diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.Common/CoreFileProvider.cs b/BizHawk.Client.Common/CoreFileProvider.cs
index d5926ef9ed..1f1386174f 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.Common/CoreFileProvider.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.Common/CoreFileProvider.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using BizHawk.Common.PathExtensions;
 using BizHawk.Emulation.Common;
@@ -9,22 +10,31 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 	{
 		private readonly FirmwareManager _firmwareManager;
 		private readonly Action<string> _showWarning;
+		private readonly PathEntryCollection _pathEntries;
+		private readonly IDictionary<string, string> _firmwareUserSpecifications;
 
-		public CoreFileProvider(Action<string> showWarning, FirmwareManager firmwareManager)
+		public CoreFileProvider(
+			Action<string> showWarning,
+			FirmwareManager firmwareManager,
+			PathEntryCollection pathEntries,
+			IDictionary<string, string> firmwareUserSpecifications)
 		{
 			_showWarning = showWarning;
 			_firmwareManager = firmwareManager;
+			_pathEntries = pathEntries;
+			_firmwareManager = firmwareManager;
+			_firmwareUserSpecifications = firmwareUserSpecifications;
 		}
 
 		public string DllPath() => PathUtils.GetDllDirectory();
 
 		// Poop
 		public string GetRetroSaveRAMDirectory(GameInfo game)
-			=> Global.Config.PathEntries.RetroSaveRamAbsolutePath(game, Global.MovieSession.Movie.IsActive(), Global.MovieSession.Movie.Filename);
+			=> _pathEntries.RetroSaveRamAbsolutePath(game, Global.MovieSession.Movie.IsActive(), Global.MovieSession.Movie.Filename);
 
 		// Poop
 		public string GetRetroSystemPath(GameInfo game)
-			=> Global.Config.PathEntries.RetroSystemAbsolutePath(game);
+			=> _pathEntries.RetroSystemAbsolutePath(game);
 
 		private void FirmwareWarn(string sysID, string firmwareID, bool required, string msg = null)
 		{
@@ -44,8 +54,8 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.Common
 		private byte[] GetFirmwareWithPath(string sysId, string firmwareId, bool required, string msg, out string path)
 		{
 			var firmwarePath = _firmwareManager.Request(
-				Global.Config.PathEntries.FirmwaresPathFragment,
-				Global.Config.FirmwareUserSpecifications,
+				_pathEntries.FirmwaresPathFragment,
+				_firmwareUserSpecifications,
 				sysId,
 				firmwareId);
 
diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
index bc6682f166..d0006ca074 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/MainForm.cs
@@ -86,7 +86,11 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 
 		private CoreComm CreateCoreComm()
 		{
-			var cfp = new CoreFileProvider(ShowMessageCoreComm, Global.FirmwareManager);
+			var cfp = new CoreFileProvider(
+				ShowMessageCoreComm,
+				Global.FirmwareManager,
+				Config.PathEntries,
+				Config.FirmwareUserSpecifications);
 			return new CoreComm(ShowMessageCoreComm, NotifyCoreComm, cfp);
 		}
 
diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/OpenAdvancedChooser.cs b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/OpenAdvancedChooser.cs
index dfe8d3242b..915b11bd74 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/OpenAdvancedChooser.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/OpenAdvancedChooser.cs
@@ -71,13 +71,12 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			// scan the current libretro core to see if it can be launched with NoGame,and other stuff
 			try
 			{
-				//OLD COMMENTS:
-				////a stub corecomm. to reinforce that this won't touch the frontend at all!
-				////LibRetroEmulator should be able to survive having this stub corecomm
-				//NEW COMMENTS:
-				//nope, we need to navigate to the dll path. this was a bad idea anyway. so many dlls get loaded, something to resolve them is needed
-				var cfp = new CoreFileProvider(s => { }, Global.FirmwareManager);
-				var coreComm = new CoreComm(null, null, cfp);
+				var cfp = new CoreFileProvider(
+					Console.WriteLine,
+					Global.FirmwareManager,
+					Global.Config.PathEntries,
+					Global.Config.FirmwareUserSpecifications);
+				var coreComm = new CoreComm(Console.WriteLine, Console.WriteLine, cfp);
 				using var retro = new LibretroCore(coreComm, Global.Game, core);
 				btnLibretroLaunchGame.Enabled = true;
 				if (retro.Description.SupportsNoGame)
diff --git a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/BatchRunner.cs b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/BatchRunner.cs
index f69c22b03a..764f1edfed 100644
--- a/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/BatchRunner.cs
+++ b/BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk/tools/BatchRunner.cs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ namespace BizHawk.Client.EmuHawk
 			_ldr = new RomLoader();
 			_ldr.OnLoadError += OnLoadError;
 			_ldr.ChooseArchive = ChooseArchive;
-			var cfp = new CoreFileProvider(CommMessage, Global.FirmwareManager);
+			var cfp = new CoreFileProvider(CommMessage, Global.FirmwareManager, Global.Config.PathEntries, Global.Config.FirmwareUserSpecifications);
 			_comm = new CoreComm(CommMessage, CommMessage, cfp);
 		}