Batocera.linux - Wiki

about

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 02:24:16 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. About What're you on about? * Wiki homepage * Batocera's main website Licensing information (what you can and can't do with Batocera). You'll find some art resources for Batocera as well. * License/artwork

access_the_batocera_via_ssh

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 14:30:56 +0000

SSH/Xterm and Common Commands The recommended way to access Batocera's terminal is through SSH from another computer on the same local network (so that you get nice features like command history and ASCII coloration). First, make sure that SSH is enabled on your Batocera machine (it is enabled by default): check

add_games_bios

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 23:23:35 +0000

Add games/BIOS files to Batocera Batocera will only show the systems for which ROMs are installed for. As more ROMs are added for different systems, more systems will be shown. To update the game list, press [START] and go to GAME SETTINGS -> UPDATE GAMELISTS

add_powerdevices_rpi_only

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 22:30:30 +0000

Add Powerdevices and Buttons to your Raspberry Pi 1 - 5 The Raspberry Pi 5 uses new GPIO code, the details below are not applicable for these boards, except for Argon One V3 at the bottom of the page To keep the price down, the Raspberry Pi board doesn't ship with a power button, yet it's easy to add your own! This guide will show you how to add a power button to your Raspberry Pi that can turn on/off your BATOCERA system.

add_tft_screen_rpi_only

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 17 Feb 2022 05:24:53 +0000

Raspberry Pi: Add TFT Screen Batocera works fine with displays that are connected through the Pi's HDMI port. But some extra work is required to make it work with screens connected to the DPI or SPI ribbon/GPIO pins. Batocera already supports a few (undocumented) screens but more likely than not your screen isn't supported yet. Some extra effort is required to get this working.

advanced_arcade

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 May 2025 19:06:16 +0000

Advanced arcade emulation on Batocera If new to arcade emulation, it is recommended to read the arcade guide first before reading this one. This section could probably do with an overhaul of its headers. Cleaning the ROMset Often times, ROMsets will include all known releases. You may not have interest in copying over every known arcade game onto your Batocera.

advanced_emulationstation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 03:51:36 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Advanced EmulationStation EmulationStation is an extremely sophisticated piece of software, and very powerful in the right hands. Here are some pages for some of the more advanced things it can do. Each and every option you can access from EmulationStation in Batocera!

advanced_retroarch_settings

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 08:13:32 +0000

Advanced RetroArch Settings You might want to check if the option you want to change has already been implemented into EmulationStation! Most game-related settings are in GAME SETTINGS, but some RetroArch-specific options may be in the DEVELOPER menu.

advanced_users

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 May 2025 10:25:19 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Advanced Users For the more technically inclined. The contents of this particular section is ever-changing so be sure to check the sidebar on the left for the current list of pages. In no particular order: * Editing the boot partition * SSH/Xterm and commands * Run Batocera in a VM * Dual booting with Batocera * Raspberry Pi: Add power buttons/switches * Raspberry Pi: Boot from USB * Raspberry Pi: Add a TFT screen *

ai_game_translation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 06:36:07 +0000

AI GAME TRANSLATION For many emulators (those which are powered by RetroArch, indicated by “libretro” in their name), you can use this function to automatically translate game screens that are written in a language you cannot read. It can work with non-latin characters too: yes, it's possible now to enjoy those Japanese games you never played before

anti-aliasing

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 05 Feb 2023 04:09:34 +0000

Anti-aliasing This is a fairly complicated subject that deserves its own page. This mainly concerns 3D systems, but some of the earlier stuff can also apply to 2D in the form of “shaders”. If you'd like a more in-depth look into this, this blogpost does a pretty good job of explaining the concept using non-technical English and great illustrations. Just be warned it's a huge page (for web at least) at 72MB so mobile viewing is not recommended.

arcade

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:49:40 +0000

Arcade Guide This page is dedicated to beginners getting into arcade emulation for the first time and describes how to set them up for Batocera. Todo: add consistent example demonstration throughout the article, using MAME as it is the most common.

audio_issues

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 02:59:55 +0000

Audio issues Most audio issues on Batocera v31 and below have been fixed with the release of v32. This is because Batocera v32 introduced a brand new sound management layer (Pipewire) to handle most of the audio stack. This article is more here for users on older versions or those really persistent audio issues.

audio_via_gpio_rpi_only

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 01:22:52 +0000

Raspberry Pi: Audio Output via GPIO If you need audio out from the Raspberry Pi's GPIO (in case you are using an Raspberry pi0 that doesn't have audio jack): * Connect the left channel to GPIO18 (pin12 GPIO) * Connect the right channel to GPIO13 (pin33 GPIO)

automatic_controller_layouts

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Apr 2022 20:04:07 +0000

Automatic Controller Layouts Introduction MAME and Libretro/MAME have options to automatically map controls for certain games. This mostly applies to Capcom's 6-button games such as Street Fighter II, the Mortal Kombat series, and the Killer Instinct series. Some layouts will also affect Neo Geo or the default controller layout, and there are a handful of other games that have control tweaks.

