The retro game box¶
A Raspberry Pi 4 running Batocera, preloaded with a curated retro library. Plug into a TV over HDMI, power on, play. Everything below is optional knowledge — the box needs zero maintenance.
Quick start¶
- HDMI to the TV, USB-C power (use the included supply — phone chargers cause the flashing lightning bolt).
- It boots straight into the game menu (EmulationStation) in ~30 seconds.
- Pair a controller: plug in via USB (instant), or for Bluetooth:
Start → Controller & Bluetooth Settings → Pair a Bluetooth device, then hold the controller's pairing button. - Pick a system, pick a game, play.
Controls (in the menus)¶
| Button | Does |
|---|---|
| A / South | select |
| B / East | back |
| Start | main menu (settings, sound, controllers) |
| Select | game options (favorites, etc.) |
| Hotkey + Start | quit game back to menu |
| Hotkey + South | in-game emulator menu (save/load state) |
"Hotkey" is the center/logo button on most pads.
The library¶
| System | Where it shines |
|---|---|
| NES / SNES | flawless |
| Game Boy / Color / Advance | flawless |
| Sega Genesis | flawless |
| PlayStation 1 | flawless |
| Nintendo 64 | most games great; a few are picky — if one stutters, it's the game, not you |
Save states work everywhere: Hotkey + South → Save State. The box also auto-saves cartridge saves like a real console.
This guide, on your phone¶
The box serves this page on your home network. Scan the QR on the card (or
visit http://retrobox.local:8080) from any device on the same Wi-Fi.
Adding games¶
From a computer on the same network:
- Finder/Explorer: open smb://retrobox.local (Mac) or \\retrobox.local
(Windows) → share → roms → drop files into the matching system folder.
- Then on the box: Start → Game Settings → Update Gamelists.
Wi-Fi¶
Start → Network Settings → enable Wi-Fi, pick the network, type the
password. Ethernet also just works.
Fixing things¶
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Controller stopped responding | replug / re-pair; worst case reboot |
| Controller "forgot" its pairing | some pads change their Bluetooth ID after a battery pull — just pair it again (Start → Controller & Bluetooth Settings) |
| New controller does nothing | hold any button ~3 s on the main menu → the mapping wizard appears — follow the prompts |
| Game frozen | Hotkey + Start quits to menu |
| No sound | Start → Sound Settings → Output Device → try the HDMI option |
| Anything else | pull power, wait 5 s, plug back in — the box is unbrickable this way |
| Really anything else | Batocera wiki: https://wiki.batocera.org |
For the technically curious¶
- SSH:
ssh root@retrobox.local, passwordlinux(stock Batocera). - Everything lives in
/userdata(ROMs, saves, this doc, settings). - This doc:
/userdata/docs/, served by/userdata/system/custom.sh. - Updates:
Start → Updates & Downloads— safe, saves survive.