Reading this project's own reports

These sections are about this repository's own tools, run from a clone. scripts/verify.py checks the collection in bios/ against each platform, never your BIOS folder: for that, use the installer's --check (When a game does not start). How each platform checks a file is on How each platform checks files.

Hash mismatch / UNTESTED

verify.py reports UNTESTED for a file of the collection that was hashed and does not match what the platform declares. The line gives the reason:

  UNTESTED (required): nintendo-ds/dsifirmware.bin: declared hash contradicted by the local file

The system page on the site lists every known version of the file with its expected MD5 and SHA1.

Existence-mode platforms never report UNTESTED

On RetroArch, Lakka and RetroPie, the platform check only asks whether the file is there, so the only outcomes are OK and MISSING. verify.py adds the emulator ground truth from the profiles and flags a DISCREPANCY when a file passes the platform check but fails the emulator's own size or hash validation.

The .variants/ directory

When multiple versions of the same BIOS exist (different revisions, regions, or dumps), the primary version lives in the main directory and alternatives live in .variants/. verify.py checks the primary file first, then falls back to variants when resolving by hash.

A file that matches a variant hash but not the primary works. It is not the version the emulator tries first, and some cores accept several versions.

Pack is missing files

A generated pack doesn't contain all the files you expected.

Severity levels

verify.py assigns a severity to each issue, counted under severity_counts in its --json output. Not all missing files are equally important:

Severity	Meaning	Action needed
CRITICAL	Required file missing on an MD5 or SHA1 platform	Must fix. Core won't function.
WARNING	Optional file missing on an MD5 or SHA1 platform, hash mismatch (UNTESTED) on any hash platform, or a required file missing on an existence platform	Core works but with reduced functionality, or runs on content nobody verified.
INFO	Optional file missing on an existence-only platform, or a missing file the core covers with an HLE fallback	Core works fine, BIOS improves accuracy.
OK	File present and verified	No action needed.

The full mapping, including how hle_fallback overrides the platform mode, is in the severity matrix.

Focus on CRITICAL issues first. WARNING files improve the experience but aren't strictly necessary. INFO files are nice to have.

Large files (release assets)

Files like PS3UPDAT.PUP, PSVUPDAT.PUP, and Switch firmware are too large for the git repository. They are stored as GitHub release assets under the large-files release and downloaded at build time.

If a pack build fails to include these, check your network connection. In offline mode (--offline), large files are only included if already cached locally in .cache/large/.

Data directories

Some cores need entire directory trees rather than individual files (e.g. Dolphin's Sys/ directory, PPSSPP's assets/). These are fetched by refresh_data_dirs.py from upstream repositories.

In offline mode, data directories are only included if already cached in data/. Run python scripts/refresh_data_dirs.py to fetch them.

verify.py reports errors

How to read and interpret verify.py output.

Status codes

Status	Meaning
OK	File present, hash matches (or existence check passed)
UNTESTED	File present, hash not confirmed against the expected value
MISSING	File not found in the repository
DISCREPANCY	The platform check passes, an emulator's own check fails

Reading the output

The first line counts the platform's files and names its check. Under it come the entries that need attention, one per line as STATUS (required|optional): system/file, followed by a reason where there is one, then the counts of the files the emulator cores add. From python scripts/verify.py --platform retrodeck:

RetroDECK: 2007/2008 OK, 1 untested [md5]
  UNTESTED (required): nintendo-ds/dsifirmware.bin: declared hash contradicted by the local file
  DISCREPANCY: nintendo-snes/sgb2.boot.rom: RetroDECK says OK but supersnes9x says size mismatch: got 524288, accepted [256]
    supersnes9x [size]
  Core files: 1495 in pack, 0 required missing, 1 optional missing

--verbose also lists the passing entries that an emulator validates, with the check and the source lines behind it:

Recalbox: 351/351 OK [md5]
  OK (required): macintosh/MacII.ROM
    minivmac validates size=262144 [minivmac/cfg/CNFGRAPI.h:32, minivmac/src/OSGLUERETRO.c:781]

Cross-reference section

After per-file results, verify.py prints a cross-reference report. This lists files that emulator cores need but that the platform YAML doesn't declare. These files are still included in packs automatically, but the report helps identify gaps in platform coverage data.

The cross-reference uses resolve_platform_cores() to determine which emulator profiles are relevant for each platform, then checks whether each profile's files appear in the platform config.

Filtering output

# By platform
python scripts/verify.py --platform batocera

# By emulator core
python scripts/verify.py --emulator beetle_psx

# By system
python scripts/verify.py --system sony-playstation

# By hardware target
python scripts/verify.py --platform retroarch --target switch

# JSON for scripted processing: the entries that need attention
python scripts/verify.py --platform retroarch --json
# every entry, passing ones included, with its ground truth
python scripts/verify.py --platform retroarch --json --verbose