How to RetroPi [A RaspberryPi 2 Build-Log]

[TheTiger]

 

Hello LTT and greetings from the "German Talk"-Thread,

 

In the last few month I was more and more remembering the games of my childhood. Since I own a NES, SNES, N64 and a GBA I was able to play most of them, but I wanted a portable version of all those great consols which lead me to have a further look @ the Raspberry Pi B+. After a litte bit of research it turned out that the CPU/GPU were too weak to handle most 3D based games. 

 

When the Raspberry Pi 2 was released, the idea catched my interests again and I instingtivly bought the new version of the Pi.

 

I know that there are many tutorials out there and my researchs/information are based on a lot of websides and forums, but I wanted to have an all in one guide.

 

So this will be my Build-Log/Tutorial/In-Progress-I-have-a-few-questions Thread

 

 

Cost-Overview

 

- RPi2 [~40€]

- SanDisk Ultra 8GB [8,99€]

- OneNineDesign Case [9,99€]

- 5V 2000mA micro-USB PSU [8,99€]

- Edimax Wireless USB Adapter [8,95€]

- deleyCon Slim HDMI-Cable 1,5m [6,89€]

- Heatsinks [3,99€]

- 8BITDO NES30 Controller [34,99€]

- Asus USB-BT400 [13,60€]

- iProtect Tasche 3,5" HDD [6,99€]

____________________________________________

Total:                                                       143,38€

 

You'll also need a USB-Keyboard.

Build-Log

 

Parts:

 

The Pi B+ cases were mentioned to fit the RPi2, however with cooling blocks attached to it this was not the case. So I had to cut out the piece of the case which covered the PCB.

 

I also had to make some free space to the microSD card inlet.

 

 

RetroPi OS installation

 

When I started installing the RetroPi OS, the RPi2 was so new, that Version 2.4.0 wasn't working @ all. After the first big rush and a lot of server down's I was able to download Version 2.5.0_beta which a User had uploaded, now I'm using Version 2.6.0 which I recommend getting (if there's not a newer Version yet).

 

Installation Guide:

 

1. Download and extract the RetroPi Project Image.

 

http://blog.petrockblock.com/retropie/retropie-downloads/

 

2. Format your microSD-Card with SD Formatter 4.0.

 

https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/

 

3. Install the RetroPi Image on your microSD-Card with Win32DiskImager.

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/

 

4. Insert your microSD-Card into your Pi and hook it up.

 

 

Configurate your Pi

 

1. Boot into Emulation-Station and exit to the command line.

 

2. Go to the Configuration Tool by:

sudo raspi-config

3. Now you can auto-overclock your Pi, change the amount of memory for the GPU (I added 512 in there) + set up your language and regional settings.

 

 

WLAN-Configuration

 

This Configuration is based on a "EDIMAX EW-7811UN Wireless USB Adapter".

 

1. Connect your Pi to the Internet via cable, plug in your WLAN-Adapter and boot up into the command line.

 

2. Check if your Pi recognized the Adapter and has downloaded the driver (rtl8192cu) by the following command.

dmesg

 

3. Check if the new network device appears with:

ifconfig

 

4. Turn off Power Saving by creating a configuration file with:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/8192cu.conf

Filling it with the following code:

options 8192cu rtw_power_mgnt=0 rtw_enusbss=0

Then save and close it with Ctrl+X.

 

5.1 Connection via DHCP

 

Edit network file with:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Filling it with the following code:

auto loiface lo inet loopbackiface eth0 inet dhcpauto wlan0allow-hotplug wlan0iface wlan0 inet dhcpwpa-ap-scan 1wpa-scan-ssid 1wpa-ssid "YOUR NETWORK NAME"wpa-psk "YOUR NETWORK PASSWORD"

Then save'n close it with Ctrl+X and reboot your Network-Client with:

sudo service networking restart

5.2 Connection Static-IP

 

Edit network file with:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

Filling it with the following code:

auto loiface lo inet loopbackiface eth0 inet staticaddress 192.168.0.24netmask 255.255.255.0gateway 192.168.0.1auto wlan0allow-hotplug wlan0iface wlan0 inet staticaddress 192.168.0.24netmask 255.255.255.0gateway 192.168.0.1wpa-ap-scan 1wpa-scan-ssid 1wpa-ssid "YOUR NETWORK NAME"wpa-psk "YOUR NETWORK PASSWORD"

Then save'n close it with Ctrl+X and reboot your Network-Client with:

sudo service networking restart

Adding ROMS to your RetroPi [Windows]

 

First of all it's important that you just use ROM's which you already own aka have bought.

