AstroBob

Hi @AOR, thanks for the great question. LaunchBox is designed to be portable, so as long as you keep all your games, emulators, media etc within the `LaunchBox` directory, you can simply copy the entire LaunchBox folder over to your new machine and it should work just like the old one. If you have certain folders in different directories (i.e your games), then you can follow the same process, but you'll want to go to `Tools > Manage > Platform`, and then go to the `Folders` tab for each platform. There you can set the directory for your games and media folders. Let us know how you get on, if your setup isn't covered by the above 2 use cases, let us know and we'll see how we can advise further. Cheers,

Hi Folks, Following up on this thread to see if we can get this sorted. I know it's been a while since the last post, so just to confirm @Jabb3rJaw, did you manage to follow Joe's instructions with the full command line path for Dolphin. And if so, is the issue still occurring for you? For the other users who are experiencing this problem ( @Briantodd & @Next 1 Up 301 ), can you both please confirm: - What version of Dolphin you have installed? - What command line parameters you are using? - What error message is displayed when trying to Launch a game using Dolphin - Does the error occur when launching directly through Dolhin (not LaunchBox) - Can you follow Joe's instructions, and let us know if the issue still occurs for you Let us know and we'll try and get y'all sorted. Cheers,

Hi thanks for reporting this and apologies for the issues here. Would it be possible to get some examples of the types of changes that were rejected? We can use this to cross-reference where this is coming from. Feel free to PM me the details; the more info and examples we have on this, the better. Cheers,

Hi Folks, Thanks for reporting this and sorry for the issues here. I've tried to reproduce this on my side but unfortunately haven't had much luck so far. Can I confirm a few things to try to narrow this down? For those experiencing the issue, can you confirm: - When you talk about the games `lagging`, just to confirm you're referring to the performance of the actual games itself (choppyness, framerate etc) and not the amount of time it takes to actually load the game right? - If so, what does RetroArch or MAME's FPS counter show, is it showing it running at a reduced frame rate? - Is this consistent across any emulator that is launched through the game discovery centre, or does it only appear to affect games from a specific emulator (i.e MAME) - How about PC games (i.e names launched via Steam), do these experience similar issues - Can anyone provide a screen recording of the issue in action, showing both launching through the games discovery center and another view If anyone can confirm these details we'll try to narrow this down.

Hi Folks, Apologies for the delayed response here, thanks so much for the recent troubleshooting steps and repro video. Just to let you know I've collected all this info and we're trying our best to reproduce this on our end. We haven't had any luck so far but will keep trying and I'll reach out if we need any more info in the meantime. Thanks for bearing with us here while we try and nail this down, really appreciate it.

Hi @Sbaby Thanks for the report and apologies for the delayed follow-up. Firstly, thank you for the detailed reproduction video of the crash. I can confirm that this is a known issue, and we’re able to reproduce it on our end. This issue has been known for some time and is tied to how LaunchBox’s core handles missing file paths in the “Manage Platforms” window or when editing a platform. When a platform’s game directory is on an external drive that gets disconnected, LaunchBox attempts to locate that path, leading to the crash. Without diving too deeply into technical details, this logic is fundamentally embedded in LaunchBox’s core system. Addressing it would require a significant rewrite of this core architecture. We have an ongoing initiative aimed at reworking LaunchBox’s underlying structure, which we discussed in our recent AMA (attached here). I completely understand any frustration and confusion why it may seem that a relatively simple issue would require such a substantial effort to resolve. Unfortunately, this is a side effect of LaunchBox’s aging architecture. We recognize the need for some fundamental architectural changes to address issues like this more effectively in the future. That said, we closely monitor error reports and are aware of how frequently this crash affects our users. Based on usage data, we know this impacts a small portion of our community, and LaunchBox’s functionality in most areas remains intact when paths are missing. For now, we don’t have immediate plans to address this specific issue, though it’s likely to be resolved as part of the ongoing fundamentals rework. I realize this isn’t an ideal short-term solution, and it’s frustrating to hear we’re not able to provide an immediate fix, especially as this has affected your workflow. However, I hope a transparent answer on where we stand helps clarify our thinking and the reasons this hasn’t been addressed yet. I apologize that I’m not able to offer a more immediate solution today, but please be assured the team is aware of this. We’re hopeful that with the ongoing rework of LaunchBox’s codebase, issues like this will eventually be resolved and lead to an even better experience for our users. Please let me know if you have any further questions. I’d be happy to discuss this further.

Thanks for the kind words 😊 We certainly appreciate your understanding given that it's not an ideal situation. The goal is that the work we're doing with save management will hopefully help here, as the end goal is to be able to sync saves across your devices, negating some of the need to host instances across cloud sync services. And I love the idea of the startup/exit script. Hadn't even thought of that but certainly sounds plausible. Great idea!

Right click on a game and select `Edit . Edit Metadata/media`. Then, on the left under the `Launching` section. For an example game, can you let me know what is shown (in all of the fields) displayed in that section

Thanks, so I confirmed with the team that these images keep appearing is that these are system images required by LaunchBox, and therefore cannot be removed. If you want to change the image that is in there, you can replace it with a different image by editing a platform and adding a new banner image and deleting the old one. As long as you have 1 banner image, it should not replenish the default one. Apologies for the confusion there, let me know if you have any follow-up questions.

