Disable Hotkey-X retroarch menu keys in Kids/Kiosk mode only

renepela

My raspberry pi 3 based retropie cabinet is working great.
I'm running it in Kios mode, so my kids can't destroy my configuration by accident.
I disabled the Hotkey-X key combination by setting it to null in the configuration.
However everytime if I want to use it myself I have to enable it again.

Is it possible to disable it only when I'm in kids/kiosk mode and have it automatically enabled in the full emulation station gui?
That way I don't have to edit the config everytime I want to have it enabled.

mitu

@renepela said in Disable Hotkey-X retroarch menu keys in Kids/Kiosk mode only:

I disabled the Hotkey-X key combination by setting it to null in the configuration.

Which configuration ? RetroArch's or EmulationStation ?

EmulationStation does not edit directly other files except its own. If you want to have an easier way to toggle the hotkey, you can create a couple of .sh scripts in the retropiemenu system which can toggle on/off the hotkey in RetroArch's configuration file.

renepela

@mitu That's a good idea. Although then I have to find a way to hide that item in the retropie menu when I'm kiosk mode. As soon as I add a .sh file in the retropiemenu it also shows up when I'm in Kiosk mode. I prefer my kids not to see the retropie menu.

mitu

I though the RetroPie menu doesn't show up in Kid/Kiosk mode, hence the suggestion. You can mark them 'hidden' and filter them out in Kiosk mode.

renepela

@mitu Yes and no. The retropie menu is hidden in Kiosk mode.
However as soon as I add a .sh file in the retropiemenu folder, the Retropie menu appears even in Kiosk mode but showing only the .sh script in it. So all other things are hidden.

Is there a way to hide the .sh script from the retropie menu when in Kids mode? Once everything is hidden in it,the entire menu will be gone again in kids mode. If there is such a way, then the suggested a .sh script to enable/disable the Hotkey+X combination is a great option.

I'm not a skilled scripter however.
Is there someone who already created such a script and is willing to share it?

mitu

@renepela said in Disable Hotkey-X retroarch menu keys in Kids/Kiosk mode only:

Is there a way to hide the .sh script from the retropie menu when in Kids mode? Once everything is hidden in it,the entire menu will be gone again in kids mode. If there is such a way, then the suggested a .sh script to enable/disable the Hotkey+X combination is a great option.

Just as I said before, mark the entry as hidden using the metadata editor (press Select when the list entry is selected). You can hide the whole RetroPie system this way, marking each entry hidden.

As for the scripts themselves, they can have a simple copy file operation. Let's say you have the .cfg which enables the hotkey in /home/pi/ra_hotkey_on.cfg, then the script to enable the hotkey can be a simple:

#!/bin/bash

cp /home/pi/ra_hotkey_on.cfg /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

and the same for toggling off the hokey.

renepela

I found out the solutions for hiding the .sh file in the retropie menu. It's just a matter of adding <hidden>true</hidden> in the gamelist.xml in the retropie gamelist folder. So now all I need is a script with two choices.

Enable Hotkey-X
Disable Hotkey-X

I really hope someone can provide me such a script. It would be greatly appreciated.

renepela

@mitu Looks like I posted this " solution" to hide items at the same time you posted it.

So a script to copy it. I thought I couldn;t add a single Hotkey action in a cfg. I was under the impression it's part of the retroarch.cfg. So that would mean I replace the entire retroarch.cfg which also contains a lot of other settings.
Isn;t it possible to look the setting up in retroarch.cfg and replace only that line?

mitu

@renepela Sorry, I was under the impression you already have a .cfg file that disables the hotkey - am I wrong ?

renepela

@mitu I don't have a cfg that disables it. I just edit retroarch.cfg all the time. Not a very nice way to do it.
The best solution would be a script that alters the line needed in retroarch.cfg

mitu

OK, so you have retroarch.cfg with the hotkey enabled and - after editing it - another one with the hotkey disabled. Copy each of these files separately in /home/pi and your script will, in turn, copy them over the original retroarch.cfg when needed, enabling or disabling the hotkey.

renepela

@mitu Off course this will work. However each time I want to change another item have to create the retroarchcfg file again. When I use a simple copy script all other settings can't be changed anymore. So each time I go to the retroarch menu and change something the retroarch.cfg gets overwritten. So using two files (one with and one without the disabled hotkey) just isn't a working solution. I really want to be able to make it independent of other changes in the file I sometimes do using the retroarch menu.
A script that edits that single line is the best solution, however I'm just not clever enough to make the script.