2 retroarch configs for 1 emulator?

Steaz

hi.

i have a 7" LCD screen connect with my raspberry and 1 1080p TV.

on the 7" LCD i want different aspect ratio as the tv. (example for the core PCSX-rearmed) 1 retroarch config works great with the lcd. but when i put my raspberry on the tv and go under retroarch -> Configuration -> save new config file and will load the new config file, they dont have the PCSX-rearmed core and i cant change anything.

what i make wrong?

mitu

What do you mean by 'don't have the core' ? What do you expect to find ?

Steaz

@mitu i mean the emulator core

this is when i normally start the PSX rom and the retroarch.cfg loaded

Bild Text

this is when i load the new config that i saved

Bild Text

bottom left "no core"

i think it means the emulator PCSX

in "/opt/retropie/configs/psx" the "emulator.cfg" is a entry "--config /opt/retropie/configs/psx/retroarch.cfg %ROM%"

how do I make psx aware of the new second config? or I am thinking completely wrong?

i aspect a new retroarch configuration with this config, to load it when i put my rasp on the tv

mitu

@Steaz said in 2 retroarch configs for 1 emulator?:

how do I make psx aware of the new config? or I am thinking completely wrong?

You can load the pcsx core with the Load Core menu option, although I'm not so sure what you're trying to accomplish - i.e. what RA settings you want to keep depending on the screen you use.
It would be easier to have a global retroarch.cfg for each screen, then switch between each .cfg whenever you're using the screen.

Steaz

@mitu i want play all retropie games on the 7" screen in 16:9, with specific shaders. it is saved in the retroarch.cfg in the specially emulator folder.

when i put my raspberry on a 1080p screen, i want load shaders, overlays and specific aspect ratio. so it would nice to have 2 retroarch configs, then i can load when i put my raspberry on my TV or i load the config to play in 16:9 on the 7" screen. manually changes are too expensive.

idk how i configure this with the retroarch configs for 1 emulator.

Clyde

@Steaz You can load another cfg in RetroArch's Main Menu (your second screenshot) under Configurations -> Load Configuration.

Another idea could be a script that queries the current video mode via tvservice -s and then copies the suitable cfg to the emulator's retroarch.cfg location prior to launching RetroArch. How to write and include such a script, alas, I cannot help you with. My knowledge about scripting and RetroPie is too limited for that. I'll leave it here as an impulse for others.

mitu

@clyde is on to something :). Here's an example on how to do that, based on what tvservice detects https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17558/command-execution-when-hdmi-or-composite-is-detected.
Of course, you can also add the 2 scripts (.sh) under the retropie rom folder so you can execute them from ES and switch the .cfg files. Something like

Switch to LCD - copy the retroarch.cfg file for the LCD over the default one.
Switch to TV - copy the retroarch.cfg file for the TV and make it default.

Steaz

@mitu @Clyde i have written 2 scritps now. for 16:9 resolution called "resolution_16-9.sh"and for 4:3 with overlay called "resolution_oldschool.sh"

this configs remove first all retroarch.cfg from the specially emulator and copy after that the right retroarch.cfg into it

resolution_16-9.sh:

#!/bin/bash
echo "change retroarch configs"
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/psx/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/n64/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/nes/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/snes/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/gb/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/gbc/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/gba/retroarch.cfg
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/16-9/psx/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/psx/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/16-9/n64/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/n64/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/16-9/nes/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/nes/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/16-9/snes/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/snes/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/16-9/gb/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/gb/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/16-9/gbc/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/gbc/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/16-9/gba/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/gba/
echo "done"

resolution_oldschool.sh:

#!/bin/bash
echo "change retroarch configs"
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/psx/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/n64/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/nes/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/snes/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/gb/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/gbc/retroarch.cfg
rm -f /opt/retropie/configs/gba/retroarch.cfg
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/oldschool/psx/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/psx/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/oldschool/n64/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/n64/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/oldschool/nes/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/nes/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/oldschool/snes/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/snes/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/oldschool/gb/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/gb/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/oldschool/gbc/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/gbc/
cp /opt/retropie/oldschool_16-9/oldschool/gba/retroarch.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/gba/
echo "done"

there are in the folder "/home/pi/RetroPie/retropiemenu" so i can load it any time in emulationstation.

for automatic detect hdmi or lcd and setup automatically the resolution to 16-9 (if the raspberry is on the lcd) or to 4:3 with overlays (if the raspberry on hdmi), i have used the code from @matchaman in the link that mitu posted.

if (/usr/bin/tvservice -s | /bin/egrep 'HDMI|DVI') ; then
bash /home/pi/RetroPie/retropiemenu/resoultion_oldschool.sh
else
bash /home/pi/RetroPie/retropiemenu/resolution_16-9.sh
fi

this code i put in "/etc/profile.d/10-retropie.sh" to load this on boot
(idk why this code not works in the rc.local config.)

so after that I came across a new problem. when i put my rasp on the hdmi, i must add in the "/boot/config.txt" first the command "ignore_lcd=1" to show a response on the tv.
when i put my rasp on the lcd, i must change the command "ignore_lcd=1" in "display_rotate=2".

so i have created 2 config files for hdmi and lcd, and wrote a script that i can load in the retropie menü.

ChangeToHDMI.sh:

echo "change boot.cfg"
sudo rm -f /boot/config.txt
sudo cp /boot/config_hdmi.txt /boot/config.txt
sudo reboot

ChangeToLCD.sh:

echo "change boot.cfg"
sudo rm -f /boot/config.txt
sudo cp /boot/config_lcd.txt /boot/config.txt
sudo reboot

soo.....to wait if the rasp started and i can load the cfg (for example hdmi )and it restarted with the correct boot/config.txt is rly annoying.
so i tryed to load this scripts on boot and put this code in the rc.local config (without the reboot command at the end):

if (/usr/bin/tvservice -s | /bin/egrep 'HDMI|DVI') ; then
bash /boot/ChangeToHDMI.sh
else
bash /boot/ChangeToLCD.sh
fi

but it didnt work on boot :/

any ideas? would be great :)

mitu

@Steaz said in 2 retroarch configs for 1 emulator?:

but it didnt work on boot :/

Any changes to config.txt require a reboot, so your scripts to switch the config.txt will not have any effect without rebooting the Pi.

Clyde

@Steaz Just a thing I noticed: Removing the cfg files beforehand shouldn't be necessary, as cp overwrites any existing file by default.

Steaz

@Clyde yeah it worked without the remove command. ty :)