How to Write A Image On An SD Card - Retropie Guide

Are you new or need help writing an image or getting your first retropie image to boot? Well in this video we go over all the steps and cover the most common mistakes.
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**This video is for educational purposes-

[@Clickbaiters]

You have no idea how useful the information in this video has been. Fantastic channel!

[@WereDirtyGaming]

Another awesome video !!! Thank you, this will help out so manny users.

[@andrewbellinger1135]

Great video. What I was waiting for.

[@johnmcclane2139]

Thanks for the guide, Drew!

[@charliemckelvey9282]

Been watching your videos awhile and really appreciate your efforts. Keep up the great work!

[@youknowit158]

This is the video I needed, thanks!

[@1972lesteryan]

Dude this is the best video I've seen on installing an image. Thank you for posting it.

[@drewtalks]

Thanks and glad you got it now

[@davon856]

Hey man, just wanted to say thank you. I kept searching different topics on arcade emulation on raspberry pi and your channel consistenly had all the info I needed. Easy subscribe, greatly appreciate what you did, got my Raspberry Pi 4 in hand just waiting for an invite!

[@drewtalks]

Yay!

[@WickedRibbon]

Thank you! This was very helpful.

[@garogercade7850]

Thanks for making this video.

[@Illsky9]

Thank you so much, this helped me!!

[@AR-kw1gf]

Great video Drew. New to the raspberry pi here.

[@jahrobsta4765]

TY for the helpful video.

[@IMMORTTAL1981]

Mr. Drew, another great tutorial! Cheers! Please make a video showing how to apply cheat codes to games in Retroarch and how to save them so that the selected codes can be reloaded later on. :)

[@alexd_cross2072]

Thanks Brother💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼✌🏼

[@ZombieNationLTD]

Hey so does the etcher ask you to allow changes to be made to “windows command processor” ?

[@PhrankJohnston]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I struggled for days trying to get my Raspberry Pi 4 to recognize my SD card, and even after watching this video several times, I was still having trouble. I wasn't paying attention, and I was unzipping my image before putting it on the card. Once I left the image as-is and put it on the card, it worked like a charm, and now my poor wife can't watch TV because her idiot husband is reliving his video gaming childhood. You're the best!

[@renton2326]

I need help with this. I have a raspberry pi 4 8gb and I am not able to install batocera 31 on my new microsd. I have followed these directions but I seem to get stuck. When I put the card in the raspberry pi it does not recognize the card. Please help.

[@MrTeal-fq8nw]

@@renton2326 have you tried another card? Should test it, and if its not that try another image, and if it isn't the img or card troubleshoot your software; maybe another computer if not the software. Also check your micro sd adapters and your usb hardware, start backwards and go over everything until you get it. and if not, ask around on forums for help. never know what might turn up, sometimes its a simple fix after you figure it out.

[@renton2326]

@@MrTeal-fq8nwThanks for replying. I was able to figure it out. The forums didn't help me much but I did find my answer in the comments on one of the youtube videos. What fixed it was not unzipping the image and writing it to the microsd card. I love the image that I'm using. Now I'm trying to figure out how to use 2 joysticks when playing a 2 player game.

[@renton2326]

Phrank Johnston, Thank you for this!!! This was the answer for me!!! I've been good ever since I used this method. I spent a lot of time doing it the other way and it wasn't working... but this worked perfectly. Thank you for this!

[@jdunst69]

I know this was a long time ago. But how did this work? You can't flash a bunch of unzipped rar files??

[@charliemckelvey9282]

Thanks!

[@asmithau]

Hey Drew. Thank mate, always love your videos. Great theme at the start of the video, where is this from or what is its name? Thanks for your great work!

[@stefanpierce5395]

Hello how is it going? Im looking for a 32gb vertical image for a pi 3b+ what is a good one that you recommend, and also a 256gb image doesn't have to be vertical. Both are pi3b+ Thank you for your help.

[@anthonyhollinger832]

Thanks drew that was very helpful my noob questions are what’s the best image to get and the Roma I understand how to do that part it’s the image I am still new with I am doing a pi4 512gb sd any suggestions for me would be great thanks again for your help

[@CC-fp4op]

Amazing. Thanks for tutorial. I’m looking for a 64GB image for Pi3. Whats your fav

[@L0deRunR]

Hi, what's the name of the theme you are using there?

[@imnotstupidjustslow9366]

If I have a SD card with the Image and ROMs on it already but wanted to make a backup card. Can I just directly copy one card to the other by drag and dropping all the files from one card to the other in Windows file explorer? Or do I have to flash the new card first? I'm asking because I can't try it now. I'm currently waiting for my replacement Pi.

[@alanw6042]

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@jayKayCH1]

Thanks man. This is very helpful. I just have one quick question. What if the image file is in *.bin format? Does it still works the same? or you might need another program to burn it? Thank you.

[@kepalakardus2278]

Hello Sir, i really need help, if i want to add new image to my sd card, can i just using Balena etcher to do it? or I must format the sd card first before i apply a new image?

[@poloboyshawty9472]

I just downloaded and mounted the 512 Virtualman to my 512gb micro sd, I put it inside of my Pi4 and got an error. What am i doing wrong did I miss a step>

[@DeVstatrOmga]

Had 1 question. Do more recent Pi images come already with a Safe shut down script included? I have a Wolfanoz 128gb image version. Tutorial was very well done and easy to follow, thanks!

[@anooosvip]

in 11:30 there is a "hot key" bind. what is it for? and i don't have ps button in my controller (classic ps2) is that going to be a problem ?

[@gdawwg1125]

thanks for the video. i mostly play oldschool games and have a SNES style controller. would you recommennd configuring the L and R top buttons as triggers or shoulders for best compatability with Megadrive and SNES

[@bingolayb0054]

Is there a way to view a retropie img file on a windows pc so that you can view the roms and then extract one of them to test on a windows pc emulator?

[@JBurky15]

I followed all of these directions while using the 400gb sd suggested in the desc. Everything worked fine, unzipped all of the .zip files, formatted to FAT32 with SD formatter, wrote the image with etcher with no errors or anything. It went through the initial boot, said now loading and it's been on a black screen for over 3 hours now. I know the loading process takes a little bit of time, especially with the bigger images (I'm using a 256gb pi4 image) but I didn't think it would take this long... Any suggestions?

[@Eddylive]

awesome, but the download from Arcade punks was like 20 different rar files? what do you do in that situation?

[@glovedcop69]

So if we're downloading from the big P we need to extract it first with 7?

[@LuxxVeritas]

Do you format it differently if it’s bigger than 32gb?

[@Rule7SK]

Heres the problem, I downloaded the piboy dmg base image. I loaded it onto a fresh 64 gig card. It didnt work when i loaded it. So I wanted to start over and erase the card and format it because I never formatted to begin with but now its showing that i have 2 partitions.....& it wont format the card. what do i do?

[@amarna_music]

Hi, I have followed this guide all the way until my image has written to my SD card. When I put my card into my pi then nothing happens and nothing loads. Do you have any idea what the problem might be. Im using an SD 250gb card and Im writing a 64GB image to it and I am using a pi3b. Any help you or anyone else can give would be great. I also have a 32gb card which has a 16gb image on it and that loads fine when I have that in my pi.

[@joeychoey4999]

Can I write an image to a SD card from a basic setup pi 4 using it as a computer?

[@attck29]

Idk if you’ll see this but I downloaded one of the 512gb images via torrent but when it finished downloading the file is unzipped but when I click on it inside the file is a bunch of zipped files in parts? What do I do from here or did I do something wrong? It won’t let me extract each folder either.

[@kenfarnsworth5239]

I will see if this fixes my problem. I'm using a 512 SanDisk ultra. Every time I write image with echer it says failed. I have been using disc part. To clean and format. Big pain. Takes forever if I forget the quick. I'm guessing I should try format with the one you said. I also haven't been unzipping first. I thought echer did that too.

[@aguyandhiscomputer]

Any chance you could do a video showing how to increase the card's partition size to allow for more "content"? I've seen some instructions but it requires linux line coding stuff.

[@doomey5]

Hey drew just a heads up the Pi foundation also has a program like etcher now it apprently also will automatically format your ad card aswell so your images will fit on the sd card without needing to get a formatter

[@michaeloleary9130]

What's that one called

[@RahulRacharla09]

@@michaeloleary9130 Raspberry Pi Imager

[@michaelwinans6351]

Hey guys need a lil help new to all of this. Have followed all the steps downloaded everything including my image. And when I right click on it I don't get the option to use 7-zip. And looking at the properties it says it is the 97 gigs. So is it already uncompressed?

[@kevinhuynh303]

im having trouble getting my retropie to read my image.. I installed retropie from official website, then found an image i liked, burned it into my usb and plugged it into my retropie. Nothing comes up it just says retropie configuration.. any suggestions? Thanks!

[@hightops9988]

Thanks for all the help over the years! Question, I tried to update retropie on a 2018 Mallittlepixel build and the image got corrupted. Tried this because I'm experiencing input lag on psx games and thought an update would help. Is there a better way to update or is there a newer psx img avail somewhere?

[@bitXbit9807]

If I wanted to spin up raspberry pi on a VM would this same concept still work?

[@gabrielprandini2629]

Thanks for the video bud, you rock! "Uber X10 card" loooool

[@drphobus]

please can you provide some info how to setup a 1tb image on a hdd or if the 1tb sd cards are as reliable as the more common 128gb cards. keep up the good work

[@ravkhangurra7522]

Great video!, which controller were you using in the video?

[@martygilpatrick9727]

9:48 the configuration input. If I use joysticks option and buttons I would configure the same way as explained in the video? Also, lets say the .img I have on sd card doesn't have a rom on it I was looking for. If I find a rom for the game I'm looking for can I add that rom to the sd card?.... I am clearly a noob. sorry

[@piercebren6557]

Thanks bud, your vid was awesome, still got to do the woodwork and electronics to finish my homemade arcade cabinet but that's the real fun, obvious you've been doing this for a while good job

[@drewtalks]

Nice!

[@alanw6042]

Can you do this for a pc based setup using launchbox/big box?????

[@reggaerock]

Maybe I'm totally missing an obvious step, but I have a raspberry pi4b 2gb and downloaded wolfanoz supreme pro 256 to my SSD. I extrafted the files into an image then etched it. When I plug my ssd in it gets to the boot screen and says “start4.elf: is not compatible This board requires newer software” and on the next screen it says "Install an OS on this raspberry pi"can you steer me in the right direction? 🙏

[@TheAbsinthomane]

@drewtalks I have the total recal image. I've waited more than 20 minutes but I keep getting the message: start.elf: is not compatible This board requires newer software. Please can you help me?

[@iamlinxx_]

I'm just getting into Raspberry Pi and RetroPie so I am watching as many videos as I can this is helpful thank you. I have a question though. My goal is to have my RetroPie be a classic arcade emulation device. Builds like Wolfanoz and Virtualman are great but they still are missing some personal favorite titles of mine from the Sega Model 1-3 boards and Noami 2-3 boards (Arcade Golden Axe and Scud Racer for example). Is it possible to add more roms / emulators ot a pre built image such as theres or have dual boots on Raspberry Pi where I could have Mame and RetroPi if not?

[@malelonewolf80]

How about making a video on how to edit image files without «burning» the on an sd-card, in order to remove a game or two, to reduce the file size and sd-card size needed? A tutorial of that would be helpful. Also, perhaps a tutorial on how to make bootable image of Batocera, that can be installed, from an already installed x86 Batocera image that you have populated with the roms of your choice.

[@achum1975]

@drewtalks downloaded a predone build but the torrent downloaded as a bunch of .rar files. Any idea on how to combine or change them so that etcher or win32 will recognize them so that i can burn them my my microsd card?

[@mikedietz5088]

Rookie pi buyer and user here…. So if I’m downloading images from arcade punks I don’t need to write the image on the card/ssd from the pi branded writer? Just use the img from arcade punks and etcher?

[@atomicbarbarian7372]

So do you have to put the NOOBs on the Pi first? Or can you just put the RetroPie ISO image on there by itself?

[@princevinny0073]

i have a question is it possable to download a arcade punks image and put it in Retropi Ubuntu ??? is it the same or the riles will not work and will not load anything ??? what am asking is it possable to use the premade image for the PC verson of retropi as i dont own a rasbary pi hehe ???

[@DDBAA24]

I've been downloading the 512GB torrent for the past 2 1/2 days , I took a peek in the directory and its all .rar files ... I am familiar with ROM packages being like that ( when adding them separately ) , Is grub and /boot /root the basic linux filesystem included , obviously I can't flash .rar files to the MicroSD.. I am confused and upset I've been like I said downloading over 48 hours and I'm just afraid I grabbed the wrong link.. I got it straight from Arcadepunks , the .torrent file. I downloaded it on Debian with Aria2c . Am I in trouble ?

[@djklermundable]

nope, not in trouble. Just got to un zip em all to the same folder

[@boblabuche622]

Hi Drew, what about a microSDXC "Kingston CANVAS Go ! Plus" 256 Gb ? I have this card left, but didn't try it yet. Good video, thx p.s: except arcadejunks, where is the best place to find images for rpi3 ?

[@golvellius6855]

I am assuming the same procedure applies to make a image from an ssd?

[@MyZangief]

What do I do if everything is in RAR files? I got a wlfanoz 256 and it came with many RAR files not the single image file. How do I do that?

[@Lokiman2024]

Do you know any reason why I can’t burn any of the 128gb images from arcade punks on to my 128gb Sandisk ultra my disc says it only has 119gb I’ve tried all 4 128gb images on arcade punks says I’m short like 100 some mb I’ve tried numerous ways of formatting. Any help is super appreciated.

[@djklermundable]

sorry guys, if ya didnt know, now ya do. A memory card or stick or what ever, ALWAYS has just less usable space than on the sticker.

[@chinjin5994]

Hi what theme is that ? it's very nice~

[@Derpn8r]

7zip just did something that differed from your video, did I just trash a 2day download? Do i drop that fat archive file into Etcher? imgur.com/gOgO1oo thanks!

[@thej8944]

Will i get in any trouble for this

[@sillysausage72]

What if the format is a rar file? Do you have to extract all rar files first?

[@marccaselle8108]

Hi drew. I bought a SanDisk ultra plus 128gb micro SD card via eBay and never had a problem. I've been using it since 2019 and it's 2022 now and it's still going strong.

[@drewtalks]

nice

[@piguy7287]

Does the sd card formatter you use allow you to format larger sd cards (64g, etc) as fat32?

[@kingbuffbeats]

Yes

[@electro1154]

How impossible would it be to run a ready made pi image on my pc? Preferably using an external.

[@cuppino8318]

kingston is ok for micro sd card?

[@alw1915]

Can you do all this if you are using a Mac?. Sorry for the noob question.

[@gorkem5656]

what's the theme name on start ?

[@michaeloleary9130]

when i downloaded etcher a bunch of other programs installed and etcher was no where to be found .......

[@limeslime44]

What about pioneer 256gb getting it preloaded off of Ebay

[@bahaachic8377]

I bought a raspberry pi finally, but I’m afraid of torrenting here in Germany , any ideas?

[@dcannon79]

I have 29 pieces after I downloaded it do I extract all of it

[@chelseaw830]

would really really appreciate ur help.. it would make my brother and I Christmas if I can save his system and mine

[@ribz4lunch]

this is super helpful! potentially dumb question: i had to extract the image file to my sd (laptop only had 218 GB and I needed 256), can i still write the image there or does it have to come from a different folder/location?

[@djklermundable]

must be written to a clean partition on the sd card, so no.

[@derekdauzat]

my 32gb card cant flash 32gb image. says i need an additional 140mbs

[@djavsdjavs]

I tried this method to try clone a card - i realised sandisk sd card are not great and Samsung evo can do the 128gb card better - when cloning i never click the READ ONLY ALLOCATED PARTITIONS i noticed it backed up the card it was fine with out clicking that box however when restoring it to sandisk it said i didnt have enough space...when restoring ot a samsung it was fine HOWEVER the issue is instead of displaying 58 systems and the games it shows only 8 systems and 1 game in each one...not sure why Do i need to click the READ ONLY ALLOCATED PARTITIONS and backup the image again and then restore it to a sd card.. am going mental trying to figure it out...cant use ether as it says the image it too big the other thing how can i remove some roms from the sd image or original sd card as i can not see the option on the pi4 or when in batocera

[@renton2326]

I need help with this. I have a raspberry pi 4 8gb and I am not able to get batocera 31 on my new microsd to work. I have followed these directions but I seem to get stuck. When I put the card in the raspberry pi it does not recognize the card. Please help. I got the build from Arcadepunks.

[@pigdasher1746]

same did u manage to fix it?

[@shockwave.9749]

I went with a Samsung Pro Plus 256Gb micro sd, good choice?

[@drewtalks]

Yes

[@Mental_Health_Matters]

I tried uploading a 32GB image on a 128GB SD card for the Pi 3B+ but I am stuck on the rainbow splash screen. It also says "low voltage" with the lightning bolt. Any tips?

[@lordreefer]

There's a problem with your power supply

[@Mental_Health_Matters]

@@lordreefer I have the official power supply from Raspberry Pi. I think there was something wrong with the image

[@klenk12]

My download speeds are painfully slow. Im usinf a macbook pro which has very limited internal storage

[@DebitAdams]

I'm old school and still use Win32 Disk Imager

[@paulruffy8389]

If you have Linux - Startup Disk Creator might come with - its extremely easy like Etcher

[@cshiba8599]

How to write the image when it has a lot of "parts001.rar"? The total image has 218 files and is 192GB.

[@marcproto4067]

i want to know this too

[@MyICONIC]

Just ordered a Raspberry Pi 4 and a MicroSD 256GB. Where do I download ROMS?

[@drewtalks]

just google search it or arcadepunks website

[@msalsgiverb]

I was not able to glad image to a 256gb micro SD card. It says I need more space..... Grrrrrrr. What am I doing wrong?

[@Pierre-km5dm]

You have to have double the space then? Space to download the torrent then space to send the img?

[@drewtalks]

uhhh it depends what system you are using I have done it with just the space of the file and not more

[@djklermundable]

Cant you write the image directly to the sd card from the un zipped files with Etcher? I assume thats what im about to do with it as soon as my sd card is done formatting.

[@Sabowie]

💯

[@kevinjones3155]

Is there a way to pre configure the inputs?

[@drewtalks]

yeah you can edit the config file but its not that easy

[@kevinjones3155]

@@drewtalks thanks for the reply. Think I got that. My next issue and tell me if I am in the right spot, I am getting the play area cut off by the side banners when playing games. It's a 4/3 monitor and not 16/9. Think I read it's in the overscan settings???? Thanks.

[@victormartinez-gs3ht]

I ran a image it boot up I get this error Retropie:-$

[@craigieboyw]

Hi great video, thanks for the help. I'm following this as we speak. The image I downloaded has 7 different rar files. And when I go to unzip the second one it asks me if I want to replace it. Are the 7 files all required? Thanks

[@brandonglover8085]

Did you ever figure this out? I am having the same problem on Linux and can't figure it out.

[@lukeman42]

Wish there was a good video for Mac

[@jimedd2561]

Had 2 Micro Center cards lose data in a week::( back to reinstalling