FAQ - cizia64/CrossMix-OS GitHub Wiki

Box arts are located in Imgs folder (one subfolder per platform)

CrossMix has a built-in scraper. More info here.

If you want to scrape images from your PC, follow this guide initially done for Onion (but very similar):

• Scraping artwork from PC

⚠ Not sure that this feature is really working in CrossMix-OS, this part of the FAQ should be updated.

To create a gamelist.xml, review the guide here.

Troubleshooting: After adding the gamelist.xml to your rom folder you will need to Refresh all roms from the Games tab (press SELECT to open the context menu). If the list is still not being loaded, ensure that the extlist in the Emu/<systemname>/config.json is populated with all appropriate rom extensions for your games (i.e. "extlist":"zip|ZIP")

Important: The guide includes a "cleanup" script for use with xmlstarlet but an issue with viewing PDF files in a browser means the script does not copy well. Either open the PDF in a reader application (i.e. Adobe Acrobat) or use this batch file to run the script

Note: There is an alternate method of creating the 'gamelist.xml' file using a simple PowerShell script which does not have any 3rd party dependencies other than Windows and PowerShell itself. There are two versions of the script which are , depending on your preferences:

• More human readable, less efficient.
• Less human readable, more efficient.

The more efficient version of the script strips out all formatting and indenting and produces a considerably smaller file size, which theoretically allows CrossMix to parse and process the data faster.

The first step is to run Emu Cleaner app which will enable all the emulators with roms and hide all the emulators which have no roms.

Any time you add rom files to your SD Card you will need to 'refresh your roms' to rebuild game list cache files:

• From the root menu in the main menu, press the MENU button.
• This will evoke the 'Refresh Roms' menu option, press A to confirm.

If newly added games are still not appearing, ensure that you have placed them in the correct rom folders.
Rom folder names for each system must be capitalized and may differ from those on the stock SD Card.
Also review the Emulators Section to ensure you are using supported rom formats (with a supported file extension), as documented per system.

^{(Credit: Erazemk)}

This guide will teach you how to add cheats for your RetroArch emulators.

Your first task is to find cheat files for your games (usually provided in .cht format). You can find them fairly easily online, but the recommended source is LibRetro database, which has up-to-date cheats for most LibRetro supported emulators.

1. Download the whole repository as a ZIP file (Code -> Download ZIP),
2. Extract it and go into the cht directory (you will see cheats sorted by console),
3. Copy directories for consoles you want to your SD card, into the RetroArch/.retroarch/cheats directory (you might have to enable showing hidden directories if you can't see the .retroarch directory),
4. Inside the .retroarch directory there will be a retroarch.cfg file, which you need to open in a text editor. Find the line with the option quick_menu_show_cheats and set it to "true" (so the whole line should be quick_menu_show_cheats = "true"),
5. Eject your SD card from your computer and plug it into your device, then open up your favourite game (for which you have downloaded cheats),
6. Enter the RetroArch menu (press Menu, hold it, then press Select) and find the Cheats -> Load Cheat File (Replace) option. There you can find the cheat file in one of the directories. After choosing it you will be returned back to the cheats menu, but now you should see a number of cheats at the bottom (e.g. Cheat #0),
7. Select one of them, then toggle the Enabled switch to enable it.

• 📁Roms/PS/
  • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 1) (v1.1).cue
  • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 1) (v1.1).bin
  • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 2) (v1.1).cue
  • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 2) (v1.1).bin
  • 📄Metal Gear Solid (USA) (Disc 1) (Rev 1).chd
  • 📄Metal Gear Solid (USA) (Disc 2) (Rev 1).chd

• 📁Roms/PS/
  • 📄Driver 2 (v1.1).m3u
  • 📄Metal Gear Solid (USA) (Rev 1).m3u
  • 📁.Driver 2 (v1.1)/
    • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 1) (v1.1).cue
    • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 1) (v1.1).bin
    • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 2) (v1.1).cue
    • 📄Driver 2 (Disc 2) (v1.1).bin
  • 📁.Metal Gear Solid (USA) (Rev 1)/
    • 📄Metal Gear Solid (USA) (Disc 1) (Rev 1).chd
    • 📄Metal Gear Solid (USA) (Disc 2) (Rev 1).chd

CrossMix System Tools app includes a way to rename all the emulators with pre-defined naming templates.

However if you want to edit the name of each console or system independently, it is defined in Emus/[systemname]/config.json You can edit this file with a text editor on your PC and apply a new name by updating the 'label' field.

Notes:
Systems in CrossMix-OS are displayed in alphabetical order so the name will determine where in your list it sits.
An alternative method to order the systems is by adding an equal number of spaces both sides of the label name.
The number of spaces determines the position it is displayed on the Mini, with the most spaces being first.
For example, “ Arcade “ will appear before “Arcade”.

