Need help with 5200 emulator setup (controller not working + other issue)

river

Pi Model: 3B+
RetroPie Version: 4.6
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: 8BitDo SN30pro+
Controller used: 8BitDo SN30pro+
Error messages received: (see below)
Verbose log (if relevant): (see below)
Guide used: Official install guide
Emulator: lr-atari800 and/or kat5200
How to replicate the problem:

I've done my best to follow all the guides, search the forums here as well as Google, etc. and I'm simply stuck when it comes to getting my controller to work with Atari 5200 ROMs. There are two different scenarios, each of which has its own issue(s). I'd like to solve for both situations, but I'd settle for one or the other. I apologize in advance if I've missed something obvious somewhere. I really have tried. I'm no dummy, but I've also not got a lot of experience in this stuff. This is my first attempt at using RetroPie and until this point it's been great.

Scenario 1:
Using the lr-atari800 emulator, ROMs fail to launch properly and I get the following in /dev/shm/runcommand.log

Parameters:
Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-atari800/atari800_libretro.
so --config /opt/retropie/configs/atari5200/retroarch.cfg "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari5200/Choplifter! (USA).a52" --app
endconfig /dev/shm/retroarch.cfg
[libretro-atari800]: Got size: 336 x 240.
[libretro-atari800]: Got size: 336 x 240.
[libretro-atari800]: Got size: 336 x 240.
[libretro-atari800]: Got size: 336 x 240.
/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh: line 1264:  2916 Segmentation fault      /opt/retropie/emulators/r
etroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-atari800/atari800_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/at
ari5200/retroarch.cfg "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari5200/Choplifter! (USA).a52" --appendconfig /dev/shm/retroarch.cfg
pi@retropie:/opt/retropie/configs/atari5200 $ pico /opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh

In this scenario, I have no idea what to do to troubleshoot. I've looked at line 1264 of runcommand.sh (eval $COMMAND </dev/tty &>>"$LOG") and it means nothing to me. I'd like to solve this, but barring that there's scenario 2.

Scenario 2:
I installed the kat5200 emulator, and if I use that instead of the emulator included with the prebuilt image, ROMs will launch as expected, but my controller doesn't seem to register. At all. I can't even use Select-Start to get back to the main menu, and to get out of it I have to SSH into the device and kill the kat5200 process. It's similar to the issue described in this thread from a couple years back, except (a) even the hotkey combos don't work for me and (b) the solution described in that thread also doesn't work for me. This advice from @zerojay in that thread might work if I knew where to find this setting in the UI: "You can do this through the UI by going into Controls and setting player 1 and player 2 controls from RetroPad to Atari Joystick." I've looked and looked but can't find anything.

If it matters, I'm currently using the 8BitDo SN30pro+ connected to the Pi via USB. I'm having issues getting it to connect reliably via Bluetooth, but that's a completely separate issue. The controller itself works fine with other emulators (2600, SNES, etc.).

Any help with either or both of these is much appreciated. If you need more info, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

mitu

Do you have the BIOS files for Atari5200 installed ? That might be the reason you get a crash while running the ROM with lr-atari800.
For the 2nd situation, kat5200 is a standalone emulator, not a libretro core, so any of the Hotkey shortcuts are not present - they're specific to RetroArch and libretro based emulators (lr-).

river

I believe I have the correct BIOS installed in the right place.

pi@retropie:~/RetroPie $ ll BIOS/
total 92K
lrwxrwxrwx 1 pi pi    8 Sep  4 21:08 5200.rom -> 5200.ROM
-rw-rw-rw- 1 pi pi 2.0K Jan 26  2000 5200.ROM
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 2.0K Mar  7  1997 atari5200.rom
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 8.0K Mar 10  1996 ATARIBAS.ROM
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi  10K Jun 21  1999 Atariosa.rom
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi  10K Sep  4 19:06 ATARIOSB.ROM
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi  16K Mar 10  1996 ATARIXL.ROM
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 8.0K Sep  4 18:30 fast.bin
drwxr-xr-x 3 pi pi 4.0K Apr 28 01:09 fbneo/
drwxr-xr-x 3 pi pi 4.0K Apr 28 01:10 mame2003/
drwxr-xr-x 2 pi pi 4.0K Apr 28 01:10 palettes/
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 8.0K Sep  4 18:30 skip.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 pi pi 8.0K Sep  4 18:30 system.bin

