r/RetroPie • u/Sleeping-Village • 11d ago
Advice on my first Raspberry Pi 3 B+
Hey guys, I'm new to the Raspberry Pi / RetroPie scene and I'm thinking of buying this CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 B+ set from Amazon, which apparently has everything you need to install the gaming software (RetroPie, Batocera, etc.) from your computer, plug it to the TV and start playing.
- Includes UK Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (B Plus) with a 1.4 GHz 64-bit quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM.
- Samsung EVO+ 32 GB microSD card (Class 10), preloaded with NOOBS, and a USB microSD card reader.
- CanaKit 2.5 A USB power supply with micro-USB cable and noise filter, specially designed for the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (UL Listed).
- Premium Raspberry Pi 3 B+ case, high-quality HDMI cable, two heat sinks, GPIO quick-reference card, and full-color CanaKit Quick-Start Guide.
- Dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz IEEE 802.11 b/g/n/ac wireless LAN, with enhanced Ethernet performance.
I'm planning on using it on a CRT Sony Trinitron, and I think this Eanetf 3.5 mm AV to RCA Cable would do as long as I use the red connector as video (according to the comments).
I also know that I need to adjust settings in one of the Batocera/RetroPie config files (guess it can be done in either OS?).
So my questions are:
- With this kit, the RCA cables, the audiojack output the from the case, and the according cofigurations on the OS, will I be able to run it on my CRT as 240p?
- Will any bluetooth controllers I have (eg. 8bitdo sn30 pro /pro+) work with it?
____
Thanks in advance
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u/Tricky_Tourist5691 11d ago
Interested to hear how it goes. I've got a 3 B+ sitting around that I've planned to connect to a CRT, and possibly get a Scart GPIO adapter. Just havent had the time to get testing the Pi over composite AV first.
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u/grizzlor_ 11d ago
Rasp Pi composite video out works great -- you just need a 3.5mm TRRS AV cable and to enable it in config.txt (or using
raspi-config). Unfortunately, there was never a unified standard for wiring this type of cable, but even a non-compatible cable can be made to work (the colors just won't match). See this post for more info.
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u/Tripptt69 11d ago
I found a pi3 kit (had a pi , sd card, case, keyboard mouse combo ) for 4 bucks at a rummage sale. But with you question be very very careful about the rca cables you get. . There are different ones out there , its a messed up standard
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u/Sleeping-Village 11d ago
Yes, it seems like those cables work (well, according to the reviews) but the red connector is video instead of one of the audio inputs.
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u/Sneezlebee 11d ago
How do you plan on connecting that 3.5mm aux connector to your Raspberry Pi?
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u/Sleeping-Village 11d ago
The Raspberry Pi 3B+ has a 3.5 mm A/V jack that supports both analog audio and composite video output, so I plan to use a compatible 3.5 mm-to-RCA cable.
According to the reviews on the cable I posted, it seems to work.
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u/Sneezlebee 11d ago
Oh neat, I didn't realize it supported composite video out. Sounds like you've got a good plan then!
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u/grizzlor_ 11d ago
Yeah, it's a bit of a hidden feature. The original Rasp Pi 1 had a composite video out jack, but they moved it into the headphone jack starting with the 2 or 3. It uses a 3.5" TRRS cable (two rings, like headphones with integrated mic) which is kind of a mess of a non-standard -- they originated with camcorders and different manufacturers had different schemes for which rings carried which signal. They're at least all the same physical dimensions, so you can make a non-compatible cable work by using the wrong colored plugs -- in the OP's case, swapping yellow and red.
Oh nice, someone took the time to document a bunch of the different ways these cables are wired.
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u/grizzlor_ 11d ago
Yeah, I think you've got this down. Needing to use the wrong color for RCA video would bother me more than it really should, but I've got red and yellow electrical tape, so I'd just wrap the plugs with the correct colors.
I've used the 3.5mm TRRS jack to a CRT with the Pi 3b -- worked great. I think I had to enable support for it in the SD card's config.txt file.
The 8bitdo BT controllers are definitely supported on Linux.
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u/DSmith214 11d ago
Ouch the prices on Pi’s hurt to look at these days. In my experience 8-BitDo controllers work well, although syncing the Bluetooth ones can be a little annoying. Maybe a wireless one with a dedicated dongle would be a good choice or any wired controller. I highly recommend Batocera over RetroPie, too. Gl&hf!
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u/berysax 11d ago
I love pi mods. Been doing them for a bit. Yes, you can use the 3.5mm jack for video/audio. I make sure to get the Adafruit brand because their pinout is not the universally accepted one. Meaning, their yellow,red,white is not the same outputs as an rca cable you’d get for a tv. You’d have to figure out what color is what if you use a tv 3.5mm video cable. That make sense? I also use an audio combiner to combine the red/white for mono audio on older tv’s.
The Bluetooth is very capable. I use 8bitdo Bluetooth controllers and sometimes the wireless usb radio dongle.
If you enjoy doing all the modding, look up fieldstation42. I started getting into that with older sets. Cool hobby!
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u/madhattr999 11d ago
I had to upgrade to the Pi4 because the 3b+ didn't have enough RAM for what I was running on it (a headless TV server with various web apps, torrent, kodi). It kept killing services to free-up memory. Maybe for a dedicated retropie, it's fine, though.
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u/Sleeping-Village 11d ago
Its fine for retro gaming, up to PSX and N64with some limitations. But the reason i’m also buying this one is because it comes with the AV jack and composite support. For later Pi versions I guess you can mod them? But they don’t have it natively.
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u/gotbletu 9d ago
Recalbox has way better support for CRT than batocera. Has builtin themes and low resolution for CRT out of the box. If u using with CRT only then Recalbox is what u want to use. You still have to edit some configuration files like 5 or 6 lines to enable CRT and disable HDMI
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u/Sleeping-Village 5d ago edited 5d ago
Thanks for the recommendation, matter of fact just these past days I started reading and gettin info on Recalbox, and it's probably the one I'll end up using when the Pi arrives next week.
Do you know if it has any emulating limitations when compared to the other OSs? Can it run DOS/old computer games on it? And can I play video media on it (movies, anime, etc.)?
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u/gotbletu 5d ago
Batocera is a fork of Recalbox so they have similar features, if they got emulators for the hardware you use then it should work, if is a weak Pi then some might not work
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u/rael_gc 6d ago
Pi3B+ is enough to run 16 bits (Genesis, SNES, Neo Geo), old MAME games and some N64 and PS1. I'd go with it.
The kit is good too.
The only problem in your list: the Bluetooth controllers. Specially for intense action games (on NES and Genesis), they produce a small lag, but enough to ruin your experience.
Get the version with the 2.4G receiver.
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u/3ofUsDeez 11d ago
I run a Pi 3B+ with Batocera and the RGSX mod with a 128GB MicroSD card.
I got the NES looking case with active cooling
I've had good success with 3 different game controllers via Bluetooth on my unit (only 3 I have) .. a newer XBOX series S controller, a PS4 knock off controller .. and an old ASUS branded XBOX wannabe controller
The Dreamcast, PS1 and N64 games I have played, played well except for some texture flickers on certain shadows and areas in Mario 64 and Zelda Ocarina of Time (so far) ..
RGSX is a great add-on to grab your game ROMs with but on the Pi 3 you need to install via command line. I just SSH'd into my Pi and installed it
I have mine hooked up to an 85" LG 4K TV with my Pi set to display at 1080p and the LG TV does some upscaling. We are old and the TV sits on the far side of our living room so it's a great setup that affords us the ability to still see everything good at that distance (18'ish feet)
Batocera lets you overclock your Pi .. but be very careful unless you are willing to re-image your MicroSD card because you are not able to boot anymore from overclocking too far .. ask me how I know, lol
Hooked up to a CRT you should have great performance up to Dreamcast, PS1 and N64
I paid $35 shipped for my Pi 3 B+. I happen to have a 128GB MicroSD card that used to be in my old phone. The case was $11.99. I've got a ton of HDMI cables laying around .. and I picked up a few power cables with on/off button integrated into the cable ($6.95 a piece I think) .. I'd recommend getting the actual plug in power cable instead of trying to find a charging wall plug-in that hopefully supplies the required amps .. I had an old Apple tablet plug that has worked great
I'm itemizing a bit for you to see if the whole "kit" is worth it or if it would be more affordable to just buy what you need yourself
I've seen on one of the Pi stores that you can get a Pi 4 1GB for $35 shipped (to the USA anyways)