BizHawk Wiki

BizHawk is running below 100% speed

First check that you did not accidentally change the speed setting. Use Config > Speed/Skip > Speed 100%, or reset speed with the default hotkey.

If the game is still slow:

• • Try OpenGL or Direct3D instead of GDI+.
• • Disable sound when using heavy turbo.
• • Use a dedicated GPU if your system has one.
• • Remember that some BizHawk cores are slower than standalone emulators because they are constrained for deterministic rerecording.

BizHawk has several throttle modes: Clock, Audio, VSync, and None. Clock keeps the game synced to real time; Audio syncs to audio output; VSync syncs to display refresh; None removes throttling. Fast-forward uses the Alternate Speed setting.

I get "missing firmware files"

Open Config > Firmware... and check the required file. BizHawk does not provide BIOS files. You must dump them from your own hardware or otherwise acquire legally dumped files yourself. After adding a file, verify its hash from the firmware manager.

I get out-of-memory errors while recording

Use:

This avoids most memory-related movie recording problems by storing working movie data on disk rather than in memory.

My TAStudio project is corrupted

A .tasproj file is a ZIP archive. Open it with 7-Zip and remove the GreenZone file. If that fails, extract the project, remove GreenZone, re-compress the contents as ZIP, and rename the file back to .tasproj.

If the project still fails to load, create a new TAStudio project, extract both projects, copy the old Input Log.txt into the new project, and re-compress it.

TAStudio shows an empty frame at the end

That is normally not an extra input frame. TAStudio shows the point at which the last input is sent to the game. If you inspect the underlying movie input log, the visual "empty" end row is not usually stored as an extra input frame.

AVI recording splits near 2 GB

Use:

To avoid splitting on resolution changes, use:

For higher-resolution output, set a custom display size and record the client area with OSD capture if needed.

Typical contents:

• Header - movie metadata such as author, emulator version, platform, game name, core, and game hash.
• Input Log - frame-by-frame input data.
• Comments - author notes.
• Subtitles - optional on-screen subtitle events.
• SyncSettings - core settings required for deterministic playback.
• CoreState - present when the movie starts from a savestate.

Common rerecording errors:

• GUID mismatch - a savestate belongs to a different movie.
• Timeline error - a savestate branches away from the current movie timeline.
• Future event error - a savestate refers to a movie event that has not occurred yet in the current playback.

Common Lua use cases:

• • Drawing overlays.
• • Reading and writing memory.
• • Logging game state.
• • Automating repetitive tests.
• • Creating bots.
• • Debugging RNG, position, velocity, timers, and hitboxes.

Important concepts:

• • RAM stores temporary game state.
• • SaveRAM stores battery-backed or persistent save data.
• • ROM is the game data itself.
• • Memory domains represent different address spaces exposed by the core.
• • System Bus is often the most useful domain, but not every core exposes the same domains.

Useful settings:

• • Use OpenGL or Direct3D when possible.
• • Avoid GDI+ unless you need a fallback.
• • Use integer scaling for sharp pixels.
• • Use custom size if you need exact capture dimensions.
• • Restart EmuHawk after changing display method.
• • Use client-area capture if you want OSD or Lua overlays included in video output.

For PSX:

• • .ccd is often preferable when available.
• • .cue + .bin is common, especially for redump-style dumps.
• • .cue + .sbi may be required for some copy-protected games.
• • For multi-disc games, use an .m3u playlist or Tools > Multi-disk Bundler.
• • Disc swapping is done through PSX > Disc Controls.

Nintendo DS and DSi

The NDS core uses melonDS. NDS emulation may use two BIOS files and one firmware file. If real BIOS files are not provided, melonDS can use freebios, but real BIOS files are recommended where possible because free replacements may cause bugs in some games.

For DSi mode, real NDS BIOS files, real DSi BIOS files, and DSi firmware may be required. For new DSi movies, use BizHawk 2.11 or later because it handles NAND formatting in a deterministic way.

PlayStation

PSX emulation supports saveram, savestates, input, memory domains, Lua register access, disc detection, audio/video, disc swapping, SBI files, lag detection, and virtual pad features.

If a PSX issue appears to be core-related, test the same case in Mednafen when relevant. Some PSX patching problems come from disc images where data was changed but error-correction data was not updated.

Nintendo 64

BizHawk accepts .z64, .n64, and .v64 ROM formats. Controller Pak is emulated; Rumble and Transfer Pak support may be incomplete depending on the core and version. Old Mupen64 .m64 movies are not directly supported as BizHawk movies.

DOSBox-X

BizHawk supports DOS and some Windows systems through DOSBox-X. Use the DOSBox-X-specific documentation for media support, configuration, boot flow, and movie submission details.

Libretro

Libretro cores can expand compatibility, but they are not all equally stable, accurate, or TAS-suitable. If a Libretro core behaves incorrectly, compare against RetroArch before reporting it as a BizHawk-specific issue.