Getting Started

First Run

  1. Launch the emulator: Double-click hemu (or hemu.exe on Windows)
  2. The splash screen appears with instructions
  3. Load a ROM: Click File > Open ROM or press Ctrl+O to open the file browser
  4. Select your game file:
    • .nes for NES
    • .smc/.sfc for SNES
    • .z64/.n64/.v64 for N64
    • .sms for Sega Master System
    • .a26/.bin for Atari 2600
    • .gb/.gbc for Game Boy
    • .com/.exe for PC/DOS
  5. Start playing! Use the controls listed in the Controls section

Alternatively, you can provide a ROM path as an argument:

./hemu path/to/your/game.nes

The emulator will remember your last ROM and automatically load it next time you start.

Advanced Command-Line Options

PC/XT Slot-Based Loading

For PC/XT emulation, you can specify disk images for specific drive slots:

# Load PC with a floppy disk in drive A:
./hemu --slot2 bootdisk.img

# Load PC with both floppy and hard drive
./hemu --slot2 boot.img --slot4 harddrive.img

# Optional: Load custom BIOS ROM (built-in BIOS used if not specified)
./hemu --slot1 custom_bios.bin --slot2 floppy.img --slot4 hdd.img

Slot Mapping for PC/XT:

  • --slot1 <file>: BIOS ROM (optional - built-in BIOS used if not specified)
  • --slot2 <file>: Floppy Drive A:
  • --slot3 <file>: Floppy Drive B:
  • --slot4 <file>: Hard Drive C:
  • --slot5 <file>: Reserved for future use

Creating Blank Disk Images

Create blank floppy or hard drive images for use with PC/XT emulation:

# Create a 1.44MB floppy disk
./hemu --create-blank-disk mydisk.img 1.44m

# Create a 20MB hard drive
./hemu --create-blank-disk harddrive.img 20m

Supported Disk Formats:

  • Floppy: 360k, 720k, 1.2m, 1.44m
  • Hard Drive: 10m, 20m, 40m

Other Options

  • --keep-logs: Preserve debug logging environment variables (for development)