Hey all, finally going for RetroArch on PC!

RetroArch Windows devices
#1

I’ve been a fan ever since I got it for my ipod touch 5th gen. It plays SNES, Genesis, SegaCD, and even PSX flawlessly. But I’ve finally decided to move my PC downstairs because I think it would be so comfy playing on the couch and using a PS3 controller to play all of these old fabulous games. Now that I think of it even Arcade games on the big screen with a comfy controller! So this will be the first time I go “all out” and just emulate tons of different systems on the PC. I’ll figure out how to get the PC all hooked up myself.

I want to be able to use the PS3 controller wirelessly. I am going to do a lot of reading (it took some time and many questions here to set the IOS version up so I expect some work but it will be worth it). Do Have to download BTstack or something like that? Also what, if anything, do I have to hook into my computer to read the PS3 controller? Oh lastly, what folder should I put the “cores” in? I have a little experience so I know about getting bios files and where to put them etc. . but I could use a little help.

Thanks and I really look forward to talking to you all.

#2

You need a bluetooth adapter to use a PS3 wirelessly with a computer.

You want to grab the xinput wrapper here: http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-XInput-Wrapper-for-DS3-and-Play-com-USB-Dual-DS2-Controller

Install that and Windows will see your PS3 controller as an Xbox360 controller, so it will work with all games (nice if you end up doing steam big picture mode or something).

Xinput wrapper also comes with custom BT drivers to so your PS2 controller can connect to the bluetooth adapter since Sony did some funky things with them. So make sure to install those. It’s all pretty painless in Win7/8.1.

One thing to be aware of is that windows update will probably detect the custom bt driver as outdated and try to update to the latest official drivers for your device. You want to avoid this as you want the custom drivers.

#3

Thank you. Hopefully it’s not too painful. So which folder should I unzip the “cores” into? Or do each individual folder have to go into the main folder?

#4

Here is the gist of it:

  • extract the latest nightly
  • extract redist into the same folder
  • start retroarch
  • download the cores from the core manager panel

BIOS go into the system dir

#5

ok I did all that. When I extracted the latest nightly into the main folder and then the latest nightly cores into the /core folder. Also I had to create a new folder called “content” since that’s where it seems to want to look. And I put a sub folder for PSX games and put the files in there. I also put the PS1 bios SCPH1001 in the system file. Tried to run a PSX game and RetroArch crashed. At least I am getting somewhere.

Wish I could copy the error message but it said Error opening file, no such file or directory. terminate called after throwing an instance of ‘MDFN_Error’. It looks like it is looking for a system/scph5501.bin file. Could that be a missing bios?

#6

Yep, missing BIOS. You can look in the core info to find the CRC hashes for the ones it wants.

#7

You can probably just rename your bios to what it wants and be fine.

#8

[QUOTE=djinn_man;18959]You can probably just rename your bios to what it wants and be fine.[/QUOTE] Yep that worked! Thanks to both of you, well all 3. You know it’s a bit tricky getting this set up. But it’s gonna be so worth it. I can’t wait to get this computer hooked up to my TV and get all the different systems working with a wireless dualshock 3.

I’ll probably run into some trouble setting up the DS3 wirelessly. I’m gonna go get a bluetooth adapter. If I need any help, which I’m sure I will, I’ll ask here. Thanks so much for the help so far!

#9

Yeah I set it up on my laptop the other week, was a bit of setting up but it’s worth it in the end. Using a wired controller though.

#10

What controller do you use? Just a wired PC USB controller? I want to use a DS3 because they are just sooo damn comfortable. So far I’m not running into many problems moving over my entire rom collection into RetroArch. Got it set up to fullscreen mode. I don’t have it connected to the TV yet but I want to get the PS3 controller working with it first.

#11

I have a few pads, I use a wired 360 controller for any analog control games and my original SNES pad from back in the day for all the 2d stuff. I have most of the romsets and cores set up now. Still a few left to mess around with. Connecting it to the tv is unreal.

#12

You use an SNES to USB adaptor? I thought about doing that. Buying N64, NES, and SNES controllers to use for those systems. But first I just want to get the DS3 working. I’ll bet it is unreal. I can’t wait to get it all set up.

#13

yeah with a Super Smart Joy usb adapter. Works like a charm.

#14

Cool. That is pretty fun, playing on the original controller. I’ll def look into that after I have it fully set up.

#15

I am pretty sure you can have a joypad config file for each core, meaning you could just swap it out before booting RA to have the correct button assignment for each pad. A dev might need to confirm that though.

#16

I’ve been reading on pairing a PS3 controller to PC. I haven’t started just yet but I’ve seen BTstack mentioned. How is the different from the xinput wrapper mentioned in the first reply?

#17

Will I need both BTstack and xinput wrapper or are those similar things?

#18

BTstack is for iOS. You just need Xinput wrapper and the XBOX 360 drivers

#19

thanks a lot! I got my bluetooth adaptor so tonight or tomorrow I’m going to get this thing working! On top of that, I just found a new site I like even better than my old one for archived games. I’m downloading an entire library of 3DO games, and they work flawlessly in RetroArch. I didn’t think it would be that easy, and I’m pretty excited to get this going.