MiSTer FPGA 2023 Build Guide and Software Setup! Build the BEST Retro Gaming Device Around!

[@eugeneko26]

Just have finished my first build for MiSter! Cool journey and feeling if accomplishment! :) Thanks for the help and guide!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Welcome to the club!

[@misterchip1984]

Please know how much I enjoy and appreciate your content. Great advice, always considerate of the viewer, and production off the charts. Well done sir!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Aww thanks. Super appreciate that

[@METR0lD]

MiSTer has been the best retro gaming purchase that I've ever made. I still own nearly all the classic gaming consoles, but it's just not realistic for me to hook them all up to my TV along with my modern consoles. The all in one convenience with MiSTer solves all of that. And the ability to also play arcade games on it is essential. Just an incredible piece of hardware that is brought to life by an incredible group of developers.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve yet to talk with anyone who regrets picking a MisTer up

[@Azuris190]

Indeed!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Well unless they dropped it after picking it up 😂

[@METR0lD]

@@VideoGameEsoterica 😨

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I dropped mine once. It was fine

[@anhtuantran1170]

Great video thanks!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@williammanganaro9070]

Excellent video. I love the explanation what is required to build a MiSTer. Super easy to follow. Thank so much for doing this.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad you enjoyed it and glad it helped :)

[@sinetwo]

Thanks VGE, I just set mine up thanks to this video!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad it helped

[@reven_]

Regarding "worth it". Yeah, its a bit pricey but I mean. Its not cheap to buy RGB modded NES, SNES, sd-card loaders, Genesis, Mega CD etc. I got my MiSTer last week and I love it! Sold off my old systems and even turned profit after I bought the MiSTer (pre-built though) with SNAC adapters. I play on a CRT and cant even tell any lag or delay when using the SNAC adapters, compared to all the other emulations Ive tried over the years.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes if you weigh the cost vs the value it becomes "worth it" or "cheap". Not saying the initial price is cheap...but the cost vs what you get for it becomes cheap

[@markderidder]

I would love to see you review and tutorialize some of the more slick scripts/extensions. Like super attract mode, pixelcade marquees, RFID cards, and RGB button programming (ledspicer). I use many of those for my DIY mister arcade. But to be honest it’s tricky to get them all working correctly.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe I’ll look into that

[@jerryfinn]

Nice rundown! I just set mine up today, and appreciated the reference

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad it helped

[@Dreadnort]

If you plan on getting a case for your Mister, I highly recommend doing all file transfers over FTP. Most cases add a tiny amount of space between themselves and the mister and there is nothing more annoying than your SDCard slipping between the case and mister when you are reinserting it and then having to remove the top and one side of the case to shake it out. Alternatively, using a good pair of tweezers to help you in removing and replacing the SDCard into the Mister does work too.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I have some cases but I’ve yet to put my MiSTer builds in any. That does sound like a bad time though

[@Dreadnort]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I admit I did use a few choice words when it happened to me.

[@julianregel]

Excellent tutorial. I've just followed it step-by-step as I built my first MiSTer. Thanks!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad it helped :) welcome to the club

[@MetalurgiaMéxico]

Hi. ¿Where did you buy the kit?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Terasic for the board and misteraddons for the accessories

[@MetalurgiaMéxico]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Thanks a lot. I just bought the Nano-DE10 Board and it could be shipped to Mexico. I will ask for the rest of the components in Misteraddons the following months.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Awesome. Welcome to the club

[@Allyouknow5820]

Good to bring more people into the fold hehe :D Little tip: there's a whole lot of different cases for the MiSTer and personally, as I wanted a console feel to it, went with the MMS/Multisystem and it's absolutely great ! Already has memory, plus a very convenient 2nd SD slot so that you can have 1 for the OS and 16-bit consoles and then a SD dedicated to PS1 / Saturn for example :D

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’d do reviews on all the diverse hardware but I can’t just keep buying it all. Gets pricey

[@mr.strother]

Glad to see someone mention it, I’ve been on the fence because I don’t like the stacked look, and the multi system is sooo clean

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve yet to see a multi system in person but it does look nice on photographs

[@rvkasper]

AWESOME work - well done this should help folks for sure. Dig the clarifications you made about static discharge - aligning the pins and so forth

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Thanks. Try to hit the key notes where I think people might run into minor fit issues on that USB header

[@AdamCampettiVideo]

Only 11 months old, but I have to ask. If we follow this very video will we be good? Is this video still relevant in the quick changing world of tech? Already I see new cores for arcades on your channel. Makes me wonder if we can still use this as a guide to build. Or wait on the cheaper FPGA board, and who knows how long that could take? Nothing snarky here like online people get, just genuine curiosities.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Build guide is still 100% relevant for Terasic made boards. I’ll probably do a new build guide for the clones when I get one. Unsure on timeline with that

[@beckyandfrank]

This video is so helpful. Thanks so much!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Glad it helped :)

[@cientifiqus]

Hi, I have a question, is it posible to use a regular pc usb hub (with external power) instead of the button board? or does the cord have hard coded hardware ids of the hub chip of that board?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Button board? Sorry I’m not 100% sure what you are asking so don’t want to guess at an answer

[@cientifiqus]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Hi, I mean the board with a bunch of usb ports. does the cores require that run or is it optional?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You can use a USB hub off the DE10 yes but I still recommend a USB hub built for MiSTer

[@RainerK.]