There can be a few reasons why you may find a specific system does not launch games after installing CrossMix:

• If you have added games post installation, you may need to update your rom caches, from the Games tab press the MENU button to open the context menu and choose the Refresh roms option.
• Ensure you are using supported rom extensions and that both your rom folder and Bios file(s) are named exactly as detailed in our Emulators Section.
• Save states can, on occasion, be incompatible between core versions/updates. Delete the RetroArch/.retroarch/states/[system] folder for the given system.
• If none of the above points have resolved your issue, it is recommended to source and test with alternative roms.

Notes:
Rom folders and Bios filenames are case sensitive.
It is strongly advised not to use the TrimUI provided SD Card or USB Card Reader as both are very prone to data corruption and failure and will cause issues.

Roms in .bin format must have accompanying .cue files or they will not be displayed.
CrossMix can generate .cue files automatically (System Tools > TOOLS > CUE - Generator).
Alternatively, you can create .cue files using a free online tool such as cue-maker.

.cue is the index which indicates where audio tracks are in the bin file CrossMix can't support .bin and .cue files at the same time (otherwise it would be duplicated in the list of games), so the most logical is to support only .cue files.

If you experience slower (or faster) gameplay than usual for some games following an CrossMix upgrade, we recommend that you create an in-game Save and then delete your Save States. Save States are stored inside RetroArch/.retroarch/states/[system]

Please see other solutions here within this FAQ with regards to managing Save States and Saves.

MENU + POWER during 3 seconds to force exit the game/app.

You can also press POWER during 10 seconds to force a brutal shutdown of your device.

If you launched a rom or a file that is incompatible with the core, it can cause a black screen. CrossMix's auto-resume feature can mean you returning to this same black screen on each boot.

You can hold down MENU during all the boot sequence (wait for blue LEDs blinking) to break out of this behaviour and return you to MainUI.

ALternatively once booted you can also press MENU + POWER during 3 seconds to kill the current running application.

If this still does not work for you, you can disable the next auto-resume by inserting your SD card into your PC and deleting the file cmd_to_run.sh inside the SDCARD/trimui/app/ folder

In order to troubleshoot a particular game or emulator failure or issue, you may wish to enable RetroArch logging:

• Go to Apps -> RetroArch -> Settings -> Logging and enable Log to File.
• Back out to the main RetroArch menu, and go to Configuration File and choose Save Current Configuration.
• Launch the game(s), or perform the action you are trying to troubleshoot.
• The output log file will be written to RetroArch/.retroarch/logs/retroarch.log.

There's currently an issue in MainUI that prevents WiFi from associating when it contains special characters.

Currently, there's no fix due to MainUI being closed source however there are various workarounds:

Edit your wpa_supplicant.conf file (found in /etc/wifi/wpa_supplicant.conf)

Use third-party apps such as: this one, which supports most special characters ⚠ Not tested on CrossMix - OS !

The _Updates folder contains backups of previous CrossMix version files.

Normally, all saves and save states have been migrated during the automated update process.

After an update, it is recommended to keep the backup for some time. Once you have spent some time on CrossMix and verified that all your saves and settings are functional, you can delete the backups in the _Update directory to free up storage space on your SD card.

You can copy in-game save files from another device or emulator for use in CrossMix-OS.

• In most cases, Save files should be in .srm format, named identically to the rom and are case sensitive. Note that .sav files can be renamed to .srm, other formats may require a conversion tool.
• To add your saves to CrossMix-OS just copy your individual save files into the correct emulator folder in: RetroArch/.retroarch/saves/[CORENAME]
• If you have already launched the game prior to adding your saves then you will also need to go to the RetroArch/.retroarch/states/[CORENAME] folder ...and delete any Save States here for the same game(s) in order for your newly added game saves to be recognised.

[CORENAME] = The folder with name of the RA core for the particular emulator or system the save file(s) relates to.
If copying saves from your stock SD Card or Tomato, you will find your saves in bulk in RetroArch/.retroarch/saves/.

Save States are stored inside RetroArch/.retroarch/states/[CORENAME]/

Notes: [CORENAME] = the folder with name of the core for the particular emulator or system 'core', the save state file(s) relates to

To do it for all systems:

System Tools app -> Emulators -> Resume at boot -> Resume at boot - disable

To do it for one particular system:

• Launch the game and press MENU -> Advanced Menu to go into the RetroArch menu.
• Press B to go back one level.
• Go to Setting › Saving › Load State Automatically (and turn it off).
• Press B twice to go back to the main menu.
• Then go to Quick Menu › Overrides and select one of the following:
  - Save Content Directory Overrides

Notes:
For more information regarding RetroArch overrides please review the libretro documentation here.

CrossMIx enables a feature that retains your old Save States.

In case of manipulation error, file corruption, or simply because you want to return to an earlier section of the game, it is possible to go back in time to select an earlier Save State. This takes up very little space on your SD as even if your Save State slot number is high, RetroArch will only retain the last 10 files.

