Questions about moving to external harddisk

[enurweb]

Hi guys!
My first post after getting addicted to LaunchBox. Sorry that my question is split into a few parts and maybe it's not the correct sub forum.

I'm setting up a massive LaunchBox folder locally on my computer right now which I'm looking to move to an external harddisk once everything is imported and up and running fine. I made a subfolder in LaunchBox I named "Emulators" and unziped RetroArch into. The "System" folder has seen a few updates with necessary changes to BIOS'es and since I'm a Premium member I would finally also set up BigBox of course. I also have subscription to EmuMovies downloading the artwork/videos.

I'm done with sorting and importing a bunch of consoles already but have a few left still. Anyway, to keep some structure I will list my specific questions for you:

1. Right now inside RetroArch settings it's looking for my "System" folder at let's say "F:\LaunchBox\... and so on. What happens when I copy the entire LaunchBox folder with RetroArch inside to an external harddisk? Do I need to make changes inside RetroArch settings to change the drive letter which I guess will be different from computer to computer.
2. When installing intro videos, themes, fonts and such for BigBox, do they stay installed inside the LaunchBox folder somewhere or does the fonts for example get installed somewhere local in Windows directory? In case of local Windows that would leave my external disk move a bit tricky as the fonts in that case would be left behind.
3. I'm looking to get Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 1 up and running, preferably with RetroArch so I only have one "emulator" installed. Inside RetroArch there is not much options on these two, for Dreamcast it's only Reicast core and there is no videos of setup with that as far as I can tell. If someone can point me in the right direction here it would be appreciated greatly! Or even if opinions are strong about NOT going with Reicast and looking towards a standalone core like Redream then please feel free to tell me.
4. In "System" folder should I update with BIOS files from the start for all consoles or only when it's more a specific requirement from a system?
5. Reading my goal for my LaunchBox setup if you can think of any other fall traps or things I have to think about copying to external harddisk or any other pointers, don't be affraid telling me. Again it is mucg appreciated ☺️

 

Thanks! Hoping for some good input and patience with me ☺️

Edited July 17, 2018 by enurweb

[Lordmonkus]

5 minutes ago, enurweb said:

Right now inside RetroArch settings it's looking for my "System" folder at let's say "F:\LaunchBox\... and so on.

If you set your /system folder path yourself then you may have to re-point it after moving but if you didn't set it and it's just the default it should be fine.

6 minutes ago, enurweb said:

When installing intro videos, themes, fonts and such for BigBox, do they stay installed inside the LaunchBox folder somewhere

Videos and themes are fine in the folder. Fonts though I am not sure at all.

7 minutes ago, enurweb said:

I'm looking to get Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 1 up and running, preferably with RetroArch so I only have one "emulator" installed.

For PS1 the Beetle PSX core is a great emulator and highly recommended. Beetle PSX HW is worth trying out but I don't use it myself, I find it can be a bit glitchy with some games.

For Dreamcast the Reicast core has come a long ways but still not at the top or worth using over Redream or Demul yet.

Don't get too hung up on having "only one emulator" installed, there are times when a stand alone is superior enough to the RA core that it makes the RA not quite worth using.

10 minutes ago, enurweb said:

In "System" folder should I update with BIOS files from the start for all consoles or only when it's more a specific requirement from a system?

Not sure what you mean here, if you have working bios don't update them unless you have to.

12 minutes ago, enurweb said:

Reading my goal for my LaunchBox setup if you can think of any other fall traps or things I have to think about

Nothing I can think of other than making sure that if your paths change you may have to make some changes in LB or your emulator settings, it just depends on a case by case basis.

I would only suggest that you have a backup good working setup while you make the migration and test things out. That way if something goes horribly wrong you got something to fall back on.

[enurweb]

Thank you for helping to clearify a few things ?

I think I left the RetroArch settings default and didn't change anything. Talking about directories.

The font question is interesting to me as I would love for everything to work when moving the disk to new computers of course.

I'm not 100% hung up on only using RetroArch but it would have been a nice thing to only have one due to setup. But if there is far better options then of course I will greatly consider them.

[Lordmonkus]

2 minutes ago, enurweb said:

But if there is far better options then of course I will greatly consider them.

It just depends on what you want to emulate, I find Retroarch and its cores to cover the mainstream 8,16 and 32 bit systems pretty much perfectly. Once you get outside of that into the later generations and some of the more off the beaten path systems things can get a bit more tricky.