ban-appeal-process

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 01:29:56 +0000

Ban Appeal Process Users may be banned from Batocera's official social platforms for violating the rules posted on that platform. Each platform has specific wording of the rules but they are generally the following: * No sharing or asking for copyrighted materials.

basic_commands

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 16:51:30 +0000

Hotkey shortcuts While in a game, you can execute some shortcuts with your pad, for example, if you want to save/load your in-game state. Shortcuts are called by pressing [HOTKEY] + a button simultaneously on player 1's controller. You can identify the hotkey from the main EmulationStation menu: press any key on your controller and you should see a little

batocera_conf_syntax

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 11:28:09 +0000

Advanced Batocera Configuration Syntax Most settings (including RetroArch-specific settings) can be adjusted from within the menus in EmulationStation. This includes per system and per game settings, access per system settings by pressing [SELECT] while in the system list and scrolling to

batocera_wiki_code_snippets

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:02:49 +0000

Batocera Wiki Code Snippets/Templates A cheat-sheet can be found on the DokuWiki syntax page. In-links In-links refer to linking to another page on this wiki. When doing so, you don't need to include the "https://wiki.batocera.org/" at the start, just the namespace, followed by a colon (:), and then the page name. For example:

batocera-and-crt-old

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 11:40:15 +0000

Batocera 15kHz Video Output This guide only applies to Batocera v30/v31. For v32 and above, refer to the current guide. Foreword This Guide would not have been possible without the following people to name a few. * jfroco's work to output Batocera on a Crts. * rtissera's knowledge, enthusiasm and willingness to add 15khz patches.

batocera-and-crt-rpi

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 07:35:33 +0000

CRT output on Raspberry Pi This guide only applies to Batocera v32. Batocera changed to using the Wayland compositor for most SBCs around v33 (differs depending on exact board), which does not support output from the composite port at all. Using versions

batocera-and-crt

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 14:06:57 +0000

Batocera native CRT output 🚫 This page is outdated and should no longer be used. Please refer to the Batocera CRT Script – Official Wiki instead. 🛠 An automated CRT setup script is now available and should be used to configure native CRT output on the latest x86_64 Batocera builds.

batocera.linux_architecture

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 13:40:57 +0000

Batocera's File Partitions Userdata filesystem options It's helpful to become familiar with how Batocera has its partitions laid out first to better understand what you're accessing and where they are located. Batocera uses two main partitions: the

batocera.linux_buildroot_modifications

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 07:14:03 +0000

Compiling Individual Packages You may know me from former titles such as “Batocera Linux Buildroot Modifications” and “How to work on Batocera (and not recompile everything)”. RPi3, the “per platform” example used here, was formerly known internally as

blog_writing

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 09 Sep 2021 08:58:09 +0000

Blog Writing Okay this isn't wiki editing but still a relevant, community-driven aspect of Batocera. This is going to be a very personal, subjective article on the things I've learned wrangling the Flarum forum tools to make presentable blog posts.

bluetooth_controllers_-_manual_setup

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 06:19:34 +0000

Pair Bluetooth Controllers - manual setup First ensure that Bluetooth is enabled on your device. First, the line controllers.bluetooth.enabled=1 should be present in your system/batocera.conf file and not commented out (how to access the batocera.conf file). If it is missing, add it in. Note that doing this won't suddenly make a non-functional Bluetooth dongle start working, only the ones that are already compatible with the Linux kernel and the drivers included in Batocera.

boot_usb_rpi_only

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 06:16:06 +0000

Boot from USB on your Raspberry Pi Booting off of your SD card should be fine in most cases, and there's no speed penalty for doing so or anything, but what if you just wanted to boot off your larger USB connected SSD drive to keep things simple? This is how you can do that.

built_file_manager

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 07:45:29 +0000

Built-in File Manager Batocera features a built-in file manager that can be accessed by pressing [F1] on the keyboard on the main system list (as of right now, PC and RPi4-only). Quit the file manager with [Ctrl] + [Q], [Alt] + [F4] or click File ->

cd_image_formats

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Oct 2022 04:15:06 +0000

Different images formats Disc images/ROMs come in a variety of formats, and over the years many formats have risen and fallen in popularity. This article focuses on the more common ones you may come across. For information on compressed disk images take a look at

choose_a_board

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 11:50:19 +0000

How to choose my board ? Moved to Choose a Single Board Computer. Page will stay up for historical reasons. Strong points to pay attention at * performances : which systems does the board support (and with which performance) * cost * size of the board : single board compute (SBC) versus computers

choose_a_desktop_computer

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 03:59:53 +0000

Choose a PC You may want to check out the devices navigation page first to ensure you're on the right page. A note about minimum PC requirements Making a list of minimum requirements is really difficult for something like Batocera as it ultimately depends on how high a system you want to emulate. In a way, the minimum requirements are the minimum requires of the emulator you want to run. With that said, here are the

choose_a_handheld

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 23:19:52 +0000

Choose a handheld If you were after the more powerful (and expensive) x86-based handhelds, click here. If you're after a more general introduction to handhelds, I strongly recommend giving or a visit. Do note those websites focus more on handhelds in general, not Batocera, so the software included there is not supported here. This wiki page focuses solely on Batocera's compatible handhelds.

choose_a_single_board_computer

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 11:19:59 +0000

Choose an single board computer You may want to check out the devices navigation page first to ensure you're on the right page. If you are looking to purchase a new board, you can check the available emulators for each of them on the compatibility matrix. If you hover your mouse over the links at

coding_rules

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 02:43:26 +0000

Coding Rules The coding principals for Batocera are as follows: * Keep it simple * Worse is better In other words, don't try to handle all cases if it makes the software complicated and unmaintainable. * Don't add new systems that are simply variations of other systems, aim to have one folder per system. An exception to this rule would be if a system required different configuration to launch, as asking the user to create two sets of custom emulator settings should be avoided.

compile_batocera.linux

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 02:04:24 +0000

Compile batocera.linux The official and recommended way to compile batocera.linux is by using a development container made on purpose with Docker. Although you can do it directly on your Linux machine, if it's a supported Ubuntu Linux. Note that it's also possible to compile batocera.linux within an

compiling_lxc_containers

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 12:14:21 +0000

Compiling on LXC containers This is not the recommended way to compile Batocera, as will become evident with all the workarounds you have to do to make this work. Refer to the compile Batocera page for the suggested methods. Doing this will render it impossible to submit pull requests directly from this repository. If you choose to still proceed, you can use the LXC contained repository for testing things, and make the actual changes to an additional cloned local repository to make the pull re…

configure_a_controller

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 02:49:58 +0000

Map a Controller This gives you the ability to map the buttons of a new controller or remap an existing controller to your preference. From this menu, you can define one mapping per controller. As a result, choose a mapping that will fit most games naturally. The problem we have in the emulation world is that there is no such thing as one unique mapping for all emulated systems. Nintendo, Sony, Sega, Microsoft have all chosen different layouts

content_downloader

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 02:38:34 +0000

Content Downloader Recommended video by Batocera Nation: The content downloader utilizes the Pacman package manager to automatically download and install various bits and bobs from Batocera's servers directly onto your Batocera installation; how neat is that? This can be used to install a wide variety of freely distributed games, themes, and even cheats databases!

contributing-to-batocera

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 04:26:59 +0000

Make a PR to batocera.linux We recommend anyone who wishes to contribute to Batocera to join the Discord server for any questions not covered here. Recommended reading: * Git has an overview of the broad concepts on their about page. * Microsoft (the parent company of Github) has

controllers

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 10:34:53 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Controllers To see a list of supported controllers and how to set them up (and any quirks with doing so): * Supported controllers * Map a controller For setting up non-behaving Bluetooth controllers: * Manual Bluetooth controller setup For setting up arcade controls with various DIY encoders: * Arcade controls To set up light gun controllers (including using Wiimotes as faux light guns):

create_pacman_package

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:34:56 +0000

Create your own pacman package for Batocera What is pacman? In Batocera v27 and higher, you can utilize pacman to install and manage packages. It is the underlying tool behind the content downloader. It is a straightforward package manager that's easy to work with. You don't need development skills to create a package, just a bit of patience. If you've copied files to and from directories before, you already have the skill-set required for this.

current_and_previous_releases

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 19:55:27 +0000

Current/Previous/Beta Releases Batocera version There are currently two different branch of Batocera: * Stable: Most stable version, recommended for most users. * Butterfly: Most up to date version. Stability is usually not an issue, but particular things can often be broken in this version. Recommended for users who wish to test the new features and assist the development team in fixing bugs.

debug_batocera

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 15:45:44 +0000

Debug Batocera Under construction. Batocera offers logs which can help explain the more obvious problems, but sometimes you need something a bit more robust to analyze a particular problem, such as if an emulator is taking too long to load something or EmulationStation is incorrectly caching something when it shouldn't.

decoration

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 02:16:50 +0000

Decorations Recommended video: Batocera Nation's excellent "How to Install Bezels in Batocera". In the 80s and 90s, most video game screens had a 4:3 aspect ratio. Nowadays, screens mostly use a 16:9 ratio, which means that they provide extra space on the sides compared to a 4:3 aspect ratio. Rather than stretching out the 4:3 image to fit into a 16:9 model, you can fill the extra space with a background image that provides an even more immersive experience. You can simulate the looks of an o…

development

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 03:58:46 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Development You'd like to help with the development of Batocera? Or maybe you're just curious as to how Batocera works under the hood. For an introduction to developing code for Batocera: * Batocera's file partitions * Coding rules * Make a PR to batocera.linux A friendly GUI for managing Git commits, useful for newcomers who want to contribute:

devices

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 07:34:22 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Devices This is all about devices that Batocera can be run on. You'll see there's quite a wide variety! For traditional x86 full-tower desktop PCs (including benchmarks): * Choose a PC/Benchmarks For traditional PC graphics cards and what's required to utilize them/activate their official drivers and features:

