---
title: "RetroPie setup on Raspberry Pi — ROMs, BIOS, and controller not working"
canonical_url: https://emudesk.com/issues/retropie-raspberry-pi-setup-guide-roms-bios-controller-2026
content_locale: en
source_locale: en
entity_type: issue
index_status: index
published_at: 2026-08-31T18:22:23.000Z
updated_at: 2026-09-01T00:45:02.455Z
freshness_status: fresh
---

# RetroPie setup on Raspberry Pi — ROMs, BIOS, and controller not working

You have a Raspberry Pi running RetroPie but your ROMs are not showing, the controller is unresponsive in EmulationStation, or PS1/N64 games won't launch because BIOS files are missing.

RetroPie is the most popular retro gaming OS for Raspberry Pi, combining EmulationStation (the frontend) with RetroArch and standalone emulators. Three issues account for the vast majority of first-time setup problems:


  ROMs placed in the wrong folder — each system has its own subfolder under ~/RetroPie/roms/; files outside these subfolders are invisible to EmulationStation.
  Missing BIOS files — PS1, Saturn, Dreamcast, NDS, and a handful of other systems require console firmware that you must supply legally (dumped from your own console). Without the correct BIOS file the game launches to a black screen or an error.
  Controller not configured — EmulationStation requires a one-time button-mapping pass on first boot. If that was skipped or the controller was plugged in after boot, input may be completely unresponsive.


RetroPie runs on Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 4, and 5 (and Pi Zero 2 W). Performance scales with model: Pi 4 handles PS1, N64, and most 16-bit systems well; Pi 5 adds feasible PS2 and GameCube emulation.