Dolphin required files - DSP ROMs location

Libretro Cores
#1

Hi, I’m trying to get all the files in the correct locations to get the Dolphin Core working.

I discovered if I go to Online Updater, then Content Downloader, then Dolphin; there is a dolphin-data.zip

I read that the ‘Sys’ folder from this download needs to go into a folder titled ‘dolphin-emu’ and then that needs to be placed into Retroarch’s ‘system’ folder.

I also have two DSP ROMs, these apparently help with GameCube audio compatibility.

dsp_coef.bin (MD5: 9a6514b88003c9c47e334de654ec550b)

dsp_rom.bin (MD5: 23645d446729a166ab3a9aaba2f5fba5)

I also have x3 GameCube BIOS files (I’m not sure if these are supported by Dolphin)

All three are titled IPL.bin but reside in a folder for each region

EUR (MD5: 85e7f7fdeff9fa6ecb52aa0a38cd2eb4)

JAP (MD5: 00cff6ae2938bb37ef355385add3dc16)

USA (MD5: fae2b558ffc344467170520d62177e5c)

I was wondering if anyone knows where these files need to be placed so that the Dolphin core recognises them?

#2

Update:

in case this is useful to anyone I believe the BIOS ROMs go into RetroArch\system\dolphin-emu\Sys\GC and then a folder for each region EUR, JAP and USA.

The Redump ROMs appear to work best (tested in the full version of Dolphin, outside Retroarch), the PAL ROMs are EUR and NTSC ROMs are JAP and USA (same file). All need to be titled ‘IPL.bin’ but in the corresponding folder.

The DSP ROMs are actually included in the download from ‘Content Downloader’ (although the hashes don’t match the versions I have, so not sure if the ones in the download are newer or if that matters).

After all of that I don’t think there are any options that enable this? But there does appear to be a Dolphin.ini found in RetroArch\saves\User\Config perhaps this can be used?

#3

If you load the Dolphin core (Main Menu -> Load Core), then go to Main Menu -> Information -> Core Information, it will tell you all about it and there’s a URL in there too:

https://docs.libretro.com/library/dolphin

So it seems all that’s needed is to download dolphin-data.zip, then go to the downloads directory of the RA config folder, and move the Sys folder from there into the dolphin-emu folder of your RA system folder.

#4

Thanks :grinning: I eventually worked it out (see my second post above).

I have since discovered that the DSP ROMs that come with Dolphin do not contain any copyrighted content, and the dsp files that I have are from an original Wii and can actually help with compatibility; so I replaced those with ones that came with the dolphin-data.zip.

In the full version of Dolphin (not the core), you can enable some options so it uses the GameCube BIOS ROMs but I couldn’t find these options in the Core. But I did place the BIOS files in the relative folder in Retroarch; perhaps they are automatically recognised? :thinking:

#5

From what I can tell, these BIOS roms contain the DSP code. It is only used when you enable LLE emulation of the DSP. When using HLE, it’s not used. So I suppose you can verify this by removing the BIOS and then turn OFF the HLE DSP core option. See if it doesn’t work without the BIOS roms.

More information:

https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Audio_Emulation

Update:
OK, I just tested it myself. If I remove the dolphin-emu folder from the system folder, trying to run a game in Dolphin with HLE disabled will just hang RetroArch. It doesn’t work. But when the dolphin-emu folder is in the system folder, it runs correctly and some yellow text appears in the upper-left corner. And audio is completely messed up because the core goes to 100% CPU. LLE DSP is very, very demanding. No wonder it’s disabled by default.

However, having the dolphin-emu folder in the system folder seems to be highly recommended anyway, even when not using LLE DSP. There’s settings override files in that folder for games that need them. The Dolphin devs put emulator settings in these files that makes them run correctly. These files are in dolphin-emu/Sys/GameSettings/. For example, WSL.ini seems to be used when playing The Magic Obelisk, and in that file, you can see:

Needs efb to ram otherwise character is invincible in the light.

