MGBA(6)

MGBA(6) — Games Manual 🎮💖

okay bestie, welcome to the group chat. this is the manual page for mgba, and we're doing a full vibe check on it together. the manual name is MGBA and it lives in the Games Manual section (section 6, iykyk). grab a snack, we're going in 🍓

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✨ NAME ✨

mgba — Game Boy Advance emulator 👑

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

mgba [-123456dfg] [-b biosfile] [-C option=value] [-c cheatfile]
     [-l loglevel] [-p patchfile] [-s n] [-t statefile] file

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so mgba is literally a Game Boy Advance emulator. no cap. and here's every single option, not one skipped, we're thorough in this house 💅

Options, one by one, slay

• -1 — Scale the window 1×.
• -2 — Scale the window 2×.
• -3 — Scale the window 3×.
• -4 — Scale the window 4×.
• -5 — Scale the window 5×.
• -6 — Scale the window 6×.
• -b biosfile, --bios biosfile — Specify a BIOS file to use during boot. if you skip this flag entirely, mgba will use the BIOS specified in the configuration file, or a high‐level emulated BIOS if none is specified. so like, it's got a backup plan, main character energy fr fr.
• -C option=value, --config option=value — Override the given config option with value. you're the boss of it now 💅
• -c cheatfile, --cheats cheatfile — Apply cheat codes from cheatfile. (no judgement, we've all been there 🙈)
• -d — Start emulating via the command‐line debugger. nerd mode: activated 🧚
• -f — Start the emulator full‐screen. cinema. 🎬
• -g — Start a gdb(1) session. By default the session starts on port 2345.
• -l loglevel — Log messages during emulation to stdout. loglevel is a bitmask defining which types of messages to log:
  • 1 – fatal errors
  • 2 – errors
  • 4 – warnings
  • 8 – informative messages
  • 16 – debugging messages
  • 32 – stub messages for unimplemented features
  • 64 – in‐game errors

The default is to log warnings, errors, fatal errors, and status messages.

• -p patchfile, --patch patchfile — Specify a patch file in BPS, IPS, or UPS format. three formats, one icon ✨
• -s n, --frameskip n — Skip every n frames. bye frames 👋
• -t statefile, --savestate statefile — Load initial game state from statefile. it's giving time travel ⏳

and then there's file at the very end of the synopsis, which is the file you're handing over to the emulator. periodt.

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🎮 CONTROLS 🎮

The default controls are as follows:

• A — x
• B — z
• L — a
• R — s
• Start — ⟨Enter⟩
• Select — ⟨Backspace⟩
• Load state — F1–F9
• Save state — ⟨Shift⟩‐F1–F9
• Frame advance — ⟨Ctrl⟩‐n

memorize these or perish (affectionately) 🫶

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🐛 DEBUGGER 🐛

When mgba is run with the -d option, the command‐line debugger is enabled. It supports the following commands:

• b[reak] address
• b[reak]/a address
• b[reak]/t address

Set a breakpoint – ARM (/a), Thumb (/t), or the current CPU mode – at address.

• c[ontinue] — Continue execution.
• d[elete] address — Delete a breakpoint at address.
• dis[asm] [address [count]]
• dis[asm]/a [address [count]]
• dis[asm]/t [address [count]]
• dis[assemble] [address [count]]
• dis[assemble]/a [address [count]]
• dis[assemble]/t [address [count]]

Disassemble count instructions starting at address, as ARM (/a), Thumb (/t), or the current CPU mode. If count is not specified, only disassemble the instruction at address. If address is not specified, only disassemble the current address.

• h[elp] — Print help. (bestie behavior: asking for help is iconic 💖)
• i[nfo]
• status

Print the current contents of general‐purpose registers and the current program state register, and disassemble the current instruction.

• n[ext] — Execute the next instruction.
• p[rint] value ...
• p[rint]/t value ...
• p[rint]/x value ...

Print one or more values as binary (/t), hexadecimal (/x), or decimal.

• q[uit] — Quit the emulator.
• reset — Reset the emulation.
• r/1 address
• r/2 address
• r/4 address

Read a byte (/1), halfword (/2), or word (/4) from address.

• w[atch] address — Set a watchpoint at address.
• w/1 address data
• w/2 address data
• w/4 address data

Write data as a byte (/1), halfword (/2), or word (/4) to address.

• w/r register data — Write data as a word to register.
• x/1 address [count]
• x/2 address [count]
• x/4 address [count]

Examine count bytes (/1), halfwords (/2), or words (/4) from address. If count is not specified, examine 16 bytes, 8 halfwords, or 4 words.

the /1 /2 /4 suffixes are NOT vibes-based, they're sizes. mix them up and you'll be reading the wrong amount of memory, bestie 😭

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🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

• XDG_CONFIG_HOME — The location where mgba will look for the configuration directory. If not set, ~/.config is used.

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🎀 FILES 🎀

• $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mgba/config.ini — Default mgba configuration file.
• portable.ini — If this file exists in the current directory, mgba will read config.ini from the current directory instead of $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/mgba.

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💜 AUTHORS 💜

Jeffrey Pfau <jeffrey@endrift.com>

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🔥 HOMEPAGE 🔥

• mGBA homepage: https://mgba.io/
• Development repository: https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba
• Bug tracker: https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/issues
• Message board: https://forums.mgba.io/

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🦋 this one came from Debian and it's dated July 29, 2015 — yeah she's an older queen but she still ate, and she's still running your games. go forth and emulate ✨👑💖