Using Retropie and Raspberry PI OS on the same SD card

[PARALAX]

I read that "Puffin" should be the best and fastest web browser for the Raspberry Pi, even for watching YouTube-Videos or Twitch Streams. However it seems that there is no support from the "Retropie Extra Script" which I found here: https://github.com/zerojay/RetroPie-Extra

Is there another way to add the support or installing an optional OS (or desktop environment) from Retropie safely which allows me to add all the Raspberry stuff? I would like to have both - a booting and directly usable Retropie machine and an optional desktop which I could use from Retropie menu for using webbrowsers and other tools. Is it possible to return back to Retropie System then without rebooting?

[Folly]

@PARALAX said in Using Retropie and Raspberry PI OS on the same SD card:

I would like to have both - a booting and directly usable Retropie machine and an optional desktop which I could use from Retropie menu for using webbrowsers and other tools. Is it possible to return back to Retropie System then without rebooting?

That is possible.
I would recommend the RPI4 but with some limitation the RPI2 and 3 will also work, even the RPI1, but internet browsing on the RPI1 is terribly slow.

You just have to begin with the putting the Buster Desktop image on your SD.

Then install RetroPie in the terminal (follow the instructions) :
https://github.com/retropie/RetroPie-Setup
And setup the core and main packages or more if you want.

With the RPI4 you can just run emulationstation from the terminal in the desktop enviroment.
With the other RPI's you have to run :

sudo raspi-config

And make sure you change your boot setting into "boot into CLI with autologin"
Alfer reboot your pi will boot into the CLI.
With next command you will go into the Desktop enviroment :

startx

(Within the desktop selecting "Logout" will bring you back to the CLI)

Or you can choose to go into retropie(emulationstation) by typing:

emulationstation

Now you have both worlds.

[sleve_mcdichael]

@Folly said in Using Retropie and Raspberry PI OS on the same SD card:

You just have to begin with the putting the Buster Desktop image on your SD.

Then install RetroPie in the terminal (follow the instructions) :

It might be easier just to add the desktop to the prebuilt image:

@PARALAX it already is RPiOS (Lite).

RetroPie is not an OS. RetroPie is a collection of shell scripts to assist with downloading, installing, and configuring various emulator and front-end softwares on (nearly) any Linux computer running a Debian-based distro and, more generally, the collection of softwares installed by those shell scripts when considered as a whole.

The downloadable Raspberry Pi images distributed by The RetroPie Project are built on top of Raspberry Pi OS Lite, which is just the regular RPiOS without the LXDE/PIXEL desktop environment. You can add the desktop to an existing build using the instructions at https://retropie.org.uk/docs/FAQ/#where-did-the-desktop-go

If you install it through the Setup script under raspbiantools, it will be available in the "Ports" system in EmulationStation and will return to ES when you exit the desktop. It can also be launched from command-line with command startx, or set to boot to desktop in configuration.

[Crush]

@PARALAX said in Using Retropie and Raspberry PI OS on the same SD card:

I read that "Puffin" should be the best and fastest web browser for the Raspberry Pi, even for watching YouTube-Videos or Twitch Streams

Not an awnser to your question, but i'd like to point out that Getting the youtube and twitch plugin for Kodi will stream video way better than any browser on the Pi. wether it be in the desktop enviroment or trough retropie.

[PARALAX]

Thanks for all the helpful tips and for the detailed explanation. I'm still waiting for my Raspberry Pi which should arrive this weekend. I've ordered the lastest version 4B with 8 GB RAM which should be clocked at 1,8 Ghz - the fastest up to date. I've ordered an passive case at well, but I don't know wether it's enough to overclock it up to 2 Ghz.

https://www.amazon.de/Miuzei-Raspberry-USB-C-Netzteil-AUS-Schalter-Metallgehäuse/dp/B08TR9KMJM

I usually hate overclocking as it often boils down to hardware longevity. Ultimately, it will probably depend on the felt temperature. I think I'll probably stick with the retropie image and then install the desktop environment afterwards. Since I'm hardly familiar with all the Linux or Debian commands, I hope that I can install (and possibly uninstall) the whole stuff directly from Retropie's packet manager or configuration menu, even if it's now there is a whole flood of information about Linux commands on the Internet. Unfortunately, I'm not the youngest anymore.

With everything I install later, however, it is important to me that I can still select it directly from auto booting Retropie. I have already seen in various videos that it should also be possible to start the installed tools such as "Kodi" directly from the "Ports" menu. However, I have not yet found out whether this also works with a desktop environment, from which you can then return to Retropie using the desktop icon. I'd like to avoid shell windows and typing certain commands as much as possible - especially unnecessary updates because you can break things faster than you'd like.

@Crush I'll take a look once I have the Raspberry Pi and everything is installed. Of course it would be nice if you could start the player both from the Retropie menu under "Ports" and under a desktop interface like I know from Windows, just like the installed browsers. There is also the question of whether all installations and downloading of scripts via the Retropie configuration can also be undone and deleted so that you don't clutter up the SD card with unnecessary tools that you then no longer want to use it. I hope that this works as easily as it does on Windows.

[Crush]

@PARALAX you can install it just like any emulator, It's under "optional packages".
There you can also uninstall it.