Installing the latest RetroPie image with the Atari Games Card

NickBiederman

A new Atari game image for our Atari Games SD card and Atari Raspberry Pi Kit went live this week, so those of you who have already built a system with our card can now install the new image. This particular image adds about 30 new games, including several from the Atari 5200 library. As future updates become available they can be installed using the same method. This process can also be used to reinstall the image if you need to reset all your settings or the image becomes corrupt.

Power down your arcade and plug in a keyboard and mouse. Turn the arcade back on and hold shift when this screen appears:

After the system initializes into recovery mode, you’ll see a list of available images like the one below:

Select the image you would like to install and click “Install”. You’ll get a warning about overwriting existing OSs. Select Yes and the installation will begin.

You’ll see the installation window next, which will download and install the new image. This can take a bit of time, especially if you have a slower internet connection.

Once the installation is complete click the OK button. The system will automatically boot to Emulation Station and you’ll be greeted by a new category for Atari 5200.

Installing the new image took me about 15 minutes. Downloading the new image is the most time consuming part, so the total time can vary depending on the speed of your internet connection.

b5lurker

I just purchased the Atari Raspberry Pi kit at Micro Center tonight and when I boot up using the provided SD card it boots directly to a default Pi Debian UI, no Atari logo or any other prompts to install the gaming image. Not sure if I messed it up by plugging in an ethernet cable when I first booted it up along with a USB keyboard/mouse or what, but I cannot get it to do the "reset" as mentioned by holding down the Shift key on the keyboard either. I have tried all different combos of booting this and every time it just ends up in the Windows like UI with no apps installed that indicate anything about loading this gaming image. What am I missing?

NickBiederman

@b5lurker I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with your card. You can contact our customer service team here or in store and they'll get you a new card. 

gpgordon

I'm having the same issue as above. The Atari Raspberry Pi kit purchased in store store boots directly into Raspbian OS and does not follow the quick start guide.  Inspection of the OS shows none of the games present on the card.  I followed instructions in the quick start guide were followed to the letter.  The supplied card clearly has the wrong image on it.  I contacted customer service and provided my transaction reference #.  You may want to check your in-store product.

TWHumphrey

I have the same issue as well.  The Atari Raspberry Pi kit only has Raspbian OS, does not boot an Atari image, and has no games present on the card.  The supplied cards were produced with the wrong images.

b5lurker

Good luck getting a replacement, I put in a customer service request as Nick mentioned for my comment above and even after 3 check ins with the ticket it still has not been resolved. Something has to be done from the Denver store and they have not even tried to get a hold of me in months now.

NickBiederman

@TWHumphrey
@b5lurker
I've sent you both private messages with information that should resolve the issue.

ninja502

i have a dead card too, turn on the system and just a black screen 

JS_MC

Hi @ninja502 I've sent you a DM that should help with this issue!

killingtime

I am having the exact issue with the Atari kit going directly to Raspbian OS and not the Atari image.  I drove over an hour tonight back to your store to exchange the gaming kit and have the same problem with the new unit for the second time around.

JS_MC

@killingtime Sorry to hear about this issue with your Atari Kit. Please expect a DM from me!

Scrubs

Can someone please tell me how to edit a Roms emulator with the fight stick??

fl3030

Looks like i'm having the same problems as everyone else. I picked up my full size Atari kit and the SD card just boot directly to a Raspberry PI desktop. Not to mention that they forgot to give me the Atari graphics kit so I have to make the 2.5 hour drive back to the store.

ninja502

mine was the kit under SKU: 104307  got it going great so far 

ninja502

Scrubs said:

Can someone please tell me how to edit a Roms emulator with the fight stick??

start a rom and more controller left and right real fast and it brings up a menu to change the emulator for all the roms for that system or just that single game

Filtergraph

Sorry to say it but...

Me too! I just bought this card and it just boots to PI Desktop. No Atari anything any where to be found. Where can I get the fix for the problem?

JS_MC

Hello @Filtergraph I'll send you a DM about this.

Markingram

Same thing.I just bought the card yesterday. I insert it and the screen remains blank. Original D’s card works great?? Can I bring back to store?

fl3030

fl3030 said:

Looks like i'm having the same problems as everyone else. I picked up my full size Atari kit and the SD card just boot directly to a Raspberry PI desktop. Not to mention that they forgot to give me the Atari graphics kit so I have to make the 2.5 hour drive back to the store.

@LandShark are you guys able to help me out?

Visigoth2112

I just completed building my Full Size Retro Arcade Kit which includes the Atari SD card.  I'm having the same issue as everyone else here where the card boots directly to the Raspberry Pi desktop.

JS_MC

@Markingram @fl3030 @Visigoth2112 I've sent you a DM with some instructions on this concern. Thank you!

Mikeb2

I am having the same issue.  Just pi desktop.  Very frustrating. @LandShark

Viking2007

I just put mine together and when it boots into Atari mode I get a message saying it can't save to SD Card and that it may be corrupt.  Any suggestions?

Loopa

Hello I just picked up my Atari pi kit today, and it looks like I’m not alone with this issue.  My boots up with default operating system and nothing about Atari.  Please help!

ninja502

Loopa said:

Hello I just picked up my Atari pi kit today, and it looks like I’m not alone with this issue.  My boots up with default operating system and nothing about Atari.  Please help!

it should have something about hold shift key to start a restore.  i held left shit key and had keyboard plugged into the usb and ethernet cable into pi board and it redownloaded the image 

if @LandShark see's the message they can get you the image to reflash the sd card using Raspberry Pi Imager

NickBiederman

@Loopa
@Viking2007
@Mikeb2
I just sent you each a message regarding your issues.

Kodos

My situation is there are no choices to install on the installer. The Atari wallpaper is in the background and the Micro Center Arcade Installer v1.0 window comes up but there is nothing you can select to install.  

@LandShark

NickBiederman

@Kodos
Which model Pi are you using?

Kodos

@NickBiederman Zero W, I was wondering if that might be the issue. I had it and a controller so I decided to get the card alone and not the kit with the pi

Kodos

@NickBiederman is the SD card non-returnable because it is considered software? If the problem is the Pi I was trying to use I was looking at the cost of all the Pi 3 pieces and it would be cheaper to exchange the card for the Atari kit. 

Kodos

@NickBiederman I guess I continue to be plagued by wrong choices. I picked up a Pi 4B because it was on sale for the same price as a 3B and that can't make it past the BIOS screen with the Atari card. Is there a retro PI image compatible with the 4B?