New TV: Black frame | Undervoltage | Upgrade to Nespi + and 3B+ | Micro SD card

Guybrush

Hi there,

I recently switched my TV. My new one is a SONY KD-55XE8096 (old one was a LG 32LH3010). When I use Retropie I always have a black border/frame, which means the image has no 100% height/width. When I start my Retropie this rainbow colored screen fills out my whole TV, everything after that has this black frame.
I couldn't find the right option to fix this issue, neither in my tv options nor in the options of Kodi or Retropie. How and where can I fix this?
Besides my Nespi case I also have a Nespi + case at home. Therefore I ask myself if I should swich my case to the Nespi+ case or if I should sell my current build and order a Raspberry Pi 3B+ to build it in my Nespi+ case. Is the upgrade worth it or should I just switch the case? I use my Retropie for emulation as well as watching my own library in Kodi (other things like Youtube, Live TV etc. I manage with my TV itself). Does it improve emulation? Do I have advantages with Kodi?
In Kodi and in Retropie I have problems with undervoltage. In Retropie setup menu I often get this undervoltage error message and in Kodi the yellow lightning appears. I already bought myself a 3A power supply because I read only that this should fix the issue when using a Nespi case. Unfortunately it didn't.
What can I do to fix this? Is it true, that this problem won't appear when using a Nespi+ case instead of the regular one? If yes, will it re-appear when I install a fan? Should I even install a fan?
At the moment I have a spare 16GB Micro SD card where Retropie is installed. I have a faster one from Sandisk with 64GB. All my games and movies are stored on my NAS anyway. Do I have any advantages when I switch to the faster bigger Sandisk one or should I stick with the current one and use the 64GB one for better purposes?

Thank you very much.

My stetup:
Hardware: Raspberry 3 B
Case: Nespi Case
Power supply: 3A power adapter
USB devices: Mii remote dongle
Retropie: v4.4 official build
No fans or other things connected via GPIO
Boot on Kodi activated

mitu

@guybrush said in New TV: Black frame | Undervoltage | Upgrade to Nespi + and 3B+ | Micro SD card:

I recently switched my TV. My new one is a SONY KD-55XE8096 (old one was a LG 32LH3010). When I use Retropie I always have a black border/frame, which means the image has no 100% height/width. When I start my Retropie this rainbow colored screen fills out my whole TV, everything after that has this black frame.

Play with the overscan settings (disable it) - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Overscan/

Besides my Nespi case I also have a Nespi + case at home. Therefore I ask myself if I should swich my case to the Nespi+ case or if I should sell my current build and order a Raspberry Pi 3B+ to build it in my Nespi+ case. Is the upgrade worth it or should I just switch the case? I use my Retropie for emulation as well as watching my own library in Kodi (other things like Youtube, Live TV etc. I manage with my TV itself). Does it improve emulation? Do I have advantages with Kodi?

Emulations is not drastically improved with the 3B+, the main advantage IMHO is the new Wifi adapter and a greater network speed (although you're still overall limited by the internal USB hub).

In Kodi and in Retropie I have problems with undervoltage. In Retropie setup menu I often get this undervoltage error message and in Kodi the yellow lightning appears. I already bought myself a 3A power supply because I read only that this should fix the issue when using a Nespi case. Unfortunately it didn't.
What can I do to fix this? Is it true, that this problem won't appear when using a Nespi+ case instead of the regular one? If yes, will it re-appear when I install a fan? Should I even install a fan?

The Nespi cases are notorious for the improper power supply connectors. I heard the Nespi+ case is better in this regard. Take the Pi out of the case and run it connected directly to the power source. If you still get the undervoltage flash, then it's not a problem with the case, but with the power source - get a proper power source as recommended by the Raspberry Pi site.

At the moment I have a spare 16GB Micro SD card where Retropie is installed. I have a faster one from Sandisk with 64GB. All my games and movies are stored on my NAS anyway. Do I have any advantages when I switch to the faster bigger Sandisk one or should I stick with the current one and use the 64GB one for better purposes?

If you still intend to run your ROMs from the NAS, then I don't see the point of getting a bigger (and faster) SD card, keep the current one.

Guybrush

Thanks for your answer :)

Emulations is not drastically improved with the 3B+, the main advantage IMHO is the new Wifi adapter and a greater network speed (although you're still overall limited by the internal USB hub).

Okay. Kodi seemed okay, games I didn't try yet. My NAS and my modem are in my floor. The Pi is in the living room. 3 meters distance, door open. Will I have problems with smooth gaming when storing the games on the NAS and would the Pi 3+ make a difference in that department?

mitu

@guybrush said in New TV: Black frame | Undervoltage | Upgrade to Nespi + and 3B+ | Micro SD card:

Will I have problems with smooth gaming when storing the games on the NAS and would the Pi 3+ make a difference in that department?

I'd say the difference you'll see is negligible, since once the game/rom is loaded in the emulator, there's little network activity or file transfers over the network. One exception would be - maybe - CD based games where the game is loaded from the CD images (.iso/.bin/.chd). The network speed would help the loading times. But if you are already content with the Pi 3 and the current setup (ROMs on the NAS), it wouldn't make a noticeable upgrade.