Need help. I am very very very new to this whole thing. (3rd party image issues)
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I am extremely new to this whole thing and my brother got me a raspberry pi for me for xmas and I would like to fix some of the games I have on the Pi. Mario is too fast with the controls and tempo to the music, Tiny Toon Adventures has weird characters that you play as (Donkey Kong?? What the hell??), Anticipation for NES is all glitchy and pixelated at the top of the board game part (when the pieces are moving around -- need a cleaner version of Anticipation), etc. It has retro pie on it. I have no idea what version it is running nor where to find it. I have a macbook pro with El Capitan. I don't know what all these videos are saying. Too technical. My bro said "it's easy to upload a game, you just download an emulator and boom, and it doesn't take up much space." Is it that easy to get a game onto my Raspberry Pi? It is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles NES cartridge with 3 usb ports and an HDMI cable port and then a little port that goes to the power source cable. It also glows blue when plugged into a power source and when I push the power button on the power source cable. What am I missing? What do I need? I don't do well with technical lingo. Please talk to me as if I am a 100 year old man just learning something new in technology. (I'm 33 but I do mess up the words emulator and ROM words.) The beginners video was even confusing for me. I don't know what to do. There is a third port here but it only has two controllers, so what is the third port for? What is an SD card? Like a camera? Because I don't see that kind of a port anywhere on my cartridge nor do I see a card anywhere. HELLLPPPP!!!
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First of all, you should follow the advice detailed in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first
As you fill all that out, pay special care to what image was installed, as it sounds like you have a lot of hacked ROMs mixed with PAL versions. If it was a third party image, we won't be able to support you here and if it's just that your brother threw on a bunch of random ROMs himself, we'll still be working at quite a disadvantage, not knowing exactly how he set things up. At best I would recommend having a conversation with him and getting all the details you can. Perhaps he could be with you as we troubleshoot. At worst, I would recommend starting over with a clean image from this site.
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Oh, my brother had someone else set it up with all the games. He paid big money for this. He lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area anyway. I live in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
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@smashing said in Need help. I am very very very new to this whole thing.:
He paid big money for this.
I hate to say it, but he got scammed. RetroPie is intended to be free. In fact selling it is actually illegal.
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Also, I have Sega Master System, Sega 32x, Super Nintendo, Nintendo, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Game Gear, Game Boy, and some other gaming consoles I'm unfamiliar with.
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@mediamogul He paid big money for the console.
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Unfortunately, you have only two options open to you. You can seek assistance from the entity that put the system together, or you can put on a clean image from the link in my first post. If you choose the latter, you'll find that this community is always willing to help you with any problems you may have.
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@mediamogul That link is taking me to more links that are mumbo-jumbo to me. I don't even know what I am doing at all anymore. I keep installing things I don't know how to use, and buying accessories I don't know how to use/know how they help. I just bought a USB to USB cable and plugged it in thinking that is how I hook up my Pi to my MacBook Pro. It doesn't even register on my computer. Clean image? Will that erase everything on my Pi? I'm very confused.
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@smashing Why would you ever try to connect a Pi to a pc or a mac via usb? You simply need to read the instructions which are written for those who have no prior knowledge like me. You will then be up and running in less than 30 minutes but yes, your 3rd party image will be erased.
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@smashing
It's too bad you are having a rough time. I often ring this bell and I will do so again: RetroPie is not like a typical commercial product. You have to adjust your expectations somewhat. Although you can get a premium experience out of a well-tuned system, it can take a lot of effort depending on your configuration needs.RetroPie does an amazing job at integrating so many different capabilities that would be much harder to setup individually. The documentation here really can be followed without getting too deep into the technology, but as you get more and more advanced in your configuration, you inevitably veer "off script" and you are building your own unique setup. This is when it is important to keep in mind that the Raspberry Pi was designed to be used as an educational tool--an inexpensive computer to teach kids how to code. RetroPie does not transform it into a turnkey gaming solution. It simplifies many steps, and for many of us (who see this as a good thing) it allows for endless tinkering.
Sure, there are ways to move through the setup guide with minimal technical skills, but almost all of us have a different goals. We use different controllers, we like different emulators, some of us enable scanline shaders, some use an HDTV, some of us are building arcade cabinets. There is no single configuration that works for everyone, so your setup too will require some investment of time and knowledge to get it to work the way YOU want it to.
This is why it is impossible to truly support an image built somewhere else. Without a known starting point, we cannot assume anything is setup correctly. Only with the official image and clear documentation of your steps are we able to offer good advice. There are just too many unknowns otherwise.
On the one hand, what do you have to lose? If your system is not working correctly now, you could rebuild from scratch using the official image and support guide. At least that way we would be able to help if you run into trouble. You might also learn something in the process and that is the whole point. But, if that makes you uncomfortable, or you are too busy to spend the time learning and building your system, perhaps the Pi/RetroPie is not an appropriate solution for your needs.
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@smashing also the sd card is probably inside that case. You probably have to open it up and remove it and plug it into your Mac and use Applepibaker to rewrite the image. I’m assuming it’s a pi zero as a pi 3 won’t fit into a nes cartridge
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