Raspberry pi3 with Retro pi

[Q B]

I was wondering how many of you here have built one of these. I see people selling them ready to go for about 150 on Kijiji Part of me wants to scoop it up, but the other part of me wants to Build it and install the software and games my self. Is it pretty straight forward? I tried installing hyperspin on my windows 10 and it wasn't' reliable it would just stop responding and would stick or something very frustrating.

Retro pi a better experience? more stable? etc

how did your experience building it go?

[Jump]

It's very easy to do yourself, plus it's easier to curate the roms to your liking vs buying a premade one.

I got a pi3 when they first came out, and the price has dropped significantly.
Just make sure you buy a pi3 with all the stuff you need, memory card, case if you want one, power cable, heatsinks, etc.
I have dualshock 3's linked to it via blue tooth, so I can play all the old games on the living room tv, it's a blast with friends and the gf.

it's really easy to do, there are a zillion guides online. If you get stuck send me a PM. Or if you have any additional questions I'd be happy to help.

[darryldale]

I was going to build one but went with one already done up on kijiji (not enough hours in the day).

It is now collecting dust because the input lag was unbearable. It came with wireless controllers and the lag was atrocious. I swapped out and used a ps4 controller and it's better but still noticeable. Haven't had time to look into it to see if I can get it resolved.

[CanadianRyGuy]

Maybe try a wired controller first, then you can see if the issue is with the bluetooth connection? I haven't noticed any input lag through wired means.

[Q B]

yeah that would be an issue. I read you can use wired arcade sticks (xbox 360) if that is true and reliable that would be great.

I will buy it and build it myself i think cause I do have the time. I gotta do the leg work for the roms. my hopes is to find a big dump of working roms etc

I guess we shall see.

[mike boss]

I cant remember if I posted this (so forgive me if I did).
But a while back I picked up 3 of the Sega Genesis USB hubs from Nerd Block (in Pickering town center, which has since closed down).
I tossed in a Pi3 and used an 32GB image that I was able to DL off Arcade Punks I believe.
All in all really cool set up. I plan on making a dual arcade stick for it with some Zero Delay Encoders.

Since I liked the Pi set up so much I plan on using a 64GB image for my Punch-Out bartop from Gameroom Designs (http://gameroomdesigns.ca/).

[mike boss]

I actually picked up 3 32GB Seagate SD cards from Best Buy tonight. ($15 each)
I'm writing my 32GB SD image to one of the cards for a co-worker.
The other 2 I'll try some other builds (premade PI images).
I kinda look at it like the Pi is the NES, and the SD cards are the cartridges.
I honestly don't mind having multiple SD cards that I swap in and out.
Even if many of them are pretty much the same thing, I think its cool.
I will say tho, I'm very happy with the 32GB image I'm using now.
It's well done, great amount of games, box art, game info, themed music, etc.

[Q B]

nice ya that's doable having it's like cartridges the sd cards. This will be a fun project. Do most of the games run properly? I love my beat em ups!

I think I read you can put in a line of code so it will display properly on a crt tv. I would love to play this on my 20 inch crt using that Audio/video port in the pi 3....

[mortron]

hooking up to a CRT via composite is pretty easy. you want to add

sdtv_mode=16

to the config file, and youll have your 240p goodness. as far as i know the newest build has everything included that that single line is all you should need if memory serves correct. the biggest trick is finding an AV cable with the correct pinout, as they are not all the same.

[Q B]

hooking up to a CRT via composite is pretty easy. you want to add

sdtv_mode=16

to the config file, and youll have your 240p goodness. as far as i know the newest build has everything included that that single line is all you should need if memory serves correct. the biggest trick is finding an AV cable with the correct pinout, as they are not all the same.

Thanks for this. ya I think i read something about people using the Microsoft Zune cable to connect pi's to the tv properly...

[scoltx]

hooking up to a CRT via composite is pretty easy. you want to add

sdtv_mode=16

to the config file, and youll have your 240p goodness. as far as i know the newest build has everything included that that single line is all you should need if memory serves correct. the biggest trick is finding an AV cable with the correct pinout, as they are not all the same.

Thanks for this. ya I think i read something about people using the Microsoft Zune cable to connect pi's to the tv properly...

I searched high and low for a cable locally, I bought / had a few already but the ground on the trrs cable was in the wrong position, here's a link with the proper pinout if you have a meter to test cables yourself.

https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2014/ ... ideo-jack/

Adafruit makes the correct cable but they are usually out of stock. I found a suitable cable on Amazon.ca with the ground in the correct position for the pi but you will end up with one of the audio coloured ends as the video.

Works great on an old Pi2 I have and I run only retro consoles NES / SNES and Genesis currently, into a free CRT TV I found put out on the curb With wired iBuffalo SNES style gamepads and the analog video to the CRT it plays as good as the original consoles did, or at least in my head it does! I don't perceive any lag. Part of the lag noticed with a pi into an HDTV via HDMI is actually video lag. The A/V cable into a CRT just looks right too, with scanlines and flicker.

[Q B]

^^

thanks for sharing.

So would this be a better way to go instead of those Pandora boxes multicarts? I hear some games on multicart don't run great, missing audio and too slow, too fast things like that. i guess it's obvious going the pi route you have more customization? and is more powerful ?

[scoltx]

^^

thanks for sharing.

So would this be a better way to go instead of those Pandora boxes multicarts? I hear some games on multicart don't run great, missing audio and too slow, too fast things like that. i guess it's obvious going the pi route you have more customization? and is more powerful ?

I cant speak for the Pandoras Box as I don't own one. But a quick check of the specs comparing a PB4 and a Pi3 from Mr. Google shows:

Pandoras Box 4
CPU : ARM Cortex-A8 1.0GHz
GPU : ARM Mali400
RAM : DDR3 2GB
Storage : MicroSD(TF)8GB

Pi 3
SoC: Broadcom BCM2837 (roughly 50% faster than the Pi 2)
CPU: 1.2 GHZ quad-core ARM Cortex A53 (ARMv8 Instruction Set)
GPU: Broadcom VideoCore IV @ 400 MHz.
Memory: 1 GB LPDDR2-900 SDRAM.
USB ports: 4.
Network: 10/100 MBPS Ethernet, 802.11n Wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.0.

The pi wins on cpu, but looses on ram, but at least to me wins big time on being able to customize, ie which emulators, front ends, easy to add roms, tweak etc. But is not plug and play like a jamma multi and there is something to be said for easy!. So your call. If the PB4 has all the games you'd ever want to play then why the hell not.

[Q B]

^^
yeah I could of googled but I like to hear from people on here with real experience .

Thanks for taking the time to show the info. Appreciate it.

something to think about. I like the ease of use of those pandora boxes and the front end, and I know you can do the same on Pi3 I just feel overwhelmed but im sure it's pretty easy with all the forums and support for the pi3 and someone earlier posted some info ok I won't be an ASKHOLE anymore

gonna get me a pi3 and do it myself.

[scoltx]

^^
yeah I could of googled but I like to hear from people on here with real experience .

Thanks for taking the time to show the info. Appreciate it.

something to think about. I like the ease of use of those pandora boxes and the front end, and I know you can do the same on Pi3 I just feel overwhelmed but im sure it's pretty easy with all the forums and support for the pi3 and someone earlier posted some info ok I won't be an ASKHOLE anymore

gonna get me a pi3 and do it myself.

Bit of a learning curve but there's lots of resources for retropie including their main site, which is a great place to start. https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

There are sites with fully built images that you can dissect to figure out how things are done, or just use as is. You can multiple sd cards and swap them in/ out with different setups i.e Emulation Station vs Attract Mode front ends. See what you like, but it's pretty satisfying figuring things out and setting things up the way you want them from scratch. Once you have something you like, use the sd card imaging tools to make a backup so if you Eff things up you can restore it easily.