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Making a custom product using RetroPie

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion and Gaming
retropieproductsdistributorraspberry pilegal
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  • S
    silviustro @herb_fargus
    last edited by 16 Mar 2018, 23:53

    @herb_fargus Thank you for your answer. I respect the project and its developers, and I would indeed like to ask for the proper permission to use the software.

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      markwkidd
      last edited by markwkidd 16 Mar 2018, 23:55

      Step 1: Remove all non-GPL, non-MIT, non-BSD licensed software from RetroPie.

      Step 2: Without those resources, do you still think your product is viable? I hope so.

      There is a lot of grousing about people who want to make commercial products who 'take but do not give back.'

      Sometimes it seems like noncommerical license zealots don't actually even want people to give back though. Therefore my suggestion from the peanut gallery: Give back to the community, give back hard, and give back often! :)

      S 1 Reply Last reply 17 Mar 2018, 00:02 Reply Quote 1
      • S
        silviustro @markwkidd
        last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 00:02

        @markwkidd That's what I plan on doing! Unfortunately most of the contributions I can make are in hardware (and the software to drive said hardware). I am more of an electronics and design guy. Like I said, If i'm successful on my project, I will release all the schematics and software I used, I will also make all the hardware "Arduino compatible" so that people can replicate it. I was also planning on designing a couple of themes for EmulationStation as well.

        M 1 Reply Last reply 17 Mar 2018, 00:13 Reply Quote 0
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          markwkidd @silviustro
          last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 00:13

          @silviustro said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

          @markwkidd That's what I plan on doing! Unfortunately most of the contributions I can make are in hardware (and the software to drive said hardware). I am more of an electronics and design guy. Like I said, If i'm successful on my project, I will release all the schematics and software I used, I will also make all the hardware "Arduino compatible" so that people can replicate it. I was also planning on designing a couple of themes for EmulationStation as well.

          I'm sure there are a lot of people who would appreciate your schematics and software. I wish you well on your project, I'll be keeping an eye out for future threads!

          S 1 Reply Last reply 17 Mar 2018, 00:22 Reply Quote 0
          • S
            silviustro @markwkidd
            last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 00:22

            @markwkidd Thank you!

            M 1 Reply Last reply 17 Mar 2018, 00:27 Reply Quote 0
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              markyh444 @silviustro
              last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 00:27

              @silviustro I'd recommend directing your customers here to obtain the official image, burn to an SD card and put into your build. From there, you can advise them to download an install script that will push the customisations out specific to the hardware tweaks you mentioned. All they'd need, would be an internet connection, screen and USB keyboard to achieve this.

              That way, you're just selling the hardware, not software.

              Retropie in a NES - Pi 3 with Mausberry circuit shutdown switch wired to buttons and 8bitdo NesPro30 controller
              Retropie in a Saturn Controller - Pi Zero, GPIO controls using DB9 driver
              Retropie in a PSX - Pi3
              https://markyh444.wordpress.com

              S S 2 Replies Last reply 17 Mar 2018, 01:44 Reply Quote 4
              • S
                SgtJimmyRustles @markyh444
                last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 01:44

                @markyh444

                I agree. Like Rasptendo has a script that they provide to add support for safe shutdown. That's perfectly fine in this situation.

                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!

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                • S
                  silviustro @markyh444
                  last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 01:48

                  @markyh444 Pretty sure less than 1% of the people buying something like this would be capable of installing such a script. What about a pre-made image?

                  H R A 3 Replies Last reply 17 Mar 2018, 04:39 Reply Quote 0
                  • H
                    herb_fargus administrators @silviustro
                    last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 04:39

                    @silviustro imo raspiboy did it pretty well when he provided the hardware, gave a detailed list of the changes specific to his hardware and then pointed people to the image here.

                    One of the other issues you'll run into here is we don't support third party images even if they arent prefilled with roms whereas if the user is able to start from a stock image they've got a clean record of exactly what changes they've made and it makes it much easier for us to help troubleshoot any issues with their builds as people will inevitably end up here looking for support whether the creator of their hardware supports them or not.

