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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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    • roslofR
      roslof @rilight
      last edited by roslof

      @rilight I'm suggesting adjusting the throttle force_turbo=1. I this is not classified as overclocking provided you don't use it in conjunction with over_voltage . If you don't want to overclock, steer away from the chunk I pasted in 'code' format.

      Here is the write-up from the Raspberry Pi crew:
      https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/overclocking.md

      Specifically regarding force_turbo:
      Forces turbo mode frequencies even when the ARM cores are not busy. Enabling this may set the warranty bit if over_voltage_ is also set.*

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      • R
        rilight
        last edited by rilight

        Oh, okay. Given what it says, ("forces maximum frequencies even when the ARM cores are not busy"), this could still decrease battery life though right? I'll give it a try and see how ES performs.

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

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

          Oh, okay. Given what it says, ("forces maximum frequencies even when the ARM cores are not busy"), this could still decrease battery life though right? I'll give it a try and see how ES performs.

          Not sure what you mean by battery life. I've been running force_turbo since the Pi4B first came out and I haven't experienced any wear-and-tear or issues. Always keeping my Pi cool. Never had any warnings...

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          • R
            rilight
            last edited by rilight

            I mean in a portable build, without being always plugged into a power socket 😄 As for the effects of the option, setting force_turbo=1 did increase performance on the main ES menu, making it workable in Carbon and pixel-metadata, but the metapixel theme still struggles during movement between some screens. It's an okay workaround for now, but I still feel like it shouldn't be necessary...

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            • R
              rilight
              last edited by

              Update: Even having force_turbo=1, I'm still getting tearing in Gambette randomly. I'll record a video.

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              • R
                rilight
                last edited by

                It doesn't look like I have permission to upload videos on the forum, unless there's another way to do it?

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

                  @rilight Yes, we limit the size of attachments so I guess a video is too large for the limit.

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                  • R
                    rilight
                    last edited by

                    Makes sense, how large is the limit? I just scaled the video to a terrifyingly low resolution and it still wouldn't upload

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                    • R
                      rilight
                      last edited by

                      Never mind, I just uploaded it to imgur instead:
                      video

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                      • dankcushionsD
                        dankcushions Global Moderator
                        last edited by

                        please provide a verbose log for that game: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Runcommand/#launch-with-verbose-logging

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                        • R
                          rilight
                          last edited by rilight

                          @dankcushions Sure, here you go: https://termbin.com/fk91
                          (I know they can decrease performance, but while shaders are enabled on startup the video I recorded above is with them completely disabled.)

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                          • R
                            rilight
                            last edited by rilight

                            I just discovered that the 30fps problem on the ES main menu only happens when the UI transition style is set to "Fade". Using "Slide" or "Instant" it stays around 57 - 60fps according to the framerate display, although opening the start menu still causes it to drop to 30fps instantly. This also still doesn't fix my issues with screen tearing in-game.

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

                              @GreenHawk84 has confirmed this is a problem out of the box on a fresh install: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/27377/inconsistent-es-menu-speed-with-pi4/

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                              • GreenHawk84G
                                GreenHawk84 @Krakatoa
                                last edited by

                                @Krakatoa bumping up VRAM as in ES menu>Other Settings>VRAM Limit? I bumped it to 500Mb and the carousel is still slowing down to ~30fps on fade randomly.

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                                • R
                                  rilight
                                  last edited by

                                  @GreenHawk84 I tried the same thing a few days back in this thread and didn't have any luck either :/

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                                  • GreenHawk84G
                                    GreenHawk84
                                    last edited by

                                    I can confirm the menu speed improves after a game is loaded.

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                                    • R
                                      rilight
                                      last edited by

                                      Interesting, it doesn't really seem to help me but that might be because my theme displays more than the default carbon theme.

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                                      • stooS
                                        stoo
                                        last edited by stoo

                                        I'm having exactly the same issue. ES just decides to drop to 30fps at random times, and I'm seeing screen tearing in games.

                                        • Brand new Pi4B 8GB
                                        • Not overclocked.
                                        • Absolutely stock settings.
                                        • Official Pi4 image downloaded from this site.

                                        It's really frustrating that in some ways the Pi4 performance seems worse than my Pi3B+. There is something amiss here.

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                                        • stooS
                                          stoo
                                          last edited by

                                          Wait, what's the recommended gfx driver to run on the Pi4 at the moment?

                                          I haven't modified by my config.txt since I installed RetroPie on this SD card from a freshly downloaded image about a week ago, and it's showing:

                                          dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d

                                          Is the fake KMS driver the one I should be using? Because performance seems dire in most emulators and in ES.

                                          N.B.: That's where the tearing is coming from: the driver is just that freaking slow that it's not able to maintain 60fps.

                                          dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • dankcushionsD
                                            dankcushions Global Moderator @stoo
                                            last edited by

                                            @stoo are you using a 4k display? that will be the issue - set to 1080p via raspi-config

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