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- Aug 23, 2010
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Recently, I had been looking for a new project, and I wanted to do something Neo-related. I also had my eye on the Raspberry Pi for a number of different emulation scenarios. Browsing YouTube for ideas, I came across a few people that took the Neo Geo X console dock, sans shitty handheld, and installed a Raspberry Pi to emulate Neo Geo games, among others. This seemed like a fun and smart idea since the dock has all of the connections required for the Pi to attach controllers, power, and a display. After doing some research, I saw that AliExpress had original Neo X docks and controllers for less than $40 shipped each, as well as the cabling needed, so I took the plunge. I put links below to the AliExpress stuff since they have the best prices and it’s the core of the project. Everything else can be had on eBay or Amazon, etc.
Parts (w/ shipped price)
Raspberry Pi 3B+ $39
Sandisk 16GB Micro SDHC $6
Neo Geo X Dock $39
Neo Geo X Stick $37 each
5V 3A Micro USB PSU (for testing/setup, optional) $7
5V 3A 4.0mm Barrel PSU (for dock) $7
Internal and External Dock Cables for Pi $12
Total (including 2 controllers): $184
If you already have USB controllers or adapters, and you don’t need the USB PSU, then your total will be ~$100. The whole thing was mostly plug ‘n play. I used RetroPie for the OS, and it works great running MVS with the lr-fbalpha core. I also have Neo Geo Pocket Color running on the lr-beetle-ngp core.
The Pi can emulate both systems well enough over HDMI or composite. The Pi does surprisingly nice 240p composite. The emulation isn’t perfect, but rarely is emulation of anything perfect, if ever. I’m not super familiar with tailoring retroarch or RetroPie for optimal Neo settings, but this setup definitely looks and plays better than the Neo Geo Mini or the stock Neo Geo X.
Here’s the changes you need to make to get it running really well:
-Plug in an ethernet cable or configure WiFi to dump your roms, update Pi firmware and RetroPie software, and scrape rom catalogs
-Turn on SSH so you can access the command line remotely. Open Raspi-Config > “interfacing options” > SSH > enable
-Add this line to /boot/config.txt to allow 240p over composite:
The Pi will default to HDMI if you have the cable plugged in, so if you want to use composite, remove the HDMI from the outside of the dock or your HDTV/monitor.
-To get the Pi to recognize the Neo Geo X stick, create the file “/etc/udev/rules.d/10-neogeox.rules" and add the following line:
The biggest issue is power. If you hook everything up as supplied, assuming you use a Pi 3B+, you’ll randomly get the “lightning bolt” in the upper right of the screen indicating “under current”, meaning the Pi is throttling the CPU to account for a lack of juice. This is because the AliExpress cabling splits the power and USB lines with a Y splitter. This technically works, but the power draw from the Pi is too much for the splitter. My solution was to open the dock shell, tap the 5V line at the USB controller connector (which allows you to use the existing power switch), chop the short end of the USB Y splitter and splice it together with the tapped lines to power the Pi independently. You need to make room for the additional power line at the jack connectors by removing the existing micro USB from its mooring, but that’s fine. There’s plenty of cable slack and you don’t have to cut the case. This way, you have one USB for power and one for controllers. Voila, no “under current” warning. All this is shown in the images below. Related: get a 3A PSU so you have a little extra headroom for the Pi’s 2.5A spec.
The Neo Geo X sticks are pretty close in look and feel to their AES counterparts. The buttons are damn near identical, while the stick is a bit more loose and has a slightly longer throw than AES, it still plays well. I’d recommend getting at least one X stick for this project. Where the Pi + X combo really shines, I think, is the ability to emulate NGPC stuff on a CRT, preferably a smaller one, over composite. Up until recently, I hadn’t really enjoyed NGPC games due to the stock screen’s limitations, but that’s gone now. I can see how great NGPC stuff like SvC MotM, Sonic, KoF, Cotton, and even Pacman are to play once you can actually see them. MVS stuff plays slightly fast due to the Neo’s odd refresh rate being adjusted for HDMI displays, but it’s not that bad. It still looks and sounds good. I’m sure there’s room for improvement in the display settings, but that’s a deeper dive than I have time for right now. Input lag is there, as you’d expect, but it’s not so bad as to take away from the experience. The lag is definitely less significant than Neo games on Wii VC, for example. Aesthetically, the dock and controller combo look great. The lid is snug, but closes over the Pi and cabling just fine. Again, this project is a big improvement over the Neo Geo Mini or the stock Neo Geo X. SNK could’ve made something like this, and it would’ve sold like crazy, even at the $200 price point. Missed opportunity. Anyway, if you guys give it a go, post up and let us know what configurations you’re using, and if you can improve on anything. Cheers.
