Atari ST build / housing for RetroPie (x64)

[etheling]

Hello All,

Wanted to share with you a build that my kids will receive as an xmas gift shortly. I'm hoping them to get to experience some of my favorite games (and demos) from my youth; specifically those running on C64, Amiga, Atari ST and e.g. some early(ish) PC era titles from Cinemaware, Sierra and the likes. That's at least what I've been telling myself to justify all the time spend on this. ;-)

Atari 520ST with TOS running (lr-hatari)

Eight- and 16-bit home computers (and consoles) played tremendous part in my early life by first getting me hooked to computers and then being platforms where I took my baby steps in assembly and programming in general. I had been dragging my defunct Atari ST with me from one continent to the other in the hopes that I would one day fix it. Now it is instead incarnated as a dedicated RetroPie machine that comes complete with full keyboard and mouse; and while this maybe coming from the horses mouth, there's just something special about this form factor for playing classic titles such as Space Quests, North & South, Defender of the Crown, The Guild of Thieves and many others.

Some features:

• Intel 8th gen NUC (NUC8i5BEK) powered RetroPie in Atari 520ST case
• 3D printed internals to hold everything in place (for purists, they replace original internals with no alterations or damage to the Atari)
• Fully working (re-)programmable keyboard via Arduino Leonardo (which extends as an external keyboard for PC via integrated USB hub)
• Internal speaker (and HDMI and analog audio outs)
• RetroPie x64/Ubuntu 20.10 running in KMS/DRM mode using RetroArch Vulkan or glcore video drivers
• Run Windows games (and apps) via WineHQ through RetroPie ports

I've spent more time on this than I care to admit. :) And although 'hardware' is now 'ready', I seem to find new areas to improve and tinker around with RetroPie configs, emulators, etc. Kids may still have to wait for their turn, at least occasionally. Good times!

I hope you like it. Merry xmas! :)

[etheling]

Here's pictures of the internals etc.

Near final assembly with & without keyboard:

Left side Atari ST extension port ( 2x USB3, 1x USB-C, 1x ethernet):

USB Hub, Arduino Leonardo,'new' rear ports and joystick/mouse ports:

Atari Joystick / Mouse port:

Repurposed rear ports. Reset controls USB hub to select between using it for to NUC or acting as an external keyboard. Power switch. Power. Analog audio out. USB for connecting to PC to act as external keyboard. Micro HDMI (in retrospect should have used standard HDMI).

3D printed printer, modem and floppy disk port look-a-likes (and micro HDMI out in Monitor port):

OpenSCAD 'design' for 3D printed parts:

And lastly some vanity shots of few systems:

[mth75]

@etheling Very nice build! Why didn't you choose a Pi4 for the build?

[etheling]

@mth75 Thank you! :) I first built this around pi4, but mostly because of the performance, switched to the NUC after realizing I am able to fit it in. At ~ 5x the cost it subjectively just feels snappy, responsive and fast [compared to Pi]. I get full fps (with overlays, some shaders) on the systems I'm interested in (thinking of lr-dosbox for example) and am able to enable many of the RetroArch latency tweaks (which subjectively really improve gameplay on some systems). Added bonus is that I am able to run Windows / Linux games on it too. And I guess I felt like there is some hack value in running RetroPie the 'hard way' ;-)

[markyh444]

@etheling lovely build. Well done!

[WilsonB]

ANYONE know what RetroPi skin that is?

@etheling Good job.. looks beautiful..
I will be doing the same but with a RPI 4

What RetroPi skin is that with the ST SC1224 monitor above? I really like it. I don't care for the big white boarders when using Atari ST emulation a 1080 monitor.

[WilsonB]

What overlay theme skin are you using? Is that in the RetroPie library?

[WilsonB]

@etheling Hi, finished the same project...
I have spent many hours trying to get the overlay and Atari ST screen to line up. Could you Please post all the config files? I say config because Im doing mine on a Raspberry Pi 3... Tanx