Retroflag Snes case

Chuck_B · 12 Sept 2018, 13:45

Hi guys, I hope I'm not too off-topic, but I have no idea ho ask about that.

I was wondering if the snes retroflag case switch works as a powerblock.
I mean, one of the most annoying things about the Raspberry is that everytime you plug it, it boots automatically.

With the retroglag snes case (I'm referring to the PAL version) if I plug the raspberry but the switch of the case is set to off, retropie boots anyway or it blocks the booting until I switch it on?

jandalf81 · 12 Sept 2018, 16:01

I just tested this with my case: It will only boot when the POWER switch is set to ON.

lostless · 12 Sept 2018, 16:23

@chuck_b there’s a switch inside that sets it to safe power/shutdown or the symptom you are mentioning. Check to see if that switch is set to safe shutdown.

Chuck_B · 9 Dec 2018, 18:43

@jandalf81 you talk about the external switch, not the internal safe switch, right?

@lostless I don't have one, I'm asking before I buy it :)

jandalf81 · 12 Sept 2018, 18:00

Yeah, sorry. I could have expressed myself better here...

To clarify:
The case comes with an internal board, see http://retroflag.com/SUPERPi-CASE-J.html

There's two switches and one button on that board:

POWER (ON / OFF)
SAFE SHUTDOWN (ON / OFF)
RESET

Also, the power is being routed through this internal board. So, I have set the SAFE SHUTDOWN to ON and installed the script from the official website https://github.com/RetroFlag/retroflag-picase

This way, the fan starts spinning when you set the POWER switch to ON (and doesn't stop while the Pi is powered on). The script will shut down the Pi and stop the fan when it detects the POWER switch being set to OFF.

HurricaneFan · 12 Sept 2018, 18:27

@jandalf81 If you don't use the fan port on the pcb, will the shutdown scripts still work?

I'm having trouble using a fan on ports 17, 20 on the gpio. Fan works but hitting power button just turns the whole device off, with no safe shutdown.

cyperghost · 12 Sept 2018, 18:28

@jandalf81 said in Retroflag Snes case:

https://github.com/RetroFlag/retroflag-picase

Better use
https://github.com/crcerror/retroflag-picase

lostless · 12 Sept 2018, 18:55

@cyperghost ya, your script works great. Thanks

HurricaneFan · 12 Sept 2018, 19:19

@cyperghost Does this work with 3B+? Cause I'm not getting safe shutdown.

cyperghost · 9 Dec 2018, 20:27

@hurricanefan It works as long as you use RetroPie with ES. It is the same python code as retroflag uses with some improvements. I suggest to put the switch in correct position. So retroflag code uses killall command and then safe shutdown fails if an emulator is running. This avoids the script written by me.

HurricaneFan · 12 Sept 2018, 19:30

@cyperghost I am using retropie 4.4 image with all packages updated, I have a pi 3b+ and the safe shutdown switch is set to ON. Any time I hit the power button it just kills all power to the device. No safe shutdown.

cyperghost · 9 Dec 2018, 20:31

@HurricaneFan Is there a sudden powerdown like you pull the power cord? If no then try my script. If yes then the switch seems not working

HurricaneFan · 12 Sept 2018, 19:32

@cyperghost Yeah, it acts like I totally powered down like a cord pull. I switched the python file to yours and I get the same behavior. So bad switch might be possible.

cyperghost · 12 Sept 2018, 19:37

@hurricanefan I've read about wrong soldered switch, maybe you set safe shutdown to off and try this? Some users reported issues here

HurricaneFan · 12 Sept 2018, 20:40

@cyperghost I tried putting the switch back to off and it doesn't work either. Its as if the switch doesn't do anything at all when its on.

HurricaneFan · 12 Sept 2018, 20:41

Sounds like its something to do with pi 3b+ models.

cyperghost · 12 Sept 2018, 20:44

@hurricanefan Do you have annother Pie? It's not the layout of the GPIOs or so... So I think it's rather something with the case.

HurricaneFan · 12 Sept 2018, 20:50

@cyperghost I have a pi 3b thats screwed into another case. I'll try to test that shortly.

Chuck_B · 12 Sept 2018, 23:09

@jandalf81 said in Retroflag Snes case:

This way, the fan starts spinning when you set the POWER switch to ON (and doesn't stop while the Pi is powered on).

And Retropie starts only when I set the POWER SWITCH to ON. Correct?

HurricaneFan · 13 Sept 2018, 02:22

@cyperghost So just finished testing with the same sd card and a pi 3b (not plus) and the safe shutdown and reset code works just fine. The pi 3b+ has something that doesn't like the shutdown/reset code. Super weird!!