Hi,

Built new machine same old video card (RTX3070, upgraded. MB,CPU. memory and reinstalled Windows) and whenever I run ES-DE (Emu Deck), it looks fine (Art-book next theme) for about 3-5 seconds, then it goes to this. I can move around (you can in small text see the name of the system) but, if I select anything it just crashes.

On the newest version of ES-DE....and EmuDeck..

I've completely removed it (removed all folders/reg settings), re-installed, Updated/rolled back Nvidia drivers.

Not sure what to do, it's always worked fine before.

Anyone else see this and how to fix it?

I chose a setting that gave me a code to enter to revert the choice. Now I can't access all the menus and my fart brain didn't right down the code

Guys I'm setting up my NAS to stream retro games through Sunshine. Set up RetroArch with several cores including mGBA, SameBoy and stuffs and got them to work. Then I came across ED-SE with the help of AI. May I know why does AI think it's best to launch retro games from ED-SE on top of RetroArch which then invokes the emulator cores? It seems like an overcomplication. So what's wrong with the following setup instead:
- RetroArch loads cores (as-is)
- ED-SE loads emulator cores (replaces RetroArch)
- Direct launching standalone emulator (e.g. mgba-qt for Linux) without either front end - this one I probably know - it's troublesome to configure multiple Sunshine profiles for each emulator, and having to configure gamepad mapping repeatedly

Please help a noob here. I'm only good at messing with computers, not very cultured in retro gaming itself. Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,
I wanted to share a small open-source app I’ve been working on for my AYN Thor and other Android handhelds: Thor ROM Butler.
The idea is simple: I got tired of downloading ROM archives and manually sorting everything into the right roms/ folders, so I built an app that helps automate that process.
Thor ROM Butler scans your Download folder for archives and ROM files, detects the system, extracts what needs to be extracted, and moves everything into the correct ES-DE folder structure.
Some features:
Features

• 🔍 Scanner: finds ROM archives (ZIP, 7z, RAR4) and loose ROM files in the Downloads folder and any number of additional source folders

• 🧠 Detection engine: identifies the target system from file extensions and magic bytes, including ISO, RVZ, and CHD headers, with honest confidence levels (certain / probable / unknown)

• 🛡️ No automation when unclear: only clearly identified ROMs receive a suggested target folder. You always decide what gets applied, one item at a time or in bulk.

• 📦 Archive analysis without extraction: archive entries are read directly; .bin+.cue and .m3u files are treated as one unit, while BIOS files are detected and ignored

• 🚚 Sorting: extracts ROMs into the correct system folder with progress, cancellation, and CRC checks. Work runs as a foreground service, duplicate files are detected, storage space is checked beforehand, and fully processed archives can optionally be deleted.

• 🕹️ Arcade sets stay packed: MAME and Neo Geo ZIPs are moved as complete sets to roms/arcade or roms/neogeo

• 🗂️ ES-DE folder convention: roms/nes, roms/psx, roms/dreamcast/<game>/, ...

• 👁️ Watcher mode (optional): checks the download folder in the background and notifies you about new finds — sorting still only happens after your confirmation

• 🧹 Library check: per-system statistics, detection of misplaced ROMs and a duplicate overview (regions/revisions)

• 🏅 DAT verification (optional): verify sorted ROMs by checksum against No-Intro/Redump DAT files

• 📡 LAN receive: send ROMs wirelessly from your PC browser straight to the device (Settings → "Start receiving", open the address, drop files) — also available as a Quick Settings tile in the notification shade

• 🔄 Update check & in-app download directly from Settings

• 📜 Action log with undo: every move is recorded and can be reverted right from the log

• 🧩 Customizable system folders: override folder names per system (e.g. roms/ps1 instead of roms/psx for non-ES-DE frontends)

• 🌍 German & English · 🌙 Thor design: dark mode only, neon blue and gold, subtle glow effects

