[Bug]: Retroarch.exe process not closing when exiting with dolphin core loaded

[Tartifless]

Platform

Windows

Renderer

Vulkan

Game exhibiting the issue

All

Describe the issue

Core version: 2512.0.417

When exiting a game (either through ALT+F4 or with retroarch menu EXIT), the retroarch.exe process does not end, leaving an instance running.

Log Output

[INFO] RetroArch 1.22.2 (Git 69a4f0e)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12650H
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX AVX2
[INFO] Version: 1.22.2
[INFO] Git: 69a4f0e
[INFO] Built: Nov 20 2025
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input] Found input driver: "dinput".
[INFO] [Environ] SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: RGB565.
[INFO] [Core] Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core] Geometry: 320x240, Aspect: 1.333, FPS: 60.00, Sample rate: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Video] Set video size to: 1280x720.
[INFO] [GL] Found GL context: "wgl".
[INFO] [GL] Detecting screen resolution: 1920x1080.
[INFO] [WGL] Extensions: WGL_ARB_buffer_region WGL_ARB_create_context WGL_ARB_create_context_no_error WGL_ARB_create_context_profile WGL_ARB_create_context_robustness WGL_ARB_context_flush_control WGL_ARB_extensions_string WGL_ARB_make_current_read WGL_ARB_multisample WGL_ARB_pbuffer WGL_ARB_pixel_format WGL_ARB_pixel_format_float WGL_ARB_render_texture WGL_ATI_pixel_format_float WGL_EXT_colorspace WGL_EXT_create_context_es_profile WGL_EXT_create_context_es2_profile WGL_EXT_extensions_string WGL_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB WGL_EXT_pixel_format_packed_float WGL_EXT_swap_control WGL_EXT_swap_control_tear WGL_NVX_DX_interop WGL_NV_DX_interop WGL_NV_DX_interop2 WGL_NV_copy_image WGL_NV_delay_before_swap WGL_NV_float_buffer WGL_NV_multisample_coverage WGL_NV_multigpu_context WGL_NV_render_depth_texture WGL_NV_render_texture_rectangle
[INFO] [WGL] Adaptive VSync supported.
[INFO] [GL] Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation, Renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2.
[INFO] [GL] Version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 591.86.
[INFO] [GL] Using resolution 1280x720.
[INFO] [GL] Default shader backend found: glsl.
[INFO] [GL] Using GLSL shader backend.
[INFO] [GLSL] Checking GLSL shader support...
[WARN] [GLSL] Stock GLSL shaders will be used.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GL] Using 4 textures.
[INFO] [GL] Loaded 1 program(s).
[INFO] [GL] Using GL_RGB565 for texture uploads.
[WARN] [SDL] Couldn't open haptic device of the joypad #0: Haptic: Joystick isn't a haptic device..
[INFO] [SDL] Falling back to joystick rumble.
[INFO] [Input] Found joypad driver: "sdl2".
[INFO] [Video] Found display server: "win32".
[INFO] [Audio] Set audio input rate to: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [XAudio2] Requesting 64 ms latency, using 64 ms latency.
[INFO] [Audio] Started synchronous audio driver.
[INFO] [Microphone] Initialized microphone driver.
[INFO] [Display] Found display driver: "gl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading favorites file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_favorites.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_image_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_music_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_video_history.lpl".
[WARN] [SDL] Couldn't open haptic device of the joypad #0: Haptic: Joystick isn't a haptic device..
[INFO] [SDL] Falling back to joystick rumble.
[INFO] [Core] Using content: "C:\roms\gamecube\Mario Kart - Double Dash!!.iso".
[INFO] [Core] Unloading core...
[INFO] [Core] Unloading core symbols...
[INFO] [Autoconf] Xbox One S Controller disconnected from port 1.
[INFO] RetroArch 1.22.2 (Git 69a4f0e)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-12650H
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX AVX2
[INFO] Version: 1.22.2
[INFO] Git: 69a4f0e
[INFO] Built: Nov 20 2025
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input] Found input driver: "dinput".
[INFO] [Core] Loading dynamic libretro core from: "C:\emulators\retroarch\cores\dolphin_libretro.dll".
[INFO] [Override] Redirecting save file to "C:\saves\gamecube\dolphin-emu\Mario Kart - Double Dash!!.srm".
[INFO] [Override] Redirecting save state to "C:\saves\gamecube\libretro.dolphin\Mario Kart - Double Dash!!.state".
[INFO] [Remap] Core-specific remap found at "C:\emulators\retroarch\config\remaps\dolphin-emu\dolphin-emu.rmp".
[INFO] [Environ] SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: XRGB8888.
[INFO] [Content] Content loading skipped. Implementation will load it on its own.
[INFO] [Environ] GET_SAVE_DIRECTORY: "C:\saves\gamecube\dolphin-emu".
[INFO] [Environ] GET_SYSTEM_DIRECTORY: "C:\bios".
[INFO] [Environ] GET_CORE_ASSETS_DIRECTORY: "C:\emulators\retroarch\downloads".
[INFO] [Environ] SET_DISK_CONTROL_EXT_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Environ] GET_LOG_INTERFACE.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:499 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:108 I[COMMON]: SCM Git revision: 1802842
[libretro INFO] 00:40:500 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:109 I[COMMON]: User Directory set to 'C:\saves\gamecube\dolphin-emu/User'
[libretro INFO] 00:40:500 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:110 I[COMMON]: System Directory set to 'C:\bios/dolphin-emu/Sys'
[INFO] [Environ] GET_CORE_OPTIONS_VERSION.
[INFO] [Environ] SET_CORE_OPTIONS_V2.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:507 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:388 I[BOOT]: CPU Core: JIT64
[libretro INFO] 00:40:507 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:389 I[BOOT]: Fastmem enabled = Yes
[libretro INFO] 00:40:507 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:390 I[BOOT]: JIT debug enabled = No
[INFO] [Environ] SET_FRAME_TIME_CALLBACK.
[INFO] [Environ] GET_PREFERRED_HW_RENDER, video driver: "gl"...
[INFO] [Environ] GET_PREFERRED_HW_RENDER: RETRO_HW_CONTEXT_OPENGL.
[INFO] [Environ] SET_HW_RENDER, context type: gl.
[INFO] [HW] Requesting OpenGL context.
[INFO] [Environ] SET_HW_SHARED_CONTEXT.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:507 DolphinLibretro/Video.cpp:165 I[Video]: Video - SetHWRender - using OpenGL 3.0
[libretro INFO] 00:40:507 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:397 N[Video]: Using GFX backend: OGL
[INFO] [Environ] GET_RUMBLE_INTERFACE.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:638 Common/FileUtil.cpp:794 I[COMMON]: CreateSysDirectoryPath: Setting to C:\bios/dolphin-emu/Sys/
[libretro INFO] 00:40:645 Core/ConfigManager.cpp:247 N[CORE]: Active title: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GM4E01)
[libretro INFO] 00:40:649 Core/Core.cpp:1068 N[COMMON]: Want determinism <- false
[libretro INFO] 00:40:649 Core/Core.cpp:253 I[BOOT]: Starting core = GameCube mode
[libretro INFO] 00:40:649 Core/Core.cpp:254 I[BOOT]: CPU Thread separate = No
[INFO] [Environ] SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [State] found_last_state_slot: #0.
[INFO] [SRAM] Skipping SRAM load.
[INFO] [Core] Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core] Geometry: 640x528, Aspect: 1.333, FPS: 59.94, Sample rate: 32029.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Video] Set video size to: 1280x720.
[INFO] [Video] Using HW render, OpenGL driver forced.
[INFO] [Video] Using configured "gl" driver for GL HW render.
[INFO] [GL] Found GL context: "wgl".
[INFO] [GL] Detecting screen resolution: 1920x1080.
[INFO] [WGL] Extensions: WGL_ARB_buffer_region WGL_ARB_create_context WGL_ARB_create_context_no_error WGL_ARB_create_context_profile WGL_ARB_create_context_robustness WGL_ARB_context_flush_control WGL_ARB_extensions_string WGL_ARB_make_current_read WGL_ARB_multisample WGL_ARB_pbuffer WGL_ARB_pixel_format WGL_ARB_pixel_format_float WGL_ARB_render_texture WGL_ATI_pixel_format_float WGL_EXT_colorspace WGL_EXT_create_context_es_profile WGL_EXT_create_context_es2_profile WGL_EXT_extensions_string WGL_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB WGL_EXT_pixel_format_packed_float WGL_EXT_swap_control WGL_EXT_swap_control_tear WGL_NVX_DX_interop WGL_NV_DX_interop WGL_NV_DX_interop2 WGL_NV_copy_image WGL_NV_delay_before_swap WGL_NV_float_buffer WGL_NV_multisample_coverage WGL_NV_multigpu_context WGL_NV_render_depth_texture WGL_NV_render_texture_rectangle
[INFO] [WGL] Adaptive VSync supported.
[INFO] [GL] Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation, Renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2.
[INFO] [GL] Version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 591.86.
[INFO] [GL] Using resolution 1280x720.
[INFO] [GL] Default shader backend found: glsl.
[INFO] [GL] Using GLSL shader backend.
[INFO] [GLSL] Checking GLSL shader support...
[WARN] [GLSL] Stock GLSL shaders will be used.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL vertex shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Found GLSL fragment shader.
[INFO] [GLSL] Linking GLSL program.
[INFO] [GL] Using 1 textures.
[INFO] [GL] Loaded 1 program(s).
[INFO] [GL] Initializing HW render (1024x1024).
[INFO] [GL] Max texture size: 32768 px, renderbuffer size: 32768 px.
[INFO] [GL] Supports FBO (render-to-texture).
[WARN] [SDL] Couldn't open haptic device of the joypad #0: Haptic: Joystick isn't a haptic device..
[INFO] [SDL] Falling back to joystick rumble.
[INFO] [Input] Found joypad driver: "sdl2".
[INFO] [Video] Found display server: "win32".
[libretro INFO] 00:40:698 VideoBackends/OGL/OGLConfig.cpp:736 I[Video]: Video Info: NVIDIA Corporation, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2, 4.6.0 NVIDIA 591.86
[libretro WARN] 00:40:698 VideoBackends/OGL/OGLConfig.cpp:758 W[Video]: Missing OGL Extensions: PinnedMemory
[libretro INFO] 00:40:703 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:104 I[COMMON]: Suppressed popup: Warning - Failed to create shared context for shader compiling.
[libretro WARN] 00:40:703 VideoCommon/AsyncShaderCompiler.cpp:137 W[Video]: Failed to initialize shader compiler worker thread.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:703 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:104 I[COMMON]: Suppressed popup: Warning - Failed to create shared context for shader compiling.
[libretro WARN] 00:40:703 VideoCommon/AsyncShaderCompiler.cpp:137 W[Video]: Failed to initialize shader compiler worker thread.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:869 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:104 I[COMMON]: Suppressed popup: Warning - Failed to create shared context for shader compiling.
[libretro WARN] 00:40:869 VideoCommon/AsyncShaderCompiler.cpp:137 W[Video]: Failed to initialize shader compiler worker thread.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:873 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:326 I[Video]: Loaded 15 cached pipelines from C:/saves/gamecube/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/Shaders/OpenGL-specialized-pipeline-GM4E01-246FFF40.cache
[libretro INFO] 00:40:874 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:326 I[Video]: Loaded 0 cached pipelines from C:/saves/gamecube/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/Shaders/OpenGL-uber-pipeline-246FFF40.cache
[libretro INFO] 00:40:874 VideoCommon/ShaderCache.cpp:863 I[Video]: Read 16 pipeline UIDs from C:/saves/gamecube/dolphin-emu/User/Cache/GM4E01.uidcache
[libretro INFO] 00:40:874 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:104 I[COMMON]: Suppressed popup: Warning - Failed to create shared context for shader compiling.
[libretro WARN] 00:40:874 VideoCommon/AsyncShaderCompiler.cpp:137 W[Video]: Failed to initialize shader compiler worker thread.
[libretro INFO] 00:40:874 DolphinLibretro/Boot.cpp:104 I[COMMON]: Suppressed popup: Warning - Failed to create shared context for shader compiling.
[libretro WARN] 00:40:874 VideoCommon/AsyncShaderCompiler.cpp:137 W[Video]: Failed to initialize shader compiler worker thread.
[INFO] [Audio] Set audio input rate to: 32061.03 Hz.
[INFO] [XAudio2] Requesting 64 ms latency, using 64 ms latency.
[INFO] [Audio] Started synchronous audio driver.
[INFO] [Microphone] Initialized microphone driver.
[INFO] [Display] Found display driver: "gl".
[INFO] [Environ] SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS.
[INFO] [Environ] SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS.
[INFO] [Environ] SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS.
[INFO] [Environ] SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS.
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading favorites file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_favorites.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_image_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_music_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Loading history file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_video_history.lpl".
[INFO] [Playlist] Written to file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\builtin\content_history.lpl".
[libretro INFO] 00:41:222 Core/Boot/Boot.cpp:537 N[BOOT]: Booting from disc: C:/roms/gamecube/Mario Kart - Double Dash!!.iso
[INFO] [Environ] SET_MEMORY_MAPS.
[INFO] [Config] Saved config to "C:\emulators\retroarch\retroarch.cfg".
[INFO] [Runtime] Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 05 seconds.
[INFO] [Runtime] Saving runtime log file: "C:\emulators\retroarch\playlists\logs\Dolphin\Mario Kart - Double Dash!!.lrtl".
[INFO] [Core] Unloading game...
[INFO] [Core] Unloading core...
[INFO] [Core] Unloading core symbols...
[INFO] [Core] Saved core options file to "C:\emulators\retroarch\retroarch-core-options.cfg".
[INFO] [Autoconf] Xbox One S Controller disconnected from port 1.

[joepogo]

Can confirm this as well on my rig I'm using this on a mini PC with steamOS and if I run the dolphin core, close the core and then exit retroarch the exe stays running and I have to force close.

I'm also on vulkan. Was coming here to create a issue but you beat me to it.

[Tartifless]

Can confirm this as well on my rig I'm using this on a mini PC with steamOS and if I run the dolphin core, close the core and then exit retroarch the exe stays running and I have to force close.

I'm also on vulkan. Was coming here to create a issue but you beat me to it.

Yes this is a bit of a dealbreaker, i'll stick with the stable core version, but without Triforce unfortunately

[joepogo]

Is there a more stable version on here we can use until they fix this? It worked fine before but I updated my all of my cores recently and something must have gotten borked since the last update I did. I think it wasn't long ago.

I'm sure they'll fix this and surely they'll fix this issue soon enough

[cscd98]

This is a bug in standalone that is not exposed normally as they use MSVC compiler which is more tolerant of threads not being shutdown correctly. But for this core we use MINGW which is a GCC compiler and is less tolerant.

But anyway, this has been fixed in #414

[joepogo]

Thanks @cscd98 !

This should also fix my issue with dolphin on retroarch on steamOS too correct? It does the same thing on my end.

It was working fine on my end before as well so I'm thinking it'll fix it for me too. ☺️

It most likely hasn't hit the buildbot yet.

[Tartifless]

@cscd98 : can the artifacts be found yo test this ?

[joepogo]

Can confirm. This is definitely fixed and working again.

Thanks @cscd98!

[cscd98]

@Tartifless You can update via RetroArch (update cores).

[Tartifless]

Hello. Yes thanks i've already tested this last week from the artifacts and it's fixed