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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

    Amiberry 3.3 / RPi 4 slow

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    amiberryraspberry pi 4slow gameschoppy audio
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    • G
      gordonfreemanjr @gordonfreemanjr
      last edited by

      @gordonfreemanjr It’s not an Amiberry problem. It’s related to the global framerate. Case closed.

      RPi 4 4GB
      Retropie v 4.7.1

      mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Thorr69T
        Thorr69 @gordonfreemanjr
        last edited by

        @gordonfreemanjr The only advice I have is to make sure your pi resolution is 1080p and not 4k. That is to say, set the resolution in the initial launch script of emulationstation. Beyond that, I have no experience with this issue.

        RPi 3b
        Official PSU
        Official RetroPie image
        Pandora's Box 5 controller

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

          @gordonfreemanjr said in Amiberry 3.3 / RPi 4 slow:

          It’s related to the global framerate. Case closed.

          Can you be more specific ? It might help other users that experience the same issue ?

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          • G
            gordonfreemanjr @mitu
            last edited by

            @mitu Sure. Apparently the 4K resolution caps my RPi to 30 FPS. That’s exactly the framerate my Amiberry gets, according to the Amiberry status bar.

            The problem is I’m unable to change my resolution, but that’s a separate issue, I think.

            Here’s the new topic I’ve started on the issue:
            https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29495/30-fps-cap-at-4k-workarounds

            RPi 4 4GB
            Retropie v 4.7.1

            Thorr69T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Thorr69T
              Thorr69 @gordonfreemanjr
              last edited by

              @gordonfreemanjr I believe that's a hardware cap on the Pi4 and you won't be able to get it to 60.

              RPi 3b
              Official PSU
              Official RetroPie image
              Pandora's Box 5 controller

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              • G
                gordonfreemanjr @Thorr69
                last edited by

                @thorr69 Are you sure? I discussed the issue with an Amiberry guy and he said he never heard of an Amiberry emulation running slow on RPi 4, and the usual Amiberry framerate is 50/60.

                RPi 4 4GB
                Retropie v 4.7.1

                Thorr69T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • G
                  gordonfreemanjr @Thorr69
                  last edited by

                  @thorr69 I quote: „ That sounds weird, I've never seen a game that doesn't run full speed on the Pi4.
                  You can enable the Status bar from the Amiberry GUI (check the Misc panel), to see how many FPS it's doing. PAL games should run at 50, NTSC ones at 60”.

                  RPi 4 4GB
                  Retropie v 4.7.1

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Thorr69T
                    Thorr69 @gordonfreemanjr
                    last edited by Thorr69

                    @gordonfreemanjr No, you missed my point. 30 fps at 4k resolution is a hardware limitation. You can do 50/60 on pal/ntsc at 1080p no problem. Pi4 can output 4k, but it doesn't do it very well. Emulation is taxing and Pi4 just can't handle it without stuttering and frameskips, even at 30fps hard cap. That's why you'll find dozens of threads here saying to set your resolution to 1080p.

                    RPi 3b
                    Official PSU
                    Official RetroPie image
                    Pandora's Box 5 controller

                    G 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • G
                      gordonfreemanjr @Thorr69
                      last edited by

                      @thorr69 Oh, sorry. Got it.

                      Yes, switching to 1080p would probably fix my problem. There problem is I’m unable to do it. Each time I use the raspi-config to switch to any other resolution than the „monitor preferred”, the EmulationStation never comes back. I’m stuck at back screen on boot indefinitely and when I to raspi-config most of the resolution options are gone, including the working „monitor preferred”.

                      All I can do at this point is to wipe the SD and start over. Happened to me three times already, even on clean install.

                      RPi 4 4GB
                      Retropie v 4.7.1

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                      • A
                        asinoladro
                        last edited by

                        Ha, I found this thread as I had the exact same problem – Amiberry running slow on my RPi 4, with the latest Retropie image. And... I went right ahead and changed my resolution to 1920x1080 without reading @gordonfreemanjr 's last post... and now emulationstation isn't booting!

                        I've not figured out a solution to this yet (suggestions very welcome!) but:

                        Possibly telling you something you already know, but just in case: you can press the F4 key to get to your terminal. From there, you can type sudo raspi-config to get back to try your luck mucking about with screen config some more.

                        I found the StackExchange answer below, which suggests using the "G2 GL (Fake KMS)" GL driver before changing the resolution – though I've not had any luck with this. (Maybe it'd have worked if I hadn't already broken my config?!)

                        https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/84375/raspberry-pi-crashes-when-i-try-to-change-screen-resolution

                        Not a full answer, but hopefully this gives some leads and we can figure out a solution from here... I'd rather not wipe my sdcard and start over!

                        dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • G
                          gordonfreemanjr @Thorr69
                          last edited by gordonfreemanjr

                          @thorr69 @asinoladro I managed to switch to 1080p eventually after modifying config.txt. And... no change. Amiberry’s still slow and choppy.

