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PC Engine build

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
pc enginetg16pcebuildturbografx
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  • H
    herb_fargus administrators @ruckage
    last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 00:03

    @ruckage said in PC Engine build:

    Even better would be the ability to have a short looping video which could loop repeatedly until retropie has finished booting (I'm fairly sure that isn't possible though ).

    Anything is possible with the magic of programming. You'd probably have to have a script or daemon of sorts that loops until emulationstation is called or something.

    I haven't looked at it since it's switched to systemd but you should be able to modify the boot script to cut out once es loads

    If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

    Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    R M 2 Replies Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 00:17 Reply Quote 1
    • ?
      A Former User
      last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 00:06

      Your attention to detail on these builds is incredible! Great work as always!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • F
        FlyingTomahawk @ruckage
        last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 00:11

        @ruckage said in PC Engine build:

        ...and I've set the pi to not wait for network on boot

        How did you do that? My FamicomPi takes also longer to boot up and mostly because of the network check.

        Awesome work on the splashvideo!

        M 1 Reply Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 05:24 Reply Quote 1
        • R
          ruckage @herb_fargus
          last edited by ruckage 13 Feb 2018, 00:17

          @herb_fargus
          Thanks for the info, I'll look into it. I tend to muddle through anything to do with Linux but usually get there in the end.

          @FlyingTomahawk
          It's a setting in raspi-config.

          Go to 'boot options'.
          Select 'Wait for network on boot'
          select 'no'

          It should make a big difference (it has on all my builds at least), let me know if it improves things for you.

          SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

          If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

          H 1 Reply Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 00:35 Reply Quote 1
          • F
            FlyingTomahawk
            last edited by FlyingTomahawk 13 Feb 2018, 00:32

            Thank you!

            Will try this today after work. I'll also check the boot time. Keep you updated asap.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • M
              MrJordaaany @herb_fargus
              last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 00:33

              @ruckage said in [PC Engine build]:

              I was initially hesitant as this is a working machine and they are fairly rare over here. I decided though that as it would need various mods to even get it working on a TV over here that I will convert it - however I'm being very careful so that at a later date it could be returned to an almost original state if needed.

              A man after my own heart. Respect the classics! Not many of these Retro consoles left, so look after them :)

              Always makes me worried when people tear apart old consoles just to put a Raspberry Pi in them. They are finite and only getting old (I know there are millions, but still). But its nice to see if someone does do this they do it in a way that the console can be restored if needed.

              R 1 Reply Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 14:26 Reply Quote 2
              • H
                herb_fargus administrators @ruckage
                last edited by herb_fargus 13 Feb 2018, 00:35

                @ruckage now, if you really want to be ambitious you could look into Plymouth boot splashes... Though I've found on my pi 3 the boot time is so fast that the Plymouth bootsplash is disappointingly brief.

                This is the Pacman one I did:

                Unfortunately also with Plymouth there isn't really sound either.

                If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

                Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                S 1 Reply Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 12:51 Reply Quote 2
                • M
                  mitu Global Moderator @FlyingTomahawk
                  last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 05:24

                  @flyingtomahawk said in PC Engine build:

                  How did you do that?

                  You can do it via sudo raspi-config (https://github.com/legotheboss/YouTube-files/wiki/(RPi)-Wait-For-Network-at-Boot).
                  @ruckage In addition to disabling Samba, you can also disable the Wifi and configure ES with Parse Gamelists only, this way ES will not re-scan the ROM folders on start.

                  F 1 Reply Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 06:25 Reply Quote 1
                  • F
                    FlyingTomahawk @mitu
                    last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 06:25

                    @mitu
                    Does disabling Wifi has the same effect as turning off network check at boot. Or is it recommended to deactivate both to speed things up?

                    M 1 Reply Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 07:06 Reply Quote 0
                    • M
                      mitu Global Moderator @FlyingTomahawk
                      last edited by mitu 13 Feb 2018, 07:06

                      @flyingtomahawk said in PC Engine build:

                      Or is it recommended to deactivate both to speed things up?

