So the "classic game" thread has me looking at building a Retropie. I know zilch about Raspberry Pi, so I started with the wiki, that took me to a forum, and as predicted it was acronym and advanced terminology concept heavy.

Here's what I want to know:

• So I basically buy a random case off Amazon or Etsy for a Raspberry Pi 3 and just throw the thing in there?
• Once I create the Retropie disc and get it on a flash card per the instructions on Retropie.org, is it basically just a matter of putting the card in the machine and it's ready to roll?
• How idiot proof is this project, considering that I'm a colossal idiot?

also, I'm eyeballing this thing

https://www.amazon.com/Pi-Squared-Raspberry-Frame-Height/dp/B01GQMDN2W/ref=sr_1_20?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1485381085&sr=1-20&keywords=raspberry+pi+3+case

Here's the items I've been looking at for a RetroPie box myself. You don't really needs the SD card with NOOBS preloaded, I just put it on the list to check out later. Everything else on this list is all you need (hardware wise, at least) to put together a RetroPie box...I think.

http://a.co/56d9uyZ

That box is kinda cool.

Posting this so it's in this thread

https://retropie.org.uk/

You also need to buy controllers and an HDMI cable to connect it to your TV.
The only part that RetroPie doesn't provide is ROMs. There are various ways of getting them and they run the whole range of legality and ease.

My daughter and I put one together this past summer, it's really pretty straightforward.

I would recommend against buying a SD card with it preinstalled. I did this, and the version that came on it was the wrong version for the RPI3 I had. It was easy enough for us to find the right image and put it on there. Once that's done, turn it on and it's ready to go. That easy

The Xbox 360 USB controller works pretty well

I have one with about 15k Nintendo games and what not. A coworker built it all for me, so I didn't screw it up. I'm enjoying going back and playing all my old time games without having to change cartridges or hunt them down at garage sales.

I think I might have my project for the weekend lined up now!

Looking at the 8bitdo controllers for this, probably the 8Bitdo Crissaegrim NES30 Pro and maybe the 8Bitdo SNES30 GamePad (for the really authentic SNES look).

I built one as a gift for Christmas.

You need:

1. a Retropi 3
2. A power cable
3. HDMI cable
4. microSD card
5. Controllers (USB or bluetooth)

Software:
1. Retropi frontend
2. ROMs

Getting hold of the ROMs was the most time consuming parts. You can find large zipped collections, but often you have to unzip each ROM individually and they may contain a lot of BS. Once you have the roms you want you can copy them to the appropriate folders in your SD card either directly or over the network if you've put your new RaspberryPi on your wireless network.

Not all of the emulators are enabled by default within RetroPi - you wil have to manually enable some in the settings.

Is it recommended to use a dedicated charging cable? If my cable is over a couple of feet I get the power indicator (lightning bolt).

Are you trying to power using a USB cable from another computer?

The different PI models have different power requirements and that can change depending on the CPU load and what other USB devices are connected to the PI itself. For that reason, I would recommend a dedicated wall wart.

Hmmm, realizing I've got plenty of micro usb cables and chargers, hdmi cables, micro sd cards, and PS3 controllers... I really just need the Pi and a case which can be done sub-$50 on Amazon. This might be worth doing.

I think you can save the money on all existing cables except for the power cable. I am sure not only are there different ratings for the "wall wart", but I am sure cable quality could vary. Ordered dedicated power for my Pi3, hopefully will solve the issue.

The pi3 you guys are talking about can consume up to 2.5A but that spec. also includes up to a 1.2A draw for USB peripherals. Using it as a gaming system, as this thread suggests, I would recommend you get a power supply rated for 2.5A.

For other uses it depends on the model and what your using it for. Wifi, HD video, CPU, and USB peripherals are the largest consumers of power. For example, I have a B+ connected to my security system that runs headless and only uses ethernet, a USB to serial converter, and also powers a garage door opener. That guy likely never peaks much above 500mA.

I have retropie on a B+ with 2 USB controllers running on a simple USB charger at 1A. No issues at all.

Most likely whatever USB charger you have for your phone will work just fine.

Definitely a 2 Amp, like the ones that come with Kindles or Samsung Galaxy Fast charger of S7 would probably run with the USB maxed out, but never tried it. I think the reason they say 2.5Amp is for people using USB powered devices.

I know what my next project is.

At my mom's this weekend helping her clean out some closets and stuff. Found my old OG Xbox controllers, thinking I may try and put a Pi Zero in it like this guy did: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2015/11/raspberry-pi-zero-hidden-in-an-xbox-controller/

This is high on my "To Do" project list.

Went ahead and threw one of these together yesterday. Pretty straight-forward simple process. As to the above discussion on power, I'm using a regular 2.1A wall wart with a cheap cable and so far, so good. Now I just need to spend some more time populating the ROMs. Pretty fun little project.

I bought one of the Canakit 2.5A supplies from Amazon and it solved the issue. I was using either and iPad or Kindle wall wart and if you put more than a 3-4 foot cable on it... or if you wanted to put a power switch, then you receive the lightning bolt. With the dedicated power cord the switch works just fine.

I have built two of the NES cartridge Raspberry Pi Zero systems and have 6 more in production. Making them as gifts along with a custom label. IMO, serves as a pretty awesome $50-$60 all in gift for those whose friends and family enjoy the old gaming systems.

does the Pi support External HDDs?

I have a repurposed 500GB HDD from my PS4--I replaced it with a 2TB option...well worth it

I'm curious to know if I could just load everything on that and the Pi right from there

Looks like you should be able to if you get a USB adapter for it.

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Running-ROMs-from-a-USB-drive

Short answer is yes if it's a pi3 or pi2. Make sure you have a good power supply and good cables on both sides. Also, you can only power one drive at a time in this manner.

the repurposed external HDD is only powered when plugged in to the other device (the pi in this case)

I guess I'm dumber than I thought, but 1 drive at a time? if I load retropie on the HDD, and the ROMs, isn't that still just one drive?

or am I missing something

ChiveOn said:

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the repurposed external HDD is only powered when plugged in to the other device (the pi in this case)

I guess I'm dumber than I thought, but 1 drive at a time? if I load retropie on the HDD, and the ROMs, isn't that still just one drive?

or am I missing something

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I assume ntxVOL just means that you can only power one USB HDD via the USB ports on a Pi as the system can't put out enough power via USB to power more than one HDD at any given time. You'd also definitely want to get a dedicated power supply like the CanaKit 2.5A one as just using a USB phone charger probably won't provide enough juice to power the USB HDD in addition to the Pi.

https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Supply-Adapter-Charger/dp/B00MARDJZ4

my thought is to buy the canaKit that doesn't have the micro SD card + adapter if this HDD situation works

also, I have an USB'd 360 controller that is no longer in use with a super long cord so it would/should work well

ChiveOn said:

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my thought is to buy the canaKit that doesn't have the micro SD card + adapter if this HDD situation works

also, I have an USB'd 360 controller that is no longer in use with a super long cord so it would/should work well

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That should probably work, though I'm leaning towards still using the SD card for the RetroPi OS and using a USB drive for the ROMs.

ChiveOn said:

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my thought is to buy the canaKit that doesn't have the micro SD card + adapter if this HDD situation works

also, I have an USB'd 360 controller that is no longer in use with a super long cord so it would/should work well

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tamusc is correct, you will only have enough USB power from the PI to power one USB HDD. You can use a powered USB HUB and run as many as the hub will power.

As for using just the HDD and no SD card, it must be a PI3. The original and version 2 boot ROMs could only grab the kernel from the SD card. For those versions you can still put the root filesystem on a USB HDD but the kernel has to be on the SD card.

I found some information that may be helpful.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/raspberrypi/bootmodes/msd.md

EDIT: One thing to keep in mind, you will need an SD card to set the PI to boot from USB. It will come setup to boot from the SD card by default. You will likely need a linux machine to format the root partition and create the root file system. The whole process IMO, will be much easier if you have an SD card to boot the PI from and do all of that using the PI itself.

With idle hands, I have built 8 of the NES Cartridge Pi Zero's and 2 of the Pi3's running Retropie. I cannot imagine the need to hook up an HDD if just doing some retro-gaming. My understanding is the Pi3 maxes out at the original Playstation and those ISOs are typically about 250MB. SD cards are super cheap and I think you would be hard press to max out a 64GB SD card.

Now if you are using it for other applications, then maybe you need the external HDD, but I don't think there design is focused so much on that.

On a tangential topic, are they going to continue to iterate the Raspberry Pi's? So will we see a 4, 5, 6, etc?

And for those having any concern about building these things on your own, the ONLY issue I have faced was a unit that would not load the software. Looked at all the parts and noticed I broke the SD card when shoving cables and assembling. New SD card and on we go. I have never fooled around with technology that work so easily and damn near fool proof.

it's not a matter of size--more convenience and money

this 500GB HDD is just sitting around unused

my ultimate goal is to take all the digital copy movies we own and put them on there, as well as be able to put all our thousands of family pictures and videos from our phones on it too

I have yet to find a straight-forward tool that accomplishes this

my router has the ability to connect a HDD and allow for transfers while inside the network..haven't yet figured that out


TL;DR

this HDD is collecting dust and I want to put it to use for multiple applications..ideally

flown-the-coop, I get what your saying and I agree for the most part. I personally would never mess with plugging a HDD into a PI. I would lean toward mounting a drive from the network instead. There are valid reasons for doing so however.

The coolest thing about the PI and Linux IMO, is that people are free to do whatever they choose. Ours is not to reason why...I am just here to share what I know and help point folks in the right direction.

flown-the-coop said:

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On a tangential topic, are they going to continue to iterate the Raspberry Pi's? So will we see a 4, 5, 6, etc?

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It would seem so, HW keeps getting cheaper so it kind of makes sense. I wish they wouldn't have built WIFI into the PI3. I personally would rather have an RTC, but a lot of people were clamoring for that feature. I thought the PI zero was a waste, I couldn't imagine an application requiring Linux without a network connection but that PI Cartridge is pretty cool. So I believe we will see more iterations and likely more variants as well.