There are actually a couple there as I wasn't sure which was correct, and I even symlinked 5200.ROM to 5200.rom in case the capitalization was the issue (I saw it both ways in various places as I tried to solve this myself; however, I don't think that's applicable here as the setup docs list atari5200.rom as the correct BIOS, and I think the other is used with kat5200).

mitu

Can you check the \\retropie\configs\all\retroarch-core-options.cfg file and see what value is atari800_system set to ? If it's not 5200, then change it to 5200 and see if the game boots.

river

That value didn't even exist (nothing at all in that file about atari800), so I added atari800_system = "5200" and tried again. Same error.

mitu

Can you post your $HOME/.atari800.cfg file ?
I've tried the game (Choplifter) and it runs fine. Even if the core options set the Atari system as 400/800 (atari800_system) by default, the emulator starts and I can go into RGUI Options and add an override for this ROM with 5200 as emulated system, thus making the game playable at the next start of the emulator (lr-atari800).

river

Atari 800 Emulator, Version 3.1.0
ROM_OS_A_NTSC=
ROM_OS_A_PAL=
ROM_OS_B_NTSC=
ROM_OS_AA00R10=
ROM_OS_AA00R11=
ROM_OS_BB00R1=
ROM_OS_BB01R2=
ROM_OS_BB02R3=
ROM_OS_BB02R3V4=
ROM_OS_CC01R4=
ROM_OS_BB01R3=
ROM_OS_BB01R4=
ROM_OS_BB01R59=
ROM_OS_BB01R59A=
ROM_5200=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/atari5200.rom
ROM_5200_A=
ROM_BASIC_A=
ROM_BASIC_B=
ROM_BASIC_C=
ROM_XEGAME=
ROM_400/800_CUSTOM=
ROM_XL/XE_CUSTOM=
ROM_5200_CUSTOM=
ROM_BASIC_CUSTOM=
ROM_XEGAME_CUSTOM=
OS_400/800_VERSION=AUTO
OS_XL/XE_VERSION=AUTO
OS_5200_VERSION=AUTO
BASIC_VERSION=AUTO
XEGS_GAME_VERSION=AUTO
H1_DIR=
H2_DIR=
H3_DIR=
H4_DIR=
HD_READ_ONLY=1
PRINT_COMMAND=lpr %s
SCREEN_REFRESH_RATIO=1
MACHINE_TYPE=Atari 400/800
RAM_SIZE=48
DEFAULT_TV_MODE=NTSC
MOSAIC_RAM_NUM_BANKS=0
AXLON_RAM_NUM_BANKS=0
ENABLE_MAPRAM=0
DISABLE_BASIC=1
ENABLE_SIO_PATCH=0
ENABLE_SLOW_XEX_LOADING=0
ENABLE_H_PATCH=0
ENABLE_P_PATCH=0
ENABLE_NEW_POKEY=1
STEREO_POKEY=0
BUILTIN_BASIC=0
KEYBOARD_LEDS=0
F_KEYS=0
BUILTIN_GAME=0
KEYBOARD_DETACHED=0
1200XL_JUMPER=0
CFG_SAVE_ON_EXIT=0
MIO_ROM=
BLACK_BOX_ROM=
PROTO80_ROM=
CARTRIDGE_FILENAME=
CARTRIDGE_TYPE=0
CARTRIDGE_PIGGYBACK_FILENAME=
CARTRIDGE_PIGGYBACK_TYPE=0
CARTRIDGE_AUTOREBOOT=1
CASSETTE_FILENAME=
CASSETTE_LOADED=0
CASSETTE_WRITE_PROTECT=0
RTIME=1
XEP80_CHARSET=
AF80_ROM=
AF80_CHARSET=
COLOURS_NTSC_SATURATION=0
COLOURS_NTSC_CONTRAST=0
COLOURS_NTSC_BRIGHTNESS=0
COLOURS_NTSC_GAMMA=2.35
COLOURS_NTSC_HUE=0
COLOURS_NTSC_GTIA_DELAY=26.8
COLOURS_NTSC_EXTERNAL_PALETTE=
COLOURS_NTSC_EXTERNAL_PALETTE_LOADED=0
COLOURS_NTSC_ADJUST_EXTERNAL_PALETTE=0
COLOURS_PAL_SATURATION=0
COLOURS_PAL_CONTRAST=0
COLOURS_PAL_BRIGHTNESS=0
COLOURS_PAL_GAMMA=2.35
COLOURS_PAL_HUE=0
COLOURS_PAL_GTIA_DELAY=23.2
COLOURS_PAL_EXTERNAL_PALETTE=
COLOURS_PAL_EXTERNAL_PALETTE_LOADED=0
COLOURS_PAL_ADJUST_EXTERNAL_PALETTE=0
ARTIFACT_NTSC=NONE
ARTIFACT_PAL=NONE
ARTIFACT_NTSC_MODE=0
SCREEN_SHOW_SPEED=0
SCREEN_SHOW_IO_ACTIVITY=1
SCREEN_SHOW_IO_COUNTER=0
SCREEN_SHOW_1200XL_LEDS=1
FILTER_NTSC_SHARPNESS=-0.5
FILTER_NTSC_RESOLUTION=-0.1
FILTER_NTSC_ARTIFACTS=0
FILTER_NTSC_FRINGING=0
FILTER_NTSC_BLEED=0
FILTER_NTSC_BURST_PHASE=0
SOUND_ENABLED=1
SOUND_RATE=44100
SOUND_BITS=16
SOUND_BUFFER_MS=0
SOUND_LATENCY=20

