Using a Raspberry Pi to create an emulation platform for the main classic consoles is a recommendation we have made on several occasions, but we have not explored it step by step. Despite the existence of dozens of alternatives on the market, the number one option remains RetroPie, and as expected, its use is not very plug and play, to say the least. Today's article is dedicated to RetroPie: it is an installation and configuration guide, as well as a list of the accessories you will need to succeed.
The idea of rescuing and restoring old consoles is wonderful, but once we start evaluating the economic factor, we discover the hard way that it is not easy at all. When entering 'collectible' territory, the prices of some systems are simply prohibitive, and that leaves us only one way out: emulate. The current state of emulation on desktop computers is formidable. You just need to explore the progress of Dolphin (GameCube/Wii) and RPCS3 (PlayStation 3). However, both tools require a very significant amount of firepower. In the case of retro consoles, the entire movement goes through the humble Raspberry Pi, and the enthusiast community has given us a huge gift: RetroPie.
RetroPie: Materials List
A Raspberry Pi
For logical performance reasons, most tutorials recommend getting the most powerful model (especially if you want to emulate more complex systems), but it should be clear that any Raspberry Pi works. RetroPie has builds compatible with all conventional variants of Raspberry Pi.
A Case
This component is optional, but we will insist on the priority of protecting your investment. We recently shared a guide with case suggestions that range from simple models to complete kits with heat sinks and power supplies. There is even a case in the style of the NES Classic. More retro than that, impossible.
microSD card, reader and USB drive
The microSD card that will hold RetroPie needs to pass through a desktop computer first, and for that we must use a compatible reader or adapter. The final capacity is measured by the number of games you want to store, but we recommend as a base a good quality 16 GB card. This compatibility guide is quite robust, and our selection comes from there. The USB drive is for transferring ROMs.
Video
This can be HDMI or RCA (in standard jack or 3.5mm plug, depending on the RPi). The HDMI cable makes things easier on modern screens and TVs, but the RCA connection allows us to use old tube TVs, which gives it a certain extra retro touch. Another alternative is to use dedicated screens. If the plan is to build a mini cabinet in the form of an arcade machine, some Raspberry Pi screens have the ideal size.
Internet Connection
Whether via Ethernet or WiFi. If your Raspberry Pi does not have wireless support, you will need to buy a compatible dongle, but a physical network cable is more than enough.
Input Devices
Keyboard and mouse for the initial configuration phase, and a compatible gamepad of your choice. Gadgets that combine keyboard and pointer control via Bluetooth are very popular for this task, and as for controllers, any USB model with 6/8 buttons should work. Something I have seen very often is reusing Xbox 360 controllers.
Software
Our guide focuses on Windows, so we need to download the RetroPie image, a copy of 7-Zip to decompress it, and Win32DiskImager, an open source program that writes RetroPie to our memory card.
Now, what if all this seems like too much work? Don't worry: The market has responded in its own way, and complete kits already exist that include a card with preloaded RetroPie images. While it is likely that you can save some euros by searching for resources on your own, the price of the kits is not excessive.
RetroPie: Installation Guide
We are ready! The first step is to download RetroPie from its official page. The available images are two: one for Raspberry Pi 0 and 1, and the other for 2 and 3. Download the one that corresponds, and save the file with the .img.gz extension (less than 700 MB) in a temporary folder. Then, use 7-Zip to decompress that file. The result is a new file with the .img extension that takes up just over 2 GB.
Connect the microSD card with its adapter to the computer. Once recognized, you must format it in FAT32 (some manufacturers distribute their cards in exFAT, which can cause problems). Download and install Win32DiskImager, run it, in the Image File section select the RetroPie image, and in Device the letter of the microSD card. Press Write, and wait.
Finally, the writing of Win32DiskImager closes the program, eject the microSD card (important!), connect the card, the screen, the keyboard, your Internet connection (if it is Ethernet or a dongle), and the gamepad to the Raspberry Pi, and let the mini computer boot. If everything goes well, RetroPie will welcome you, but we are far from finished.
RetroPie: Configuration and ROM Transfer
Booting RetroPie requires a little patience, but basically it will warn us about gamepad detection. Hold down one of its buttons to configure it, and follow the instructions on the screen. If your gamepad does not have one of the options (say, the analog sticks), press a button until RetroPie ignores it and indicates "Not Defined". The confirmation on "OK" is done with the button equivalent to "A". The keyboard can be configured as a secondary controller, or come to the rescue in case RetroPie did not correctly detect the gamepad buttons and it is necessary to go back.
When you finish with that, we will see the EmulationStation interface. Use the gamepad or keyboard to enter the RetroPie menu, and go to "RetroPie Setup". If the Internet connection is via WiFi (when using Ethernet, the computer should already be connected), first we must visit the WiFi section. Choose "Connect to WiFi network", find your network, and enter the password. With Internet access already established, we go to "RetroPie Setup", and choose "Update All Installed Packages". We confirm the operation... and wait. Everything depends on how up to date the original RetroPie image is. The average is 30 minutes. Back in the menu, we go to "Perform Reboot" to apply the changes.
There are several shortcuts when transferring ROMs, but this time we will stick with the simplest one, which is through a USB flash drive. Format the flash drive in FAT32, and create a folder inside called "retropie". Now, connect the flash drive to the Raspberry Pi, and wait about five minutes. If the flash drive has an indicator light, wait until it stops blinking. Why does that happen? RetroPie is automatically creating different folders and configuration files.
Once the process is finished, connect the flash drive to your computer again, and enter the retropie folder. There you will see new folders, but the one we are interested in for now is "roms". Inside it we will see a folder for each emulator. Copy your uncompressed ROMs into the correct folder (for example, Super Nintendo ROMs in "snes", and so on), and once done, connect the loaded flash drive to the powered Raspberry Pi.
How long to wait here? Again, the magic word is "depends". Some ROMs are small and transfer in seconds, but if you want to play PlayStation images with hundreds of megabytes, we are talking about 20 or 30 additional minutes. Once the transfer is complete, restart EmulationStation by pressing "Start", entering the "Quit" submenu, and choosing "Restart EmulationStation".
RetroPie: Time to Play!
That's it! After the restart, the EmulationStation interface will show the list of systems with detected ROMs. Enter one of them, load a ROM, and check that it is working well. Of course, each emulator has its own advanced configuration details, and I'm afraid we cannot cover them all, however, we can highlight special cases. A good example is the aforementioned PlayStation 1. CD images are usually quite large, but its emulator requires an image of the original BIOS. The BIOS must be located separately on the Internet (the most popular is SCPH1001.bin), and saved in the "BIOS" folder located inside the "retropie" folder when transferring games. Some players may prefer to disable overscan to eliminate black bars (RetroPie Menu -> Raspi-Config -> Advanced Options -> Overscan -> No -> Reboot), but those are aspects that every user will absorb along the way. From a practical point of view, your RetroPie installation and configuration is complete. Enjoy!
Official RetroPie website: RetroPie