I think those toggle and DIP switches on the FPGA need to be set up correctly as well or otherwise some hardware might not work as expected. It's mentioned in the Troubleshooting section of the documentation.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

All it’s possibly I missed that clip from the edit. I’ll notate it in a future video.

[@gerboog]

I was sooo waiting for this!!!!!!! Now i need a MiSter lol!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Do it! It’s your sign that it’s time to join the club

[@simon41978]

MISTer is worth it if you prefer the old games. CPS1, 2 (and 3 coming), Neo Geo, Megadrive, PCEngine etc. Use your favourite controllers. Map them how you like. I really recommend TCL TV's with the MISTer. My one small nitpick is that the aspect-ratio corrected (8:7) image for SNES is too small and fills up not much of the screen. I hope they fix that. So, for Super Famicom, I use the OSSC and original hardware which has problems in itself. Mortal Kombat and many other games have sync problems.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Filling the image is always a task. I use the Framemeister and some consoles still act a bit odd

[@DacioNerdTV]

I'm thinking of buying one of these. I got to know. I see a 200 dollar version and the 500 dollar version. Pre built. What's the difference ?

[@JPB7032]

300 dollars

[@SaviorGabriel]

Just a precaution, you may need a power supply with a higher voltage (I think 5V?) than the stock one from the DE-10 Nano if you plan to use the USB hub attached to your MiSTer. I've heard people claim having some issues using the stock power supply with this setup as its voltage is a bit too low.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Ive yet to have any issue with the hub nor have I encountered anyone with issues. If you put the MIDI Pi-hat on you may be under voltage though

[@sxixlxnx]

Thanks for this video. After my pocket was a huge disappointment (new shipments are crashing a lot) I’m am considering a mister. One question though, would I need to invest in a windows pc or can you set these up with MacOS too?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You can flash the card for setup on Mac just as easily :)

[@slstevens5475]

Awesome content! Only thing to make it better would be for you to slow down a bit.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Thanks. It’s just my cadence

[@slstevens5475]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Roger that. Was not meant as a dig but to note it is hard to keep up with the content at times because of the speed at which you cover it. I just replay it until it sinks in :). Thanks again and keep up the great work!!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Didn’t read as a dig at all :)

[@davew1234]

Great video on a great system 👍

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Thanks :)

[@jimbotron70]

Music in the beginning is Mister Mister's Broken Wings played in reverse, right? 😁

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You found the Easter egg!

[@AdamCampettiVideo]

02:50 YYEESS!!!!! LOL!!! :)

[@garnhamr]

format puts your files in a nice user friendly order. you should format your c:

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

What?

[@sebastianracedo1636]

Hi there!. Where is the best place to buy the parts to build mister? thx!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It depends what continent you are on?

[@caivsivlivs]

will you do another video going over all the latest video options etc?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Already made, just hasnt released yet. Soon!

[@caivsivlivs]

@@VideoGameEsoterica i knew it just had to confirm ;)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

👍

[@DrMnike-]

I love your videos!!!! Well done. One question, can you teach me how to install the Double RAM expansion? I have the single RAM but I will like to know how to upgrade it. Thanks

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I may do a vid in the future on dual RAM but IMO it’s not really upgrading much of anything currently

[@coolbrotherf127]

I'd love to set one of these up. Is there a kit that comes with all of these parts or do I need to order them separately?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You can get pre built here : misteraddons.com/collections/kits

[@nickiebanchou]

honestly in 2023 i'd use a retrocastle IO board because it has IO and also a USB hub built-in less ports than the classic 7port hub but that's a whole less layer, and when am i gonna plug 7 things anyway?

[@reven_]

Love retrocastle's build. But Im sad that you cant change the fan to a Noctua or similar...

