Game Identification
This page details the hashing method used for each supported system. First, systems where the entire game file is hashed are listed, and later systems where the RA hash may differ from the file MD5.
Systems that Hash the Entire Filelink
Amstrad CPClink
NOTE: As saving and other manipulations can mutate disk data, local copies of loaded images are required to ensure that their hashes do not change across sessions.
Apple IIlink
NOTE: As saving and other manipulations can mutate disk data, local copies of loaded images are required to ensure that their hashes do not change across sessions.
Atari 2600link
Atari Jaguarlink
ColecoVisionlink
Fairchild Channel Flink
Game Boylink
Game Boy Colorlink
Game Boy Advancelink
Game Gearlink
Intellivisionlink
MSX / MSX 2link
NOTE: As saving mutates disk data, local copies of loaded images are required to ensure that their hashes do not change across sessions. We do not believe this is working, but have yet to find a game where saving to disk actually works.
Magnavox Odyssey 2link
Mega Ducklink
Neo Geo Pocketlink
Neo Geo Pocket Colorlink
PC-8001 / PC-8801link
NOTE: As saving and other manipulations can mutate disk data, local copies of loaded images are required to ensure that their hashes do not change across sessions.
Pokemon Minilink
Sega 32Xlink
Sega Master Systemlink
Sega Mega Drive / Genesislink
Sega SG-1000link
TIC-80link
Vectrexlink
VirtualBoylink
Watara Supervisionlink
WonderSwanlink
WonderSwan Colorlink
Systems that Hash a Portion of the Filelink
3DOlink
The volume header (first 132 bytes of sector 0) and the contents of the LaunchMe file are hashed.
Arcadelink
The filename string without the extension (path/galaga.zip -> galaga) is hashed. It is case-sensitive.
Arduboylink
Arduboy .hex files contain ASCII text. We normalize to Unix line endings, then perform a full file hash.
Atari 7800link
If the ROM starts with \1ATARI7800
, the first 128 bytes are ignored and the remaining file contents are hashed. If the ROM does not start with \1ATARI7800
, the entire file is hashed.
Atari Jaguar CDlink
A header block is located within the first sector of the disc. This block indicates the location and size of the boot code, which is loaded and hashed.
If the resulting hash is 254487b59ab21bc005338e85cbf9fd2f
, it's a common bootloader for homebrew games and the actual game code is located in track 2. If a separate header block containing a new location and size is found in track 2, then that data is loaded and hashed.
Atari Lynxlink
If the ROM starts with LYNX\0
, the first 64 bytes are ignored and the remaining file contents are hashed. If the ROM does not start with LYNX\0
, the entire file is hashed.
Famicom Disk Systemlink
If the ROM starts with FDS\1a
, the first 16 bytes are ignored and the remaining file contents are hashed. If the ROM does not start with FDS\1a
, the entire file is hashed.
NOTE: As saving mutates disk data, local copies of loaded images are required to ensure that their hashes do not change across sessions.
Game Cubelink
Initially loaded program code is hashed as follows: * The Apploader is loaded and added to a buffer. * Each DOL segment (code and data) referenced in the Apploader is loaded and added to the buffer. * The buffer is hashed.
Neo Geo CDlink
Initially loaded program code is hashed as follows: * The IPL.TXT file is loaded and parsed. * Each line of the file is data to load. PRG files are executable code. Each PRG file is loaded and added to the buffer. * The buffer is hashed.
Nintendo DSlink
An NDS ROM has a 0x160 byte header. In this header are pointers to icon/title information and to the boot code for both processors. The hash method combines the header, the two pieces of boot code, and the icon/title information and hashes the result. * The icon/title information is 0xA00 bytes starting at the address stored in the header at $68 * The arm9 code address is stored at $20 in the header, and the size is stored at $2C in the header * The arm7 code address is stored at $30 in the header, and the size is stored at $3C in the header
Nintendo Entertainment Systemlink
If the ROM starts with NES\1a
, the first 16 bytes are ignored and the remaining file contents are hashed. If the ROM does not start with NES\1a
, the entire file is hashed.
PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16link
If the size of the file is 512 bytes more than a multiple of 128KB, the first 512 bytes are ignored and the remaining file contents are hashed. If the size of the file is not 512 bytes more than a multiple of 128KB, the entire file is hashed.
