[SOLVED] RPi4 SDL2 problem during installation, meanwhile its available via apt-get

Yehor

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I've read that RetroPie for RPi4 is still WIP. I'm just experimenting.

Problem
Hello everybody, I'm trying to install RetroPie on RPi4 in manual mode where it results in error message Unable to install binary for sdl2.

What I noticed (and it is weird) based on this part of log:

Installing dependencies for 'retroarch' : RetroArch - frontend to the libretro emulator cores - required by all lr-* emulators
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Did not find needed package(s): libsdl2-dev. I am trying to install them now.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Installing 'sdl2' : SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer) v2.x
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

--2019-11-09 01:24:01--  https://files.retropie.org.uk/binaries/buster/rpi4/kms/libsdl2-dev_2.0.10+1rpi_armhf.deb
Resolving files.retropie.org.uk (files.retropie.org.uk)... 93.93.129.253, 2a00:1098:0:80:1000:57:0:1
Connecting to files.retropie.org.uk (files.retropie.org.uk)|93.93.129.253|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 404 Not Found
2019-11-09 01:24:02 ERROR 404: Not Found.

--2019-11-09 01:24:02--  https://files.retropie.org.uk/binaries/buster/rpi4/kms/libsdl2-2.0-0_2.0.10+1rpi_armhf.deb
Resolving files.retropie.org.uk (files.retropie.org.uk)... 93.93.129.253, 2a00:1098:0:80:1000:57:0:1
Connecting to files.retropie.org.uk (files.retropie.org.uk)|93.93.129.253|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 404 Not Found
2019-11-09 01:24:02 ERROR 404: Not Found.

dpkg: error: cannot access archive 'libsdl2-2.0-0_2.0.10+1rpi_armhf.deb': No such file or directory
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
rm: cannot remove './*.deb': No such file or directory
Unable to install binary for sdl2
Hit:1 http://raspbian.raspberrypi.org/raspbian buster InRelease
Hit:2 http://archive.raspberrypi.org/debian buster InRelease
Reading package lists...
Reading package lists...
Building dependency tree...
Reading state information...
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Successfully installed package(s): .

it tries to install package libsdl2-dev and to download it from RetroPie servers, meanwhile, it seems to be available and installable via sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev -y:

pi@raspberrypi:~/RetroPie-Setup $ sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
libsdl2-dev is already the newest version (2.0.9+dfsg1-1+rpt1).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Question
Is there a way to force the installer to use the installed version of libsdl2-dev rather than getting it from RetroPie servers?

Thank you!

Used parts:

RPi 4 [4gb]
SanDisk MicroSD 64 GB
3A USB charger [Moto G charger]

Used Software:

Etcher [to flash image]
freshest Raspbian Lite
Kitty [to access via ssh]
RetroPie Setup Version 4.5.2

Preparations before installation:

download and flash freshest Raspbian Lite
resize card (automatic action at the first run + reboot)
connect to wi-fi, split memory (dedicate 256 MB to video), enable ssh, et the locale to en_US.UTF-8 via sudo raspi-config
update everything :sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get upgrade -y && reboot
preinstall some stuff : sudo apt-get install git lsb-release

Installation based on ;

Installation:

git clone --branch fkms_rpi4 https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git
cd ./RetroPie-Setup
chmod +x ./retropie_setup.sh
sudo ./retropie_setup.sh

Here I select Basic install. Results are descripbed above.

Yehor

@Yehor
found a solution to install RetroPie without problems. Working as for 2019-Nov-08:

sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get upgrade -y && sudo reboot
sudo apt-get install git

git clone --single-branch --branch fkms_rpi4 --depth=1 https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup.git
cd ./RetroPie-Setup
git fetch && git checkout fkms_rpi4

sudo ./retropie_packages.sh 833 depends
sudo ./retropie_packages.sh 833 sources
sudo ./retropie_packages.sh 833 build
cd ./tmp/build/sdl2/
sudo dpkg -i libsdl2-2.0-0_2.0.10*.deb

cd ../../..
sudo ./retropie_setup.sh
# go to basic install
#setup autoboot to emulation station

BuZz

This is due to me enabling binaries, but I need to fix a path issue for sdl2. Will sort it now. You can also just call this as a workaround

sudo ./retropie_packages.sh sdl2

To do a source install.

BuZz

Should work now btw. Moved the files manually - will fix the code also and test for next time I build sdl2 bins.

Soldier1107

@Yehor Thank you so much for this. It worked perfectly for me as well.

jimmyjudd

@BuZz I just tried to install yesterday and the day before getting the same error each time. Any updates?

psyke83

@jimmyjudd

Binaries were disabled due to an issue with SDL2 being installed via binary not pulling in the require dependencies. It will be fixed after this PR is merged: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/pull/2898

Until the PR is merged and binaries are re-enabled, you can simply install SDL2 from source as a temporary workaround.

Banci

@Yehor Can you explain to a noob like me all the steps that I should follow?

I'm having your same issue: Unable to install binary for sdl2

Yehor

@Banci At which step did you stuck? What instructions do you follow?

jimmyjudd

@Banci Yehor's guide to the fix is posted. Each line he typed out you will type out yourself step by step, each break in the line signifies a submission.
i.e.
type:

sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get upgrade -y && sudo reboot

hit enter
then:

sudo apt-get install git

hit enter.

his fix is the :
sudo ./retropie_packages.sh 833 depends
sudo ./retropie_packages.sh 833 sources
sudo ./retropie_packages.sh 833 build
cd ./tmp/build/sdl2/
sudo dpkg -i libsdl2-2.0-0_2.0.10*.deb

after this is done, you head into the setup as normal and launch. I followed his guide myself and it fixed my problem

pealvare

@Yehor I followed all the steps but after the basic install i reboot it then i got the retropie logonbut after that i just got redirect to the command line... if i type emullationstation it shows a black screen.

pauljdoc

I am getting 'fkms_rpi4' does not exist.. anyone else got this?

Hervesz

After the reboot, I got the retropie logo and after I have a black screen.

Do you have an idea ?

jgraves

When launching from terminal screen (ALT-F1), emulationstation runs but shows only a black screen. When run from X11 (xterm), it exits with this error:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::logic_error'
  what():  basic_string::_M_construct null not valid
Aborted

Nothing in the logs that I can find.

I noticed the fkms_rpi4 branch is very active, so I'm guessing things are working, then breaking.

Thanks to all who are working on this.

-John

mitu

@jgraves We don't support running from a desktop environment, if you want to test the new PI4 support, start from a Buster Lite installation and do a manual installation - the latest version has integrated the fkms_rpi4 development branch.

MODERATION note: I'm going to lock this topic, it's no longer relevant to the current RetroPie version and creates more confusion than it gives solutions.