Raspberry Pi, Emulation, and you

[McDoob]

Hello, everyone.

I'm looking for feedback from people who have used the Raspberry Pi SBC for emulation, specifically in my case the Pi 4. I haven't really had any problems I couldn't solve so far, but I thought it might be helpful to start a thread for anyone who has, or just wants to discuss it.

One thing I do have a problem with is the fact that the Pi 4 absolutely cannot emulate the PS2. It does fine with the PSP and even Dreamcast, but is just not able to achieve playable framerates in NetherSX2, at least in the games I've tried (FFX and Gran Turismo 3). Has anyone tried with the Pi 5?

Thoughts? Comments?

-McD

 

[newageretrohippie]

I used batocera on a pi 400 until somebody stole it. it was alright.

ps2 has a very streamlined bus. Never gonna emulate it on a pi 4. Havent tried a pi 5 yet

 

[Drewski90]

I have a raspberry pi, but the problem with mine is running animated logos and fmv cutscenes on the ps1 as they tend to lag because they didn't find the bios for the psx rearmed core

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

I got a Pi4. Actually it's in a Vilros keyboard enclosure. Agreed it's too weak to do PS2, but it played PS1 and 16bit games just fine. N64... i think it had issues if you used higher resolution, probably was software mode.

Pi4 makes a halfway decent PC too. Just don't expect to use it for anything heavy.

 

[newageretrohippie]

Pi4 makes a halfway decent PC too. Just don't expect to use it for anything heavy.

i agree with this, i used manjaro with the 400 and it worked great...

i got banned from the library for 2 months by a psychotic librarian for downloading it tho. He tried to shut down the computer before i could complete the download.

 

[AnonymousCookieMonster]

i agree with this, i used manjaro with the 400 and it worked great...

i got banned from the library for 2 months by a psychotic librarian for downloading it tho. He tried to shut down the computer before i could complete the download.

Ouch, been there. Trying to download the linux kernel on windows 98... not a good combo. Especially since it won't let you save the file on the local computer long enough to make transferring it to a thumb drive work.

 

[newageretrohippie]

Ouch, been there. Trying to download the linux kernel on windows 98... not a good combo. Especially since it won't let you save the file on the local computer long enough to make transferring it to a thumb drive work.

there was something seriously wrong with that library. They also blocked every single IP address from China and Russia since 2016.

That librarian accused me of "blocking library services..." I told him *he* was the one blocking library services, and he didnt like that very much. Bah

apologies for tho OT rant haha

 

[bloodywing]

The pi 4 gpu is simply too low end with it's 500mhz. And GT 3 and 4 are very demanding.

I'm also wondering about this mysterious arm port of nethersx2 xD

 

[McDoob]

The pi 4 gpu is simply too low end with it's 500mhz. And GT 3 and 4 are very demanding.

I'm also wondering about this mysterious arm port of nethersx2 xD

There's nothing 'mysterious' about it. NetherSX2 has an apk one can download direct from their website. Sure, one must install Android on their Pi in order to use it, but it's certainly possible to do so.

You're absolutely right, though, about the GPU on the Pi 4, even at 600 MHz. I recently tried Goldeneye for N64, and that was...well, not fun at all. Of course, N64 emulation in general, and Goldeneye in particular, is something the Pi is not very good at. I would hate to try GT3 in slide-show mode.

 

[bloodywing]

There's nothing 'mysterious' about it. NetherSX2 has an apk one can download direct from their website. Sure, one must install Android on their Pi in order to use it, but it's certainly possible to do so.

You're absolutely right, though, about the GPU on the Pi 4, even at 600 MHz. I recently tried Goldeneye for N64, and that was...well, not fun at all. Of course, N64 emulation in general, and Goldeneye in particular, is something the Pi is not very good at. I would hate to try GT3 in slide-show mode.

that is not their site. if you mean nethersx2.com

Release NetherSX2-Patch + Builder + Xdelta patch v1.9-dev · Trixarian/NetherSX2-patch

First Dev build that took a bit longer due to a regression in the GameDB that took me 4 hours to track down. This is a test build to help squish any bugs before we do a proper 1.9 release Please te...

github.com

'Note: No APK is provided in any of these files. Due to licensing issues, you need to build NetherSX2 for yourself using the various methods provided' would be super careful installing a apk from the .com site. And would manual patch it.

I just tested it:
7ed90236017b7aa5345c88459fbd9bb2 NetherSX2.apk (the one from the .com website)

With the patches on github:
e263a3987f2436021cef4e53c00ae1ed 15210-v1.5-4248-noads.apk
4df8ed052c4aa6d2a87fe9989336a2a2 15210-v1.5-4248-patched.apk

Even the filesize is very different:
20980252 Jan 28 23:13 NetherSX2.apk

22953786 Jan 28 23:31 15210-v1.5-4248-noads.apk
22622010 Jan 28 23:31 15210-v1.5-4248-patched.apk

 

[McDoob]

that is not their site. if you mean nethersx2.com

Release NetherSX2-Patch + Builder + Xdelta patch v1.9-dev · Trixarian/NetherSX2-patch

First Dev build that took a bit longer due to a regression in the GameDB that took me 4 hours to track down. This is a test build to help squish any bugs before we do a proper 1.9 release Please te...

github.com

'Note: No APK is provided in any of these files. Due to licensing issues, you need to build NetherSX2 for yourself using the various methods provided' would be super careful installing a apk from the .com site. And would manual patch it.

I just tested it:
7ed90236017b7aa5345c88459fbd9bb2 NetherSX2.apk (the one from the .com website)

With the patches on github:
e263a3987f2436021cef4e53c00ae1ed 15210-v1.5-4248-noads.apk
4df8ed052c4aa6d2a87fe9989336a2a2 15210-v1.5-4248-patched.apk

Even the filesize is very different:
20980252 Jan 28 23:13 NetherSX2.apk

22953786 Jan 28 23:31 15210-v1.5-4248-noads.apk
22622010 Jan 28 23:31 15210-v1.5-4248-patched.apk

I was referring to nethersx2.org: https://nethersx2.org/files/NetherSX2 .apk Perhaps that is also not an official site. Not that it matters.

Either way, you've quite clearly solved your own mystery with a tiny bit of Google-fu. Congrats.

 

[bloodywing]

I was referring to nethersx2.org: https://nethersx2.org/files/NetherSX2 .apk Perhaps that is also not an official site. Not that it matters.

Either way, you've quite clearly solved your own mystery with a tiny bit of Google-fu. Congrats.

md5sum is exactly the same like the one from the .com domain. Would absolutely not trust any of those 2 sites.

 

[PhrawzT]

I have a Pi4 and have been debating about turning it into an arcade machine. I have used it for GBA, N64 and Playstation emulation. I didn't even try to use it for PS2 emulation as I can only assume that it does not have the graphical capabilities.

 

[McDoob]

I have a Pi4 and have been debating about turning it into an arcade machine. I have used it for GBA, N64 and Playstation emulation. I didn't even try to use it for PS2 emulation as I can only assume that it does not have the graphical capabilities.

That appears to be the consensus, and also my experience. Even N64 emulation can be difficult. Oddly enough, PSP and Dreamcast emulation seem to work well, for the most part.

Post automatically merged: Jan 30, 2025

md5sum is exactly the same like the one from the .com domain. Would absolutely not trust any of those 2 sites.

Not that it matters.