Using a Raspberry Pi, create a Retro Gaming device that can connect to a TV or computer monitor (HDMI or RCA).
Equipment needed:
*Raspberry Pi 3 B+ or Raspberry Pi 4 with Power Adapter
*Micro SD Card & Reader
*PC to setup the SD Card
*USB Keyboard
*HDMI Cable or 3.5MM Video AV Component Adapter
Category: Retrogaming
Use Retrode device to dump your own game cartridges for emulators
Commodore 64 used to communicate with the Space Station
This is incredible.
My64 – mini ITX system in a *new* c64 case
This is a project that I definitely WILL do early next year:
I thought the whole setup was great except for one annoying thing: I don’t like cables coming out the sides of anything. I know this is standard procedure – even a macbook pro costing thousands of dollars does this. Would have been nice to have the power on the back. But this is a clean setup, looks great and isn’t too expensive, relatively speaking.
When I got to the end and saw what the function keys did I almost spit my coffee.
Outstanding!
The mainboard/CPU mini-itx combo was really interesting. I didn’t know those existed, especially at that low price. I tried to find the board and they are out of stock everywhere but even better – the highest end version of the board is available for only $120:
Now that ARM processors are coming to the market for desktop computing, I wonder what kind of mini-computing setups we will see in the near future. I can picture something that looks like a 5″x5″x1″ shape that people shove behind a monitor that has Windows 10 and an SSD drive for under $200. We’ll see…
Commodore 64 BBS with Petscii on your PC using SyncTERM
Would you like to enter the exciting world of Commodore 64 BBS?
If you do not own an actual Commodore computer, you can visit a Commodore BBS with full Petscii (similar to ASCII) graphical support! The open source program SynchTerm allows you to do that.
If you are using a Windows or Mac OSX machine, you can download a binary here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/syncterm/
Windows and Mac users can skip to the part below titled, “To *use* SynchTerm”
If you are using Linux (preferably Ubuntu or something Debian based), you can install the program using these instructions. In a terminal:
wget 'http'://syncterm.bbsdev.net/syncterm-src.tgz (downloads the program)
tar xvzf syncterm-src.tgz (extracts the program)
cd syncterm-20200223/src/syncterm (enter into the program's directory; replace "20200223" with your directory name)
sudo apt-get install libncurses-dev
sudo make sudo make install
syncterm (runs the program if everything goes well)
If your program refuses to ‘make’, try downloading the sourcecode from here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/syncterm/files/latest/download
*SynchTerm homepage for more details:
http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/
For reference, here’s a list of BBSs: http://cbbsoutpost.servebbs.com/
Example of a BBS listing with name, address and port:
To *use* SynchTerm, click on the icon.
Click in the area of the “Directory” (First box)
Select your keyboard’s “insert” key and type in the BBS name
Select “Telnet” for connection type
Enter in the address of the BBS you want to visit. 
Select F2 to edit the entry you just created for fine tuning:
TCP Port: 6400 (that’s just an example)
Choose “C64” for Screen Mode
Esc to save
Now highlight the new entry and hit enter. If the BBS is available and you entered in the information properly, you should see something like this. You will need to create an account. Enjoy!
Install Retropie on Ubuntu 18.04.03
I found a nice guide to installing Retropie on Ubuntu 18.04.03 at a website called markontech and it works brilliantly.
sudo apt-get install -y git dialog unzip xmlstarlet
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git
cd RetroPie-Setup
sudo ./retropie_setup.sh
Once the Retro-Pie install script is running, you will want to do a Basic Install and then navigate back to the menu and install the desired optional packages.
One thing I have learned: if you copy the retropie directory to a thumb drive (once it’s setup) each time you have a new setup, if you plug the thumb drive in, the computer will automatically copy the roms and bios files to the new install when emulation station is running. 🙂
Commodore 64 (Vic 20, Pet, etc) emulator from Raspberry Pi Raspbian
I can confirm this install method (source) worked with a Raspberry Pi 4 using Raspbian Buster.
Compiles Vice and installs into /usr/local/bin. Initial launch reports a sound issue. If you go into settings (F12), there’s a sound configuration you can change to “Alsa”.
…
# get dependencies – this may take a long time and ~ 1.5 GB
sudo apt install autoconf automake build-essential byacc dos2unix flex libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libgtk2.0-cil-dev libgtkglext1-dev libmp3lame-dev libmpg123-dev libpcap-dev libpulse-dev libreadline-dev libswscale-dev libvte-dev libxaw7-dev subversion texi2html texinfo yasm libgtk3.0-cil-dev xa65 libsdl2-dev
mkdir -p src
cd src
svn checkout https://svn.code.sf.net/p/vice-emu/code/trunk trunk
cd trunk/vice
./autogen.sh
./configure
make -j4
sudo make install
3D printing discussion/Urban Knish Podcast
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/631513482″ params=”color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]
Comgrow Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D Printer
Comgrow 3D Printer PLA Filament 1.75mm 1KG Spool
Thingiverse 3D models
Some free CAD programs for designing 3D parts
Public Domain music played during the podcast
8bitdo Sega Genesis Receiver Review
8bitdo Sega Genesis Receiver Review
The 8bitdo Genesis Receiver allows your Sega Genesis or Mega Drive to use a modern gamepad such as the PS4, PS3, XBox or Wii U (pictured) as well as a wide assortment of Bluetooth controllers. Also pictured on the right is another device used in a similar way for devices that accept USB such as the Nintendo Switch, the Mini Playstation, PCs, etc.
Youtube video:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESpU2YoT_l0]
Manually Install RetroPie over Raspbian Stretch
If you are enjoying a full or lite install of Raspbian on your Raspberry Pi, you can also manually install RetroPie rather than work off of a RetroPie SD image.
It’s advisable to first tell your Pi to boot into console mode at boot.
pi@raspberry:~$ sudo raspi-config Choose (3) Boot Options B1 Desktop/CLI B2 Console Autologin (optionally, you could select B1 to log in) <Finish>
Install RetroPie manually
Start by updating your system:
pi@raspberry:~$sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgradeVerify your local settings for a smooth installation.
pi@raspberry:~$sudo update-locale LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8"Now we install the packages needed by the installation script:
pi@raspberry:~$ sudo apt-get install git lsb-release Download the RetroPie setup script using git. If you don’t have git installed:
pi@raspberry:~$sudo apt install git-allthen:
pi@raspberry:~$ cd
pi@raspberry:~$ git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git Now run the script:
pi@raspberry:~$ cd RetroPie-Setup
pi@raspberry:~$ chmod +x retropie_setup.sh
pi@raspberry:~$ sudo ./retropie_setup.shThe installation dialog appears:
Choose the basic install and then optional packages, settings and drivers. Once you are done, reboot and launch with:
pi@raspberry:~$ emulationstation