                      If you don't use the Wifi, then I think you'll get a few seconds off in the boot time. I've looked at the service boot start time, using systemd-analyze critical-chain; the outliers were the smbd/nmbd (samba) services, which for the dhcp IP address, which in turn waited for the wifi to come up.
                      You can try and do some tests on your own - disable/enable Wifi and/or Samba and run each time systemd-analyze critical-chain (after rebooting) to see the boot times and the order in which services are started.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • S
                        Stuart2773 @ruckage
                        last edited by Stuart2773 13 Feb 2018, 10:54

                        @ruckage Can't wait to see what "theme" you come up with for this build

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • F
                          FlyingTomahawk
                          last edited by FlyingTomahawk 13 Feb 2018, 10:59

                          So back at home I gave it a try and here the results

                          First boot up

                          around 23 sec till boot video
                          28:45 sec till menu

                          Second boot up (wifi off)

                          around 16 sec till boot video
                          48:45 sec till menu

                          Third boot up (wifi and network check off)

                          around 17:20 sec till boot video
                          23:38 sec till menu

                          The overall time hasn't improved by much but the boot video shows up lot faster now.
                          I don't use super fast SD cards or the like just regular stuff so maybe this is as fast as it goes. I also don't have 1000+ roms on it. Now I am also curious to know what else can be turned off to speed up the boot time.

                          UPDATE

                          Retropie Shares removed, Samba uninstalled.
                          Getting random times. Sometimes fast sometimes a bit slower.

                          8-9 seconds till boot video
                          15-21 seconds till menu

                          I ain't braking any records here but it has become faster and that is good enough for me. Many thanks for the pointers.
                          Hope ruckage can cut off a bit more so I'll be following this discussion closely.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                          • S
                            SgtJimmyRustles @herb_fargus
                            last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 12:51

                            @herb_fargus

                            Ok, that's pretty tight man. I'm thinking about using that as my intro splash screen.

                            Check out /r/SBCGaming for Retropie, Recalbox, OGST (Odroid) talk and more!
                            http://www.reddit.com/r/sbcgaming

                            Hop on the Dicscord as well and chat about all things Retropie (or recalbox, lakka, etc)
                            https://discord.gg/JdXc6nx

                            Check out our Podcast!

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • S
                              SgtJimmyRustles @ruckage
                              last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 12:56

                              @ruckage

                              I saw this the other day, and I loved the splashscreen Here. Sadly, I'm not a bomberman fan or TurboGrafx-16 fan, but this is well done.

                              Check out /r/SBCGaming for Retropie, Recalbox, OGST (Odroid) talk and more!
                              http://www.reddit.com/r/sbcgaming

                              Hop on the Dicscord as well and chat about all things Retropie (or recalbox, lakka, etc)
                              https://discord.gg/JdXc6nx

                              Check out our Podcast!

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • R
                                ruckage @MrJordaaany
                                last edited by ruckage 13 Feb 2018, 14:26

                                @mrjordaaany said in PC Engine build:

                                @ruckage said in [PC Engine build]:
                                A man after my own heart. Respect the classics! Not many of these Retro consoles left, so look after them :)

                                Always makes me worried when people tear apart old consoles just to put a Raspberry Pi in them. They are finite and only getting old (I know there are millions, but still). But its nice to see if someone does do this they do it in a way that the console can be restored if needed.

                                Yeah, for this one especially I didn't want to destroy it as it's much less common than other consoles (particulalrtly in UK) so the internals will be kept safe for the future and the only damage to the case will be a few drill holes - most people who mod these for RGB etc. cause much more damage to the cases than that so I don't feel guilty :) .

                                @herb_fargus said in PC Engine build:

                                @ruckage now, if you really want to be ambitious you could look into Plymouth boot...

                                I saw your PacMan boot a while back, I really like it. I don't think I'll try Plymouth for this build though, it does look interesting but also quite complicated and I've already made this build more complicated than I originally planned :D. Animated gif support would actually be a good option for the boot screen, I wonder if that's possible.

                                @mitu said in PC Engine build:

                                @ruckage In addition to disabling Samba, you can also disable the Wifi and configure ES with Parse Gamelists only, this way ES will not re-scan the ROM folders on start.

                                Thanks, I like to have the wifi on so i can access the machine easily if needed but once everything is completely setup it may not be necessary so I'll look into it. Setting ES to 'parse gamelists only' is a good tip if you have a lot systems and roms but for this build I'm not loading ES at all so it wouldn't have any impact.

