RetroArch Emulator Frontend

If you want, you should be able to overclock your Pi to 800 Mhz, which gets me fullspeed in most games. The audio issues are almost entirely from the ALSA drivers/firmware, and the latest Rpi firmware that was supposed to fix some ALSA issues just ended up screwing up audio entirely for me. If you're on the latest firmware, try rolling back the start.elf file to the previous version. Audio won't be perfect, but it'll be better.

Keyboard settings and everything are done from the configuration file, retroarch.cfg. If not specified, RetroArch looks in $HOME/.retroarch.cfg for the file. The sample file in the repository explains all the settings and how to change things, but not that some things (notably pixel shaders) don't work with the Pi port. (At least not yet.)

I will look into overclocking it, before I do I will get a small heatsink for the uP though.

I did upgrade the firmware using hexxeh, but that was because to memory it would not make/compile without upgrading. I don't think I will downgrade, just play silently until I get some update/resolve.

As for the config file, I had already tried putting my config file as:
$HOME/.retroarch.cfg
$HOME/.config/retroarch.cfg
/RetroArch-Rpi/retroarch.cfg
with only the keyboard settings modified, but it never changes/applies??

Do you get any messages about the configuration file falling back to a different path? If not, then it's probably in the default path, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/retroarch/retroarch.cfg. If all else fails, you can manually specify the configuration file path with the -c argument. (`retroarch -c/path/to/retroarch.cfg <ROM>`)

I'll try that and get back to you, Toad King.

I did upgrade the firmware using hexxeh, but that was because to memory it would not make/compile without upgrading. I don't think I will downgrade, just play silently until I get some update/resolve.

As for the config file, I had already tried putting my config file as:
$HOME/.retroarch.cfg
$HOME/.config/retroarch.cfg
/RetroArch-Rpi/retroarch.cfg
with only the keyboard settings modified, but it never changes/applies??

I had the same problem. If you are running retroarch with sudo, make sure your .cfg file is in /root/ instead of /home/pi/ (or whatever your user is).

I'll try that and get back to you, Toad King.

I did upgrade the firmware using hexxeh, but that was because to memory it would not make/compile without upgrading. I don't think I will downgrade, just play silently until I get some update/resolve.

As for the config file, I had already tried putting my config file as:
$HOME/.retroarch.cfg
$HOME/.config/retroarch.cfg
/RetroArch-Rpi/retroarch.cfg
with only the keyboard settings modified, but it never changes/applies??

I had the same problem. If you are running retroarch with sudo, make sure your .cfg file is in /root/ instead of /home/pi/ (or whatever your user is).

!!!

Never run anything as root unless you have to!

What reason do you have running it as root?

!!!

Never run anything as root unless you have to!

What reason do you have running it as root?

Ruh roh. I was just following what another person posted in this thread:

Ah, excellent! That fixed it, everything works now! Super Mario World running full speed, I'm quite happy.

To anyone else who may be confused about how to run RetroArch like I was:
sudo ./retroarch -L path_to_core.so path_to_rom

To be honest, I'm a complete noob to Linux. My only experience is from a semester of Unix at school. So the sudo is not necessary for retroarch to run? I'm assuming sudo is dangerous because of malicious or poorly written code screwing up files/settings that only root should have access to, right?

!!!

Never run anything as root unless you have to!

What reason do you have running it as root?

Ruh roh. I was just following what another person posted in this thread:

Ah, excellent! That fixed it, everything works now! Super Mario World running full speed, I'm quite happy.

To anyone else who may be confused about how to run RetroArch like I was:
sudo ./retroarch -L path_to_core.so path_to_rom

To be honest, I'm a complete noob to Linux. My only experience is from a semester of Unix at school. So the sudo is not necessary for retroarch to run? I'm assuming sudo is dangerous because of malicious or poorly written code screwing up files/settings that only root should have access to, right?

Yeah, anything running as root can change anything on your system, which is very bad. RetroArch probably won't do anything bad, but it's a bad habit to start, because any malicious program (or even honest programs with dangerous bugs) can mess your system up if you do it.

There is no reason to run RetroArch as root.

I ran it as root because my normal user didn't have permissions for /dev/fb0 if I remember correctly. I suppose I should've just chmodded it.

I ran it as root because my normal user didn't have permissions for /dev/fb0 if I remember correctly. I suppose I should've just chmodded it.

My port shouldn't use the framebuffer directly like that. And most of the time you just have to add the user to the "video" group to fix problems like that.

definitely not running as root.

Logged in as pi.

definitely not running as root.

Logged in as pi.

Did you try $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/retroarch/retroarch.cfg? That only gets used if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set.

I managed to successfully compile retroarch and the pocket-snes lib but when running it I get:

Code: Select all

RetroArch [ERROR] :: Assertion failed at ggfx/rpi.c:157.

