RetroPie won't install any BIOs

TMNTturtlguy

@N-Game-Arts is your wifi for the computer on the same network as the raspberry pi? If you are on a wifi connection that is not the same network as the wired connection this could be the issue. Could you hard wire both? Or can you connect your pi to the same wifi network as your computer?

N-Game Arts

@mediamogul
I didn't even know was a thing until now and so never needed until now... I mean I can't even get it to work. xD
but I was meaning in more of a line as pluging the SD to the computer and pickup and drop then to use the internet or hook the USB to the Pi without needing Linux to move stuff... but a Retropie built in pickup and drop system. :3

but I guess that's just wishful thinking at this point. xD

@TMNTturtlguy
I'll try making them both wi-fi... give me a sec. :3
thank you

N-Game Arts

@TMNTturtlguy
I did as you said, I put them both under the same network and both are on Wi-fi (doing wired for both can't be done)
and it told me the same thing "Network Error: connection to xxx.xxx.x.xxx timed out"

TMNTturtlguy

@N-Game-Arts on retropie, go to "retropie" scroll to the bottom and select "show IP Address" I think that is what it says, - select the IP address from the menu. More than likely you have a new IP address now that you are connected to the internet by wifi.

N-Game Arts

@TMNTturtlguy
OKAY! we are in business it just popped up and I'm linked to my Pi now. :3
Well I already took care of the bios but this will be a huge help to moving over bios or roms to the pi.

Thank so very much... I'm very sorry for all the troubles with it and me. :(
and thank you all who tried help before... I really mean it. :D

PS:
One very last thing... seeing how I would like to make more as for gifts for people.
can I hook the SD to the computer and copy and paste all the files in it to another SD card and hook to a new pi and will come with all the stuff I did on the first pi... or will I have to do this with every Pi? ... I just hoping to make 2 more for a friend and mom and dad. :3

Thank you again.... <3

AlexMurphy

@N-Game-Arts Once you have this one set up the way you want it you can use Win32Diskimager to copy the card then write it (copy it) to as many as you want and it will be exactly the same.

TMNTturtlguy

@N-Game-Arts As @AlexMurphy said, you can use Win32Diskimager to make copies, this is because you need to create a bootable drive, so you can't simply copy over the contents. Here is a link to everything you need to know. It is also a good idea to create a backup of your SD card using this method.

Link to how to backup/copy

There is also another method called rpi-clone, but this is a much more advance way to make copies and for your purposes Win32Diskimager is probably the easiest: rpi-clone link

BobHarris

I would like to add that it can be quite a nightmare to make a backup thinking you can write that backup image back to the exact same card. For some reason the backup image (made with win32disk imager 1.0) is slightly larger than the card it came from. (At least in my experience.)

You can look into shrinking the image (difficult), but I just use cards twice the size.

TMNTturtlguy

@BobHarris What type of card are you using? Win32Diskimager should not increase the size of the card. It will write the image of the exact card and it should be the exact size of the card. Are you sure that the issue is not that you are trying to use a different brand card when you try to write the image to the new card? Also, make sure if you reformat that you do a full reformat and not a quick format.

To your point, if you use a cheap card that does not have quality and consistency, or you use 2 different brands, the new card might be smaller than your original.

This is where rpi-clone comes in handy, you can create a copy of your build to a smaller card as it does not make an image, but rather transfers files. Thanks to @pjft for showing this to me.

BobHarris

@TMNTturtlguy I am using a Sandisk 32 gb ultra, bought in the store. And I was trying to write my image back to this same card after a full format (first I wipe the Linus partition with a quick format in my Sony camera, then I do a full (overwrite) format , with 'format size adjustment' to On in sdformatter). It's really odd but there are more reports about this issue.
rpi-clone is a better alternative imo if you want to use the same size card (or smaller) for a back up