diagnose_joysticks_issues

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 18:13:24 +0000

Input problems Under construction. ROMs take a long time to load Some controllers (including Xbox One and 8-bitdo ones) can cause certain cores to take a long time to load a ROM, upwards of thirty seconds. In these situations, it can be worked around by setting the controller to D-input mode (may be referred to as

disk_image_compression

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:24:18 +0000

Disc image compression Systems from the 5th and 6th console generation often use optical discs like CD or DVD to store game data. Disc image sizes range from 700 MB (CD), 1.4 GB (GC Mini-DVD), 4.7 GB (single-layered DVD) and even 25 GB (Blu-Ray) for newer systems. Often times only a fraction of the actual disc size is used for game data and the rest is filled with dummy data to be optimized for read access by the optical drive laser.

display_issues

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 26 Jul 2025 14:05:55 +0000

Display Troubleshooting I have no display If you know Batocera is booting (the network share is available, you can SSH in, you hear some music, etc.) but you have no display, it could be that Batocera is using a different display than intended. The simple solution to this is to unplug and replug the display, Batocera should automatically switch over to the newest display that was plugged in (sometimes, a laptop that is plugged in to its external port will

diy-arcade-controls

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:21:25 +0000

Do-It-Yourself Arcade Controls Under construction. Using Controller Interfaces Many DIY or prebuilt arcade cabinets, cocktail tables, and bartops use an encoder/controller board to connect joysticks and buttons to the system running Batocera (for example, Ultimarc I-PAC devices or JAMMASD boards). These boards often present themselves as a

dual_boot_ubuntu_batocera.linux

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 21 Sep 2024 20:15:50 +0000

Dual boot Batocera It is recommended to boot Batocera off of a USB/other external drive and to use your BIOS boot selection menu to switch between Batocera and other operating systems that may already be on other drives. You can still use drives with other operating systems on them to host your userdata such as ROMs, BIOS files, saves, etc. This is the far simpler option to do instead of what you'll have to do if you only want to do everything from one drive. However, some people prefer to have…

edit_boot_partition

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 03:01:11 +0000

Editing the boot partition This is the platform-specific boot partition, usually FAT32 but can depend on the device. This partition can be read and edited by most other operating systems should you plug the drive into another machine. The most common file that might need to be edited is the

emulationstation_overview

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 05:03:58 +0000

EmulationStation Gamers who are emulator fans tend to come across the same problem over and over again. How do you organize the hundreds of emulators and thousands of ROMs on your disks? This ends up being a mundane task especially when you consider all of the different formats and methods of sorting data involved. In an attempt to solve this problem, and avoid your emulators from getting too messy, EmulationStation (abbreviated as ES) puts everything in one place. It’s a front-end with one of …

emulationstation_savestates

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 13:25:45 +0000

General Emulationstation can list and launch games directly from a given savestate. Before batocera 41, it is possible only for retroarch cores. Since batocera 41, it is possible for standalone emulators. Options In emulationstation, you've 3 options :

emulationstation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 09:19:54 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. EmulationStation All things EmulationStation! This is the frontend that Batocera uses, basically what you would call its “menu”. For an introduction to EmulationStation and how its navigated: * Main Menu/EmulationStation overview Batocera also features a special version of Kodi accessible from within EmulationStation:

emulators_ports

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 10:18:13 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Emulators & Ports For information about a particular system/handheld/port/arcade: * All systems If you're getting into arcade emulation, it's highly recommended to give this guide a read first: * Arcade guide Once you're more familiar with arcade emulation and want to find out how to utilize the more advanced features such as dipswitch settings:

es-webserver

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 16:20:45 +0000

EmulationStation Web Server Emulation has an embedded web server, mainly used internally by other services like the Content Downloader to update/refresh the games lists. Starting with Batocera v32, there are some interesting features you can also take advantage of, with this embedded web server.

evmapy

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 06:38:23 +0000

Evmapy Evmapy is a tool used by Batocera to map inputs from the controller to a virtual keyboard (although, its capable of quite a bit more than that). Refer to evmapy's readme for more information. This is primarily used to enable the use of the emulator's shortcuts if it does not natively support hotkey binding onto the controller's buttons (for example,

evsieve

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 11:16:09 +0000

Evsieve Under construction. Batocera is developed in such a way as to support as many types of input methods as possible, including traditional gamepads, keyboards, arcade encoders, trackballs, touchscreens, lightguns, anything you could feasibly connect really. However there may be times, whether due to driver issues or incompatibilities with the way Batocera detects the hardware, when such inputs don't perform the way they're expected to. Although it would be preferable to

file_management

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 01:34:57 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. File Management Batocera features a built-in file manager! * PCman built-in file manager (for Xorg-powered devices) In case you're not on a PC or other device which supports the Xorg protocol (required for PCman), a lighter, gamepad-focused file manager is also available: * OD-Commander (file manager for SBCs) To transfer files via SSH protocol from a Windows computer to your Batocera machine:

