Retropie Games on the SD card
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
Is it possible to just use my laptop to plug the USB drive that has the games loaded on it and the micro SD card that has the OS (retropie) and just transfer the games from the USB stick to the micro SD?
No, unless you're running Linux on the laptop. Windows cannot read the EXT4 format that most of the card (besides the small boot partition) is formatted as.
Currently I am using a USB to store all the games, but it is annoying having to keep the USB stick in at all times.
TRANSFERRING roms from a usb stick, instead of RUNNING roms from a usb stick.
retropie folder instead of retropie-mount folder
https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Transferring-Roms/#usb-stick
...instead of:
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@sleve_mcdichael So just leave the USB in the retro pie?
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@sleve_mcdichael Can I do it on an old Mac book?
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
@sleve_mcdichael So just leave the USB in the retro pie?
Until you copy the roms off of it and onto the SD card, yes.
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@sleve_mcdichael How do I copy the files over to the pi without SSHing!
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
@sleve_mcdichael How do I copy the files over to the pi without SSHing!
You want me to transcribe the instructions from the docs page?
1: Ensure that the USB stick is formatted to FAT32 or exFAT, and that the SD card has enough free space to hold all ROMs
2: Create a folder called
retropie[ed: NOT repeat NOT calledretropie-mount] on the USB stick3: Plug it into the RetroPie system. If the USB stick has an activity light, wait for it to finish blinking, else wait a few minutes
4: Remove the USB stick and plug it into the computer containing the ROMs
5: Add the ROMs to the USB stick inside their respective folders within the
retropie/roms/$CONSOLEfolder, where $CONSOLE is the name of the target console, e.g.snesorarcade.6: Plug it back into the RetroPie system. If the USB stick has an activity light, wait for it to finish blinking, else wait (with many GBs of ROMs, wait several hours)
7: Remove the USB stick. The ROMs have now been transferred from the USB to the RetroPie system's SD card
8: Refresh the game listing in EmulationStation by pressing F4, or press Start on your controller > Quit > Restart EmulationStation
9: The transferred games should now be visible within EmulationStation. If any are missing, return to step 6
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@sleve_mcdichael I’ve done this. For whatever reason, when I take the USB out of the pi, it takes the games along with it, meaning that if I want to play a game, I have to have the usb plugged in.
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
For whatever reason, when I take the USB out of the pi, it takes the games along with it, meaning that if I want to play a game, I have to have the usb plugged in.
Plug the USB into your laptop. What's the name of the folder on the USB when it's in the laptop?
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@sleve_mcdichael I named it to “retropie-mount”
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@SquidCoder oops. I just saw the issue. I feel like an idiot. But out of curiosity, why does this happen if I name it retropie-mount? And how do I fix it? Do I just rename the folder or do I have to delete the entire folder and rename it?
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
@SquidCoder oops. I just saw the issue. But out of curiosity, why does this happen if I name it retropie-mount? And how do I fix it? Do I just rename the folder?
Because running games from the USB drive and transferring them from it are two different actions, both supported by the
usbromservice. Whichever folder you use tells it which one you want it to do.No you can't just rename the folder, not quite anyway.
retropie-mountprobably has inside it,BIOS, retropiemenu, roms, splashscreens.Whereasretropieshould have inside of it the rom folders such asarcade, megadrive, nesand so on. Right now, these are probably inromsinside ofretropie-mount.So what you can probably do, is: take theromsfolder and rename it asretropie, and move it outside ofretropie-mountand onto the root folder of the USB drive. Then deleteretropie-mountleaving onlyretropie(with the individual rom folders inside.)Edit this might be wrong.
retropieshould haveromsinside it with the rom folders inside that. Let me check real quick.Now plug it into the RetroPie -- it should see the
retropiefolder (with rom folders inside likearcade, megadrive, nes), and start copying things over. Give it a good long while to transfer everything, and then you can remove the USB. Refresh EmulationStation and if all went well, you should still see your games on the SD card now. -
@sleve_mcdichael OK. So to recap. Make a new folder on the usb, name it retropie, move all the emulators and games from the retropie-mount to the new folder named retropie, then delete the retropie-mount folder. Right? Also, how long will the transfer take? Is it like 30 minutes or is it like an overnight thing?
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
@sleve_mcdichael OK. So to recap. Make a new folder on the usb, name it retropie, move all the emulators and games from the retropie-mount to the new folder named retropie, then delete the retropie-mount folder. Also, how long will the transfer take? Is it like 30 minutes or is it like an overnight thing?
Well hol' up, I just double checked https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/blob/master/scriptmodules/supplementary/usbromservice/01_retropie_copyroms and actually it looks like what
retropieshould haveromsandBIOSin it (but notsplashscreens, retropiemenu).So yeah, now I think you can just rename the main folder (and optionally delete the two unneeded ones inside it, but I don't think they'll do any harm just being there, either.)
How long depends on how much data there is to transfer. If you've only got a few GB of cartridge games, it'll be pretty quick, but if there's gigs upon gigs of like psx, pce-cd, and dreamcast discs, it could be a several hours. You can restart EmulationStation (not the whole system) to refresh the gamelist and check its progress, it won't interrupt the transfer to do that.
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@sleve_mcdichael What should I do? Should I just rename the folder and delete the splash screen folder? Sorry. I’m lost in all this technical stuff.
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
@sleve_mcdichael What should I do? Should I just rename the folder and delete the splash screen folder? Sorry. I’m lost in all this technical stuff.
Yes, try that. I'm away from my box right now so I'm runnning off of memory and what it says on the docs and github; in other words I'm not able to test it myself right now but I think that can work.
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@sleve_mcdichael Thank you so much. I have a question. If I have a small sized usb stick, can I install, let’s say Pokemon, plug it in the pi then take it out, delete Pokémon on the usb, and download more games. Will Pokémon stay on the pi or will the USB basically delete Pokémon on the pi?
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@SquidCoder said in Retropie Games on the SD card:
@sleve_mcdichael Thank you so much. I have a question. If I have a small sized usb stick, can I install, let’s say Pokemon, plug it in the pi then take it out, delete Pokémon on the usb, and download more games. Will Pokémon stay on the pi or will the USB basically delete Pokémon on the pi?
I think so, yes, it should stay on the Pi even after removed from USB and resync the USB with new games (I'd keep a copy on the computer until sure though, just in case.)
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@sleve_mcdichael Thank you so much for your help.
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