[smithers]

Yes I should have mentioned that. It has became a habit of mine to rename any files that cause a system to appear if I don’t use it (to prevent it showing in the ES menu). I should have renamed the files back again so they appeared – my bad!

This will affect PC, Apple2 and Macintosh (off the top of my head). All I do is add an extra character on the end of the file (.shh instead of .sh), so you just need to rename it and it will re-appear.

I will wait to see if any other bugs are called out first before deciding if it’s enough to warrant a re-upload.

Thanks for trying it out anyway – it’s relieving to hear that it works! :)

[smithers]

Right then – here is a link to v3 of my build:

[ links removed ]

I have taken a different approach for this build in that it is no longer a disk image and instead is a custom NOOBS installer. This has multiple benefits over a disk image, i.e. smaller file size (~800MB vs ~3.7GB!), and best of all NOOBS will handle all partitioning during install. This means it will always expand the filesystem to the max on the RetroPie partition no matter whether you use a 8GB, 16GB, 32GB or beyond. No need for any partition tinkering any more!

Here is the changelog for v3:

* Based on RetroPie v3 RC1 for stability, controller and emulator improvements (controller setup seems perfect now)
* Re-enabled all of the RetroPie menu and themed all items accordingly
* Updated some system background themes for a better look
* Removed all gamelists and screenshots aside from MAME, FBA and SCUMMVM (I will offer these as an alternative download for those who want it)
* Amended the KODI script so it no longer shows as a ‘Favourite’. This means you can now add in favourites again without it cluttering the ‘Games’ section in KODI!
* Added extra menu items into KODI home screen which I had overlooked in the last build

Known bugs:
Atari Lynx emulator is not working properly Roms will load and play fine but there is no picture output.

Full install instructions are included in the ‘README’ file – please be sure to read them to avoid any issues!

I hope this works out ok for you as it seems perfect at my end and I have tested it on an 8GB and a 32GB SD card and both worked fine.

Please let me know if this works out ok for you and report any bugs should you find them (cringe!).

All the best
Steve

p.s. I will offer my screenshot and gamelist packs as a separate download for those interested. I removed them to cut down the file size on your SD card.

[smithers]

Ok then. Good news – I have figured it all out, finally! :o

Currently uploading a new build which seems perfect, i.e. it will partition itself correctly to your SD card and controller setup is working.

Going to take a while for it to upload so I’ll leave it overnight and post a link tomorrow (well, today really since it’s 2am!).

I am using Drop box this time and the file is much smaller at around 850MB. Hopefully this will quash any download issues that people were having.

I’ll post more info about it when I have the link.

All the best.
Steve

[smithers]

[quote=103050]I wish I could be of help Smithers re: the sd expansion :(. I also googled a ton.

Kamovsky….just use the link that smithers provided. If you cannot DL from this link, then you’re going to have a bunch of problems setting all this RP2 stuff up. (Sorry I dont meant to sound rude there, but you know)

[/quote]

No probs – thanks for looking. It certainly is a pain!

So I’ve been working on a solution pretty solid all this week and I *think* I’ve nailed it. I’ve managed to make custom NOOBS installer versions of both RetroPie and my modified KODI build (with the games launcher script built in). I tested it out late last night and it all worked out fine BUT Emulation Station froze at the ‘Welcome’ screen…. Doh! :(

I didn’t have time to check the filesystem out to try and find the problem as it was getting too late (and I had to get some sleep for work today!), but I will do that tonight and hopefully find out what the problem is and fix it. That would mean I could get a new release out there this weekend.

If this all works out ok then the file size should be smaller, perhaps halved or less, as it won’t be a disk image, rather some .tar files and the NOOBS setup files. This means I can upload it to multiple servers for those who are having problems with Mega.

Question – does anyone know if Emulation Station keeps a log which would tell me why it had crashed?

[smithers]

Ok update – good news first – I have finished porting my changes to the newest RetroPie build (RC1), and all is working *except* Atari Lynx (I am just getting a coloured screen with music?). Everything else seems to be working great including joypad setup. Happy days.

