RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login
    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Screen rotation for Retropie GUI

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Help and Support
    screen rotation
    20 Posts 9 Posters 19.7k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • mituM
      mitu Global Moderator @eclark5483
      last edited by

      @eclark5483 RetroPie is not an OS in itelf, it's based on Raspbian (Stretch), so you don't necessarily need to install Raspbian (again) over RetroPie.

      eclark5483E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • SanoS
        Sano
        last edited by Sano

        Beware, IIRC, rotating screen 90° (or 270°) through display_rotate have a quite important performance impact.
        That said, I don't know if it's still the case.
        See here for example : https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/issues/403#issuecomment-86962019

        DougAD J 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • DougAD
          DougA @Sano
          last edited by

          @sano I run MAME2003 games in a cabinet with a vertical screen, powered by a Pi 3B , and I haven't seen any performance issues yet.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • eclark5483E
            eclark5483 @mitu
            last edited by

            @mitu Yes, I realize that. To clarify, I'd rather use the Raspian OS utilizing the Retropie/Emulationstation front end over just plain ole' Raspian without all the bells and whistles.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • J
              jdrassa @Sano
              last edited by

              @sano said in Screen rotation for Retropie GUI:

              Beware, IIRC, rotating screen 90° (or 270°) through display_rotate have a quite important performance impact.
              That said, I don't know if it's still the case.
              See here for example : https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/issues/403#issuecomment-86962019

              EmulationStation now has support for screen rotation to get around this. Details can be found here.

              Get latest build of EmulationStation for Windows here

              eclark5483E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • eclark5483E
                eclark5483 @jdrassa
                last edited by

                @jdrassa One of the things I got from reading that, is that a new theme will indeed need to be made. Can someone point me to the correct folders and files I would need to modify, and what is the theme using? .CSS, .XML? C, etc,etc. Kinda like to research it a bit. Sorry if I'm not well versed in Pi frontends. But I can modify most formats without too much assist. I see many others have authored themes, so I am assuming changing aspects on a custom design wouldn't be too difficult.

                mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • mituM
                  mitu Global Moderator @eclark5483
                  last edited by

                  @eclark5483 https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Creating-Your-Own-EmulationStation-Theme/

                  eclark5483E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • eclark5483E
                    eclark5483 @mitu
                    last edited by

                    @mitu said in Screen rotation for Retropie GUI:

                    @eclark5483 https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Creating-Your-Own-EmulationStation-Theme/

                    Yes, thank you, exactly what I was looking for. Exactly what I figured needed done as well. This is one of the reasons why I inquired in another topic about Retropie in a virtual machine and transferring files. Hey I love coding, great past time, but I prefer doing it on my Windows 10 PC where I have tools at my disposal that I'm more familiar with. I mean, I can squeak by just fine with Linux and all, guess I'm just spoiled by Redmond. But yeah, thanks for the help. I think I can press forward now.

                    mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • mituM
                      mitu Global Moderator @eclark5483
                      last edited by

                      @eclark5483 If you're developing on Windows, check out the ES Toolkit, ES runs also on Windows and you can pretty much do your development exclusively on the PC.

                      eclark5483E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • eclark5483E
                        eclark5483 @mitu
                        last edited by

                        @mitu Thank you, downloading v1.1 right now. Will take a quick look at it tonight. I am only using 1 emulator (MAME), so at least my file structure won't be complex and tedious. I'll probably just do a simple mod of the carbon theme for what I need it for. Then maybe later on down the line when I get bored I'll look at completing other systems.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • eclark5483E
                          eclark5483
                          last edited by eclark5483

                          Hey, can I add code to the ES screen that you get when you are configuring your joystick, to ask the user if they would like to rotate/switch resolution and have their selection sent to the correct theme (without needing source code)? Like I said, I'm just gonna mod the carbon code a bit, make it easier for a "per monitor", maybe add a couple other resolution variables that I wouldn't otherwise need but may prove helpful to others.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • SanoS
                            Sano
                            last edited by

                            @DougA @jdrassa
                            Thanks for the information guys.
                            By reading the provided link, I understand that rotating screen via display_rotate (kernel/framebuffer) still has a performance impact, but now ES (as the various emulators do) supports vertical screen (through VG/GL) without this impact.
                            Good to know.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • JSMJ
                              JSM
                              last edited by

                              I know this is a necrobump, but I just wanted to say thanks for this. I was trying to run my Retropie in my Arcade1up Galaga cab vertically using that config.txt rotate optino, but the screen tearing was driving me nuts. Downloaded a fresh Retropie 4.5 image, installed the Dev version of Emulation station, and not everything is perfect (except the retropie configs/run command stuff that are rotated 90 degrees!) Seriously - thanks for bumping this thread and adding more info. It was very helpful.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • T
                                treki
                                last edited by

                                I know, it's a old topic. But still an info:

                                /boot/config.txt
                                display_rotate=1

                                works perfect.

                                I also have to uncomment:

                                disable_overscan=1

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • P
                                  peterisgb @blackshadow
                                  last edited by

                                  @blackshadow said in Screen rotation for Retropie GUI:

                                  quick copy and paste from another site to save me writing it out lol

                                  Step 1 – Edit Config.txt

                                  Start by editing the config.txt file ether via the sd or with:

                                  sudo nano /boot/config.txt

                                  Add one of the following lines to the bottom of the file :

                                  display_rotate=0
                                  display_rotate=1
                                  display_rotate=2
                                  display_rotate=3
                                  0 is the normal configuration. 1 is 90 degrees. 2 is 180 degress. 3 is 270 degrees.
                                  If you are using the Official Raspberry Pi touch screen you can use “lcd_rotate” rather than “display_rotate”.

                                  Save the file by using CTRL-X, Y then ENTER.

                                  as the site you linked references the 7inch pi screen ill assume thats what your using you can use the lcd_rotate that is mentioned as apposed to display rotate

                                  Thanks. This needs the thumbs up as all other routes didnt work. This. Yes. Thanks

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • First post
                                    Last post

                                  Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                                  Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.