Hi Folks, I hope it’s okay to merge these threads so that we can keep everyone informed. I tested this, and I am able to check the Cloudflare checkbox. In Big Box, I have Enable Mouse turned on under Options > Mouse. Could those experiencing this issue confirm that they also have Enable Mouse turned on? I know the original poster mentioned they did, but I just want to be sure, since this appears to be working on my end. If it still isn’t working, could you please let me know what your mouse input is (e.g., are you using an external mouse, trackpad on a laptop, etc.)?

Hi @radio5 Thanks for the update. Unfortunately, continuing to host your build on a Google Drive instance will likely continue to yield this type of error. Historically, when LaunchBox directories are hosted in a location where the file system is continuously being modified (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.), it can cause all sorts of problems with file locking or can mess up the permissions that LaunchBox needs to run properly. While you may have seen success in the past with this setup, we’ve never been able to guarantee that it will work 100% of the time. This is because it largely depends on what Windows is doing with those files, and we have no way of knowing when the syncing service is modifying files that LaunchBox requires. Although this particular error you’re seeing is related to our new plugin .dll files, there have been issues in the past with other file types, such as image files, database files, etc. I realize this is frustrating, especially since you’ve used LaunchBox in this way without errors in the past. However, this isn’t a workflow we can fully support, as we have no control over what the syncing service is doing with the files that we need access to. That said, I completely understand the desire to have LaunchBox backed up to a cloud storage solution. I personally do this with Dropbox as well. My suggestion would be to ensure that Google Drive is not running when you are using LaunchBox. As long as syncing is paused while LaunchBox is in use, it shouldn’t have any issues. The conflicts arise only when both LaunchBox and Google Drive try to access the same file simultaneously. I realise it may not be the perfect solution, but hopefully, this shines some light on the cause here. Give me a shout if you have any further questions here.

@Retrofrogg Does this happen across all platforms, and for all image types? If you remove it, click ok and then run the cleanup media option, does it include it in the items to be deleted?

Thanks for the update folks. To find what command line parameters you have, go to `Tools > Manage > Emulators`. Then edit the RCPS3 item, and let me know what you have filled out for your `Default Command-Line Parameters` and `Sample Command`. Can you also give me an example of what one of your PS3 games has under `Edit Game > Launching > ROM File` Let me know and I'll see if I can advise further

For anyone experiencing this issue, can you please let us know: - Do the games run when you launch RCPS3 outside of LaunchBox? - What command line parameters do you have set in your emulator settings? - What is the format of your PS3 games (are you using.iso files, or have you installed the files directly to RCPS3's NAND?) Let us know and we'll try to get you sorted

Hey @xy44, thanks for reporting this. To rule out any issues with your specific device, are you able to install a fresh version of LaunchBox in a new location (not ontop of the old one). You can use the installer that should be located in your `updates` folder. If that works, then that points to something with the other specific instances, whereas if it doesn't work it could be something specific to your device. Let me know how you get on and we can go from there

Hey everyone, As we wrap up October, we’ve got plenty of exciting updates and community highlights to share! 🎉 From new features to a whole bunch of community contributions, October has been a spooky and rewarding month for the LaunchBox team. Let’s dive into everything that went down! 🚀 TEAM UPDATES: LaunchBox 13.17 Released 🚀 This month, we released the latest version of LaunchBox, 13.17. This update is all about fine-tuning your experience with a series of fixes and improvements that keep your game library running smoother than ever. Storefront Manager Tutorial 🏪 We released a new tutorial on LaunchBox’s Storefront Manager 🎉 📺 In it, we walk through setting up each of our supported storefronts, along with tips & tricks for managing your modern PC collection. 🖥️ 📂 ROM Organization 💾 With so many different ways to manage your games, we hosted a poll asking folks how they prefer to organize their ROM library. The results were fascinating, and we went on to discuss the results on our Halloween Stream! LaunchBox Halloween Livestream 🎃 To celebrate the end of October, the team hosted a Halloween livestream, diving into hot LaunchBox topics, answering questions and sharing some spooky gaming stories! 👻 COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS: While our team has been hard at work, our community has been buzzing with activity. We’re actively exploring new ways to showcase these amazing contributions, and although it’s challenging to showcase absolutely everything, we wanted to highlight a few cool things that stood out this month. We’re actively thinking of ways to expand this and feature more of your fantastic work, so stay tuned for more highlights in the future! Retro Handheld's Review of the Android App ✅ The team over at Retro Handhelds put out a wonderful review of LaunchBox for Android. If you're thinking about creating the ultimate companion device for your LaunchBox build, definitely give this article a read. 🔗 Check out the article here Every PS2 Manual Ever, Archived! 📖 A PlayStation mega fan and video game preservationist has scanned every single US manual for PlayStation 2 in 4K resolution, and it only took a sum of $40,000 to do it. 🔗 Check out the article here Custom Playlist Big Box Showcase 📺 A fantastic showcase from @neosean99 of custom playlists in Big Box for series collections, utilizing their own logos and playlist-specific videos. This is a great showcase if you like to curate your collection by your favourite series. Arcade Build Showcase 🕹️ Looking for some inspiration for a sleek and simple arcade build, then check out this submission from @1quicksi It even includes all the bits and bobs used to create the finished product 🎛️ LED Blinky Showcase 💡 Check out this great look at LED Blinky from @wildaces and how it can elevate your Arcade Cabinet to the next level! Launch Games Using NFC Tags 💡 Ever wanted to play your LaunchBox games by physically scanning them, well now you can! Check out @superrob3000's incredible new plugin that lets you launch games using NFC tags 🏷️ Emoji Style Custom Icons 😄 Give your LaunchBox build a modern flare, with these emoji-inspire custom icons from @ci2own, truly bringing your games into the modern age 😬 New Big Box Themes 🖼️ Some fantastic new Big Box theme submissions this month, including Jarvis from @The Papaw and, XamimeD by @Rincewind. If your setup needs a fresh coat of paint, it's worth your while to check these out. THIS MONTH: With November now upon us, it’s starting to get colder outside 🥶 To celebrate, we’ve added a special Harvest-themed playlist to your Game Discovery Center in Big Box. This list showcases games with themes of farming, harvesting, and autumn. So if you fancy a cozy game, or want to take a break from the action to water your virtual crops, you're bound to find something in this list. 🌽 🍁 What kind of content would you like to see showcased here? Let us know in the comments below! Happy gaming! Andy

