Diagnosing ROM problems?

sleve_mcdichael

@iandaemon said in Diagnosing ROM problems?:

And for the location...Couldn't you just use a symbolic link to the file?

(Edit: ~~Yeah, that didn't work.~~ Doesn't work without some additional configuration. See @mitu's post #20 below.)

~~I suppose you could, yeah. Then it would always just "be there" and you wouldn't have to re-copy it every time you needed it. So instead of cp you would use ln -s:~~

ln -s /dev/shm/runcommand.log /home/pi/RetroPie/roms

This link will act like a pointer, like a Windows "shortcut," that always points to the most recent version of the log file, instead of a copy which is just a snapshot in time of what the file looked like when you copied it.

jamrom2

@sleve_mcdichael lol... I was thinking the same thing... you have a really good idea though, so much better than hunting for it every time via WinSCP. With that link you can just open the ROMS folder on your desktop and view it that way.

IanDaemon

I thought of a possible issue. If Windows "can't see" a Linux partition, may the symbolic link be pointed to a location the Windows machine "couldn't see"? (Windows machines aren't the Kwisatz Haderach.)

So symbolic links may be A solution, but they definitely are not THE solution.

sleve_mcdichael

@iandaemon Windows can "see" the roms folder just fine over the network, though. Isn't that already on the Linux partition? That's why we have to use WiFi or a USB stick and can't just add roms directly to the SD card, right?

IanDaemon

@sleve_mcdichael There are multiple Linux partitions on a RetroPie SD card. The ROMs are just on one that a Windows machine can see. (e.g. accessing over network not ssh) If your Windows computer is on the same network as your Pi you may be able to type \\RETROPIE in Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer and get to the partition that the ROMs are stored via Samba-Shares.

You can see more details here: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Transferring-Roms/

sleve_mcdichael

@iandaemon you're right it doesn't work. I just tried it just now and when I tried to open the file or copy it to another location it failed, and said I needed permission from the system's administrator.

IanDaemon

@sleve_mcdichael Did you rename your Pi? I have two so on my Windows laptop I go to \\THINCOCKTAIL and \\GOLDENTEE2005. I believe the login information is by default Raspberry and Pi.

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Transferring-Roms/#samba-shares

You can't access every file via Samba Shares, but I find it really useful. Is Samba Shares turned on?

jamrom2

@iandaemon opposite... pi is the user, raspberry is the password by default

sleve_mcdichael

@iandaemon no, Samba is working fine. I just mean that, as you suggested earlier might be the case, linking the runcommand.log file in the roms directory does in fact not work (no bueno) to make the file always accessible via the network share. I can see that there is a runcommand.log file in the roms folder on the network, but I cannot open it or copy it or move it.

mitu

@sleve_mcdichael Symlinks are not 'followed' on Samba file shares when they point outside the shared folder, it's a security configuration enabled by default - https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/5120/how-do-you-make-samba-follow-symlink-outside-the-shared-path.

YFZdude

@mitu
Is this a situation where you could create a hard link to create access to the file without denying the original from operating properly?

mitu

@yfzdude Not sure I understand what you mean, but this is about symbolic links (symlink) and not hard links (which work differently, but wouldn't work in this case since /dev/shm is on a different fileystem).

YFZdude

@mitu
Ah ok.
Yes I meant simply a hard link but didn't realize it wouldn't work due to crossing over to a separate filesystem.