reason why the file cannot be sourced (acknowledged gap)
destination	target path within the BIOS directory