Hi all,
I have installed a Gamecube game via the Lutris installer, the game is configured to run using Dolphin within retroarch/libretro. When launching the game, I get the following error:
The key 'dolphin-emu/Sys/codehandler.bin' could not be found.
Here are the full logs:
DEBUG 2025-08-05 19:01:36,519 [path_cache._update_missing_games:114]:Checking for missing games
DEBUG 2025-08-05 19:01:36,552 [api.check_stale_runtime_versions:52]:Modified at Tue 05 Aug 2025 16:33:38 , will update after Tue 05 Aug 2025 22:33:38
DEBUG 2025-08-05 19:01:36,553 [lutriswindow.create_runtime_updater_cb:1384]:Runtime up to date
DEBUG 2025-08-05 19:01:50,065 [grid.on_item_activated:97]:Item activated: 231
WARNING 2025-08-05 19:01:50,070 [libretro.prelaunch:237]:Unable to parse firmware info: (!) You need the Dolphin 'Sys' folder in 'system/dolphin-emu'.|(!) Check https://docs.libretro.com/library/dolphin/#setup for more details.
WARNING 2025-08-05 19:01:50,070 [libretro.prelaunch:237]:Unable to parse firmware info: (!) You need the Dolphin 'Sys' folder in 'system/dolphin-emu'.|(!) Check https://docs.libretro.com/library/dolphin/#setup for more details.
ERROR 2025-08-05 19:01:50,087 [jobs.target:32]:Error while completing task <bound method libretro.prelaunch of <lutris.runners.libretro.libretro object at 0x7f3722d7d7f0>>: <class 'KeyError'> 'dolphin-emu/Sys/codehandler.bin'
File "/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/lutris/util/jobs.py", line 30, in target
result = self.function(*a, **kw)
File "/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/lutris/runners/libretro.py", line 257, in prelaunch
required_firmware_checksum = checksums[required_firmware_filename]
~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ERROR 2025-08-05 19:01:50,105 [exception_backstops.wrapper:34]:Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (libretro) has encountered an error: 'dolphin-emu/Sys/codehandler.bin'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/lutris/exception_backstops.py", line 29, in wrapper
result = function(*args, **kwargs)
File "/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/lutris/game.py", line 769, in configure_game
raise error
File "/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/lutris/util/jobs.py", line 30, in target
result = self.function(*a, **kw)
File "/usr/lib/python3.13/site-packages/lutris/runners/libretro.py", line 257, in prelaunch
required_firmware_checksum = checksums[required_firmware_filename]
~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
KeyError: 'dolphin-emu/Sys/codehandler.bin'
DEBUG 2025-08-05 19:01:50,106 [game.stop_game:877]:Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (libretro) has run for 0 seconds
WARNING 2025-08-05 19:01:50,106 [game.stop_game:879]:The game has run for a very short time, did it crash?
DEBUG 2025-08-05 19:01:50,106 [game.stop_game:889]:Playtime: Less than a minute
DEBUG 2025-08-05 19:01:50,106 [application.on_game_stopped:791]:Removing 231 from running IDs
The logs are suggesting that the codehandler.bin file is not present however it is present in the following locations:
/home/my_name/.local/share/lutris/runners/dolphin-emu/Sys/codehandler.bin
/home/my_name/.config/retroarch/system/dolphin-emu/Sys/codehandler.bin
I have confirmed through the retroarch config file that the system directory should be .config/retroarch/system
I have also checked the .info file for Dolphin within retroarch and confirmed that the BIOS location is correct.
I have also attempted to launch retroarch via Lutris and manually load the game, this worked fine and launched the game.
Any help with this would be much appreciated. I am able to run PS1 & N64 games via retroarch through Lutris so I am confused as to why this issue is present specifically for Dolphin. The BIOS files for PS1 & N64 are in the same system directory as the Dolphin files.
Thanks!