Now the bad news. I am having major issues with expanding the filesystem when noobs is installed. It seems that as soon as Noobs does its initial partitioning then it won’t allow any further partitioning to be performed either by raspi-config tool or by Noobs itself.

I have scoured the internet and tried all sorts of Linux partitioning commands but nothing works.

Is there anybody that knows of a reliable method to expand a noobs as card?? Otherwise I’m completely stumped.

[smithers]

@febrile – the best way to rename your roms to match my screenshots would be to use a Windows program called ‘Fatmatch’. It does require you to copy over both screenshots and roms into a Windows pc however. You point it to your roms and screenshot directories and it will match them up and rename accordingly, ready for you to copy back over to the pi. I would recommend pointing the roms path to the screenshots folder and the screenshot path to the rom folder, as by default it renames the screenshots (which would be no good if you wanted to use my .xml files), but you need it to rename the roms to match my screenshots.

Hope that makes sense!?

[smithers]

Thanks for the tip. Maybe I could add in a script that would switch between external and internal storage? Hmmm….

I would welcome any other requests that people would like to see in this build, like pre-built ports etc (ZDoom for example), as I know it can sometimes be a pain to compile binaries if youre unfamiliar. I am no expert, but have a reasonable understanding of Linux now so can muddle my way through most things by trial and error!

Would be good to get some suggestions for inclusions as there will undoubtedly be some ports etc that I am unaware of.

Cheers.
Steve

[smithers]

Hi folks.

Quick update – I have decided that the best way to address these issues will be to start again with my build and base it upon the latest RetroPie version – v3 RC1. This seems to have controller fixes in place and of course will have more up to date emulators included.

As for the partitioning issues – I have tried to build scripts that will expand the filesystem automatically but nothing seems to work. NOOBS partitioning is very weird and using fdisk/parted on the Pi it just doesn’t seem to like it at all. :(

I have an idea of a way around this – I will set up my new version as a NOOBS installer which has a preconfigured OpenELEC and RetroPie. I will make it have different ‘flavours’ to cater for different memory card sizes, e.g. 8GB, 16GB, 32GB etc. Then all you do is select the correct size and it will expand the partition itself upon install.

In my head this all seems feasible, but I am away for a weekend break at the moment so without my Raspberry Pi (the missus wouldn’t have been too happy had I of brought it! ;) ), I can’t test it out. I can’t see there being any issues however.

Anyway – just thought I’d update you, in case you thought I’d given up already haha!

Cheers.
Steve

P.s. what is the maximum size sd card that the Pi supports? 128GB?

*Edit – forgot to ask about the inclusion of screenshots and gamelist.xml files – should I:

A) leave then all in my build
B) remove them all
C) offer a separate download for screenshots and gamelist.xml

They are not complete romset packs but cover a lot of good games on the systems I have installed. I see no harm in leaving in the MAME and FBA .xml’s and screenshots as they will always have the same rom names as mine do, but the others? Let me know what you think.

[smithers]

Many thanks Floob.

I will start afresh just to be in the safe side! It’s mainly the controller fixes that I’m wanting.

Cheers.

[smithers]

Hi Floob.

Many thanks for the videos – they are most helpful in deciding whether to take the plunge and update!

So I wondered if you knew of a quick(er) way of upgrading the key components when a new build comes out such as this one? I am currently running v3 b2 (i think), and would like to upgrade but I have so many tweaks that I would need to migrate over that I wondered if there was a way to do it in reverse, i.e. copy over the new elements from the rc1 build into my older b2 build?

I tried to copy over my setting files from my b2 into the new image but ended up that ES couldn’t start (just gave me a flickering ES logo screen!).

Just a thought and I wondered if you may know if it’s possible? I would much rather keep my existing build and just add in the new RetroPie tweaks for controllers etc.

Cheers
Steve

[smithers]

Did you make sure the permissions were set correctly when you copied the files over so user ‘Pi’ will be able to access them?

That could be the problem.

[smithers]

[quote=102415]I got the script installed and now have the options via the Retropie menu. I chose disable command line, and while it does seem to disable the rom boot command line text, it keeps the initial command line text from when my rpi boots up. I would like to have the initial rpi boot text in tact when the system powers on/restarts, however once ES loads I would like that all to be cleared like it normally does and then have no rom boot text like it seems to be doing now. Is that possible?

