JosefNemec/Playnite · error · Exception

Uknown play action configuration.

Error message

Uknown play action configuration.

What it means

Thrown by GenericGameController.StartEmulator when action.SelectedEmulatorProfile is neither a CustomEmulatorProfile nor a BuiltInEmulatorProfile (the two recognized types). It is a bare Exception ('Uknown' is a typo for 'Unknown') indicating an unrecognized profile kind on the play action.

Source

Thrown at source/Playnite/Controllers/GenericGameController.cs:91

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

            currentEmuProfile = null;
            if (action.SelectedEmulatorProfile is CustomEmulatorProfile customProfile)
            {
                currentEmuProfile = customProfile;
            }
            else if (action.SelectedEmulatorProfile is BuiltInEmulatorProfile builtinProfile)
            {
                currentEmuProfile = builtinProfile;
            }
            else
            {
                throw new Exception("Uknown play action configuration.");
            }

            emulator = emulator.GetClone();
            if (!emulator.InstallDir.IsNullOrEmpty())
            {
                emulator.InstallDir = Paths.FixSeparators(emulator.InstallDir.Replace(ExpandableVariables.PlayniteDirectory, PlaynitePaths.ProgramPath));
                emulator.InstallDir = CheckPath(emulator.InstallDir, nameof(emulator.InstallDir), FileSystemItem.Directory);
                emulator.InstallDir = emulator.InstallDir.TrimEnd(Path.DirectorySeparatorChar);
            }

            StartingArgs = startingArgs;

            var startupPath = "";
            var startupArgs = "";
            var startupDir = "";
            var romPath = Game.ExpandVariables(action.SelectedRomPath, true, emulator.InstallDir, null);
            // This is later passed to an emulator so it's up to it how it processes long paths.
            romPath = Paths.TrimLongPathPrefix(CheckPath(romPath, "ROM", FileSystemItem.File));

View on GitHub (pinned to 5911f4e964)

Solutions

1. Check action.SelectedEmulatorProfile is one of the two supported types before launching.
2. Re-select or recreate the emulator profile on the game's play action.
3. Update Playnite/plugins so profile types align with the installed version.
4. Repair the game database if the profile field is corrupted.

Example fix

// before
controller.StartEmulator(action, asyncExec, args);

// after — type-check the profile before launching
var p = action.SelectedEmulatorProfile;
if (!(p is CustomEmulatorProfile) && !(p is BuiltInEmulatorProfile))
{
    dialogs.ShowMessage("The emulator profile for this game is invalid. Please reconfigure it.");
    return;
}
controller.StartEmulator(action, asyncExec, args);

var p = action.SelectedEmulatorProfile;
if (!(p is CustomEmulatorProfile) && !(p is BuiltInEmulatorProfile)) throw new InvalidOperationException("Unsupported profile type");

static bool IsKnownProfile(EmulatorProfile p) => p is CustomEmulatorProfile || p is BuiltInEmulatorProfile;

try { controller.StartEmulator(action, asyncExec, args); }
catch (Exception ex) when (!(action.SelectedEmulatorProfile is CustomEmulatorProfile || action.SelectedEmulatorProfile is BuiltInEmulatorProfile)) { dialogs.ShowMessage("Invalid emulator profile. Reconfigure it."); }

When it happens

Trigger: A play action whose SelectedEmulatorProfile is null or an unexpected subtype (schema change, plugin-supplied profile type, or deserialization into a base/incompatible type).

Common situations: Database schema/plugin version mismatch producing a profile of an unexpected type; action authored by an older/newer version; null profile after a partial DB edit.

Related errors

• Emulator not found.
• Can't find built-in {builtIn.BuiltInProfileName} emulator pr
• Emulator startup script not found.
• Specified emulator config does't exists.
• Backup output path not specified!

AI-assisted analysis of JosefNemec/Playnite@5911f4e964 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5d197e1a442fdfeb. Report an issue: GitHub.