Black screen
Verify the game dump, try Vulkan / OpenGL / D3D, test another BIOS region.
- Toggle software renderer briefly to see if the issue is GS-specific
- Disable widescreen patches and heavy upscaling for a sanity check
- Confirm the window isn’t zero-sized on multi-monitor setups
Low FPS
Lower internal resolution, reduce enhancements, close background apps.
- Check CPU and GPU limits separately in the performance overlay
- Plug in laptops; disable aggressive battery saver and frame caps
- Some titles are EE-bound — no amount of GPU headroom fixes them
Controllers
Rebind inputs, remove duplicate devices, disable conflicting overlays.
- Steam Input and other mappers can steal XInput slots — test with them off
- Calibrate sticks and triggers; deadzones fix drift without losing precision
- Per-game profiles help when one title needs inverted axes or macros
Crash on boot
Reset config, update to the latest build, test with defaults first.
- Rename your settings folder once to rule out corrupted INI state
- Update GPU drivers; old Vulkan layers crash before the UI appears
- On Linux, verify distro libraries match what the package maintainer expects
Audio crackle or desync
Often tied to unstable emulation speed or aggressive sync options.
- Disable speed hacks and retest FMVs and music loops
- Match audio latency mode to your buffer size and output device
- Bluetooth headphones add delay — use wired when testing sync
Stutter & hitching
Shader compilation and disk access show up as periodic spikes.
- Let caches warm up; first runs are rarely representative
- Move ISOs off slow USB or network shares when possible
- Disable OS-level game DVR temporarily to isolate capture overhead
Broken textures or lighting
Renderer-specific; patches and hardware depth settings interact.
- Compare Vulkan vs Direct3D 11 for the same internal resolution
- Check the wiki for “half-pixel offset” or blending notes for that game
- Texture preloading trades VRAM for fewer pop-in glitches
Save states fail
Some moments in games are not safe to snapshot.
- Fall back to memory card saves before risky boss sequences
- After major version jumps, old slots may not restore — plan ahead
- Disk full or permission errors surface as generic load failures