To manage your current Save State slot:

• Launch the game and press press MENU -> Advanced Menu to go into the RetroArch menu.
• Go to Save States > State Slot and change the slot number with Dpad Left or Dpad Right
  (Tip: Pressing Y here will show a full screen image capture for the Save State)
• You can alternatively manage the slot number 'in-game' by pressing SELECT+Dpad Left or SELECT+Dpad Right and then pressing either:
  • SELECT+L2 to load from the slot you selected
  • SELECT+R2 to save to (and overwrite) the slot you selected

Save state slot -1 is reserved for CrossMix's Auto-Save feature.
Manual save states start counting from slot 0 upward. If your slot has reached a particularly high number and you would like to reduce it, you can manually change the slot in the RA Quick Menu menu. Switching back to slot '0' and making a manual save will mean it starts counting again incrementally from there.

If you wish to forgo the advantages of incremental Save States mentioned above, you may disable them as follows:

• Launch a game and press MENU -> Advanced Menu to go into the RetroArch Quick Menu
• Press B once, to go to RA Main Menu
• Go to Settings > Saving > Increment Save State Index Automatically (and toggle this off)
• Press B twice and go to Quick Menu > Overrides > Directory Override to save the RA settings

RetroAchievements are an excellent way to re-discover your old games in the different way thanks to different challenges.

To configure it for Retroarch:

• launch Retroarch from Apps section (not during a game session because the override doesn't allow to modify the main RA configuration)

• then in retroarch menu : Settings -> Achievements and here you put user and password you have registered on retroachievements.org.

• then Main Menu -> configuration File -> Save Current Configuration.

It is also possible to configure RetroAchievements for PPSSPP but for now it must be done with an USB keyboard in PPSSPP emulator -> Tools -> Retroachivements. Note: plug in your keyboard before launching the PPSSPP emulator.

You can disable overlays in one click for all platforms thans to System Tool app, go to:

System Tools app -> Emulators -> OVERLAYS

Then select your desired type of overlay.

To change it for only one particular game/platform:

• Launch a game and press MENU -> Advanced Menu to go into the RetroArch menu.
• Press in the "Quick Menu" list, select On Screen Overlay › Display Overlay › Toggle OFF
• Then save your change: Quick Menu > Overrides > Game Override to save the ratio just for this game, Quick Menu > Overrides > Directory Override to apply this ratio to all the games of the current platform.

To change for all platforms in one time, go to

System Tools app -> Emulators -> OVERLAYS

Then select your desired type of scaling ratio.

To change it for one particular game:

• Launch the game and press MENU -> Advanced Menu to go into the RetroArch menu.
• Press B to go back one level in the RA menu and select Settings › Video › Scaling
• Here you can toggle:
  - Integer Scale - show the game in its original resolution (scale only in whole pixels).
  - Keep Aspect Ratio - enabled: fit to screen, disabled: stretch.
  - Make Quick Menu > Overrides > Game Override to save the ratio just for this game, Quick Menu > Overrides > Directory Override to apply this ratio to all the games of the current platform.

If you have no controls at all on games like abe's odyssey, check that you have the required bios files.

IF your problem is related to the sticks which are not detected as analogic / Dual Shock (so for example when you use the sticks the movements of your character is not progressive) then this problem is related to RetroPad configuration in RetroArch. Fortunately, CrossMix includes a tool to configure retroarch controls for all your PSX games in one time:

System Tools app -> Emulators -> PSX Analog Detector

Once completed, it will mention how many games have been configured, you can launch you game again and test controls.

When you make changes in RetroArch in game you must apply these using "Overrides" for them to take effect.

• Launch the game and press MENU -> Advanced Menu to go into the RetroArch menu.
• Make your desired changes.
• Then go to Quick Menu › Overrides and select one of the following:
  - Save Content Directory Overrides - for everything in the same Rom folder.

Notes:
For more information regarding RetroArch overrides please review the libretro documentation here.

Resetting your global configuration from within RetroArch itself will break CrossMix configuration as this restores 'out of the box' RA defaults. Instead:

System Tools app -> Emulators -> Reset Retroarch Configuration

Notes:
You should always in the first instance, save your changes to Retroarch settings as "Directory Overrides" rather than saving changes to the main (global) configuration (see other questions in this FAQ re saving RetroArch settings). This will make it far easier to revert a change by deleting the overrides from within the RA Overrides menu.

To do this, launch a game from the system to want to change.

• press MENU -> Advanced Menu to go into the RetroArch quick menu
• Choose Controls › Port 1 Controls.
• Navigate to the key you wish to reassign and press A to view a list of the various in-game controls available.
• Confirm your selection with A.
• The changes are saved automatically when exiting the menu.

Saving individual game, core, or content remaps

• After making the changes as above, press B to go back one level.
• Then go to Manage Remap Files and choose one of the following:
  • Save Content Directory Overrides - for everything in the same Rom folder.

Notes:
Highlighting a mapped key and pressing Y will clear/disable it. Pressing START will set the default value from RA. Content Remap File saving is recommended over Core Remap File as some cores serve multiple systems.
For more information regarding RetroArch inputs and controls please review the libretro documentation here.