game_collection_settings

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 15:17:25 +0000

Game Collection Settings Custom collections Custom collections are deprecated and should be replaced by the more powerful dynamic collections described below. Batocera 36 still supports existing static custom collections, but the batocera-create-collection

getting_started

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 10:34:21 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Getting Started First things first: how to install Batocera! * Install Batocera Then you'll likely need to transfer over your ROMs and BIOS files: * Add games/BIOS files And when you're done with that, here's a quick introduction to navigating Batocera's menu systems: *

github-desktop

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 02:37:35 +0000

Github Desktop Github released a neat GUI for managing local repositories with git called Github Desktop. It's experimental but in a pretty functional state if you choose to use it, it can be a great learning tool if you're new to contributing to open-source code. With that being said, if you want to do more advanced or technical stuff, you'll probably want to switch over to using the

github-tortoisegit

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 14:04:29 +0000

Tortoise Git TortoiseGit provides overlay icons showing the file status, a powerful context menu for Git and much more! It is under active development and free of charge. Assuming you’ve downloaded the tortoise git client from here: tortoisegit.org/download: run the installer, spam the next button, all the default options are fine, get it installed.

handheld_pc

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 May 2024 15:07:57 +0000

Handheld PC This page provides information to run Batocera on your favorite handheld PC. We are talking about x86_64 PC hardware designed for handheld gaming. These are typically on the larger side (similar to a Nintendo Switch) and require active cooling (a fan) to function.

help_with_translation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 01:03:15 +0000

Help with Translation Batocera comes in a variety of local languages, and relies on the community to help with the translations. We need you for this! For translators * First check if someone has already started a translation on the translations page. Download the two

homeautomation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:59:19 +0000

Home automation Since Batocera is Wake on LAN (WoL) enabled by default and provides a MQTT pub/sub infrastructure, you can now integrate your Batocera system into any advanced home automation system, like Home Assistant. Integrate Batocera with MQTT MQTT is a simple messaging protocol used in home automation to allow devices to talk to each other. It helps smart home gadgets, like lights and sensors, send and receive messages quickly and efficiently. This means you can control and monitor you…

install_batocera

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:53:42 +0000

Installation Guide For those who prefer video guides, here are some excellent ones by ETA Prime: * If installing Batocera onto an x86_64 computer, Turn An Old Cheap PC Into An Emulation Dream Machine! (the controller configuration for standalone emulators at 18:27 is outdated, Batocera now handles controller configuration for you. For customizing controls per emulator,

integer_scale_pixel_perfect

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 04:07:54 +0000

Integer Scale (Pixel Perfect) In the 80s and 90s, CRT TVs used to be in the 4:3 aspect ratio. As a result, it's actually a bit wider than tall on the CRT, and a “square” pixel was not of the exact same width and height (while now on modern LCD screens, a pixel is a square). To correct this effect some consoles like the SNES embedded dedicated hardware to slightly alter the pixel size and make it more square. This correction was a 8:7 aspect ratio change, called

kodi

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:56:29 +0000

Kodi Media Center If you haven’t heard already, Kodi is available with Batocera. It’s been preinstalled and configured for controller support. Kodi is not available on oga/rk3326, orangepi-zero2, rpi1 and rpizero2-based images due to not being able to play videos well and a lack of rotation (most oga/rk3326 devices' screens are actually in portrait aspect ratio rotated 90 degrees). This may change in the future as developments are made.

latency_reduction_and_performance

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 00:49:01 +0000

Latency Reduction and Optimizing Performance Many things can be set in Batocera to reduce input delay and increase performance of its emulators. First, let's go through the latency reduction settings typical to RetroArch cores (a core must explicitly support these options, you can tell by whether or not they appear in the system's

launch_a_script_legacy

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 21 Oct 2023 04:43:27 +0000

Legacy Batocera scripts This is a historical page for how scripts in Batocera behaved v37 and lower. For the current page, click here. You can opt to have scripts launched at various points in Batocera. This will change the location you save the script to and how it opens.

launch_a_script

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 22:37:15 +0000

Batocera scripts If you are looking for how scripts behaved in v37 and below, refer to the legacy scripts page. You can opt to have scripts launched at various points in Batocera. This will change the location you save the script to and how it opens. Scripts during boot/shutdown

license

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 06:08:20 +0000

Batocera Linux License Batocera Linux is a free and open source project. We don't charge anyone for our work, and all the work on Batocera is done mostly for fun by a team of passionate people during their free time. All the source code for the Batocera project is available from the

menu_tree

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 13:52:44 +0000

EmulationStation Menu Trees This is a “tree” of the menus in EmulationStation, with a short sentence or two explaining the option (sometimes with a link to the relevant page). Think of it as a glossary of sorts. [Ctrl]+[F] through here to instantly find the option you're after!

