Making an emulation PC console-like

[Forlorn Drifter]

Since people here seem to be so much handier with this sruff than other folks I know, I'm wondering if anybody has a solution.

I'm wondering if there is an OS or front end or some such that would allow me to get the full console experience with emulation. What I'm looking for- turn on/off the PC with the controller, navigate menus with the controller, and since this is a laptop, have it connect to the TV without having to fiddle with my settings every dang time. I'd also like to run everything with the laptop closed, if possible.

This might be a pipe dream, but I'm looking for all the help I can get.

[SuperDerpBro]

I tried this with a cheap i7 ultra small form factor PC. I used Launch Box (Big Box mode) and mostly used RetroArch to run the games. It was OK. I didn't have it set up to be turned on VIA the controller but i'm sure you could. Or at the very least have it wake from sleep. I spent days setting everything up until i was happy with it and then never used it again lol. Turned it into a second HTPC/PLEX machine for the bedroom instead

You could also just run Retroarch at boot and be done with it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Mretaprime

[Forlorn Drifter]

Thanks. I'll look into it when I'm a bit less busy. This works especially well, as I literally just got a gaming laptop for Christmas. My old one is an I7 with integrated graphics, and I was running PS2 just fine, so I figured this is perfect timing.

[SuperDerpBro]

Yea with iGPU i was able to go all the way up to PS2/Gamecube. Though i could not use any of the fancy stuff on them, like raising the resolution. I also could not go any higher than SNES/GEN with GPU hard sync on. So i ran two instances of RetroArch. One for SNES/GEN and below with GPU hard sync on. And one for N64/PS1/DC with GPU hard sync on but with a much more lax setting (I forget the exact setting). I also could only use cool CRT shaders with SNES/GEN and below (CRT-Easymode being my favorite). Had to use very basic ones for N64/PS1/DC ect..

You could also use a NVIDA Shield.

[Anapan]

I can't explain today, but I have found a lot of solutions to make a pc boot and play without showing much BIOS and OS before jumping into your frontend of choice. I'll try to post some links tomorrow.

[Anapan]

Many motherboards allow the BIOS logo to be disabled or replaced. I had the option of doing it to a dell bios in an arcade cabinet I'm building using a bios editing tool. I believe it works with most Inspiron and Latitude systems.

Here's some guides on removing all the visual elements of Windows 7 and 10 so the boot to your frontend is invisible (Steam Big Picture, Launchbox, Retroarch, MAMEUI, etc)
Windows 7
Windows 10

^I haven't actually fully tested these guides as I haven't fully finished any of the WIP arcade cabinets I'm working on, tho I've seen videos of the setup working perfectly.

Powering a PC on remotely from a game controller is something I've never thought of doing. I generally leave my computers on all the time, and they remotely turn my screens on when a button is pushed, but A quick google search turned this up:
SilverStone ES02-USB
I know most motherboards can also be turned on from network with the right bios setting, tho to make a controller do this might require some other hardware - arduino based or something to intercept the signal and send the network boot command.

I used to run my XP machine completely from a controller while gaming, tho this was through a frankencontroller:

Sammy Keyboard Pad Mini

It's a PS2 controller with a USB keyboard cable coming out as well. I ran a program that allowed the right analog and shoulder buttons to control the mouse, and with that I could relatively easily control windows enough to switch games, navigate webpages and other tasks without needing a full sized keyboard or mouse.

Most laptops have a configuration for how windows behaves when the screen is closed. I generally set mine to simply turn off the screen so I can operate it from a distance with 2.4ghz full-sized keyboard and mouse through HDMI to a better screen and audio to my bose dock (this is how I set up my hotel room when I'm out of town for work)

[samsonlonghair]

I used to run my XP machine completely from a controller while gaming, tho this was through a frankencontroller:

Sammy Keyboard Pad Mini

It's a PS2 controller with a USB keyboard cable coming out as well. I ran a program that allowed the right analog and shoulder buttons to control the mouse, and with that I could relatively easily control windows enough to switch games, navigate webpages and other tasks without needing a full sized keyboard or mouse.

Most laptops have a configuration for how windows behaves when the screen is closed. I generally set mine to simply turn off the screen so I can operate it from a distance with 2.4ghz full-sized keyboard and mouse through HDMI to a better screen and audio to my bose dock (this is how I set up my hotel room when I'm out of town for work)

I did something similar back in the Win2000 days using programs called Joy2Key and ControllerMouse.
Come to think of it... I seem to recall CRTgamer might have typed up a guide to configuring Joy2Key some years back. Search the forum for the phrase “Joy2Key” and it should turn up. Sorry I couldn’t post a link straight to it; I’m on mobile now.

[Jagosaurus]

Sounds like you have a spare PC on hand, but...

Have you looked into a more powerful single board computer such as the Odroid xu4? It can run up through Dreamcast & Naomi. It is a custom tweaked extension of RetroPie by ORA on a device with better specs.

As someone who has set up 3 Windows computer to TV setups... there's a good bit of ongoing tinkering. A lot can also depend on the emulator & video card for full screen. FCEU required specific, differing settings on all 3 to accomplish full screen for me. My laptop onboard video really didn't play well with KEGA full screen, but I finally got it working.

Some emus on the laptop would run fine on the laptop itself in full screen, but then crash when I'd try the video out to a TV. Weird issues like that...

There's some beauty in the preconfigured solutions for specific hardware. Someone else doing all that back end tinkering for you. Of course, you're not running WiiU games on it

Admittedly... I'm a nutter & do way to much research before just starting a project. The Odroid is on my 2019 list though.

[Anapan]

I had a lot of trouble trying to make 2 laptops work with proper video out for all the emulators (I was trying to get 15khz). I ended up not succeeding on both of them and now I stick to desktop computers.

Also off-topic, but that new project MiSTer loos really cool. Fpga recreations of older consoles and computers on a small single board solution:
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/wiki
https://www.retrorgb.com/first-mister-a ... binet.html
Lots of cores being worked on.

[Forlorn Drifter]

I haven't had any issues with output to TV previously, though I've only tried like 3 emulators.

@Jag, I've looked into Odroid and the like, and the main thing holding me back is PS2 coverage. There's a small (say, 6-7 games) group I really want, and unless they get ports sometime soon I'd like to have them on the same emulation box as everything else.

Also, funny note, I got that fancy gaming laptop and realized I can't really think of much to get besides Microsoft exclusives right now, but the one I want most, Gears 4, would take up practically the whole internet cap for the month...