[/quote]

I think I know what you mean. Are you saying that when you load or exit a rom a picture of the last bit of code from bootup is displayed every time?

This script is really meant to be used if you have hidden your boot text too, however you may be able to create a script that clears all boot text and make it the last thing that is loaded on boot up? I’m not 100% certain on that mind. I like to have it all hidden you see so I haven’t encountered such issues.

[smithers]

[quote=102389]hey guys im an new to retropie.
Ive got the first image up an running but came across some some issues with controller and also when trying to resize the partition (i use 16gb card) it didnt allow me to resize it saying that I use noobs card and its already resized.
but i really like the build cant wait to get sensible soccer on it.

Thanks for great project will save me time switching the sd cards.

btw using kodi i couldn’t find input devices for joystick, pad

Thanks again!

[/quote]

:(

Indeed there is an issue with re-sizing the partition. An oversight on my behalf but it seems that the standard ‘Expand Root Filesystem’ doesn’t work when you have NOOBS installed.

This is becoming alot of hassle!

Ok so I’ve been looking at options. Easiest by far is inserting you memory card into a linux PC (or live CD) and using Gparted to re-size the partition.

Other options are pretty long-winded and involve a reasonable amount of code being input.

I was wondering something though – OpenELEC handles its expanding of partition on first boot via a script. I have a copy of this script and have attached it – could this be modified to be ran on my build if the correct partitions etc. are specified?

Any Linux pros out there who could help out here please?

As for the es_input.cfg issues – I have checked the permissions and they are set to ‘Read/Write’ so that cant be the problem? Was there an issue in RetroPie v3 B2 in regards to this? Thats the version on which my build is based upon.

I’m starting to think this has all been a waste of time for everybody! My apologies for the bugs – its all working perfect at my end with my original 32GB SD card setup! If I had the bandwidth then I would just upload a 32GB version and be done with it!

[smithers]

Well that’s annoying! Not sure why it’s doing that. :/ May be incorrect permissions on the es_input.cfg file?

As long as it can be worked around then I am happy enough. I don’t want to re-upload again for the sake of 1 file that’s for sure! :o

[smithers]

Yes it is quite handy, if I do say so myself! :)

[smithers]

@ Luis – That’s great to hear! I’m glad it is all working out ok and the renaming of roms isn’t too much of a headache. And yes, I completely forgot to mention about the .XML generator program that I installed. It certainly takes the pain out of creating the gamelists! Do bare in mind however that Linux is case sensitive so you may need to do a couple of sweeps to cover all your roms (for example it would pick up Goldenaxe.md different to Goldenaxe.MD or Goldenaxe.Md, so you would need to do 3 different runs using a different extension each time in this example).

Thanks for the feedback though – much appreciated and it sounds like we are on the same wavelength on build preferences!

@lozzajp – that would be great, thanks very much for your help! As it happens the upload has just this moment finished – see new link below:

[links removed]

I will now update the original post if I can to link to this one.

Many thanks.
Steve

[smithers]

Thanks, I appreciate your feedback!

Sounds like you are up and running then which is good. If you don’t wish to download again for the other minor changes then I can just post up a copy of the retropiemenu folder and gamelist.xml file for the ‘RetroPie Settings’ menu if you want? It just re-enables all the various options in there and adds a picture for each menu item.

Let me know if you want it or if you are just going to download the new image I’m uploading.

Cheers.
Steve

p.s. out of curiosity – are you finding it easy to rename the roms to match mine? I couldn’t think of any easy way to go about it, but you could use a program called Fat Match which will take most of the pain out of it for you.

[smithers]

Right then. You may wish to hold back from downloading the image above as I have decided to tweak the image and upload again.

I have reverted back to standard controller settings in all emulators and Emulation Station so when you first boot this image it will display the ‘Controller Setup’ screen as if it was a fresh install.

I have added in my command line switcher script and by default the command line is enabled, allowing you to perform any setup / command line activities you need to do. You can then disable it when you are ready, to allow a clean fade between rom open / exit.

