How to Install Retropie on OSMC? (Raspberry Pi Tutorial)

When I set up a Raspberry Pi as a media center, I often think the same thing: it’s already under the TV, with a controller nearby, so why not use it for retro gaming too? If OSMC is already installed, there’s no need to wipe everything and start again with RetroPie.

RetroPie can be installed on top of OSMC by using the retrOSMCmk2 script. It adds the RetroPie environment to the existing media-center setup, so the same Raspberry Pi can run Kodi and classic games.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to install RetroPie on OSMC, what to expect during the setup, and how to switch between your media center and retro games without rebuilding your system from scratch.

By the way, if you’re looking for some great retro games, I’ve got a list of my 24 favorites for Retropie, Recalbox, or Lakka. It’s packed with screenshots, descriptions, and download links to make it easy for you. Grab the list for free here!

Overview: Introduction to OSMC & RetroPie

In this first part, I will give you a short introduction about the tools you’ll use and the hardware part
As you probably know the basics if you are here, I will be brief

OSMC

OSMC (Open-Source Media Center) is a Linux distribution, based on Raspbian.
Its main goal is to run Kodi, a media center software, to turn your Raspberry Pi into a media player for movies, music, etc.

Kodi allows you to install thousands of add-ons to add new features, but RetroPie is not one of those, at least not directly. That’s why you probably need some help to do this.

If you want to learn more about OSMC and Kodi, I have an entire guide on this website, feel free to read it before going further.

RetroPie

RetroPie is one solution to run retro games on Raspberry Pi (like Batocera or Recalbox). It’s distributed as a system image, but you can install it inside another system, like OSMC.

Once installed, you can upload games ROMs to play almost any retro-gaming title you want. Most controllers are supported and there are also many add-ons available

As for OSMC, I have several tutorials on this topic. So if you need more information about RetroPie, here are a few useful links:

• RetroPie Beginner’s Guide
• 12 Games You Can Play on RetroPie
• How to Use a PS4 Controller on RetroPie

Prerequisites

Now that you know what you’ll use as a software, let’s check the hardware part

OSMC is not yet supported on Raspberry Pi 5 (see here for updates).
So, you’ll need to install it on a Raspberry Pi 4, 3, 2, 1 or Zero 🙂

Otherwise, no specific hardware is required. A Raspberry Pi, SD card and mouse/keyboard is enough. A game controller is probably more convenient to play games, but it’s not required.

OSMC

If you already have OSMC installed with an SSH access, you can probably skip this part

By the way, I have a whole series of videos for community members on this topic. If you’re just getting started or want to take your media setup to the next level, you might want to check it out.

Download

The OSMC image is available on the official website.
There is a tool there that you can use to flash your SD card, but personally, I prefer downloading the image directly (click on the “Disk Images” button near the bottom of the page).

There are different image versions depending on which Raspberry Pi you have. Pick the latest version corresponding to your Raspberry Pi model.

Installation

Once downloaded, you can use Raspberry Pi Imager or Etcher to install it on your SD card
These are free tools you can use to create SD cards, available on any operating system.

With Imager for example, on the OS selection, choose “Use custom” and select the downloaded file, insert your SD card, and flash it!
Once it’s done, you can insert the SD card into your Raspberry Pi and start the installation.
OSMC will do everything for you, it takes a few minutes on the first boot.

Basic Configuration

The first thing you’ll see on OSMC is the configuration wizard.
It helps you to set options as you want: country, time zone, etc.

The only thing important here for our project is to keep SSH enabled.
We’ll use it later for the RetroPie installation.

Network

Obviously, you’ll need a network connection to access the Raspberry Pi through SSH, and also to download the RetroPie files.

If you’re using an Ethernet cable to access the internet, it’ll work directly.
If you need Wi-Fi, connect to it during the setup wizard, or you can change it later in Settings > My OSMC > Network.

The last step with OSMC is to note the Raspberry Pi’s IP address.
You can find it in Settings > System info.

RetroPie Installation

As I mentioned earlier, RetroPie is not available as an official add-on on OSMC.
So, we’ll install it “manually” with a script called: retrOSMCmk2.

retrOSMCmk2 Script

retrOSMCmk2 is a script that will install and configure RetroPie on OSMC.
You can find the source code on GitHub.
Here is how to use it :

• Connect to the Raspberry Pi via SSH.
  You can use a program like Termius on Windows, or the command “ssh IP” on Linux/Mac.
  Connect using the IP address you noted earlier.
• Log in with the default credentials.
  • Username : osmc
  • Password : osmc
• Install prerequisites:
  sudo apt install git
• Download the retrOSMCmk2 script:
  git clone https://github.com/hissingshark/retrOSMCmk2.git
• Enter the new folder and run the script:
  cd retrOSMCmk2
sudo ./setup.sh
• A menu shows up.
  Select Run RetroPie-Setup and press ENTER to continue the installation.
  
• When asked to stop Kodi or leave it running, select STOP.
• A few seconds later, you’ll see the Retropie-Setup menu.
  (It’s the same as on a standard RetroPie installation.)
  
• Select the Basic Install option.
  Give it time to download and install all of the needed packages.
• Once done, choose Perform Reboot in the same menu to apply all changes.

At this point, RetroPie is almost ready to use, but there’s no shortcut to start it from the OSMC menu. Let’s add this right now.

Add Launcher

Here’s how to add the RetroPie launcher to OSMC:

• Navigate to Settings > Add-on Browser > My Add-ons > Install from zip file.
• You’ll get an error saying custom installation is disabled.
  
• Below the message, visit Settings, and press ENTER on Unknown sources to enable it.
  
• Press ESC to go back one level. Now we can proceed by selecting Install from zip file again.
  When asked where it is, choose Home Folder.
  Scroll to the bottom and select the script.launch.retropie.zip file.
  
• Give it a few moments, and you should see a notification saying RetroPie addon installed.

RetroPie

Now that everything’s installed, let’s launch RetroPie from the OSMC interface.
RetroPie will show up in the main menu under Games.

Launch it, and you can now use RetroPie the same way as with the classic installation.
Once again, I have an entire guide about RetroPie if you need further assistance about this.

You need to upload your games into this folder:
/home/osmc/Retropie/roms

You can install Retropie manager from Retropie setup to upload your games from a web interface. Or you can use other methods like explained here. To use the network share, you need to enable it on OSMC.

That’s it! You know how to install Retropie on OSMC. And you can now switch from one to the other directly on the same interface. My game pad is working in both RetroPie and OSMC, so you can use it as a remote control if you want.

Not getting the same result?

Even when you follow every step, small differences in OS version, hardware or config can change the outcome. Instead of wasting time guessing, get help from people who have already fixed the same kind of issue.

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