Can an Original Pi Model B Cope with Retropie?

dankcushions · 16 Apr 2017, 13:06

pi zero is basically the same power as a pi1, in terms of what it can/can't run. i believe USB sound cards use up some cycles so maybe they're worse, once you've added that.

jamesbeat · 16 Apr 2017, 13:38

@dankcushions said in Can an Original Pi Model B Cope with Retropie?:

pi zero is basically the same power as a pi1, in terms of what it can/can't run. i believe USB sound cards use up some cycles so maybe they're worse, once you've added that.

Yes, I know it's pretty much the same machine.
The reason I went with the Zero is that it's much smaller.
Not because of the size of the board per se, but because of the locations of the ports.
My original Pi is so old that it doesn't even have mounting holes, and the ports are arranged in such a way that the device is huge once all the accessories are plugged in - it has stuff sticking out all over the place.
I would have had a really hard time fitting it in the case that I want to use.

Plus,it saved me a pretty long drive..

Edit:
If the usb sound card slows things down too much I'll build the audio circuit. I'm not going to bother unless it proves to be necessary though.

masteryoer · 16 Apr 2017, 13:46

You can also remove the connectors from the original pi and wire directly to the through holes to make it even smaller.

jamesbeat · 16 Apr 2017, 14:05

@masteryoer said in Can an Original Pi Model B Cope with Retropie?:

You can also remove the connectors from the original pi and wire directly to the through holes to make it even smaller.

True, but that's far too much work when you can get a Zero for $5.

I didn't even bother getting the W ($10) because I won't need wireless once it's set up.

masteryoer · 16 Apr 2017, 15:01

I'll be excited to see them come out with a pi3 zero or similar.

jamesbeat · 17 Apr 2017, 00:28

@masteryoer said in Can an Original Pi Model B Cope with Retropie?:

I'll be excited to see them come out with a pi3 zero or similar.

I expect it's only a matter of time.
I was looking at my Zero today and it still seems unbelievable that it can emulate all of those computers on my list.
We've come a long way, and these things will keep getting smaller and more powerful.
I'm glad I was around for the age of the 'micro' so I can truly appreciate how amazing the technology is nowadays.

NastyButtler322 · 18 Apr 2017, 19:53

@jamesbeat ahh OK. That is cool, but I think I'll do my original plan because I want an analog joystick for flying games.

jamesbeat · 23 Apr 2017, 16:28

Well I tried it, and guess what?
The other emulators work ok, but ST performance is horrendous.

I thought it might be the usb sound card slowing things down, so I drove out to get my original Pi.
Same deal, ST emulation is awful in that too.

I'm considering a Pi3, but I'm not sure I'm going to go that route.
I had the same DVI problems with the Zero that appear to plague all Pi's - the dreaded flashing screen.

I went through this with my original Pi, and they don't appear to have fixed it with the Zero.

Going with the advice I received on the Pi forum, I tried everything, so I ended up spending loads of money on different hdmi cables, power supplies, powered hubs etc, and I even bought another monitor.

I tried turning up hdmi output in increments all the way up to 11, different refresh rates etc etc.

I'm kinda sick of going through all this, and I fear that buying a Pi3 would just be buying myself a headache.

Another option is to use a proper PC with retropie like I do with my tv console, but unfortunately that means I won't be able to use the case I want (inadequate cooling).

The only other option is
to buy an hdmi monitor, but this is also problematic.
It's hard to get a 4:3 (or 5:4) monitor with hdmi input, besides which it's another expense on top of a Pi3.

Looks like my cheap, simple project has turned into a bit of a nightmare.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation should really be a little more honest in its documentation and admit that dvi often won't work.
I know this would mean less revenue for them.
I expect a lot of people buy a Pi because they think they can use their exisiting monitor, but it's rather unethical.

Also the fanboys on the forums should be a bit more honest about the dvi problems instead of sending people on wild goose chases and recommending they buy more hardware to fix a known problem with the Pi itself.

Edit:
I ordered a vga adapter.
I'm not really expecting it to work properly, but I have to have one more crack at this before I throw in the towel.
If it works with the Zero, I'll buy a Pi3 to get Hatari working properly.

If not, I'll post a video on YouTube of me immolating the Zero in my aluminum foundry :D

jamesbeat · 27 Apr 2017, 16:16

Ok, here's an update:

I bought an extremely inexpensive HDMI-VGA adapter, and to my utter astonishment, I just plugged it in and it works!

Now I have a display that I can use I'm happy using a Pi for this project, but the question is which one?

I said above that I was prepared to buy a Pi3 if I could get the display working, but I've been doing some thinking, and I'm not sure I understand why Hatari isn't working on the Zero.

I have a Sony Xperia Play phone that I bought specifically to run emulators. It has a 1GHz single core ARM processor with 512MB memory just like the Zero, yet it can run Hataroid (the Android port of Hatari) with aplomb, in fact it can run PSX fine too, and even does a pretty good job with N64.

This leads me to believe that it's not the low specs of the Zero that is causing the poor performance. Is it possible that there is something I can adjust to get Hatari running smoothly on the Zero?

dankcushions · 27 Apr 2017, 16:27

@jamesbeat said in Can an Original Pi Model B Cope with Retropie?:

I have a Sony Xperia Play phone that I bought specifically to run emulators. It has a 1GHz single core ARM processor with 512MB memory just like the Zero, yet it can run Hataroid (the Android port of Hatari) with aplomb, in fact it can run PSX fine too, and even does a pretty good job with N64.

which generation of ARM processor? is your phone this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperia_Play ? it looks like the MSM8255 is ARMv7. ARMv7 has better IPC than ARMv11 (pi1)/ARMv6 (zero), for example, which makes that phone probably more like an overclocked pi2 (which is fine with PSX etc). you can't just compare clockspeed.

also, that's a dedicated gaming phone so the RAM and system bus is probably more set for the task than the pi1. the GPU is probably better which would make a huge difference specifically in N64.

jamesbeat · 28 Apr 2017, 01:56

@dankcushions said in Can an Original Pi Model B Cope with Retropie?:

@jamesbeat said in Can an Original Pi Model B Cope with Retropie?:

I have a Sony Xperia Play phone that I bought specifically to run emulators. It has a 1GHz single core ARM processor with 512MB memory just like the Zero, yet it can run Hataroid (the Android port of Hatari) with aplomb, in fact it can run PSX fine too, and even does a pretty good job with N64.

which generation of ARM processor? is your phone this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperia_Play ? it looks like the MSM8255 is ARMv7. ARMv7 has better IPC than ARMv11 (pi1)/ARMv6 (zero), for example, which makes that phone probably more like an overclocked pi2 (which is fine with PSX etc). you can't just compare clockspeed.

also, that's a dedicated gaming phone so the RAM and system bus is probably more set for the task than the pi1. the GPU is probably better which would make a huge difference specifically in N64.

That makes sense.
I guess I'll buy a Pi3 and turn my Zero into a Kodi box or something.

Drakaen391 · 28 Apr 2017, 05:47

the pi1 b (512mb version) isn't to bad... and can run some PSX games...

I was able to play pac man world on it using the .cue/.bin extracted from the disk with no problems as well as a couple others (crash bandicoot and such)

though more graphic intensive games like Tony Hawk was unplayable...

and N64 on Pi1 was near impossible...