PC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CDlink
The boot code and disc title are hashed as follows: * Read 128 bytes from sector 1 of the data track (PCE predates ISO-9660, so there's no file system to read). * If "PC Engine CD-ROM SYSTEM" does not exist at 32 bytes into the data, discard as invalid. * Copy the last 22 bytes of the data into a buffer. This is the disc title, and usually identifies the game. * The first three bytes of the data are a little-endian sector index for the boot code. * The fourth byte is the number of sectors that the boot code occupies. * The boot code is appended to the buffer (N sectors, starting at sector X) * The buffer is hashed.
PC-FXlink
The boot code and disc title are hashed as follows: * Read 32 bytes from sector 0 of the data track (PC-FX predates ISO-9660, so there's no file system to read). * If "PC-FX:Hu_CD-ROM" was not read, discard as invalid. * Read 128 bytes from sector 1 of the data track into a buffer. This is the volume header and includes the disc title. * The 32-bit value at 32-bytes into the buffer is the first sector of the boot code. * The 32-bit value at 36-bytes into the buffer is the number of sectors that the boot code occupies. * The boot code is appended to the buffer (N sectors, starting at sector X) * The buffer is hashed.
PlayStationlink
The primary executable and its name are hashed as follows: * The SYSTEM.CNF file is loaded and parsed. The primary executable is identified by the BOOT= line within. * The primary executable name (and its path) are extracted from SYSTEM.CNF and written to a buffer. * The contents of the primary executable are appended to the buffer. * The buffer is hashed.
PlayStation 2link
The primary executable and its name are hashed as follows: * The SYSTEM.CNF file is loaded and parsed. The primary executable is identified by the BOOT2= line within. * The primary executable name (and its path) are extracted from SYSTEM.CNF and written to a buffer. * The contents of the primary executable are appended to the buffer. * The buffer is hashed.
PlayStation Portablelink
The disc metadata and primary executable are hashed as follows: * The contents of the PSP_GAME\PARAMS.SFO file are written to a buffer. This contains the game attributes displayed in the menu, including the name and serial. * The contents of the primary executable (PSP_GAME\SYSDIR\EBOOT.BIN) are appended to the buffer. * The buffer is hashed.
Sega CD / Sega Saturnlink
- The first 512 bytes of sector 0 are hashed. This contains the volume header and ROM header. The first 16 bytes must be "SEGADISCSYSTEM " for Sega CD or "SEGA SEGASATURN " for Sega Saturn. If not, discard as invalid.
- Immediately following those 512 bytes are an arbitrary amount of code that validates the region and loads the primary executable. Without processing the code, we cannot determine what additional file(s) to hash, so this was determined to be sufficient as an alternative to hashing the entire CD.
Sega Dreamcastlink
The disc metadata and primary executable are hashed as follows: * The first 512 bytes of sector 0 are appended to the buffer. This contains the volume header and ROM header. The first 16 bytes must be "SEGA SEGAKATANA ". If not, discard as invalid. * The contents of the primary executable (as identified by the volume header) are appended to the buffer. * The buffer is hashed.
SNESlink
If the size of the file is 512 bytes more than a multiple of 8KB, the first 512 bytes are ignored and the remaining file contents are hashed. If the size of the file is not 512 bytes more than a multiple of 8KB, the entire file is hashed.
Pending Explanationlink
Wiilink
Changeloglink
Last 10 changes on this page:
[2023-05-25 11:16] Jamiras:
add hash algorithms for Arduboy, GameCube, Jaguar CD and Neo Geo CD[2023-04-11 03:01] televandalist:
Added Amstrad CPC, Arduboy, Atari Jaguar CD, Fairchild Channel F, Game Cube, Intellivision, Magnavox Odyssey 2, Mega Duck, Neo Geo CD, SG-1000, and Wii. Added "Pending Explanation" section. Made some naming corrections and some formatting tweaks.[2021-12-16 13:02] Jamiras:
add dreamcast[2021-10-10 11:20] Jamiras:
add psp[2021-04-30 13:05] Jamiras:
Updated Game Identification (markdown)[2020-12-25 00:07] televandalist:
Corrected PC Engine CD name and fixed a minor grammatical error. :bomber:[2020-06-13 17:45] Jamiras:
add PC-FX[2020-06-07 11:41] Jamiras:
update for new systems[2020-05-07 07:28] meleu:
Updated Game Identification (markdown)[2020-05-06 19:52] meleu:
alphabetical order