Photo Credits Screenshots: Matt Smith Raspberry Pi screenshots done via raspi2png. Thanks Andrew Duncan!

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2 2015 Matthew Smith All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at with Attention: Permission Request, as the subject. Photo Credits Screenshots: Matt Smith Raspberry Pi screenshots done via raspi2png. Thanks Andrew Duncan!

3 Console, computer, and handheld images: Public Domain and Creative Commons licensed. If you notice errors, omissions, or just have something to suggest to improve this book, feel free to me anytime at

4 CHAPTER 1 RETRO GAMING The low cost computer that changes the game When the Raspberry Pi credit card-sized computer was announced in 2011, the Pi folks promised to provide a full-featured, real computer for $35. People laughed until the Raspberry Pi Foundation delivered on its promise. Released to the public in February of 2012, it is now the low cost programmable computer of choice in education, robotics, and science. A Pi has even been sent into space to assist in an extraterrestrial experiment. Because of it s power, extensibility, cost, and small size, it didn t take long for the Pi to attract the attention of retro gamers and programmers of old school video game console emulators. Now a whole community has developed around RetroPie, a polished, multiconsole, retro gaming experience of the first magnitude. What is RetroPie 3.0? RetroPie is an intrepid project in the spirit of open source software overseen by a cadre of genius programmers. RetroPie combines the efforts of a number of projects including Emulation Station, RetroArch, and Libretro, into an amazingly tiny device that can run most of the important video game systems from the first generation (think Odyssey and Atari) through the fifth (think Nintendo s N64 and the Sony Playstation). All the projects are crafted by wonderful developers who are most likely doing this for free out of a love of coding on the cutting edge. The folks at petrockblog make the software available in an easy to use form (more on that later) and do yeoman s work at supporting it.

5 EmulationStation is the graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the user to access over 30 different gaming systems (if you include experimental builds, more on that in chapter 8). Libretto is the project that brings many of the cores, or system emulation software, together. RetroArch is the front end, or user interface for Libretro.. Teamed up with the Raspberry Pi credit card computer, a joystick, keyboard, and a few cables, you have video gaming history in the palm of your hand. RetroPie is amazing software on an amazing little computer. The only thing I think it s missing is a ColecoVision core. C mon RetroPie people show a little love for Coleco! The focus of this book The purpose of this book is to help someone who has relatively no knowledge of Linux or command line interfaces and allow them to set up a retro gaming Raspberry Pi. You will learn what you need to create a retro gaming system on your Pi, how to install it, and how to configure it. When all is said and done you will be able to run nearly thirty different consoles and computers, all in just about the tiniest of packages. You ll learn how to get a variety of controllers to interact with the emulated consoles, and some advanced techniques like scraping and installing wireless controllers. When you must deal with Linux command line, you will receive step-by-step, detailed guidance. If you happen to be

6 a Linux guru and can already make the Raspberry Pi dance to your tune, this book could still prove helpful as a lot of the information you need to make RetroPie work is gathered in one place. You ll spend less time searching the internet for configuration information. This book will focus on the consoles, handhelds, and computer systems that will run reasonably reliably on the Raspberry Pi 2. Some of the systems, notably the Nintendo N64 and the Sony Playstation 1, will not run in a playable fashion on the earlier versions of the Pi. That said, at only $35 US, you may want to upgrade and let your kids build robots with the Model A or B. This book will assume you have a Raspberry Pi 2 (the instructions for an earlier version are generally the same and noted where needed), a compatible controller, a USB keyboard and mouse, and a microsd card with a way to plug it into a Mac, PC, or Linux computer. We won t be discussing the GPIO, the row of little pins at one edge of the Pi that offer programmable access. Either you already know how to use these connectors, or you are willing to put in a greater commitment to gathering knowledge and practice than this book affords. What to buy So you haven t purchased your Raspberry Pi setup yet? Need some guidance? Well, here s what I recommend (all items readily available at the time of writing on Amazon.com): 1. CanaKit Raspberry Pi 2 Complete Starter Kit with WiFi (Latest Version Raspberry Pi 2 + WiFi + Original Preloaded 8GB SD Card + Case + Power Supply + HDMI Cable). This kit has everything you need and it just works. The Pi computer, a case, a power supply, wifi dongle and TV cable. No need to make a decision or take a risk. Just get it. I don t work for the Canakit people but I did buy my Raspberry Pi 2 from them. You can buy a Pi for US$35 without the other items, but having it all work out of the box is a treat. Around US$ SanDisk Ultra 32GB UHS-I/Class 10 Micro SDHC Memory Card Up to 48MB/s With Adapter- SDSDQUAN-032G-G4A [Newest Version] Ok, ok. The Canakit is great but an 8GB card won t cut it if you re going to get 30 plus emulators going on your Pi, especially big Playstation and Sega CD games. Note that the microsd card here is a Class 10 which means it s about as fast as they come. Because microsd cards are fairly slow compared to spinning platter or solid-state hard disks for a computer, you want the fastest card to minimize the data flow bottleneck. Around US$14.

7 3. Buffalo Classic USB Gamepad for PC. Around US$12. It s a simple clone of the Super Nintendo controller, solid in your hands and gives a great retro gaming experience. Plug it in and you re set to play. 4. AmazonBasics Wired Keyboard. Around US$12. If you don t happen to have a USB keyboard lying around to use, you can t go wrong with this one. You can spend a lot more on a keyboard of course, but why? We re here to play games with console style joysticks. Unless you plan to play one of the computer emulators. At any rate, you will need a USB keyboard of some type. Optional items 5. An microsd card reader of some sort. Your computer may have one, in that case, don t buy one. 6. JBtek Raspberry Pi Bluetooth 4.0 USB adapter. You need one of these in case you are going to use one of the Bluetooth wireless joystick options, namely the Sony PS3 controller and the Wii Wiimote. Make sure that what you buy is recommended by others as working with the Raspberry Pi. Around US$9. 7. USB Thumb Drive. If you are going to load games into RetroPie via thumb drive, you ll want one of these. On to the install!

8 CHAPTER 2 INSTALLING RETROPIE With a little guidance, installing RetroPie, is actually a pretty easy exercise. If you have any experience in command line operating systems like DOS, Linux, or even the Terminal on Mac OS X, you will find it very simple. If you don t, then having a step by step guide is the solution to taking your purchase of a Raspberry Pi to retro gaming heaven. Many of the techniques to get an emulator running are repeated for each section so if you treat this like a novel it will start to have the repetitive quality of an oral tradition epic. My advice is go to the sections you need as you need them. All the direction you need to install and operate the emulator should be right there, together, so that you can get to playing with a minimum of page turning, with the exception of section on ROM installation which varies very little between emulators. Some parts of this book avoid advanced issues regarding RetroPie to keep the process simple and to minimize confusion. Please see the section titled Advanced RetroPie Topics and the Resources and further reading section toward the end of the book if you would like to delve further into the mystical depths of this powerful software project. Prepare your micro SD card When it comes to the Raspberry Pi, flashing your SD card is the name of the game. The Pi 2 uses a micro SD card (the Pi models A and B use a regular SD card) as storage akin to a computer s hard drive, you will need to format it so that the Pi can read and utilize your card. Also necessary is some method of connecting the micro SD card to your computer. I use a SD card reader that plugs into one of my laptop s USB ports but it is possible your computer already has an SD card slot. In that case you will need a SD adapter for microsd cards. These are readily available on Amazon.com and likely your local Walgreens or CVS Pharmacy if you happen to get caught without one. Often they are sold

9 with the micro cards. Luckily for us, the software that runs RetroPie comes ready to copy to your microsd card. Someone has already done the hard work of compiling the code and has created a disk image that will, once downloaded and then written to the card, allow us to easily boot your Rasperrry Pi straight into RetroPie. Download the image You can download the image you will need from: Make sure you download the correct image for your Raspberry Pi (there are versions for both the Pi 1 and the Pi 2.) On the next page, click the big green Download link. Then wait patiently while the file downloads. Once the file has made it to your computer, you will need to locate it. If you know the default folder your browser uses for downloads, make your way there. If not, you may need to search for it. Flashing your SD card Warning! I highly recommend that you eject all external disks from your computer so you don t make a mistake and flash the wrong drive. Be sure that the drive you select is not your boot drive. I doubt that most operating systems would allow you to delete the

10 data on a boot drive, I m not going to be the one to try it. While unlikely, if you are not careful, you could lose data on this step. Once the file has arrived, it is time to flash, or clone the file onto your microsd card. On a Mac, my preferred method is to use a piece of donationware (meaning, if the program is useful to you, you should consider donating to the author) software named ApplePi-Baker. You can find the software at For the Mac (if you have a PC see the next section) Insert your microsd card into your card adaptor, then plug that into your Macintosh. You may not see anything on your desktop as there are probably no file systems on the card recognizable to your Mac at this point. Next, launch the program. You will be presented with an opportunity to type your admin password. One caveat is that you must be logged into your Mac as an admin. If you are not logged in as admin, you will have to switch to an account in System Preferences > Users and Groups on your Mac that has admin privileges. Once you have successfully logged in you will see a screen like the following:

11 Note that your microsd card is listed in the box on the left below the tasty looking pie. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that it is your card that is listed there (size is a good indicator, if the size roughly matches the card you purchased, then you are on track). Select the drive that represents your card in the box below the title Pi- Crust : Select SD- Card or USB drive. If you inserted your card after launching the program, click on the little file icon next to the box with the recycling style arrows. That will rescan for drives and yours should pop up. It s worth noting that you can flash a drive that will allow you to install most of the operating systems that will run on the Raspberry Pi by selecting the Prep for NOOBS button. However, this is unnecessary for our purposes. Select the button that says Restore Backup under the Pi-Ingredients : IMG Recipe. This will allow us to select the RetroPie disk image we downloaded. Click Open and the program will begin the flashing process. On my computer it takes about 3 minutes and you can watch the progress bar if you are so inclined.

12 Once it says your ApplePi is ready, click the OK button and dismount the drive by clicking the triangle shaped Eject selected device icon next to the Pi- Crust : Select SD- Card or USB drive box. Remove the card from your computer. You now have a bootable RetroPie microsd card. On to the Pi! For the PC On the PC there are two programs you need: SD Formatter (available at and Win32 Disk Imager (available at Both are free. Insert your card reader or card adaptor into your PC computer. You may not see anything on your desktop as their are probably no file systems on the card recognizable to your PC at this point. Next, launch the program SD Formatter. You will see a window similar to that below. If your drive does not show up, click Refresh. When your drive does become selected (make sure that the SD card size matches what is shown in the Size box.), click Format. Generally, this takes a few seconds and you are alerted the process has completed. You can quit SD Formatter.

