ensuring ES gracefully finish and save metadata in every system shutdown

Sano

I would suggest to use Network Control Interface to take a savestate and properly quit Retroarch.
See here : https://buildbot.libretro.com/.docs/tech/network-control-interface/
Edit : yes I'm fond of this feature since I discovered it :)

Mafu

The reset button I have on my case is currently being controlled by the script I posted. How would I integrate the Network Control Interface with it?

caver01

@mafu it looks like, you would need to enable the option in retroarch.cfg, then insert a command such as echo -n "SAVE_STATE" | nc -u -w1 127.0.0.1 55355 before your kill command which would tell retroarch to save the game. Of course, this is limited to retroarch emulators only. If you were, for example, running AdvanceMAME, it would probably generate an error.

Mafu

I think we're talking past one another, I can't find any information on echo in python. I gave it a shot and put it in the script anyway but it just crashed the console instead of safe shutdown of the power button and did nothing when using the reset.

caver01

@mafu Sorry, I am not a python expert either, but what about borrowing the example from the script's working shutdown command and doing this:
os.system("echo -n "SAVE_STATE" | nc -u -w1 127.0.0.1 55355")

Mafu

That was an excellent idea carver01 (I facepalmed a little when I saw it for not thinking of it myself). It works partially but only on save states, not ingame save data (games that have their own dedicated save feature).

Whats frustrating is when using the OP's solution and just shutting the system down with the power button it will

Exit the game.
pause at the game selection screen (I assume this is where the "sleep 5" comes into play).
And then shut down.

What I need is a way to get it to stop at step 2 and still save the game's data(save files, save states, etc) when pressing the reset button. As it is now it goes back to the game selection screen but does not save any data.

zobilla

Hey guys

Anyone having problems with systemd refusing to load with no ExecStart line in the service?

--
pi@retropie:~ $ dmesg | grep killes
[ 2.660196] systemd[1]: killes.service lacks ExecStart setting. Refusing.
[ 2.679020] systemd[1]: Cannot add dependency job for unit killes.service, ignoring: Unit killes.service failed to load: Invalid argument. See system logs and 'systemctl status killes.service' for details.

I pulled the logs from systemctl status killes.service but it just says invalid args.

Sano

@mafu Could you precise what you mean by "save the game data" ?
Is it that .srm files are not correctly written to the sd when retroarch is exited with the script ?

It seems to me very difficult to script game saves beyond the savestates as explained above, because each game is quite specific about it's own saves (different menu, number of save slots, use of savepoints...)

caver01

@mafu said in ensuring ES gracefully finish and save metadata in every system shutdown:

That was an excellent idea carver01

Glad I can help, marfu.

If your script is still shutting down, why not remove the line from the script that does the shutdown? Seems easy enough.

TazgodX

I am having the same issue as Zobilla

dmesg | grep killes
[ 1.936038] systemd[1]: killes.service lacks ExecStart setting. Refusing.
[ 1.962910] systemd[1]: Cannot add dependency job for unit killes.service, ignoring: Unit killes.service failed to load: Invalid argument. See system logs and 'systemctl status killes.service' for details.

systemctl status killes.service
â killes.service - Kill EmulationStation
Loaded: error (Reason: Invalid argument)
Active: inactive (dead)

won't run for me.

meleu

@zobilla @TazgodX could you guys paste here the output of systemd --version?

TazgodX

systemd --version
systemd 215
+PAM +AUDIT +SELINUX +IMA +SYSVINIT +LIBCRYPTSETUP +GCRYPT +ACL +XZ -SECCOMP -APPARMOR

cyperghost

@meleu Can you link this posting in your first posting please?
@caver01 This will solve the software shutdown issue with the mausberry, without modifications on meleu's script and editing /opt/retropie/supplementary/emulationstation/emulationstation.sh and reboots can also be performed now ;) This is a generic solution and works in every state!

How to perform a software shutdown with the Mausberry and the diode/transistor hack?

NOTE: This does only work on momentary switches!

1. Prerequisites
You need to solder a diode (1N400x type 1N4001 or 1N4002) or a transistor (NPN-Type, 2N3904, BC547 or BC337) to the Mausberry on/off switch.
For the diode: Connect it between a GPIO and the mausberry button ground.
The transistors needs to soldered between ground and positive to the switch and the base line is connected to the GPIO (maybe you need a resistor to control current flow)

Therefore I strongly recommand the DIODE hack!

Don't be afraid the Raspberry is in both ways protected against current backdraws! Use the diode or the right direction as shown in the box above....

  GPIO                               MAUSBERRY
from Pie          DIODE            switch ground
   O---------------->|----------------O
                  1N4002

More to read here

2. Software part

Create gpio-shutoff with sudo nano /lib/systemd/system-shutdown/gpio-shutoff
Enter code from box below
Make the script executable with sudo chmod +x /lib/systemd/system-shutdown/gpio-shutoff

GPIO16 (or PIN 36 ) is just an example here and is my real setup

#!/bin/sh
# Perform Software Shutdown with Mausberry switch
# cyperghost for retropie.org.uk

# This is the GPIO pinconnected to the diode or transistor
GPIOpinDIODE=16

if [ "$1" = "poweroff" ]; then

    echo $GPIOpinDIODE > /sys/class/gpio/export
    echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpinDIODE/direction
    echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpinDIODE/value
    sleep 0.5
    echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpinDIODE/value
    sleep 0.5

fi

3. Why are you doing this?
The Mausberry gots a little design issue. If you performing a software shutdown (maybe via ES > Shutdown system or via SSH sudo poweroff) the PI will shut down but the Mausberry will stay active (LED is on). Furthermore it won't respond to a power button press anymore - it's stuck! So you have to switch it off completly by removing your wall plug or by resetting the Mausberry.

The diode or transistor just simulates a button press and the Mausberry will properly shutdown ;)

caver01

@cyperghost This looks like a solution that would survive RetroPie updates and is very similar to how I am triggering the transistor on my system. Question, do you know if these gets called during a reboot too, or just during a shutdown/poweroff?

Also, now that I have a Nespi case, I will be using its built-in switch for power (hardware modded of course). The Mausberry circuit can apparently be used with either a true ON/OFF switch, or with a momentary switch. Up until now, I have used a momentary, and our transistor/mosfet/diode trick has been a requirement to "poke" the circuit during a software shutdown. I wonder how this behavior will change with the Nespi switch? I will have to do some tests to see if a regular on/off switch is immune to the stuck power issue.

I will be using my reset switch to trigger exiting like @lostless.

cyperghost

@caver01 said in ensuring ES gracefully finish and save metadata in every system shutdown:

I wonder how this behavior will change with the Nespi switch?

Sorry, the NESPi Power Switch is a non momentary switch - I removed this with a momentary in my build. If you have a latching (= non momentary) switch then a software shutdown does not work in general!

these gets called during a reboot too, or just during a shutdown/poweroff?

if [ "$1" = "poweroff" ]; then

The GPIO action is called only on shutdown caused by the if clause in the bash script
The systemd process triggers all scripts stored in the folders /lib/systemd.../ and calls the current shutdown level via command call and furthermore systemd waits that all scripts get regular closed. So if you reboot the command call $1 would be reboot, a shutdown is called poweroff

So you can extend the script by a reboot case and let a LED blink for example.

As I already mentioned .... This is a general solution

caver01

@cyperghost That's fantastic! So, you found the definitive answer to the shutdown vs. reboot problem. Way to go!

cyperghost

@caver01 Yes, that's the solution for this problem so far. But don't thank me (directly), it were the people from PIMORONI and theirclean SHIM shutdown daemon here that give me hints how this work. The solution is nested into the setup script ;)

meleu

@cyperghost said in ensuring ES gracefully finish and save metadata in every system shutdown:

Can you link this posting in your first posting please?

Done!

Thanks for sharing. ;)

Semper 5

this script had been working great until about 2 days ago. I noticed it stopped saving my favorites.

i add a game to favorites, power down, then on, and no changes to my list.

I completely wiped the whole card and I'm back to the same nonsense:

metadata save results:
MENU shutdown - will save
MENU reboot system - will save
MENU restart ES - will save

soft shutdown button on NESpi - will NOT save

could somebody help, or explain please?

G30FF

I just modded my NESPi case with the safe shutdown hack by Yahmez (https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/12424/retroflag-nespi-case-soft-power-reset-hack). I used the version of his script that turns the Reset button into a "quit emulator" button. I also set up this script exactly as described in the OP, same paths, same files, everything. But ES metadata is not being saved on shutdown or reboot.

The killes script is working fine. If I run killes directly, everything behaves as it should. The problem is something to do with the killes.service systemd unit. Systemctl status reports that the service is loaded, and the Active status is "active (exited)". The killes.service file is exactly as it appears in the OP, and is in the same location. I don't think it has anything to do with the NESPi script mentioned above, as it doesn't save the metadata if I call "sudo shutdown now" from SSH or the terminal either. Any help would be greatly appreciated.