N64 Aborts back to Emulation Station

[Tommy_9_8]

Pi Model or other hardware: Model 3B
Power Supply used: CanaKit 2.5A micro USB Power Supply
RetroPie Version Used: 4.3
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: None
Controller used: PS3 via bluetooth
Error messages received:
Log found in /dev/shm/runcommand.log (if relevant): Code Error: Compile at bogus memory address b0bf0000
Guide used: N/A
File: Unknown
Emulator: N64--Mupen64
How to replicate the problem:

having weird issue where any N64 game that I attempt to run goes to the setup screen ("press any key..." which allows you to change the emulator for the rom, etc)...then just fades back to Emulation Station. Tried with multiple ROMs, roms were all tested good on a PC. All ROMs are loaded on the local Raspberry Pi SD card. Other emulators (NES, SNES) seem to work fine. The error log (/dev/shm/runcommand.log) has the error:

Code Error: Compile at bogus memory address b0bf0000

It seems as though all other settings are fine: I can attach a bluetooth controller, can connect wifi, etc. All settings stay after a reboot, so I assume my folder permissions are OK.

I tried multiple Roms with the .z64 extension, as well as a couple roms with the .n64 extension. Nothing with .z64 worked. At first, Super mario 64.n64 worked, but then I tried running an update to Mupen64...after which, Mario 64 wouldn't work either. I have tried all the available emulator options (Glide64/gles2rice/gles2N64)...all exhibit the same problem.

Other funky things: I noticed I got a bunch of errors trying to update mupen64 from source, but didn't get any errors when updating from binary. I get errors when I try to download new themes as well. I have no idea if this is related, I can post these errors if anyone thinks they may be relevant. I also get errors when I try to transfer roms from my windows 10 machine to the pi...I can easily conect to the Pi in windows, and I drag and drop Roms into the appropriate folder. THe file transfer window opens, and just kinda hangs, for about a minute. sometimes it will show a small % of file transfer...eventually it gives a failure indication, with a network error. if I select "skip", then the file finishes transferring, and it shows up in the correct rom folder. all file sizes are correct. To confirm the ROM is not corrupted because of this, I did a local USB stick transfer of a few of them, and I still get the same "abort back to Emulation Station" problem with them. I can do network transfers of roms of other types. The network transfer is over a home network, with a router with wireless a/b/g/n capability, so speed/bandwidth shouldn't be an issue.

I've searched all over, can't seem to find any further details on this. I've tried formatting my SD and starting from scratch, tried multipl SD cards...I'm at a loss.

Thanks for any assistance you may be able to provide!