libretro / libretro/RetroArch

Feature Request: Support Custom Vulkan Driver Loading on Android (Mesa Turnip for ParaLLEl N64)

Open
#18,143 5 comments 10 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

feature request
Dominant language
C
Stars
14.1k
Forks
2.2k
Avg merge
7h 35m
Merged PRs (30d)
51

Description

Please add support in RetroArch Android to load a custom Adreno Driver (e.g. Mesa Turnip) from user storage. This would allow users to bypass limited Adreno system drivers and enable full functionality in cores like ParaLLEl (with ParaLLEl GFX + RSP Plugins).

Problem:

On Adreno GPUs (e.g. Adreno 650), using ParaLLEl (with ParaLLEl GFX + RSP Plugins) results in a black screen with only "ERR" shown. Logs confirm missing Vulkan features:

VK_KHR_8bit_storage

VK_KHR_16bit_storage

VK_EXT_external_memory_host

These are required for ParaLLEl (with ParaLLEl GFX + RSP Plugins) to boot and render.

Solution:

Add support for loading custom Vulkan drivers from internal storage:

Accept .zip or folder with Community Drivers

Path-based override (e.g. /sdcard/RetroArch/mesa/)

Benefit:

ParaLLEl (with ParaLLEl GFX + RSP Plugins) becomes usable on Adreno devices

Matches Vulkan flexibility in other Android emulators

EDIT: I contacted K11MCH1 from Adrenotools and he said VK_KHR_8bit_storage and VK_KHR_16bit_storage were already implemented.

Link to Adrenotools-source: https://github.com/bylaws/libadrenotools/tree/master

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or entry points. Start by locating RetroArch's Android Vulkan driver-loading path and review the linked libadrenotools source. Done means defining and validating a supported custom-driver source, path override, and loading behavior that enables the required Vulkan features.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, c
Domain
computer-graphics, mobile-dev
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.