I have re-enabled all of the retropie setup scripts and added an image for each item, keeping with the theme of the rest of the system.

I have added the shareware version of Duke Nukem 3D back in.

I have added a ‘readme.txt’ file in the archive – please read through for installation instructions, build notes and troubleshooting.

I envisage this will be my final build!

File size remains the same @ 3.7GB and I am currently uploading now but it will take all night (ETA 10 hours), so I will post a link here when it is done.

Sorry but I cannot upload to multiple different sites – my terrible upload speeds makes it un-feasible. If somebody feels generous enough to upload it to a different website once they have downloaded from MEGA then feel free.

[smithers]

Hi.

I replied this last night but my post must not have worked? :a

So basically I think this a permissions thing. Linux is a swine for permissions, especially if you have copied the files via ftp from Windows as Windows doesn’t retain the file permissions that Linux attaches (in my experience – maybe someone more knowledgeable could confirm?).

So to fix this, in SSH go to your /home/pi directory and type the following command:

sudo chmod 777 "text_switcher"

This should reset the permissions for the whole folder and allow you to install.

If this does not work then you need to go into the folder and chmod the script files and make them executable again by using the following command:

sudo chmod +x "filename.sh"

Do that on every script file (including in the /resources/ folder).

I always have permission issues if I have copied via ftp from a Windows machine so it is a good habit to always reset the permissions via ftp after you have copied the files. I use FileZilla and you can right-click I’m the files, set permissions.

Anyway, good luck!

[smithers]

Ok – here is an installer script I’ve made that when run will create 2 new scripts that will sit inside the RetroPie Menu screen in Emulation Station that will allow you to toggle command line access on and off (so you can use retropie setup script etc. but when finished you can turn off to allow clean emulator open and exit).

[ links removed]

Extract the contents and you should be left with a folder named “text_switcher”. Copy the folder onto your Raspberry Pi via FTP (or using Linux, if you run it), into the /home/pi/ directory, so it should look like:

/home/pi/text_switcher/

Now log into the pi via SSH and type in the following exactly:

cd text_switcher/
sudo ./install.sh

It is very important that you are inside the ‘text_switcher’ directory when running the above install script, so do not run it from another directory as it will not work!

Your Pi will now reboot and you will notice 2 extra items in the RetroPie menu. Now because you have used my build, it is safe to install an update to my gamelist.xml file which will assign a proper name and picture for the 2 new items.

I would not advise doing this step if you have not used my build

To install the theme update, log back into SSH on your Pi and type the following:

cd text_switcher/
sudo ./theme_install.sh

Your Pi will now reboot again and you will notice the 2 new items have been renamed and they have a picture to go with them, keeping with the theme throughout.

It is now safe to delete the “text_switcher” folder in /home/pi/, but do not delete the /home/pi/backup/ folder! This is where the magic takes place! ;)

I have also attached the standard es-input.cfg file should you want to replace mine.

Hope this helps people who were having difficulties in amending settings etc.

Cheers.
Steve

[smithers]

No probs. I had this issue myself and I was scratching my head for ages, tried all sorts of tweaks in config files then noticed the rainbow icon was appearing at the exact time of slowdown. Changed my power supply and the slowdown stopped – everything now running great!

[smithers]

I’ve been having a think about it and I’m going to create a script that will let you toggle between having the command / boot text showing and disabling it (also the RetroPie text). I can think of how it will work on my head but haven’t tried it in the real world yet! Providing it works I will also make a script that installs it into the RetroPie settings menu in ES (along with a picture for the theme, to keep it uniform!).

I will probably make a new post for this (as others may be interested) but link it here too.

I will also create a simple script to revert my build back to es_input.cfg and RetroArch.cfg standard settings (for controllers).

[smithers]

Are you seeing a rainbow coloured square in the top-right corner of the screen when the slowdown occurs? If so then you are having power supply issues – your Pi is not getting enough power to it when it needs it which is causing the slowdown.

As it happens, Alien 3 on the SNES is one of the specific games I use to test a power supply on the Pi! It seems to be demanding for some reason, so I know exactly what you are seeing at your end and I would imagine a power supply replacement will sort you out (and you won’t need to change it to CATSFC to work around it).