13 Now, launch Win32 Disk Imager. You will see a window similar to the one below. If necessary, choose your SD card with the Device pulldown (mine is mapped to the E drive here). Click on the folder icon next to your devices assigned letter and navigate to the RetroPie image you downloaded earlier. Click Write and the program will begin the flashing process. On my computer it takes about 3 minutes. Once completed, exit Win32 Disk Imager and eject the drive. Remove the card from your computer. You now have a bootable RetroPie microsd card. On to the Pi!

14 For the Linux PC If you happen to have a Linux computer as your main computer, no worries you can still perform the same tricks. Head to and get started now!

15 CHAPTER 3 CONFIGURING RETROPIE Now that you have what is in essence the Raspberry Pi s hard drive, your microsd card, all formatted for RetroPie, it s time to get it up and running. Step 1: Insert the microsd card into the Pi. Be sure to push it in until it clicks. Step 2: Make sure all the proper cables are going to the right place, that the HDMI cable is plugged into a HDMI port on your television, that you have a USB keyboard and your USB controller of choice plugged in and ready to go. You may want to have your ethernet cable plugged in from your Pi to your router for the next step when we begin copying over games. Be sure you television is on and set to the correct HDMI channel. Step 3: Plug in the Micro USB power connector. Step 4: Enjoy the show as the Raspberry Pi boots into RetroPie. You will see at first some scary commands scrolling past, then the RetroPie logo, the EmulationStation screen before finally the Welcome screen lands. Now it s time to get to work. Step 5: The first thing we have to do is configure a controller. Grab the controller you plugged in earlier and do as it asks you to do. Press a button down until RetroPie recognizes the gamepad. Hopefully you will see the name of your controller flash briefly and you will be brought to this screen:

16 Your task now is to match the button it shows you on the left side of the screen with the corresponding button on your controller, working your way down to the end. If you re using a Buffalo Classic USB Gamepad, then Left Bottom and Right Bottom correspond to the shoulder buttons on the controller. There are some buttons it asks for that your controller may not have. Simply hold any button down for a few seconds (it will countdown) and you can skip setting

17 those parameters. This is useful if you have a SNES style controller without analog sticks. The directional pad (D-Pad) will suffice for now. Once you have a controller dialed in you should see this screen which means that all is well. Step 6: Next, there is some configuring you need to do for things to run smoothly. In EmulationStation (where you can see a few of the emulators that work out of the box) hit the left D-Pad on your controller to move over to the RetroPie directory.

18 directory: Once there, hit the A button on your gamepad and you will see the following Using the D-Pad, drop down to the line RASPBERRY PI CONFIGURATION TOOL RASPI-CONFIG. Hit the A button to select it. In a moment, your screen should look like this: You ll need to use your USB keyboard at this point as you are out of RetroPie

19 and dealing with some Linux underpinnings (technically, Rasabian, one of the Linux builds for the Raspberry Pi). The first thing we ll do here is hit the return key while Expand Filesystem is selected. This will ensure that RetroPie can access all the space on the microsd card. The next dialog box tells us that The filesystem will be enlarged upon the next reboot. Hit the return key to take us back to the main Raspi-Config menu. Next, using the down arrow key, scroll down to Overclock. Hit enter. This step is not necessary, and overclocking can cause your Raspberry Pi to overheat, but if you are going to run fifth generation consoles in RetroPie you will want to do this. Many people overclock their Pis and if you don t overdo it, the consensus is that your Pi will be fine, especially if you have attached a heatsink to the main (Broadcom) processor (one comes in the Canakit model). For the Pi 2, bottom arrow on your keyboard down to the Pi2 setting. This will raise your processor s speed from 900mhz to 1000mhz. A modest increase for improved performance. In fact, I ve found that all the consoles you ll be emulating run at full speed at this setting. If you have a first generation Pi A or B you can experiment by upping the setting and then running some games and seeing if it corrects any problems, but be cautious, you may be shortening the life of your Pi. We re finished in Raspi-Config. You can hit the right arrow on your keyboard twice and then return to exit. The Pi will ask if you would like to reboot. You do. Hit the return key.

20 Once rebooted and if all went well, you ll be back in RetroPie with a working controller and a Raspberry Pi that is ready to provide you with some retro gaming pleasure. Interestingly, at this point, you can already get started. If you D-pad over to the Infocom selection in EmulationStation you can sample Zork and a few of its sequels, great examples of early text driven games. Use your keyboard to play. Back in EmulationStation, click over to Ports to find Doom, Duke Nukem, Quake and Quake Arena. Nice, but that s not why we re here. Time to add some ROMs and get playing.

21 CHAPTER 4 Where to get game ROMS ROMS Be aware that ROMS for retro games cannot be legally obtained unless you 1) own the PCB from an arcade game and share the chip data with an emulator, 2) have received a license to own from the legitimate copyright owner, or 3) download ROM sets that are freely available and part of the public domain. For the really old games, some have been abandoned by their copyright holders (abandonware), but most are not. I have heard it said that you really should own a physical copy of the game you plan to emulate. This seems a reasonable rule of thumb but still could violate your country s laws regarding copyright. You will have to decide where you stand on the issue. ROMs are readily available using your favorite internet search engine. In some cases, all the available ROMS for a system are available as a single download. In others you will have to download them individually. You should also be aware (or beware) that not all ROMs for a system work with every emulator of that system. MAME for example, the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, is an amazing piece of software that allows you to play the arcade games of yesteryear. It is, however, notoriously difficult to find working ROM files. Many of the ROM files are incomplete. There are actually web sites that will check your ROM sets or convert them into usable versions for a small fee. What to do with them To play games every emulator requires files called ROMs (Read Only Memory) which are essentially the data that existed on a hardware chip within a game cartridge. In the case of the Sony Playstation or the Sega CD, the data is from a CD-ROM. In the case of some of the computer emulators the data is from a floppy disk. Most of the emulators will not even show up in RetroPie s list of systems until you install at least one ROM.

22 File Extensions Another important consideration with ROM files is that to run, many emulators require that the file have the proper extension as part of the name. File extensions go back to UNIX and Microsoft DOS and are typically a 3 letter and/or number addition to the end of a file name. This indicates to the operating system that the file works with a particular program. For example, the Atari 2600 emulator, Stella, which runs in RetroPie as libretro- Stella, requires its game ROM files to end in.a26, or.bin, or.rom. So Stella would likely run pacman.a26. It would probably not run a file named pacman as it is missing the file extension. I m used to emulators that run on computers that can happily handle compressed files, usually something like pacman.zip, but as a rule of thumb, in RetroPie, you will have much better luck with an uncompressed version with the proper file extension. Game ROM localization Yet another important consideration with ROMs is tied to regional location. Video games were released all over the world and often a game was altered to have the language and graphics of the region reflected in the game. This means when you search for ROMs on the internet, you will often find many versions of the same game. Additionally, many games have been hacked by programmers to do various things like provide unlimited lives, change the Super Mario graphics to Sega Sonic s, etc. To solve the dilemma of which ROM to install, I suggest you install the ROM for your region. If you are in the United States, the ROM for the game you want probably has the letter U at the end of its name (I believe the U stands for Universal, not U.S.). If you are in Japan, you will need the ROM marked J. If you are in Europe, E. Sometimes the US and Europe are joined into one region signified by the letter W. For example, the ROM named Super Mario World (U) [!].smc would work in all regions and would use the language chosen by the console. Note the exclamation mark; it s important as well. It signifies that it is the official release version, unsullied by hacks. Since the video game industry has been dominated by Japan since 1986, you may come across game ROMs that only have the designation J. Most emulators will still play the game, but the language will be in Japanese. BIOS Roms Some of the emulators require data dump files from original system hardware to

23 operate, called BIOS ROMS. These typically go in the /home/pi/retropie/bios directory on your Pi. Don t let paths to locations on your Pi worry you, well show you a few ways to get there next. Four ways to install ROMs There are at least 4 ways to install ROMs onto the Raspberry Pi so that RetroPie can run them, using SFTP, Samba Shares, using a USB drive, or using File Manager. Take a look at all four and see which seems simplest to you. Method 1: SFTP In my opinion, the easiest way to move the ROM files to your computer is to utilize FTP (File Transfer Protocol). I am reasonably competent using FTP having used it back in the 90s when it was the only way to pull down files from the internet or to update a website. You may prefer one of the other methods listed below. Technically, you will be using SFTP where the S stands for, you guessed it, Secure SHell. You will need a program on your Mac, Windows, or Linux computer that can take the files you ve found on the internet and move them to the RetroPie directory (think folder) on the Raspberry Pi. There are quite a few fine free ones available in addition to excellent paid apps. Which one to use is a matter of choice. The example screenshots will be taken with the following apps: For Mac OS X: Cyberduck available at Be sure to download from their web page unless you would like to contribute to the project by purchasing from the Mac App store. On the app store it currently costs $ I opted for the free version, but it is always good to pay developers for great software when you can.

24 Step 1: Access your local network Once you have acquired the software, launch it, making sure you and your Pi have access to your local network. If you are planning to use WiFi on your Pi, see Chapter 8. You will need to know your network address. Go back to the RetroPie menu in EmulationStation. Press A to access the configuration section. D-Pad down to the option Show IP Address. You will need to get the unique identifying number your Raspberry Pi uses on your network. If you had already connected an ethernet cable to your Pi when you first booted up, you should already be on your home network. Click the A button. You will descend into a slightly confusing command line set. You will be looking for a number that follows this convention: XXX, where the XXX is the exact number your Pi has been assigned. Unfortunately, you ll have to look quickly as this tool sends you back into RetroPie after only about 5 seconds. Look for the section that starts off 2: eth0. If you miss it, there s no harm in repeating the process until you find the number. You will have to do this each time you add ROMs because your router will assign your Pi a different number occasionally, just to keep you on your toes. Step 2: Connect and locate the roms folder Click the Open Connection icon at the top left of the Cyberduck window. Choose SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) from the pull down menu in the connection sheet. Type the network IP address of the Raspberry Pi (mine here is , yours could be different but should be a number with a similar format). Click Connect.

