I have a feeling that is the issue! Well, both of those things technically. I was using the SAIO images AND USB power..guess my testing will have to wait until my battery arrives That said, thank you very much for the help, I'll report back in a few weeks!

So I've got my new KCS, which is amazing so far, but I can't seem to get it up and running..I've followed Kite's guide and have tried both SAIO images but they both get to the RetroPie splash page for a second, then the screen does this weird white fade, reboots, and enters a boot loop where it does...