RetroStone2 Tutorial

A – Install the operating system

The RetroStone2 comes without an operating system. I strongly recommend RetroStoneOS, which is much better than the images we used before:

  • it shows its logo about 2 seconds after power-on
  • it switches between the screen and a TV live when you plug or unplug HDMI
  • it shows the battery level in the menu and in games
  • it can update itself over WiFi

RetroStoneOS is free and open source: https://github.com/PaddleStroke/RetroStoneOS

If you’d rather use RetrOrangePi, the old instructions are at the bottom of this page.

1 – Download the image

Go to the release page: https://github.com/PaddleStroke/RetroStoneOS/releases/
Under Assets of the latest release, download the file retrostoneos-<version>-retrostone2.img.xz. You don’t need to unzip it.

2 – Flash the image to the micro SD card

Any micro SD card of 2 GB or more will do. Allwinner boards are very sensitive to SD card quality, so avoid cheap or counterfeit cards.

  1. Install balenaEtcher (Windows, Mac and Linux): https://etcher.balena.io/. On Windows you can also use Rufus: https://rufus.ie/
  2. Insert the SD card into your computer.
  3. Run Etcher (on Windows, right-click it and choose “Run as administrator”).
  4. Click Flash from file and select the .img.xz file you downloaded.
  5. Click Select target and select your SD card. Double-check that it’s the right drive: everything on it will be erased!
  6. Click Flash! and wait until it has finished and verified the card.

Important for Windows users: after flashing, Windows may say “You need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it”, once or twice. Always click Cancel. Those are the system partitions, which Windows can’t read. Formatting them erases RetroStoneOS. The only drive you need is the one called RETROSTONE.

3 – First boot

Insert the SD card into the RetroStone2 and turn it on. The first boot shows a “Preparing the SD card” screen while the card is expanded to its full size. Then you choose your language and the menu appears. After that, every boot takes only a couple of seconds.

Some games come pre-installed, so you can play right away:

  • the RetroStone system: 8BCraft’s own games.
  • µCity (Game Boy Color)
  • Freedoom (Doom)

B – Add your games

Games go into RETROSTONE/roms/<system>/, one folder per system, e.g. roms/snes, roms/gba, roms/megadrive or roms/arcade. The folders already exist on the card, and they use the same names as RetroPie. You have three ways to copy games:

1. SD card in your PC (simplest). Turn the console off, take out the SD card and put it in your PC. Open the RETROSTONE drive and copy your games into the right roms folders. Put the card back and turn the console on: the new games show up. Tip: boot the console once before copying a big collection, so the card has been expanded to its full size.

2. USB stick. Plug a USB stick into the RetroStone2. A menu asks what to do:

  • Import games: copies the games from the stick, skipping what you already have
  • Export games: copies your games to the stick
  • Back up saves

You can also find these under Settings > Storage.

3. WiFi.

  1. Turn on WiFi in Settings > Network, then pick your network and enter its password.
  2. Open Settings > Network > Transfer over network. The screen shows a web address, a QR code and a PIN.
  3. Open that address in your phone or PC browser, enter the PIN, and drag and drop your games.

There is also an optional Windows file share, \\RETROSTONE.

BIOS files: some systems (PlayStation, Mega-CD, PC Engine CD, Neo Geo…) need BIOS files. Copy them into RETROSTONE/bios/. The list of BIOS files each system needs is here: https://github.com/PaddleStroke/RetroStoneOS/blob/main/docs/cores.md

Never connect the RetroStone2 to a PC with a USB A-to-A cable. Both sides send 5 V, which can damage the PC or the console. The micro-USB port is for charging only.

C – Hotkeys

These work in every emulator:

  • Select+Start → Exit game
  • Select+R → Save state
  • Select+L → Load state
  • Select+Right / Select+Left → Next / previous save slot
  • Select+X → In-game menu (options, controls…)
  • Select+B → Reset game
  • Select+R2 → Fast-forward
  • Select+L2 → Screenshot
  • Select+Y → Game switcher (jump between your recent games, each resumed where you left it)

If you turn the console off during a game, the game is saved. At the next boot, RetroStoneOS can resume it. You choose Always, Ask or Never in Settings > Games.

D – In the menu

  • Start opens the Settings menu, from anywhere. Every setting is there: display, controls, network, theme, power, language, system update…
  • Select on a game opens its options: favorite, search, scaling, CPU profile, emulator choice, play time, hide or delete the game.
  • X adds a game to your favorites.
  • L / R jump to the previous / next letter.

E – Controls and button mapping

The built-in buttons are already set up. USB and Bluetooth gamepads are usually recognized automatically.

  • To set up a gamepad, or test your buttons, go to Settings > Controls (Configure a controller, Button test).
  • To change the button layout for one system or one game, open the in-game menu with Select+X.
  • If you fitted the extra C/Z buttons, turn on Settings > Controls > Extra C/Z buttons fitted to get the 6-button Mega Drive layout.

F – TV mode (HDMI)

Plug in an HDMI cable and the picture moves to the TV, even in the middle of a game. Unplug it and the picture comes back to the screen. When you play on a TV with external gamepads, the gamepad that starts a game becomes player 1.

G – Updates

You don’t need to reflash your card for new versions. Go to Settings > System update: the console can check online over WiFi, or install an update file from a USB stick or the SD card. Your games, saves and settings are never touched. If the new version fails to start, the console goes back to the previous one by itself.

H – Notes and support

  • WiFi, Bluetooth and Ethernet are off by default, to keep boot time short and save battery. Turn them on in Settings > Network.
  • Hardware issues: please contact us by email.
  • Software issues: please open an issue on GitHub with full details: https://github.com/PaddleStroke/RetroStoneOS/issues. If the first boot went wrong, attach the file rsos/logs/firstboot.txt from the RETROSTONE drive.
  • RetroStoneOS is free, for non-commercial use. No commercial games or BIOS files are included.

I – RetrOrangePi (legacy)

This section is only for people who still want to use the old RetrOrangePi image. Everything above is for RetroStoneOS.

Sadly the RetrOrangePi tutorial is down. Fortunately I made a copy of this post.
There’s also a full Spanish tutorial here: https://elpoderdelandroideverde.com/retrostone-2/
Download link: https://www.retrorangepi.org/images/Retrostone2/RetrOrangePi_v4.3_Armbian_Retrostone2_PRO_bionic_dev_5.3.13_desktop_v3.img.7z