Pixelcade LCD Firmware 5.x

Pixelcade LCD Firmware 5.x New Features & Fixes

Pixelcade 5.x Firmware New Features and Fixes
* Online Artwork Updater
* Online Firmware Updater
* High Score and Now Playing Splash Screens – required paid version of LEDBlinky for PC based arcades
* Game Marquee Overlays (high scores currently for select MAME games)
* Improved marquee matching logic – non case sensitive and fuzzy logic matches
* Pixelcade Companion Web UI updates
* RetroAchievements Integration – Batocera and EmuELC only
* LCD Finder utility re-write, more user friendly
* Pixelcade Dot sub-display displays the year when scrolling through consoles
 
Bug Fixes:
* Installer was hanging on some PCs
* Installer won’t launch the Arcade front end setup wizard for existing installations
* Pixelcade Dot wasn’t displaying on game launches
* Pixelcade Dot text was mis-aligned when scrolling text was less than 8 characters
* GameEx front end compatibility fixed
Installer for Batocera: https://pixelcade.org/batocera/
Note: For Arcade-One HyperSpin users, if you have both a folder called /hi and /hiscore in your MAME emulator folder, then rename the /hi folder to a different name and then high scores will work.
Pixelcade 4.x Firmware New Features & Fixes
  • Pixelcade Companion – a new web UI to browse marquees. This replaces the Pixelcade iOS app that broke with iOS 15.x (you can still use the Pixelcade iOS app with the NFC tag for a safe shutdown).
  • New marquee artwork from JamesT (Atari2600, Atari5200, Atari7800, Atari Jaguar, Atari Lynx, Coleco, Genesis, Intellivsion, Master System, N64, NES, Odyssey, Vectrex)
  • Some missing MAME marquees from Tommy
  • Bug fix – user customizable console/system marquees are now working, how to add LCD marquees guide here
  • Bug fix – game marquees with multiple dots working now (Ex. Super Marios Bros. 3.jpg)

Option 1: Upgrading to Pixelcade LCD Firmware 5.x Over the Network - Easier

Option 2: Upgrading to Pixelcade LCD Firmware 5.x via microSD Card Re-Image

Download the Pixelcade LCD Firmware from here. Note this is a ~28 GB download. Contact us if you do not have access to this Google Drive download link and include a gmail id that will be needed for access. You’ll need to have either purchased a Pixelcade LCD marquee or the Pixelcade LCD software prior.

If you have the 24” or 28” Super Pixelcade LCD, then download from the Super Pixelcade LCD 24” or 28”

If you have the 14.9” Pixelcade LCD, download from the Pixelcade LCD 14.9” folder

Note if converting from a Pixelcade Gen1 or Gen2 to Gen3, follow https://pixelcade.org/gen3upgrade/

Remove your 64 GB microSD card from your Pixelcade LCD board.

Unzip the image on your local drive

Burn the image to a 64 GB or higher microSD card using Balena Etcher https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Step 1: WiFi Credentials: If you are connecting Pixelcade LCD using hard line Ethernet, skip this step and proceed directly to step 2.

Using the included SD to microSD card adapter, insert the Pixelcade microSD card into your computer.

IMPORTANT: If on Windows, you will get a cannot read message, just ignore this as Windows cannot read the Linux volume on the SD card.

Windows

From the root of the Pixelcade microSD card, launch “Pixelcade WiFi Wizard.exe” and follow prompts to enter your WiFi SSID/network name and WiFi password.

Raspberry Pi or Mac

From the root of the Pixelcade microSD card, run this script from a terminal command prompt and follow prompts to enter your WiFi SSID/network name and WiFi password.

./setupWifi.sh

Step 2: Now remove the Pixelcade microSD card from your computer and insert into the Pixelcade LCD board on the back of your Pixelcade LCD marquee. 

Step 3: Power on your LCD marquee and if you see this Pixelcade logo, then Pixelcade LCD has successfully connected to your home network. 

Access the Pixelcade companion web UI to browse marquees and access Pixelcade LCD settings by going to http://pixelcadedx-xxxxxxxx:8080 where xxxxxxxxx is your Pixelcade LCD unique ID

Step 4: Install the Pixelcade software on your Arcade Windows PC, Raspberry Pi, or MiSTer. Note at the end of the Pixelcade software install, a program will run to find and pair your Pixelcade LCD to your arcade PC. If this program does not run, you can launch the pairing manually by running the “Pixelcade LCD Pair” utility.

On some computers / network, the Pixelcade LCD Pair utility will not work so follow the instructions in the Troubleshooting section here to setup Pixelcade LCD manually.

Pixelcade Companion Web Interface

Pixelcade Companion allows you to browse marquee artwork from any web browser on your network including mobile phones.

Pixelcade LCD Artwork Update Listing

You may also update your Pixelcade LCD remotely using the Pixelcade LCD updater program which will install additional marquee artwork and system updates.