Pre-Built RetroPie machines Without ROMS
-
Hi all, I am in the process of setting up a website and looking at supplying Raspberry Pi and related accessories etc... I appreciate the RetroPie is free however I was wondering if pre-configured machines with RetroPie would be ok to sell (WITHOUT any ROM's)? I know there are lots of people selling on certain sites fully loaded etc... but I dont want to be selling anything thats not legal. If it is ok to sell pre-configured, is there a way to support RetroPie in return?
Thanks,
Phil
-
From what I understood it's not legal to do that. A fellow board member @markyh444 mentioned it in this topic:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6909/shop-selling-retropie
I think he can inform you more about this topic.
Also in my opinion selling them pre built is a bad idea, some options wont work on some TV's. For an example I have two different Sony TV's. I had no sound on the first one, so I had to edit some config files of RetroPie and it worked. Later when I hooked it up to the other TV I had the same problem so I had to edit it again. This was my experience however it could be just me doing something stupid maybe.
-
@pbro8498 From what I remember, several of the Emulator cores have Non-Commercial clauses in them so even just providing the image is probably going to be an issue.
-
@pbro8498 Sorry, but no - due to non commercial licences. This is already detailed on our website - https://retropie.org.uk/about/legal/
-
@PetroRie @pbro8498 To be fair, i am just re-posting info that @BuZz and @herb_fargus have posted before. But, yeh, some emulators contained in the project are copywritten and can't be sold on under their current license agreements.
-
Hi thanks for your quick reply. It makes sense and I just wanted to double check, obviously I don't want to do anything to affect RetroPie and the wider community. I will just sell the products as a package and then link to this site.
Cheers,
Phil
-
Refreshing to see someone ask first and not want to hurt the project, rather than make a quick buck.
-
@pbro8498 Appreciated, thanks.
-
@pbro8498 thanks for not being a dbag :)
-
@pbro8498 said in Pre-Built RetroPie machines Without ROMS:
Hi thanks for your quick reply. It makes sense and I just wanted to double check, obviously I don't want to do anything to affect RetroPie and the wider community. I will just sell the products as a package and then link to this site.
Cheers,
Phil
You can use the tutorial videos of @floob on your site. In my opinion he's doing a great job and he really deserves the views on YouTube and the cash (if he makes any with the views and subs). His tutorials are very good and detailed.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of case are you going to sell?
-
Good point about cases. The Pi3 can run pretty hot, especially if you can't leave well enough alone (like me) and decide to Overclock!
I should probably get a true fan case rather than my McGuyveres fan and backplate from an old PC power supply.
-
@mrbwa1 Why not using a south bridge heatsink with a 5volt fan? You can get them on eBay for a couple bucks. The heatsinks have a dimension of 4cm by 4cm the fans have the same dimensions. I had some links saved but I can't find them anymore.
-
Thanks for all of the replies. I was just going to use a vented case (top and bottom) and sell with heatsinks. Is that not enough or would you recommend a case with a fan?
-
@pbro8498 said in Pre-Built RetroPie machines Without ROMS:
Is that not enough or would you recommend a case with a fan?
Kinda overkill if you ask me. Thats only good for people who overclock their Pi's. I only had heating problems once and this was on a very hot summer day, after I opened the case the problem was solved.
-
@pbro8498 said in Pre-Built RetroPie machines Without ROMS:
Thanks for all of the replies. I was just going to use a vented case (top and bottom) and sell with heatsinks. Is that not enough or would you recommend a case with a fan?
I am running the Raspberry Pi Foundation case and remove the top from it. Most 8-bit and 16-bit games do okay, (with CRT-Pi shader), but PSX, N64 and beyond overheat quickly.
Of course, I am also Overclocking:
1350MHz
500 MHz Core
500 MHz GPU
4 or 5 on OvervoltI would suggest at least offering a case with a fan. I haven't had much luck with heat sinks, as the thermal pads most cheap kits use are terrible and actually leave you worse off. Heat sinks with a good thermal paste/adhesive should help a bit but airflow is the best.
In my opinion (doesn't hurt my feelings if you don't agree):
-A vented case is probably sufficient for a non-overclocked Pi3, especially if you aren't running shaders, PSX enhanced resolution or PSP/Dreamcast
-Heat sinks may help, but if I were going the business route, I'd offer a fan case as an upgrade option. You can probably make more margin on a fan case then just heat sinks and can offer them as an option if you want as well.
The wife owns a clothing boutique, so I'm familiar with markup and profit and I am guessing she would be inclined to say that heatsinks are something you add to the chip, so if there is any issues, people could blame you and the Raspberry folks might not replace under warranty (I don't know if heat sinks alter warranty).
Again, it's just an opinion, so no hard feeling if you think I'm wrong.
-
Just contacted a seller from the Netherlands and told them that they aren't allowed to sell retropie pre-built on SD cards and what not.
In response to that message they told me that they didn't knew that, and they apologized for that matter.
I told them that they are allowed to link their customers to this site for the image.So we'll wait and see what happens ;)
-
-
@UDb23 I posted that link 5 months ago. Page moved to https://retropie.org.uk/about/legal/ (I'm not going through all my old posts and correcting links :) )
-
@BuZz thanks. I know it's impossible, and would be crazy, to update all links in old posts ;-)
Just wanted to make sure that such an important link would be accessible thru this thread as people are still replying.
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.