[neighbourhoodnerd]

bump.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

lr-gpsp and Picodrive are my preferred emulators for GBA and Sega respectively.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

With a clean 2.6 image, you should be able to put the SCPH1001.BIN BIOS file into the BIOS folder and your playstation disk images into the ROMS/PSX folder and play almost immediately. You’ll need to reboot the Pi or restart EmulationStation to have it detect the new files.

By default, the EmulationStation will detect the following as PSX ROMs:
bin .BIN .cbn .CBN .CUE .cue .iso .ISO .mdf .MDF .pbp .PBP .toc .TOC .z .Z .znx .ZNX

You can edit ES_Systems.cfg to have it also open .IMG as well (and not open .CUE).

To take ownership of ES_Systems.cfg so you can edit it, do the following:
sudo chown pi /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg
Then edit /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

[neighbourhoodnerd]

1. There are two different folders for N64 ROMs. Each folder will utilise a different emulator. Note that the non-standard N64 emulator doesn’t use the standard button mappings and often has to be tweaked separately.
2. You can either edit it via ftp or locally(or SSH) using Nano. If you do it via FTP in Windows, I recommend using Notepad++ to edit the files as Notepad does not lay out the file nicely.

To edit the file locally:

sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

This edits the primary config file and affects all Retroarch Emulators (which is almost all of them).

Each emulator has its own folder for individual configuration. EG:

sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/psx/retroarch.cfg

The above lets you specify extra config just for the PSX.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

I have everything working 100% with the standard Pi2 overclock of 1000mhz.

I believe I’m running 128mb GPU RAM.

Current using: MAME, PSX, Sega CD, Sega Genesis, SNES (including superFX games), NES. N64 games vary in accuracy but the ones that do work are 100%.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Hehe, it’s hard to film and game at the same time! Your system looks pretty professional. Great job.

A short Male-Female HDMI cable would be a nice way to add your HDMI port to the outside of the case. Same with USB.

Looking forward to seeing the next round of tweaks!

There’s a project recently funded on Kickstarter which is a similar concept. Theirs has a screen built in but I believe they claim it can attach to a TV for living room gaming. Maybe you can find out how they did it!

[neighbourhoodnerd]

This is possible.

However, you’d have to manually add and configure:
-the emulator config folder
-the ROM folder
-the EmulationStation config (this involves editing es_systems.cfg to include a section for your new emulator)

First, though, try using RetroPie-Setup and see if the emulator you want is available. It may be that the developer has already set this up but hasn’t added it to the main image. Try the experimental section.

cd RetroPie-Setup
sudo ./retropie_setup.sh

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Issue 1:
Support for Nintendo 64 games is a bit patchy. There are two different emulators; each offers better support for different games.

For example, I have Super Mario 64 and Star Fox 64 running flawlessly, but Banjo Kazooie has blurry text and Banjo Tooie is massively laggy.

Issue 2:
In your Retroarch.cfg file, you’ll need to make your joypad have an index of 0. This makes it the “first” controller. If you still want to use your keyboard ingame, give it a higher joypad index.

input_player1_joypad_index = "0"

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Don’t forget to mark your topic as “Resolved” up top :)

Good luck!

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Most MAME games don’t work. The emulators on the Pi for MAME (including Neo Geo) require 0.375b ROMsets.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

which emulator / system?

[neighbourhoodnerd]

You may have issues with the built-in scraper if your GPU memory is set too high. You only need 128MB of GPU memory assigned to play games smoothly.

Slow internet will also affect this scraper’s performance so make sure this is not a factor.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

For the N64: Sorry, some games simply don’t work properly. This is a software limitation, not a hardware one. Emulating the N64 is very fiddly.

You may be able to force a different aspect ratio by editing the Retroarch.cfg file for SNES. Lots of guides available on how to do this.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

if you run all updates for Retropie whilst using the Pi1, you’ll download the new kernel which adds support for the Pi2.

Personally, I found it easier to back up my customisations and use a new image.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Install it via

cd RetroPie-Setup
sudo ./retropie_setup.sh

Go to “Experimental packages”.

It’ll then appear in Emulationstation under Ports.

Note that it only works with Keyboard and Mouse and there’s no way to quit it as far as I’ve seen.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Pro tip for PSX: get a U.S BIOS and use only NTSC ROMs.

Some PAL games had anti-piracy methods coded in. For example, the PAL versions of Speed Freaks and Spyro 2 will always crash after you play a few levels – by design.

The NTSC editions don’t have this feature so they work great :)

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Weird, I’ve been using the default retroarch SNES emulator and Star Fox runs fine (as does Donkey Kong). I’m using Pi2 with 1000mhz clock and 128GB GPU RAM.

Might be worth making sure your software is up to date.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Hiya,

If you have ANY input_enable_hotkey_btn configured, this must be held for the save state buttons to work.

Remember that this config only applies to Retroarch emulators, so that’s worth checking too. I suggest testing your changes using the SNES emulator.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Thanks Buzz! That’s awesome.

Are there plans to add more options to ES, such as the old Joyconfig GUI that existed in the earlier versions of Retropie? The more someone can do without FTP and terminal, the better, I think.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

No worries. Here – I’ll attach ES_Systems for you so you can take a look. So far I’ve found the default version pretty satisfactory. The only thing I’ve changed with mine is:
-the order the systems display
-removed .cue and .CUE extensions from PSX and Sega CD as I have always have a .bin, .iso, .img etc along with the .cue files, so there’s no need for Emulationstation to show both as games!

Note that .cue files are important, be sure to include them in your ROM folders.

One last thing: please use the option at the top of the thread to mark this thread as “resolved” so people know not to help further :)

[neighbourhoodnerd]

yep, quite a few systems use ISO files. PSX, Sega CD, etc.

You can find out what file extensions an emulator supports by opening
/etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg.

Hint: you can also add/edit this file to have more options; although naturally you must choose formats the emulator supports.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

This is not possible as far as I know. However, with retroarch emulators you can set up a different config per system. This means that if you prefer your Arcade Controller for, say, PSX, but your 360 for SNES, you can specify which controller gets assigned Player 1 buttons differently for each system.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Note that you don’t need FTP for copying ROMS over – in fact that’s usually slower.

When you attach your Pi to the network and turn it on, you should see a computer called “Retropie” on your network. You can copy games and BIOS to the Pi this way. I’m not sure how you browse network computers on a Mac, but on Windows you just go to the Network folder.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

confirmed, boot square is normal.

However, if the rainbow square stays, it means your power supply is not good enough. It’s worth buying a decent one.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Yeah man!

I’m with you on this – I finally got PSX emulation running 100% smooth. I had a bunch of kids over today playing very happily on my Pi2. I showed them how to exit a game (Start + Select) and they just went to town playing all sorts of stuff; Adventure Island (NES), Mario II (GB), Golden Axe III (Genesis), Spyro The Dragon (PSX) and Tekken 3 (PSX). Everything just worked. They loved it.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

This looks excellent! I’ll be keep an eye on your progress.

Are you going to keep the HDMI port for use with a TV when desired?

If not, you may be able to improve emulator performance by locking output to the resolution of your adafruit LCD ;) You can do it in retroarch.cfg.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Make sure you’re fully up to date (as this affects the performance of a few emulators).

My list of tested emulators:
Gb (libretro) – 100%
GBC (libretro) – 100%
GBA (GPSP) – 100%, barring some titles with hacker’s title screens added
GBA (GPSP-libretro) – 100%, barring some titles with hacker’s title screens added
Genesis (libretro) – 100%
NES (libretro) – 100%
SNES (libretro) – 100% (on Rpi2 this includes SuperFX titles like Star Fox as well!)
N64 (libretro) – 40%, some titles perfect, most titles laggy, some fail to start
PSX (libretro) – 100% (with correct settings)
MAME (libretro) – 100%, but you have to use the correct games to match your BIOS which is always an issue with MAME
Doom (libretro) – 100%
Quake III – 100%

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Yep, I set mine by opening the Retroarch settings whilst playing (good for testing settings!).

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Got it! The needed setting is
Dynamic Recompiler = Enabled
in Retroarch, Core Options settings.

PSX now at 60FPS with flawless sound.

You bloody legend!

[neighbourhoodnerd]

One last thing:
Make sure joypad_index has the correct number.

input_player1_joypad_index = "0"

If you have other devices plugged in, the index number for your controller may be different to what you’re using.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

A few tips from my own experience:
– /all/retroarch.cfg is the default control scheme (and settings) for all retroarch emulators
– /genesis/retroarch.cfg is the control scheme and settings file for JUST the genesis emulator, and any settings within it override settings in the /all/ file.
– If you’re using an old “Skeleton” retroarch.cfg file, note that a lot of the button names have changed.

I spent ages trying to get this to work, which I had copied from an old thread:

input_enable_hotkey = "6"
input_menu_toggle = "3"

The correct code is actually:

input_enable_hotkey<strong>_btn</strong> = "6"
input_menu_toggle<strong>_btn </strong>= "3"

That one drove me crazy X-D

[neighbourhoodnerd]

I have just updated the retropie setup script and installed the PSX-Libretro from source.

Unfortunately, this has actually made things much worse! Now the video lags as badly as it did on the Pi1!

Has this update possibly deleted some settings needed to optimise the emulator?

I’ve tested all the other systems to confirm the issue is definitely with this one. This is the case.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

So you suggest overclocking to 1100mhz? Any overvolt etc? Does this help with PSX?

[neighbourhoodnerd]

Or you can download the latest image for the Pi2 from the downloads page.

[neighbourhoodnerd]

It’ll help when mixing and matching emulators – particularly different Retroarch cores – for the same systems. N64 is a good example.

[Author]

Posts