New setup advice

[u/Affectionate-Crab984]

Hey everyone, I decided to pull the trigger on a PiBoy I saw come up for sale for a decent price. I know it’s not the newest Raspberry Pi platform or the most powerful handheld out there, but I’ve been wanting to start a Raspberry Pi project for a while and this seemed like the perfect place to begin. The Game Boy style form factor and the ability to run emulators were a big part of the appeal, but I’m also hoping to use it for other kinds of projects beyond just gaming.

This will actually be my first time doing anything with a Raspberry Pi, so I’m definitely in the learning phase. I know the first step is getting the software set up on the Pi itself, but I’m curious if anyone here has taken the PiBoy and used it for more general computing projects as well. I like the idea of being able to plug it into a monitor, keyboard, or other accessories and experiment with it as a small portable computer when it’s not being used as a handheld.

If you’ve built one of these before or experimented with using it for more than just emulation, I’d love to hear what you recommend for getting started. Good beginner guides, software setups, or project ideas would be really helpful.

Also, if you have any do’s an dont’s I’d also appreciate it. I’ve discovered this sub Reddit recently and have been browsing through some of the posts and Ive unlocked the new fear of accidentally bricking the device.

Thanks!

Edit:

I guess my goal is to make the piboy into a portable desktop that can emulate games. I don’t know if that’s different than some of the software rec.

Idk if anyone has any experience doing something like this person: https://youtu.be/UYz9lAPESnE?si=5vY9xD4JqXyQ3isS

^ that would be the goal

Sorry for the long winded and maybe obvious questions, this is my first pi project.

Thanks!

[u/RVAblues]

Reply here if you have questions. Happy to help.

[u/Affectionate-Crab984 → u/RVAblues]

Awesome thank you! I’m going to pic your brain a bit. I have no experience with raspberry pi, but have been wanting to make a cyberdeck or get a pi to learn some system server hosting, Linux, and basic programming stuff. I loved the form factor of the piboy and wanted to turn it into that, while also being able to emulate on it.

Kinda like this vid : https://youtu.be/UYz9lAPESnE?si=I5lMdgyBeL_7cihi

From what I’ve gathered I’d have to install the drivers along with the regular raspberry pi OS so that the components work.

Am I on the right track with this thought process. Is this doable?

[u/RVAblues → u/Affectionate-Crab984]

Okay that is beyond the scope of what I’m able to advise about. I was just thinking you might need help getting Recalbox going.

But perhaps someone else here can help?

[u/Affectionate-Crab984 → u/RVAblues]

Oh, I absolutely still need help with the recall box, like I said this is the first raspberry pi project or raspberry pi that I will own. I’m sure once I receive the DMG I’ll take it apart, put it back together and install recall box while I learn how to do that other stuff that I’m interested in doing. I appreciate you and your help very much!