Problem configuring arcade machine

Billy

@mitu these are the settings in retroarch (all folder)

 # Keyboard input, Joypad and Joyaxis will all obey the "nul" bind, which disables the bind completely,
 # rather than relying on a default.
input_player1_a = "ctrl"
input_player1_b = "alt"
input_player1_y = "z"
input_player1_x = "shift"
input_player1_start = "1"
input_player1_select = "5"
input_player1_l = "space"
input_player1_r = "x"
input_player1_left = "left"
input_player1_right = "right"
input_player1_up = "up"
input_player1_down = "down"
 # input_player1_l2 =
 # input_player1_r2 =
 # input_player1_l3 =
 # input_player1_r3 =

input_player2_a = "a"
input_player2_b = "s"
input_player2_y = "q"
input_player2_x = "w"
input_player2_start = "2"
input_player2_select = "6"
input_player2_l = "i"
input_player2_r = "k"
input_player2_left = "d"
input_player2_right = "g"
input_player2_up = "r"
input_player2_down = "f"
 # input_player2_l2 =
 # input_player2_r2 =
 # input_player2_l3 =
 # input_player2_r3 =

Billy

@billy there's a "dash" missing from the lines about, the ones with larger font

mitu

@billy You can surround the config fragment with code tags (```) so it doesn't get re-formatted by the forum. I've re-formatted it now for you.

mitu

Try un-setting the reset/ff keys, even if they're not set in the configuration, RetroArch might set the default keys for the actions. Add

input_toggle_fast_forward = "null"
input_reset = "null"

Billy

@mitu thanks, I tried that yesterday with a # before instead of null. The problem is that forward is not in my retroarch

Billy

@mitu hi again. The fast forward is disabled so that part worked.
There are still a few issues.
When i press "down" on the player 2 joystick, the starting menu where you can change the emulator appears, it's like the game re-launches. "Press a button to configure" appears
If i'm playing a game and move player 1 joystick "state slot: 1" and "state slot 2" appear on the button left of the screen.

Also, i changed the hotkey to "false" as i couldn't exit the games but stil doesn't work. I changed it to "true" and also to "1" as it was my original hotkey, but nothing happens wen i press player1+select...

Any ideas? i'm tempted to through it out the window as it's been 3 weeks of total frustration.

Thanks

mitu

@billy Looks like you don't have a hotkey enabled and some of the actions are triggered directly by the button/joystick presses. Can you post the whole retroarch.cfg on pastebin.com ?

Billy

@mitu thanks for the help.
Here is the full retroarch.cfg from the all folder
https://pastebin.com/QQGf2uaa

mitu

The hotkey is not set - near the end of the file:

input_enable_hotkey = "null"

Set it to the control you'd like and re-try, simple button presses should not trigger any hotkey actions.

Billy

@mitu i tried that, it was set to "num1" or "1" and it didn't work either, so i disabled it in case it was creating a conflict.

Also I'm still getting the "state slot:1" and "state slot: 2" when i play with player 1.

When i press down on Player 2 it keeps re-launching...

mitu

Did you - at any point during configuration - the Save Cofiguration menu from RetroArch ? This would generate a new .cfg in the system folder, overriding any values you set in the all/retroarch.cfg file.
Is this with the RetroPie image or with a 3rd party image ?

Billy

@mitu when i open the retroarch.cfg file from the all folder configs, it's open via Text editor from the mac. Once i close it it is saved automatically. When i access again there's only one retroarch file and that contains the changes made

I'm using the 4.7.1 image from retropie.org.uk
I tried one from arcade punks but the controllers where all over the place, so reflashed the SD card with the 4.7.1 version.

mitu

@billy said in Problem configuring arcade machine:

When i access again there's only one retroarch file and that contains the changes made

No, I was referring to saving the configuration from within RetroArch, while playing a game.

Let's say you started a game from the arcade folder; there's an additional \\retropie\configs\arcade\retroarch.cfg, that includes the options from all/retroarch.cfg and it's used to configure the arcade games.
If you used Save Configuration in RetroArch, after starting an arcade game, that arcade/retroarch.cfg would be written from scratch as a new file, so anything you'd be configuring in al/retroarch.cfg would not apply.

Can you check to see if the system of the game you're starting doesn't have an overly large retroarch.cfg, thus ignoring all the changes you add in all/retroarch.cfg ?

Billy

@mitu thanks for the reply.
Yes, i checked the retroarch.cfg in /arcade, also in /fba and /lr-mame and the retroarch file only contains the couple of lines and the # include at the end, but nothing on remapping.
I tried to remap them myself with the same as the /ll retroarch but didn't work either.
So i don't really know what i'm doing wrong as i checked so many tutorials and tons of forums in retropie.org

mitu

I have copied your configuration on my installation and tested a bit.

The 'Save' messages are because Left/Right are set 'next/prev state slot' in the configuration file:

input_state_slot_increase = "right"
input_state_slot_decrease = "left"

If you comment those, then the messages will not be triggered.

Your 'exit' key is defined wrong (I was wondering why I wasn't able to exit):

input_exit_emulator = "esc"

should be

input_exit_emulator = "escape"

I couldn't reproduce the other issues - reset and FF with P2 controls. They could be caused by some keyboard combo set from the IPAC - I don't get them on a keyboard.

If you want to see what are the default RetroArch's hotkeys- this page lists them.

EDIT:

Just realized that F is also 'Fullscreen toggle', so you might want to add an extra line, so the P2 down (F) doesn't act up.

input_toggle_fullscreen = "null"

Billy

@mitu that's brilliant. Thank you so much for that. I'll modify those lines and try it tomorrow!

I'll let you know how i get on.

Cheers!

Billy

@mitu I'm petty sure i changed "escape" to "esc" myself because i couldn't exit the game.

Will those work for fba too? i read that MAME roms work best with fba emulator...

I'll try tomorrow both of them

Thanks again

mitu

@billy said in Problem configuring arcade machine:

Will those work for fba too? i read that MAME roms work best with fba emulator...

They should work with lr-fbneo also (there's no more fba in RetroPie), but arcade ROMs work best with the matching ROMset emulator - see https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/.

Billy

@mitu I finally got a bit of time to remap and change the retroarch file. But i downloaded it the games in the fba folder and they don't work. they do work in the mame-libretto folder as i can change some of the buttons with the TAB option. I remapped the fba retroarch folder but still doesn't work, i can't add coins to play...

also, i got a bunch of roms from different sites that i had saved over the years in a folder, but i have no idea which version they are. I guess this will be trying different emulators for each rom...

Thanks again for your help

mitu

@billy said in Problem configuring arcade machine:

I remapped the fba retroarch folder but still doesn't work, i can't add coins to play...

How did you re-map them ? The fba folder uses lr-fbneo as arcade emulator, which should use the same input configuration from RetroArch - i.e. Select to insert a coin.

also, i got a bunch of roms from different sites that i had saved over the years in a folder, but i have no idea which version they are. I guess this will be trying different emulators for each rom...

Each emulator has its own set of suppoted ROMs, there's no point in downloading random ROMs - get a split set for the emulator you're using.
More details in https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/.