I just downloaded the portable version of RetroArch 1.7.3 for XP. I unpacked the archive, double-clicked retroarch.exe and I instantly get “Error executing program! (5)” which in my experience typically indicates that the program was compiled for Windows Vista/7/8/10. I can’t post a log because the program doesn’t run at all.
I can run the Windows 98 version, but the XP version just doesn’t work.
The system I’m trying to run it on;
2.4 Ghz Core-2-Duo Windows XP Pro, SP3 4GB RAM GT430 GPU
You need to manually add the manifest file: http://bot.libretro.com/.bp/retroarch.exe.manifest
We don’t know why it’s not being included in the releases 
Thank you, that works. However I’m disappointed to see that mostly the only cores available are ones for which I already have excellent stand-alone emulators, like the Genesis, NES, etc, and the only systems that I don’t have good emulators for (Lynx and Jaguar) seem to have cores based on stand-alone emulators that aren’t very good (Handy has buggy sound and Virtual Jaguar is rather poor). The main reason I wanted to use RetroArch was because I heard it offered very good Dreamcast emulation and that its PS1 emulation was pretty much perfect. Neither system is listed when I use the update cores option. This makes RetroArch much less appealing to me as it’s never bothered me to use dedicated emulators for each system.
I was also under the impression that RetroArch supported various older computer systems like the C64, Amiga, Spectrum, etc, but I don’t see those listed either.
Some of the other cores can work if you have the mingw redist, but it’s a crapshoot.
You’re better off ditching XP and installing a modern linux OS, which can use many more cores.
That’s what I was afraid of. More and more new emulator versions don’t support XP any more.
I don’t know anything about Linux and the one time I tried a “live” bootable disc, I couldn’t figure out how to do anything with it, so there’s no way I’m going to nuke my current system and switch to an OS that I have no idea how to use, not to mention dumping all the software that I use on a daily basis for all new, unfamiliar software that may or may not do what I want.
I’ll get a new(er) system at some point but I’m still not crazy about the idea of having to learn a new OS from scratch, even though I also don’t want Windows 10 and all of its built-in spyware and the fact that I could wake up one morning and find that MS has reconfigured my system. That crap NEVER should have been allowed!
I want to get a more powerful system, but I don’t currently have the money to get something that will run all the emulators I want and I don’t see the point in spending money on a lesser system that will barely be better than what I already have. I mean if I’m getting a new system, I want to get something I’ll be happy with, not just something I settled for.
Since you mentioned Jaguar, there aren’t any better cores for modern systems either. Because there aren’t many good emulators in general. The only good Jaguar emulator is Phoenix and that’s a closed source standalone.
Since you mentioned Jaguar, there aren’t any better cores for modern systems either. Because there aren’t many good emulators in general. The only good Jaguar emulator is Phoenix and that’s a closed source standalone.
Tell me about it. I’ve tried all the Jaguar emulators I could find and they all leave a lot to be desired. Phoenix is the best so far, but even that doesn’t run everything. Although it does run more games than Virtual Jaguar or Project Tempest.
Dreamcast emulation is also less than great. I can’t get Chankast to run any games. It runs, but refuses to recognize any disc image mounted in a virtual drive. The modified copy of NullDC works great when the games actually work. Unfortunately not every game does. Demul (0.56) runs a couple games that NullDC doesn’t, but strangely doesn’t work on some of the same ones. Also, all the various graphics plugins all have graphical glitches. Plus it has serious slowdown on some games.
All the emulators you mentioned are very old and out of date.
Chankast last update was, dunno, 14 years ago?
NullDC has been replaced by Reicast
And Demul v 0.56 is old as well. Current version is 0.7 and there are many svn versions since that also.
Your best bet for Dreamcast emulation is the latest version of Demul or Reicast/Reicast_OIT in RetroArch. Demul being the best of the two as far as compatibility is concerned. You should also use the regular/modern graphics plugin and not the “legacy” one. It doesn’t allow you to increase the internal resolution but it’s much more compatible.
Here you can find the latest version of Demul. Check the last post.
All the emulators you mentioned are very old and out of date. Chankast last update was, dunno, 14 years ago? NullDC has been replaced by Reicast And Demul v 0.56 is old as well. Current version is 0.7 and there are many svn versions since that also.
Yes, but as detailed earlier in the thread and implied by the title, I can’t run those newer emulators because I have an older system with XP on it. That was one of the reasons I got excited when I saw that Retroarch was available for older operating systems. I didn’t know at the time that while RetroArch itself was ported to older OS versions, none of the newer cores were. The website doesn’t happen to mention this.
And the only reason I mentioned Chankast was the fact that it’s not even an emulator as far as I’m concerned. Others claim it works, but all I’ve ever been able to get it to do is run the Dreamcast BIOS. Nothing more.
Can i ask, is there a reason why you keep XP on that machine? It’s pretty capable for, say, Windows 7. And maybe even 10, i don’t know. And if you want to keep your XP setup you could use an empty partition or disk and install a newer OS there and have both, as dual boot.
I know this because i also have a Core 2 Duo machine with Windows 7.
Can i ask, is there a reason why you keep XP on that machine? It’s pretty capable for, say, Windows 7. And maybe even 10, i don’t know. And if you want to keep your XP setup you could use an empty partition or disk and install a newer OS there and have both, as dual boot.
I don’t have a copy of any newer versions of Windows and I only ever installed Windows from scratch once. I’m hesitant to do anything that might mess up this system.
I want to get a new system that will be better suited to playing more modern emulators. For example, a system that can run Gamecube games in Dolphin at full speed, or most PS2 games in PCSX2. My current system can only play GC games with the sound disabled and most PS2 games run slowly.
It has dawned my me that I could just use real consoles, but I often prefer emulators (when the games work properly) for being able to use any control setup I want, and being able to use save states.
To be honest, besides the cost, I’m not sure what to get. An i7 system is probably out of my current price range, but i5 isn’t always better than i3 and I really don’t know how to tell the difference. Then you need to add a dedicated graphics card, which again, I don’t know what to get, and it will probably need a better power supply, since most places seem to like to sell systems with the absolutely lowest spec PS they can get away with. I see videos on YouTube that claim you can build a decent gaming computer for like $200, but they invariably start off with “So I got this motherboard from an estate sale for $20, then I found this case in the trash, and a friend gave me this graphics card for free…”
I just know I don’t want Windows 10 spyware and forced updates.
You could always get Windows 8, 8.1 or 7.