                    Pretty sure less than 1% of the people buying something like this would be capable of installing such a script

                    Then the argument becomes how much are they buying your product because of the hardware vs added value of the software? I've found at least in this community generally those that are building handhelds and the like are more tinkerers capable of a bit of scripting, and if not it doesn't hurt for people to be versed in some scripting as the ethos of the pi has primarily been for learning. Turning it into a user friendly product takes a way from that, but that's just my personal opinion

                    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

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • R
                      Rion @silviustro
                      last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 07:38

                      @silviustro I would say 99% of people buying a product with good instructions on how to install a script could do it.

                      It's better to link to your instructions and a script then to make a custom image.

                      FBNeo rom filtering
                      Mame2003 Arcade Bezels
                      Fba Arcade Bezels
                      Fba NeoGeo Bezels

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • D
                        dankcushions Global Moderator
                        last edited by 17 Mar 2018, 13:42

                        this isn't a question for retropie.

                        the retropie script is GPL - you could put the script on a CD, sell that, and no-one would/could have a legal problem with that. the problem is, the bootable image includes emulators and other software/themes that have 'non commercial' licenses. for example, all snes emulators capable of being run on a raspberry pi have a non-commercial license.

                        it's not a matter of asking permission of retropie to do your project - retropie does not speak for these emulator/theme/software authors. they cannot give you permission to break these licenses. https://retropie.org.uk/about/legal/

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                        • M
                          markwkidd
                          last edited by markwkidd 17 Mar 2018, 14:06

                          You can see the approach that X-Gaming took for matching up a build of RetroPie with their control systems: https://support.xgaming.com/support/solutions/articles/5000554993-how-to-use-x-arcade-with-raspberry-pi

                          Please be aware that, as has been mentioned before, the folks in this forum don't support their custom version. And amusingly, neither does X-Gaming.

                          edit: It looks like their custom RetroPie image incorporates at least one noncommercial emulator -- mame2003. Maybe don't do that!

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • B
                            BuZz administrators @silviustro
                            last edited by BuZz 17 Mar 2018, 20:38

                            @silviustro said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                            As has been mentioned - the licences of many emulators and themes forbid including with a commercial product. You can provide a freely downloadable image though for your customers to install (and anyone else who wants it - Obviously abiding by the licences of anything you modify for the image).. You just can't include it with the product.

                            We wouldn't support any custom image here though - that would be up to you.

                            Another alternative is to contribute a driver to our project which your users could easily enable on our official image etc.

                            My preference would be for you to point your customers to our site to use our official image, and either contribute code to our project or host some additional install script yourself.

                            To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • M
                              markwkidd
                              last edited by markwkidd 18 Mar 2018, 00:39

                              I would like to add that I have shown Twinaphex the prebuilt X-Gaming RetroPie binary that seems to include some noncommerical libretro cores.

                              What I'm about to say is not a policy statement from libretro, but Twinaphex's response was that X-Gaming's approach of offering a free, prebuilt binary download doesn't seem like a license problem to him.

                              After I got that response, I told Twinaphex that I would start referring to their approach as an example of how to do a prebuilt binary without incurring the wrath of the libretro devs. ;)

                              D 1 Reply Last reply 18 Mar 2018, 00:45 Reply Quote 0
                              • D
                                dankcushions Global Moderator @markwkidd
                                last edited by 18 Mar 2018, 00:45

                                @markwkidd said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                                I would like to add that I have shown Twinaphex the prebuilt X-Gaming RetroPie binary that seems to include some noncommerical libretro cores.

                                What I'm about to say is not a policy statement from libretro, but Twinaphex's response was that X-Gaming's approach of offering a free, prebuilt binary download doesn't seem like a license problem to him.

                                After I got that response, I told Twinaphex that I would start referring to their approach as an example of how to do a prebuilt binary without incurring the wrath of the libretro devs. ;)

                                twinaphex can't speak for the license holders of these non-commercial components any more than retropie can.