                                @stuart2773 said in PC Engine build:

                                @ruckage Can't wait to see what "theme" you come up with for this build

                                I'm sorry to disappoint you but this build won't be using ES at all so it won't have a theme, all games will be launched by inserting my fake Hucards (I have enough plastic blanks to make 100 at least which will easily cover all the PC Engine games I'm interested in.

                                @flyingtomahawk said in PC Engine build:

                                8-9 seconds till boot video
                                15-21 seconds till menu

                                I ain't braking any records here but it has become faster and that is good enough for me. Many thanks for the pointers.
                                Hope ruckage can cut off a bit more so I'll be following this discussion closely.

                                That's a pretty good improvement, thanks for posting the different boot times as it gives a good indication of what changes make the most difference. Is it a pi3 or a pi2 you're using? The SD card can definitely make a big difference up to a point, you don't need a super expensive card as the SD reader is limited anyway but I've always found Sandisc Ultra to be a good affordable card with good performance (32gb is about £10 sold by Amazon).

                                SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                                If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                                S F S 3 Replies Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 14:32 Reply Quote 0
                                • S
                                  SgtJimmyRustles @ruckage
                                  last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 14:32

                                  @ruckage

                                  Are you 3d printing the fake cards? And I assume they'll use NFC?

                                  Check out /r/SBCGaming for Retropie, Recalbox, OGST (Odroid) talk and more!
                                  http://www.reddit.com/r/sbcgaming

                                  Hop on the Dicscord as well and chat about all things Retropie (or recalbox, lakka, etc)
                                  https://discord.gg/JdXc6nx

                                  Check out our Podcast!

                                  R 1 Reply Last reply 13 Feb 2018, 14:38 Reply Quote 0
                                  • R
                                    ruckage @SgtJimmyRustles
                                    last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 14:38

                                    @sgtjimmyrustles They're lasercut and using NFC. Hucards are the size and shape of a credit card (only thicker) so it was relatively cheap to have them cut which makes this feasible for a large number of games (more details in my post a few days ago https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/14989/pc-engine-build/16 )

                                    SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                                    If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • F
                                      FlyingTomahawk @ruckage
                                      last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 14:55

                                      @ruckage
                                      It's a Pi3 with a Mausberry switch.
                                      I'll definitely have a look at different SD cards to see if I can get the boot time down a few more seconds.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • R
                                        ruckage
                                        last edited by 13 Feb 2018, 23:30

                                        I just made what I think will be the finalised Hucard design, it's come out pretty well. There is a slight bulge on the back of the card where the NFC label is placed under the rear hucard label but there isn't much I can do about that as the NFC label has to go somewhere.

                                        0_1518563133798_hucard back.jpg

                                        The art on the hucards will not be accurate in most cases, finding high quality scans of hucards is difficult and in many cases is just text which is a bit boring so I'm using the cover art as the hucard art. Also the artwork on real hucards varies in size as the pcb (the black area) varies depending on the game size. For mine I'm sticking to an artwork size that is as large as possible while still being fully visible when inserted into the console.

                                        0_1518563170585_hucard in console.jpg

                                        I'm also making cases for these complete with a custom made insert to really add the finishing touch, I'm really pleased with the way they look.

                                        0_1518563147693_hucard case.jpg
                                        0_1518563160407_hucard case back.jpg

                                        You can't see in the photos but at the top of the spine I have a colour coded genre similar to TurboGrafx 16 boxes, these I think will cover most games.

                                        0_1518563506967_pc engine genre.jpg

                                        SNES mini/Nes mini/Famicom mini theme developer.

                                        If you'd like to support my work you can donate here: Donate

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • F
                                          FlyingTomahawk
                                          last edited by FlyingTomahawk 14 Feb 2018, 00:28

                                          Funny you show this game. Just saw it yesterday at Hard Off for 12000 yen. So you just saved yourself a big amount of money.

                                          A guy that I used to have contact in Yokohama owns the complete Shmups collection for PCEngine and some were REALLY expensive he said.

                                          Still I don't understand how you gonna run these games without ES. Is there a different software you gonna use? Can you explain more details?

                                          L R 2 Replies Last reply 14 Feb 2018, 00:38 Reply Quote 1
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