# Install ucon64 with Homebrew, Nix

ROM backup tool and emulator's Swiss Army knife program. Version 2.2.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with nix: nix profile install nixpkgs#ucon64.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:ucon64
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install ucon64
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#ucon64
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/uc/ucon64/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:ucon64
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 2.2.2
- **Source summary:** ROM backup tool and emulator's Swiss Army knife program
- **Homepage:** <https://ucon64.sourceforge.io/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- ucon64 (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 2.2.2
## Project history and usage

uCON64 is a long-running command-line utility for video-game ROM backup, inspection, conversion, patching, and related emulator workflows. Its own site calls it a backup tool and emulator's Swiss Army knife.

### Project history

The SourceForge project was registered in October 2000, while the developer page credits NoisyB with work from 1999 through 2009 and dbjh with work from 2001 through 2005 and again from 2015 through 2021. The project kept an old-school SourceForge presence, with a public web site, downloads, mailing-list contact, and SVN source access.

The official site frames uCON64 around broad console, handheld, and arcade support, verbose ROM information, backup-unit communication, patch formats such as IPS, APS, BSL, PPF, and Game Genie, zip/gzip handling, and DAT generation for ROM verification.

### Adoption history

uCON64's adoption came from the emulator, ROM preservation, and cartridge-backup communities rather than from mainstream developer tooling. Its downloads page documents binaries for Linux, Windows, DOS, Cygwin, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, and macOS via pkgsrc, and the input metadata shows Homebrew and Nix packaging.

### How it is used

Users run uCON64 to inspect ROM metadata, manipulate ROM or SRAM files, apply or create patches, create DAT files, and interface with many cartridge backup units where supported. Its FAQ documents a per-user configuration file such as .ucon64rc outside DOS, with UCON64_HOME and HOME-style environment variables influencing lookup.

### Why package nerds care

For package nerds, uCON64 is a preservation-era CLI that keeps specialized hardware and ROM-format knowledge installable through modern package managers. It is not a generic game emulator; it is the kind of small executable that turns a package manager into an archive of console-backup and ROM-maintenance tooling.

### Timeline

- 1999: Developer page credits NoisyB with the start of uCON64 development.
- 2000: SourceForge project registered.
- 2001: dbjh begins a long-running maintainer/contributor role.
- 2019: uCON64 2.2.0 released according to the project news.
- 2021: uCON64 2.2.2 released according to the project news.

### Related projects

- The project site lists uCON64dat DAT files and uCON64 frontends as companion downloads.
- The developer page credits ideas or code from older tools and communities including original uCON, patchers, backup-unit support code, emulator-related projects, and ROM database work.

### Sources

- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/ucon64/>
- <https://ucon64.sourceforge.io/>
- <https://ucon64.sourceforge.io/ucon64/developers.html>
- <https://ucon64.sourceforge.io/ucon64/faq.html>
- <https://ucon64.sourceforge.io/ucon64/readme.html>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: ~/.ucon64rc
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - ucon64: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/uc/ucon64/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/ucon64.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/ucon64.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph