‪Arcade1UP Raspberry Pi Install Tutorial - RetroPie in an Arcade1UP

In this video, I show you how to mod an Arcade1up 3/4 scale cabinet to accommodate a raspberry pi running RetroPie, some call it a HACK I call it a MOD.
Parts Used in this build:
Amazon:
HDMI LCD Controller Board: amzn.to/2QlKKfr Or amzn.to/2DHDvNj
12 Volt Audio Amp: amzn.to/2IqCuYN
Arcade Sticks Buttons and Encoders: amzn.to/2ItwRt5 Or amzn.to/2IqHg8B
Raspberry Pi: amzn.to/2y1CtWq
Flirc Case: amzn.to/2P1iUom
Sd Cards: amzn.to/2y32Nj4
eBay:
HDMI LCD Controller Board: ebay.to/2zGC1Pj
Arcade Sticks Buttons and Encoders: ebay.to/2RcufUc
💙 Become a Patron: / etaprime
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DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission at no extra cost to you!
THIS VIDEO IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY!
#ARCADE1UP #RETROPIE #EMULATOR DISCLAIMER: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. No Games Or Applications Are Included Or Added On Or To Any Device In This Video

[@Josh-fu3mf]

I've always had a dream of having an arcade cabinet in my home. With these cabinets and your video, having a cabinet is actually a possibility for me now without having to shell out thousands of dollars. Thank you, sir!

[@Jarlaxle78]

Felt the same way. Just did it for Christmas. Amazing experience and pretty easy.

[@bizbooty]

I’m blown away!! I find it scary to take things apart, but you explain it so well that anyone who follows your vid would be able to do it! I’m recommending this video to my friends and family! Thank You!

[@dropkickme2010]

17:19 pro tip, take a double a battery and put one speaker lead on the + one on the -. If the speaker pushes out you have the right polarity.

[@RogerDiotte]

VERY PRO Thanks!

[@davidfarlow1498]

That’s an old car stereo installer trick - I always had a 9 volt battery and did this to check polarity when I needed to verify

[@DJizLurch]

Appreciate your time and effort on this tutorial. It was VERY DETAILED, specific and easy to follow! My Arcade1UP is on the way and originally I was gonna keep as is because I thought the process to mod was tedious and long, but you showed me otherwise and now the gears in my head are churning and turning! Thanks a lot!

[@nix2939]

Did you ever mod it?

[@DJizLurch]

@@nix2939 Yeah I did. Took sometime getting everything I needed and researching the many options and ROMs, but it came out good.

[@jdunst69]

Was there a spot to plug in the light for the marquee?

[@Theundisputedtruth]

@DJizLurch is there a place to just get a complete rom download or did u do one by one

[@arcade_matt]

gonna be doing this with mine soon! Thanks for this tutorial!!

[@mikeflightfpv2162]

Did you ever end up modding the cabinet?

[@RGT85]

Very cool vid dude. I just snagged one of these and was curious about something like swapping out the buttons and I’m kind of an idiot when it comes to taking things apart so I’m happy to see it’s pretty simple.

[@jcilvik]

This is the crossover I want to see! Do it up! Do a video together!

[@ETAPRIME]

Are you still in NC?

[@mysticguy]

ETA PRIME Are you in NC? I’m in WInston Salem!

[@kirkd1502]

@@ETAPRIME nah Shawn moved to Delaware.

[@bryanevolved]

Seeing a random RGT comment is like going out of town and seeing a friend in that town. As someone said this would be a fun crossover.

[@chokesalot]

This video is fantastic. I love how you explain everything perfectly and how honest you are with the parts you bought and letting us know how to save money on which parts to buy. Great Job keep up the good work.

[@DX91001]

He is a great teacher!

[@RobbieWhiplash]

Followed this and everything works great *ADDITIONAL TIP!* You can remove the mount plate from the Original Joy sticks and transfer them to the Easyget Sticks show in the video so you don’t have to drill new hole for the stick mounts! Thank you ETA Prime!

[@SmaMan]

Robbie Whiplash Do you have a link on how to do this? My stock stick plates were super-glued to the board so I’m wondering if removing them and sticking on the better sticks would be easier to do.

[@RobbieWhiplash]

SmaMan No, I personally don’t or know of one. I just kind of figured it out on my own while I was doing the mod.

[@chrisk5271]

Thanks, this helped me today

[@UltimateBrownie]

I’m positive I’m not alone, but you should definitely make an updated video. You are the Michael Jordan of arcade1up modding. The absolute 🐐

[@thomasraven]

Thanks for the comprehensive tutorial. One thing: Do yourself a favor and use industrial velcro instead of two-sided tape. It's not too expensive and it'll make it much easier to remove/replace components if you need to.

[@DjPhaTrix]

This is the most comprehensive vid I've seen for doing this type of Mod. Interestingly, the newest LED buttons I got look exactly like yours except they have connections like the encoder board on the bottom instead of the 4 leads. Thanks again for making this vid!

[@costellokarol]

Thak you very much for this video. 3 years late to comment but I've just powered down mine after getting it all set up following your directions, works like a charm. Childhood dream come true stuff! Clear and concise and tells you everything you need to know.

[@cocoaru63099]

Thanks for making this vid! Modifying my sons cabinet will be so much better now that I’ve come across your vid.. awesome detail,step by step.. etc

[@pos94civic]

REALLY looking forward to the Pandora’s box vid, especially the home version. Thanks for the great content!

[@Omn1Slash]

followed this video in 2021, and everything went flawless on my SF2 Arcade 1Up! I wanted to preserve my deck protector so I instead drilled the coin buttons in the piece of wood thats slanted under the control board and put the coin buttons there. Looks fantastic! Thank you ETA!!

[@stlokie2938]

Hey ETA Prime, thanks so much for this video! Like many before this was a great blueprint for me to follow to mod my Rampage cabinet. It looks great and am incredibly pleased with the results.

[@joshparr6321]

Thank you for this video! Just completed this myself by using your instructions. Only thing I changed was pulled out Volume/On-Off switch and expanded those holes to fit 24mm buttons. Works perfectly.

[@ETAPRIME]

Awesome!

[@tekkamanblade2244]

ETA PRIME show us how to still use the stock power and volume switches with this set up. Thats all im missing, please!

[@thadarkhadou]

To the man who started it all I say thank you. I just finished my arcade1up mod. I used happ buttons and joysticks though. Thanks again.

[@jeffosoft]

could you share which one you found :)

[@123jjfl]

Are those the baseball bat style sticks? I want to mod one and want to use sticks and buttons used on the neo geo arcades. Ive researched and i think they're made by happ. Do your sticks have a smooth 360 "feel" like no square or hex gate? Tia

[@s6underground]

This changes everything for people like me that don't usually understand this stuff. Thanks for making this video. This video might start a fire and greatly increase the size of the modding community.

[@Demonanimator]

I just bought one of the video controllers and they were actually kind enough to include the nut and bold for the ground cable. Nice touch!

[@FearNoEvil_556]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. Can’t wait to see the Pandora’s Box mod for this cabinet.

[@mixedhairless]

👏👏👏 Wasn’t even remotely interested in modding my cabinets. That’s changed now.. Awesome ETA PRIME. Got three cabinets, will change all the buttons out first, and then I will get a SF cab and add a Pi.

[@themanalligator4813]

Best arcade 1up & raspberry pi mod tutorial I've seen. Much appreciated.

[@AnorakTheSoulkeeper]

Thanks to you, I decided to purchase a Marvel Super Heroes 1up and modded it by following your tutorial. I ended up adding recessed USB ports and the coin buttons on the front panel. It's running off Retropie on Ubuntu(using an old laptop). I even hid a Wemo SmartPlug and scripted the auto shutdown and power on of the cabinet. This was an amazingly fun project. Thanks a lot for your tutorial! :)

[@redsaucelover]

All parts on the way! Thanks for the video Prime.