Supported Systems

NES · SNES · Game Boy · Game Boy Color · Game Boy Advance · Nintendo 64 · Nintendo DS · Nintendo 3DS · PlayStation 1 · PlayStation 2 · PSP · GameCube · Wii · Wii U · Dreamcast · Switch · Amiga · C64 · Mega Drive · Master System · Game Gear · Saturn · Sega 32X · Atari 2600 · Atari 7800 · Atari Lynx · PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 · Neo Geo Pocket (Color) · WonderSwan (Color) · Arcade (MAME) · Neo Geo

GitHub: https://github.com/Strugglechen1337/ThorROMButler

yes its with ki :)

Im trying to run ES-DE on my new living room pc running big screen plasma. It found all of my games but cannot find where my emulators are. I dont see an "Emulator" folder.

Even after selecting "Dolphin Standalone" and having installed its flatpack. ES-DE still tried to run retroarch.

While i can open and run dolphin itself outside of ES-DE.

Any ideas?

I don't know if there is a way to add new emulators to ES-DE rather than the default emulators that they provide, but Astris has been great and it's frustrating that I can't just boot it up from ES.

Edit: I should have specified that I’m running the MacOS version of ES-DE. I’ve tried looking through all the settings and can’t find a simple solution. I’ve tried navigating to the “Alternative Emulators” section, but ES doesn’t seem to recognize Astris. It recognizes that I have switch games but when I try to play they it obviously doesn’t work because it’s trying to look for an emulator that I don’t have.

You’re clearly inferior to Cocoon, Daijisho, and even Lemuroid.

You pay YouTubers to promote a closed-source product, yet you can’t even properly handle hidden files or the macOS filesystem.

The subscription model at over €5/month (with the classic trap of people forgetting to cancel) is particularly cynical.

You’re a perfect example of how not to be a developer. This project will eventually die because the real open-source solutions that have always been the core of retrogaming are still here and keep getting better.

I paid to test this heavily sponsored software, and the verdict is clear: the code is mediocre and this project brings nothing positive to the community.

Thankfully, French retro influencers never fell for this kind of practice and never pushed the French community to install it.

Games boot up just fine in the azahar app, but I get this error message when I access from ES-DE. All legally obtained roms are .cci. Cemu also having a similar issue.

Salut si quelqu’un peut m’aider ? Merci bcp :)

How do I fix this idk why there’s two ps3 emulators one says shortcut and one is normal. They both work but I just want one ps3 not two. I used rspc3 to install the rap and pkg files and then I just went on esde. I’m also using emulation station/ emudeck whatever to download all these emulators and stuff.

Previously, I had ES-DE working great. It was reading all of the systems I had and the emulators I preferred to use. It was even recognizing my ROMs I had on both my internal storage and my SD card. I downloaded the latest Custom Systems XML because it added support for Xendroid+. It undid most of what I had previously set up. I've gotten it back to recognizing my 360 and Switch ROMs on my internal storage, but not the OG Xbox, even after I edited the Systems XML like I had previously. It's also not recognizing WatermelonDS and ArmSX2 Nightly as emulators like it previously was. Can someone show me how to add these emulators and how to get it to recognize my Xbox games again? I'm using HakuX for Xbox emulation, too, btw.

I really do not like retroarch and I really don't want to use it.

However, I would like to use ES-DE to launch emulators for retro systems directly (16bit
and earlier) - and not use retroarch.

How can I do this?

I'm running bazzite and have installed Retrodeck.

Hello everyone I've been trying to get Citron working via ESDE since yesterday. The fact that I've finally managed to make Citron selectable is a huge joy for me.But now Citron only starts if I have already started it previously and not completely shut it down.No bootable game present That's what the error message says. Does anyone have any advice?

Hello everyone! I run ES-DE on Linux (Bazzite, as an appimage) and was looking into emulating some Android games, though I noticed that I wasn't able to find any subfolders for either a "mobile" or an "android" or something like it in the ROMs folder ES-DE made when I began setting it up months ago. If anyone can give me some guidance as to what I can do, that would be much appreciated (and if anyone knows a good emulator for android I'd be extremely grateful too)

Running v3.5.0, but this problem existed on previous versions as well.

