[IDEA] Ability to select packages for first time install

johnodon

I'm hoping that this is possible today and I just don't know how to do it. :)

Quite a few patrons (myself included) use RP on a platform that is dedicated to a particular system or group of systems (i.e. arcade only, console only, NES only, etc.). However, we still need to install all Main Packages via a Basic Install even if we never intend to use them.

Would it be possible to change the 'Basic Install' to make Main packages (not core) selectable? Or, have a 'Custom Install' option to accomplish the same if the devs do not want to touch the 'Basic Install'?

John

mitu

@johnodon what keeps you from uninstalling the emulators you don't need and have your custom install this way ?
EDIT: how exactly are you using Retropie ?

johnodon

@mitu said in [IDEA] Ability to select packages for fist time install:

@johnodon what keeps you from uninstalling the emulators you don't need and have your custom install this way ?

Nothing...this is really a nice-to-have idea. In my case it is a lot of uninstalling. It would be nice to make that decision during install.

In my case it would also cut down on the install time significantly!

John

mitu

@johnodon Why is the install time so important ? You only need to uninstall the un- needed packages once.

johnodon

@mitu said in [IDEA] Ability to select packages for fist time install:

@johnodon Why is the install time so important ? You only need to uninstall the un- needed packages once.

I am constantly rebuilding/testing on Ubuntu installs. I know that is an edge case but I know that a lot of 'normal' users backup data and perform fresh installs when major versions are released. The RP team even suggests that.

mitu

@johnodon The recommendation to use a new system applies mainly to the Raspberry PI image and that was because of the transition from Raspbian Jessie to Stretch. Once Retropie is installed, you can test-rebuild individual packages as you see fit, but if the OS is the same, I fail to see why a reinstall would yield different results when run in the same environment.

johnodon

@mitu said in [IDEA] Ability to select packages for fist time install:

@johnodon The recommendation to use a new system applies mainly to the Raspberry PI image and that was because of the transition from Raspbian Jessie to Stretch. Once Retropie is installed, you can test-rebuild individual packages as you see fit, but if the OS is the same, I fail to see why a reinstall would yield different results when run in the same environment.

In my case I am updating underlying OS components.

Anyway, it was a suggestion. I guess the votes will show if there is interest.

Thank you for your time.

John

thelostsoul

@johnodon While I can understand why you want this option, it would add some more work and maintenance for the creators of RetroPie. I am not sure how many people would benefit from this. As a "workaround", you could do a script for automated uninstall of all components. (Question to RetroPie makers: This is possible through a script, isn't it?) And then, you create a backup and just roll out instead of installing it over and over again.

mitu

@thelostsoul yes, you can call the retropie_packages.sh script with the name of the scriptmodule and action (install/build/remove) so you can have a little script to remove unwanted packages or even re-download/re-compile/re-install packages automatically.

EctoOne

I actually wish there was such option. Going manually through all packages to search for the ones I want and don't need is kinda annoying. An easy way to un-/install a bunch of packages without the need to press buttons would be awesome.
I mean even a script would be great. Maybe it would be possible to put such script on the card and an option in the setup menu to run it if it was found. Kinda like the wlan setup works.

BuZz

Why not just install the packaged you need? You can install the components individually without having to use the main install option.

johnodon

@buzz said in [IDEA] Ability to select packages for fist time install:

Why not just install the packaged you need? You can install the components individually without having to use the main install option.

Honestly, I was going to do that but I wasn't sure if there was something else baked into the setup script that I would have missed.

So, just install all core packages and any main/optional packages I want?

BuZz

@johnodon Yes. And enable autobooting into emulationstation etc from the configuration section if required. The main install option just installs everything from Core and Main (It mentions this in the Help in the RetroPie-Setup menus).

Danik

@buzz said in [IDEA] Ability to select packages for fist time install:

Why not just install the packaged you need? You can install the components individually without having to use the main install option.

This is the best solution for the moment.
It would be nice to include a script that only installs ES, Retroarch and runcommand only and nothing from the "main packages", though, but it's not much work, really.

BuZz

@danik you can script that via retropie_packages.sh which is a command line tool.

johnodon

EDIT: Maybe I spoke too soon...
No module 'install' found for platform x86
No module 'build' found for platform x86

Quote from BuZz in another thread...

run sudo ./retropie_packages.sh on it's own for a list of modules / functions. Some functions may show up but may require parameters etc.

This will suit my needs perfectly. I will leave my original request open as I still think it could provide a better end user experience, although a very low priority.

hiulit

I would like this ability very much too.
I find myself too often reinstalling VMs with Raspbian x86 (PIXEL) and installing everything from "Main and Core" takes a lot of time.

How can we know which are the main (basic) modules to install to run RetroPie?

Thanks!

BuZz

@hiulit well, core are the main components which other things rely on. So you can install the core items, then choose what you want.

@johnodon check the commandline output. You need to choose a module to "install" build etc. but simplest is just to do it with no parameters on a module which will get the source / build / install and configure - eg

sudo ./retropie_packages.sh emulationstation

that would build and install emulationstation

johnodon

@buzz Ahhh...Thanks for the clarification. I was using the definitions as switches (i.e. sudo RetroPie-Setup/retropie_packages.sh build retropie-manager

Definitions:
depends:    install the dependencies for the module
sources:    install the sources for the module
build:      build/compile the module
install:    install the compiled module
configure:  configure the installed module (es_systems.cfg / launch parameters etc)
clean:      remove the sources/build folder for the module
help:       get additional help on the module