Parts (w/ shipped price)
Raspberry Pi 3B+ $39
Sandisk 16GB Micro SDHC $6
Neo Geo X Dock $39
Neo Geo X Stick $37 each
5V 3A Micro USB PSU (for testing/setup, optional) $7
5V 3A 4.0mm Barrel PSU (for dock) $7
Internal and External Dock Cables for Pi $12
Total (including 2 controllers): $184
If you already have USB controllers or adapters, and you don’t need the USB PSU, then your total will be ~$100. The whole thing was mostly plug ‘n play. I used RetroPie for the OS, and it works great running MVS with the lr-fbalpha core. I also have Neo Geo Pocket Color running on the lr-beetle-ngp core.
The Pi can emulate both systems well enough over HDMI or composite. The Pi does surprisingly nice 240p composite. The emulation isn’t perfect, but rarely is emulation of anything perfect, if ever. I’m not super familiar with tailoring retroarch or RetroPie for optimal Neo settings, but this setup definitely looks and plays better than the Neo Geo Mini or the stock Neo Geo X.
Here’s the changes you need to make to get it running really well:
-Plug in an ethernet cable or configure WiFi to dump your roms, update Pi firmware and RetroPie software, and scrape rom catalogs
-Turn on SSH so you can access the command line remotely. Open Raspi-Config > “interfacing options” > SSH > enable
-Add this line to /boot/config.txt to allow 240p over composite:
Code:
sdtv_mode=16
-To get the Pi to recognize the Neo Geo X stick, create the file “/etc/udev/rules.d/10-neogeox.rules" and add the following line:
Code:
SUBSYSTEM=="input", ATTRS{name}=="TOMMO NEOGEOX Arcade Stick", MODE="0666", ENV{ID_INPUT_JOYSTICK}="1"
The biggest issue is power. If you hook everything up as supplied, assuming you use a Pi 3B+, you’ll randomly get the “lightning bolt” in the upper right of the screen indicating “under current”, meaning the Pi is throttling the CPU to account for a lack of juice. This is because the AliExpress cabling splits the power and USB lines with a Y splitter. This technically works, but the power draw from the Pi is too much for the splitter. My solution was to open the dock shell, tap the 5V line at the USB controller connector (which allows you to use the existing power switch), chop the short end of the USB Y splitter and splice it together with the tapped lines to power the Pi independently. You need to make room for the additional power line at the jack connectors by removing the existing micro USB from its mooring, but that’s fine. There’s plenty of cable slack and you don’t have to cut the case. This way, you have one USB for power and one for controllers. Voila, no “under current” warning. All this is shown in the images below. Related: get a 3A PSU so you have a little extra headroom for the Pi’s 2.5A spec.
The Neo Geo X sticks are pretty close in look and feel to their AES counterparts. The buttons are damn near identical, while the stick is a bit more loose and has a slightly longer throw than AES, it still plays well. I’d recommend getting at least one X stick for this project. Where the Pi + X combo really shines, I think, is the ability to emulate NGPC stuff on a CRT, preferably a smaller one, over composite. Up until recently, I hadn’t really enjoyed NGPC games due to the stock screen’s limitations, but that’s gone now. I can see how great NGPC stuff like SvC MotM, Sonic, KoF, Cotton, and even Pacman are to play once you can actually see them. MVS stuff plays slightly fast due to the Neo’s odd refresh rate being adjusted for HDMI displays, but it’s not that bad. It still looks and sounds good. I’m sure there’s room for improvement in the display settings, but that’s a deeper dive than I have time for right now. Input lag is there, as you’d expect, but it’s not so bad as to take away from the experience. The lag is definitely less significant than Neo games on Wii VC, for example. Aesthetically, the dock and controller combo look great. The lid is snug, but closes over the Pi and cabling just fine. Again, this project is a big improvement over the Neo Geo Mini or the stock Neo Geo X. SNK could’ve made something like this, and it would’ve sold like crazy, even at the $200 price point. Missed opportunity. Anyway, if you guys give it a go, post up and let us know what configurations you’re using, and if you can improve on anything. Cheers.
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