You need a genuine 2amp (minimum) power supply to prevent such power supply issues. I use a power supply called made by ‘North Pada’ and they are great. Also The Pi Hut 2amp supplies are great too and both can be bought off Amazon.

[smithers]

In the ES_input.cfg file you need to enter the keyboard inputs using their numeric value that the Pi assigns them. In SSH, type in the below and press enter, then scroll through the file to see the various numbers that are assigned:

nano /usr/include/linux/input.h

**edit** – I have attached a text file which shows the keyboard input part of that file above. probably easier to work from.

I use a keyboard / air mouse / remote combo and have mine setup to use the ‘power’ button on the remote to bring up the ES menu. That’s why it may look a little weird in the file on my build! In hindsight I should have probably changed it back to standard before I uploaded but never mind. It’s an easy fix.

[smithers]

F4 won’t work unless you edit the cmdline.txt to revert it back to original settings (see my ‘notes on build’ post further up). Otherwise you will have to use SSH instead (that’s what I do).

Roms folder permissions should be fine? I set them all as read/write for user ‘Pi’ (and others). If it’s a problem then SSH in and type:

sudo chmod 777 "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/"

And that should fix it for you.

As for keyboard navigation – what is confusing you, and is it in ES or or RetroArch?

[smithers]

Your welcome! Hope it all works ok as I would hate to have to upload again! :o

Another note that I forgot to add – you will need to re-size your RetroPie partition to make full use of your SD card (unless you are using an 8GB). You will probably have to do this via SSH though.

Also, in the Ports section you will find I have left the shortcuts in for Quake (Darkplaces), Duke 3D and Doom2, but these will not work as I removed the pak / wad files. Doom 1 will work as I replaced it with shareware version. The remake games will also work as they are homebrew games (OpenBOR) so fine to leave in there.

[smithers]

Right then. To answer a few questions – firstly, this is Raspberry Pi 2 only, I imagine it wont work at all on a Pi 1, however you could probably replace the various files needed for a Pi1 if needed? I would recommend buying a Pi2 instead though – its much better!

OK so a couple of notes on my build. I have disabled all boot text and all command line text etc. This gives a lovely clean look however it does mean that you cannot see the command prompt if you need to work on anything via terminal (command line). This means it is strictly SSH only unless you revert the cmdline.txt back to original settings. Another side-effect of this is that if you go into a menu (e.g. when you press ‘X’ whilst loading a game), when you make your changes and exit out you will notice that a static screen of the menu screen will appear every time you load / exit a game (instead of fading to black). This is resolved by a reboot. There is probably a way to enter a ‘clear’ command or something into the script to get around this, but I haven’t got that far and you shouldn’t need to really tweak too much in there anyways. Another point to note is that this also makes some of the RetroPie Setup items defunct as they need the command line visible. I normally remove the ‘Settings’ tab on my build as I don’t need them, but I kept it in for this build.

Over clocking – If you check my ‘Config.txt’ file you will see I have commented out my over clock settings. Those settings work great for me, however I do not want to be responsible for corrupting your SD card so please test your own over clock settings. I have not applied ‘Turbo’ mode though so will not invalidate your warranty (if that’s still a thing these days?).

Screen resolutions – I have a Samsung Smart TV and it can handle pretty much any resolution I throw at it. Your TV may be different, so if you get no image when stating a game you may want to use a different resolution via the RetroPie launch script.

So as to what I have actually done in my build – nothing revolutionary, more of a time-saver for you really, but here is a list off the top of my head of ‘non-standard’ things I have done to this setup:

