Retroarch installation PS Vita 3.65 3.67/8

HENkaku the homebrew enabler. Hacks, Mods, Games, Emulators & Homebrew
Post Reply
Duhjoker
Junior Member
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2018 6:00 am

Retroarch installation PS Vita 3.65 3.67/8

Post by Duhjoker » Thu Jul 05, 2018 6:06 am

For the past 48 hours I have been trying to download and fully install retroarch with the neat lil XMB GUI menu. The first problem I had was finding a version of retroarch that actually worked. I downloaded no less than 5 different files and only one was working.

Once that was done I had this non intuitive menu system with in retroarch that was just ugly and used a blue screen as a back ground. I spent all day today trying to get the XMB GUI installed. This because there's not a full tutorial explains how to do this. They expect you to know exactly what do after installing the VPK.

GamersRebirth is my go to source for easy installation but his videos for retroarch are severely outdated and he completely skips over how to install the rest of the cool retroarch XMB stuff.

So I decided I would try to write a quick easy tutorial to help alleviate some of the mystery.

So first let's download a working up to date version of retroarch that works with vita shell on your PS Vita running 3.65 3.67/8 FW. You can find the link here.....

https://buildbot.libretro.com/nightly/playstation/vita/

Be sure to download both the retroarch.vpk file and the retroarch_data.7z file. The first thing you will notice upon a full download is that the VPK file is in .zip form. This confused me quite a bit since vita shell will not open the file and install it in zip form. We will get to that in a second.

At this point you should have h-encore installed using an FTP program like FileZilla one WinSCP. You should also have installed Henkaku and vita shell from the H-encore app on your vita. If you haven't done this yet you can refer the H-encore tutorial here......

viewtopic.php?f=111&t=1930

Now let's gets started. This is really to simple to do but if you can't find full instructions it can be a pain.

First open up vita shell then press select to open the FTP. Now open up FileZilla or WinSCP. Now you want to drop the retroarch zip file into a file with in the ux0: folder in vita shell. I used the data folder but you can create your own VPK folder if you choose.

Once it is loaded onto your vita, change the .zip file extension to .vpk. I have no explanation as to why it downloads in zip form but it works this way.

Now restart vita shell and navigate to the folder you chose for your vpk's. Scroll to the retroarch.vpk and click on it to install retroarch.

This should put a retroarch folder in the data folder of your ux0: folder in vita shell. For good measure and testing purposes I usually exit out of vita shell and open the retroarch app to make sure it works at this point.

If it works with out giving you an error then open vita shell back up on your vita and press select to open up the FTP I nice more. Now open up your FileZilla or WinSCP and navigate to the retroarch folder in ux0:.

Unzip the contents of the retroarch_data.7z and simply drop the contents of that file into the retroarch folder of the vita shell retroarch folder. This is the magic file that contains the XMB GUI menu. You will get a message asking you if you want to replace the files in retroarch. Choose yes. Exit your FileZilla or WinSCP program. Then exit vita shell and start your retroarch app on n your vita.

Now this time instead of the ugly simple menu you should have a nice looking GUI. Congratulations you have now have retroarch fully installed on your vita.

Now let's add some games.

Open up vita shell and navigate to your ux0: file and press triangle. A side menu will appear. Scroll down to new and choose folder. I called my Games. Now open up that folder and press triangle again. Choose new folder and create a folder named after the emulator you want to install games for. Do this for all the emulators you are using.

Exit out of vita shell and reopen it. Then hit select to open up the FTP then open up your FileZilla or WinSCP and navigate to your games folder. Open up the emu folder of choice and drop your games in.

That's it. Open up retroarch and have fun.
Post Reply