---
title: "Lakka installation and setup — Raspberry Pi or PC, ROMs and controllers not working"
canonical_url: https://emudesk.com/issues/lakka-installation-setup-raspberry-pi-pc-2026
content_locale: en
source_locale: en
entity_type: issue
index_status: index
published_at: 2026-08-31T18:22:23.000Z
updated_at: 2026-09-01T00:45:02.399Z
freshness_status: fresh
---

# Lakka installation and setup — Raspberry Pi or PC, ROMs and controllers not working

You have flashed Lakka to a Raspberry Pi or PC but ROMs are not appearing, the controller shows no input, or you cannot access the network share to transfer files.

Lakka is a lightweight Linux distribution that boots directly into RetroArch — no desktop environment, no EmulationStation, just the emulator frontend itself. It is leaner than RetroPie and excellent for low-spec hardware or users who want a clean RetroArch experience without the extra layer.

Three issues appear in nearly every first-time Lakka setup:


  ROMs not found — Lakka only scans the /storage/roms/ directory. ROMs placed elsewhere, or files transferred before the Pi fully booted, are not detected.
  Network share not accessible — the Samba share (\\LAKKA\ROMs) requires the Pi to be on the same network and fully booted; a missing hostname in DNS can prevent the share from resolving by name.
  Controller not responding — Lakka auto-detects most USB and Bluetooth controllers, but an initial autoconfig step in RetroArch may need to be triggered once.