Pi 3 b to Pi 4 b

A Former User

I have a Raspberry pi 3b, I would like to switch to pi 4b, how can I insert the retropie operating system for pi 4b, but without losing the data contained in the sd like bios or rom files ?? Sorry for my english I'm italian

mitu

You'll need to backup your files from the existing installation and then restore them on a new Pi4 installation - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Updating-RetroPie/#making-a-backup-option-2.

A Former User

thanks

A Former User

@mitu will i use the same sd for the pi 4, do i need to backup, or can i insert it and then do some updates?

mitu

@xTekFede If you want to use the same sdcard, then you'll need to re-install using the new Pi4 image, the existing installation will not work on a Pi4.

A Former User

@mitu ok so I have to make a backup, install the version for pi 4 on the sd, then how do I insert the bios and rom files that I have now?

A Former User

@mitu will it be enough to copy bios folders, roms etc through remote?

mitu

@xTekFede You should back up also the configs folder, this is where - among other things - the EmulationStation configuration and scraped artwork is saved by default.

Take a full backup of the sdard also - using Win32DiskImager.

A Former User

@mitu Ok I do the backup. Then how should I go about restoring it to the same sd and using it in the new rpi? Do I have to install retropie for rpi 4 and then restore the backup in the sd?

mitu

Yes, you'll have to install the new RetroPie image on the new Pi4, then copy back (restore) the files you've backed up.

Backup the sdcard to an image - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Updating-RetroPie/#making-a-backup-option-1
Copy the necessary files from the Pi to your PC - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Updating-RetroPie/#making-a-backup-option-2
Flash the Pi4 image to the sdcard
Copy back the files you copied in step 1 back to their corresponding location on the new system

If anything goes wrong, you can restore the image from step 0 and still use the sdcard on your Pi 3 system.

A Former User

@mitu In summary, I have to make a backup both with win32 disk imager and with the bios, rom etc folders, then I have to download retropie rpi 4 to the sd, and immediately afterwards restore the backup files, then I have to move the bios and rom etc files to the appropriate folders , and I'm done?

mitu

@xTekFede Not quite, please re-read again the steps I posted.

A Former User

@mitu Do I have to download rpi4 retropie to sd? right or I just have to enter the backup

A Former User

@mitu sorry for my ignorance

Thorr69

You do not need to restore your full backup from mitu's Step 0. That's your emergency fallback in case the whole thing goes wrong. You can use this image to reflash your SD card to its original state and start over.

Steps 1-3 are the actual migration process.

Rancid84

I just bought a R4 and have an img from R3 downloaded from arcade punks. Are the previous comments still accurate to use this IMG from R3 over my R4?

Thorr69

@Rancid84 said in Pi 3 b to Pi 4 b:

I just bought a R4 and have an img from R3 downloaded from arcade punks. Are the previous comments still accurate to use this IMG from R3 over my R4?

Third party images are not supported. Do so at your own risk.