Can't exit game in MAME

Rhees

I've looked for the answer to this but I can't find it. so, here goes. I have a Pi 3 with a newly flashed retropie image 4.4. My joystick controller is wired to an older iPac 4 with the PS2 to USB cable. Everything seems to work fine when I'm in MAME playing a game. However, I can't exit the game. The hotkey that is mentioned in the Ultimarc manual doesn't work. When I first booted up the system, it said no game pad detected, press any button to configure. I did this, and it came up with the snes game pad config. I tried to bypass all of that since I wasn't using that controller. I have a keyboard hooked up, if that helps, but no internet. So no way of working remotely from my computer.
SO everything seems great except for not being able to exit back to emulationstation.
Here's the biggest problem; I SUCK at computer coding and such, so, either the easiest answer possible, or instructions geared to a complete idiot would be very helpful.. I know. I know, I feel the eye rolls. I've gotten this far and I'm stuck. A thousand apologies for being difficult.

DjGenEsIs

@Rhees have you tried pressing start and select simultaneously ? Also try hotkey+start

Rhees

@DjGenEsIs yes. I've tried several combinations, including these.

mitu

@Rhees Did you map your keys in Mame (btw, which emulator are you using) ? Since you're using a keyboard, the usual exit key is Esc. You can configure your buttons in Mame by pressing Tab while in-game - did you try that ?

Clyde

@Rhees said in Can't exit game in MAME:

When I first booted up the system, it said no game pad detected, press any button to configure. I did this, and it came up with the snes game pad config. I tried to bypass all of that since I wasn't using that controller.

Just to be sure, did you map the "Hotkey" button that is the last one in the input configuration of Emulation Station? I.e. you didn't skip it like other buttons you don't need? You have to map the "Hotkey" button to exit a RetroArch game with hotkey + start.

Rhees

@mitu said in Can't exit game in MAME:

@Rhees Did you map your keys in Mame (btw, which emulator are you using) ? Since you're using a keyboard, the usual exit key is Esc. You can configure your buttons in Mame by pressing Tab while in-game - did you try that ?

I'm using mame for my emulator. Esc doesn't work for exiting. I tried going in to configure the key for exiting by pushing tab, but I don't see it as an option, just the other cintrols. Is it listed as something other than exit. I didn't map my keys because everything worked when I hooked it up.

mitu

@Rhees said in Can't exit game in MAME:

I 'm using mame for my emulator

Which one ? There are more than 3 MAME based arcade emulators in RetroPie.

Rhees

@mitu sorry I'm not familiar with all the differentmame emulators. It's just the regular mame emulator. I added games via usb by adding roms to the mame-librettro folder. Does that shed some light?

Rhees

@Clyde if memory serves, I programmed the hotkey, but when I got down to the end, to the "okay" button, I couldn't "press" that button. I tried holding down buttons like I had done to skip the other buttons. So I may have exited with f4? I tried entering some code just now to program the hotkeys and that didn't work. I prevented the emulationstation from starting by using f4 and typed:
input_enable_hotkey_btn = 8
input_exit_emulator_btn = 9
I started emulationstation, loaded a game, tried that combination and it didn't work.

mitu

@Rhees
Look at the Runcommand start message - it will tell you what emulator it's starting.

EDIT:
Also try

input_enable_hotkey = 8
input_exit_emulator  = 9

You don't really have a gamepad, but a keyboard, so the _btn might be extra. Where have you added these settings ?

Clyde

@Rhees The "OK" button has to be pressed with the "A" key you configured before. So, you didn't press it, but exited ES with F4 instead? Then you actually might not have saved the controller configuration.

I prevented the emulationstation from starting by using f4 and typed:

Did you really just type these lines in the text console you landed in after pressing F4? That's not where these lines belong, you'll have to put them in one of RetroArch's config files. See here for the hierarchy of the files. In short, if you didn't save system-specific settings (yet), RA's main configuration file /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg should be the right place for those two lines you typed.

But before you meddle in config files, I'd suggest that you try to configure your controller in ES again, this time finishing the configuration by pressing the "OK" button with A (it can be any A, e.g. the one you configured for your keyboard).

edit: Can you show us the content of your /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg ? If you can, please do so using a "pastebin" service like https://paste.ubuntu.com/ and link to it instead of posting the full text here in the forum.

Rhees

@Clyde said in Can't exit game in MAME:

Did you really just type these lines in the text console you landed in after pressing F4?

Yes. Yes, that's what I did. See how pathetically awful I am at this? Thank you for this last response though, I finally and miraculously got some time to work on this without any distractions and was able to figure it out by going in and reconfiguring the GamePad. I was confusing myself between the A on the keyboard and the A on the GamePad which button I need to map to which one, but I finally figured it out. Thank you for your patience and all your help!

Clyde

@Rhees I'm glad that you figured it out. Although most of Retropie's configuration follows very logical rules, it can be confusing for newcomers. Have fun!

kdrobinett

@mitu said in Can't exit game in MAME:

@Rhees
Look at the Runcommand start message - it will tell you what emulator it's starting.

EDIT:
Also try
input_enable_hotkey = 8
input_exit_emulator  = 9
You don't really have a gamepad, but a keyboard, so the _btn might be extra. Where have you added these settings ?

MAME4ALL Alternate Fix: I battled this issue for a few days before I found a fix that worked on my system (RPi 3B) when the solutions above didn't work.

With both Joypad/Controller and Keyboard plugged in to RasPi...

start a game that uses MAME4ALL
press TAB on keyboard once game starts (brings up User Interface menu)
use keyboard arrow keys and ENTER to...
- select "Input (general)"
- arrow down to "UI Cancel" - this is the exit game command
- ENTER (waits for button to map)
(on Joypad/Controller) press and hold both your the buttons you have already mapped for enable_hotkey and exit_emulator. Note: I don't think you have to use those specific buttons, it just keeps it consistent with your other games and systems
I hit enter again on the UI Cancel line and hit the ESC button on the keyboard to make sure both the joypad combo and esc still worked to exit.
arrow key up or down to "Return to Main Menu"
arrow key down to "Return to Game"

You can use this method to map the other UI controls (UI Up, Down, Left, Right, Select) so you can navigate the UI without a keyboard in the future. It's a good idea to set a two-button combo to bring up the UI menu (Config Menu is the first line of the Input - General menu).

Later I found this video that walked through the steps: