RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login

    Adding ROMs Directly to SD Card? [IDEA/HELP]

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Ideas and Development
    9 Posts 6 Posters 67.4k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • A
      AppleBabies
      last edited by

      Hello everyone! Now, this is kind of an idea AND a wondering-if-I-can type of thing. I am wondering if you could possibly reroute the ROM folder locations to be directly on the SD Card instead of having to SSH in or use a USB stick? This would be ideal for putting on ROMs for people who have trouble SSHing, and the USB stick can kind of get annoying. Thanks!

      herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • herb_fargusH
        herb_fargus administrators @AppleBabies
        last edited by

        @AppleBabies the roms are on the sd card. It's explained on the first installation page:

        https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/First-Installation#install-retropie-image-on-sd-card

        You need a Linux distro or tools to read the ext4 filesystem directly.

        If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

        Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

        Drakaen391D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • A
          AppleBabies
          last edited by

          Well, I understand that much. But my question is, is it possible so non-Linux users that do not have the tools to access the root files of the card can simply just have the roms folders along with all of the kernel files and such? I saw this implementation with Adafruit's CupCade, where you could simply put ROMs on the SD card without having to open partitions and then they would just be copied over to the internal ROM folder.

          Drakaen391D 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • BuZzB
            BuZz administrators
            last edited by BuZz

            I don't like that idea. It would mean having a custom partition layout for the image (and would mean space is wasted on the fat32 partition). RetroPie is designed to work without stuff like this - i's primary a system to set up emulators on Raspbian/Debian type os - the image is just provided for convenience and is a Raspbian Lite base.

            If you want to read/write the root partition on Windows you can use http://www.ext2fsd.com/

            To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Drakaen391D
              Drakaen391 @AppleBabies
              last edited by

              @AppleBabies you can access the Entire Retropie folder (ROM, BIOS, ect) on any machine...

              When it's off you just plug the SD card in... If it's on then you just access it from the Windows network

              In terms of the kernel... Windows won't be able to read those files... And unless your good in Linux programming changing the kernel is bad...

              But if your looking for a way to access the config files remotely outside the Windows freindly folder, you could use tye beta program in the ideas section and then use 7-zip to open....

              But that is in beta and currently only backs up

              RPi B & RPi 3B OC (Now Raspberry pi 4b 8gb)
              Retropie (Latest Stable)
              PiBox with Wind Tunnel Cooling System

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • Drakaen391D
                Drakaen391 @AppleBabies
                last edited by

                @AppleBabies said in Adding ROMs Directly to SD Card? [IDEA/HELP]:

                Well, I understand that much. But my question is, is it possible so non-Linux users that do not have the tools to access the root files of the card can simply just have the roms folders along with all of the kernel files and such? I saw this implementation with Adafruit's CupCade, where you could simply put ROMs on the SD card without having to open partitions and then they would just be copied over to the internal ROM folder.

                On Windows... Go to my computer/computer

                Open network places and find the pi

                Then click on ROMS and put the Roms in there....

                It is how you put Roms directly on the SD card from a Windows computer

                RPi B & RPi 3B OC (Now Raspberry pi 4b 8gb)
                Retropie (Latest Stable)
                PiBox with Wind Tunnel Cooling System

                P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                • Drakaen391D
                  Drakaen391 @herb_fargus
                  last edited by

                  @herb_fargus said in Adding ROMs Directly to SD Card? [IDEA/HELP]:

                  @AppleBabies the roms are on the sd card. It's explained on the first installation page:

                  https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/First-Installation#install-retropie-image-on-sd-card

                  You need a Linux distro or tools to read the ext4 filesystem directly.

                  Not the Retropie folder that he is talking about... It can be accessed by Windows and Linux

                  (I personally like using Windows because it's less files to hassle with)

                  RPi B & RPi 3B OC (Now Raspberry pi 4b 8gb)
                  Retropie (Latest Stable)
                  PiBox with Wind Tunnel Cooling System

                  C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • C
                    chavatar @Drakaen391
                    last edited by

                    @Drakaen391 Herb's quite correct - they're samba shares, windows accessible but not "direct".

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • P
                      PetroRie @Drakaen391
                      last edited by

                      @Drakaen391 Exactly, that is how I always did it. I also use this method to edit the .cfg files.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • First post
                        Last post

                      Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                      Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.