Portable GameStation - gamelist.xml issues

MrSanityCheck

I've done a lot of searching to see if I can find info on this, but with no luck. I'm even hesitant to post this on the RetroPie forums when this is about the Windows version of Emulation Station, but @herb_fargus and others seem to post here.

The Issue
When I exit EmulationStation for windows, it does its update of the gamelist.xml for the <playcount>, but it is also changing the <image> tag path for the game just played. This then breaks the image preview for the game the next time I launch EmulationStation. Is this expected behaviour or a bug? If it is expected behaviour, can I change a setting to stop it doing this?

Details
I started with Portable EmulationStation 1.5. However, I have updated retroarch to 1.7.1 and EmulationStation to jrassa's v2.8.0-201822280322. I have also changed the folder structure as I was struggling to debug issues with the existing structure. I have tried to keep all paths relative to continue to ensure portability. Everything is now working great apart from this issue.

I have previously edited the gamelist.xml via the UXS and manually. I have used the in-built scraper, which downloads the images fine, but the <image> path changes in the gamelist.xml when I exit EmulationStation (due to what I think is the same/similar issue).

An example of a working game form the gamelist XML is this:

<game>
	<path>./Smash Tennis (Europe).sfc</path>
	<name>Smash Tennis</name>
	<desc>The controls of Smash Tennis {truncated}...</desc>
	<image>..\..\emulationstation\.emulationstation\downloaded_images\snes\Smash Tennis (Europe)-image.jpg</image>
	<rating>0.7</rating>
	<releasedate>19940101T000000</releasedate>
	<developer>Namco</developer>
	<publisher>Virgin Interactive</publisher>
	<genre>Sports</genre>
	<players>4+</players>
	<playcount>4</playcount>
	<lastplayed>20180313T164357</lastplayed>
</game>

After playing the game and exiting EmulationStation, the entry changes to:

<game>
	<path>./Smash Tennis (Europe).sfc</path>
	<name>Smash Tennis</name>
	<desc>The controls of Smash Tennis {truncated}...</desc>
	<image>./tation/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/snes/Smash Tennis (Europe)-image.jpg</image>
	<rating>0.7</rating>
	<releasedate>19940101T000000</releasedate>
	<developer>Namco</developer>
	<publisher>Virgin Interactive</publisher>
	<genre>Sports</genre>
	<players>4+</players>
	<playcount>5</playcount>
	<lastplayed>20180313T165037</lastplayed>
</game>

Versions
EmulationStation Win32 2.8.0-201822280322 (from jrassa's automated continuous builds)
RetroArch 1.7.1

Folder Structure
\ (Root of portable drive)
\EmulationStation
\ROMs
\Retroarch

Thanks in advance for any help!

herb_fargus

@mrsanitycheck there was a recent paths change in the es-code how recently did you build this? @pjft probably has a better idea than I do

PittStone

I have all gamelist.xml to "Read Only" in my Windows.
No Changes can ES make anymore. But the Count and Date is no longer updating. Its o.k. for me.

pjft

Thanks for tagging me @herb_fargus. Yeah, likely related to some of the boost elimination things.

I don't have a Windows machine to test things on, but happy to take a stab at it. I had seen similar issues on the Pi, and I submitted a fix for those there.

@MrSanityCheck can you repository so I can check what are the latest commits there - or would you be able to tell me what the latest commits there would be?

Tomas might have an idea as well, though I don't exactly know his username here is.

Thanks.

mitu

@pjft said in Portable GameStation - gamelist.xml issues:

Tomas might have an idea as well, though I don't exactly know his username here is.

I think it's @Tomaz (looking at the https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/16267/custom-collections-not-displaying-with-latest-dev-es/ topic).

MrSanityCheck

Thanks for the responses @herb_fargus and @pjft ! :)

I've been using jrassa's automated builds here: https://github.com/jrassa/EmulationStation/releases

Whilst I have v2.8.0-201822280322 (which was from maybe 2 weeks ago?), I noticed that a new build (2 days old as of today 14-Mar-2018) has been posted: 2.8.0-201846120046. I will try this.

Is it worth me rolling back builds to find where it breaks? I haven't been building these myself; merely using what jrassa posts. If these are automated then I assume (dangerous!) that they are pulling from the master (and its commits) and compiling as of the master of the day of build. Other than jrassa's published versions, and what I could build myself (which I haven't tried due to lack of skill!) I'm not sure how to get different versions to work out where things broke.

Thanks again!

pjft

@mrsanitycheck said in Portable GameStation - gamelist.xml issues:

201822280322

Hm.

The only difference between the old build and the new build seems to be that this new one has the fix I (thought I'd) put together for the Pi. The fix for Windows should have been in place already for a while.

Do install the latest one and see if it's improved, but I suspect we'd need to look into it further.

Tomaz

Please check if it's still broken in latest, but I'll doublecheck this after work either way.

MrSanityCheck

@tomaz Sorry for the delay. Been traveling without the drive. Will check this afternoon. Thanks!

MrSanityCheck

@tomaz It is now working! Thank you! It still changes my back-slashes to forward-slashes but the paths still work. Is it best practice to use forward slashes dues to linux cross-compatibility or something?

Is it possible to explain (to a novice like me) what the issue was (without causing you to have to write an essay)?

I would like to help progress some elements for the community, inc. @herb_fargus Portable GameStation. Is there a better way for me post my findings if I find something else in future? I'm happy to take guidance on this. :)

Thanks again!

PS: It was the latest build posted from jrassa (2.8.0-201846120046) that worked. I'm sorry I didn't try it sooner or even before I posted this! :$

Tomaz

@mrsanitycheck There has been many fixes the past weeks.
This particular issue is one I have not seen before, so without knowing which versions that worked, and which was broken, I can't really say what the fix was. Or who it was that fixed it.