NES ROMs not starting

[cougar281]

I set up an installation of RetroPie from the full downloadable image. I then set up my Wireless XBox 360 Controller, and can now control the RetroPie installation with it an uploaded some Mario 1, 2 & 3 ROMS (I’ll be honest, I didn’t pull them from my cartridges, but I DO have them all out in my shed with the old NES console) and when I try to launch them, they scroll some linux text and then come back to the menu… I’ve tried ROMs from two different places, both of which were the same size, and both of them behaved the same way. I did find the updated runcommand.sh and edited the one on my SD Card, which made no difference (after reboot, of course).

Any thoughts?

[petrockblog]

Are you using HDMI or composite?

[cougar281]

I’ve tried both and it does the same exact thing either way.

[jplaj]

Looping back to the menu is the system’s generic way of saying “error.” It could be caused by a number of things. If you want to find out more specifically what the problem is, plug in your keyboard, select the rom, and when it loops back to the menu, hit F4, then tell us what’s written on the screen.

Another thought is that the image you used may be an outdated version. Did you install an image with Retroarch and Emulationstation already installed? When I did that, I had the same issue–90% of my roms looped back to the menu. I might suggest installing the regular raspbian image and running the full setup script. That seemed to solve most of my problems.

[petrockblog]

Did you use version 1.5 or 1.6.1?

[cougar281]

I used the 1.5 image.

Let me try the 1.6.1 image…

[cougar281]

I also noticed that Keyboard input is really flaky… It doesn’t always accept keypresses, and sometime it acts like a stuck key and will just keep sending a sting of the last key pressed. I’ve used several different keyboards, and the problem is not present when I boot RaspBMC.

[jplaj]

Where are you working, and what kind of power supply are you using?

The Raspberry Pi is very finicky about voltage, and it’s possible that these problems are all caused by insufficient power. I started working on mine while living in a 100+ year old house with ancient wiring. I had trouble getting it to detect keyboards, mice, controllers, etc, and it even affected installation of the setup script.

First, try replacing the power supply with the one for your cell phone charger (make sure it’s listed as 5v 1a first). The acceptable margin for error in those things is wider than what the Raspberry Pi can handle, so try a few.

Otherwise, try moving your workspace to a place with more consistent electricity.

[cougar281]

I’m pretty sure the keyboard flakiness is not power related. I also noted that the scree brightness fluctuates randomly (using composite out ATM). that and the keyboard flakiness is only present on the prebuilt RetroPie image. I flashed the ‘Wheezy’ Rasbian image to the same SD Card and it’s acting normally – no fluctuating screen brightness or flaky keyboard. I’ve used the supply for my Asus EeePad which is rated at 1.2A and also a 3rd DLO adapter that’s rated at 1A.

[smoothgummi]

Hey guys,

I have to admit that I am at a complete standstill with this project. After spending a couple hours getting through a learning curve, I am up to 6 hours with this exact same issue. My ROM’s show up fine, but as soon as you try to start any of them, it exits to the terminal only to immediately go back to the ROM list.

When I found this page, I thought I had found the answer, but unfortunately I still face the problem. :(

I replaced the runcommand.sh text with the updated one listed, and I tried this on the 1.5 and 1.6.1 versions. I simply cannot get it to work.

Now whenever I load up to RPI it doesn’t even load the emulator any more. It just sys “Run Entry Level:” which makes me think I have to reimage the SD Card for the 15th or so time.

Any thoughts? Am I not saving the new runcommand.sh correctly? I just take it into Notepad and copy the new text over the old text and save it.

It’s really frustrating because I see so many people making elaborate projects and posting videos on YouTube about how easy this is to setup, and I haven’t even seen one game yet.

Please help. :(

[jplaj]

It’s not easy. It took me a month before I worked out most of the kinks, and I’m still having problems. Frustration is normal; don’t get discouraged. This may take a while.

I’ve never had the ‘Run Entry Level’ error before, though, and I’ve never heard of the suggestion for replacing the runcommand.sh file. However, scanning my card I notice there are two locations for a “runcommand.sh”
~/pi/RetroPie-Setup/supplementary/
~/pi/RetroPie/supplementary/runcommand/
Are you sure you replaced the correct file?
Have you tried deleting it and putting the old file back?

[smoothgummi]

I replaced it in the:

~/pi/RetroPie/supplementary/runcommand/

location because that’s where PetRockblog specifically said to replace it at.

I suppose I could try to other place too.

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