Start with a clean Raspberry Pi OS installation on a Raspberry Pi 5. RetroBridge V1.1 was independently reproduced using Debian 13 Trixie.

During Raspberry Pi Imager setup, configure a normal user account, networking, SSH, locale, and time zone.

Update the system:

sudo apt update

sudo apt full-upgrade -y

Then reboot:

sudo reboot

The clean Trixie installation did not include the older MHS35 overlay used during early RetroBridge development.

The validated build uses the Raspberry Pi 5/Trixie-compatible MHS35 touchscreen driver:

cd "$HOME"

git clone https://github.com/Robinbinu/pi5-mhs35-touchscreen.git

cd pi5-mhs35-touchscreen

chmod +x install.sh

./install.sh

sudo reboot

After reboot, verify landscape 480×320 output, touch response, and correct touch alignment.

The validated system reports an ADS7846 touchscreen and an fb_ili9486 480×320 framebuffer.

Clone the public project:

cd "$HOME"

git clone https://github.com/retrobridge-jc/RetroBridge.git

cd RetroBridge

chmod +x install.sh

./install.sh

The default installation target is:

$HOME/retrobridge

The installer sets up RetroBridge-authored frontend files, launchers, dependencies, and the validated DOSBox configuration.

Third-party emulator projects and proprietary historical software are intentionally not bundled.

RetroBridge uses the open trs80basic project to provide a Level-II-BASIC-compatible TRS-80 Model I experience.

cd "$HOME/retrobridge/emulators"

git clone https://github.com/davidscan/trs80basic.git

cd trs80basic

./basic

This approach gives RetroBridge a reproducible TRS-80 programming environment without redistributing a proprietary TRS-80 ROM set.

Apple-1 and Apple II use EWM built from its upstream source.

Install Rust using the official Rustup installer, then build SDL3:

cd "$HOME/retrobridge/emulators"

git clone https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL.git SDL3

cd SDL3

git checkout release-3.2.10

mkdir -p build && cd build

cmake .. -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local

ninja

sudo ninja install

sudo ldconfig

Then clone EWM:

cd "$HOME/retrobridge/emulators"

git clone https://github.com/st3fan/ewm.git

cd ewm

RetroBridge supplies two small source patches that change EWM’s Apple-1 and Apple II display scale from 3× to 1× so the windows fit the 480×320 touchscreen.

Apply the patches from the RetroBridge repository, then:

cargo build --release

RetroBridge distributes only the patches — not modified EWM source or binaries.

The IBM PC environment uses DOSBox with RetroBridge-specific settings validated for the small display:

fullscreen=true

fullresolution=desktop

output=openglnb

aspect=true

scaler=none

RetroBridge mounts its PC program directory as DOS drive C:.

The Commodore 64 environment uses VICE together with Debian open-roms replacement firmware.

RetroBridge does not redistribute original Commodore ROM dumps, commercial games, or DOS software.

Before enabling appliance-style startup, verify the complete stack:

cd "$HOME/RetroBridge"

./tools/check_components.sh

The validated clean build reports the major components as ready, including:

• Python
• Tkinter
• DOSBox
• VICE
• xterm
• wmctrl
• TRS-80 BASIC
• EWM Apple-1/II
• DOSBox configuration
• Apple-1 launcher
• C64 open replacement ROMs

Test each historical environment individually before proceeding to autostart.

On the validated Trixie/MHS35 configuration, the touchscreen driver starts X11 through spi-display.service.

Install the RetroBridge X-session wrapper:

sudo cp "$HOME/retrobridge/system/start-retrobridge-xsession.sh" /usr/local/bin/start-retrobridge-xsession.sh

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/start-retrobridge-xsession.sh

Add this line to:

/etc/xdg/lxsession/rpd-x/autostart

/usr/local/bin/start-retrobridge-xsession.sh

Reboot:

sudo reboot

The expected result is:

Power on → X11/LXDE → RetroBridge Time Machine

For maintenance, create:

$HOME/retrobridge/system/maintenance

before rebooting to prevent RetroBridge from starting automatically.

Full illustrated instructions are available at:

https://www.instructables.com/RetroBridge-Build-a-Raspberry-Pi-5-Computing-Time-/