This is a very cool build! I love the simplicity of the artwork and the clean layout & cable management 🙌 What have you been mostly playing on it? And what's your Big Box theme of choice for it? Keep up the great work!

Hi @Johnathanthanks for reporting this and sorry to hear about the issues here. May I please confirm a few things to try and narrow this down: What version of LaunchBox did you upgrade from, and to? When you say the ROMs "don't work", can you please explain what is happening when you try to launch a game from LaunchBox. Are any errors displayed, or can you describe what is happening? Where are your ROMs stored? Are they in LaunchBox's default `LaunchBox > Games` directory, or somewhere else? If you edit the metadata for a game that isn't working, and go to `Launching > Application Path` can you let me know what is shown there? If you can confirm the above we'll hopefully be able to get you sorted.

Hi @Clads92 thanks for the feedback there. We don't have plans to add that sort of functionality currently, since the directory is already portable, it would just be creating another copy of that exact folder, which you can already copy from your SD card. I appreciate for those who may not be familiar with the Android filesystem it may seem daunting at first, but it's not something that we've heard requested from too many users at the moment. We really appreciate that you are putting a guide together for your channel, give us a shout if there's anything we can advise on or help you with there.

Yes, however that is only for when you are importing a game. If you have that ticked, it will let you import a game even if it already exists in your library. What I was referring to, is that there's no function such as (right click > duplicate entry). However you certainly can import a duplicate copy using the import wizard, and simply manually creating a new entry that uses the same LaunchBox DB ID, it will let you do that no problem.

Hey @Clads92, thanks for the question. If you use LaunchBox for Windows, we have an export wizard that will help you export your collection (or a subset of it) to your android device. We have a tutorial on this which I've attached below. If you're looking to copy between Android devices, assuming you have your games stored int he default `LaunchBox` directory, that is a portable directory that can simply be moved across to another Android device. Hopefully, this is what you were looking for, but give me a shout if you have any further questions about it

Thanks for the update, apologise I should have mentioned from the start, that yes you will need to scan your library for achievements if order for the badges and filters to pick up on them. I should note, you also need to re-run this scan for new games added to your collection since the last scan. All of your other settings look fine, so if there are still games not showing as achievements even though there are set, then it's likely the ROM hash doesn't match that that is required by retroachievements. Remember that it's not just the ROM filename, the actual hash of the ROM your using needs to match. Let me know how you get on, glad to see your getting closer to it working

Hey @jmandmc, thanks for the question. You may want to check out this plugin from one of our community members that lets you scrape media from the website, Steam Grid DB. It only scrapes posters, banners and clear logos, but if you like to view games by logo this could work well for you. The nice thing is that it doesn't care what platform your game is on, since Steam Grid DB has entries for most games across all platforms, and they have a very good selection of clear logos. Give it a whirl, sounds like it could suit your use case quite well. Happy to answer any further questions on it if needed

Good shout! I also recently discovered this. It's quite a hidden option but I've certainly pruned a few games from there that I know I'll never ever play. There is of course the option to just *hide* the game in steam, but it still shows up in places like LaunchBox imports, achievement trackers etc. And I like to keep that game count lean

Hi there, thanks for elaborating on the use case there, and makes sense. As far as I know, there isn't a dedicated *duplicate* option in LaunchBox, however, there is the `combine/split` function used for separating additional apps into their instances. Nothing technically stops you from having 2 copies of the same game. You probably won't be able to get it to appear with an import, since LaunchBox will think you've got it in your library already, however, you can manually create a new entry and link it up to the same LaunchBox DB ID (it will even use the same media). Of course, your audit section will flag it as a duplicate, but it should work as long as you don't mind.