Is there any way to lock down retropie?

[dunginhawk]

Good evening... Is there any way to lock down retropie so that you cant get to the settings? Once i get it where I want it, i want to see arcade, and nothing else. No way to edit or modify settings.. like a full lock down.

Either a certain key combination to unlock it, OR you need to format the SD card.. either way :)

is this possible?

thanks

[Hex]

@dunginhawk When you say settings is it Retropie settings or EmulationStation settings?

To remove Retropie settings permanently:
sudo rm -r /home/pi/RetroPie/retropiemenu/

To remove Retropie settings temporarily:
sudo mv /home/pi/RetroPie/retropiemenu/ /home/pi/RetroPie/RPmenu/

Unfortunately if you want to remove EmulationStation settings (those accessed by START key) you will have to try a different version of EmulationStation (Kids Mode).

[dunginhawk]

hex.. thank you... I think those are both great options for me. thank you

[akafox]

Yes there is a kiosk/kids mode in the experimental section...it's buggy but does work...sometimes? (more often than not..)but...

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/12271/want-to-improve-kiosk-kid-mode
and..

I used this video...

as for locking out the retropie menu itself no there is not as of right now that i am aware of..short of commenting it out of the es_systems.cfg...makes it hard (if not impossible) to get back to.

[edmaul69]

@dunginhawk personally to not make it permanent, i would open up the /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg and find the retropie menu section and on the line above it i would put

<!--

And on the line below it add

-->

This would disable it without removing anything.

[dunginhawk]

ok... good input... thank you :) id like to be able to reverse it, so yeah :)

[Hex]

@dunginhawk The second command is to rename the directory. This temporarily removes the settings. You can add them back by renaming it back.

[BuZz]

You should remove RetroPie menu via retropie-setup -> core packages not via edited es systems or manually removing or else it will get added back on upgrade.

[Capeman]

It's very easy to remove the "Main Menu" and "Options" menus that appear in ES when you press start and select.

All you need to do is navigate to:
/opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation

open the file:
es_input.cfg

Inside this file you will see the ES controls for every controller you have setup. This is ONLY the controls for ES, adjusting anything in this file does not affect the retroarch controls.

All you need to do is locate the controller you wish to lock those menus out of in the file (they will be in there by name), and edit these 2 lines:

<input name="start" type="button" id="9" value="1"/>
<input name="select" type="button" id="8" value="1"/>

Set the ID value to a number that is not supported on your controller (if your controller supports 12 buttons, any number above 13 should work, but i recommend 99)

<input name="start" type="button" id="99" value="1"/> #9
<input name="select" type="button" id="99" value="1"/> #8

I add the #ed out numbers at the end so you can remember their original configuration. But doing this will set the menu buttons to buttons that are not on your controller, effectively rendering them inaccessible . You can also lock out random and add/remove favorites by doing this to the buttons corresponding to Y and X also.

[Capeman]

To remove the launch command, go into the retropie system on your carousel, choose
configure 'runcommand' launch script
and turn that setting off.

That will remove the box that appears when a game loads letting you adjust emulator and video settings.

[Capeman]

And finally...

Removing the retropie settings "system" from the carousel is also very easy.

FIRST close emulationstation and exit back to command line.

Just navigate to:
etc/emulationstation

Copy this file to your computer
es_systems.cfg

Copy this file back to your pi, but in this location:
/opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation

This will override the file that loads from the root protected /etc folder and give you a copy you can edit

Then all you need to do is open the new version that file and edit this section:

  <system>
    <name>retropie</name>
    <fullname>RetroPie</fullname>
    <path>~/RetroPie/retropiemenu</path>
    <extension>.rp .sh</extension>
    <command>sudo /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_packages.sh retropiemenu launch %ROM% &lt;/dev/tty &gt;/dev/tty</command>
    <platform/>
    <theme>retropie</theme>
    <directlaunch/>
  </system>

and add HTML hide tags above and below

  <!--
<system>
    <name>retropie</name>
    <fullname>RetroPie</fullname>
    <path>~/RetroPie/retropiemenu</path>
    <extension>.rp .sh</extension>
    <command>sudo /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_packages.sh retropiemenu launch %ROM% &lt;/dev/tty &gt;/dev/tty</command>
    <platform/>
    <theme>retropie</theme>
    <directlaunch/>
  </system>
-->

This will hide the retropie system on the carousel after you reboot emulationstation.

[BuZz]

@capeman Please see my post above - editing this file manually is not recommended, and any update will make it appear again. The retropie menu can be removed via Manage Packages -> Core Packages -> retropiemenu and removed from there.

[Capeman]

@buzz Yes, i've noticed that happens on an update. I usually edit this file to re-order the systems in my carousel, id rather go by age than alphabetical. When i update retropie it rewrites this file back to it's original state.

My method is definitely a very hacky way to adjust the carousel and i agree it's not recommended for newer users. My workaround is i always keep a duplicate of my es_systems.cfg file in the same directory, so when an update resets it, i can just restore my backup.

One question though, if you use the retropie menu to access the manage packages option, after reboot the retropie menu is gone... so how do you get back to the manage packages menu to restore it? That seems like a permanent change versus a temporary one.

[BuZz]

@capeman You run RetroPie-Setup from commandline/ssh and re-install retropiemenu.

[dunginhawk]

wow,, there is a ton of information here and it appears there are many ways to do it, most of which are disputed...
should be fun to wade through all the options lol ;)

Does it change things if retropie will NEVER be updated on this box? :)

[Capeman]

@dunginhawk My method to hide ES options/main menu works well. (see my first of 3 posts) It's simple controller mapping update, non-destructive and easily reversible. @hex suggested you might need ES kid's version to do this, but in my tests, a simple remapping like this achieves the same effect without needing to install a whole different version.
BUT... the unfortunate side effect of this is you lose the ability to shutdown from a menu, so you would need a different solution.

Hiding runcommand (my second of 3 posts) is standard and well documented, there is no unofficial way to do that. I was just reiterating the wiki on that one.

Hiding the "Retropie" system on the main carousel is your choice. @buzz's way is the official way to hide it semi-permanently, it's definitely better and if you have problems the mods can help you undo it, but if you are not savy with a command line, getting this menu back might be a bit intimidating.

The hacky and unrecommended way that I (and @edmaul69) suggested has unfortunate side effect of needing to be redone every time an update is made, but has the added benefit of re-ordering systems if you want your carousel to not be alphabetical. Only do this if you are comfortable with managing settings on your own with limited support.

Nice thing about working with linux and open-source is you can go with well documented options or you can hack to your heart's content. Just respect the code, know your skill level and don't touch things you don't know how to use and you should be fine.

[dunginhawk]

thank you for condensing it :)

[Capeman]

@dunginhawk No prob, the mods are probably laughing at me beause i had to edit it about 20 times to get all the ideas across. haha

[ohmycommodore]

As someone who never tried the "kids" version – and likely won't now that there's the ability to create a kids collection or custom collection for each of your kids... the idea of lock-down perhaps should remain a feature worth developing.

Has anyone considered a toggle in the menu for (at the very least) showing / hiding the Retropie selection in the carousel? That would lower the probability of accidental button mashing leading down a dark, dark path.

[dunginhawk]

@ohmycommodore yeah man thats exactly what i mean... it cant be hard to add that, and to unlock it, you type a key combination. UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A B A Start :)