Does the RetroFlag MEGAPi work with the Raspberry Pi 1?

[Sage Freke]

Long story short: the "safe shutdown and reset" buttons script of this case works perfectly with my raspberry Pi3 B+ but it doesn't work at all with my old Raspberry Pi B+ (1).

Why is that? Are the GPIO of the RPi1 and the RPi3 different?

Is there a way to make it work with the RPi1?

PS, if I disable the "safe shutdown" from the switch on the case's board, the power button doesn't even work properly like a "dumb" power button (i.e. by simply cutting off the power), so I think that the problem may well be the GPIO.

[cyperghost]

Try to disable UART in your config.txt
with sudo nano boot/config.txt
Set UART to 0 or comment it out

Furthermore you can disable any I2C bus signal

1. Run sudo raspi-config .
2. Use the down arrow to select 5 Interfacing Options.
3. Arrow down to P5 I2C .
4. Disable I2C.
5. Disable automatically loading of the kernel module.
6. Use the right arrow to select the <Finish> button.
7. Select yes when it asks to reboot.

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost I commented out UART to 0, but the I2C was already disabled, because when I selected it the program asked: "Would you like the ARM I2C interface to be enabled?", I replied no, so nothing changed.

I did reboot after that but the button still doesn't work.

[cyperghost]

@Sage-Freke Then the case is faulty or you have problems with your GPIO on the Pie
Because Pi 1B+, 2, 3B, 3B+, 3A+ got all the same GPIO layout :(
I think it's the case itself... some user reports faulty wiring, or faulty soldering on the retroflag PCB

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost The case works perfectly fine with my Pi 3 B+

After a bit of searching I found out that there are differences in some of the pins and unfortunately they are almost all in the first 8 pins (the ones used by the MEGAPi).

Look here:

It would be possible to make them equal via software?

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost P.S. I reactivated UART and pin 5 on the B+ went from 0 to 1. Now I need a way to make pin 7 OUT instead of IN and pin 8 OUT instead of ALTO.

[cyperghost]

@Sage-Freke Do you use an overlay file inside config.txt? What image of RetroPie are you using?
The UART is used to let the LED be powere d

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost Sorry but I have no idea, if there is one I didn't make it. I'm using just the vanilla image, downloaded from here: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/releases/download/4.4/retropie-4.4-rpi1_zero.img.gz

This is the config.txt:

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
arm_freq=1000

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
dtparam=i2c_arm=off
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable the lirc-rpi module
#dtoverlay=lirc-rpi

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on
gpu_mem_256=128
gpu_mem_512=256
gpu_mem_1024=256
overscan_scale=1
core_freq=500
sdram_freq=600
over_voltage=6
enable_uart=1

I took this config from the FAT partition, and while I was navigating the SD I noticed an "overlays" folder.

These are the files inside it:

"J:\overlays\ads1115.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\ads7846.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\akkordion-iqdacplus.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\allo-boss-dac-pcm512x-audio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\allo-digione.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\allo-piano-dac-pcm512x-audio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\allo-piano-dac-plus-pcm512x-audio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\applepi-dac.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\at86rf233.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\audioinjector-addons.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\audioinjector-wm8731-audio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\audremap.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\bmp085_i2c-sensor.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\dht11.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\dionaudio-loco.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\dionaudio-loco-v2.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\dpi18.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\dpi24.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\dwc2.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\dwc-otg.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\enc28j60.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\enc28j60-spi2.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\exc3000.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\fe-pi-audio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\goodix.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\googlevoicehat-soundcard.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\gpio-ir.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\gpio-ir-tx.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\gpio-key.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\gpio-poweroff.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\gpio-shutdown.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\hifiberry-amp.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\hifiberry-dac.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\hifiberry-dacplus.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\hifiberry-digi.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\hifiberry-digi-pro.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\hy28a.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\hy28b.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c0-bcm2708.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c1-bcm2708.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c-bcm2708.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c-gpio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c-mux.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c-pwm-pca9685a.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c-rtc.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c-rtc-gpio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2c-sensor.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\i2s-gpio28-31.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\iqaudio-dac.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\iqaudio-dacplus.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\iqaudio-digi-wm8804-audio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\justboom-dac.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\justboom-digi.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\lirc-rpi.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mbed-dac.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mcp23s17.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mcp2515-can0.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mcp2515-can1.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mcp3008.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mcp3202.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mcp23017.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\media-center.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\midi-uart0.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\midi-uart1.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mmc.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mpu6050.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\mz61581.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\papirus.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pi3-act-led.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pi3-disable-bt.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pi3-disable-wifi.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pi3-miniuart-bt.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pibell.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\piscreen.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\piscreen2r.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pisound.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pitft22.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pitft28-capacitive.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pitft28-resistive.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pitft35-resistive.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pps-gpio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pwm.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pwm-2chan.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\pwm-ir-tx.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\qca7000.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\README"
"J:\overlays\rotary-encoder.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-backlight.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-cirrus-wm5102.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-dac.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-display.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-ft5406.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-proto.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-sense.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rpi-tv.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\rra-digidac1-wm8741-audio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sc16is750-i2c.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sc16is752-i2c.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sc16is752-spi1.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sdhost.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sdio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sdio-1bit.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sdtweak.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\smi.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\smi-dev.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\smi-nand.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi0-cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi0-hw-cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi1-1cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi1-2cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi1-3cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi2-1cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi2-2cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi2-3cs.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi-gpio35-39.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\spi-rtc.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\superaudioboard.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\sx150x.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\tinylcd35.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\uart0.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\uart1.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\upstream.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\upstream-aux-interrupt.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\vc4-fkms-v3d.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\vc4-kms-v3d.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\vga666.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\w1-gpio.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\w1-gpio-pullup.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\wittypi.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\adau1977-adc.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\adau7002-simple.dtbo"
"J:\overlays\ads1015.dtbo"

[cyperghost]

@Sage-Freke you can try to use the Multi Switch Shutdown script because this will initiate the GPIOs but that should also do the original script. He you use multi switch script you need to follow the instructions step by step

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost This one? https://github.com/crcerror/retroflag-picase That's the first one I tried.

