Installing Retroarch and Libretro Cores on SteamOS

[ProfessorKaos64]

Is it possible? Yes it is. This work is still in progress, but Retroarch, 49 cores, and a few preset paths are there. This was tested on my SteamOS Test PC (Intel core 2 Quad, 8 GB DDR2, Nvidia GT 640). I may throw in a preset for Xbox controllers soon. I have tested this using Super Mario All Stars with all the SNES cores, but of course, testing for other cores has not been done yet.

Github repo][github.com]
Github readme file[github.com]
Retroarch-info readme[github.com]
Tested/known working cores[github.com]

Important notes

* Please take note that this is not intended use of SteamOS, and to properly backup your system if you are concerned about the integrity of any part of it!
* This requires you have the Debian repo sources and preferences files properly added. If you are unsure if you did this yet, or encounter issues, do not omit the add-debian-repos.sh line below. Others can skip this step.
* Please, please, take proper precautions and ensure you have a current or base root recovery image already cloned. This is usually done after your first install of SteamOS, but if you wish to update it, and are sure you want to, you can choose this from the grub boot menu when you boot your Steam "Box/Machine/Rig".
* As noted in the readme file linked above, this will take a long time, depending on your system setup.

Also to be noted, I am working on some preset controller setups for Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers in my testing branch. You can always bind the controls in Retroarch > Settings > Input Settings as well.

Why not Emulation Station?

Emulation station is great, and I use it in my RetroRig-ES project, but for the purposes of a unified input/core system, especially launching from something like SteamOS BPM, Retroarch is more desirable. At some point, I *may* attempt to convert my previous work with ES on Ubuntu, to SteamOS, but packaging, configuration, and more may be more work than I have time for right now.

Installation:
https://github.com/ProfessorKaos64/SteamOS-Tools/wiki/Retroarch


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[TinMan1325]

This is awesome, going to check it out in a bit
Do you use vanilla SteamOS?

[ProfessorKaos64]

Thanks. Yes I use "vanilla" SteamOS. Still a work in progress, but I've built and tested the routine enough I believe, for basic use. I will start making tweaks this week.

[ProfessorKaos64]

updated with more info/links.

[n00b saib0t]

Sorry for reviving such an old thread, but how's progress on this? I see there's rebuilt PPA packages of Retroarch for Brewmaster, will you make ones for Alchemist? Or should I just upgrade? Do cores downloaded by Retroarch Online Updater work? So many questions

[ProfessorKaos64]

The updater should wok but I have not tested extensively with that. There isn't much going on woy Alchemist, and I'd very much suggest getting on Brewnaster going forward. I'm usulu signed on to irc.freenode.net in the to #steamos of you have further questions. I could try building for Alchemist if therw is enough demand. I don't see a large reason to be still using it.

I could try to build this in am Alchemist chroot.

[n00b saib0t]

Thank you for prompt answer. I'll update to Brewmaster then.
On the side note I couldn't get rumble to work in psx cores on my Logitech F510. Also Retroarch sometimes freezes on Quick Menu screen after pressing Resume Content. Hope these issues will go away once I update.

[ProfessorKaos64]

I'm not quite sure about that. I can try to test that of you still experience it. I rebuild the Vivid packages for now. Its possible I may do a source build in due time, but I am trying to keep maintenance low since it is mainly just me. As long as there is original source code in the PPA, rebuilding is not incredibly difficult.

[n00b saib0t]

I finally updated. As I predicted, rumble works now. Rare random freezes on Quick Menu still occur, though.

[ProfessorKaos64]

hmm strange. Not sure what I can do about that just rebuilding upstream code from the PPA. I do have some build scripts I am making that base off of the GitHub release tags. I'll see about getting those main packages (retroarch, retroarch-assets, retroarch-joypad-autoconfig, libretro-core-info) up and running. The cores are secondary, since they seem work fine, but I could do the same for those. I updated the instructions above, as they are old. I do not recommend the source build script anymore.

[n00b saib0t]

Probably my fault. If I remember correctly that only happens with one of PSX cores when I mess around with its settings.