How to build a Retro Console
- Xycofox
- Jan 3, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 13, 2021
Okay guys, so this is going to be short and sweet, mainly because you are going to need your free time paying close attention to the directions. I've built one myself, and have got to say that this thing is a blast! Basically you are going to be utilizing an Android TV box and flashing an SD Card to have a machine that can emulate 40+ old-school consoles, so without further adue...
Step One:
Purchase an Android TV box and SD Card. (64gb to 128gb is MORE than adequate)
T95+ Android TV Box
(If it's sold out, just try looking for the Android TV Box T95+ with the Amlogic S905X3 chip.)
Step Two:
Collect the software needed to do this.
Download Emuelec Here: https://github.com/EmuELEC/EmuELEC/releases
Download Etcher: https://www.balena.io/etcher/
Download Linux File Systems for Windows by Paragon: https://www.paragon-software.com/home/linuxfs-windows/#
As for roms.. well you can use the ones you already have, or look it up on the net.
Step Three:
Putting it all together.
From your PC, go ahead and start up Etcher, depending on which version you downloaded (Portable or Installed) it'll either be on your desktop or download folder, personally I drag everything to the desktop when working on something.
Hopefully you have already inserted your SD Card either via adapter or card reader, double check to make sure, then in Etcher, load up the image file of EmuElec that you downloaded, and have Etcher flash it to the SD Card.
Next, after the flashing is complete, let's eject the card (I did this, so it's just a suggestion), and install the Linux for Windows by Paragon.
Fire up Paragon, insert the SD card, and in the upper right corner of the Paragon window, click the "3Dots", there should be only one option, and that's open the card in explorer. At this point you want to navigate to the directory "device_trees" and find the file that matches your chipset, (mine was the S905X3). Copy that file to the root directory of the SD card, (this is the boot file, that tells the Android TV Box to boot from SD and load EmuElec).
!! IMPORTANT !!
Rename the file you copied to the root directory to "dtb.img", your gonna get the usual warning pop-up of renaming the file type, but that's okay, because that is exactly what we are doing. Click OK.
Finally, from the Paragon window, click "UnMount" and then eject your SD card from the PC, it's time for an initial run of EmuElec. Insert the SD card into the Android TV Box, don't power up yet.
!! VERY IMPORTANT !!
This is the first time you run EmuELEC on the device, so you need to press and hold the "reset" button during power on. Sometimes the reset button is hidden under the device or in the 3.5mm jack, you will need a toothpick or something similar. Press carefully until you feel a button click at the base of the 3.5mm jack while powering on the device. Pressing the reset button only has to be done once during the first boot of EmeELEC.
Now just let EmuElec run through the normal process of setting everything up, at this point you might want to set up your Bluetooth or USB controller, and once everything is done, check things out, be careful to only change the things you are familiar with.
GREAT!! You've done it!
So check out these links, one is the Youtube video I used, and the others are the EmuElec Wiki page, which also has a detail step by step walk-through.
ETA Prime's:Turn A Cheap Android Tv Box Into An Emulation PowerHouse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXfultzENjY&t=2s
EmuElec Wiki
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