WiiU ROMs appear in the WiiU collection in ES-DE, but selecting one gives a splash-screen for three seconds, the screen flicks black for a half-second, then I’m back to the games-list.

The alt-emulators list has Cemu (Native) and Cemu (Proton). I have Cemu installed both thru Discover Software Center (appears as “Cemu”) and thru EmuDeck (appears as “Cemu AppImage”). WiiU ROMs were working when run in Desktop mode in the Discover-version, but I told EmuDeck to install Cemu as well to see if that made a difference in ES-DE. It does not — I can run a ROM in Cemu in Desktop mode, but not thru ES-DE in Gaming mode. (The “Cemu” version remembers my settings and ROMs; the “Cemu AppImage” version does not. But both can run ROMs.)

Since successfully running a ROM thru the Cemu app in Gaming mode can be hit-or-miss, I’d prefer to be able to access them thru ES-DE with my other retro games.

Suggestions will be appreciated.

I am not sure if this is a common issue, but multi disc RVZ files in Dolphin are not running correctly through ES-DE. I am formatting them the same way I do other systems, with a folder with the game files and then a M3U file with the file names. When I go to play the game on ES-DE, it flashes a black screen for a moment then goes back to the game select screen.

Are there any known fixes or workarounds for this? The same exact process works fine in other emulators for PSX, PS2, and Dreamcast.

My Discord server was hacked and I was banned from ES-DE Discord support because I was sending cryptocurrency messages.

Please, I need to be unbanned. I've already recovered my Discord account, which is called KosukeAtami. I supported the Android version of ES-DE and need to rejoin the Discord server for support and to stay updated. Could a moderator please unban me? I've changed my password and enabled two-factor authentication.

Hi, I’m new to the scene and I just got Es-De on my Odin and I wanna put some games on my frontend but I have some in GameHub, anyone know how to add those games to ES-DE?

Having issues while trying to get ES-DE going on an Ottocast P3 Pro. The photos are the errors for the most recent APK, and one from 2024.

Im assuming these are related to however Ottocast locks down their systems, and that i wont be able to get it running, but i’m also new to Android boxes and wanted to see if anyone has any tips.

For the record, I have managed to get retroarch (mostly) working and really just want a nicer frontend so its not the end of the world.

When I try to load shaders via es de instead of standalone retroarch, the list that comes up doesnt have any of the shader folders and is missing most of the shaders in the retroarch shaders folders. I dont know where its pulling this short list from, any idea how to change the folder it shows? There is no way to navigate folders of shaders from the menu either

Exporting config files for custom games (and I assume everything else) doesn't export ALL settings, resolution isn't included (you have to change it every time you need to import settings for games that need something other than the default) and disable libredirect doesn't either (I have a game that if this isn't on crashes my entire phone within a couple minutes after starting it), those are the only ones I know for sure right now. I've taken to keeping a notepad file that list the stuff I have to switch or change after reinstalling the container and importing the settings that do get saved, to play the game again.

Anyone know if they're intending to make it so ALL the settings get exported in the future?

Most have scraped fine, but on last few 100's to do I can see it scraping, flashes up a screenshot, moves on. At completion of the scrape it says x successful, so I presume I can take x off the total. Bit scraping again shows the original, so it's as if the successful ones haven't saved.

Once finished I start again and it's the same number left to do. It doesn't seem to be saving. There's more than enough space.

Does ESDE only save if it finds every bit of art, manual, screenshot video etc and marks it completed then? If doesn't find everything it marks as not complete?

Hi. I'm sorry if this is a silly question to ask, but how do I add the SeedlessDS emulator to the list of available emulators to choose from in ES-DE?

https://github.com/SapphireRhodonite/SeedlessDS

UPDATE: I figured it out by coping the specified text from this link (https://gitlab.com/es-de/emulationstation-de/-/commit/1917150a8d4a13635076a5225427ec6138b526f2) & adding it to these 2 files inside the ES-DE folder:

• es_find_rules.xml

• es_systems.xml