Try Retropie on a PC!

PetroRie

@dankcushions said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

@jamesbeat the video was published after your post and moments before mine, so it can't have been.

but anyway you miss my point; of course any old pc will be better. the point is that the software is improving every month, and clearly several games are already in 'playable' condition.

True, I played N64 roms on PC in 2004 on a Pentium 4 PC with 256MB ram onboard video (LOL!). I never had any lag everything worked perfectly. The thing is that the problems in emulation are not hardware related but software related. They will be able to make this emulator run roms perfectly without any problem but it is going to take time.

My PC runs PS2 games perfectly but I really don't want to play roms on PC I want to play them on my TV sitting on my cough for the nostalgia memories.

jamesbeat

@PetroRie
That's the beauty of Retropie - you can put it on a PC and hook it up to your TV.
The one I'm using is a 'small form factor' PC.
It's a lot bigger than a Pi obviously, but as PCs go it's quite small - it looks more like a big console than a small PC.

PetroRie

@jamesbeat said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

@PetroRie
That's the beauty of Retropie - you can put it on a PC and hook it up to your TV.
The one I'm using is a 'small form factor' PC.
It's a lot bigger than a Pi obviously, but as PCs go it's quite small - it looks more like a big console than a small PC.

Ah you mean one of those barebone PC's? Well yes, but the Pi is way more cheaper, uses only a couple watts, no noise, it's way smaller you can hide it behind your TV.

jamesbeat

@PetroRie said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

@jamesbeat said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

@PetroRie
That's the beauty of Retropie - you can put it on a PC and hook it up to your TV.
The one I'm using is a 'small form factor' PC.
It's a lot bigger than a Pi obviously, but as PCs go it's quite small - it looks more like a big console than a small PC.

Ah you mean one of those barebone PC's? Well yes, but the Pi is way more cheaper, uses only a couple watts, no noise, it's way smaller you can hide it behind your TV.

No, it's a small form factor PC. It is small and flat, but actually has room for two internal HDDs and an external optical drive.

I get what you're saying about size, but is small size really the most important part of the equation?
As far as I can tell, small size is really the only advantage that the Pi has (and also I suppose low power consumption).

As to price, I indictated in an earlier post that the PC actually worked out cheaper than the Pi 3.
The PC cost me $50 including shipping.
The Pi 3 is $40, plus the cost of a psu and SD card, a case maybe a powered hub etc etc.

Having said that, I kinda paid through the nose for the PC because I needed it in a hurry. PCs with sufficient specs are often available free from friends or relatives.

I actually bought this PC for my MAME cabinet, but ended up being given a much more powerful one for free, so I had this one sitting around gathering dust.

The actual cost of this project for me was $18 for a better graphics card (the existing graphics were fine, but I upgraded because I wanted hdmi output) and $0.50 for a Bluetooth dongle.

chavatar

@jamesbeat
So, if you had to distill your entire post into 1 or 2 coherent sentences, what would it be? What are you unhappy about fella?

jamesbeat

@chavatar said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

@jamesbeat
So, if you had to distill your entire post into 1 or 2 coherent sentences, what would it be? What are you unhappy about fella?

Size and power consumption are less important than the ability to do the job.
In its current state, both hardware and software, the Pi is inferior to a PC for N64 emulation.

I'm not unhappy, but I am a bit baffled that nobody seems to agree with me that a PC running retropie is a valid option for some people.
It's cheaper, easier in some respects, and performs better. What's not to like?

gizmo98

In my opinion running RetroPie on a PC is a valid option. To be honest i have written initial x86 installation patches because i was not satisfied with rpi2 performance. But comparing a second hand PC with a new PI is not fair. Compare new devices or used devices. A used PI should be cheaper as well. Even though if size, power consumption and loudness matters a PI is unbeatable.

chavatar

So the nub of the question - RetroPie (properly) on x86? For sure a valid question No is also for sure a valid answer though ;)

My crystal ball is murky, but l suspect the kodi for retrogaming, may well be Kodi and the philosophy behind this project is very different.

But that's entirely conjecture on my part ! I do know, however, my Pi has room for an external optical drive too ;p

Peace.

bazmonkey

@jamesbeat said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

I'm not unhappy, but I am a bit baffled that nobody seems to agree with me that a PC running retropie is a valid option for some people.
It's cheaper, easier in some respects, and performs better. What's not to like?

It doesn't seem to me that people are not agreeing with you. It's sorta like going into a Target and being mystified that no one is particularly interested when you walk around talking about how Wal-Mart has a superior selection and price-matching, despite being "only" 15 more miles away. You're in a Pi-centric forum talking about how other PCs are more powerful, despite being larger and more power-hungry.

We get it: old PCs are still useful creatures, and they are more powerful than a Pi. You can get old used equipment on the cheap, and it's working great for your particular needs. Fantastic--but to be frank: so what? What precisely are you trying to convey? You made your opinion, and others made theirs. I think that's the crux of where this discussion has gone: we don't quite get the agenda here.

Plus your comment about optimism vs. realism when reading the forums and people's experiences with N64 emulation is ever-so-slightly suggesting that you have been collectively misled, and that's far from the truth.

jamesbeat

@bazmonkey

This is a Retropie forum, not the Raspberry Pi forum.
I understand that it is Pi-centric, as that is the most common platform, but it is also available for x86, and I wanted to share my positive experience with people who are disappointed in N64 performance on the Pi.

As to being collectively misled, I don't believe that I was deliberately misled, but I do think that my definition of 'playable' differs from that of many of the people discussing the subject.

One guy did warn me what to expect, and that's what made me delve deeper and watch the videos carefully.

