Retropie-Airplane-Mode scripts for Retropie

brandflake11

Hello all,

I have created scripts for enabling/disabling wireless on the RPI, specifically for Retropie. These are simple rfkill bash scripts that you can put under RetroPie/roms/ports/wireless that you can then use to toggle wireless/bluetooth/both on/off.

I designed these specifically for individuals who don't know much bash or Linux, so they should be relatively easy to use.

Read about the project here:
https://github.com/brandflake11/Retropie-Airplane-Mode

See the installation instructions here:
https://github.com/brandflake11/Retropie-Airplane-Mode/blob/main/INSTALL

I have been using these on my Piboy DMG to save battery, and if I am ever on a plane with the Piboy, I can simply select the script enable-airplane-mode under ports, and I can continue playing. These should work on any rpi-based gaming device, and even other Linux computers, as rfkill (I think) is a basic command.

Feel free to let me know what you think.

mitu

Looks good - disabling WiFi/BT is useful on a portable device.
You may want to try adding the items in the retropiemenu folder, so it appears along with the other configuration items.

brandflake11

@mitu Thank you for this suggestion. The RetroPie settings is a much better place for these scripts. I have updated my repository to use the RetroPie Settings menu as the install directory.

Is there a way to get those fancy icons on a folder for RetroPie under the Settings menu?

mitu

@brandflake11 said in Retropie-Airplane-Mode scripts for Retropie:

Is there a way to get those fancy icons on a folder for RetroPie under the Settings menu?

The retropiemenu is like a regular game system, you can modify the gamelist.xml and add icons to the entries. See how the retropiemenu is installed.

brandflake11

@mitu Here is an image I whipped up for the wireless folder, using Retropie's stock images: https://github.com/brandflake11/Retropie-Airplane-Mode/blob/main/wireless-icon.png

The INSTALL instructions now show how to install it as well.

With all of these additions, I may need to make a release script that is easier than copying three lines of bash for newcomers...

cnoto

@brandflake11 This is amazing and solves the issue of the Pi zero W slowing during gameplay (mainly on snes). Ive been using it on the RetroFlag GPi case and this allows for an easy toggle between playing games and making changes. Brilliant. Thank you for this.

brandflake11

@cnoto I'm glad you have found a use for it. I had no idea it would help with the pi zero's performance, but I'm happy it does! Thanks for letting me know about it. I thought having an airplane-mode was a crucial feature that was just missing an option in EmulationStation.