Super Game Boy Emulation in bsnes core got broken, probably due to an update in Launchbox / Retroarch

[totoro]

An update on Launchbox or Retroarch must have broken Super Game Boy emulation somewhen around this or last year.

Zipped game boy roms won't load at all, unzipped roms load the Super Game Boy rom in Retroarch.

I already did the setup a long time ago and all my Super Game Boy roms worked fine with this default command line:

"E:\LaunchBox\Roms\Nintendo Super Nintendo\Super Gameboy 2 (Japan).sfc" -L "cores\bsnes_libreto.dll" --subsystem sgb

This is still working in my last backup build from December 2023; Version 13.8.

I´ve also watched this tutorial and noticed some command lines changed, but I got the same result.

No paths got changed, no configs got changed on my side. I tried to copy my old retroarch cores dll and configs into the actual build, but no success.

So I guess something else broke this, please have a look into this.

[totoro]

Ok, I've found the solution.

I think Retroarch changed some dependencies to make the script work. You don't need additional script lines to point the emulator to the Super Game Boy rom anymore. Instead Super Game Boy roms are handled like a bios file.

Here is how I fixed it:

1. Make sure your legit "Super Gameboy 2 (Japan).sfc"-file is sitting in the "\RetroArch\system" folder.

2. Rename "Super Gameboy 2 (Japan).sfc"-file (or whatever name you got for it) to "SGB2.sfc". (Super Game Boy 2 is overall a better choice then the SGB1, due to its clock speed. But if you insist on using the first version, you do the same for that rom and rename it to "SGB1.sfc".

3. Delete ANY Extra Command-Line Parameters from your emulator settings (if you followed the tutorial in my first post you should have set up Retroarch Super Game Boy Versions with bsnes_libreto and some command lines - these need to be deleted.

4. Boot up in Launchbox, everything should work now like before. 🙂

 

[JoeViking245]

3 hours ago, totoro said:

An update on Launchbox or Retroarch must have broken Super Game Boy emulation somewhen around this or last year.

Zipped game boy roms won't load at all, unzipped roms load the Super Game Boy rom in Retroarch.

Glad to hear you got it work.  But am curious as to why it stopped working for you.  I can't say for sure if zipped ROMs worked directly with that core before or not. But in the RA Associated Platforms sections, checking Extract ROMs has always worked for me.  Maybe somehow in an update that got unchecked?

The only other thing I can think of that it could be (based on your example command parameters) is that the .sfc file is not in that location [anymore?].

Note: I put the sgb2 ROM in RA's system folder (similar to your fix) because it looks nicer in the command-line parameters that way.  

Also note, contrary to the video, you don't need to setup another emulator in LB. Can just add NGB again and un-check Default Emulator. But yes, it does look nicer when right-clicking a game to see the Name rather than selecting RA then choosing it by core name.

 

The above setting produces this full command line:

"D:\LaunchBox\Emulators\Retroarch\retroarch.exe" -L "cores\bsnes_libretro.dll" -f "system/Super Game Boy 2 (Japan).sfc" --subsystem sgb "D:\LaunchBox\ThirdParty\7-Zip\Temp\dmg-afge-0.u1"

(where "dmg-afge-0.u1" is the ROM inside "frogger.zip" which I got from MAME's software lists.)