Configure Netplay on Retropie. Am I doing this right?

saccublenda · 21 Jun 2020, 10:13

@BGallagherLA I don't know what version of RetroPie you are using with your brother, but this is simply not true for latest RetroPie with 1.8.8 RetroArch. It has been tested and confirmed that without this workaround it does not work even if you have manually loaded the right core and rom, and even if the two RetroPies are on the same lan. Also I don't think that the distance is particularly relevant.

BGallagherLA · 21 Jun 2020, 10:32

@saccublenda I'm using RetroPie 4.6. Not sure what version of RetroArch but whatever version 4.6 came with I guess. I have myself set up as the Host as you set up in the RetroPie menu on the Pi. I start a game, hit a button to bring up that menu where you can choose emulators and whatnot. From there I scroll to Launch with Netplay enabled and then tell my brother it's up. He goes to the RetroArch Netplay lobby and finds me and connects to my game and it works great.

There are games that don't work and such, but we've gotten it to work regularly.

BGallagherLA · 21 Jun 2020, 10:33

But like I said, I think the key is to make sure you have a port forwarded/open on your router if you are hosting and it will work.

xwons · 21 Jun 2020, 10:36

@BGallagherLA When using Netplay from a PC, I usually activate the option to use a Relay server. For some reason, games stutter less and you don't need to open ports. Have you tried that in RetroPie?

saccublenda · 21 Jun 2020, 10:47

@BGallagherLA The problem is related to using RetroPie as guest, not as host.

BGallagherLA · 21 Jun 2020, 17:35

@saccublenda Ohh. I see. I guess that would make sense then. My brother usually plays through RetroArch on his PC or his phone. We tried to get my other brother to play through his Pi and it never worked.

strohseph · 28 Jul 2020, 02:50

@saccublenda Thank you soooooooo much for that workaround. It worked for me and my brother. Linked up all my configs for the emulators we will be using. Can't express how thankful I am.

saccublenda · 28 Jul 2020, 14:44

@strohseph You should thank @mitu since he found out this workaround, I am just reporting it.

strohseph · 8 May 2020, 22:18

Well thank you @mitu

For those wanting to implement this workaround, here is a list of the libretro coresI have on my build so you can copy paste the ones you want or all of them like I did.

ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-81/81_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-atari800/atari800_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-lynx/mednafen_lynx_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-ngp/mednafen_ngp_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-pce-fast/mednafen_pce_fast_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-pcfx/mednafen_pcfx_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-psx/mednafen_psx_hw_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-supergrafx/mednafen_supergrafx_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-vb/mednafen_vb_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-beetle-wswan/mednafen_wswan_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-bluemsx/bluemsx_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-caprice32/cap32_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-desmume/desmume_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-dosbox/dosbox_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fbalpha2012/fbalpha2012_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fbneo/fbneo_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fceumm/fceumm_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-flycast/reicast_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fmsx/fmsx_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freechaf/freechaf_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-freeintv/freeintv_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fuse/fuse_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-gambatte/gambatte_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-genesis-plus-gx/genesis_plus_gx_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-gpsp/gpsp_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-gw/gw_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-handy/handy_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-hatari/hatari_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2000/mame2000_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003/mame2003_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003_midway/mame2003_midway_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003-plus/mame2003_plus_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2010/mame2010_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2015/mame2015_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2016/mamearcade2016_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mesen-s/mesen-s_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mgba/mgba_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mrboom/mrboom_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mupen64plus/mupen64plus_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mupen64plus-next/mupen64plus_next_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-neocd/neocd_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-nestopia/nestopia_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-np2kai/np2kai_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-nxengine/nxengine_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-o2em/o2em_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-opera/4do_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-parallel-n64/parallel_n64_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-pcsx-rearmed/pcsx_rearmed_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-picodrive/picodrive_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-pokemini/pokemini_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-ppsspp/ppsspp_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-prboom/prboom_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-prosystem/prosystem_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-puae/puae_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-px68k/px68k_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-quasi88/quasi88_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-quicknes/quicknes_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-scummvm/scummvm_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-snes9x/snes9x_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-snes9x2002/snes9x2002_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-snes9x2005/snes9x2005_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-snes9x2010/snes9x2010_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-stella2014/stella2014_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-tgbdual/tgbdual_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-tyrquake/tyrquake_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-vba-next/vba_next_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-vecx/vecx_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-vice/vice_x64_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-virtualjaguar/virtualjaguar_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-x1/x1_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-yabause/yabause_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores

(Ignore the random code highlighting)

Cheers.

mpnuttall · 17 Oct 2020, 14:58

@strohseph strohseph Hello! Sorry to ask such a basic question, but how and where should I paste these shortcuts? I read @saccublenda post, but don't know how to to create them - I'm no good with console stuff and generally only mess around with settings via the Retropie and Retroarch UIs. Is there an idiots step by step of how to add these? Thanks so much, Mark.

saccublenda · 17 Oct 2020, 15:19

@mpnuttall As explained in my post, the command ln -s will create the symbolic link. For example
ln -s /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fceumm/fceumm_libretro.so $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores
will create a symbolic link to the file /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fceumm/fceumm_libretro.so in the directory $HOME/.config/retroarch/cores.

mpnuttall · 17 Oct 2020, 15:24

@saccublenda Thanks very much for the reply. So do I just paste all of that in to the console (if that's even what it's called!) in, say, Putty? And also do everything in the very first post of this thread of course, I assume? Thanks again.

saccublenda · 17 Oct 2020, 15:28

@mpnuttall Yes, you have to paste this command in the terminal. The commands in the OP are essentially the same in my post, with the exception of the relay server, which I think is not needed if you have open ports on your router.

mpnuttall · 17 Oct 2020, 15:35

@saccublenda Brilliant, thank you. My friend has been having 'port mapping failed' issues (as well as the 'failed to initilise Netplay' one which seems to be what this thread is trying to address) so will try with the relay I think. This is all very new to me - tried hosting earlier to see what happened (with relay on) and it told me I had connected to Nick!! No idea what I'm doing really 🤣

Addison · 26 Sept 2021, 22:00

@strohseph

I did the copy and paste from your entire list for the libretro cores.

It's kind of making a confusing mess of all things.

Is there a simple way to remove all of those symlinks?

I can use either PuTTy or WinSCP.