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    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Low framerate on main EmulationStation menu - Pi 4

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    pi 4estationperformance
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    • R
      rilight
      last edited by rilight

      It looks like I have the same version of Gambatte as you do. Here's my video settings from the RetroArch menu after launching the game:

      Output:
        Video: gl
        Monitor Index: 0(Auto)
        Video Rotation: Normal
        Force-Disable sRGB FBO: Off
      
      Fullscreen:
        Start in Fullscreen Mode: On
        Windowed Fullscreen Mode: On
        Fullscreen Width: 1920
        Fullscreen Height: 1080
      
      Windowed Mode:
        Windowed Scale: 3.0x
        Window Opacity: 100
        Show Window Decorations: On
        Remember Window Position and Size: Off
        Window Width: 1280
        Window Height: 720
      
      Scaling:
        Integer Scale: Off
        Aspect Ratio: Core Provided
        Crop Overscan: On
      
      Synchronization:
        Vertical Sync (Vsync): On
        Vertical Sync (Vsync) Swap Interval: 1
        Frame Delay: 0
        Hard GPU Sync: Off
        Max swapchain images: 3
        Sync to Exact Content Framerate: Off
      
      Suspend Screensaver: On
      Threaded Video: On
      Black Frame Insertion: Off
      GPU Screenshot: On
      Bilinear Filtering: Off
      Auto-Shader Delay: 0
      
      Video Filter: N/A
      

      I'm not sure why I'm missing some of the options you have, maybe you have an advanced settings option enabled? The only difference I see here is that my windowed scale is set to 3x instead of 1x.

      roslofR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • roslofR
        roslof @rilight
        last edited by roslof

        @rilight said in Low framerate on main EmulationStation menu - Pi 4:

        I'm not sure why I'm missing some of the options you have

        Hmmm... Maybe:
        RetroArch / User Interface / Views / (enable everything except "Display Start Screen)
        RetroArch / User Interface / (enable "Show Advanced Settings")

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • R
          rilight
          last edited by

          Ah, enabling "Show Advanced Settings" did the trick. I'll edit my post to add the missing values.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • R
            rilight
            last edited by

            The only other differences I notice now are GPU Screenshot being on and Bilinear Filtering being off, I think that's everything.

            roslofR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • roslofR
              roslof @rilight
              last edited by

              @rilight Boo. Between config.txt for overall video setting, and RetroArch video settings, seems all good.

              I can't argue with @mitu 's logic at this point. The software appears to be correct, and unless I'm missing something, this only leaves hardware between your Pi 4B and your TV.

              Silly, terrible questions:

              1. You are using physical video port 0, correct?
              2. Can test your setup on a different TV?
              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • R
                rilight
                last edited by

                If port 0 is the one next to the USB-C port, then yep! I'll go ahead and hook this up to the TV instead of my monitor, I probably should have thought of doing that earlier.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • R
                  rilight
                  last edited by

                  Same issue on the TV.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • R
                    rilight
                    last edited by

                    Also @roslof, the issue isn't happening just with RetroArch but also in the main menu of EmulationStation... but it's not slow all the time. If I move from a custom category (unthemed, so no background) to a regular category, the animation is noticeably smoother than when I move between themed categories.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • R
                      rilight
                      last edited by

                      @roslof I remembered this HDMI adapter came in a two-pack, so I dug out the other one and tried switching it out. Still the same performance... either this adapter is just bad in general (which I wouldn't guess from the reviews saying it worked great with the Pi 4), I got shipped a bad batch, or the issue is something else.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • D
                        d3sim8
                        last edited by

                        I am having the same issue. Fresh install of the 4.6 image. Using a genuine Raspberry Pi HDMI cable. Tried another cable, tried another TV. Limited the resolution to 1080p / 720p. Turned Wi-Fi / Bluetooth off.

                        Still getting a low framerate in ES. I also experience tearing in lr-fbneo and lr-genesis-gx-plus.

                        Running a game then exiting seems to mitigate the framerate problem in ES. Turning off threaded video seems to mitigate the tearing in games.

                        I'm at a bit of a loss as to what is causing the problem too!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • roslofR
                          roslof
                          last edited by

                          Two people with the same symptoms. Hardware ruled out (TV/Cables)...

                          Couple of other things I could think of that we haven't discussed...

                          • Upgrading/Upgraded PiOS (software/Kernel)
                          • Graphic Drivers

                          PiOS/Kernel
                          I'm reaching here, but as an example, last year, I remember the kernel changed and GPU overclock was broken for a couple/few months. This is just an example of how Kernel changes can impact systems.

                          Use uname -a to get your Kernel version.
                          Mine:
                          Linux retropie 4.19.118-v7l+ #1311 SMP Mon Apr 27 14:26:42 BST 2020 armv7l GNU/Linux
                          I wager mine is older with that Apr 27th date, but I know this works for me.

                          Link to Updating and upgrading
                          (should backup everything first before attempting an upgrade/downgrade)

                          Graphic Drivers
                          I know least about this area, but wondering if there have been recent changes to the graphic drivers/dependencies that are causing issues. Maybe others could help suggest if this could be an area to investigate. Not sure which drivers may affect both ES and RetroArch (since the issues being reported here seem to affect both). Not sure how to surface driver versions or the best way to revert if desired.

                          Other than these two areas, I'm stumped.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • mituM
                            mitu Global Moderator
                            last edited by

                            The low fps in EmulationStation was reported during the Pi4 beta period - usually by running at 30 fps. This happens on certain themes - less likely with the default, Carbon, theme - but it goes away once a game is launched. You can see what FPS EmulationStation runs by toggling the Show Framerate option from the ES menu.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • roslofR
                              roslof
                              last edited by

                              @rilight which theme are you running?

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • R
                                rilight
                                last edited by rilight

                                @roslof: I updated the OS during my installation process, so I'm currently on 5.4.51-v7l+.
                                @mitu: The FPS counter does show that when it seems more laggy, it's running at 30 fps. However, launching a game then exiting doesn't seem to solve the issue for me like it does for others? As I mentioned in my first post, I'm using the pixel-metadata theme and it does perform better on Carbon. However, even there it doesn't reach a consistent 60fps.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • R
                                  rilight
                                  last edited by

                                  If anyone has more suggestions, let me know. For now I'll probably just deal with the low framerate and graphical problems and/or force it to run at 720p but I'd really like to figure out what's going on.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • KrakatoaK
                                    Krakatoa
                                    last edited by

                                    To improve the themes try bumping up the vram. I was getting terrible performance in cardcrazy with the default vram (80). Once I upped to the max all my issues went away.

                                    GreenHawk84G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • R
                                      rilight
                                      last edited by

                                      @Krakatoa I just tried cranking up the VRAM Limit setting to the max and restarted EmulationStation, no change. It still sits at 60fps when idle then drops down to 30-45fps or so when switching categories.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • R
                                        rilight
                                        last edited by

                                        Oh, I also noticed that ES stays at a consistent 30fps when I'm in the start menu. No idea why that would be different than sitting on the main menu, but it is.

                                        roslofR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • R
                                          rilight
                                          last edited by

                                          It looks like a few others have reported the same issue off-forum:

                                          • https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation/issues/638
                                          • https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroPie/comments/ezelue/rpi_4_lag_in_emulationstation_menus/
                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • R
                                            rilight
                                            last edited by

                                            @d3sim8 Out of curiosity, what kernel version are you running?

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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