Fresh x86 install - EmulationStation hitting 95% cpu all the time

Panja

I just did a fresh install of RetroPie on Ubuntu Server 18.04.2 on an Intel Nuc 7.
I followed the guide posted here.

After setting up RetroPie on the machine I did a reboot and once EmulationStation loads up my CPU is hitting it pretty hard! As you can see below it's hitting 344.2% (2 cores, 4 threads).

 1553 retropie  20   0  800612 103880  65984 S 344.2  1.3   1:04.60 emulationstatio

If I quit ES or the screensaver (DIM) kicks in than the CPU goes down to a few %, lets say idle.

Any one have a clue why?

mitu

@Panja Are you running any video previews ? Does the load happens when ES is in the gamelist or in the system view ?

Panja

I seriously have nothing running in ES yet.
The high CPU usage begins on the controller config screen and when I connect my controller it stays high on the first view of ES (RetroPie menu).
No video previews at all, there are no roms loaded yet on this system.

mitu

@Panja Can you paste what glxinfo says on the terminal to pastebin.com ? Just want to check that your system has accelerated video rendering.

Panja

Well my system should have it.
It's a pretty recent NUC.
NUC7i5BNK.

I need to fiddle around because I have made the terminal hidden.
I can SSH into the box but I won't be able to run glxinfo I guess.

Going to do a re-install from scratch again.
Just to be sure... Keep you posted.

mitu

@Panja said in Fresh x86 install - EmulationStation hitting 95% cpu all the time:

I can SSH into the box but I won't be able to run glxinfo I guess.

Just exit Emulationstation and start a terminal from there. From SSH, you can run

DISPLAY=:0.0 glxinfo

or something to that effect.

Going to do a re-install from scratch again.

If you reinstall, can you please install something like Lubuntu or Ubuntu desktop, not the server flavor ? Pretty recent could also mean that Linux drivers might not be good enough.

Panja

I found the culprit!

In /etc/default/grub I changed GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="" in to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="nomodeset"

This was the problem!
I changed it back to default and ran sudo update-grub afterwards.
Rebooted and the CPU load went to almost idle.

May I ask why the server flavor is not recommended?
I prefer a small footnote, no desktop environment when running RetroPie.
I want to a similar as RetroPie on the Rpi.
Though I use the HWE stack on Ubuntu Server which should give me the recent drivers right?

mitu

@Panja said in Fresh x86 install - EmulationStation hitting 95% cpu all the time:

May I ask why the server flavor is not recommended?

Because is not so well tested.

I prefer a small foodnote, no desktop environment when running RetroPie.

You can do that with the regular desktop flavor - just choose Lubuntu for a more barebone desktop.

I want to a similar as RetroPie on the Rpi.
Though I use the HWE stack on Ubuntu Server which should give me the recent drivers right?

If Intel or Mesa haven't released any drivers for a new system, I doubt they'll be part of any HWE updates right now. If you want up-to-date drivers, just use a rolling release - 18.10 or 19.04.

Panja

Here is the outcome of glxinfo with standard HWE drivers.
Here is the outcome of glxinfo with Mesa drivers updates with the X-Swat PPA.

Running those Mesa drivers should be giving me pretty recent drivers right?

To be honest I've never tried Lubuntu.
But using a rolling release would not get me any (security) updates after several months.

The NUC I'm using is powerful enough to run any desktop flavor it's just that I want a clean look and I don't want to see anything desktop related when booting and using RetroPie.

mitu

@Panja said in Fresh x86 install - EmulationStation hitting 95% cpu all the time:

But using a rolling release would not get me any (security) updates after several months.

That's why it's called a rolling release - you upgrade to the next.

EDIT: based on the info you posted (glxinfo), you have accelerated video.

Panja

Ok thanks for checking.
Would you prefer the standard HWE drivers or the X-swat Mesa drivers?

wmarcio

@Panja HWE drivers are outdated, i prefer on my Lubuntu 18.4 add PPA and install more recent drivers versions, i instaled vulkan drivers also.

I have a dell 3020m with a core i5 4590T CPU, 16Gb RAM and i can run games from Dreamcast, GameCube and Wii with no problems.

Panja

@wmarcio
Ok, thanks.
If I add the PPA what would I need to do to install the latest drivers and the Vulkan drivers?

Another question.
Are you running Lubuntu 18.04(.2) LTS?

Are there any good guides for installing RetroPie on any flavor of Ubuntu desktop?
I mean advanced guides which cover making RetroPie run like it does on a Rpi.
So you don't see the desktop or any other things that refer to the desktop OS.

mitu

@Panja said in Fresh x86 install - EmulationStation hitting 95% cpu all the time:

Are there any good guides for installing RetroPie on any flavor of Ubuntu desktop?

The same procedure as for Ubuntu - Lubuntu is essentially a Ubuntu flavor and the installation should work there also.

I mean advanced guides which cover making RetroPie run like it does on a Rpi.

Start Emulationstation only in an X Session instead of the usual desktop - https://askubuntu.com/questions/310671/start-ubuntu-without-a-desktop-environment-but-start-an-x-application.

Panja

@mitu
Thanks.
Though I find it hard to believe I'm the only one wanting to use a x86 machine but with the same user experience as RetroPie on a Rpi.
So no desktop just plain retro gaming, seamingless. I can't find any good tutorial on this. Makes me wanna go back to my Rpi...
Problem with the Rpi is that it isn't powerful enough to Run Dreamcast and GameCube games.