25 If the login fails, the first thing to check is that you chose SFTP and not what is usually the default in these programs, FTP. If all has gone well, you ll see the window below: Double click the RetroPie folder. You should see the window below:

26 Note the BIOS folder. That s where you will add BIOS ROMs if necessary later, but don t worry about that now. Double click on the roms folder. You should now see the folder below: This window is showing us the folder filled with the ROM directories for the various RetroPie emulators. Step 3: Copy the ROM files

27 It s time to copy your ROMs into the proper folders. Drag and drop them from folders on your computer to the correct folder directory on your Raspberry Pi. For instructions on what ROMs go where, see the Emulator chapters (5, 6, and 7). For Windows and Linux: FileZilla (also available for the Mac) available at Step 1: Access your local network Once you have acquired the software, launch it, making sure you and your Pi have access to your local network. If you are planning to use WiFi on your Pi, see Chapter 8. You will need to know your network address. Go back to the RetroPie menu in EmulationStation. Press A to access the configuration section. D-Pad down to the option Show IP Address. You will need to get the unique identifying number your Raspberry Pi uses on your network. If you had already connected an ethernet cable to your Pi when you first booted up, you should already be on your home network. Click the A button. You will descend into a slightly confusing command line set. You will be looking for a number that follows this convention: XXX, where the XXX is the exact number your Pi has been assigned. Unfortunately, you ll have to look quickly as this tool sends you back into RetroPie after only about 5 seconds. Look for the section that starts off 2: eth0. If you miss it, there s no harm in repeating the process until you find the number. You will have to do this each time you add ROMs because your router will assign your Pi a different number occasionally, just to keep you on your toes. Step 2: Connect and locate the roms folder Launch FileZilla. In the host box at the top left type: SFTP:// replacing my number here with the IP number that your Raspberry Pi is using on your local network. Unless you ve changed it, the username and password to access your Pi are

28 pi and raspberry Click Quickconnect and say yes to the messages that arrive next. You should something similar to the image below: Find the RetroPie directory in the list in the bottom right window. Double click it. You should see the following:

29 Note the BIOS folder. That s where you will add BIOS ROMs if necessary later, but don t worry about that now. Double click on the rom directory. You should see the picture below where the bottom right window is filled with the ROM directories for the various RetroPie emulators. Step 3: Copy the ROM files. It s time to copy your ROMs into the proper folders. Drag and drop them from

30 folders on your computer to the correct folder directory on your Raspberry Pi. For instructions on what ROMs go where, see the Emulator chapters (5, 6, and 7). Method 2: Samba Shares Another way to move ROMS to your Pi is a Windows networking protocol called Samba shares. Mac users don t worry. This will work on a Macintosh as well. First, go to the RetroPie menu in EmulationStation (the graphical front end where you see the emulators). Press A to access the configuration section. D-Pad down to the option: RetroPie Setup. Using the down arrow key on your keyboard scroll down to item 318. Hit enter. Now go back to the RetroPie menu in EmulationStation. Press A to access the configuration section. D-Pad down to the option Show IP Address. You will need to get the unique identifying number your Raspberry Pi uses on your network. If you had already connected an ethernet cable to your Pi when you first booted up, you should already be on your home network. Click the A button. You will descend into a slightly confusing command line set. You will be looking for a number that follows this convention: XXX, where the XXX is the exact number your Pi has been assigned. Unfortunately, you ll have to look quickly as this tool sends you back into RetroPie after only about 5 seconds. Look for the section that starts off 2: eth0. If you miss it, there s no harm in repeating the process until you find the number. You will have to do this each time you add ROMs because your router will assign your Pi a different number occassionaly, just to keep you on your toes. Here the instructions veer off depending on your chosen computer platform. On a Mac: You will need to make sure File Sharing is on in the Sharing section of System Preferences. Click the box on the left.

31 While in the Finder, choose the Go menu and move down to Connect to server. Type the ethernet address you gathered using Show IP Address in to the box preceded by two back slashes as in the the following example: address) smb:// xxx (replace the XXX with the last three numbers of your IP You will see a window that looks like this:

32 Choose Guest. Click Connect. In the next window, select roms. If you are adding BIOS files, of course you would choose bios. And here we are. The window should look like this:

33 You re looking at the file structure on your Raspberry Pi. Now you can drag a ROM file from your computer to the corresponding folder on your Pi. You can double click on the folder in the window representing the Pi s contents to be sure the copy was successful. At this point, all you need to do to get playing is to reboot your Pi so the emulator recognizes and makes available your game. While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Wait for the reboot to take place and you should see a new item in EmulationStation, namely the Atari 2600 emulator. Note: If you copied a ROM to an emulator that does not have the correct BIOS ROMs in place, the emulator is not likely to run. If you followed my recommendation, head on over to the Atari section of this book for important operating tips (especially the one that lets you quit the game and head back into Emulation Station). On a PC:

34 On a PC using Windows 7 and later, this is ridiculously easy. So easy I probably should have put it as the first method. All you have to do is head to the Computer area (accessed by the Start menu in Windows 7) where your files are listed, click in the little address window at the top (the one on the left) and type \ (substituting your Pi s IP address for mine). content. You ll instantly see a window like the one below. Copy ROMs to your heart s If you don t get the window above, make sure you activated Samba Shares on the Raspberry Pi following the instructions above. Method 3: USB Thumb drive synchronization The final way we ll talk about to move your ROMs onto your Raspberry Pi is using a USB thumb drive, or stick, or whatever you choose to call them. Step 1: Insert the the USB drive into one of your computer s USB ports. Make sure

35 the drive has been formatted for MS-Dos Fat 32. Make a folder called retropie at the root level (usually the first window that opens when you double click on a drive). Step 2: Insert your USB drive into an empty USB port on your Pi while RetroPie is running. Make sure the drive has been formatted for MS-Dos Fat 32. Wait a few minutes. Step 3: Remove the drive from the Raspberry Pi. Step 4: Insert your USB drive into a USB port on your computer (Mac, Windows or Linux). The folder retropie is now populated with two folders, config and roms. Step 5: Click on the roms folder. You will see a folder for each of the emulators currently installed on your Raspberry Pi. You can now copy ROMS to the folders on the USB drive from your hard drive. Step 6: Once the files have finished copying, eject the drive from your computer. Insert it back into one of the Pi s USB ports (make sure that RetroPie is running). Wait a bit while the files synchronize (most console ROMs are small, but if you are copying Sony Playstation or Sega CD files, give it a little more time). My USB drive, like many, has a light that flashes when the drive is actively copying. You can watch for the light to stop flashing before you move on to step 7. Step 7: Remove the USB drive from the Pi. Reboot the Pi (hit the start key in on your controller while in EmulationStation, choose Quit, then Restart System). As long as the Linux gods have blessed you, your newly copied ROMs will show up in the desired emulators. Note that if you copied a ROM to an emulator that does not have the correct BIOS ROMs in place, the emulator is not likely to run. Method 4: File Manager As an alternative, there is now a file manager that will allow you to copy from a connected drive to the Pi. You can access via the RetroPie menu in EmulationStation.

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37 CHAPTER 5 THE CONSOLE EMULATORS

38 ATARI Quality of Emulation The Atari consoles that are emulated well on the Raspberry Pi 2 (your mileage on an earlier Pi will vary) are: Atari 2600 Atari 7800 The Atari consoles that DO NOT run well (this can range from skipping sound, to missing game elements, to unplayability) on the Raspberry Pi 2 are: Atari 5200 Atari Jaguar The Pi is plenty powerful enough to run the 5200 emulator, but this is one of the more difficult RetroPie cores to configure. Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 (originally known as the Atari Video Computer System) was the console that started an industry (yes, the Odyssey and the Fairchild Channel F were first but did not have nearly the impact of Nolan Bushnell s machine) and, after Pong (probably actually a Sears TeleGames) my first real gaming experience. It featured two clunky but tough joysticks that each had a single orange fire button. The games were simple as a result of design limitations of the hardware, yet clever designers and programmers created magic. Those blips and bleeps today s gamers mock too often were every bit as amazing as the immersive worlds we experience in modern offerings. Some of the 2600 games I played as a kid are still some of my favorites: Berzerk, Ms. Pac Man, Yars Revenge, Space Invaders, and Pitfall. There are too many good cartridges to mention, and quite a few horrifically bad ones. At launch in 1977, the 2600 cost US$199. That would be about US$770 in today s adjusted for inflation dollars!

39 The Emulator: Stella (stella-libretro) Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Atari 2600 ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.bin,.a26, or.rom I ve had the best luck with the.a26 extension. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/atari2600 directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Atari 2600 emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System.

40 Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Atari 2600 screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller To emulate the original one big red button and one eight direction joystick, on your controller, use the B button and the D-pad on your chosen USB or Bluetooth controller. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. Atari 7800 The Atari 7800 is a fine video game console that arrived to late to save Atari from the Great Video Game Crash of After the debacle that was the 5200 (also too late and with funky controllers that didn t have a spring centering), Atari poured its hopes into the A more traditional joypad plus the ability to play almost arcade quality games from the time makes this an interesting system. Though it had no must have console port like Space Invaders for the 2600 or Donkey Kong for ColecoVision, the 7800 had excellent arcade ports of Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Food Fight, and Pole Position, among others. The Atari 7800 was priced at US$140 at launch in 1986.

41 The Emulator: Prosystem-libretro Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Atari 7800 ROMs you install must have the following extension:.a78 See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/atari7800 directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Atari 7800 emulator can use an optional BIOS ROM called 7800 BIOS (U).rom to be placed in the /home/pi/retropie/bios directory. Without this BIOS ROM you will not be treated to the Atari logo at the beginning of some of the games, but the games should still run. If you install it, make sure the name matches the text here or you may have problems. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions.

42 Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Atari 7800 screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller To emulate the original two button controller and one eight direction joystick, on your controller, use the A and B button and the D-pad on your chosen USB or Bluetooth controller. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

43 MATTEL INTELLIVISION When the Mattel Intellivision launched it caused quite a bit of envy amongst us Atari fans. With better graphics, better sound, and most importantly, better sports games, we were all dying to own one. That didn t happen until I was an adult (now I actually own 2, not sure how that happened) but my best friend did and we played Super Baseball until our fingers bled. The Intellivision featured a very different style of controller featuring 12 button keypad, buttons on the side, plastic overlays that customized the controller for the game and a directional disk instead of a joystick. Some of the important games for the Intellivision include Burgertime, fine ports of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr., B-17 Bomber (which talked if you had the Intellivoice unit which I now have) Lock N Chase Astrosmash, and the aforementioned sport games. At launch the system cost US$299. The Intellivision is emulated fairly well on the Raspberry Pi. If you remember or are a fan of Mattel s only cartridge console, you will know that the original controller was a bit of an oddball which means that you will have to use the keyboard for some of its functions. The Emulator: jzintv

44 Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Intellivision ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.int, or.bin See Chapter 4 for a step by step for installing the ROMs. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/intellivision directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Intellivision emulator in RetroPie requires BIOS ROMs named: exec.bin and grom.bin also need: If you are going to play Intellivision Entertainment Computer games you will ECS.BIN If you are going to play games with the Intellivoice feature you will also need: IVOICE.BIN See Chapter 4 for step by step instructions for installing the ROMs. You will be installing the ROMs into the /home/pi/retropie/bios directory. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Intellivision screen is up in EmulationStation.

45 Step 6: Operating the controller To start games, on your keyboard, type a 1 or 2 for the number of players (don t use the number pad). Press Enter (not Return) to begin play. Use the A and B or the X and Y buttons to trigger what would be the side buttons on the original Intellivision controller, and the D-pad on your chosen USB or Bluetooth joypad as the directional disc Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press F1 on your keyboard to quit.

46 MULTIPLE ARCADE MACHINE EMULATOR (MAME) The first version of MAME was released to users of PC users in 1997 and spurred a race to develop video game emulators. One of the reasons that this project is important, aside from the fun it brings to retro gamers, is the preservation of the art form that was arcade games. As video game cabinets age, so do their circuit boards. Solder loosens. Capacitors leak and damage connections and pretty soon these games become unplayable. MAME is a way to save the arcade from the scrap heap. Wikipedia notes that MAME supports over 7,000 titles. That s 7,000 titles which will live on, no matter how obscure. If you are old enough to remember the arcades of yore then you have had an experience that most modern gamers can scarcely imagine. Wickedly difficult games that relied not on realistic graphics but still simulated far away worlds and heroic situations. You could find them in malls and shopping centers, dark, sometimes smoky caves full of upright cabinets that cast a bright glow and enticed us with a futuristic soundtrack of bleeps and bloops. You usually had three lives. Just three lives to demonstrate your mettle, or you d have to put in another quarter. And if the game cost 50 cents you knew it was going to be awesome, or at least that the arcade s owner was a cheapskate brought us Space Invaders. In 1979 we were all about Asteroids was the year of PacMan and Defender. In 1981 Nintendo brought us Donkey Kong and launched two stars (Mario and Shigeru Miyamato) while Frogger made us aware of the dangers of stepping on turtles while crossing streams. Pole Position took our quarters in 1982 as we Prepare(d) to Qualify. The 3D vector graphics of Star Wars contrasted with the movie animation of Don Bluth s Dragon s Lair in brought Marble Madness and the list goes on and on. My personal favorite is probably Star Castle as I could make a quarter last a half an hour easy back then. Ms. PacMan and Galaga were the games I played the most. The game I totally stink at but someday want to be a master of was Tutankham. Happily,

47 using MAME on my Raspberry Pi, now I ll have the chance. The Emulators: Advance MAME, Mame4all-Pi, imame4alllibretro When more than one emulator exist in RetroPie for MAME. You can choose which one of the first two you will use by placing your ROMs in the folder for that emulator. If the MAME ROM you acquired doesn t work well in one, it s possible it would work well in the other. As mentioned in the section on ROMs, Chapter 4, finding working MAME ROMs can prove difficult largely to to emulator versions being dependent on a specifically ordered ROM file. This is unfortunate and takes some of the fun out of playing the arcade classics, but with some effort, you can be playing many of your favorite quarter-eaters. No quarters required this time and nobody placing their quarter at the bottom of your screen claiming rights of next trial. Step 1: Installing the emulators These emulators already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The MAME ROMs you install must have the following extension:

48 .zip See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/mame-advmame for the Advance MAME version, or /home/pi/retropie/roms/mame-mame4all directory for the Mame4all-Pi emulator. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The MAME emulators in RetroPie do not require a BIOS rom unless your are going to run NeoGeo titles, then would put the NeoGeo BIOS ROM named neogeo.zip in the same directory as the game ROMs. See above for location. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the MAME screen is up in EmulationStation. One of problems you can run into is that their can be more than one MAME emulator screen in EmulationStation. At time of writing, the best way to tell the difference between them is to click on the window and see which games are installed. Seems someone needs to make different screen icons to alleviate the confusion. Step 6: Operating the controller Because arcade games didn t have to play by the rules as far as where the joystick, buttons, track balls, etc., were located, emulating them on your chosen USB or Bluetooth controller can be a little complicated. Simple games play well, more complex ones require more complex or specialized controllers. MAME maps its commands to the keyboard, though a controller is usually mapped to the relevant controls. Some basic keyboard commands: The number 5 will insert a coin. The number 1 starts the game. Tab

49 allows you to adjust the controls. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Hit ESC to quit, then right arrow down to Exit.

50 NINTENDO Quality of Emulation The Nintendo consoles that are emulated well on the Raspberry Pi 2 (your mileage on an earlier Pi will vary) are: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Nintendo Gameboy and Gameboy Color (see the Handheld Emulator section for instructions) Super Nintendo (SNES) Nintendo 64 (N64) Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) The NES, or Nintendo Entertainment System, released in 1986 in the U.S., was the system that rescued the video game industry from the aforementioned great crash of Of course they had to do it by putting a robot in the box to trick retailers into thinking it was not actually a video game, but an Entertainment System. After a slow start, the NES became a must have item. Nintendo locked down access to developers, in most cases allowing third party developers to sell only 5 cartridge titles per year, stemming the flood of mediocre to bad titles that caused the early 80s market fallout. Historic titles like Super Mario Brothers 1, 2 and 3, Duck Hunt, Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Punch Out, and Excite Bike drew home console players back into the living room. And those are just some of the first party games. Some of the best third party titles are: Contra, Tetris, Castlevania, MegaMan, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, RBI Baseball, Tecmo SuperBowl, and Metroid. $199 at launch, about US$450 in adjusted dollars.

51 The Emulator: lr-nestopia or lr-fceumm When more than one emulator exist in RetroPie for a console, I have found that the default chosen by RetroPie is generally adequate. For retro-gaming and/or Linux experts, if your game doesn t run well, you can try switching to a different emulator. That requires some fancy config file editing beyond the scope of this book, but tutorials exist on the internet if you are interested. Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Nintendo ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.zip,.nes,.smc,.sfc, or.fig, I ve had the best luck with the.nes extension. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/nes directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Nintendo Entertainment System emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you

52 install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the NES screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you re using a typical SNES style controller then all you have to do is ignore the extra buttons. Use the A and B button and the D-pad. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. Super Nintendo (SNES) The Super Nintendo console arrived late to the16 bit party. Sega with its Genesis (called Genesis in the United States, the MegaDrive everywhere else) had raced to market with a machine and a mascot (Sonic!) that did more than compete with the industry leviathan that Nintendo was in the 1990s. But not for long. SNES sales soon caught up to Sega and Nintendo never looked back (until the next generation of consoles when spurned partner Sony would deliver a nearly crushing blow to the Kyoto company). The SNES was a powerful system for its time and went on to be one of the most developed for systems ever. In excess of 1,000 unique titles were released for it. Some of the top SNES games include, Super Mario World, Super Mario All-Stars, F-Zero, Donkey Kong Country, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, and Mario Kart. At launch, the SNES would set you back US$199.

53 The Emulators: libretro-snes9x-next, libretto-pocketsnes (and others, these are the preferred) When more than one emulator exist in RetroPie for a console, I have found that the default chosen by RetroPie is generally adequate. For retro-gaming and/or Linux experts, if your game doesn t run well, you can try switching to a different emulator. That requires some fancy config file editing beyond the scope of this book, but tutorials exist on the internet if you are interested. Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Super Nintendo ROMs you install must have one the following extensions:.zip,.smc,.sfc,.fig, or.swc See Chapter 6 for a step by step for installing the ROMS. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/snes directory. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Super Nintendo emulators in RetroPie do not require a BIOS rom.

54 Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Super Nintendo screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you purchased a Buffalo USB controller or some other generic USB control pad, chances are it is modeled after the SNES s. The buttons should be essentially a oneto-one mapping. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. Nintendo 64 (N64) The Nintendo 64 may well be my favorite console. My wife bought one for me right at launch (probably the first and last time I have ever played video games as they were being released) in part because my best friend was a developer who worked on some of the cartridges for the system. Super Mario 64 was a breathtaking breakthrough. I know it s a cliché, but it was. I ve always loved Mario games, but guiding the little plumber about in 3D space was incredible and Mr. Miyamoto s masterpiece was startling in scope. The N64 was outsold by the Playstation One by a mile, but I ll take the Nintendo offering over Sony s any day. Some other must have games that shipped for the system include: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye, Super Mario Kart 64, Conker s Bad Fur Day, The Legend of Zelda: Majora s Mask, Banjo-Kazooie, Wave Race 64, Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Pokemon Stadium, and Perfect Dark. The N64 cost US$199 at release.

55 The Emulators: Mupen64plus or Mupen64plus-libretro When more than one emulator exist in RetroPie for a console, I have found that the default chosen by RetroPie is generally adequate. For retro-gaming and/or Linux experts, if your game doesn t run well, you can try switching to a different emulator. That requires some fancy config file editing beyond the scope of this book, but tutorials exist on the internet if you are interested. Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Nintendo 64 ROMS you install must have the following extensions:.z64,.n64, or.v64 You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/n64 directory. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Nintendo 64 emulators in RetroPie do not require a BIOS rom.

56 Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the N64 screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller In the analog controller age, the N64 is a bit of an island. No other controller uses its configuration so you will have to experiment to figure out how the default map works. I use a Wii Classic controller connected via a USB adapter which seems to work well since it has the D-Pad and the analog stick. Mapping the yellow buttons on the original to the right analog stick is recommended. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

57 SEGA Quality of Emulation The Sega consoles that are emulated well on the Raspberry Pi 2 (your mileage on an earlier Pi will vary) are: Sega SG-1000 Sega Master System Sega Genesis/MegaDrive Sega Game Gear (see the Handheld Emulator section for instructions) Sega 32X Sega CD The following Sega consoles DO NOT run well on the Raspberry P i2 and should be left to those who live on the bleeding edge: Sega Saturn Sega Dreamcast Sega SG-1000 Released in 1984, the Sega SG-1000 was one of the also ran systems that tried to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System and its counterpart in Japan, the Nintendo Famicom. The upside of the SG-1000 was that it gave Sega the experience to release the more successful Sega Master System. Some of the more interesting games for the console include: Congo Bongo, Flicky, Wonderboy and Sega-Galaga. At launch, the SG-1000, ran JP 15,000.

58 The Emulator: Libretro-Genesis-Plus-GX Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Sega SG-1000 ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.sg or,.zip I ve had the best luck with the.sg extension. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/sg1000 directory. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The SG-1000 emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator

59 Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Sega SG-1000 screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller To emulate the original two button controller (on the sides) and one eight direction joystick, on your controller, use the A and B button and the D-pad on your chosen USB or Bluetooth controller. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. Sega Master System Also released during the long life span of Nintendo s NES (in 1985), the Sega Master System was a significant improvement in both performance and sales over its SG While the system only manage to garner about 10% of the market share, against Nintendo s hegemony, this was impressive. Sega had figured out the art of taking an arcade game and bringing it to the home user, which would certainly pay dividends once the 16-bit generation arrived. Must play games on the console include Alex Kidd in the Miracle World, Wonderboy in Monsterland, Phantasy Star, OutRun Europa, Sonic Spinball, R-Type, Super Off Road, Golden Axe Warrior, Asterix, Road Rash, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Dynamite Headdy. Price at launch was US$200.

60 The Emulators: libretro-genesis-plus-gx and libretropicodrive When more than one emulator exist in RetroPie for a console, I have found that the default chosen by RetroPie is generally adequate. For retro-gaming and/or Linux experts, if your game doesn t run well, you can try switching to a different emulator. That requires some fancy config file editing beyond the scope of this book, but tutorials exist on the internet if you are interested.. Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Sega Master System ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.sms You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/mastersystem directory. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Sega Master System emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Sega Master System screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller To emulate the original two button controller and one eight direction joystick,

61 on your controller, use the A and B button and the D-pad on your chosen USB or Bluetooth controller. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. Sega Genesis/MegaDrive Released in 1988, Sega s Genesis (called the MegaDrive everywhere but the U.S.) was a monster and a Nintendo beater at first anyway. With the creation of Sonic as a mascot to compete with Mario and an ad campaign to complement his brashness (I highly recommend the book Console Wars, by Blake J. Harris, which tells the story Mike Kalinske, head of Sega America at the time), Sega shot out ahead in the 16 bit console race. Gotta go fast was Sonic s motto and that fit the Genesis s rocket quick performance. The console titles skew adult where Nintendo skews toward children. You ll find real blood (well, not real) flying in Mortal Kombat as opposed to the green sweat of the Nintendo version. Some of the standout titles include the Sonic the Hedgehog games, Gunstar Heroes, Toejam and Earl, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, NBA Jam, Disney s Aladdin, Street Fighter, and Earthworm Jim. The Genesis cost US$189 at launch.

62 The Emulator: libretro-genesis-plus-gx When more than one emulator exist in RetroPie for an emulator (there are actually 3 possibilities for the Genesis/MegaDrive), I have found that the default chosen by RetroPie is adequate. For retro-gaming and/or Linux experts, if your game doesn t run well, you can try switching to a different emulator. That requires some fancy config file editing beyond the scope of this book, but tutorials exist on the internet if you are interested. Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Sega Genesis ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.smd,.bin,.md,.iso See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/megadrive directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Sega Genesis emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs)

63 While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the MegaDrive screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller The original Sega Genesis joypad had the ubiquitous D-Pad on the left with 6 buttons on the right. On your controller typically you will use the lower three buttons in descending order, A, B, and Y. Most games do not require more buttons than this. If you need to map the upper three buttons, in descending order, Right Bottom, X, and Left Bottom. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. Sega 32X The Sega 32X arrived in Sitting atop the Sega Genesis/Megadrive in parasitic fashion, the 32X was designed to keep Sega ahead of the juggernaut that was the Super Nintendo. Instead, it was a costly video game boondoggle that put Sega on a course for trouble. Overall, it s actually kind of a nice system upgrade, but the lack of a Sonic title (holy cow, what were you thinking, Sega?) and lack of third party support killed it prematurely. Some of the important titles for the 32X include: Star Wars Arcade, Space Harrier, Virtua Racing, and Doom. In all, only forty games were released for the system. The 32X cost US$159 at launch but after it was abandoned by Sega as they focused on the Saturn you could find it in stores at US$19.95.

64 The Emulator: libreto-picodrive Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Sega 32X ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.32x,.smd,.bin,.md I ve had the best luck with the.32x extension. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/sega32x directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Sega 32X emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator

65 Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Sega 32X screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller This console add-on used the Sega Genesis joypads which had the ubiquitous D-Pad on the left with 6 buttons on the right. On your controller typically you will use the lower three buttons in descending order, A, B, and Y. Most games do not require more buttons than this. If you need to map the upper three buttons, in descending order, Right Bottom, X, and Left Bottom. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. Sega CD Sega CD was the next in the evolution of Sega Genesis/MegaDrive add-ons, delivering CD technology to the Sega universe. More successful than the 32X, with more than 200 games released, the system was still considered a bust. Sega CD games could make use of the much greater storage capacity and the ability to play full motion video, but a lack of marketing slowed its growth. Some of the more interesting discs for Sega CD are: Sonic CD, Night Trap (controversial adult-themed FMV title, tame by today s standards), Lunar: Eternal Blue, Popful Mail, Streets of Rage, and Ecco the Dolphin. The CD add-on arrived in the U.S. in 1992 at US$299.

66 The Emulator: libretro-genesis-plus-gx, libreto-picodrive Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Sega CD ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.smd,.bin,.md, and.iso If your ROM comes with an accompanying.cue file, you should copy it to the ROM directory as well. Some Sega CD games will not play sound without it.. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/segacd directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Sega CD emulator in RetroPie requires BIOS rom named us_scd1_9210.bin. See Chapter 4 for a step by step for installing the BIOS ROMS. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/bios directory. If you are going to use the libreto- Genesis-Plus-GX emulator, you will need to rename the above BIOS ROM to bios_cd_u.bin. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you

67 install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Sega CD screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller This console add-on used the Sega Genesis joypads which had the ubiquitous D-Pad on the left with 6 buttons on the right. On your controller typically you will use the lower three buttons in descending order, A, B, and Y. Most games do not require more buttons than this. If you need to map the upper three buttons, in descending order, Right Bottom, X, and Left Bottom. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

68 SONY PLAYSTATION ONE (PSX) It s almost difficult to remember a time when Sony wasn t part of the console wars and it almost didn t happen. In 1988, Nintendo and Sony had partnered to deliver a disc drive for the Super Nintendo. On the eve of the announcement at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Nintendo s CEO came to the realization that the contract with Sony handed over the rights and control of games in the SNES-CD format. That was not how Nintendo did business in the 1990s (maybe not ever) and Yamaguchi decided to ditch Sony at the altar. The marriage was off. Nintendo opted to go with Phillips for CD-ROM technology and that product never made it to market Ken Kataragi, now known as the Father of the Playstation, convinced the stoic Sony management to pursue a game console and despite resistance, proved that Sony was the company to do what others had tried and failed to do, topple Nintendo. Nearly 8,000 titles and over 100 million console sales later, Sony became the dominant player in the video game marketplace. Along with upstart Microsoft with its Xbox series, Sony comprises a third of the Big Three, Nintendo being the lone representative from the early generations. Sony smartly focused on a 3D experience, made possible by the large capacity of the optical disc storage. Some of the finest of Sony s 32 bit offerings are: the Crash Bandicoot series, Metal Gear Solid, the Final Fantasy series, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2, Silent Hill, PaRappa the Rapper, Wipeout, Gran Turismo 2, Tekken, Ridge Racer, the Spyro series, and of course the Tomb Raider franchise. The first Playstation cost US$199 at launch in The Sony Playstation, the original model, runs well emulated on the Raspberry Pi 2. On earlier Pis Playstation games are generally unplayable with severe framer rate dropouts and sound skipping.

69 The Emulator: libretro-pcsx-rearmed Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Sony Playstation ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.bin,.cue,.img,.mdf I ve had the best luck with the.bin extension. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/psx directory..ecm ROM files: You may run into some Playstation disc files that have the file extension.ecm You will have to uncompress the files. On a Macintosh you can follow these instructions: On a PC, these instructions will get you set: I recognize that using unecm has a higher level of difficulty than most of the

70 instructions in this book, but the tutorials I ve linked to, if you follow them step-by-step, should yield good results. I used the Mac terminal instructions and it only took me a few times to get it right. Something to watch out for is the naming of the destination file in the command. If unecm is too daunting to you, look for Playstation ROMs that arrive without this compression. About 75% of the PS1 ROMs I found online were ecm ed. With some searching you should be able to find ROMs without ecm. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Sony Playstation emulator in RetroPie does require BIOS roms. Named SCPH1001.BIN You will be installing the BIOS ROM into the /home/pi/retropie/bios directory. See Chapter 4 for a step by step for installing the BIOS ROMS. Some interesting items of note regarding PS1 BIOS ROMS: I actually could run games before I added the BIOS ROM in RetroPie 3.0 beta 4 and later, which makes me think they may have made the BIOS part of the emulator. I went ahead and placed the SCPH1001.BIN in the proper folder anyway to avoid problems later. Also, if you are playing a game for a region outside of the U.S., there are other BIOS ROMs you ll want to place in the bios folder. These are available by searching online. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Sony Playstation screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller The fifth generation consoles came with controllers that had tons of buttons and and the first analog joysticks. If you have a PS3 controller to use you ll be served well as the buttons resemble the PS1s in many respects. That said, if all you have is an SNES clone controller like the Buffalo USB model, most games will still play well, particularly because analog control did not come to games until later in its life cycle. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

71 TURBOGRAFX-16/PC ENGINE Known in Japan as the PC Engine, the TurboGrafx-16 was a joint venture between Hudson Soft and NEC released in the U.S. in Competing against the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo, this console s claim to fame was that it was the first 16- bit system, albeit with an 8-bit processor. Some of its standout games are: Cadash, Bomberman 93, Bonk s Adventure, Legendary Axe, and Alien Crush. The system cost US$199 at launch. The Emulator: lr-mednafen-pce-fast Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine ROMs you install must have the following extension:.pce See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/pcengine directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine emulator in RetroPie requires BIOS rom named

72 syscard3.pce. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/bios directory. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller The TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine controller is a traditional D-Pad on the left, Select and Start in the middle, and the B and the A buttons on the right. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

73 GENERAL COMPUTER VECTREX I ll admit that I wasn t even aware of the Vectrex during its active development life. I guess the Atari 2600 took all of our attention and that s a shame because this was one cool system. Featuring an all-in-one design (no TV needed!) that looks suspiciously like the early Macintoshs, Vectrex exploited vector graphics (think Asteroids, Lunar Lander, or Star Wars Arcade) to great effect. It came with a built in game, MineStorm (think Asteroids) and provided an arcade quality experience for titles like Star Castle, Berzerk, Scramble, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. At launch, it would set you back US$199 in The Emulator: libretro-vecx Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Vectrex ROMs you install must have the following extensions:.vec,.gam,.bin I have the best luck with the.vec extension. See Chapter 4 for step by step instructions for installing the ROMs. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/vectrex directory.

74 Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Vectrex emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Vertex screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller The original Vectrex controller is a little non-traditional at first glance, with a D-Pad to the left of four buttons in a single row. On your USB or Bluetooth controller that will correspond to the D-Pad followed by the A, the B, the X, and the Y buttons. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

75 CHAPTER 6 THE HANDHELD EMULATORS

76 ATARI LYNX The Atari Lynx is a 16 bit handheld that arrive in It has the distinction of being the first cartridge handheld with a color LCD screen was much more powerful than the Nintendo Game Boy and Sega Game Gears of the day. Atari still managed to turn this advantage into a loss. After the runaway success of the 2600, Atari always seemed to be one step behind despite releasing solid hardware. The Lynx could be played with the D- Pad on either side, a rare moment in gaming history when left handed players could be on parity with righties simply by rotating the device. It also came with a rudimentary local networking system so you could play against opponents who also owned a Lynx. Some of the better games for the Lynx include: Chip s Challenge, Lemmings, Todd s Adventure in Slime World, Klax, and California Games (which was the pack-in title). At launch, the Lynx cost US$ The Emulator: libretro-handy Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS

77 The Atari Lynx ROMs you install must have the following extension:.lnx You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/lynx directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Atari Lynx emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Atari Lynx screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller The control buttons on the Lynx are a little unusual, with the B and A buttons in two locations, top and bottom right on its facing, as well as top and bottom shoulder buttons, all to facilitate rotation for left or right handed gamers. On your USB or Bluetooth joypad, the B and A buttons, the D-pad, and for the shoulder buttons, use Left Bottom and Right Bottom. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

78 NEO GEO POCKET The Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color was launched by SNK to compete with the Nintendo Game Boy Advance and the WonderSwan. SNK s specialty was fighting games and those are represented well on the Neo Geo Pocket. Only 2 million units were sold so this system is generally considered a failure, but it was a nice attempt. Some of the more sought after games are: Faselei, Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, Metal Slug First Mission, and SNK Vs Capcom: Match Of The Millennium. At launch in 1998, the Neo Geo Pocket monochrome cost US$199, the Pocket Color arrived later at the same price. The Emulator: Libretro-mednafen-ngp Step 1: Installing the emulator The Neo Geo Pocket emulator is considered experimental and will need to be installed in RetroPie 3.0. See Chapter 8 to get detailed experimental build installation instructions. You will need to choose item 216 lr-mednafen-ngp - Neo Geo Pocket(Color)emu. Step 2: Installing the ROMS

79 extensions: The Neo Geo Pocket ROMs you install must have one of the following.ngp or.ngc You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/ngp directory. This directory will not be there until you install the emulator (see Step 1). See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Neo Geo Pocket emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Neo Geo Pocket screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you re using a typical SNES style controller then all you have to do is ignore the extra buttons. Use the A or B button and the D-pad. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

80 NINTENDO GAMEBOY Nintendo cut their teeth on handheld gaming with the Game and Watch series from the 1980s. Famed Nintendo hardware designer Gunpei Yokoi took his experience and turned it into Game Boy gold. Including the color model, the original Game Boy models sold nearly 120 million units, the most ever until the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo s own DS model, an updated Game Boy. Why you ask? The games, especially the early ones, were primitive even for the time. Other companies, notably Atari and Sega, produced handhelds that had superior hardware. Most likely it s that Nintendo leveraged their home grown franchises like Mario, Kirby and Metroid, but it could be that it comes down to Tetris, still the best selling game of all time if you count all of its incarnations. Nintendo had Tetris. You could take Tetris with you and play on a Game Boy. Over time, game designers created some pretty compelling games for the system and you can play them on your RetroPie. Some of the best titles for the Game Boy include: and of course, Dr. Mario, Legend of Zelda: Link s Awakening, Metroid 2, Qix, Castlevania, Contra, Metal Gear Solid, Pokémon Red/Blue, Kirby s Dream Land, Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, and of course, Tetris. At launch in 1989, the original Game Boy cost US$89.99.

81 The Emulator: gambette-libretro Other emulator options exist in the Experimental area of RetroPie-Setup if the game you want to play has difficulty running, but I ve found the default runs fine. Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Nintendo Game Boy ROMs you install must have the following extension:.gb You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/gb directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Game Boy emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Game Boy screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you re using a typical SNES style controller then all you have to do is ignore the extra buttons. Use the A and B button and the D-pad.

82 Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation. NINTENDO GAMEBOY COLOR The first evolution in the Game Boy line is the Game Boy Color, which not surprisingly, added color to the very lucrative equation. Nintendo was smart enough to make the Color backwards compatible with the original grayscale games. Once again the hardware was outclassed by competitors but Nintendo had the developers and the games gamers wanted to play. Some of those games include: The Legend of Zelda: Link s Awakening DX, The Legend of Zelda: The Oracle of Ages, Wario Land 3, Pokémon Crystal, Mario Golf and Tennis, Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, and Tetris DX. At launch in 1998, the Game Boy Color cost US$ The Emulator: gambette-libretro

83 Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Game Boy ROMs you install must have the following extension:.gbc You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/gbc directory. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Game Boy Color emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Game Boy Color screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you re using a typical SNES style controller then all you have to do is ignore the extra buttons. Use the A and B button and the D-pad. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

84 NINTENDO GAME BOY ADVANCE Another insanely successful handheld from Nintendo, the Game Boy Advance arrived in 2001 and went on to sell 81 million units. Backwards compatibility, 32 bit gaming, and the usual cadre of Nintendo first party titles made this a must have device without serious competition. Some of the must play games for the advance are Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Super Mario Advance, Advance Wars, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and WarioWare Twisted. At launch, the Advance cost US$ The Emulator: gpsp, libretro-gpsp, libretro-vba-next, libretro-mgba When more than one emulator exist in RetroPie for an emulator, I have found that the default chosen by RetroPie is adequate. For retro-gaming and/or Linux experts, if your game doesn t run well, you can try switching to a different emulator. That requires some fancy config file editing beyond the scope of this book, but tutorials exist on the internet if you are interested. Step 1: Installing the emulator

85 This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Game Boy Advance ROMs you install must have the following extension:.gba You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/gba directory. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The GameBoy Advance emulators in RetroPie require a BIOS rom called gba_bios.bin to be placed in the /home/pi/retropie/bios directory. If the Gameboy Advance ROM you download has a different name, simply rename it gba_bios.bin Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Game Boy Advance screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you purchased a Buffalo USB controller or some other generic USB control pad, chances are that it will match the Advance s controls. The buttons should be essentially a one-to-one mapping including the Left Bottom and Right Bottom buttons. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

86 NINTENDO VIRTUAL BOY The Virtual Boy is a rare Nintendo misfire and it cost Gunpei Yokoi his job despite his being responsible for selling 100s of millions of devices. You can see why it didn t find a hand hold on the marketplace. You had to sit at a table and lean forward to play. The game titles weren t all that thrilling and the advanced 3D gaming engine used what looked like bright red vector graphics that were hard on the eyes. But at the same time, it did bring 3D gaming to the masses. You can play the games via emulation, but of course you lose the binocular 3D effect. Nonetheless, you might want to see what all the fuss was about when it was released in Some of the important games for the Virtual Boy are: Mario Tennis, Mario Clash, Teleroboxer, and Galactic Pinball. At launch, the Virtual Boy cost about US$180. The Emulator: lr-beetle-vb Step 1: Installing the emulator The Virtual Boy emulator is considered experimental and will need to be installed in RetroPie 3.0. See Chapter 8 to get detailed experimental build installation

87 instructions. You will need to choose item 202 lr-beetle-vb - Virtual Boy emulator. extension: Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Nintendo Virtual Boy ROMs you install must have the following.vb You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/virtualboy directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. You may have to create the directory in the ROMs folder. There is an option to create a new folder in your SFTP program while viewing the ROMs directory. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Virtual Boy emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Virtual Boy screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller The Virtual Boy featured a modern controller setup with an analog stick (use the Right Analog stick) along with the traditional D-Pad. The Left Bottom and the Right Bottom buttons are also mapped and used in some games. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

88

89 SEGA GAME GEAR In 1990 Sega was riding high on the sales of the Genesis, threatening to knock Nintendo off its lofty perch. Part of the marketing strategy was to have a handheld system to compete with the Nintendo Game Boy. Sega had superior hardware in the Game Gear, color eight bit gaming roughly on par with it s Master System compared to the Game Boy s grayscale graphics. All that kept the Game gear from slaughtering the Game Boy was a lack of a serious marketing campaign as Sega s efforts were stuck on its nearly endless line of consoles and console add-ons in the 1990s. Still, an interesting system. Some of the better games are: Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Bubble Bobble, Gunstar Heroes, Wonder Boy III, Streets of Rage 2, and Prince of Persia. At launch, the Game Gear cost US$149. The Emulator: libretro-genesis-plus-gx Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS

90 The Sega Game Gear ROMs you install must have the following extension:.gg You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/gamegear directory. See Chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Game Gear emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Game Gear screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you re using a typical SNES style controller then all you have to do is ignore the extra buttons. Use the A and B button and the D-pad. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

91 WONDERSWAN The WonderSwan was Bandai s entry into the handheld market, competing in 1999 against the Game Boy Advance and the Neo Geo Pocket. Despite finishing a distant second in the battle, the WonderSwan garnered a devoted following in Japan. It has controls designed to play both in portrait and in landscape. Squaresoft brought its Final Fantasy offerings at the time to the system, giving it instant credibility. Other titles of note include: Gunpey, Klonoa: Moonlight Museum, SD Gundam Operation U.C., and my favorite Inuyasha. Be aware that most of the comes do not come in versions with translation from Japanese. At launch the WonderSwan cost JP The Emulator: libretro-mednafen-wswan Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation!. Step 2: Installing the ROMS The WonderSwan ROMs you install must have one of the following extensions:.ws or.wsc

92 You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/wswan directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. This directory will not be there until you install the emulator (see Step 1). Step 3: Installing the BIOS The WonderSwan emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the WonderSwan screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller If you re using a typical SNES style controller then all you have to do is ignore the extra buttons. Use the A or B button and the D-pad. The extra D-Pad won t come into effect unless you play games like Crazy Climber which relied on the double D-Pad configuration in the portrait position. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press the Select and the Start buttons (the quit HotKey) on your controller at the same time. You should see a black screen and then you are right back in EmulationStation.

93 CHAPTER 7 THE COMPUTER EMULATORS

94 For me, anyway, emulating computers on the Raspberry Pi using RetroPie isn t nearly as exciting as running a video game console, but I concede that many people s formative experiences with video games came on computer. I am quite familiar with Apple II gaming and gaming on the Macintosh (such as it was, it is better now thanks to the App Store and the advent of Steam) so computer gaming has been a part of my life for a long time, but I still gravitate to consoles. RetroPie allows you to emulate a number of the computers of the past. We ll focus on the Amiga, the Apple II, the Apple Macintosh (System 6 or 7 era), and the IBM. You can also install other computer emulators including some popular British models, the Amstrad CPC and the ZX Spectrum along side US companies like Atari and Commodore. Japanese MSX is also on the list of machines RetroPie can handle. Because of the enormity of computer software versus the relatively sedate world of console gaming, we ll only be going over the basics here. If you feel the need to dive in further, ample tutorials exist out there on the internet. COMMODORE AMIGA The Commodore Amiga was the successor to the popular Commodore 64.

95 The Emulator: UAE4ALL Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Amiga disk images you install must have the following extension:.adf You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/amiga directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Amiga BIOS is provided by the emulator and works for most applications. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System.

96 Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Amiga screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller To emulate the original two button controller and one eight direction joystick, on your controller, use the A and B button and the D-pad on your chosen USB or Bluetooth controller. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press Control Esc to exit to the menu.

97 APPLE II The Apple II was the first viable personal computer which made us all think, maybe we should have one of these things at home. Revolutionary in educational, gaming, and, for awhile, even business circles, the Apple II was my generation s introduction to programming and computing. The Emulator: Linapple Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Apple II disk images you install must have the following extension:.dsk You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/apple2 directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS

98 The Apple II emulator in RetroPie do not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Apple II screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller In order to know the keyboard and mouse commands that will be necessary to run the Apple II emulator, access the help screen by hitting F1 (Function and! Keys). Step 7: Quitting the emulator F10 exits to EmulationStation.

99 APPLE MACINTOSH The Macintosh took computing to the next level. Using a desktop metaphor pioneered by the innovators at Xerox PARC, the Mac released us from dependence on the command line prompt and obscure language to manipulate our computer. The Emulator: BasiliskII Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The Apple Macintosh disk images you install must have the following extension:.img,.rom,.dsk You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/macintosh directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions.

100 Step 3: Installing the BIOS The Macintosh BIOS ROMS must be placed in the same directory as the game or application ROMs (see above) and be named mac.rom or PERFORMA.ROM. Finding a BIOS ROM that works is no easy trick, though by accessing the Basilisk emulator homepage I did manage to find one that worked. You will also need a boot disk named disk.img. This was even trickier, though I did find guidance again on the Basilisk home page. I was able to boot up and operate a System 7.5 Mac and run one of my favorite old games Crystal Quest (thank you Macintosh Garden). I was, however, unable to increase the size of the boot disk despite trying a number of methods and the boot disk I found did not have enough space to install additional programs, sadly. So you can make this work, but unless you are luckier or more knowledgable than me, you won t be able to run very many applications. I highly recommend the PC and Mac OS emulator SheepShaver or Mini vmac to run older Mac software. They work great. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the Apple Macintosh screen is up in EmulationStation.

101 Step 6: Operating the controller You ll be using a keyboard and mouse in a way that should be familiar to most modern operating system users. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Control Escape exits to EmulationStation.

102 IBM The IBM Model 5150 and the legions of IBM compatible personal computers that followed were what most people thought of as a modern computing device in the 1980s in the US. Unless you were one of those rebels who used a Macintosh, IBM and Microsoft s MS-DOS s c:/ prompt were an integral part of your life, especially if you worked in an office environment. Despite it s ubiquity in business, gaming thrived on these machines as they made their way into homes. The Emulator: DOSBox Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0! Step 2: Installing the ROMS The IBM disk images you install must have the following extension:.com,.sh,.bat,.exe You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/pc

103 directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Step 3: Installing the BIOS The DOSBox emulator in RetroPie do not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi (only necessary after you install ROMs) While in EmulationStation, on your gamepad, hit the Start button. D-Pad down to Quit. Choose Restart System. Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the IBM screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller You ll be using a keyboard as your method of input in DOSBox. Step 7: Quitting the emulator Control F9 exits to EmulationStation.

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105 CHAPTER 8 ADVANCED TOPICS

106 CONTROLLERS RetroPie 3.0, in regards to controllers, is a revelation. Controllers have traditionally been the Achilles heel of RetroPie. Long tutorials, both written and video, exist out there on the internet for people fighting to get their various joypads integrated into their setup. The process is now far more seamless. The reason I recommend the Buffalo Classic USB Controller is that you plug it in and it just works. Getting your Sony PS3 or XBox 360 will take some gymnastics but it is possible. You Wii fans out there should note that you can get a WiiMote installed, but I found it difficult to make this work reliably. I had to do command line work every time i turned the Pi on, not really conducive to fulfilling a quick gaming fix. There are tutorials out there if you must give it a go. Another option is to use the many USB adapters out there for various retro controllers. I have tried out the Wii adapter for my WiiClassic controller (which works great), a GameCube adapter (which worked fine), and a N64 adapter (which for some reason didn t seem to send enough juice up to the Pi to get it to consistently register even when tried with a powered USB hub. I will save it for use with my OpenEmu setup on my MacBook Pro.). I did not try a PS1 or PS2 adapter, but my guess is that it would work fine. The methods below worked for me while I was using RetroPie version 3.0 RC (release candidate). Getting your joystick to work with an earlier version was and still is difficult. There is definitely a trend with the development of RetroPie, each version seems to make controller integration easier. Clearly it is a priority for the developers. Sony PS3 Controller The PS3 s joypad is an incredibly solid piece of engineering and if you choose the Bluetooth wireless model, has the added advantage that it will allow you sit on your couch while playing despite your Raspberry Pi being grounded feet away in your media center.

107 Let s get your PS3 controller working. Exit Emulation Station and head to the command line. Make certain that your Bluetooth dongle is inserted properly into one of your Pi s USB ports. At the pi@retropie $ prompt, type lsusb You should see your bluetooth dongle in the list of USB devices. You can see my Bluetooth dongle listed as device 6, the Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode). As long as your dongle is compatible with the Pi, it should show up here. If it doesn t, try removing and reinserting or rebooting your Pi with it inserted. Now let s head back into RetroPie-Setup. Type sudo./retropie_setup.sh note the

108 underscore between retropie and setup. This is the command line way to get to RetroPie as opposed to choosing it in EmulationStation. Choose Setup / Configuration (to be used post install). Choose 316 (in earlier versions of Raspberry Pi this was option 314) Install PS3 Controller Driver Let the items download. You should see a dialog box that reads: Make sure that your Bluetooth dongle is connected to the Raspberry Pi and press ENTER. If your Bluetooth dongle is not compatible with the Pi, this is where you may start to to notice issues.

109 You should have a window that says Please connect your PS3 controller via USB-CABLE and press enter. It seems like we should be home free at this point, but generally we re not. (Update: The final version of RetroPie 3.0 worked flawlessly here and did not generate the following error.) You re likely to get a failure message like this:

110 No worries though. Hit Ok. Right arrow over to Cancel at the next window. Repeat. Get back to the command line, type cd /opt/retropie/ Type cd supplementary/ Type cd ps3controller/ Type sudo./ sixpair This will set the PS3 controllers MAC address to match the one expected by the Pi. Unplug the USB cable from the controller. Now hold down the PS3 controller s Playstation button (the one in the middle). At this point, I had to reboot without my Buffalo Classic USB Gamepad otherwise it wants to recognize the plugged in controller only. On subsequent reboots I can choose to use either the PS3 or the Buffalo with both plugged in but you will have to use whichever controller RetroPie believes is the number 1 controller (technically js0) to use the quit game hotkeys. Now you should have a working wireless controller at your disposal. Don t forget to hit the big P button on the controller when you first start RetroPie to pair the controller with the computer. If you re not a Linux guru you can see why this isn t for the faint of heart. Fortunately controller support seems to be improving with every release. Perhaps in a few

111 versions the will all be automated. Thanks to Floob on YouTube for lighting the way on this tutorial. XBox 360 Controller Have an XBox 360 lying about the house? Well, grab your controller. The Xbox 360 joypad from the lads at Microsoft (which uses a proprietary version of wifi communication ) generally does a fine job with RetroPie. To get your Xbox 360 controller working with RetroPie head to the RetroPie selection in EmulationStation. Click A.

112 D-Pad down to RetroPie-Setup. Click A. 360 driver. Switch to your keyboard. Down arrow down to item 328 Install XBox contr.

113 Click OK at the message above. Now you must reboot to make the changes you ve made take place. Choose R Perform Reboot when back at the RetroPie Setup window. You may also need to go through the controller button assigning process when you arrive back in Emulation Station. If you are going to use multiple controllers (I had to do this even with a single controller) you ll need to return to the command line and input the following command: xboxdrv -D i 0 next-controller -i 1 next-controller -i 2 next-controller -i 3 deadzone 4000 dbus disabled & Reboot and you should be up and running! Enjoy your retro gaming with a very modern controller!

114 CONFIGURING WIFI If you purchased a wireless dongle for your Raspberry Pi (or you purchased a CanaKit or equivalent that came with one) you will want to configure the dongle for wire free networking. To configure your wireless network, go to the Configure WiFi option (you can get to it by going to the RetroPie selection in EmulationStation). You will be presented with a list of WiFi networks. Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select your network. Then press the right arrow key to choose it. This will present you with a window where you will have the option to type your network s password. Arrow down to the blue highlighted line that says Key: Type your password. Remember your network s password is case sensitive. Before you leave the window, arrow up to Automatically connect to this network and hit Enter to place an x in the check box. Hit the F10 key to save, then shift-c to connect. Wait a moment (you can note progress at the bottom left of the screen. Then Q to quit.

115 Double check that you are now connected wirelessly to your network by checking the Show IP Address option in the the RetroPie EmulationStation window. You should have a valid network id number in the paragraph that starts wlan0. Here you can see in the wlan0: paragraph my usual network address:

116 OFTEN USED COMMANDS Quitting most emulators Press the Start and Select button your joypad. You should see a black screen with some text for a moment, then be deposited back into EmulationStation. Rebooting your Pi this: Hit the Start button while in EmulationStation (not while in a game). You will see Hit the A button on your joypad. The Pi will go dark and then undergo an amazing resurrection. This is especially useful after installing ROMs. Shutting down your Pi So you re all finished retro gaming for now? Hit the Start button while in EmulationStation (not while in a game). You will see this:

117 Hit the A button on your joypad. The Pi will go into some Rasabian Linux command line stuff that means your Pi is tidying up before shutting down. Quitting Emulation Station So you re all finished retro gaming for now? Hit the Start button while in EmulationStation (not while in a game). You will see this:

118 Hit the A button on your joypad. The Pi will shut down EmulationStation and drop you off in Rasabian Linux where you can perform so geeky voodoo. You will need to press a key on your keyboard to keep the Pi from shutting down altogether. If you need to reboot while in the command line, type sudo reboot To shut down from the command line, type sudo halt -p Check your Pi s network address To check your network address, go to the RetroPie menu in EmulationStation. Press A on your joypad. D-pad down to the bottom of the screen to Show IP Address. Press the A again. The window goes command line and looks like the window below. If you are wired in from your router, you would look at the eth0: paragraph. If you are wireless via a WiFi dongle, you will need to look in the wlan0: paragraph. Remember your IP number will look like mine below, , though the last three numbers could be different.

119 Get back into EmulationStation from the command line Type emulationstation at the command line prompt. How much space is left on your microsd card Type df -h at the command line prompt.

120 PORTS An added bonus to your RetroPie installation is the Ports area in Emulation Station. Without doing additional installs you can play Doom 1 (Shareware), Duke Nukem 3D (Shareware), Quake, and Quake III Arena. All provide excellent early 1990s, 3D, first person shooter experiences (and at least one is for the mature gamer). Choose Ports in EmulationStation.

121 Choose the your poison. John Carmack would like you to try Doom. Give it a shot. Wasn t much of a Duke Nukem fan, personally. I was more into the slightly more PC PC game Descent at the time along with the pre-halo Bungie games on the Mac: Marathon, Myth, and Oni. Some of the Bungie games have now been released to play for free, including an ipad version.

122 The Quake games arrived right as I was getting back to basics by collecting the games of my youth and thus, I have little playing experience. Seriously, try out the early Bungie games.

123 SCUMM SCUMM stands for Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion, a colorful acronym (kind of) that represents an erstwhile gaming engine created by the folks at Lucasfilm Games (later LucasArts). SCUMM arrived as computers were starting to get CD ROM drives. The games programmed using this tool tend to fill those drives with graphics and gameplay that winds up being a cross between the text based games like Zork, Wizardry, and Ultima and the immersive role playing games of the nineties. SCUMM games ran on a wide variety of platforms, from Nintendo consoles to PC and Macintosh computers. Escape from Monkey Island and the series that followed are the example of a SCUMM game that you are most likely to have encountered, but there were a slew of games that developed devoted followings. ScummVM is an open-sourced version that allows the playing of many of those games, including: Maniac Mansion, Kings Quest, and The Dig. The Emulator: ScummVM Step 1: Installing the emulator This emulator already exists as part of your RetroPie 3.0 installation! Step 2: Installing the ROMS

124 ScummVM handles ROMs in a different way than the other emulators, but in the end it will be reading a.sh file. Each SCUMM game you ll load requires you to install the software into the emulator. You will be installing the ROMS into the /home/pi/retropie/roms/scummvm directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. After you ve copied the files, open up ScummVM in EmulationStation by hitting the A button on your joypad. Select the +START SCUMMVM and hit the A button on your joypad.

125 Click Add Game. You ll need a mouse plugged in to one of your Pi s USB ports for the next step. Navigate to the RetroPie folder, then the scummvm folder.

126 Select the folder that contains the game files. Click Choose. You ll see something like the picture below: Click OK. You re ready to play your SCUMM engine game.

127 Success. Time to play The Curse of Monkey Island! Step 3: Installing the BIOS The ScummVM emulator in RetroPie does not require a BIOS rom. Step 4: Rebooting your Pi is unnecessary after you install ROMs Step 5: Running the emulator Launch the emulator by pressing the A button on your controller while the ScummVM screen is up in EmulationStation. Step 6: Operating the controller mouse. Control for ScummVM games generally involves a keyboard and sometimes a Step 7: Quitting the emulator Press Control Q on your keyboard. This will quit, but in order to save progress, you ll want to follow your game s method of safely quitting.

128 ZMACHINE So what s this Infocom in Emulation Station that has Zorks 1, 2, and 3 inside? Well, ZMachine is what it s called and what it does is play the old text based computer games. Inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and its turn based melee, text games wound up on minicomputers (mini only in the sense that they fit in one room usually) where academics and young hackers like Bill Gates would access via time share. Kind of like Choose Your Own Adventure on steroids. Zork, the Enchanter series, and The Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy, are the precursors to today s massive role playing games (including the MMORGs). Where we now have immersive, realistic environments, in the 1970s, on computers anyway, we had text games and our imaginations. I m actually a pretty big fan of this style of gaming, though I don t think I ve ever actually finished one. Back in middle school one of my teachers had an Apple IIe and we played a number of Zork style games though the titles escape me.

129 You can download this style of game ROM on the internet and adding them to ZMachine is as easy as copying the files to the /home/pi/retropie/roms/zmachine directory. See chapter 4 (ROMs) for detailed install instructions. Type quit to leave most ZMachine games.

130 SCRAPING Scraping allows you to use the internet to download game images and information to augment the list of games for each console. It doesn t always work (often it will freeze as you tell it to start), but RetroPie 3.0 beta 4 and the final version of 3.0 seem to have solved some of the issues so I have included instructions. Step 1: While in EmulationStation, hit the Start button on your joystick. You should see a window that looks like this: Step 2: Choose Scraper. You should see this:

131 Step 3: Choose Scrape Now. You should see this: Choose Systems. I think for the first time, it s a good idea to try it on a system with a ROM or just a few ROMs to see if it will work for you. You should see this:

132 Down D-pad down all the way to the bottom so you can choose one of the boxes. Choose Select None. Then D-Pad up to the system you are going to try Scraping. In my case I am choosing Nintendo Entertainment System. Hit the B button. You should see this:

133 Careful with the next step. Press A on your joypad to start the process. Pause. Press just once or you may accidentally choose an incorrect box and information set (sounds like the voice of experience, right?). If you did what I did, repeat the earlier steps and on the Filter line, choose with the right D-Pad, All Games. You should see something like the following: Make your choice and the box picture and the information should be forever linked to your game ROM. Yay! Much cooler than the default text list.

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135 Backing up your RetroPie software After you have put in all the hard work of making a RetroPie Raspberry Pi (ok, it wasn t all that hard), you may want to make a backup of the disk image on your microsd card. This will prevent heartache if something happens to the integrity of the install and configuration of RetroPie on the card. If something breaks, no big deal, you just jam your card into your computer and reflash the card with the completed version of your install. Then when you put the card back into your Pi and reboot, you re right back where you started before the crisis, ready to play Super Mario or Crash Bandicoot, without having to retrace your steps through this manual. Time to backup on a Mac Open up ApplePi-Baker, just like you did to flash the card originally, except now when you reach the main window your first step, after you select your card in the window on the right, is to head to the Pi-in-the-Freezer section in the bottom right. Once there, click the Create Backup box. You will at this point be looking at a dialog box that explains essentially that

136 ApplePi-Baker is about to make a one-to-one copy of your card. What this means is that if you have and 8 gigabyte card, ApplePi-Baker is going to make an 8 gigabyte file. Same goes for a 32 or a 64 gigabyte card so you will have to have that kind of storage on one of your computer s drives, unless you choose a compressed file format. In the save box you will notice a pull down menu below your Mac s file structure. Click the menu and choose one of the compressed formats and save yourself some space. When it comes time to restore (if you ever need to) ApplePi-Baker will handle the compressed images as if they were uncompressed, so no worries there. Time to restore on a Mac On a Mac, open up ApplePi-Baker, just like before. This time the procedure is the same as in Chapter 2 Installing RetroPie. Select your image in the box on the left, click the Restore Backup button in the Pi Ingredients : IMG Recipe section of the main window. Navigate to where your disk image is located and sit back and wait while your card is being brought back to its pristine state, ready for play. Time to backup on a PC

137 Open up Win32 Disk Imager, just like you did to flash the card originally, except now when you reach the main window your first step, after your card shows up in the pulldown on the top right, you are going to click the Read option in the row of buttons on the bottom. The program will suck the data off the card and prompt you to save when done. If you have and 8 gigabyte card, Win32 Disk Imager is going to make an 8 gigabyte file. Same goes for a 32 or a 64 gigabyte card so you will have to have that kind of storage on one of your computer s drives. Of course you can always compress the.img file once it s on your hard drive to save space. Time to restore on a PC The procedure is the same that you used when installing RetroPie originally only this time you ll be choosing the.img you created when you made your backup. Don t forget to decompress the file if you applied compression to your file after backing up earlier.