JosefNemec/Playnite · error · Exception

No emulator profile specified.

Error message

No emulator profile specified.

What it means

Thrown as a generic Exception during emulator-based ROM scanning when scanner.EmulatorProfileId is null or empty (checked via IsNullOrEmpty). The scanner requires both an emulator ID and a specific emulator profile ID to know how to launch and identify games. Without a profile, the scanner cannot determine executable paths, arguments, or ROM detection rules.

Source

Thrown at source/Playnite/Emulators/Scanner.cs:203

        public List<ScannedGame> Scan(
            CancellationToken cancelToken,
            out List<Platform> newPlatforms,
            out List<Region> newRegions,
            Action<string> fileScanCallback = null)
        {
            List<ScannedGame> games;
            newPlatforms = new List<Platform>();
            newRegions = new List<Region>();

            var emulator = database.Emulators[scanner.EmulatorId];
            if (emulator == null)
            {
                throw new Exception("Emulator not found.");
            }

            if (scanner.EmulatorProfileId.IsNullOrEmpty())
            {
                throw new Exception("No emulator profile specified.");
            }

            importedFiles = database.GetImportedRomFiles(emulator.InstallDir);
            var globalScanConfig = database.GetGameScannersSettings();
            var crcExclusions = string.Join(";",
                ListExtensions.Merge(globalScanConfig.CrcExcludeFileTypes, scanner.CrcExcludeFileTypes).
                Select(a => a.ToLower().Trim()).ToHashSet());
            var dirToScan = PlaynitePaths.ExpandVariables(scanner.Directory, emulator.InstallDir, true);

            fileExclusions = ParseExclusions(dirToScan, scanner.ExcludedFiles);
            directoryExclusions = ParseExclusions(dirToScan, scanner.ExcludedDirectories);

            CustomEmulatorProfile customProfile = null;
            BuiltInEmulatorProfile builtinProfile = null;
            EmulatorDefinitionProfile builtinProfileDef = null;
            if (scanner.EmulatorProfileId.StartsWith(CustomEmulatorProfile.ProfilePrefix, StringComparison.Ordinal))
            {
                customProfile = emulator.CustomProfiles?.FirstOrDefault(a => a.Id == scanner.EmulatorProfileId);

View on GitHub (pinned to 5911f4e964)

Solutions

1. Open the scanner configuration and select an emulator profile from the dropdown.
2. If the referenced profile was deleted, select a new one or recreate the deleted profile.
3. If creating scanners programmatically, always set EmulatorProfileId before saving.
4. Validate scanner configs on load and flag/skip incomplete ones.

Example fix

// before — scanner without profile ID
var scanner = new GameScanner { Name = "SNES Roms", EmulatorId = emu.Id }; // no EmulatorProfileId
RunScan(scanner);

// after — always set the profile
var scanner = new GameScanner
{
    Name = "SNES Roms",
    EmulatorId = emu.Id,
    EmulatorProfileId = emu.CustomProfiles.First().Id // explicitly set
};
RunScan(scanner);

if (scanner.EmulatorProfileId.IsNullOrEmpty())
{
    logger.Warn($"Scanner '{scanner.Name}' has no emulator profile specified.");
    continue;
}

static bool HasValidProfileId(GameScanner scanner)
{
    return !scanner.EmulatorProfileId.IsNullOrEmpty();
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running a GameScanner where EmulatorProfileId was never set, was cleared, or is empty. This is a configuration completeness check: the scanner form requires selecting an emulator profile before saving.

Common situations: The scanner was created programmatically or imported without a profile ID. The profile was deleted and the scanner config was not updated. The scanner config was edited manually or via API without setting EmulatorProfileId. A UI bug allowed saving an incomplete scanner configuration.

Related errors

• Assigned custom emulator profile not found.
• Assigned built-in emulator profile not found.
• Emulator not found.
• Emulator profile format not supported.
• No profile provided.

AI-assisted analysis of JosefNemec/Playnite@5911f4e964 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f251196db0456776. Report an issue: GitHub.