mitu

The config file seems ok.
Try updating the lr-atari800 core from source - see https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Updating-RetroPie/#updatinginstalling-individual-packages - then run the emulator with verbose logging enabled. Post the resulting runcommand.log on pastebin.com.

river

https://pastebin.com/JYP0Sri0

mitu

The only difference during initialization from your log for me is:

...
[libretro-atari800]: Got size: 336 x 240.
WRAP EMU THD
 0  prg
 1  /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari5200/Choplifter! (USA).a52
Using Atari800 config file: /home/pi/.lr-atari800.cfg
Created by Atari 800 Emulator, Version 3.1.0
...

Looks like the libretro core uses a different config file - but the format is the same as .atari800.cfg. Since the core doesn't log much, I can't see why it doesn't work.

As a last resort, try clearing the /home/pi/.lr-atari800.cfg file and see if it gets re-created.

river

Thanks for the help! I'll try that in the morning. (It's nearly 2 AM here and I'm getting too old for this.) 😁

Worst-case scenario, I'll dig out another SD card and start from scratch. I've spent a lot of time but don't have a lot to show for it, so not a great loss.

Thanks again!

hawkeyeul

The quickest way I have found to setup 5200 controls in RetroPi is

open a 5200 game then enter the retro arch quick menu.
From there you want to go down to options. Then set the Atari System to 5200. After that go back to the quick menu.
Now select controls.
Go down to Port 1 Controls and click it.
Change Device Type from RetroPad to Atari Joystick.
Back out to the controls menu.
- you may want to set the Device Type to Atari Joystick for
  Port 2 controls if you're playing 2 player games.
From the Controls menu Save Core Remap File.
Go back to the Quick Menu.
Back out to the main menu.
Open Configuration File and Save Current Configuration.
Back out to the Main Menu and Quit RetroArch.

Now your controller should work with 5200 games