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Someone isn’t playing 8 person Bomberman!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

If other makers want to send me stuff to showcase I’d be more than happy to talk about it but I sadly can’t buy everything MiSTer that exists

[@Reprogrammed_By_SEGA]

Agree, it is more compact too.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve never been one to worry about footprint

[@markh995]

I'm interested in trying this. What is the advantage over other systems like raspberry pi4 or an off the shelf emulator system like android box (like what Wicked Gamer reviews)?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Watch my video from a few weeks ago. It’s a video on what the difference is :)

[@Omnigear]

I had the mistake of seating the sdram on the wrong side of the mister board - it won't kill it since I didn't power it on right? Does it do my board any harm if I seat anything incorrectly?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s not a keyed connector. If you didn’t throw power through its fine. Even if you did power it on it just wouldn’t find the RAM. You can add a second stick to the DE10 so putting ram in that slot isn’t an issue really

[@Chris_Ramsay1]

Is there a difference between the newer usb hub connector shown in this video and the older micro usb to micro usb “u” shaped connector? Is one better than the other? I already have the older one, wondering if I should pick up one of the newer ones.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Not really “better”, just newer. No reason to upgrade if it works

[@Chris_Ramsay1]

@@VideoGameEsoterica ok, thanks

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

👍

[@dundyshibby]

You mentioned that you would link the Update All script but I'm not seeing it. I googled it and found it but wanted to let you know!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Appreciate it. I do forget sometimes!

[@Cookiedon15]

Ok. I have a CRT TV with both composite and component. I am currently using component with RGB component cables. However, it causes slight bends on the sides of the image. This particular TV doesn't have easy access to the service menu (very little info when I search). Can this bending issue be solved with better cables? If not, I may consider getting a composite/S-Vid plug

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Generally 95% of the time that’s a service menu adjustment unfortunately. I need to do it on my PVMs regularly

[@Cookiedon15]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I see. Thanks for letting me know 👍

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No worries. Just one of the pains that comes with analog TVs

[@sixtyfps]

I have watched a lot of videos with MiSTer Snow on them, but this is the first one that crashed my LG TVs KZbin app.

[@sixtyfps]

It was a fun build to watch though. Don't get me wrong

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol crashed? It’s just a video signal. No way that crashes anything. I think it was a wild circumstance at the same time. Unless it crashed in the decoder but that’s highly unlikely :)

[@sixtyfps]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I literally can't watch that part of the video. It would be sacrilege to dial down the quality, so I suppose I'll never know if that fixes it 😉

[@SilverSupernova6]

Where's the link to Update All?

[@dougjohnson4266]

I purchased my kit from Al**@press about 1.5 years ago, and I believe my DE-10 Nano board is defective. It does the reboot after the img process but never comes back up. The screen just stays black. I have tried a few other methods, and if it boots, it randomly locks up or never gets a network connection. I do not recommend buying this from Al**@press.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Bummer to hear

[@wildside4822]

Is the supply of DE10's picking back up?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s been steady. Especially if you go to through Terasic directly

[@dorfus]

Dog pen really knows what's up today- has he built a MiSTer before?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

he invented MiSTer. In his spare time from the cat pen factory

[@kitt5329]

Im pretty simple minded so forgive the question, when Im writing the image from win32 to my 128gb SD card, it partitions it out to only 114mb? I had to "diskpart" to get it to reformat it back to the full 128gb. Am I doing something wrong?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No. Put the card in mister. It’ll repartition the card to have two volumes when you put it back in your PC

[@kitt5329]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Thank you. It just scared me when I saw only 114mb was on the card! Its working now. Thanks for the tutorial!!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

No worries. It can be a little tricky if you’ve never set up a card like that

[@Hreasvalgor]

Okay you sold me I’m going to get a mister I’ve always wanted to play Sega Saturn and Sega CD hopefully they have N64 working one day

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

If anyone can do N64 it’s FPGAZumSpass

[@gaminggal1677]

10:49 No, you're not a film maker. You're a media professional, a media maker, a movie maker... there is no more film in society. If you're recording anything to a medium that's not film how do we call ourselves film makers? :) You're recording your content to SD cards. You're digital magician, a DV Arteest, a Dynamic Digital Content Creator... not a film maker. I'm old, I've workd with film, it's a pain in the keester.. especially having to spool it in a bag.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Lol I’m a filmmaker. Sorry. I’ve spooled 400’ mags with the best of them

[@sunderark]

After having to deal with some retropie bullshit and having to waste hundreds of dollars of my own time I'd say it's cheaper to get a MisTer.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

good luck even finding a Pi 4 these days. Unless stock has changed

[@sunderark]

@@VideoGameEsoterica *Good luck finding a Pi4 for the MSRP.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I feel bad with two sitting in my desk doing nothing

[@sunderark]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Man also you have 3 MisTers and no arcade cab. Just get a tiny one. With a bitty crt.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Imma need a bit more ad revenue and Patreon support then because I’ll need to buy a bigger place 😂

[@SuperxDave]

I need to update my OS. Haven't touched it since my initial build. Am I able to do so without formatting my sirrent SD card? Appreciate the content btw

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

100%. Just run update_all :)

[@SuperxDave]

