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Overview:
As I was building and testing a wall mounted RetroPie Arcade cabinet, I realized I could add RetroPie to my Home Theater.
RetroPie turns a Raspberry Pi into a retro-gaming machine, which can be configured to play your favorite arcade, home-console, and classic PC games. RetroPie provides emulators for various gaming platforms, such as, Nintendo, Gameboy, PlayStation, Atari and many others.
Given the work I did on the RetroPie arcade cabinet, this was a relatively simple project.
Parts:
RasTech Raspberry Pi 4 8GB Starter Kit with Pi4 8GB Board $120
I ordered this a while ago, but didn't use it. Only an RPi4 and a 5v/3Amp power supply are required.
Argon ONE V2 Aluminum Case for Raspberry Pi 4 | with Power Button and Fan $25
This is best case I have found. Power switch that safely shuts down or reboots Raspberry Pi. It includes a fan and the case is a heat sink.
Fastoe Retropie Gaming Console ROMs 128GB microSD Card Preloaded Games for Raspberry Pi 4/400 $60
HDMI Cable
Ethernet cable
My intent was to use the Luna controller with Amazon Prime games. But my son and I were not impressed by the games available in late 2024, but the controller seemed good. So, I put it on the shelf until I thought off this.
USB mouse and keyboard
HDMI Monitor
Step 1. Put Raspberry Pi 4 into Argon ONE Case
The Argone ONE directions are straight-forward and easy to follow.
Be sure to run the curl command in the directions. This sets up the power button and installs tools to control the fan. Be sure too set the fan speed.
Step 2. Insert MicroSD Card
The Fastoe MicroSD Card comes with Raspberry Pi OS, RetroPie and 10,000 games aand associated emulators.
In the arcade cabinet project I bought the Fastoe and trimmed down the games and emulators. See Steps 2 through 4. So, all I did was clone the MicroSD Card. And changed the hostname using: $ sudo raspi-config. It shouldn't have the same hostname as the arcade cabinet.
Step 3. Check that it Works
I inserted a monitor with HDMI cable, keyboard, mouse and ethernet. I checked everything works.
My home theater has a receiver with multiple HDMI inputs. The primary HDMI input is a FireTV Cube. I used the Game HDMI for the RetroPie. It shows as raspberrypi on the receiver display.
Power
Double tap power button to reboot.
Hold power button for 8-10 secondds to shut it down.
EmulationStation, Pixel Desktop and Terminal
to Switch from Terminal to Game, open a terminal window and enter the command:
$ emulationstation
To exit emulationstation, hit F4
To go to the Raspberry Pi OS desktop (aka Pixel), open a terminal window and enter the command:
$ startx
To exit Pixel, use top left drop down menu and logout to command line
Step 4. Setup Wireless Controller
I setup the Ymir wireless controller following the directions from its manual, and the keys according to the PS3 controller on this page.
Set the HOTKEY to be the same as the Select button
HOTKEY + START will exit a game/emulator
If the wireless controller is not on when RetroPie reboots, the device may not be recognized.
I entered Pixel to ensure bluetooth was enabled, and connected the woireless controller
Have Fun!
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