[@spragzpc1]

Secretly arcade 1up is happy with what you did with this cab ,these cabs will sell a few extra thousands because of this mod.

[@maskedsuperstarfan]

Agreed. I was on the fence regarding buying an Arcade1up cabinet but after seeing that modding is possible, it's a definite purchase for me.

[@TechToyTV]

100% agree!

[@valentinopc76]

Totally agree

[@tekkamanblade2244]

Reason i bought one

[@OrlandoPerrone]

Same here. I'm here because I want to make a cheap cabinet. Will buy now.

[@stevenhulbert2443]

THANK YOU ETA PRIME! I followed this video and modified my Mortal Kombat II Arcade 1up cab. Never done anything like this before. GOT IT WORKING. I just purchased an SD Card pre-loaded with games and it worked. Now i have my own Arcade cabinet in my Basement!

[@joewrockg42]

Wanted to comment and thank you for these videos! With your guidance I just completed my TMNT retropie upgrade! Your the best dude!

[@cMARVEL360]

Dude. Everything about this upload screams High Quality. I mean everything! What I love most is how simple you make it and how you like to drive the point of being reasonable for the build rather than going all out just because you or anyone else can. I like how often you repeat yourself which is important when watching these Educational videos as you take the information in and start getting new ideas, you need to hear the same thing at different moments to ground you and remain practical. Fantastic Upload! Especially because everyone has been waiting for someone to mod the cabniet and who knows what sort of video we could have gotten from anyone else. Your video alone is gonna cause some sort of notice from 1 Up. I just hope it's all Positive!

[@freshlumpia8202]

cMARVEL360 shut ur fuckin mouf

[@trolled1665]

eddi trulok lol edgy

[@jeremyhuang13]

@@freshlumpia8202 what are you ,,, stupid?

[@JerseyDevils21]

@@freshlumpia8202 TF wrong with you

[@JerseyDevils21]

@@freshlumpia8202 bih I'd knock yo ass out homeboy you mad because you're name couldn't be eddy instead of eddi like it was supposed to be ( I'm sorry I'm just messing with you)

[@IrieIslandGaming]

Thank you for the tutorial! I finished converting my street fighter cabinet to retropie and everything is perfect!

[@topgtony_]

Irie Island Gaming did you drill any holes ?

[@DX91001]

Awesome guy! Very clear instructions ! Its people like you that make KZbin what it is today! Thank you!!

[@JoynalHussain11]

What an amazing tutorial- this is my quarantine project so thank you so much. SUPER easy to follow, hope i can execute it now.

[@blastu2fool]

😭 how did it go ?

[@thomasgarzelloni3807]

ETA, another great video! Maybe one of the clearest videos I've watched for assembling buttons!!!!

[@edgarmorales8431]

Bro all your videos have been a life saver!! Keep up the amazing work!

[@taylonjudd923]

Your videos are seriously the best pi tutorials out there. thank you sooo much. you helped me build mine from the ground up. Subscribed!

[@gregonline493]

ETA- I have watched this video 50 times! Thank you for being The Godfather of Arcade1Up mods!

[@killerwhale9073]

Same bahaha

[@MachinamaCaves]

Probably have built 10 retropie setups. All done with some of your tutoring, of course! Learn something new every time you do a new build. Keep them coming. Although the only thing I would have done different was implement your two wire single button shut down with script method on the power button!!!

[@beyerch]

stupid question, but where do we find the software to put on the pi ?

[@stridermt2k]

I've watched through this a couple of times, and it's making me want to build a MAME arcade stick for my TV. Pretty much the same thing sans the display considerations.

[@kevinthompson7401]

Thanks for the guide. Just got a MKII cabinet and a pie 4, cant wait to deck it out!