 

The easiest way to add ROM's to your Pi is over your own network.

 

1. To do so you have to connect the Pi via Cable or WLAN (explained later) to it.

 

2. Go to "Network" and choose the RASPBERRYPI (or the name you gave it). 

 

3. In it you'll find two folders "bios" and "roms", after a click on "roms" you'll find the different Emulators which RetroPi supports.

 

4. Now just copy your ROM's to the right Emulator folders and you're done.

 

 

Bluetooth-Configuration

 

Supported dongles

 

1. Install the necessary software by:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install bluetooth bluez-utils blueman

2. Check if your dongle is recognized by:

lsusb

3. Reboot by:

sudo reboot

Make sure to add information and improvement to this thread!

More coming...!

[LarsReviews]

[Paulandpedro]

sweet.

[MoDtEc]

I like it
And im looking forward on doing something similar as soon as ive got the money, time and im in the mood for it

[TheTiger]

totally noice

-snip-

sweet.

I like it

And im looking forward on doing something similar as soon as ive got the money, time and im in the mood for it

 

Thank you very much!

The next goal is to connect the bluetooth controller and configurate it. However connecting the controller isn't a problem, but auto-connecting while booting still is. I'll have to figure out which code will work best and keep the first post updated!

[SMR]

Thank you very much!

The next goal is to connect the bluetooth controller and configurate it. However connecting the controller isn't a problem, but auto-connecting while booting still is. I'll have to figure out which code will work best and keep the first post updated!

This is really interesting. Might try it out sooner or later, this NES controller is awesome lol

 

For the bluetooth on boot, check that link http://www.thetechrepo.com/main-articles/520-how-to-connect-an-apple-bluetooth-keyboard-toubuntu-troubleshooting

 

It does exactly what you wan't. 

 

Also, I don't know if you plan on connecting it to your network, but if so, you might wan't to share your ROM folder, so you will be able to add games via some ftp or whatever access, without having to touch the Micro SD card at all.

[TheTiger]

This is really interesting. Might try it out sooner or later, this NES controller is awesome lol

 

For the bluetooth on boot, check that link http://www.thetechrepo.com/main-articles/520-how-to-connect-an-apple-bluetooth-keyboard-toubuntu-troubleshooting

 

It does exactly what you wan't. 

 

Also, I don't know if you plan on connecting it to your network, but if so, you might wan't to share your ROM folder, so you will be able to add games via some ftp or whatever access, without having to touch the Micro SD card at all.

 

That was exacly what I was looking for, thank you very much mate!

I'll try this in the next days

My Pi is already connected to my networked, as mentioned above, that's what the WiFi Dongle is for It's quiet easy to add ROM's via WiFi, however the connection is pretty slow...

[SMR]

That was exacly what I was looking for, thank you very much mate!

I'll try this in the next days

My Pi is already connected to my networked, as mentioned above, that's what the WiFi Dongle is for It's quiet easy to add ROM's via WiFi, however the connection is pretty slow...

 

No problem !  

 

I missed the "wifi dongle" part on the original post 

 

Even if the connection is slow it shouldn't be a problem since ROM are a couple of kilobytes right ? Or is it THIS slow ?

[TheTiger]

Even if the connection is slow it shouldn't be a problem since ROM are a couple of kilobytes right ? Or is it THIS slow ?

 

Most ROM's are just a few kilobytes, however N64 ROM's are ~30MB and PS1 ROM's are ~400MB (e.g. Grand  Tourismo).

[SMR]

Most ROM's are just a few kilobytes, however N64 ROM's are ~30MB and PS1 ROM's are ~400MB (e.g. Grand  Tourismo).

 

Oh i see now.