The corresponding source lines are:

Code: Select all

156: rpi->mSurface = eglCreateWindowSurface(rpi->mDisplay, config, &nativewindow, NULL);
157: rarch_assert(rpi->mSurface != EGL_NO_SURFACE);


Any help?

I am using hexxeh's raspbian distro if it matters.

I managed to successfully compile retroarch and the pocket-snes lib but when running it I get:

Code: Select all

RetroArch [ERROR] :: Assertion failed at ggfx/rpi.c:157.

The corresponding source lines are:

Code: Select all

156: rpi->mSurface = eglCreateWindowSurface(rpi->mDisplay, config, &nativewindow, NULL);
157: rarch_assert(rpi->mSurface != EGL_NO_SURFACE);


Any help?

I am using hexxeh's raspbian distro if it matters.

What memory split are you using? If you're on 224/32, you can't run it on a HD display. You'll have to use the 192/64 split at least.

Hi,

I am following this port of RetroArch very closely and I think you are doing great work here!

I have problems with the Wheezy beta -- the configure script cannot recognize the ALSA module so that the sound is disabled. During the start of the system it is reported that the ALSA module is loaded. Did you have the same or similar issue? Or would you even recommend the ArchLinux distribution?

And another thing: I just reached a milestone of my project in which I connect a SNES controller to the GPIO pins of the Raspberry and use it as an input device. In the demo video I show that this can be used in combination with your RetroArch port. You can find the blog post at http://petrockblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/snesdev-rpi-a-snes-adapter-for-the-raspberry-pi/ and the forum post about this at http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=10213&e=0.

Again, great work so far - I hope that this RetroArch port finds a growing support by the community!

I am having a similar problem to JamishS

As a side note, I'm running my pi on a 320x240 composite display, and for some reason I can't get the scaling to work. It looks fine when I'm just using the console or startx gui, but when I run retroarch it just looks like this:

The display is partly off the screen

I have tried omxplayer and that fits on the screen fine

I am using a HDMI to DVI cable on a 1440x900 LCD display.
And ideas on how to fix this?

Hi,

I am following this port of RetroArch very closely and I think you are doing great work here!

I have problems with the Wheezy beta -- the configure script cannot recognize the ALSA module so that the sound is disabled. During the start of the system it is reported that the ALSA module is loaded. Did you have the same or similar issue? Or would you even recommend the ArchLinux distribution?

And another thing: I just reached a milestone of my project in which I connect a SNES controller to the GPIO pins of the Raspberry and use it as an input device. In the demo video I show that this can be used in combination with your RetroArch port. You can find the blog post at http://petrockblog.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/snesdev-rpi-a-snes-adapter-for-the-raspberry-pi/ and the forum post about this at http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=10213&e=0.

Again, great work so far - I hope that this RetroArch port finds a growing support by the community!

Make sure you have the ALSA development libraries installed. On Debian, they should be in `libasound2-dev`. Nice work on the SNES controller!

I am having a similar problem to JamishS

As a side note, I'm running my pi on a 320x240 composite display, and for some reason I can't get the scaling to work. It looks fine when I'm just using the console or startx gui, but when I run retroarch it just looks like this:

The display is partly off the screen

I have tried omxplayer and that fits on the screen fine

I am using a HDMI to DVI cable on a 1440x900 LCD display.
And ideas on how to fix this?

I'll have to look into this. Thanks for the heads up.

I don't get any picture when I start retroarch with pocketsnes on Archlinux, just some pieces of sound. With omxplayer I get a nice picture on the HDMI Screen.

I'll have to look into this. Thanks for the heads up.

I ran the rpi-update tool from https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-update and it has fixed my video problem.

*head spins* im just still learning linux (i mainly got my Pi to start off on learning more + xbmc replacement for my xbox1 )

but this is a tad beyond me,

i would need to compile while on the Pi? (being under debian squueze /wheezy) or can it be done for the pi under windows? and due to touchy nature im betting theres no way to get a working binary thats working with nes/snes/gb emulation? i only recently got scummvm to work but ughh i need to learn more about compiling.

currently booting squeeze under default split (only wanting to on my own pc for the fact i only have and SDTV, and ironicly while not the best either, the display of text is almost unreadable on my TV under Debian! (i get a granny blurred "Over-bright" text. but while using my ancient ATI tv wonder pro pci capture card display's much nicer (but still hard to read.)

hi guys thank for all your work with the retroarch, i got a question( problem)

i compiled successfully the retroarch (with pocketsnes-libretro) it display the rom very good, but the keyword is not responding, it just stay without receiving any keypress form the keyword
is there any setting that i have to add to my cfg ?? in order to get the keyword working ?

im using the RCA video BTW!

this is my retroarch.cfg

video_xscale = 1.0
video_yscale = 1.0
video_fullscreen_x = 320
video_fullscreen_y = 240
video_fullscreen = true


