i am trying this emulation system for the first time and am finding it very fiddly. i have managed to download and install some nes roms which it has read as correct but when i launch them i get a black screen and when i try to launch them manually i get a “no cores available” message. this program is really annoying me and i am sure it is probably something simple i am not doing but i am finding it extremely non user friendly. i have read a lot of posts here about the config in the latest build (which is what i downloaded) being wrong and/or incorrect due to multiple format compatibility issues (why, if it’s for the pc build ?) but i have no idea where to even begin correcting this. it looks like a great system but seems overly complex in terms of cores/info documents. I have no idea what to do to get it to work and would appreciate some help in getting this no cores available error sorted out. there is nothing in my “info” folder, despite having updated the cores. I have no clue where to go from here and any help navigating through the labyrinthine menu system to the correct option (or perhaps it’s in the file structure, I have no idea) would be much appreciated, thanks in advance !
i found this post in another topic that seems mildly related “There should be another config in your retroarch folder called retroarch-default.cfg and it has the internal folders already set. So, if you want to go back to a fresh config, it’s best to delete the retroarch.cfg and then copy/rename that retroarch-default.cfg instead of letting RetroArch generate a truly blank one, since the true default is more bare-bones for multiplatform compatibility reasons.”
i have absolutely no idea what this means. why supply something with a pre-defined config file that’s wrong ? i don’t “get it” :-/ I am on a fresh install/config yet this post suggests there is a bundled config pre-installed that is working against me ? is this true and if so can someone explain in laymans terms how to actually make this thing work properly ?
You need to do “update core info files” in the updater. Make sure your info path is good too.
Each core should have its *.info with the same name. It’s a text file that tells which extensions are working with that particular core and other details.
[QUOTE=Tatsuya79;37502]You need to do “update core info files” in the updater. Make sure your info path is good too.
Each core should have its *.info with the same name. It’s a text file that tells which extensions are working with that particular core and other details.[/QUOTE]
can you please explain this mate i have done update core files and i don’t know where the path is meant to be for it to be “good” as the system provides no clues as to how this is supposed to be done :-/ where should/can these .info files be found normally ? there is nothing in my info folder after doing the update core info files procedure. this whole system is bonkers to me !
You have a path to define in: settings -> directory -> core info dir If it’s valid you can then do “update core info files”.
Or get the full package with infos and everything.
It is not user-friendly that the generated default config file does not have a core info path. I agree. RetroArch was designed to be extremely extensible and many of its UI decisions (including no nice default Windows paths in the generated config file) were made for programmer productivity and cross-platform compatibility. There are very few people working on it and those who are are doing so 100% voluntarily, so there is no rigid user-friendliness standard upheld for each of the multitude of supported platforms. In the end, it’s written to be powerfully configurable and cross-platform for power users who want to take the time to learn how to use it to its fullest. The upside is that its focus on the best internal technology makes it singular in its power among similar software.
Just do what that post you found says though. Delete retroarch.cfg, copy retroarch-default.cfg, rename your copy to retroarch.cfg, and then everything should work better.
okay thanks tatsuya now it seems i have selected the right directory however the game now blackscreens on launch. does anyone know why this would be happening ? what do i now have to do in order to make this thing work ? 
and as far as i know the rom is fine as it shows up in a file search as a supported rom and plays on all other nes emulators i have. this thing is a real pain. i am sure it’ll be great once i get it working and the plethora of options look very interesting but they really need to work on the basic functionality or at least provide an experience that is not so initially repellent. i am quite annoyed with this now and dont understand why it just doesnt work. what else is it that i need to tick or set up in the maze of options just to be able to play a game i can get running in about 2 seconds on another emulator ? as i say it looks great if it works but really this is ridiculous.
It does seem ridiculous from a Windows user’s perspective, but do remember what I said above about very few people working on it and their focus on programming backends and cross-platform compatibility.
yes mate i am sure it will be great once i get it working i really like the look of it but unfortunately it seems that there are definite teething issues when it comes to making it work initially ! i appreciate these are probably solved quite easily but i am not that technically minded in terms of pc stuff (i am a zx spectrum and old console gamer myself) and although i heard this is the best way to do emulation on pc it seems very daunting and its inability to just work off the bat has perplexed me and it seems to throw up one issue after the next. as i said, though, i am sure it will be great when i finally get it working !
That’s fine. No one is forcing you to use it.
LMAO… I couldn’t have said it better. The out of the box functionality is bad beyond belief. So repellent that likely as much as 95% of people who try it will never ever know how good it can be.
Someone here needs to stop working in the salt mines.