BIOS Requirements

Certain emulator cores require specific BIOS files in order to play.

✅ Systems requiring/utilizing BIOS ℹ️ Specifications per System 🛃 Importing BIOS files

DO NOT ask us where to obtain BIOS files. Distributing BIOS files violates copyright law.

Interactive Reference: eduo.info/pvl — Community-built searchable database of all Provenance systems, cores, BIOS requirements, and supported file extensions (parsed directly from Provenance's source code).

Systems

BIOS: ✅ = Required 🔶 = Optional

Manufacturer	System	BIOS
Atari	2600
	5200	✅
	7800
	Lynx	✅
	Jaguar
	ST	✅
Bandai	WonderSwan
	WonderSwan Color
CBS	ColecoVision	✅
NEC	PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
	PC Engine Super CD-ROM² System / TurboGrafx-CD	✅
	PC Engine SuperGrafx
	PC-FX	✅
Nintendo	Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System
	Famicom Disk System	✅
	Game Boy
	Super Famicom / Super Nintendo Entertainment System
	Game Boy Color
	Virtual Boy
	Nintendo 64
	Game Boy Advance	🔶
	Pokemon mini
Palm	PalmOS	✅
Philips	CD-i	✅
Sega	SG-1000
	Master System
	Mega Drive / Genesis
	Game Gear
	Mega-CD / CD	✅×3
	32X
	Saturn	✅×3
SNK	Neo Geo Pocket
	Neo Geo Pocket Color
Sony	PlayStation	✅×3

Specifications

Filenames are arbitrary as long as the MD5s match. Provenance will rename files on import.

Atari 5200

Filename	MD5 Hash
5200.rom	281f20ea4320404ec820fb7ec0693b38

Atari Lynx

Filename	MD5 Hash
lynxboot.img	fcd403db69f54290b51035d82f835e7b

CBS ColecoVision

Filename	MD5 Hash
colecovision.rom	2c66f5911e5b42b8ebe113403548eee7

Nintendo Famicom Disk System

Filename	MD5 Hash
disksys.rom	ca30b50f880eb660a320674ed365ef7a

Nintendo Game Boy Advance

Filename	MD5 Hash
gba.bios	a860e8c0b6d573d191e4ec7db1b1e4f6

Game Boy Advance BIOS is optional.

NEC PC Engine Super CD-ROM² System / TurboGrafx-CD

Filename	MD5 Hash
syscard3.pce	ff1a674273fe3540ccef576376407d1d

NEC PC-FX

Filename	MD5 Hash
pcfx.rom	08e36edbea28a017f79f8d4f7ff9b6d7

Palm PalmOS

Filename	BIOS Name / Version	MD5 Hash
palmos41-en-m515.rom	Palm OS 4.1
palmos40-en-m500.rom	Palm OS 4.0
palmos52-en-t3.rom	Palm OS 5.2
palmos60-en-t3.rom	Palm OS 6.0
bootloader-dbvz.rom	UART Bootloader

Only palmos41-en-m515.rom is required

Philips CD-i

Filename	MD5 Hash	Notes	Required
cdimono1.zip	c59f92647701428bc453976740eb75cf	Must manually put in RetroArch/system/same_cdi/bios/
cdimono2.zip
cdibios.zip

Must manually put in `RetroArch/system/same_cdi/bios/`

Sega Mega-CD / CD

Filename	BIOS Name / Version	Region	MD5 Hash
bios_CD_U.bin	Sega CD Model 1 (US 921011) BIOS 1.10	US	2efd74e3232ff260e371b99f84024f7f
bios_CD_E.bin	Mega-CD Model 1 (EU 921027) BIOS 1.00	EU	e66fa1dc5820d254611fdcdba0662372
bios_CD_J.bin	Mega-CD Model 1 (JP 911217) BIOS 1.00p	JP	bdeb4c47da613946d422d97d98b21cda

All 3 BIOS are required.

Sega Saturn

Filename	BIOS Name / Version	Region	MD5 Hash
saturn_bios.bin	Sega Saturn BIOS v1.00	JP/US	af5828fdff51384f99b3c4926be27762
mpr-17933.bin	Sega Saturn BIOS v1.01a	EU	3240872c70984b6cbfda1586cab68dbe
sega_101.bin	Sega Saturn BIOS v1.01	JP	85ec9ca47d8f6807718151cbcca8b964

All 3 BIOS are required. Filenames online may vary. If the MD5s match, Provenance will correctly rename for you on import.

Sony PlayStation

Filename	BIOS Name / Version	Region	MD5 Hash
scph5500.bin	SCPH-5500 / v3.0J	JP	8dd7d5296a650fac7319bce665a6a53c
scph5501.bin	SCPH-5501 / v3.0A	USA	490f666e1afb15b7362b406ed1cea246
scph5502.bin	SCPH-5502 / v3.0E	EU	32736f17079d0b2b7024407c39bd3050

All 3 BIOS are required.

Importing

BIOS files are imported exactly the same as ROMs: Importing ROMs. When you have the correct BIOS successfully imported they will shown in Settings → Cores or they show as missing/red/required, otherwise you have the wrong files. You need the exact ROMs files matching the MD5 hashes above.

MD5

Though not required, you can verify the MD5 hashes of your files to be certain. To obtain the MD5 hash of your BIOS files, you can use md5 [path to file, or drag and drop file here] in Terminal. Check that it matches the MD5 hash of the file listed above.

Alternatively, BIOS files can be force uploaded manually into /BIOS/com.provenance.[system] via WebUI or WebDav (iOS, tvOS) or the Apple Files app (iOS only).

🗯 If you are still stuck ask for help on our Discord.