Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?

AlphaBetaPie

The current theme I'm using (and some of the graphics I've updated), simply does not play well with grid view. It not only is causing me extra time trying to desing for it, but whenever it's active it seems to break some other parts of the theme (my main console graphics on the top screen fail to load when grid is active, leaving me with just a black background, when turning grid off, this goes away). I honestly am very happy with the video/details views, and even the basic one is fine. I need to edit the HTML files to completely remove the grid view from my setup so it's not a selectable option in the menu. Is that possible? Or is it baked into the cake (so to speak) of emulationstation and irremovable?

Thorr69

@alphabetapie You don't have to actually use it. You can change the display layout through the menu system and simply not use grid view. I guess I am most curious about why you want to remove the option completely. Once you've got your view set up, it's not exactly easy to accidentally change it.

AlphaBetaPie

@thorr69 said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie You don't have to actually use it. You can change the display layout through the menu system and simply not use grid view. I guess I am most curious about why you want to remove the option completely. Once you've got your view set up, it's not exactly easy to accidentally change it.

Sure, I know I don't have to select it. But I've found that having it as part of my setup (for some reason) causing other menus to have difficultly loading some graphics. I can't explain the reasons for it, as I'm not sure. But I know that if I use any of the other views, things are fine. If grid is used (even for a moment, it screws everything up). Simply not using still allows the issue to persist. So removing it would be helpful (or at least I'd like to test my theory).

mitu

@alphabetapie What theme are you using ?

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie What theme are you using ?

I'm using the comic book theme. I took a couple screenshots to see what I mean. I find this happens on both a pie and the desktop (so I know it's not necessarily a hardware issue). Sometimes the backgrounds/logos wont load, other times they struggle to load (like in the last screenshot) and sometimes they pop in and out. This is with the default theme installed with no modifications.

mitu

@alphabetapie Your issue has nothing to do with the Grid view support. The ComicBook theme doesn't have GridView support.

Your issue looks like a lack of VRAM - did you change the VRAM settings in EmulationStation to a very low value ?

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie Your issue has nothing to do with the Grid view support. The ComicBook theme doesn't have GridView support.

Your issue looks like a lack of VRAM - did you change the VRAM settings in EmulationStation to a very low value ?

As far as grid support, it's simply missing a background graphic and a few lines in the files that point to it. I've been able to add in a grid that works no problem. But it still causes the loading issue. Having said that, I actually don't care about the grid view or having support for it. It just seemed like selecting it is what sometimes caused the loading issue.

Having said that, I'm glad there might be another work around, as I'd like to have all the views if possible. To answer your questions, I have not changed any VRAM settings (to the best of my knowledge). This is a fresh image with the latest version of retropie on a brand new pie 4.

Is there a way to up the settings or increase my resources/power somehow to give it to the boost it needs. It does seem like it's struggling to load things properly.

AlphaBetaPie

Update:

After doing a bit of research on VRAM, I think I might have found an old thread here by the theme's author that solves my exact problem.

In the link above, he talks about needing to up the VRAM to 130 to fix the issue (due to it being a graphic heavy theme). Are there any negative effects to increasing the VRAM (and could I go even high for max efficiency)? He's also talking about splitting the memory at 320, which I'm not complete understating what he's referring to. But I do want as much of a performance boost as possible, so I'm willing to do whatever it takes to match that and fix this issue.

This FAQ on emulationstation.org says 256mb is a good number for casual setups, but the vram settings in the menu only go to either 250mb or 260mb. That seems like a lot, but now I'm assuming this has to do with the overclock settings and not ES. Not sure what is considered too high vs wasting head room.

mitu

@alphabetapie The memory split is the amount of video memory you're allocating to the GPU from the total RAM available on a Pi. The more you allocate, the less it remains for the system to use.
On memory constrained systems, like the Pi Zero or Pi 1, you shouldn't allocate too much, but on a Pi 4, which can have more than 1 Gb of RAM, you could allocate a larger portion (not more than 512, since it's not going to be used).

RetroPie configures a 256Gb for the Pi 3 and later models, you could increase the VRAM to 180 for EmulationStation if you have a memory intensive theme.

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie The memory split is the amount of video memory you're allocating to the GPU from the total RAM available on a Pi. The more you allocate, the less it remains for the system to use.
On memory constrained systems, like the Pi Zero or Pi 1, you shouldn't allocate too much, but on a Pi 4, which can have more than 1 Gb of RAM, you could allocate a larger portion (not more than 512, since it's not going to be used).

RetroPie configures a 256Gb for the Pi 3 and later models, you could increase the VRAM to 180 for EmulationStation if you have a memory intensive theme.

Thanks for the info. I did some testing last night, moving the vram slider. Anything under 200 and I still had menu load issues (the theme I'm using has 1080p upgrades I added and is pretty graphic intensive). When I hit around 260, things cleared up. So I just upped the slider to half of the global value and left it (to give me some headroom). That seems to have worked.

However, I did noticed that my GPU setting in my advanced config was set to only 64 by default. I've read (and as you mentioned above), the sweet spot is around 256. Should I up that? If so, what kind of benefit can I expect to receive from it? I'm a proponent in not messing with default values unnecessarily. But if there is a chance it could make things run smoother by increasing it to 256, then I'd want to do it.

mitu

@alphabetapie said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

However, I did noticed that my GPU setting in my advanced config was set to only 64 by default.

Post your /boot/config.txt file.

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

However, I did noticed that my GPU setting in my advanced config was set to only 64 by default.

Post your /boot/config.txt file.

Sure, here you go (copy/pasted since I don't see a file attachment option anywhere):

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
#overscan_scale=1
disable_splash=1

mitu

That's strange, on the Pi3 models the GPU memory is set by RetroPie on the image. Are you using a Pi3B - ~~as your signature says~~ - or is this from a Pi 4 ?

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

That's strange, on the Pi3 models the GPU memory is set by RetroPie on the image. Are you using a Pi3B - ~~as your signature says~~ - or is this from a Pi 4 ?

Just upgraded to a Pi 4 on this last build and used the latest image from the website about a month ago. So if 64 is the default, what gain would I get by upping it to 256 (if any)? Does that sort of thing cause problems sometimes? I'm looking for the most bang for my buck power wise to push my emulation, but I don't wanna open a can of worms down the line regarding performance problems.

mitu

@alphabetapie If you have a Pi4, then you don't need to set the memory in config.txt. Just adjust the VRAM as you need for the theme.

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie If you have a Pi4, then you don't need to set the memory in config.txt. Just adjust the VRAM as you need for the theme.

Ah, perfect! Well I've already done that. Although, that does pose a question I should probably also ask. I found that upping my VRAM to just 120-130 (as suggested in other threads), simply didn't do the trick for me. And I had to keep going until I hit around 260mb to get all the menus loading smooth. The global max value is 1,000MB. So I just set on a nice round, middle of the road number of 500MB. Could this cause any performance issues setting it this high? Perhaps when actually launching the emulation? Since I'm on a Pi 4, what's to stop me from just maxing out the VRAM value? Would I see any adverse affects?

mitu

@alphabetapie said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

Could this cause any performance issues setting it this high? Perhaps when actually launching the emulation? Since I'm on a Pi 4, what's to stop me from just maxing out the VRAM value? Would I see any adverse affects?

I don't think that 500 would be much different than 256 and frankly anything above 512 will be ignored by the Pi (no matter what RAM you have).

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

Could this cause any performance issues setting it this high? Perhaps when actually launching the emulation? Since I'm on a Pi 4, what's to stop me from just maxing out the VRAM value? Would I see any adverse affects?

I don't think that 500 would be much different than 256 and frankly anything above 512 will be ignored by the Pi (no matter what RAM you have).

Makes sense. Thanks for the info. Now...one final, final question (since this is related and I'd rather not make another thread).

I've noticed that the framebuffer_width=1280 and framebuffer_height=720 values seem to point to a 720p setup. All my graphics I run in my custom theme are 1080p (1920x1080). Is this value somehow limiting performance, and should I change it to match the resolution I'm running? I also have this set in my video mode as well to full HD. Or is not relevant or could cause performance hiccups by bumping it up?

mitu

@alphabetapie those options don't affect the Pi4.

AlphaBetaPie

@mitu said in Strange Request...But Can I Get Rid of Grid View?:

@alphabetapie those options don't affect the Pi4.

Thank you kindly, much appreciated as always. Having said that, if someone with a Pi 3 wanted to run this custom theme (if I were to give it to them), should they bump these ups?