Armanager works in Debian GNU/Linux. Supported releases are Debian 13 (trixie) and Debian 12 (bookworm).
It runs on a normal PC (64-bit, amd64) and also on a 32-bit ARM board (armhf): an Orange Pi, a Banana Pi or anything with an Allwinner or similar chip, as long as it has Debian 12 or a system based on it, such as Armbian. The ARM packages are built for Debian 12 only, so on a board use the bookworm line below. The commands are the same either way: apt picks the right one for your machine.
There are two ways: adding the repository, which is the one to use on the cabinet because updates then arrive on their own, or downloading the packages and installing them by hand, if you would rather not add a third-party repository to your system.
First add the repository key. Since Debian 12 the key is not added with apt-key (it was removed in Debian 13), but saved as a keyring file:
wget -qO- http://www.gamerki.com/debian/gamerki_apt.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/gamerki.gpg > /dev/null
Then add the repository, using the line for your Debian release:
echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/gamerki.gpg] http://www.gamerki.com/debian trixie main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gamerki.list
For Debian 12 (bookworm) replace trixie with bookworm.
Update apt:
sudo apt update
Install:
sudo apt install armanager
This pulls the arcade menu (advancemenu) and MAME as well: the emulators and tools that Debian already ships are taken from Debian, and this repository only provides what Debian does not package.
The other emulators and players are optional and can be installed later from the machine itself, in Admin software → Additional software (mednafen, RetroArch and its cores, py3karaoke, mplayer). py3karaoke also brings karbeat, a rhythm game that plays the drums or the melody of any KAR file with the cabinet buttons.
The packages can also be downloaded and installed one by one. You need two of them, because armanager needs the arcade menu and Debian does not package it:
Debian 13 (trixie):
advancemenu_5.0+trixie+b1_amd64.deb
armanager_0.73.0~rc9+deb13_amd64.deb
py3karaoke_0.7.5+py3-19_all.deb (optional)
Debian 12 (bookworm):
advancemenu_5.0+bookworm+b1_amd64.deb
armanager_0.73.0~rc9+deb12_amd64.deb
py3karaoke_0.7.5+py3-19_all.deb (optional)
Debian 12 (bookworm) on a 32-bit ARM board:
advancemenu_5.0+bookworm_armhf.deb
armanager_0.73.0~rc9+deb12_armhf.deb
py3karaoke_0.7.5+py3-19_all.deb (optional)
To find out which one your machine needs, run dpkg --print-architecture.
Install both in the same command, so that apt can pull the dependencies from Debian in one go:
sudo apt install ./advancemenu_5.0+trixie+b1_amd64.deb ./armanager_0.73.0~rc9+deb13_amd64.deb
Use apt and not dpkg -i: dpkg does not install dependencies, and armanager needs MAME and a handful of tools from Debian. Installing armanager on its own does not work either, it stops saying that advancemenu cannot be found.
The advancemenu package is not the same for the two Debian releases even though the version looks alike: each one is compiled with the libraries of its own release, so take the one that matches your system. py3karaoke, if you want the karaoke and karbeat, is a third package and works on both.
Done this way there are no automatic updates: a new version means downloading it again.
Run:
arcade_menu
How to run it at startup depends on the desktop environment you are using. You must run qjoypad --update and qjoypad menu, and then runini.sh in a terminal app:
xterm -hold -maximized -fullscreen -e runini.sh
LXDE desktop. File $HOME/.config/lxsession/LXDE/autostart, content:
@qjoypad --update
@lxpanel --profile LXDE
@pcmanfm --desktop --profile LXDE
#@xscreensaver -no-splash
@qjoypad menu
@xterm -hold -maximized -fullscreen -e runini.sh