A few messages ago you said that "Pi 1B+, 2, 3B, 3B+, 3A+ got all the same GPIO layout". Does this mean that the Pi Zero has a different layout? If this is the case then that's the problem, because the image I downloaded is for the Pi1 and Pi Zero.

Isn't there a way to manually set pin 7 and pin 8 to OUT, instead of what they're set now?

[cyperghost]

@Sage-Freke All RPi (expect the first series of the Raspberry Pie) have the same GPIO layout for sure. If you installed wPi then try to set GPIO3 to high and set GPIO7 to output (that's mandentory!)

If I compare the python script that is used by RetroPie and the one for Recalbox/Batocera then RetroPie script does not initialze the GPIOs and that maybe the reason why the script is not working on your device.

So I think it is worth to use the MultiSwitch Shutdown Script because this inits the GPIOs, too. You can follow the instructions here - Step by Step.I tested the RetroFlag script on a 1B+ and it worked but I lost that unit.

You downloaded the correct image.... Pi1 and Pi0 is the right choice.

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost It sort of works but ON and OFF seem swapped, so let's say that the Pi is powered off:
-when I switch to ON nothing happens, but
-when I switch to OFF again the Pi powers it on and then immediately starts the shutdown script and powers it off again.

While If the Pi is already powered on (by manually connecting the power cord): reset works, and the power off switch works correctly, but at the next start it does what I described above.

P.S. now pin7 and pin8 are correctly set to OUT

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost P.S. I didn't uninstall the previous scripts.

First I installed this: https://github.com/crcerror/retroflag-picase
When I saw it wasn't working I installed this: https://github.com/RetroFlag/retroflag-picase

And then I installed yours, maybe they're interfering in some way?

[cyperghost]

@Sage-Freke said in Does the RetroFlag MEGAPi work with the Raspberry Pi 1?:

First I installed this: https://github.com/crcerror/retroflag-picase
When I saw it wasn't working I installed this: https://github.com/RetroFlag/retroflag-picase

It does not matter which of these scripts you install. In the base they all work equal. Power button shuts down the Pie and Reset button is doing some action....

Please edit rc.local with sudo nano /etc/rc.local and remove or comment the line with python /opt/Retroflag..... and do a reboot.
Then the script is disabled and the multi switch script will works standalone. It could happen that those scripts interfering with each other (but not the two python script mentioned above)

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost I tried a fresh install on a new SD card (I just enabled SSH and set up the controller).

After that I

• 1-Installed your script and rebooted: nothing happened, the switch doesn't work.
• 2-Installed raspi-gpio, now the switch works but badly as I described before.

[cyperghost]

@Sage-Freke I provide a modified version for this issue. I think about the power on/off issue this looks very strange.

1. If you edit config.txt with sudo nano /boot/config.txt and add
   1.1 a line dtoverlay=gpio-poweroff,gpiopin=4,active_low=1,input=1 to it
   1.2 and reboot
   Does this change some behaviour?

Annother approach... if first will fail (then please remove the changes made to config.txt)
2. If you use the modified script I can provide here
2.1 Please remove or comment old version in autostart.sh
2.2 Follow instructions I've posted here
2.3 Download with wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crcerror/ES-generic-shutdown/master/multi_switch086.sh
2.4 Remeber the filename change to multi_switch086.sh

I hope that this helps now

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost With the first solution the mechanical behaviour is the same, with the only difference that it freezes at shutdown (Kernel panic):

With multi_switch086.sh it finally works (thanks!) but ON and OFF are indeed swapped: the pi powers on with OFF and shuts-down with ON.
I'm wondering if it's possible just a quick swap of the on and off functions in the script, but if it's too much of a hassle I'll just leave as it is. You've done more than enough, thank you :)

[cyperghost]

@Sage-Freke Well that is not the problem....
Go to SSH and what is the output of raspi-gpio get 3
it should look like level=1 fsel=0 func=INPUT (maybe there are some values changed)

Then you take your output and edit this line in the script with your output then it should work.

With multi_switch086.sh it finally works (thanks!) but ON and OFF are indeed swapped: the pi powers on with OFF and shuts-down with ON.

That's strange! But that is the reason why the python scripts never seems to work.

[Sage Freke]

@cyperghost The output of my raspi-gpio get 3 was "level=0 fsel=0 func=INPUT", but if I put it in line 322 the Pi always turns off as soon as emulationstation loads, even if completely disconnected from the case.

However, I just realised something... the power socket on the MEGAPi case it's not just a cutout, like the HDMI port, but it has its own little board, I didn't notice until now, I just mindlessly plugged the power directly to the Pi, and that was the problem, the multi_switch.sh now works perfectly. Sorry for wasting your time :( (however, the fact that multiswitch086.sh almost worked without using the power board was in itself impressive).

As a partial way to make amends I'll correct an error on the installation instructions of the script:

Here you have to add a sudo before chmod, otherwise it gives you "permission denied"

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crcerror/ES-generic-shutdown/master/multi_switch.sh && chmod +x multi_switch.sh