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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

    trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.

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    bootboot issueboot issuesfile editgui on startup
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    • jtkblueJ
      jtkblue
      last edited by jtkblue

      Hi. Earlier today I edited some files that I cannot access on windows, and basically screwed my SD card. RIP. anyways, I tried to copy and paste the files which I luckily had a backup of the SD card before I messed everything up, and it will not boot into the emulationstation thing or really work.

      I haven't formatted my card yet, but I edited a file in the path. dunno how to access it because I can't boot to desktop. /etc/rc.local

      Is this normal? Can I just copy the files from one folder which i use as a backup into the sd card after formatting it?
      (Same sd card being used for backup and restore.)

      (yadadadada below, if needed.)
      Pi Model or other hardware: 4
      Power Supply used: portable battery, 3V. no power issues.
      RetroPie Version Used : not really needed, lul.
      Built From: (Installed from official retropie setup guide online. edited files and won't boot.
      USB Devices connected: KB+M.
      Controller used: n/a
      Error messages received: n/a
      Verbose log : n/a
      Guide used: ) n/a
      File: I have no clue honestly. I haven't formatted my card yet, but I edited a file in the path sudo nano /etc/rc.local
      Emulator: n/a
      Attachment of config files: https://pastebin.com/8ycDE99z
      How to replicate the problem: edit the file path /etc/rc.local and then configure startx to boot automatically.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -1
      • mituM
        mitu Global Moderator
        last edited by

        @jtkblue said in trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.:

        RetroPie Version Used : not really needed, lul.

        Then why post here ?

        How to replicate the problem: edit the file path /etc/rc.local and then configure startx to boot automatically.

        That's not how you enable X to start automatically.

        jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • jtkblueJ
          jtkblue @mitu
          last edited by jtkblue

          @mitu sorry about being vauge. maybe (i totally did) did not enable it correctly and messed everything up.

          i would really like to know how to edit the path /etc/rc.local on a linux virtual machine, windows, whatever.

          thanks

          (FOR CONTEXT, THIS IS WHAT I EDITED. https://www.circuitbasics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lcd-.etc_.rc_.local-after-edit.png)

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

            You can use any Linux system (on another PC or even a live USB distro like Ubuntu) and mount the SDcard. You can thhen - as root - edit the etc/rc.local file from under the mount folder and remove the offending line.

            You can also try to boot the Pi into 'safe mode' by modifying the /boot/cmdline.txt as explained in https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/a/70527. You'll boot to a command prompt, from where you can re-mount read-write the / partition and be able to edit /etc/rc.local.

            If you wish to start the desktop environment at boot, use raspi-config choose the Auto Login to Desktop in the Boot / Auto login menu.

            jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • jtkblueJ
              jtkblue @mitu
              last edited by jtkblue

              @mitu said in trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.:

              You can use any Linux system (on another PC or even a live USB distro like Ubuntu) and mount the SDcard. You can thhen - as root - edit the etc/rc.local file from under the mount folder and remove the offending line.

              I'm In the ETC folder, but I can't find rc.local. There's things like rc0.d but i can't find rc.local.

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

                @jtkblue said in trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.:

                How would I achieve this? I can't even find the file that I want to edit in the folder of the card. Here's what I see.
                ...

                What you're seeing is the boot partition, you'll need to mount the 2nd partition on the sdcard.

                jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • jtkblueJ
                  jtkblue @mitu
                  last edited by

                  @mitu sorry about that, after realizing what i did wrong i already found the retropie partition. check the edited message above for what's wrong now lol

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

                    @jtkblue If you can't find rc.local, then it's not there or the partition is not properly mounted/read.

                    jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • jtkblueJ
                      jtkblue @mitu
                      last edited by

                      @mitu nope, found it. I tried to edit it using the mousepad thingy and it won't let me save because permission denied. I would use sudo nano but I have no clue how to edit files on external drives..

                      any clue?

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

                        Editing files is the same, no matter the location. Use sudo nano _path_to_file_. You can also run mousepad via sudo and browse for the file location.

                        jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • jtkblueJ
                          jtkblue @mitu
                          last edited by jtkblue

                          @mitu in the file browser, it says /media/pi/retropie/etc

                          so i type

                          sudo nano /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                          and it says it doesn't exist. confused.

                          says it doesn't exist either for /pi/retropie/etc/rc.local/

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

                            @jtkblue said in trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.:

                            /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                            If you run the following 2 commands, what's the output ?

                            ls -l /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local
sudo ls -l /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local
                            jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • jtkblueJ
                              jtkblue @mitu
                              last edited by

                              @mitu said in trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.:

                              @jtkblue said in trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.:

                              /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                              If you run the following 2 commands, what's the output ?

                              ls -l /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local
sudo ls -l /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                              the first one output

                              -rwxr -xr-x 1 root root 454 Jan 3 23:31 /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                              the second one output the exact same thing

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

                                @jtkblue said in trying to boot from a copy of my sd card, will not boot.:

                                sudo ls -l /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                                OK, so if

                                sudo ls -l /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                                shows the listing to a file, then I don't understand why

                                sudo nano /media/pi/retropie/etc/rc.local

                                says the file does not exist. Are you sure there's not a typo involved somewhere ?

                                jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • jtkblueJ
                                  jtkblue @mitu
                                  last edited by jtkblue

                                  @mitu BINGO!

                                  apparently, I tried it again after typing it correctly the last 5-6 times in the past 2 hours.

                                  Sorry for wasting your time. I appreciate your help, thank you so much!

                                  boots into emulationstation completely fine now.

                                  the thing is though, i've been trying to make my touchscreen work on the retropie pixel desktop thingy, it's always a tiny bit off from my finger so i can't use it. The website here: https://www.circuitbasics.com/setup-lcd-touchscreen-raspberry-pi/
                                  told me to edit rc.local and put that thing in it, and then it wouldn't load emulationstation.

                                  it's all a huge mess. I'm going to store the recently fixed sd card with retropie on it and i'm going to try to install emulationstation ON top of raspbian on a second sd card i have, if it works, cool i got a touch screen, if not, i got this nifty tiny keyboard i can use.

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

                                    Those instructions seem a bit old, you might want to search for recent (Raspbian Buster) instructions. Note that running EmulationStation from a desktop env is not a supported configuration (though some users seem to prefer running it like that).

                                    jtkblueJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • jtkblueJ
                                      jtkblue @mitu
                                      last edited by

                                      @mitu oh ho, I know it's not supported. I tried it as my main configuration for a while and eventually it just would not start any games at all. I'm hoping that because it's on a secondary sd card it'll fix the issues i previously had.

                                      If i had a choice, I would totally prefer to have it on top of raspbian but, whatever.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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