Importing ROMs

How to import ROMs into Provenance.

Provenance supports multiple ways to import ROMs and BIOSes, including single-drop mass-uploading:

• ⬆️ Uploading¹ (via built-in Web Server) · for iOS & tvOS

  • Web Server UI

  • WebDav Clients

• ⬇️ Downloading (from Mobile Browsers) · for iOS only

• ➡️ Copying · for iOS only

  • Mobile Apps

  • AirDrop · macOS → iOS¹ or iOS → iOS

• ⤵️ Injecting (with Desktop Apps) · for iOS and ATV4 only

  • iTunes

  • Other Tools

¹ Mass-uploading ROM libraries or uploading multiple ROMs simultaneously is supported.² ² Avoid mass-uploading multi-disc ROMs.

Requirements

• 🛑 All ROMs must be formatted correctly before importing. (Formatting ROMs)

• ☑️ Certain systems require BIOS files in order to play ROMs. (BIOS Requirements)

Please refer to the Known Issues regarding Importing ROMs, and read Issues Usage before posting a new one.

💢 If you run into any problems, check out Troubleshooting.

Uploading

1. Make sure your device's WiFi is turned on and connected to the same network as your computer.

2. In Provenance: Turn on the Web Server:

   • Select the + button in the Game Library, or…

   • In Settings, select the Import/Export option.)

3. Web Server Active. Make note of the [device-ip]

   • Web UI: http://[device-ip]

   • WebDAV: http://[device-ip]:81

⏬ Mass-uploading ROM libraries or uploading multiple ROMs simultaneously is supported. ↩️ Restoring files (ROMs, BIOS, Saves, Cover Art) is also supported in both methods.

Web Server UI

1. On computer, go to the URL http://[device-ip] in the pop-up dialog.

2. Open the directory corresponding to your build…

   • roms (v1.4, previous)

   • Imports (v1.5+)

3. Upload your ROMs…

   • Upload Files… button allows multiple file selections.

   • Drag & Drop is also supported.

WebDAV Clients

1. On computer, open a WebDAV Client…

   • macOS Finder: Menu Bar → Go → Connect to Server...

2. Enter http://[deviceip]:81 → Connect as Guest → Provenance mounts as a new drive.

3. Drag & Drop or Copy/Paste your ROMs into:

   • roms (v1.4, previous)

   • Imports (v1.5+)

4. (Optional) tvOS: Enable Background Web Server option in Settings, if preferred.

⏬ Mass-uploading is supported, just drag & drop multiple files.

Downloading

1. Open a Mobile Browser (Safari, Chrome, etc)…

2. Navigate to your preferred ROM host site, find your ROM and download it.

3. Once downloaded, it will show the ROM file and tap either…

   • Open in "Provenance" → Done. or…

   • More… and tap Copy to Provenance → Done.

Copying

Mobile Apps

1. Open app where ROMs are stored or accessible…

   • Apple Files (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Nextcloud, FileBrowser, etc…)
2. Navigate to your ROMs directory and tap the ROM you wish to copy to Provenance or its button that gets you to a Share or Export option, depending on the app.

3. Locate and tap Copy to Provenance option. Done.

AirDrop

1. Open AirDrop window via macOS Finder.

2. Drag & Drop file(s) onto yourself/your device.

3. Locate and tap Copy to Provenance option. Done.

👤 If you don't see yourself in AirDrop, try setting to Contacts Only or Everyone on both devices. ⏬ Mass-copying is supported, just drag & drop multiple files.

Injecting

iTunes

⚠️ iTunes File Sharing support is currently unsupported…

Other Tools

1. Connect device to computer and open DiskAid, iExplorer, iPhone Explorer, or similar app… ↩️
2. Locate Provenance App.

3. Navigate to…

   • Documents/roms (v1.4, previous…)

   • Documents/Imports (v1.5+)

 \(if the folder doesn't exist inside `Documents`, create it\)  

1. Drag your ROMs into the roms (v1.4) or Imports (v1.5) folder. Done.

↩️ Restoring files (ROMs, saves, cover art) is usually supported in these apps…

💢 Troubleshooting

• Multiple ROMs from one archive? You may be using a Region Pack ROM, meaning more than one version of the same ROM is in your archive. Unarchive the set, isolate single region ROM file(s), [re-archive, and…] re-import the single region ROM, individually.

⚠️ Known Issues

• Sometimes loose .bin for CD-based game files are picked up as Sega Genesis/MegaDrive ROMs. Please refer to Multi-file ROMs and Multi-disc Games (v1.4).
• CD-based, or multi-file ROMs and especially multi-disc games need to be uploaded and processed one at a time, until the Game Importer can be built to handle these in a queue. If yours are broken, it's best to delete the game(s) from the app UI, and delete any file remnants in the file system in ROMs (com.provenance.[system]) and from Imports using the WebUI, WebDav or an iOS file manager, and re-upload.

• Failed checksum ROMs (translations, hacks, etc…) will not be matched automatically.

• Exhaustive meta data web-scraping fallbacks to additional sources for meta data are not currently implemented.

• Uploading ROMs + Custom Cover Art in one archive may not yield a replacement until the next time Provenance is quit (with App Switcher) and relaunched.

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