Bjorn Kuiper

This post outlines how I got OpenMSX running on RetroPie, basically it is a collection of links and tips and tricks that i gathered from other sites to make it work.

Quick overview:
– OpenMSX 0.14.0
– RetroPie 4.3
– Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

UPDATE: for Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ you can use the retro 4.4 image together with an updated sources.list which you can download at http://bjorn.kuiper.nu/upload/retropie/sources.list.

UPDATE 2: The original configuration only accepted ROMS, ignoring DSK and CAS files. By replacing the direct call to openmsx with a loader we can handle these files as well. For that to work i have updated the es_systems.cfg file and create a loader.sh file within the openmsx directory with the correct permissions.

download both files to your pi and copy them, as root:

# cp es_systems.cfg /etc/emulationstation/.
# cp loader.sh /opt/retropie/emulators/openmsx/bin/.
# chmod 755 /opt/retropie/emulators/openmsx/bin/loader.sh

Happy gaming!

UPDATE 3: This blogpost is outdated. You can easily add OpenMSX of BlueMSX as additional components to RetroPie nowadays.

I bought my Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Essentials kit (element14.com) from a Dutch online-store (1).

Step 1: Assemble Raspberry Pi
Follow the instructions provided with your purchase and assemble your Raspberry Pi

PRO-TIP: You might need or want to re-partition your SD card if it has been used before. Under Windows you can use “Disk Management” to do this.

Step 2: Install RetroPie on the SD card for your Raspberry Pi
For this I followed the “First Installation” instructions on the RetroPie homepage (2). So I downloaded the latest RetroPie image for the Raspberry Pi 3 (download | mirror) and because I’m using Windows I used Win32DiskImager to write the image to the SD card. Make sure your SD card is set to “read/write” and not just “read-only”. The configuration of the controllers is not that important as OpenMSX uses their own settings. Just make sure you set “A” to match with “A” on your keyboard, etc. so you can easily navigate the EmulationStation menu (started when booting RetroPie). From “Installing Additional Emulators” on you can discard the “First Installation” instructions as we will be handling that here.

Step 3: Enable SSH for easy configuration
NOTE: Make sure you have enabled Wi-Fi (through the main Settings page in Emulationstation).
Detailed instructions for enabling SSH can be found HERE.
Press “Start” in the RetroPie Configuration screen. Choose “Quit” and “Quit Emulationstation”. You are now returned to a prompt (command line).
$ sudo raspi-config

And enable SSH through the menu “interfacing options >> SSH >> Enable”. Close the menu.

Get the IP address by typing:

$ ifconfig

and reboot your pi by typing

$ sudo reboot

Step 4: Download OpenMSX, compile and install it
Log-in remotely to your RetroPie using SSH or in the EmulationStation menu, choose “Quit”->”Quit EmulationStation” so you get a command prompt. You are logged in as user “pi”.

Download OpenMSX using wget (mirror):

$ wget https://github.com/openMSX/openMSX/releases/download/RELEASE_0_14_0/openmsx-0.14.0.tar.gz

unzip it:

$ tar -zxvf openmsx-0.14.0.tar.gz

And execute the following commands to be able to compile it and install it:

$ sudo su –
# cd /etc/apt/
# rm -f sources.list
# wget http://bjorn.kuiper.nu/upload/retropie/sources.list
# apt-get -y update
# apt-get -y build-dep openmsx
# exit
$ cd openmsx-0.14.0/build/
$ rm -f custom.mk
$ wget http://bjorn.kuiper.nu/upload/retropie/custom.mk
$ cd ..
$ ./configure

NOTE: `make` takes a while. Go do something else.

$ make
$ sudo make install
$ rm openmsx-0.14.0.tar.gz

Step 5: Install system roms
To be able to use different machines, instead of the default cbios, you need to download the systemroms.zip.

$ cd
$ mkdir -p .openMSX/share/systemroms
$ cd .openMSX/share/
$ wget http://bjorn.kuiper.nu/upload/retropie/systemroms.zip
$ unzip systemroms.zip
$ rm systemroms.zip
$ cd

Step 6: Add MSX to RetroPie / EmulationStation

$ mkdir -p /opt/retropie/configs/msx/
$ cd /opt/retropie/configs/msx/
$ wget http://bjorn.kuiper.nu/upload/retropie/emulators.cfg

$ sudo su –

# cd /etc/emulationstation/
# vi es_systems.cfg

add the following at the bottom of the file before the closing tag.

• <system>

• <name>msx</name>

• <fullname>MSX</fullname>

• <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/msx</path>

• <extension>.rom .ROM .mx2 .MX2 .mx1 .MX1</extension>

• <command>/opt/retropie/emulators/openmsx/bin/openmsx -cart %ROM%</command>

• <platform>msx</platform>

• <theme>msx</theme>

</system>

Save and quit VI.

Step 7: copy games onto the RetroPie machine

The MSX emulator is not shown in the Emulationstation screen until you actual add some games in the predefined roms folder.

Create the folder
$ mkdir -p /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/msx/

and copy the ROM files into that folder. You can create subfolders as well.

If you have SSH enabled you can use SFTP to copy the ROMs onto your RetroPie. On Windows you could use the FileZilla client to accomplish this.

You can just restart the Emulationstation to show the new games you have added. You don’t need to reboot the system.

Games can be found here:
– http://www.msxabandonware.com/en/contentsby/b/1/1
– http://www.msxarchive.nl/pub/msx/games/roms/
– http://www.planetemu.net/roms/msx-various-rom?page=D

Nice to have: Classic boot screen
By default OpenMSX boots with CBIOS, an opensource MSX emulator, but the systemroms.zip we installed contains a lot of different machines.

For people with a windows keyboard, open the menu by pressing the “Menu-key” on your keyboard (it is between the Altr Gr and Ctrl key on the right). You can also navigate your mouse to the top left corner of the screen and click menu. go to “Hardware-Change Machine” and select a different machine, for example”: Philips NMS 8225. Make it your default by going back the menu and “Hardware-Set Current Machine as Default”.

resources:
(1) https://www.processorstore.nl/product/753520/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-essentials-kit.html
(2) https://retropie.org.uk/docs/First-Installation/

Standing on ye shoulders of Giants. Big thanks go to:
– https://www.msxinfo.net/2017/01/20/install-openmsx-on-retropie-with-xbox360-or-picade-controller/
– https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31277