Created dual boot between OpenELEC and RetroPie, with a script in RetroPie to launch KODI and an Add-on in KODI to launch RetroPie.
Created a boot video which transitions smoothly into the ES logo
Hidden all boot text, Pi splash screen, Pi logo
Hidden all RetroPie text so when selecting or exiting a game no text is displayed
Merged AdvMAME and MAME4ALL / lr-MAME4ALL under 1 system menu and assigned the best emulator for each rom (this means no static noise in Donkey Kong, better sound quality in System 16 games [aside from Altered Beast which doesn’t work properly in AdvMame], and the MK2 / 3 roms play in Lr-MAME and I have set the config to boost the volume to normal levels)
Assigned the correct emulator for every FBA rom, so every one works properly in the best emulator (PiFBA or lr-FBA)
Created KODI system / theme
Tweaked video resolutions and ratios on all systems (and individual games where needed), to get maximum screen size possible. *some people may not like this, but I prefer to have a full screen stretched image when running on my 16:9 TV, rather than huge black borders
Installed various extra systems, through the RetroPie setup script and otherwise (e.g. OpenBOR)
Amended all themes to add in frontend sounds and also so only a (large) screenshot is shown per game. Also added screenshots for every rom (in my collection), and re-sized all to 640×480 or less so no lag when scrolling through games
Created new system backgrounds for every system and hidden the Emulation Station help text for a cleaner look
Removed /etc/network/interfaces file due to it creating a start-up lag (in my experience)

That’s all I can think of from the top of my head. Like I say, nothing revolutionary, but all in all it has taken me around 7 months to get to the point where I can say I am happy with the full setup. It is more time consuming than anything. An understanding of Linux helps too (which I now have, but am no-where near skilled in it yet!).

Any questions or feedback just let me know.

Cheers.
Steve

[smithers]

Right then folks – the upload has finally finished! :!:

Here is a link – hope this works!

https://mega.co.nz/#!0RgHiBaB!5XA3mXLz-DgEe6zSURZAnjUmoftVkp8zAKx9dcjeB-g

*EDIT* – use this link instead which is updated and tweaked:

[ links removed]

Please let me know how you get on.

I will respond to your question tomorrow as I must now go to bed (got to be up for work in less than 5 hours!) :(

[smithers]

I am currently uploading to Mega, but it is going to be verrrry slow going with my horrific upload speeds (currently 89kb with an ETA of nearly 12 hours!).

I can’t imagine a torrent would be any easier or faster would it?

[smithers]

Ok then, update!

The Tar.xz file I tried to make in Linux did not work at all and the Tar file was bigger than the original image @ 9GB!! :s Not sure what happened there!!

So then, I have used 7-Zip instead and it has trimmed the ~8GB image nicely down to 3.7GB. Perfect!

So now the question is – where to upload it? I have a Mega account, is that any good for such a large file? I don’t ever have the need to upload anything massive like this so don’t know what the best options are.

Any thoughts?

[smithers]

Ok then. I have created an image which should owrk out ok but its rather large @ ~8GB!

I am currently compressing it via tar.xz in Linux which will hopefully reduce it somewhat but we will see.

In the meantime – here is a zip file containing directory prints of my roms folder structures. This means you can rename your rom files to match mine and then the screenshots will appear and they will load into the best emulator etc.

[smithers]

Hi.

I didn’t document it, no – it’s been a case of trial and error all the way. I know it all in my head though, the amount of tweaking I have been doing over the months, so if you are having any issues just ask and I may be able to help.

I will start making this image then – I think it would be best to make a disc image rather than noobs Setup files, as it cuts out the need for any manual installation (and the chance of things going wrong!).

Only thing you need to add is roms and I will include my screenshots and a directory print out so you can simply rename your roms using a renaming tool (Fatmatch is good), then drop them in the right directories and a game list will be setup already waiting so the screenshots should appear. Simple! (in theory!). Then the last thing you would need to do is set up your controllers, OR, buy a pair of Thrustmaster mini t wireless pads and then you can use my config as is!

Anyway, I will post an update when I’m near completion!

Cheers.
Steve

[smithers]

I can post my retroarch.cfg settings file if you like? I have no issues with those or any emulators so it may be a setting that needs tweaked?

[smithers]

Hi.

Are you getting a rainbow coloured square in the top right corner of your screen when the slowdown occurs? If so then you need a better power supply and it will sort you out.

I had exactly same problem and it affected SNES and lr-mame too. Changing my power supply to a true 5v 2a eliminated all my issues.

[smithers]

*Press X on your keyboard – not on your joypad. I probably should have mentioned that!

[Author]

Posts