Post #969330
2026-04-04 19:04 UTC
If I were handed that hardware, the first thing I’d try is…
If what is currently being used is usable, and I don’t want to risk making it unusuable, shrink/resize the active partition with a partitioning tool. Then, assume I’m multibooting and I’d install on the secondary partition:
Raspberry Pi Desktop. I’d choose Pi OS because it is designed for an ultra low power 700MHz ARM11 that comes with the 2012 Pi 1. The drawback is it’s an older Debian install (Bullseye), but still getting long-term support until August. I assume they will release a new Desktop version when that date comes.
RetroPie. I’d grab the RetroPie script for ease of use on installing SNES emulation. It should prompt every emulator choice available for your system, and set up controller support (or keyboard+mouse) and emulationstation so you can browse your legally dumped roms after putting them in the correct directory.
Replies (2)
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@cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-04-04 19:26
I used to run RetroPie on a Raspberry Pi 1 and it was able to play most of the SNES games I tried. Of course that was with no shaders or upscaling.
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@bad1080@piefed.social 2026-04-05 12:40
you can usually try a live version of the distro your aiming for to see how it behaves on your hardware