modify_the_system_while_it_s_running

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 14:10:16 +0000

Overlays (modify the live system) Batocera is like a firmware. It's a huge filesystem image at /boot/boot/batocera (it has no extension in its filename) which is virtually mounted as the root of the drive in RAM at boot. You cannot modify the batocera

navigation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 11:12:44 +0000

Navigation For those not as familiar with all the terminology used in the sidebar, this page offers links to laconic explanations for most pages (why they exist and what you should look for). How to install Batocera and set up all your ROMs/BIOS files:

netplay

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 03:26:49 +0000

Netplay Netplay support in RetroArch is “up in the air” as of early 2023. It is possible it's broken at some point for certain cores, if not all of them. This doesn't apply retroactively to older versions of Batocera (such as v34), which also have older versions of RetroArch, so if you and your buddies use the same old version you should still be able to play together.

network_issues

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Aug 2023 00:44:53 +0000

Network issues This is for general networking issues. If you're specifically after assistance with Wi-Fi connections (such as missing drivers), check out its dedicated page instead. Terminal/console access If you can't get access to SSH because the network is not available, on x86/x86_64 you can still access the local xterm command line with a mouse and keyboard.

not_supported_emulators

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 05:01:06 +0000

Unsupported Emulator Frequently Asked Questions A spreadsheet with what emulators are supported on which platform: Global emulator F.A.Q. Why isn't emulator/variant/core/fork in Batocera? Most commonly, the answer is just “No one has implemented it yet.

notable_files

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 15:51:00 +0000

Notable Files/Folders If you were after build instructions, check out the compile Batocera page. If you were after a more general introduction to contributing code to Batocera, check out the coding rules page. Think of this more as a cheat sheet after you've got to grips with the basics.

od_commander

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 16 May 2024 16:43:46 +0000

OD Commander OD commander is a fork of DinguxCommander which is a gamepad-oriented file manager (if you have used some of the weaker SBC handhelds that run Dingoo you may already be familiar with the software). It follows the “x commander” philosophy of having the left panel show the

pacman_package_manager

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 03:41:53 +0000

Pacman (Package Manager) Underneath the surface, most things in updates & downloads are powered by pacman, which if you've used Arch Linux before are probably familiar with. Using pacman, you can easily install/upgrade/remove your own packages, or packaged provided and hosted by the Batocera community. The exception to this is

rclone_cloudbackup

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 31 May 2025 11:54:04 +0000

rclone backup to Cloud Storage This tutorial covers how to backup your ROMs, BIOS and SAVE-games of your Batocera machine to a Cloud Storage. This allows you to recover your data easily to a previous state in case of data loss or restore data on a new installation.

redirect_upgrades_from_any_board_to_my_own_builds

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 15:40:59 +0000

Redirect upgrades from the official server to my own builds Once you've built your Batocera image, you can: * either copy the boot.tar.xz image onto your batocera.linux box and update from there * or configure your running Batocera to upgrade from another computer with its own web server

release_process

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 05:29:16 +0000

prepare images links on the mirror server for faster downloads update rc.html to make visibility on what to test # to update https://mirrors.o2switch.fr/batocera/rc.html # this is the list of ready rc images not yet relased. # update it whe new images are released with: connect on mirrors.o2switch.fr and execute ./listRC.sh

remapping_controls_per_emulator

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 16:04:15 +0000

Remapping controls per emulator Although you can configure the 'generic' controls within Batocera just fine, what if you wanted to change the controller configuration for just a specific emulator? Like say you wanted to move the Z trigger on the N64 core from L2 over to R2? This is the article for that.

report_issue

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 05:26:48 +0000

Report an Issue (with the highest chance of it being fixed) Recommended reading: So, you've found an issue with Batocera. A true, genuine bug with the way Batocera functions. You've gone through the troubleshooting page and confirmed it's not a misconfiguration, you've gotten other operating systems running fine on the machine so it's not a hardware fault and you've tested the ROMs and BIOS files with another emulator on…

retroachievements_settings

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 14:25:19 +0000

RetroAchievements RetroAchievements allows you to earn achievements on old retro games like Mario, Sonic, etc. on several home gaming systems, as well as some arcade games using FBNeo (RetroAchievements are not supported in MAME). This is very similar to Xbox 360 or PS3/PS4 achievements or successes and you’re able to keep track of what you’ve unlocked from

rsync_backup

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 08:37:32 +0000

rsync backup to a Synology NAS This tutorial covers how to backup the userdata partition of your Batocera machine to a Synology NAS. This allows you to recover your data easily to a previous state in case of data loss. Backup via Synology Active Backup For Business (ABB)

run_batocera_in_vm

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 00:36:26 +0000

Run Batocera in a Virtual Machine Running Batocera in a virtual machine is not officially supported, nor will it be an accurate representation of how it will behave, but it can be useful for quickly testing custom images or UI changes. Expect massive performance deficits compared to bare-metal installation. Virtual Machines don't take kindly to newer/modern graphics APIs and standards.

