Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Note

Please also see Known Issues

Why are no ROMs provided with PES?

Game files are distributed as ROM files. These are copies of the games which have been extracted from the original game media (e.g. a game cartridge).

Warning

Creating and distributing ROM files from copyrighted media is often a breach of copyright. PES is therefore not distributed with any ROM files.

Obtaining a ROM file of a game you already own is also seen as a breach of copyright.

For example, Nintendo’s stance on ROM creation, use and distribution can be found at: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp

Creating and using a console emulator is not illegal as it does not breach any copyright laws. Using a game that is subject to copyright law with a game emulator is however.

Bluetooth pairing is not working

Please see: Bluetooth Troubleshooting

Where does PES get its game information from?

PES downloads game information and cover art from theGamesDB.net

Which emulator software does PES use?

PES mainly uses the RetroArch engine for running console emulators. The emulators themselves are often referred to as “cores” which are loaded by RetroArch. PES is packaged with Raspberry Pi compiled versions of RetroArch and a number emulators cores as well as standalone versions. A full list can be found in the Acknowledgements

Can I update the operating system?

PES uses Arch Linux.

Warning

You can update the software installed under the operating system but it is possible that the emulators may stop working so proceed at your own risk.

To update all packages installed under Arch Linux run:

sudo pacman -Syu

To just update the package index for Arch Linux run:

sudo pacman -Sy

To search for a package:

sudo pacman -Ss package_name

Install a package:

sudo pacman -S package_name

How can I get the latest version of PES?

The latest version of PES will always be available at:

My Raspberry Pi seems to be interfering with other HDMI-CEC enabled devices connected to my TV?

This is a known issue with some models of the original Raspberry Pi and is out of my control sadly. Some models of Raspberry Pi when disconnected from the mains but still plugged into a HDMI-CEC enabled TV via HDMI can cause other HDMI-CEC devices not to receive HDMI-CEC commands. HDMI-CEC can be known by different names depending on the manufacturer. For example, Samsung refer to such devices as “Anynet+”. If the Raspberry Pi is powered off, but left plugged into the mains the issue will not occur. Alternatively, if you unplug the Raspberry Pi from the mains and also unplug the HDMI cable from the Raspberry Pi the issue will not occur. For more information, please see: http://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14273

Note

The Raspberry Pi 2/3/4 do not suffer from this issue.

My Bluetooth adapter will not work with my PlayStation 3 control pads

The QtSixA that is enabled by default in the PES image can be picky when it comes to Bluetooth adapters. If you find your PlayStation 3 control pads will not connect then please try using the Linux Bluez libraries instead: Using Bluez instead of QtSixA

Adding emulator BIOSes

All of the emulators will operate without a BIOS file from the original console, however, they will often run better with one. For example, the PlayStation emulator will show a warning if a BIOS file is not found. Due to copyright issues, the PES image is not supplied with any ROMs or BIOS files. Please see BIOS Files for further information.

Does PES support the ColecoVision console?

The Final Burn Alpha emulator used by PES does support ColecoVision games, however, due to the original console having separate joystick layouts for each game it has not been possible as yet to provide a generic joystick button mapping that suits all games. The issue has been raised with the emulator author and is unresolved at the time of writing (July 2015). Should you wish to run ColecoVision games with PES, please edit /home/pi/pes/conf.d/consoles.ini and uncomment the ColecoVision section and then restart PES.

Why is the Raspberry Pi 3/4 images only 32-bit and compiled for Arm7?

At the time of writing a 64-bit Arm8 version of Arch Linux (Arm) is not available for the Raspberry Pi 3 which fully supports the graphics hardware.