If you have bought a Raspberry Pi 3 or 4 and wish to start retrogaming, the first thing to do is to download an OS installer.
You can choose NOOBS or PINN.
The latter has a more active community and is plentiful of (nice) surprises.
There are numerous guides on how to install PINN on internet, so I will link here the one on the official github:
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| A screenshot of PINN |
Depending on the size of the SD card you bought, you will be able to do more or less.
The minimum installation choices vary on what you want to do.
Keep in mind that trying to make a versatile solution out a small SD card feels like trying to fit a truck inside a mouse hole.
Keep in mind that trying to make a versatile solution out a small SD card feels like trying to fit a truck inside a mouse hole.
If your SD card is small what you should do is install a Raspberry Pi OS 32 bits normal and install your modules (eg. EmulationStation) as subparts of Raspberry Pi OS.
Keep in mind that EmulationStation installed as standalone will run smoother than inside Raspberry Pi OS or TwisterOS. This is why a huge SD Card is comfortable.
Be careful, everytime you will want to add an OS to your SD, you will have to erase it whole and repartition.
The OS you should install depending on your settings are as follows:
| Budget | Advised | Nice to have |
| 4GB | Raspberry Pi OS 32 bits mini +RPD | Raspberry Pi OS 32 bits regular |
| 16GB | Raspberry Pi OS 32 bits regular | Retropie/Recallbox/Lakka/Batocera (x86 route) mikerr's stretch Rpi-qemu-x86 |
| 64GB | Raspberry Pi OS 32 bits regular Retropie/others Rpi-qemu-x86 | (x86 route)Twister OS LibreElec LineageOS (for screen mirroring) Store one or two games you play all the time on your SD, not more |
| 256GB | Raspberry Pi OS 32 bits, TwisterOS, Rpi-qemu-x86, Retropie, Android, ... (Gladys) | Store some of your games on your SD |
TL/DR:
Get PINN, check down in the summary table for what OS to install.