scrape_from

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 21:15:26 +0000

Scrape From This option is to allow you to change the source of where your images are coming from. It allows you to choose from Arcade Database, theGameDB, Screenscraper and IGDB. Screenscraper offers more options for game scraping (for example several image options, you can scrape video previews, etc.). But there is also a

scripting_function_keys

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 05:48:41 +0000

Scripting Function Keys Many input devices nowadays include dedicated function keys for particular (usually hardware-related) functions, such as volume adjustment, brightness adjustment, power off, etc. Batocera supports the scripting of any key to any command, and includes most common function keys for various platforms. But it is possible that your device in particular doesn't have these coded in yet, or you simply want to change what the function key does. This can be achieved via the config…

scripting_pcmanfm

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 20:35:53 +0000

Scripts for PCManFM PCMan File Manager (PCManFM) is a file manager designed to be a lightweight and fast replacement for Nautilus or Konqueror, for example. It aims to be a usable file manager (and nothing more) and follows the Freedesktop.org standards. For basic usage and on which platforms the program is available

scripting_services_rules_examples

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 06:59:51 +0000

Batocera services Services are scripts that run at system startup and shutdown. Services are supported in Batocera v38 and higher, and will replace the deprecated custom.sh user script. Two types of services are supported: * The system services are preinstalled in

scripting

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 22:16:11 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Scripting Batocera has support for bash scripting upon particular events! This can be extremely powerful if you're already handy with scripting, or it might be what's required to get your VPN running at boot. Whatever you aim to do, these pages will get you started.

secureboot

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 04:39:36 +0000

Secure Boot For Batocera v39 and higher on x86_64 systems, streamlined support for Secure Boot is present. This makes it easier to boot Batocera on PCs which have poor secure boot key management in the native UEFI BIOS. The process detailed below will install Batocera's security certificate into the machine's

security

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 14:36:15 +0000

Changing the default root (ssh) password Security is a big name for a retrogaming OS. Batocera is not a designed to be a secure OS. Don't expose it to the open Internet: you are warned and you will take all responsibility for what happens. There is the option to

sidebar

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 07:36:38 +0000

* Navigation page * Install Batocera * Add games/BIOS files * EmulationStation (the main menu) * Hotkey shortcuts * Connecting via Wi-Fi * Updates & downloads * All systems * Arcade guide * Advanced arcade info * Unsupported emulators FAQ * Choose a PC/Benchmarks * Supported PC GPU cards * Choose a single board computer * Choose a handheld * Handheld PC * USFF/NUC/Mini PC * Compatible Wi-Fi/BT dongle list * Capcom Home Arcade * Radxa Zero * GT King/King…

splash_boot

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 22 May 2022 02:42:21 +0000

Splash Image/Video Customization Batocera displays a total of three splash images during a regular boot sequence: * The boot splash * The custom user splash * The EmulationStation loading splash The custom user splash can be either of the following:

start

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:46:48 +0000

[Batocera Logo] Welcome to the Batocera documentation! Select one of the top-level topics from the main menu on the left hand side (up top if on mobile) or use the search box in the upper right corner. If new to emulation or Linux-based operating systems, use the navigation page, which offers short descriptions of each page title.

store_games_on_a_nas

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 20:17:02 +0000

Store games on a NAS Instead of using the internal storage or an external USB key/hard drive to store your userdata (games, saves, configuration, etc.), you can use a NAS (Network Attached Storage) instead. Recommended watching: Batocera Nation's advanced features volume 4. Batocera repeatedly checks for a network connection on boot, and if none is present then it will automatically fall back to using internal storage. It is not possible to switch the location of your userdata without rebooti…

store_games_on_a_second_usb_sata_drive

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 00:30:54 +0000

Using External Storage with Batocera To change the storage device from INTERNAL (the drive Batocera has been flashed to) to EXTERNAL (another drive connected to the machine), follow these steps: * Open the Main Menu with [START] and navigate to SYSTEM SETTINGS

support

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 10:26:48 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Help/Support & Releases As perfect and magnificent as Batocera is, there will be times where things go wrong and you'll need to troubleshoot certain issues. This is for that. The first thing to check is the page for the particular system you're having trouble with, as that will usually inform you of any common errors and prerequisite files you'll need for it:

supported_controllers

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 21:25:44 +0000

Supported Controllers All major controllers are supported by Batocera. EmulationStation uses an internal database so that most of them work out of the box, no configuration required. For controllers not in this database yet, Batocera will prompt you to manually map its buttons.

supported_pc_hardware

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 19:24:02 +0000

Supported PC Hardware If you have to choose a new GPU, recent Nvidia GTX and AMD Radeon RX cards are supported well in the main Batocera image, and usually give very good results. A combination of an Intel i5 4xxx CPU + Nvidia GT1030 GPU will support all emulators up to the PS2 for a reasonable cost. You can check out some

syncthing

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 16:17:00 +0000

Syncthing Starting with Batocera v33, files can be synchronized across multiple devices using Syncthing. A good use case is to enable synchronization of your saved games, so that you can start a game in the morning on your Odroid Go Advance, resume your game on your PC in the afternoon, and finish up your game on your Raspberry Pi in the evening, all with the same saves.

