Learn · Configure · Explore
GBAx documentation
Everything from your first game to the hardware beneath it. Set up GBAx, understand the launcher, explore emulation and build the desktop application from source.
Using GBAx
Install, configure, save and troubleshoot your setup.
Getting started with GBAx
Install Preview 1, scan your collection and verify your first game and save.
Read article →Controllers & launcher navigation
Connect a controller, map game buttons and use the launcher and Quick Menu confidently.
Read article →Saves, states & backups
Understand cartridge saves and snapshots, verify persistence and move progress carefully.
Read article →Play online or open a local game
Start the browser player, manage controls and keep an exported copy of your progress.
Read article →Troubleshooting GBAx
Identify the failing layer, apply a focused check and write a reproducible bug report.
Read article →Launcher & application
Explore the desktop interface, its data and the game-launch process.
Hardware emulation
Understand the CPU, memory and timed components that reproduce the console.
Inside GBAx: how the emulator works
Follow a game from cartridge bytes through CPU execution and timed hardware events to pixels and sound.
Read article →CPU: ARM & Thumb execution
Decode an instruction, follow registers and flags, and see how execution meets memory and timing.
Read article →Memory & the system bus
Explore the memory map, register side effects, access widths, wait states and open-bus behaviour.
Read article →Timers, DMA & interrupts
See how scheduled events, bus transfers and interrupt requests coordinate the machine.
Read article →Video: backgrounds, sprites & scanlines
Build a scanline from tiles, sprites, priorities and blending, then follow the frame to the screen.
Read article →Audio: sound channels & timing
Trace sound from PSG channels and timer-driven FIFOs through mixing and host audio buffers.
Read article →Cartridges, save memory & peripherals
Understand ROM access, SRAM, Flash and EEPROM protocols, plus cartridge clocks and sensors.
Read article →Input & link communication
Trace a controller press into keypad registers and learn how serial transfers differ from online play.
Read article →BIOS, boot & software interrupts
Understand startup state, BIOS service calls and the difference between a real BIOS and its replacement.
Read article →Build from source
Prepare native toolchains and test the resulting desktop packages.
Build GBAx on Windows
Prepare the MSVC/Qt toolchain, build the release ZIP and test its deployed runtime.
Read article →Build GBAx on macOS
Build for the correct architecture, package a DMG and understand signing and deployment.
Read article →Build GBAx on Linux
Prepare Ubuntu dependencies, build the AppImage and check the runtime and display environments.
Read article →