                          RPi 4 4GB
                          Retropie v 4.7.1

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                          • A
                            asinoladro @gordonfreemanjr
                            last edited by

                            In case anyone stumbles into this thread, here's how you can edit config.txt manually:

                            https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=283629

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • A
                              asinoladro @gordonfreemanjr
                              last edited by

                              @gordonfreemanjr I've now got this working – got Cannon Fodder playing with totally smooth audio and a good framerate :)

                              My understanding of what's happened in my case is as follows – I think there's a good chance this'll work for you too:

                              1. As discussed in this thread – Amiberry (and most other emulators) are extremely slow in 4k.
                              2. There are many different "1080p" display modes, and they won't all work on your TV or monitor. You need to pick the right one for your monitor.
                              3. If you don't pick the right one, then either you get a black screen, or... your system just ignores your requested mode and defaults right back to 4K (though in settings it'll show your chosen 1080p option, and you won't see any error anywhere!)

                              Here's what I did to pick the right 1080p display mode:
                              4. Following the instructions under Which values are valid for my monitor? in https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/video.md, run /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -m CEA and /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -m DMT. (See https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/7332/what-is-the-difference-between-cea-and-dmt for what CEA and DMT mean)
                              5. As I'm using a monitor, I thought I needed a DMT mode, so I updated my /boot/config.txt with hdmi_group=2 (=DMT) and hdmi_group=82. I then rebooted with sudo reboot now...
                              6. ...and yet, checking /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -s, I was still on a 4k display mode! Argh!
                              7. I went back to /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -m CEA and /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -m DMT and noticed there was a CEA display mode that had native next to it, so I decided to go for that. For me, that meant hdmi_group=1 (which is CEA, confusingly) and hdmi_group=16.
                              8. After a reboot, the difference was obvious even in emulationstation – suddenly navigating the menu was super smooth. And sure enough, booting up Amiga games, no slowdown at all.

                              Let me know if this works for you! Good luck!

                              G 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • dankcushionsD
                                dankcushions Global Moderator @asinoladro
                                last edited by dankcushions

                                @asinoladro said in Amiberry 3.3 / RPi 4 slow:

                                I found the StackExchange answer below, which suggests using the "G2 GL (Fake KMS)" GL driver before changing the resolution – though I've not had any luck with this. (Maybe it'd have worked if I hadn't already broken my config?!)

                                note that retropie/raspbian already use fkms by default. you would have to actively turn on pure kms to need to disable it.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • G
                                  gordonfreemanjr @asinoladro
                                  last edited by gordonfreemanjr

                                  @asinoladro I’m glad you god this working - also, thanks for the detailed tip.

                                  It’s not working so far on my end. I managed to change the resolution to 1x16 (CEA 1920x1080 60Hz), clock 148MHz), but the Amiberry is just as slow as ever.

                                  I followed your path regarding the tvservice option. This is my list. None of the resolutions are desrcribed as ‘native’, and one is desribed as ‘preferred’ - but that’s 30Hz, so no.

                                  My output:
                                  https://ibb.co/jfrVtLd

                                  Not sure what to do now. Should I just check them all and see if any works?

                                  RPi 4 4GB
                                  Retropie v 4.7.1

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • G
                                    gordonfreemanjr @asinoladro
                                    last edited by gordonfreemanjr

                                    @asinoladro Aargh. Even with the 1x16 setting forced in config.txt, apparently I’m still in the wrong mode:

                                    https://ibb.co/DKWkXbV

                                    Damn.

                                    RPi 4 4GB
                                    Retropie v 4.7.1

                                    BuZzB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • BuZzB
                                      BuZz administrators @gordonfreemanjr
                                      last edited by BuZz

                                      @gordonfreemanjr please post your config.txt. (via a pastebin site).

                                      You sure you uncommented the mode options etc?

                                      And make sure you're using the hdmi port closest to the USB power also.

                                      To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                                      G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • G
                                        gordonfreemanjr @BuZz
                                        last edited by

                                        @buzz Here's my config.txt:

                                        https://pastebin.com/AVmzeyCn

                                        Yes, I'm sure I'm using the correct HDMI port.

                                        RPi 4 4GB
                                        Retropie v 4.7.1

                                        dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • dankcushionsD
                                          dankcushions Global Moderator @gordonfreemanjr
                                          last edited by

                                          @gordonfreemanjr what happened since https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29495/30-fps-cap-at-4k-workarounds/7?_=1612256647099 ? i thought you had this sorted using a different mode?

                                          have you forced some other mode via the runcommand resolution select for amiberry?

                                          G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • G
                                            gordonfreemanjr @dankcushions
                                            last edited by gordonfreemanjr

                                            @dankcushions What happened is it didn't work. Apparently I didn't switch to the other resolution at all. Running /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -s showed that I'm still in the 4K resolution despite raspi-config claiming otherwise. Same situation as @asinoladro's.

                                            I was puzzled why Amiberry is still slow after switching to 1080p. Apparently I wasn't in 1080p at all, that's why.

                                            RPi 4 4GB
                                            Retropie v 4.7.1

                                            dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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