Please help with getting started PLEASE!!!

[tommymsw]

I am really excited about using retropie and I even built a tabletop console. However, it is turning into a nightmare! Can somebody point me to a spot where I can just get instructions of how too use retropie? Documentation seems to be absent and this forum is woefully inadequate. Is there a better forum? Or at least some documentation on how to use this software? I have managed to install it and put roms on and scrape them. However, I have no idea what the keyboard shortcuts are. All I am sure of is that when I start a game on the snes emulator, I have to pull the plug to get out. Esc does nothing all of the F keys do nothing. The arrow keys and enter work fine, but there is no way to exit the emulator. I am running the latest version for the Pi2, if that helps?

[khayman]

There’s a lot of instructions between the github wiki page as well as this forum. You’ll need to also look at the configuration documentation for the individual emulator you’re using. A little google and searching the forums and you’ll get the commands for exiting an emulator.

[tommymsw]

Well… For the past 2 days I have Googled “retropie, how do I exit the snes emulator and return to the emulation station screen” in EVERY variable possible, and get TONS of responses on how to exit the snes emulator by writing code to program a controller button. But that is NOT what I am looking for. I also looked for the retropie user guide on Google and NO hist return. I also looked on this forum for a user manual and none exist, or I can’t find it as there is only ONE topic section. And this forum is WAY too slow to expect to start reading every post in hopes of finding the answer… SO… I figured “maybe I will just ask somebody and they will answer?”. But NOPE! lol It is like I am stuck in a horrible episode of the Twilight Zone!

[herbfargus]

I can confirm the wiki option. I just barely finished redoing it all so every emulator is on there with types of ROMs, controls etc.

https://github.com/retropie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki

This is the page on configuring controls for most emulators:

https://github.com/retropie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/RetroArch-Configuration

Each emulator that has separate controller configurations are listed in their respective emulator page.

Techtipsta, floob, and I (herb Fargus) all have sets of videos on YouTube showing how to set up retropie if you’re more inclined to that method of learning.

[dpicc68]

I would start with YouTube.
There’s a ton of info… Granted 2.6 is fairly new, so You should look into instructions pertaining to 2.3.
It took me about 2 weeks of reading, searching trial and error to figure out a method that worked for me.

Also… Just a tip… When posting queries like yours, it’s best to adopt a simple dot point method as it is difficult to pin point what issues you are having. I.e

– list the hardware you are using… I.e rpi2?, joysticks, usb encoder type…
– List the steps you have taken…
– list issue that you are having.

Good luck …
[IMG]http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/22/4ebc562f0c108e484862915ef5c27deb.jpg[/IMG]

Dpicc….

[tommymsw]

Thanks all, I have everything working on point now. The Wiki is GREAT once you get going, but when I just walked into the retropie project, I was looking for a simple outline. I found that on some other websites and then came back here once I was up to speed. Whatever snes emulator I tried first apparently does not work… there was no way to back out of it. So I was not sure what buttons I should push to get out, or if the emulator itself was simply not working.

Basically I was just looking for like a “quick start” guide that would get a total noob up to speed on the general idea. I think sometimes it is hard to write a wiki after you already have an understanding of the process (as weird as that sounds) because you may pass over the steps that now seem obvious to you, that may not be to somebody starting at 0.

Even now in the wiki, some of the emulators mentioned do not exist in retropie and I get 100% that this is a WIP and it changes all the time and it is probably impossible to keep up with. But it just added to my confusion. But it’s been a little over a week since I even attempted looking into retropie, and I now have a full tabletop cabinet with retropie running flawlessly so… It went pretty well once I had a general idea. :)

Just some feedback from somebody new here, the layout of the forum is hard to follow compared to most other forums. But I do find using Google will direct you to the proper topic on here.

[tommymsw]

Also… I really do appreciate the effort everybody put into this project and I plan to post an outline of the process I took to build my cabinet and cover the “bumps” I came across where the solutions were hardest to find, while they are still fresh in my head.

[herbfargus]

I can understand your frustrations (you should have seen the wiki before I got to it…), I felt the same way when I started with the RetroPie project which is what compelled me to try and fix the wiki (I’m still trying… also as a side note I keep the wiki updated to the latest emulators, including experimental packages and I try to make note of which need to be installed manually to be included; on top of the idea that a rom has to be in its respective rom folder in order to show up on the emulationstation front end.)

It’s hard to keep up documentation with a project like this that changes so quickly with each release. Couple that with the multiplicity of emulators, the different projects people do, along with many different kinds of hardware- there is definitely not a one size fits all solution. That’s probably why the forum and Wiki are so disjointed.

Being a community based project there are plenty of sources to learn and it is always appreciated when people like you with a fresh perspective can document their work, particularly for those just learning about the project. Thanks for your efforts :)

[tommymsw]

Believe me… I found the wiki to be a life saver. I find it very well put together (at least as far as installing and running roms as this is where I used it the most). It helped me above what I expected from it. I especially love where it tells you what mame roms can be run and also tells you the file name associated with the rom zip name (something really frustrating not to know). It is excellent that it explains each emulator, with their pros and cons. I found it very easy to follow and understand. links to youtube videos, etc. A+ on the forum. Saved me a TON of time.

The forum left a little to be desired. It is not the familiar forum we see everywhere else (and for me anyway, it loads really slowly) and the topic is “everything related to the retropie project” as ONE topic! lol Slpash screens and themes are broken down, but everything else seems to be jumbled into one giant group. And even the best organized forum can be a nightmare if you come “late to the party” and have to sift though years and thousands of posts. That’s why I was hoping somebody could point me to wherever the “getting started” section was. :)

I also started setting up retropie LITERALLY across the release of 3.0 so that was just bad timing and caused more confusion. Everything was changing JUST as I was learning it! :)

[tommymsw]

I can’t seem to get N64 working (although I figured that may be a tall order). The Mupen64plus seems to work better but I need to configure the controls. Can I just copy and paste the control configuration from the retropie.cfg to the appropriate area of the mupen64plus.cfg? Or is it more complicated than that?

Also, I would love to tinker with Minecraft. I have it loaded and it runs fine, but the screen does not fit my screen and I need to figure out how to configure the controllers. Do you have any idea where I should go to find this? I do not see it in the wiki. I don’t even know how to exit out of Minecraft or bring up settings.

[herbfargus]

If you are starting from a fresh 3.0 install, you need to update your setup script and do a full binary install for the n64 plugins to work properly. they also have separate configuration files that are outlined in the videos linked on the wiki page.

For Minecraft- same method as above- update setup script, except you’ll install from experimental. Obviously you’ll need a mouse and a keyboard and you’ll need to use your keyboard to navigate the menu. Buzz just fixed the screen resolution issue and the exit issue (once you are in a world you can use the mouse to exit out of the window.) as it stands without the update, the only way to exit is to reboot from SSH. I’ve been working on adding experimental Builds to the Wiki and I was hoping to get to minecraft today.

**Edit: Minecraft has been added to the wiki

https://github.com/retropie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Minecraft

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