                                M 1 Reply Last reply 18 Mar 2018, 00:48 Reply Quote 1
                                • M
                                  markwkidd @dankcushions
                                  last edited by markwkidd 18 Mar 2018, 00:48

                                  @dankcushions said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                                  @markwkidd said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                                  I would like to add that I have shown Twinaphex the prebuilt X-Gaming RetroPie binary that seems to include some noncommerical libretro cores.

                                  What I'm about to say is not a policy statement from libretro, but Twinaphex's response was that X-Gaming's approach of offering a free, prebuilt binary download doesn't seem like a license problem to him.

                                  After I got that response, I told Twinaphex that I would start referring to their approach as an example of how to do a prebuilt binary without incurring the wrath of the libretro devs. ;)

                                  twinaphex can't speak for the license holders of these non-commercial components any more than retropie can.

                                  True. And thus my specific disclaimer that it isn't libretro policy I'm paraphrasing.

                                  I used mame2003 as my example since it's what I know best but Twinaphex does have copyrights in several of the noncommercial SNES emulators.

                                  I think it is relevant to hear what a prominent figure in emulator licensing has to say. No substitute for working through each license, but relevant.

                                  D 1 Reply Last reply 18 Mar 2018, 00:54 Reply Quote 0
                                  • D
                                    dankcushions Global Moderator @markwkidd
                                    last edited by 18 Mar 2018, 00:54

                                    @markwkidd said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                                    @dankcushions said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                                    @markwkidd said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                                    I would like to add that I have shown Twinaphex the prebuilt X-Gaming RetroPie binary that seems to include some noncommerical libretro cores.

                                    What I'm about to say is not a policy statement from libretro, but Twinaphex's response was that X-Gaming's approach of offering a free, prebuilt binary download doesn't seem like a license problem to him.

                                    After I got that response, I told Twinaphex that I would start referring to their approach as an example of how to do a prebuilt binary without incurring the wrath of the libretro devs. ;)

                                    twinaphex can't speak for the license holders of these non-commercial components any more than retropie can.

                                    True. And thus my specific disclaimer that it isn't libretro policy I'm paraphrasing.

                                    I used mame2003 as my example since it's what I know best but Twinaphex does have copyrights in several of the noncommercial SNES emulators.

                                    he co-holds them. he would need agreement from all snes9x holders for that kind of ruling. he especially can't comment on mame2003, which breaks mame's license (at the time) in several ways already.

                                    I think it is relevant to hear what a prominent figure in emulator licensing has to say. No substitute for working through each license, but relevant.

                                    having re-read your post, yeah a pre-built binary is fine? i mean, that's what retropie is already. it's preinstalling it in a commercial product that is the problem.

                                    M 1 Reply Last reply 18 Mar 2018, 00:57 Reply Quote 1
                                    • M
                                      markwkidd
                                      last edited by markwkidd 18 Mar 2018, 00:56

                                      Most all of these license discussions are basically strangers on the internet white-knighting for other peoples intellectual property usually without knowing how the creators interpret something like "noncommercial" (which is not a stanardized legal or copyright term). If we didn't speculate about how to interpret the licenses, what would there be to talk about?!

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -2
                                      • M
                                        markwkidd @dankcushions
                                        last edited by markwkidd 18 Mar 2018, 00:57

                                        he co-holds them. he would need agreement from all snes9x holders for that kind of ruling. he especially can't comment on mame2003, which breaks mame's license (at the time) in several ways already.

                                        If someone wanted to relicense mame2003 as GPL, they'd need to talk to Twinaphex, you, and me among others. We all have a bit of ownership. Woot!

                                        How does mame2003 break the original license?

                                        D 1 Reply Last reply 18 Mar 2018, 01:08 Reply Quote 0
                                        • D
                                          dankcushions Global Moderator @markwkidd
                                          last edited by 18 Mar 2018, 01:08

                                          @markwkidd said in Making a custom product using RetroPie:

                                          How does mame2003 break the original license?

                                          https://github.com/libretro/mame2003-libretro/blob/master/docs/mame.txt#L21

                                          VII in particular.

                                          this is very off topic now, and i feel uncomfortable discussing it.

                                          M 1 Reply Last reply 18 Mar 2018, 01:15 Reply Quote 1
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