Dragon 32/CoCo 2 Emulation

[Steve Bamford]

Hi.

I'm totally new to the Raspberry Pi and RetroPie distro and was looking for a little help getting Dragon 32 and CoCo 2 games running on my Pi Zero.

I have RetroPie v4.3 booting up and working. I then tried installing XRoar via `Manage Packages/Manage Optional Packages' but get the following error;

Error running 'git clone --recursive --branch http://www.6809.org.uk/git/xroar.git/home/pi/retroPie-setup/tmp/build/xroar' - returned 128

Has anyone else encountered this error?

Alternatively, is it possible to run Dragon and CoCo games using a different RetroPie emulator such as a MAME variant, (I know on PC the MESS emulator supported 8-bit computers)?

Many thanks,
Steve.

[jonnykesh]

@steve-bamford I'm sure MESS supports those systems, it covers all sorts of older hardware.
But you should look into why you are having the issue, I have xroar installed and it works great for the Dragon32. I just updated it from source and was able to access the git repo with no issue. The update built and installed correctly and exited without a problem.
Did you update your setup script before installing?

[Steve Bamford]

Hi jonnykesh.

It's great to hear you have XRoar working! :D

All I've done so far is burn the RetroPie image onto a SD card and boot up the Pi Zero. Everything else is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment.

So how tricky is the next step? I'm not very familiar with git or linux.

[mitu]

@steve-bamford Use the RetroPie menu from the Emulationstation list of systems, the open RetroPie setup. You'll be able to install xroar by using the Manage Packages -> Manage Experimental packages, it's in the list.

[Steve Bamford]

I've tried installing xroar via ManagePackages. On the latest version of RetroPie, xroar is under `->Manage Optional Packages'.

Unfortunately it produces an error (see first post).

[Steve Bamford]

Does the Pi Zero need an internet connection in order to install XRoar or should all the relevant files be part of the RetroPie distro?

I'm not sure what to try next so any help would be really appreciated. :)

[jonnykesh]

@steve-bamford Eh, sorry I just assumed... You're gonna need a connection to the webs. As you can see from your OP, the git clone part is trying to access a repo on github to download the files.

[Steve Bamford]

Ah, I might not be able to do it then?

The Pi Zero doesn't have an Ethernet port and I don't have the Pi Zero with built in WiFi.

[jonnykesh]

@steve-bamford you could get a WiFi dongle. You can pick a decent one up for a few quid.

[Steve Bamford]

@jonnykesh Good idea. :) I'll order a usb hub too, the Pi Zero has only two usb sockets and one is required for power.

[jonnykesh]

@steve-bamford Yeah, I have one. Somewhere. I had a little USB wifi dongle from PiHut and a USB to micro USB adaptor. Think it came with the kit. I would then just SSH into the PiZero rather than use a hub and keyboard but a hub should work just as well.

[Steve Bamford]

@jonnykesh I might need the hub just so that I can connect a gamepad as well, to navigate RetroPie and install XRoar?

[Steve Bamford]

@jonnykesh Success!! :D

Once my WiFi dongle arrived I was able to build XRoar from source, as you described, and SSH roms over from my PC.

I'm really happy with my Pi Zero and RetroPie. Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction. :)

[jonnykesh]

@steve-bamford Not a problem. xroar is a "niche" emulator at best. We gotta stick together. Enjoy. Get yourself a full game ROM set and go crazy!