Pi Zero W won't boot Retropie

[thething1979]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the scene having only built 2 retropie consoles. One on a Pi 3 and one on a vanilla Pi Zero. I recently received the new Zero W but it won't boot any image of Retropie that I've tried, I just get a freeze on a rainbow coloured screen, which as I understand tells me there is a problem with the image. However I never had these problems before, and I've scoured the web for answers to no avail. I can't be the only one with this issue, unless I have a faulty board. Anyone know any workarounds to get it running, I'm building a NES cartridge console for a present so I'd like to sort this out fairly soon (within the next week really).

[DigitalMonkey]

Check this thread - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/8556/raspberry-pi-zero-w/18

There's a link in that thread for updated images to try.

[thething1979]

@DigitalMonkey Ok thanks, at least it has been identified. I'll try those images but it seems they don't work either :/

[jacklaidlaw]

@thething1979 I was having the exact same problem, I managed to fix this by using an older pi and in terminal type:
sudo apt-get update
once that has completed then type:
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

you need an internet connection for this to download the nessesary files but once done put the SD in your new Pi Zero W and you are all set to go.

[GJHmf]

@thething1979 Same here, you're not alone.

[Rascas]

You need to update raspbian system, to install the new kernel, to have Zero W support. For example, like @jacklaidlaw said. Yesterday, the Raspberry Pi foundation, released a new Raspbian image with Zero W support. You have to wait for a realase of new RetroPie image also for a clean install.

[CKidwell]

@jacklaidlaw Thanks!