And then in that same file:

EFBToTextureEnable = False

So having the dolphin-emu folder present seems to be almost required to get the same experience as stand-alone Dolphin and not get bugs/glitches in games.

#6

Hi, thanks for all the info, very useful :grinning: :+1:

I tried running Alien Homonid, I disabled ‘DSP HLE’ (assuming this enables LLE) and restarted but it didn’t seem to make a difference in terms of performance.

I’m not sure if that’s because it’s not using my Wii DSP ROMs (although I think it must be as I replaced the ones that came with the core), or if my computer is just coping while running it; I have a GTX970 and i7 6700k running at 4.2Ghz so reasonably beefy, although Alien Homonid is not the most demanding game. I’ll have to try with some other games.

I did notice that when I enable the BIOS in the standalone version of Dolphin I see the GameCube boot intro, but not in Retroarch. So perhaps it’s not using the BIOS ROMs in Retroarch, just the DSP ROMs? :thinking:

#7

If you don’t have the BIOS in place, the Dolphin core will hang when you use LLE and try to start the game. So that’s how you know if it works or not. If it works, you will also see yellow text in the upper-left corner of the screen in Dolphin.

Also, you should restart RetroArch when changing from HLE to LLE. Just restarting the content might not be enough.

I only tried Luigi’s Mansion and that’s how I verified it here. I only tried on Linux though, there might be differences to Windows.

#8

Hi, I swapped my Wii DSP files back to the ones that came with the dolphin-data.zip and noticed there is a message letting you know you are using the dev’ DSPs and not the Wii versions, so at least I know it can tell the difference. The dev’ ones apparently support LLE according to the Wiki you mentioned https://wiki.dolphin-emu.org/index.php?title=Audio_Emulation (Update, I mis-read this, both DSPs support LLE)

I wondered if there was a specific folder to put my Wii DSP Files into? That way you could switch between the two? :thinking: But there doesn’t appear to be an option to support that; for now just replacing the files swaps them as the message changes when a game boots.

I disabled ‘DSP HLE’ (again assuming this enables LLE?). Quit out completely and re-opened, but there was no noticeable performance difference.

I wonder if disabling DSP HLE is actually enabling LLE? I noticed earlier versions of the core had a specific DSP Mode option, seen here https://www.libretro.com/index.php/new-core-dolphin-windowslinux-alpha-release/ I wonder if your Linux version has this option? :thinking: (Update, I think my core is missing the option to switch to LLE hence why I’m not seeing any changes?)

I also tried removing the dolphin-emu folder, and as you said it causes a crash (although I think maybe that’s just because there are other files (not just BIOS and DSP) that it requires to run, hence the crash?

I also then tried removing the BIOS files (EUR, JAP, USA) and re-opened but it made no difference without them, I’m not sure these are recognised as there doesn’t appear to be an option to enable them like there is in the standalone Dolphin.

#9

There’s no extra option for LLE anymore. The DSP needs to be emulated, otherwise you get no audio. By default, Dolphin uses HLE. If you disable HLE, that means it will use LLE.

As for removing the whole folder, Dolphin works fine without it when using HLE DSP, at least for me.In fact, I didn’t have that folder until today when I saw your post and then went researching :grin: It was working fine without that folder since I use HLE, although I assume with possible game bugs due to the missing game INI overrides in that folder.

And the GC vs Wii thing, from what I can tell, both consoles have the same DSP, so the same ROM is used for both? I don’t know for sure. That’s how it looks like to me in any case.

#10

Sorry for the late reply :flushed: Thanks :+1: I’ve disabled HLE to enable LLE, again no noticable performance hit, but I’ll try this on a lower-end PC some time to see if it has a bigger impact.

I tried removing the ‘dolphin-emu’ folder again, but unfortunately it still locks up with HLE enabled or disabled.

I think you’re right about them both using the same DSP, it would make sense. It’s just those files were from an original Wii and contain some sort of copyrighted data not found in the alternatives created by the Dolphin team.

I guess as long as the games run fine it doesn’t really matter, I think I was just trying to improve compatibility with those files. Hopefully they’ll come in handy if needed :wink: