Direct Launch broken in BannerHub 3.7.1 from ES-DE/Beacons

[DeLaBath-33]

Hi,

I’m trying to launch a locally installed Windows PC game (not a Steam game) from ES-DE / Beacon Launcher into BannerHub v3.7.1 on Android 13 (Retroid Pocket 6).

BannerHub opens correctly, but:

• infinite loading spinner
• or Steam opens instead of direct launching the Windows executable.

The game launches perfectly when started manually inside BannerHub.

This setup was previously working with GameHub Lite using a ".steam" file containing the Local ID only.

Does Direct Launch still work in BannerHub 3.7.1?

What is the correct Intent syntax for external frontends?
Is an extra parameter or internal game ID required?

Thanks.

[DeLaBath-33]

ES-DE launch does not apply game-specific launch arguments
When launching imported PC games from ES-DE through BannerHub deep link, game-specific launch arguments are not restored/applied.
Example with Grand Theft Auto V:
Direct launch from BannerHub UI works correctly because -nobattleye is applied
Launch from ES-DE starts the game without -nobattleye
Observed behavior:
DeepLinkRouterActivity external launch path
getLastLaunchType with invalid game id
Game launches, but without expected runtime behavior
This causes:
incorrect startup flow
missing saves / fresh session behavior
game-specific config seemingly ignored
Expected: External ES-DE launch should restore and apply the same launch parameters/profile as BannerHub UI launch.
Environment:
BannerHub Lite (GHL variant)
ES-DE frontend
Retroid Pocket 6 / Android 13

[DeLaBath-33]

This is the log with 2 launch, first from bannerhub and the second from esde.
This log can be useful for investigation.

util_2026_05_13_gamehub.lite.txt

[The412Banner]

Thanks for the detailed write-up and the logcat, @DeLaBath-33 — really helpful, and your reading of DeepLinkRouterActivity + getLastLaunchType returning an invalid game id matches the symptom exactly.

A few clarifying questions to nail this down:

1. Which app is failing? — your environment line says "BannerHub Lite (GHL variant)" but the issue title says "BannerHub 3.7.1". Could you confirm — is it com.gamehub.lite (Bannerhub-Lite) or com.gamehub (main BannerHub)? They share most of the launch-routing code but the deep-link surface differs slightly between the two bases, so the fix would land in different repos.

2. Exact ES-DE intent string — to match against what DeepLinkRouterActivity accepts, what's the launch command ES-DE is currently invoking? Something like:

%ANDROIDAPP%=com.gamehub.lite/.DeepLinkRouterActivity
%EXTRA%=URI=...

Also the old .steam file format that used to work on GameHub Lite, if you still have it — that gives us the contract that worked vs the one failing now.

3. Beacon vs ES-DE — does the same thing happen from Beacon Launcher, or just ES-DE? Beacon often constructs the intent differently and the failure mode might split.

The two symptoms (spinner-or-Steam, and args-not-applied) likely share one root cause — the deep link router not resolving the external game ID back to the internal EnvGame row that holds the per-game args. Will dig into the smali side once we confirm app + intent format. Leaving open for investigation.

[DeLaBath-33]

Thanks for the quick reply @The412Banner

I tested both:

• BannerHub Lite v1.0.2 GHL ("com.gamehub.lite")
• BannerHub 3.7.1 GHL ("com.gamehub")

Both show the exact same behavior when launched externally.

Also confirmed:

• the same issue happens from Beacon Launcher, not only ES-DE.
• Direct launch from inside BannerHub works correctly.

Current ES-DE command:

%EMULATOR_GAMEHUB-LITE% %ACTION%=gamehub.lite.LAUNCH_GAME %EXTRABOOL_autoStartGame%=true %EXTRA_localGameId%=%INJECT%=%ROM%

The game is correctly resolved and launched, but external launch seems to lose the per-game runtime state:

• launch args ("-nobattleye")
• virtual container reuse
• possibly Proton/container selection

In the successful internal BannerHub launch logs, I can see:

• "启动参数 = -nobattleye"
• "virtual_containers/2551"
• "frameworkType=proton"

But these do not appear consistently during the external DeepLinkRouterActivity flow.

[DeLaBath-33]

I also share the separate logs so it is easy to make the analysis.

2l ogs from bannerhub launch.
2 logs from esde launch (with esde at.the end of the file name. )

util_2026_05_13_gamehub.lite (1).txt
util_2026_05_13_gamehub.lite esde.txt
util_2026_05_13_gamehub.lite_wine esde.txt
util_2026_05_13_gamehub.lite_wine.txt

[DeLaBath-33]

One additional detail that may help:

This external launch flow worked correctly in older GameHub Lite 5.1.3 builds with ES-DE using the older ".steam" export format, including:

• per-game launch arguments
• correct Proton/container reuse
• saves/config persistence

So this may be a regression in the newer DeepLinkRouterActivity routing path rather than an ES-DE integration issue.

Also, thank you for the support and the work on BannerHub.
A lot of handheld/emulation users rely on frontends like ES-DE or Beacon, so fixing external launch compatibility would really help the Android emulation community.

[Medard22]

I have the very same problem in Daijisho and Bannerhub 3.8.0. Games are working fine, but launching through the frontend opens up Bannerhub and it gets stuck on infinite loading.