The Pi is magnificent, and as I said, I would almost consider myself to be a fanboy under certain circumstances.
I have a bartop arcade cabinet that uses a Pi, and I think it is ideal for that application.

While it can be made to work to an extent, I don't believe that the Pi is currently the best piece of hardware for those looking to use N64 emulators.
My post was directed at people in that position, to show them that there is an alternative that works very well.

herb_fargus

@jamesbeat I also think we could do a better job of showing that RetroPie could be used on a PC for those that want the added performance. Of course RetroPie originated on a pi but the pc is a good option too (I use both depending on my needs)

People still see RetroPie only as an image that is downloaded for the pi but really RetroPie is just a script that installs other software which is why it's adaptable to other systems (albeit with a few platform code tweaks)

bazmonkey

@jamesbeat Fair enough. Enjoy!

bazmonkey

One more thing :-)

@jamesbeat said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

I'd like to try the lighter distro, because Ubuntu is a bit bloated and slow to boot, and it's really not necessary for Retropie.

Just wanna put this out there that you can totally strip down an Ubuntu installation as well as you could use another distro. If you can do without the graphical environment altogether, what you'd be left with is little more than the base Debian installation that RetroPie typically runs on.

jamesbeat

@herb_fargus said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

@jamesbeat I also think we could do a better job of showing that RetroPie could be used on a PC for those that want the added performance. Of course RetroPie originated on a pi but the pc is a good option too (I use both depending on my needs)

People still see RetroPie only as an image that is downloaded for the pi but really RetroPie is just a script that installs other software which is why it's adaptable to other systems (albeit with a few platform code tweaks)

Retropie, in my opinion, is the most important thing to happen to retro gaming in a long time.
The reason is not because emulators are a new thing, but the user friendliness of the setup - it may only be a script, but it makes things so easy anyone can do it, and that's a big deal.

I'd love to see an official distro for PCs.
I managed to set it up ok using the guide, but I've been using Linux for over a decade.

If there was a retropie distro like there is for Lakka, I think it would really catch fire.

The Raspberry Pi is still a niche device, but almost everyone has access to an old PC from the last ten years.

If you could stick a DVD or flash drive into a PC and turn it into a retro gaming powerhouse, even the less techie people could enjoy it for little or no cost.
It would probably draw a lot of attention to the Pi as well.

herb_fargus

@jamesbeat I did make a small USB based gaming thing for windows (still needs some tweaks) but it's essentially lakka with Emulationstation and some configs for standalone emu's.

https://github.com/HerbFargus/Portable-Game-Station

Also RetroPie is starting to get too big imo too many people are starting to abuse it for selfish gain which really kills my motivation for the project. I kinda wish it were back to being less user friendly to filter out the opportunistic freeloaders.

jamesbeat

@herb_fargus said in Try Retropie on a PC!:

@jamesbeat I did make a small USB based gaming thing for windows (still needs some tweaks) but it's essentially lakka with Emulationstation and some configs for standalone emu's.

https://github.com/HerbFargus/Portable-Game-Station

Also RetroPie is starting to get too big imo too many people are starting to abuse it for selfish gain which really kills my motivation for the project. I kinda wish it were back to being less user friendly to filter out the opportunistic freeloaders.

Yes, that's definitely a problem - I've watched it happen for years with MAME, and I expect it will happen with Retropie too.

I feel sad for the devs when these people use their selfless contribution to the community to make some cash for themselves.

There's another side to this coin though.
Because of the Retropie devs, for the last few hours, I have been playing Super Mario World with my five year old daughter.

I didn't have to pay anything, because some kind people shared their work with the world to make it a better place.
If you could see the expression on her face, you would know that it's all worthwhile, and people really do appreciate the work you are doing.

Here's my counterpoint to your argument that making it too user friendly will encourage freeloaders:
It will for a while, and that's unavoidable.
There are always going to be unpleasant people looking to make a fast buck.
However, if you make retropie popular enough, everyone will know that it's supposed to be free, and will see the freeloaders for what they are.

This is why it is so important to have a no-brainer distro - the freeloaders are selling to the people who don't have the confidence to set it up themselves.
People who aren't confident in their technical ability will Google retropie, be put off by the complexity (even though it's already extremely user friendly) and then look for an easier ready-made solution.
This is where the freeloader comes in and offers them that ready made solution in exchange for money.
If it's easy enough that any idiot can do it, you remove the market for the freeloaders.

The only sticking point is the roms, because the end user will always have to do that part.

dankcushions

huge improvements with perfect dark here:

amazing what's been achieved in the last few weeks. exciting times

Shakz

Cant get it to work myself. Keep getting a "Could not build Retroarch - frontend" error when trying to compile retroarch. Something about ffmpeg

Thegodfather

@jamesbeat I'm a noob in all of this stuff.
I wan't to try retropie before buying a raspberry pi, but at the same time I would like to give a second life to my old PC, make it into a retro gaming machine, and set it up on my "man cave" (tried lakka didn't like it).
Do you still need a keyboard and mouse to login to your PC running retropie? Or when you turn it on, it loads retropie automatically?
It would be a bit of a nuisance to have a keyboard laying arround just to load retropie on the pc...
I appreciate any kind of help you can give me.

Shakz

Well I got it to work by not running any updates and just performing an install with the vanilla Ubuntu 16.4.1. NES and SNES work fine...as well as n64. However no dice on Dreamcast. It launches then boots me right out. Gave some sort of permission denied to /dev/fv0 or some such thing. I chmodded it...and no longer get the error but still the games wont launch. I may setup a VM on my main machine so I can start from scratch easier.