.ELF File Extension
Nintendo Wii Game File
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Popularity |
4.1 | 87 Votes |
What is an ELF file?
An ELF file is an executable file meant to be used with a Nintendo Wii or Nintendo Wii emulator. It contains a video game or other Wii application. ELF files may contain official Wii applications or homebrew applications.
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ELF files are similar to .DOL files, in that they are used to distribute Nintendo Wii games and other applications. However, ELF files contain extraneous debugging information that DOL files do not. For that reason, gamers prefer to distribute Wii applications as DOL files.
How to open an ELF file
On PCs, you can open an ELF file and launch the game or other application it contains using Dolphin, a cross-platform Nintendo Wii emulator. On a Nintendo Wii, you can open an ELF file by transferring the file to your Wii using an SD card and then opening the file via the Homebrew Channel.
How do I convert a Nintendo Wii ELF file to a DOL file?
In some cases, you may need to convert an ELF file to a DOL file in order to open it. You can convert ELF files to DOL files using the ELF to DOL Converter (cross-platform). The converter is a .BAT script that automatically converts ELF files to DOL files.
Programs that open ELF files
Executable and Linkable Format File
| Developer | Unix System Laboratories |
| Popularity |
4.2 | 54 Votes |
An ELF file may also be a system file saved in the Executable and Linkable Format (ELF). The ELF format is a standard format used for saving executable files, object files, shared libraries, and memory dumps. Unix users are most likely to encounter ELF files.
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Each ELF file begins with an ELF file header that declares what type of data the ELF file contains. This metadata allows a Unix system to read and execute the file correctly, based on its architecture, expected machine type, and ELF file type.
ELF files typically contain one or more program headers, which tell a Unix system how to execute the program the file contains. ELF files also contain section headers, which list the sections of data the file contains. The actual data the files contain is stored after these headers.
NOTE: ELF files used by Linux and other non-macOS Unix systems often do not use the .elf extension. Instead, they are saved without a file extension.
How to open an ELF file
Many ELF-related Unix utilities allow you to view and examine the data an ELF file contains. For example, you can use elfutils, ELFDump, or readelf to analyze an ELF file.
Programs that open or reference ELF files
PlayStation Executable
| Developer | Sony |
| Popularity |
3.3 | 29 Votes |
An ELF file may also be an executable file that stores the contents of a PlayStation, PS2, PS3, or other PlayStation console game disc. Gamers use ELF files to play PlayStation games in various PlayStation console emulators. Most commonly, ELF files store the contents of PS2 and PS3 game discs, and are used to play games in PS2 and PS3 emulators.
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PlayStation ELF files are saved in the same standard Executable and Linkable Format used by many Unix programs. Thus, gamers can examine the files' contents with readelf, ELFDump, and other ELF-related utilities.
Each ELF file contains a single game's game data, including assets, object code, shared libraries, and other data. In most cases, players run these files as-is in PlayStation emulators, to play the games they contain. However, modders may extract, edit, and repackage an ELF file's contents, to modify a game's gameplay.
NOTE: Some ELF files contain homebrew PlayStation applications, rather than official games.
How to open an ELF file
You can play the game an ELF file contains with various PlayStation console emulators. For example, you can play a the game a PS2 ELF file contains with PCSX2 (Windows, Linux), and you can play the game a PS3 ELF file contains with RPCS3 (Windows, Linux).
If you want to examine an ELF file's contents, you can use readelf, ELFDump, or elfutils. If you want to edit an ELF file's contents, you can use elfutils.