Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

[color=red]Also checkout the main site ->FAQ[/color]

If you haven't done so yet, read the Global Forum Rules.

Rule of thumb: Use Google if you don't understand something that is mentioned here.

Index:
About Dolphin
Dolphin installation
Dolphin configuration
Games, ISOs and compatibility
Other Questions

Other places to look at:
Common Error Messages (not accessible yet, WIP)
Netplay Guide


I wrote this FAQ with Starscream's support (thanks!) because of the growing amount of newcomers who randomly created threads asking the same questions over and over again. Ideally, we should be able to answer these threads with a link to this page now without having to write the same answer all the time. Suggestions to improve the list are welcome!


People interested in Dolphin development should visit our project page on Google Code: http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/
Users having issues can also use the issue tracker there, note that you really should know what you're doing and be sure that the issue you're reporting neither is your fault or already known. When in doubt, ask on the forums instead.

About Dolphin
What's Dolphin?
Dolphin is a Nintendo Gamecube/Wii emulator for Windows / Linux / OS X. It's able to run a good amount of commercial games as well as homebrew applications at fullspeed and optionally can enhance the visual quality by e.g. increasing the internal render resolution or loading custum high-resolution textures.

What do I need to run it?
The absolute minimum requirements for running Dolphin are a reasonably modern CPU with SSE2 support and a DirectX9/OpenGL 2.1 class GPU with support for shader model 2.0. You can check both of these requirements with two utilities called cpu-z and gpu-z. Any conventional PC hardware released in the last 5 years should be fine in that regard.
However, a system barely meeting those requirements will not be enough to actually run games at fullspeed. While Dolphin's performance is mostly dependent upon CPU power, enabling graphics enhancing features like High Internal Resolutions will decrease performance if your GPU is too weak. See the thread named Minimum Specs - Video Card.
Generally, an Intel Core 2 Duo (E8xxx) is good enough to run many games, although some games will require a more recent Core i7. However, note that lots of (Wii and Gamecube) games still won't run fullspeed in all areas even with high-end CPUs.

Where do I get it?
There are various sources for Dolphin builds, the recommended source is our Homepage. The latest release should be used if you want a supported, stable build that just works. If you want to test experimental code and want to get new features as early as possible, you might want to also try nightly git builds (using those, however, isn't supported by us).

Games, ISOs and compatibility

Where can I download game isos/roms?
you don't. Piracy is strictly against the forum rules and any mention of downloading ISO files of commercial games will get you banned without warning. Mentioning the word "ROM" has the same effect, since it exposes you as being a pirate as well.

Does game X work?
These days there's a great chance it does, however there may be some limitations:
a) Sound may not be perfect. In this case, try using the DSP LLE backend and reading the How to dump your DSP thread.
b) Graphics might be messed up in some or many places. Tuning the graphics options (LINK) might help, but usually the necessary settings should always be applied anyway.
c) Online gaming doesn't work (yet). As an alternative, you can use Dolphin's netplay functionality and read the Netplay Guide to use the offline multiplayer mode over internet (TODO: rephrase).
d) Emulation might not work fullspeed on your hardware. For some games, there simply isn't ANY computer out there which could run the game without stutters or slowdowns. That's because the developers' focus is not performance but emulation accuracy.
e) For any concrete information, always check the Game Thread Index. about a specific game and ask there after reading it before creating a new thread. (TODO: emphasize that people should use common sense here)
Also, read the next question about this.

I've got a problem with game X!!
Alright, cool down and DON'T immediately go ahead and create a thread with one line of text (this is likely to get your thread closed and give you a warning).
Instead, go to our game discussion section and read the Game Thread Index, check if there's a game thread available for your game. The game thread index may not necessarily be complete so you might also need to use our search function.
IF there's a game thread for your game already, take some time to read the front page as well as the first and last 5 pages (or more) of the thread. If you're a beginner, your problem should have been resolved now
In case you have NOT found an answer to a problem, you may ask in the thread. Make sure to give enough information about your problem so that everyone actually knows what you're trying to do and what's going wrong. Don't forget posting your hardware specs, Dolphin version or any other information that might sound helpful.

Also, read the previous question about this.

Dolphin installation

What are all those revisions?
The term "revision" refers to a specific change which has been applied to the Dolphin source code. Since Dolphin is an open-source project, everyone can follow its progress and take a look at each of these incremental improvements. After each of these changes, some people are kind enough to distribute compiled nightly builds. In particular, we're running a build bot that uploads nightly builds to our homepage.
Keep reading for further information.

What revision should I use?
Due to the nature of nightly builds, they're regarded as unstable and thus aren't recommended unless you know what you're doing. If you're just looking for some build to get the job done you should be fine with using the official releases. At the time of writing, the most recent official and stable release is Dolphin 3.0 (which is also available on our Homepage).

How do I install those patch files which are provided on these forums?
If you're just the Average Joe who's trying to run games, you should first ask yourself if you really need that patch. In many cases, a patch is just horribly outdated and has been integrated into the Dolphin source for a long time already. In many other cases, you will probably just expect too much from the patch (e.g. many audio hacks won't make the sound perfect). In those few cases where you actually REALLY need to use the patch, read on.
Applying source patches requires you to compile the Dolphin source manually. This requires setting up a development environment (LINK) which usually requires nontrivial effort, i.e. it's something you're unlikely to do.
Instead you may politely ask someone to compile a Dolphin build including that patch for you. We won't guarantee that someone will do that though, so don't get upset and start flaming if that's the case.

How can I install plugins like GCPadNew?
The simple fact is: You don't. Dolphin doesn't use any plugins anymore and all Dolphin plugins you might have stumbled upon are outdated and provide virtually no features which aren't available in Dolphin's current input core. That applies even more to video and sound plugins. If you're using a build that has plugins, it's an old and unsupported revision.

Dolphin configuration

How do I speed up emulation?
In most cases, there's not much you can do about performance if the default configuration doesn't run at full FPS. There is, however, a limited number of tricks that you could try which might improve performance (or not). You could try the settings for best speed.
Anyway, TODO

Why is Dolphin so slow?
I can run Crysis at highest settings but not a game released in 2004?!
Running a game programmed for PC hardware is not the same as emulating a console system which is running a game. You have to realize that the overhead of emulating the environment greatly exceeds the actual game requirements. Also note that while PC games usually require a very powerful GPU and have merely moderate CPU requirements, Dolphin's performance is basically only limited by CPU speed. In fact, you won't actually be able to get any PC hardware that will be able to run every Wii game at full speed in Dolphin. Even some Gamecube games struggle on the highest-end hardware available to date.
Anyway, I advise you to read up a bit on how emulation works and what complications emulator authors are facing when trying to get games working.

How should I configure the emulator?
If you don't need to squeeze the last bit of performance out of the emulator, the default configuration should be sufficient.
TODO.

Can I customize my configuration for each game?
BEFORE answering this question, let me point out that in most cases configuring settings on a per-game base for compatibility purposes is not necessary for most games (especially not for popular ones). We're actively maintaining a database of per-game tweaks that enables stability critical settings for games that wouldn't run without them.
Anyway, if you do actually have a valid reason to need per-game settings, right-click an ISO in the game list and select "Properties". Many of the global options can be overridden there; By pushing the "Edit Config" button you can open the game settings file in a text editor and get full access to all supported per-game options (in a non-user friendly way). Unfortunately, the naming and usage of these settings isn't documented anywhere to this date.

Other questions
(lots of misc questions which haven't been structured, yet)

What is DolphinIL?
This version of Dolphin uses the work-in-progress JIT-IL Core. JITIL should be a faster recompiler than the current JIT (ector JIT). Note that the core is still being worked on and there are still kinks in it that needs to be fixed.

Will Dolphin support Quad Core?
See http://forums.ngemu.com/dolphin-discussi...dcore.html .

How do I use a real memorycard dump?
See http://forums.ngemu.com/dolphin-discussi...lphin.html .

How do I compile Dolphin myself?
Note: You really don't want to do this if you don't know what you're doing!
Windows: http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/wiki/WindowsBuild
Linux: http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/wik...pendencies
Mac OS X: http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/wiki/MacOSX_Build

What is the difference between x86 and x64?
x86 is 32bit and x64 is 64bit. x64 version will ONLY run on a 64bit Windows OS, (all 64bit Windows OS's have a folder called "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" and "C:\Program Files (x86)\"
The x64bit of Dolphin will have slightly faster emulation speed as to x86

How do I use my XBOX 360 controller under linux?
See http://forums.ngemu.com/dolphin-discussi...linux.html .

LLE plugin says it fails to load "dsp_rom.bin" and "dsp_coef.bin"
See http://forums.dolphin-emu.org/showthread.php?tid=23103 .

There are more questions and answers in this thread. However, note that most info there is horribly outdated.

Also need to explain why LLE is so much slower than HLE.