Ubuntu 14.04 minimal + Intel NUC + XBMC

In this small guide I describe how to install XBMC Gotham on Intel NUC running minimal Ubuntu Trusty. I have DN2820FYKH Kit, but it should work for any Bay Trail NUC.

First of all install a standard ubuntu server edition, just download the iso and use unetbootin.

After installation, update your repos and install necessary packages.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xinit x11-common x11-utils xorg libva-drm1 libva-intel-vaapi-driver i965-va-driver vainfo lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter udisks upower acpi acpi-support usbmount

Trusty has only Frodo in repos, so we install XBMC from official ppa repository.  

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install xbmc xbmc-bin

In order to automatically boot in XBMC at start, we need adjust lighdm configuration.
Check if "/usr/share/xsessions/XBMC.desktop" exists, if no make a new one with this content.

[Desktop Entry]
Name=XBMC
Comment=This session will start XBMC Media Center
Exec=xbmc-standalone
TryExec=xbmc-standalone
Type=Application


now change lighdm configuration with your favorite text editor, where "bob" is your user. 

sudo vim /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/60-lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf

[SeatDefaults]
autologin-user=bob
autologin-user-timeout=0
user-session=XBMC
greeter-session=lightdm-gtk-greeter

In order to mount drives and reboot/poweroff NUC we need add XBMC some sudo permissions.

sudo visudo

Cmnd_Alias SHUTDOWN_CMDS = /sbin/shutdown, /sbin/reboot, /sbin/halt # XBMC
Cmnd_Alias MOUNT_CMDS = /bin/mount, /bin/umount # XBMC
bob ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL # XBMC
bob ALL=NOPASSWD: SHUTDOWN_CMDS, MOUNT_CMDS # XBMC

Well, thats all, reboot your NUC and you should boot straight into XBMC.  

A few tips to speed up a boot time

• Use SSD.
• Use static IP address. (check out "/etc/network/interfaces" for that)
• Reduce "GRUB_TIMEOUT" to 1 or even 0 in "/etc/default/grub" (don't forget "upgrade-grub" after that)
• Use UEFI direct boot instead of grub and mbr (theoretically, I never done that due to lack of time) 

Dualshock 3 and Raspberry PI

Getting Sony Dualshock 3  gamepad to work in Raspberry Pi on Raspbian (Debian Wheezy).

First of all, I'll need a bluetooth dongle, since Raspbery Pi doesn't have built-in one, listing of compatible dongle you can find here.

So, install dependencies first

sudo apt-get install bluez-utils bluez-compat bluez-hcidump checkinstall libusb-dev  libbluetooth-dev joystick

It takes a while.

After all type "hciconfig" in console, you should see something like this.

pi@raspberrypi ~ $ hciconfig
hci0: Type: BR/EDR Bus: USB
 BD Address: 00:1F:81:00:06:20 ACL MTU: 1021:4 SCO MTU: 180:1
UP RUNNING PSCAN
RX bytes:1260 acl:0 sco:0 events:46 errors:0
TX bytes:452 acl:0 sco:0 commands:45 errors:0

if not, your dongle seems not to be recognized by system.

So now, we need to pairing the dongle with the gamepad using this tool.

download and compile it.

wget http://www.pabr.org/sixlinux/sixpair.c
gcc -o sixpair sixpair.c -lusb

After this you should have a executable file "sixpair".
Now connect your  Dualshock via a USB cable to Raspberry Pi and launch this file with sudo.

sudo ./sixpair

Current Bluetooth master: DE:AD:BE:EF:00:00
Setting master bd_addr to: 00:1F:81:00:06:20

If you see this, it was successful.

Install a Sixaxis Joystick Manager. Download a last archive and compile only important for us part.

wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/qtsixa/files/QtSixA%201.5.1/QtSixA-1.5.1-src.tar.gz
tar xfvz QtSixA-1.5.1-src.tar.gz
cd QtSixA-1.5.1/sixad
make
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/sixad/profiles
sudo checkinstall

the last command make automatically a package for you, so you can later simple uninstall it, if you won't it or use a different system, type  "sudo make install" instead of "sudo checkinstall"

Now test it, for this launch temporary a sixad daemon.

sudo sixad --start

Then press a "PS" button on Dualshock gamepad, if you feel a vibration, it works, congratulations!

After all you can make "sixad" daemon starting at boot time.

sudo update-rc.d sixad defaults
reboot


If you have any trouble with recognition, you can debug your Dualshock controller with "jstest".

sudo jstest /dev/input/js0


P.S. Thanks goes to http://blog.onsw.net/yuta/

Making Raspberri Pi into Retro Games Station

Installation

Tested only on Rasbian (Debian Wheezy)

First, install all dependencies

sudo apt-get install git dialog

Then make directory for git and cloning the repo

mkdir ~/git_dir
cd ~/git_dir
git clone https://github.com/petrockblog/RetroPie-Setup.git

After finishnig that, you should have "retropie_setup.sh" file, start it with sudo.

sudo ./retropie_setup.sh

You'll see a dialog, that asks you about "binary" or "source" installation, it's up to you, but the "source" installation takes about 2-3 hours.
So that's it, after installation you should have in your home "RetroPie" directory with some other directories inside.

pi@raspberrypi ~/RetroPie $ ls
EmulationStation emulatorcores RetroArch-Rpi roms SNESDev-Rpi

So let me explain, what is actually means.
emulatorcore -> separate emulators for respective platform from different developers.
RetroArch-Rpi -> Frontend for emulators (see http://themaister.net/retroarch.html), that allows use these emulators in the same way with same API.
EmulationStation -> GUI for RetroArch
roms -> copy your ROMs into directory
SNESDev-Rpi > see here http://petrockblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/snesdev-rpi-a-snes-adapter-for-the-raspberry-pi/

So, basically you have 3 different layers.

To start the emulators you'll need launch
~/RetroPie/EmulationStation/emulationstation

FAQ

How to use Gamepad

Plug your USB gamepad in to Raspberry PI (I've tested it with some generic PS-Clone Controller).

type this in console

sudo ~/RetroPie/RetroArch-Rpi/tools/retroarch-joyconfig | sudo tee -a /etc/retroarch.cfg

then type respective the button, that you see on the screen.

Using Gamepad to exit Emulator/Game

add this line at the end of /etc/retroarch.cfg

input_exit_emulator_btn = “11″

where "11" is you desired button, for example "11" for my controller equivalent R3 (right stick)

How to make a desktop link

create a file in "~/Desktop/emustation.desktop" with this content

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Name=EmuStation
Comment=EmulateStation, GUI for Retro Game Emulators
Categories=Game
Exec=/usr/bin/emulationstation
Icon=/home/pi/.joypad.svg
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=false

Of course you need change "Icon" with your image.

I can't see my ROMs.

check you "EXESTENSION" value in "EmulationStation" settings, it's case sensitive!

less ~/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

e.g for Sega it's ".smd", so it means a rom this name Sonic.SMD (not Sonic.smd) will not be displayed!

P.S. Thanks to  Aloshi, petrockblog, ToadKing and others.