[@kimzeevaarders9148]

Thanks to your video I managed to mod my MK cabinet , thx a lot man!

[@priaulx420]

Hey @ETAPRIME. I just ordered the lcd controller board kit from your Amazon link.. It actually came with the screw and nut for the ground.. Tia!

[@topgtony_]

justin priaulx which link, he posted 2

[@LazyBunnyKiera]

Wonderful job. I want one! I'd even consider putting a little coin slot that uses some generic arcade tokens. Just to have that *insert coin* feel and sound. Especially when the coin hits the little box of coins at the bottom and makes that clink sound.

[@leeholt3167]

watched this video 6 or so times while waiting for my parts to come in. thanks for the 💡

[@johns8120]

This is a perfect step by step setup. Appreciate the help.

[@ArmstrongArcade]

Thanks for going over the encoders, ETA.

[@THEPOKEBROS99]

ETA PRIME! Thank you for the inspiration and extremely easy tutorial!

[@minnesotastyle3005]

Thanks for the awesome and detailed video ETA Prime! I just got the Arcade1Up - Atari Tempest Legacy Arcade, which doesn't have any joysticks, so I plan to drill some holes into my board and add them. Will be a perfect addition with the spinner and trackball!

[@lanzpineda5227]

Thanks ETA! Found a bare cabinet and will be doing this one! Keep up the good work!

[@evanpeters87]

This is the video I have been waiting for, you sir are amazing, I ordered all the same parts that you did so when I get this cab in a couple weeks this will be my tutorial. I can't thank you enough for all your hard work.

[@WishMaster2013]

Old board in the trash can lol I'm sure the manufacturer loved that lol. Great video like always!!!

[@JoseHernandez-iq3fs]

Dude you're freakin awesome!!! You make something that looks complicated easy.

[@ikebeeme]

I did it! So happy! Thanks to this tutorial I was able to put it all together. I didn't have to drill a hole for the Joysticks, i just used the other metal plate from the old joysticks. What a great feeling. Thank you!

[@thisbdave4342]

Do the games come prelaoded?

[@ikebeeme]

@@thisbdave4342 No, you can search on Ebay or Amazon and purchased an sd card with the games on it.

[@RogueStatusX]

@@ikebeeme or just download the games yourself lmao. Why pay someone else to do something you can do for free yourself

[@cryptidsoul]

Amazing instructional video. You go through and explain every angle, in an easy to understand way. I tip my hat to you sir, and thanks for the inspiration to do this.

[@oscarncandi2013]

Once again ETA PRIME made it happen for us retro junkies awesome work I just found one of those arcades on clearance at walmart. Thumbs up and thank you

[@eduardocervantes6488]

I loved, I can't wait to do it! Thanks for the tutorial keep up the good work

[@alkohallick2901]

That's awesome! I can't wait to do mine! I'm going to turn a Final Fight cabinet into a Dragon's Lair cabinet. :)

[@Framed_Niner]

You can easily do both

[@honda5233]

Thank you so much for the very informative and very easy to understand tutorial ETA Prime

[@WickedGamerCollector]

Like always great video, thanks for the tutorial ! :D

[@Lasmusic559]

Package from china!!!

[@WickedGamerCollector]

@@Lasmusic559 🤗

[@cbusbyuk]

Fantastic video, thansk so much i got this up and running in a day. Just a tip for anyone doing this, the deck protector will also need 2 new holes drilling to account for the extra buttons. Wasnt mentioned in the video so yeah just be aware, but otherwise I have an awesome cabinet now with all of my favourite arcade games. :)

[@artkingofwholefoods74]

I love this. Thank You Sir. It looks like a lot of fun. :) I’m DEFINITELY doing this!

[@Mintonfresh]

I followed this tutorial step by step and was able to make my own arcade! Thank you ETA Prime for this awesome video and thanks for making my dream come true.

