Installing RGBDS
Most people will want to use a release (the latest the bestest!), but if you are willing to help us test new features, you may consider using a development version.
The two main options to install a release of RGBDS are to download pre-built executables, or to build from source. Below is a list of OSes for which we know pre-built executables are available.
If your OS isn’t listed below, try finding rgbds
in your package manager—refer to your OS' documentation for help.
If you still can’t find RGBDS, or the specific version you are looking for is unavailable, you will have to compile it from source.
- Windows
- Arch Linux
- macOS
The install instructions change a bit depending on the environment you wish to use RGBDS with.
The "plain Windows" instructions may also work for some environments listed further below, since most of them pick up Windows' PATH
.
However, if you have such an environment, we recommend you follow its specific install instructions instead.
"Plain" Windows (CMD, PowerShell)
- First, pick the version you want to install. If you want to use
master
instead of a release, go here. - Follow the "release page" link below "GitHub links", and grab either of the
win32
(for 32-bit Windows) orwin64
(for 64-bit Windows).zip
files, near the bottom of the page. - Unzip that file, you should get the
.exe
files alongside a couple of.dll
s. - Either:
- Put all of the files in a directory, then add it to the
PATH
. This will permanently allow you to use RGBDS. If you only want to modify the PATH temporarily, instead of the permanentsetx
command, you can use the temporaryset
one:set PATH="%PATH%<rgbds_path>
forcmd.exe
. Use one of the following methods:- Graphically:
- Open Control Panel
- Click "User Accounts"
- Click "User Accounts" again
- Click "Change my environment variables"
- Select the "Path" line in the top panel
- Click "Edit..."
- Click "Browse...", select the folder the files are in, and click OK
- Make sure that the new entry (which should be highlighted) is at the bottom of the list; if not, click on "Move Down" until it is
- Click "OK"
- Click "OK"
- Using a command line:
- Use Explorer to go into the folder the files are in (you should see
rgbasm.exe
etc.), and click a blank part of the address bar near the top. Copy this path, and use this instead of<rgbds_path>
in the third step! - Open
cmd
or PowerShell - Type
setx PATH "%PATH%<rgbds_path>;"
forcmd.exe
, orsetx PATH ${"{"}Env:PATH}<rgbds_path>;
for PowerShell; replace<rgbds_path>
with the path you copied in the first step - Close the window for the changes to take effect
- Use Explorer to go into the folder the files are in (you should see
- Graphically:
- Put all of the files in your project's directory
- Put all of the files in a directory already in the
PATH
- Put all of the files in a directory, then add it to the
- Profit! RGBDS can now be used from your favorite command line (
cmd.exe
or PowerShell, most likely). You can test it by runningrgbasm --version
.
Cygwin, MSYS2
Follow steps 1 to 3 of the "plain Windows" instructions to get the release's files; then, copy all of the .exe
and .dll
files to the /usr/local/bin
directory of Cygwin/MSYS2's installation.
(You can get its equivalent Windows path by running cygpath -w /usr/local/bin
.)
Do not put them in a subdirectory (e.g. /usr/local/bin/rgbds
)!
This would not work.
After that, you should be able to use RGBDS from within the Cygwin/MSYS2 terminal, which you can confirm by running rgbasm -V
.
If this doesn't work, check that /usr/local/bin
is within the PATH there (echo $PATH
); if it isn't, you must add it (e.g. export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
in the ~/.bashrc
).
Note: if you can choose between using Cygwin or MSYS2, be advised that Cygwin is slower and has been reported to cause a bit of trouble to some.
WSL, and all other Linux-like environments
For these, you have to build from source.
On WSL, the default package manager (to install any build prerequisites) is apt-get
(example: sudo apt-get install libpng-dev
).
RGBDS is now available in the official repos as community/rgbds
; you can also get the latest master via the rgbds-git
AUR package, or RGBDS 0.2.5 from rgbds2
, still from the AUR.
pacman -S rgbds
We refer you to the Arch Linux wiki on how to install official packages or AUR packages, or to find and use an AUR helper.
RGBDS is available on Homebrew as the rgbds
package.
brew install rgbds
You can also install the master
branch by passing the --HEAD
flag:
brew install rgbds --HEAD