#### Audio

# Enable audio.
#audio_enable = true

# Audio output samplerate.
# audio_out_rate = 48000

# When altering audio_in_rate on-the-fly, define by how much each time.
# audio_rate_step = 0.25

# Audio driver backend. Depending on configuration possible candidates are: alsa, pulse, oss, jack, rsound, roar, openal, sdl, xaudio and ext (external driver).
#audio_driver = alsa

# Path to external audio driver using the RetroArch audio driver API.
# audio_external_driver =

# Override the default audio device the audio_driver uses. This is driver dependant. E.g. ALSA wants a PCM device, OSS wants a path (e.g. /dev/dsp), Jack wants portnames (e.g. system:playback$
# audio_device =

# External DSP plugin that processes audio before it's sent to the driver.
# audio_dsp_plugin =

# Will sync (block) on audio. Recommended.
# audio_sync = true

# Desired audio latency in milliseconds. Might not be honored if driver can't provide given latency.
# audio_latency = 64

# Enable experimental audio rate control.
# audio_rate_control = false

# Controls audio rate control delta. Defines how much input rate can be adjusted dynamically.
# Input rate = in_rate * (1.0 +/- audio_rate_control_delta)
# audio_rate_control_delta = 0.005
#### Input

# Input driver. Depending on video driver, it might force a different input driver.
#input_driver = sdl

# Defines axis threshold. Possible values are [0.0, 1.0]
# input_axis_threshold = 0.5

# Keyboard input. Will recognize normal keypresses and special keys like "left", "right", and so on.
# Keyboard input, Joypad and Joyaxis will all obey the "nul" bind, which disables the bind completely,
# rather than relying on a default.
input_player1_a = x
input_player1_b = z
input_player1_y = a
input_player1_x = s
input_player1_start = enter
input_player1_select = rshift
input_player1_l = q
input_player1_r = w
input_player1_left = left
input_player1_right = right
input_player1_up = up
input_player1_down = down
# input_player1_l2 =
# input_player1_r2 =
# input_player1_l3 =
# input_player1_r3 =

How are you running the emulator? I only recommend running it directly from the command line (specifically an interactive terminal), not in X.

Dear toad maybe that is my problem I'm running from x I will try in some hrs and let you know

Thanks

A coworker and I managed to compile and run on Raspbian (Pisces) successfully. It took a bit, mostly due to the pi being offline so had to manually copy needed libraries to compile, but....ultimately we successfully played via keyboard Super Mario World, NBA Jam TE on both Genesis and SNES, Battletoads, and Ninja Gaiden NES.

Sound still doesn't work - it'll make a sound in Linux but isn't working yet in RetroArch.

Next we tried getting a couple Gravis gamepad USBs working. retroarch-joyconfig kept failing, first with "Failed to init joystick subsystem" but after adding SDL_GetError() to the joyconfig check we found SDL was failing with something like "Unable to init SDL: Unable to open mouse".

From there I found a reference from a search result that mentioned:

If SDL is complaining because it can't find any mouse (Unable to init SDL: Unable to open mouse) then, before launching the program, do:
# export SDL_NOMOUSE=1

This let the joyconfig program run successfully. A little bit of config later and the two of us just played a game of NBA Jam TE with two gamepads! Sweet!

Great job on a great project and I'll look forward to playing with it some more!

Glad you could get everything working!

Audio should at least produce sound, but the quality (at least on the analog out) is not very good yet. If you enable the "snd_bcm2835" module and add your user to the "audio" group, it should make some sound. I've heard reports that it sounds better over HDMI.

hey guys and toad king

thanks for all your help i try to run the retroarch from CLI (interactive terminal) and it WORKs!!! right now im trying supermario world and yoshins island, i want to contribute with a little part with the newbies i made a little how to (according to my knowledge) step by step to get the retroarch up and running
http://www.raspberrypilabs.com/retroarc ... y-pi-snes/

i hope it can be usefull for all the newbies in linux

hey guys and toad king

thanks for all your help i try to run the retroarch from CLI (interactive terminal) and it WORKs!!! right now im trying supermario world and yoshins island, i want to contribute with a little part with the newbies i made a little how to (according to my knowledge) step by step to get the retroarch up and running
http://www.raspberrypilabs.com/retroarc ... y-pi-snes/

i hope it can be usefull for all the newbies in linux

Nice guide, but a couple things:

* You don't need the mesa OpenGL stuff. In fact, RetroArch explicitly disables them, because the they can interfere with the EGL/GLES stuff. (Not so much yet, but the video core will eventually use GLES and we'll have neat stuff like shader effects.)
* You don't need any of those video_* options in the configuration file. Those are mostly for windowed environments, and the Raspberry Pi video driver ignores them anyway.

@toad king

so many thanks for your comments i will do the right corrections in the guide