[@StevenM1985]

Does the rasberry pi come with games or do you have to set it up?

[@Mintonfresh]

steven monteith set it up but it isn’t hard at all and there are plenty of videos

[@carminecarotenuto6086]

You can just buy an sd card with the games and insert it in the raspberry pi right? I'm a tech savy kind a guy but this is something I'm new at.

[@dmanman1233]

"Cheap and gets the job done." That's what I like to hear.

[@NightlyComics]

It took me hours, but I finally got it all working and it’s thx to this video. Me and my dad did it and it’s amazing. Ty so much

[@feral7094]

Thanks for the tutorial I just snagged one on amazon for a good price, this will be a fun project

[@jwhipp]

ETA, the absolute legend!

[@bmarko]

I've always wanted a mame cab but never took the plunge. Used your instructions to mod my MK2 cab and it works great. Thank you so much!!

[@travistheretrog5833]

bmarko, I have my parts ordered, and I’ll be modding my MK2 cabinet in a couple days. Pretty awesome!!

[@meechp123]

Your cost-conscious is much appreciated.

[@badmantsu]

I had this idea randomly the other day and I’m glad someone there tutorial

[@Reggie4087]

The tutorial was great! I finished the mod last night. I added a 2nd speaker for stereo!

[@baophan4067]

how do you add a 2nd speaker? also how do you turn on/off and adjust volume?

[@Reggie4087]

@@baophan4067 You can add a 3" speaker on the other side and drills holes in the same pattern. I brought a switch that plugs into the power strip

[@baophan4067]

@@Reggie4087 the switch turns the unit on and off or controls volume?

[@Reggie4087]

@@baophan4067 I don't use those buttons ..in the tutorial he recommended using the AMP for speaker audio... it supports stereo I just set the audio at a reasonable setting and close the unit

[@JohnnySilverMagician]

How do you properly shut this down?

[@AdrianLabs]

On my order of the HDMI LCD Controller Board they included the nut and bolt needed for the ground

[@MidnightBanshi]

Very cool video! Looks like a fun project to take on to make a great cabinet for your arcade room!

[@PaTTeX67]

got mine yesterday made the mod directly and it's work fine ( beware of the resolution of the HDMI LCD Controller Board when you buy )

[@sil-80nick]

For items like the amp, I'd recommend using velcro instead of double sided tape. This way, if you need to remove anything in the future, you can pull the amp off the side to access the wires. Much easier than trying to disconnect by reaching around to the far side.

[@zellerized]

Yes.. and i know to never use zip ties... Instead, use Velcro wrap.

[@christianl2615]

Great walkthrough super easy to follow. Thank you just nodded my MK2 cabinet. Any chance you'll make a video of upgrading the player panel from 2 player to 4 player?

[@captainfach]

Yo man I know this is old but I had 2 questions as I got an MK today. 1:did the sticky tape ever come loose? And 2: where did you end up putting your extra buttons? The button placement on this cab is a tad awkward imo

[@sydneyaurel]

thx from PARIS France great work, i'll send pictures when finish!

[@sux0r]

Thank you ETA! Amazing videos like always

[@jaylh2001]

This is the arcade cabinet we dreamed about having as a kid. Very cool. I want to make something like this.

[@pinchehulk3521]

Jason Hassler I didn’t dream about it when I was a kid my uncle had an arcade store 🏬 and I remember we use to play Atari with Nintendo controls it was awesome 😎 and in my opinion this new Arcadia cabinets look cool but nothing to do with the old school ones!

[@craigsmith1948]

I followed your instructions and they were great. I only had one problem and that was the wires for the CFL were to short to reach the wood part. So if you take the old board out of the metal box there is a piece of plastic behind it. I took it out and taped it to the metal monitor back and then taped the controller board to the plastic. Thanks again for your instructions.

