Random slowdowns on PS Games with Retropie 3 B

tiagop

Hello, I'm experiencing some random slowdowns in some PS games with my Raspberry Pi 3 B. I'm using the default emulator (lr-psxe-rearmed) with default settings, when these slowdowns occur the FPS are still at 60. The games I have this problem are Diablo (even when there's no monsters in sight) and Tomb Raider II. I'm using the original 2.5A power supply, and I have wireless and Bluetooth enabled. I also have a RJ45 cable plugged in, this might cause the slowdown? I've read lots of posts and the wiki and I can't find a solution (using or not using enhaced resolution has the same effect), it almost feels like the Raspberry is not fully using the CPU. Can anyone help me please? I'm using Dualshock 4 controller via USB and I also have heatsinks and I've never seen the overheating warning so I think I can rule out thermal throttle

dankcushions

@tiagop are you sure these slowdowns didn’t exist on the original playstation?

are you over clocking?

i would also try without bluetooth as an experiment.

tiagop

@dankcushions That's a pretty good question and the only way I can confirm is by running a PS emulator on the PC. I'm not overclocking but I will try without the Bluetooth and I will post the outcome, thanks!

tiagop

Even with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off I have the same problem. I played Tomb Raider II on the PSP and it didn't have slowdowns :s

stoo

Some PS1 games slow down if you don't overclock your Pi. With a modest overclock on your RPi3B you should be able to get them running at full speed.

For example, at stock speeds Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 drops frames. With the Pi3 OC'd, it doesn't. It just needs that little bit more.

Usual caveats:

make sure your Pi is well ventilated (mine has heatsink on all major chips, plus a fan)
make sure you have a decent power supply
don't be overambitious with the overclocking
do this at your own risk

Here's what I use. Modify your /boot/config.txt

# RPi3 overclock settings
arm_freq=1300
gpu_freq=500
core_freq=500
sdram_freq=500
sdram_schmoo=0x02000020
over_voltage=3
sdram_over_voltage=3
v3d_freq=500

# RPi3 defaults below
#arm_freq=1200
#gpu_freq=400
#core_freq=400
#sdram_freq=450
#sdram_schmoo=0x02000020
#over_voltage=0
#sdram_over_voltage=0

Bear in mind that the real PS1 didn't exactly have a stellar framerate in most games.

tiagop

@stoo said in Random slowdowns on PS Games with Retropie 3 B:

Some PS1 games slow down if you don't overclock your Pi. With a modest overclock on your RPi3B you should be able to get them running at full speed.

For example, at stock speeds Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 drops frames. With the Pi3 OC'd, it doesn't. It just needs that little bit more.

Usual caveats:

make sure your Pi is well ventilated (mine has heatsink on all major chips, plus a fan)

make sure you have a decent power supply

don't be overambitious with the overclocking

do this at your own risk

Here's what I use. Modify your /boot/config.txt
# RPi3 overclock settings
arm_freq=1300
gpu_freq=500
core_freq=500
sdram_freq=500
sdram_schmoo=0x02000020
over_voltage=3
sdram_over_voltage=3
v3d_freq=500

# RPi3 defaults below
#arm_freq=1200
#gpu_freq=400
#core_freq=300
#sdram_freq=450
#sdram_schmoo=0x02000020
#over_voltage=0
#sdram_over_voltage=0
Bear in mind that the real PS1 didn't exactly have a stellar framerate in most games.

Thanks, I read that the Raspberry Pi 3 has flawless PS emulation and I thought I messed up something on my end. I will try to do a very small overclock since I only have heatsinks (though the case has good airflow)

Z1mzum

I myself had quite a few random psx freezes on the same board and went through these forums looking for similar cases. Trying everything from turning off controller vibrations to allot of different video settings, it turns out that swapping out my cheap SD to an external HDD has rectified all my Ps1 problems. Tomb Raider 2 was really suffering until now, I think there is allot of truth to SD card quality with the pi. Also, this external HDD is %100 powered by the pi.

tiagop

@z1mzum I don't think that's my problem, I bought a good 32 GB card from SanDisk, I don't experience freezes but some frame loss and even the music becomes choppy during these drops (with or without the visual enhancement). I'm not saying that it renders the game unplayable but for me it's really annoying :/

stoo

@tiagop I think you'll be OK running the settings above. Maybe leave out the line v3d_freq=500 as I don't know if this even does anything anymore (the documentation is ambiguous depending where you read).

Obviously, overvoltage = more heat. Some Pis need more voltage to maintain a stable OC, others can do fine on lower voltages. I keep mine at 3. You can't exceed 6 without voiding the warranty. See link below.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/overclocking.md

If you get instability, graphics corruption or the dreaded thermometer symbol in the top right then drop them back towards the defaults a little.

Most RPi3 can do 1300 arm_freq and 500 sdram_freq without trouble if you raise the voltage a little. Maybe start the core_freq (that's the GPU, confusingly) at 450 and if it's OK then try 500. I made a typo above that i've corrected now. the core default is 400, not 300, on the RPi3.

With these settings I've never had frame drops severe enough to make the audio stutter. (some games have framerate drops even on a real PS1)

tiagop

@stoo I will check it out thanks! I have small heatsinks on the chips and usually when I'm using the RPi I open the top of the case for better heat dispersion. I will also check the CPU governor settings to see if it isn't in power saving mode or something

Z1mzum

@tiagop said in Random slowdowns on PS Games with Retropie 3 B:

@z1mzum I don't think that's my problem, I bought a good 32 GB card from SanDisk, I don't experience freezes but some frame loss and even the music becomes choppy during these drops (with or without the visual enhancement). I'm not saying that it renders the game unplayable but for me it's really annoying :/

Oh Mine didn't freeze, poor choice of words by me. SanDisk 32gb worked fine for me but my SanDisk 64gb was reluctant to perform, Same class different size. Just putting it out there as a possibility, I hope you're successful locating a fix.

pjft

Before going out of your way and changing other settings, do turn off vibrations from the RetroArch quick settings > options menu and see if it helps. There's a known issue with vibration causing stuttering on some controllers. Might be that.

I wonder if vibration shouldn't be turned off as default for RetroPie - any thoughts?

tiagop

@pjft I've read about that too and disabling vibration made no difference. Tried overclocking and the music is no longer choppy (same slowdowns in enhanced mode even with the hack) but without it runs great. I will remove the overclock for now until I have at least a 5v fan (I had no overheat issues but I'm paranoid about temps), thanks for all the help!

stoo

@tiagop Yeah, with enhanced rez I've noticed a few minor slowdowns in certain games, like particular areas on certain tracks in Ridge Racer Type 4, but they're momentary and they don't interrupt the audio so I don't mind them.

The speedup hack disables certain screenbuffer effects (like the monitors on some tracks in Wipeout 3 that display you as you're racing) but I've found that disabling it makes no discernable difference to the framerate, so I just leave the hack off for maximum eyecandy.

Glad the OC helps. I use a PI-FAN type fan. It's fine but at 5v it seems to run really fast and is a bit noisy.

I've taken one of the pin contacts out of the plastic casing and moved it to the 3.3v pin to slow it a bit. Makes it a little bit quieter. I think it's OK to do this.

(If I understand correctly, a 5v 200ma fan should draw about 300ma at 3.3v and according to this post later Pi models can supply up to 800ma on the 3.3v pin.)

quicksilver

@stoo just as a side note, for overclocking the GPU: If you are keeping all GPU values the same, then you only need to set the gpu_freq. gpu_freq sets the value for the core_freq and the other 3 blocks of the GPU. If you want to set v3d_freq as a different value then you must add avoid_pwm_pll=1 to your config.

BobHarris

@tiagop I still think it is odd that you need to overclock your Pi to be able to play PS1 games without slowdown (not talking about enhanced resolution).
I never experienced any slowdown on PS1 games, including Tomb raider 2.
Are you maybe using demanding filters? I have noticed some filters give problems, but the crt filter should not introduce slowdowns.

quicksilver

@tiagop do the slow-downs occur in the same place in-game? Or does it occur randomly? I have TRII on my pi currently so if there is a place in game that it slows down I can test and see if it's a unique problem.

tiagop

A big thanks to all of you trying to help me! @quicksilver in Venice it's a lag fest (especially using the boat) and at Lara's home in the test course it lags a lot too. I'm not using any filters, shaders and I haven't messed up the configurations on retroarch :). Even without enchanted resolution it starts to drop the framerate. It's really weird because I played this game on my PSP and it was flawless :/

BobHarris

@tiagop I guess it's also safe to assume you downloaded the retropie image from this website? Did you buy your sd card from a reputable source? I'm starting to agree the problem might be hardware related. You should not experience any slowdown in the test course, at least not without enhanced resolution enabled.

tiagop

@bobharris Yes I downloaded and installed retropie from here and I've already tested 2 SD cards class 10 from SanDisk (one is 16 GB and the other is 32 GB). I've ran updates and it's still the same, I tried using the non libre retro of the PSX emulator but for some reason I can't map the controller (I press the buttons to map and it doesn't do anything nor does it create a controller.txt) the only thing I can think of is reinstalling Retropie but I don't really want to do that. Again a big thanks for everyone!