systems

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:39:56 +0000

Batocera Systems Batocera supports many consoles, platforms and emulation related applications. To separate them they are divided into systems, which are used as a unique identifier across the whole Batocera landscape. This page gives an overview over all available and supported systems including their unique system shortname (same as their ROM folder name, most of the time!), the full system name, the manufacturer and release date. The systems are categorized by their hardware type and sorted…

themes

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 02:49:52 +0000

EmulationStation Themes A selection of Batocera-compatible themes can be installed through the menu UPDATES & DOWNLOADS -> THEMES. This gives you the option to select a and set a new theme for your system. Compatibility issues for themes are not unheard of, so be sure to make sure there are no reported issues on the theme you’re applying.

timezone

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 12 Jun 2022 08:37:26 +0000

Timezone By default, Batocera is configured for Central European Time (CET) timezone. In Batocera v31 and higher, you can select your own timezone from the menu SYSTEM SETTINGS -> TIMEZONE. From the same menu, you can also toggle the clock to 12-hour format if desired.

troubleshooting

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 18:41:17 +0000

System Troubleshooting If going to our Discord for help, gather the relevant logs (as described below) and upload them along with your message. This will help us help you better. Emulators not launching/EmulationStation logs When an emulator fails to launch, you will be immediately returned to the game list in EmulationStation. Most of the time when this happens, you will find some useful information in

udev_rules

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:07:11 +0000

udev Rules udev stands for userspace /dev and is a device manager for the Linux kernel. The /dev path is ordinarily where device information is accessed from, udev rules allow you to alter this information in a predictable and permanent manner. For example, what drivers to use/blacklist for a specific device being plugged in.

ui_mode

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 08:52:29 +0000

UI mode Enables a more restricted UI with kiosk mode, or kids mode. Those restricted modes will prevent users from accessing the RetroArch menu through hotkey + B, or any other modification on the system that could go wrong: editing/removing collections, changing UI parameters and so on.

updates_and_downloads

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 06:27:35 +0000

Updates & Downloads This menu allows you to download freely distributed content for Batocera and stay up to date! Perhaps you could use it to test games for certain systems? It can be accessed by pressing [START] from the system list or any game list in

upgrade_manually

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 16:58:28 +0000

Manual upgrades/downgrades This is for if you: * can't upgrade/downgrade from stable to beta or vice versa using MAIN MENU > UPDATES & DOWNLOADS > UPDATE TYPE > “Stable” or “Beta” and updating or using SSH for the same thing, * want to downgrade to

usage_of_batocera-settings

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 18:41:13 +0000

Usage of batocera-settings Introduction This command is a bit out of date to use now, most if not all things can be adjusted within Batocera EmulationStation itself or through manually editing the text file. Certain commands may no longer be functional. On older versions of Batocera, the list of available functions can be found by entering in

usff_nuc_mini_pcs

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 10:23:20 +0000

USFF/NUC/Mini PCs Recently, Ultra Small Form-Factor (USFF) a.k.a. Next Unit Computers (NUCs) have been rising in popularity on the market. By virtue of them mostly being x86-based, they are as compatible with Batocera as any desktop PC is. But since they rely solely on integrated graphics, their performance is usually a bit lower and they may struggle with thermals. With that said, most modern USFF/NUCs will still give you full speed emulation for 5th gen consoles and below.

vpn_client

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 10:28:01 +0000

Double-check for functionality. custom.sh has been depreciated. OpenVPN client You can easily connect your Batocera to a VPN, as we ship OpenVPN with the distribution. However, it requires some manual configuration, and the steps involved will most probably be depending on your VPN provider.

wake_on_lan

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 08:52:11 +0000

Wake on LAN (WoL) The Wake-on-LAN (WoL) feature was implemented in Batocera v33 where it is enabled on any WoL capable system by default (if you want to disable WoL for your system for whatever reason, then just disable WoL in your system's BIOS). With WoL it is possible to turn on/off your Batocera machine by sending a

wifi_ssid

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 15:54:43 +0000

Under construction. Wi-Fi Although Batocera functions perfectly fine offline, connecting it to the internet opens it up to so much more cool stuff. An ethernet cable provides the best connection quality (especially for netplay), but Wi-Fi is available as an alternative. Batocera

wiki_editing

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 05:46:46 +0000

<- Click here to go back to the main navigation page. Documentation Contribution You can contribute to Batocera in ways other than development too! This is for the community's collective knowledge on Batocera: * Good wiki editing practices * System page template * DokuWiki syntax * Batocera-specific wiki code snippets A page which keeps track of all pending approvals for wiki edits. Only approvers can access this page:

winscp

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 07:07:03 +0000

WinSCP This is a quick guide on how to use WinSCP to transfer files over the network to a Batocera machine from a Windows computer. * Download and install WinSCP. It is recommended to use the “Explorer Interface” by default. [The big round green button to the left.] * Click on New Site in the login prompt that appears.

write_themes_for_emulationstation

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 04:41:47 +0000

Write Themes For EmulationStation Batocera offers many options for EmulationStation theming. A lot of features have been added to Batocera 5.24, and a lot new more are added in Batocera 29th release (BATOCERA 29 below). A quick link to the technical documentation: