A good starter bundle?

courtesybear

@Icomeinpeace
I recently embarked on setting up my own Raspberry Pi with RetroPie. There's lots of great resources online so I'm sure you won't run into any problems along the way!

I saw those Pi bundles you were talking about too but I ended up just buying the pieces that I needed. I already had a few things like a HDMI cable, micro SD card reader, and a power supply. So I just picked up the things I needed off Amazon for the cheapest price and they all work great. I'm only using a 16gb card for NES and SNES games so I can't comment much about the memory card.

Good luck!

Icomeinpeace

@courtesybear Thanks for your reply :) I ended up buying a pack + some buffalo controllers, all of which will arrive tomorrow. Thats my afternoon plans made!

BobHarris

@icomeinpeace
I agree on using a usb stick for your roms and save files. Makes some things a lot easier.
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Running-ROMs-from-a-USB-drive

Also people have some problems with the Buffalo controllers:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/8187/gamepads-making-involuntary-movements-in-emulation-station/76
I use a Dual shock 4 , it's pretty much perfect in every way.

Icomeinpeace

@bobharris - thanks for your thoughts m8. Hopefully I wont have to many issues with the Buffalo's - plenty of options if I do - I have ps3 and 4 controllers which will get used in time.

Appreciate the link for running roms from USB - I am starting with a truck load of MAME stuff i got backed up on DVD but will quickly move onto USB.

Roll on tomorrow when the Pi arrives :)

incunabula

Congrats on walking the righteous path; you've already saved yourself loads of time by not buying a pre-built package because they're near impossible to troubleshoot and difficult to find support for (but you already knew that). I will second the recommendation on keeping your roms on separate media from the OS- it pays off in spades down the road when you need to change configurations, upgrade to a new version, or just blow away everything and start from a new image (especially useful if you're the type that likes to try out every emulator/p that you can get to work and there are many). I started out buying large Samsung micro-SD cards , then switched to large USB thumb drives and eventually landed on using 2.5" 1TB drive powered by a USB hub. Lots of spare space for disc images and such. Good luck and have fun!

Impman66

I too contemplated going the package root, but then by reading places like this, and watching videos decided to take the plunge and build piecemeal. I may be 51 but I love tinkering around when I am not working, trying new things like scrapers, and looking at new themes. I am now in the process of trying to get selective titles showing video snaps for only that particular game. Just trying to find where and how to put the individual mp4 file is the next step. Have fun!
Oh and thanks for link to github. Is it called github, because most of the issues are a right git to sort out ;)
Have a good weekend all

herb_fargus

@impman66 inventor of Linux Linus Torvalds helped develop git for version control of the Linux kernel. He's a bit of a right git himself but I'd say he's earned it

akafox

@herb_fargus said in A good starter bundle?:

@impman66 inventor of Linux Linus Torvalds helped develop git for version control of the Linux kernel. He's a bit of a right git himself but I'd say he's earned it

LONG LIVE Linus Torvalds and PENGUINS EVERYWHERE! :D

As for the OP:

It's not the idea of having a retropie system for most of us, but more the building our own. It's like a car or a house..you take the time to "tweak" it and "perfect" it so that it is yours and so that you can feel the accomplishment and individuality of it..the rest of it is just fun and games... ;)

Icomeinpeace

Just to update; all set up and working :) the trickiest bit was that my windows 10 laptop doesn't like / run Win32 disklimager - had to boot an old Windows 7 laptop up to burn the image onto the sd card.

Some little niggles which have largely worked out, however gutted to learn that The Main Event isnt working :( I used to peddle some ten pences into that beauty back in the day.

herb_fargus

@icomeinpeace said in A good starter bundle?:

my windows 10 laptop doesn't like / run Win32 disklimager

Etcher could have saved you a bit of trouble ;)

Icomeinpeace

@herb_fargus said in A good starter bundle?:

@icomeinpeace said in A good starter bundle?:

my windows 10 laptop doesn't like / run Win32 disklimager

Etcher could have saved you a bit of trouble ;)

Yeah but it sure was nice to use Windows 7 again........ :P

Icomeinpeace

Ok now im cooking with gas and want to have a look at scraping. Is this guide to using Stephen Selphs scraper still on the money??:

Icomeinpeace

@incunabula said in A good starter bundle?:

Congrats on walking the righteous path; you've already saved yourself loads of time by not buying a pre-built package because they're near impossible to troubleshoot and difficult to find support for (but you already knew that). I will second the recommendation on keeping your roms on separate media from the OS- it pays off in spades down the road when you need to change configurations, upgrade to a new version, or just blow away everything and start from a new image (especially useful if you're the type that likes to try out every emulator/p that you can get to work and there are many). I started out buying large Samsung micro-SD cards , then switched to large USB thumb drives and eventually landed on using 2.5" 1TB drive powered by a USB hub. Lots of spare space for disc images and such. Good luck and have fun!

Just looking at a USB Hub and had a question you could likely help with or recommend a guide?
SO if i have multiple flash drives in a Hub, would you need to format each drive using the process mentioned here: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Running-ROMs-from-a-USB-drive
i.e. Format your USB drive to FAT32 per directions above & Create a folder called retropie-mount on the USB drive

Then add the ROMS manually to each drive?I guess in theory you could have one drive for PS1 one for MAME etc?

Thanks in advance for any advice :D

incunabula

I haven’t tried to use multiple usb drives mounted at once so I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you, sorry. I use a powered usb hub more to ensure a smooth power source for the hdd so it’s not relying on the pi to provide the hdd’s power over usb.

akafox

I have a usb hub..powered four port. It has a separate power supply. It's a Pluggable brand has not failed me one bit. Always remember the pi has enough power to run just itself in most cases. USB sticks have leds on them..so the more leds you plug in the more power draw. (No not saying that LEDS are draining and power hungry..etc ect.) Just saying the pi powers itself..if it has to share it will not be happy.

And not all usb hubs are the same. Yo want to make sure that the hub will NOT back-power into the pi..thus causing damage or death of your pi