@@VideoGameEsoterica when I try to run update_all, it says I need to update the OS, first. I have ran update all in the past and it's worked fine. But now it's telling me I need to update OS before running update_all.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Oh you must be super old then. Try updating the update_all script via GitHub. Drag and drop the new file. See if that works

[@SuperxDave]

@@VideoGameEsoterica great thanks! I will try it!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

👍

[@Idelacio]

Personally I've been especially happy with my MiSTer Ironclad board. I have a traditional build too but the Ironclad build gives some nice options. :3

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ve yet to build one of those

[@mariosergio2112]

I just received my Mister from Aliexpress. It works fine with the Sd that they sent to me, but when i try to create a new one with the newer system, the mister just don´t recognize it. What am i missing? i am putting the sd on the primary sd slot after flashing.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

And you flashed it with the Mr fusion installation? And formatted the card?

[@Odwalla_YT]

Encouraging me to build a Mister on a payday? Crafty bastard... I guess I'm off to DigiKey.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Do it! Do it! Do it! (Only if you aren’t spending your rent lol)

[@yogurtroyale831]

does anyone have product links? specifically good ram chip. worried ill buy something that doesnt fit.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

What counter?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Wow. Country

[@undertoner385]

yeah sorry but tried to follow this guide for a first time build and the order is suboptimal. it's way, way easier to start with the USB board, push in the little bracket connector's pins, and proceed to build to the top

[@tonybogard6888]

I'm currently trying to run the update all script after getting the MiSTer put together. It is giving me a message saying I need to adjust the fb_terminal and vga_scaler options. I tried changing the values found on the configuration document called MiSTer in the SD card but there's no change. Where do I adjust the main ini file? I see a file that looks like it but I can't open it nor do I see it on the OSD of the card when I have it in the MiSTer. Thanks for the video! I am running it through an Extron scaler, scan converter, and Sony PVM 2530.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Are you in an analog tv by chance?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I am stupid. You said you were. Don’t run it via analog. It needs to be digital on a “normal” tv / monitor

[@tonybogard6888]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Do you mean I should run it on an HDMI display to change settings?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Correct yes. Sorry I explained that poorly…been drinking

[@tonybogard6888]

@@VideoGameEsoterica all good! I got it working! Thanks for the help! Enjoy your beverages 🍺 cheers!

[@AlecMayhugh]

no purchase links?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe I forgot to type them in. Misteraddons.com and Terasic.com. Easy ones!

[@randallgoeswhere]

Where do you buy this thing?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

You can get the DE10 direct from Terasic and the rest of the parts just depend where in the world you are

[@Imgema]

That little fan looks like it's going to be very loud, is it?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Not at all. Near to silent

[@reven_]

I wouldnt say its loud but you can hear it with no sound on

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I guess I always have a game playing and then I can never hear it

[@MobileDecay]

You will need a Swiss army knife with a screw driver. 😊

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Or just a screwdriver? 🤷🏻‍♂️ lol

[@MobileDecay]

@@VideoGameEsoterica That was a joke about the Verge computer build. 😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Hahaha ooh. I forgot about that video

[@dedeedo9355]

Was excited till I looked up the DE10 NANO online and saw it's price, rip.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Still worth it

[@dedeedo9355]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Lets see, is it worth double of what terasic asks for it (225) + profit the vendor expects to get back by selling it? Cause that would be the final price over here. Never come to Argentina lmao.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Just buy direct from Terasic then

[@H6rdc0re]

Best gaming device full stop. Nothing comes close.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

There is that new Chinese exclusive chicken nugget handheld from McDonald’s

[@H6rdc0re]

​​@@VideoGameEsotericaell I would said the next Soulja Boy console but the world wasn't ready. Also how about those Californian seaweed tofu taco's? I also love a Vegan pickle steak. 😂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

😂 I can’t believe he had a handheld

[@adonian]

What the heck KZbin?!?! Why did you erase my comment?!?! Nice video as usual. Scalpers are selling the de10 for over $400 on Slamazon. I have everything except for the RAM... My USB is a generic Chinesium board and the stand off's are too long for the bridge connector to reach... What length are the stand offs please so I can change them... The board works, I just use two OTG male to female adapter wires and it looks jankey.🤣🤣🤦‍♂🤦‍♂

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

YT does that sometimes. Nothing wrong with jank. We celebrate that here! I’ll try to measure the stand offs

[@adonian]

@@VideoGameEsoterica THX

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

👍

[@percyvolnar8010]

mister is actually the problem. If we can get around mister, we can actually make devices that we can upgrade as time and money permits.

[@CSIG1001]

and you got ripped off by MIster Addons

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Ok?

[@byakka]

“I'll leave a link to update_all here“ No you won't.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I forget things sometimes. Happens to the best of us

[@arnoldcrawford9195]

😔 'promo sm'

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Sorry not sure what you are trying to say?