[@Cod3oz]

You literally a life saver mine has the same issue with regards to wire length was looking at reusing the pcb box but now ill just follow this instead,cheers mate

[@ToonyBe]

Thank you so much for this! God bless. I just started modding my free gifted sf2 1up cab and have the same problem.

[@sharinglungs3226]

Great and easy tutorial. Didn’t think it was this easy to do.

[@blastu2fool]

Did you do it ?

[@A.Tegami]

Such a great tutorial... works like a charm!

[@bigmarkdarula]

YOU DA REAL MVP

[@christopherbrown5338]

Speaker tip- use a AA or AAA battery. Hold one wire on the bottom of the battery and then tap briefly the other wire to the top of the battery. If you see the speaker cone push out when you tap then you are in the correct phase and you'll know which wire in positive and negative. If the speaker cone pulls down then you are out of phase and you'll know you just need to flip the wires around to have the correct phase. I also swapped out my speaker with a two way Kicker 4 inch speaker, it sounds great!

[@coolelectronics1759]

curious how many ohms stock and kicker one you used are

[@christopherbrown5338]

@@coolelectronics1759 4 & 4

[@coolelectronics1759]

@@christopherbrown5338 cool thanks

[@mattakadanja]

Finally getting around to doing one of these this week. Hopefully, it goes smooth with the help of this good video.

[@KhromosInCanada]

That's an amazing video. I did it exactly like you said and now my 1UP is TURBO VERSION. hauahauau Thanks for the video. I'm also got courage to cut MDF and make my own cabinets to sell. Not a big deal as I thought, it is simple and relaxing. :)

[@tekkamanblade2244]

Show us how to connect the on/off and volume switch!

[@BEED0GG]

Hi ETA prime love this stuff. Great step by.step builds. Have you built any pinball lcd screen display to.play the Arcade pinball app? Thank you.

[@BINGO359]

Nice 1 Bud, Cheers from Scotland

[@KamienTV]

Very well done man.. I'll keep this in my favorite videos haha :D

[@sammy6013]

Love the videos. Can you do an update on modding the Arcade 1up using this same approach but with a pi4 4gb? Curious about performance gains, any issues or different steps with Retropie, and if games like Killer Instinct are possible after overclocking to 2ghz.

[@pyromover6154]

Dude i bet your house is fun as hell to hang out at lol

[@JoshuaEzell]

Eta, every video you have done has been hyper informative and very instructional. I am glad to have come across this one as I had been trying for some time to cheaply build a cabinet from scratch. I was able to nab a mortal kombat cabinet from Walmart for 200$ on clearance. So this will make that cab many times over better. I wonder if you might can do an updated build at some point to add led lighting to the cabinet and possibly change the wooden marquee out for a back-lit one.

[@elvingarcia3820]

Thanks ETA i did my mod following everything in the video!! Thanks!!! God Bless!!! Take care! And stay safe!!

[@duzhang]

I would like to know if there is any noticeable lag with using the video encoder and usb encoder vs The gpio?

[@mcinnocent]

An amazing instruction video!!! Big Thx! Maybe it would be easier to replace the built-in monitor with another cheap LCD screen which already has hdmi input possibility, so you dont need the HDMI LCD Controller Board and no audio amp ;-)

[@chutch531]

pepelehmann is that possible

[@Skysmeller1]

The GOAT of arcade modding

[@Fedrage]

Thanks for that video. I followed it and i m so happy with m'y 300+ games now. Thanks thanks thanks 👍👍👍

[@jasonorme3500]

You don't have to add more buttons, you can set the P1 start and credit button to the same button. I have a fullsize mame cab and a bartop arcade with Pi inside and I only have a single button for each player and has caused no issues.

[@dogballs99999]

So the player 1/2 button works as both insert coin and start game?

[@Alpacalocity]

@@dogballs99999 I would like to know as well

[@newbdakoda3080]

Will you be doing a video on setting up a Pandora's box in this?

[@DanniHouth]

Thank you for the tutorial! Much appreciated!