RetroArch 1.9.4 Shaders from .cfg's

roslof

I noticed that RetroPie now supports RetroArch 1.9.4, so I went ahead and updated the RetroPie Script and installed the new Retroarch package. FWIW, this is my first RetroArch update in about a year.

After updating, I noticed that RetroArch is no longer changing shaders based on my pre-existing .cfg files; however using the RetroArch GUI changes shaders and save/load without issue. Everything else related to my configs seem fine.

I remember in the past that this would occur if I ever experimented with RetroArch and did not use your custom shader patch. I did verify that you recently changed the patch to support the newer RetroArch, and was wondering if my new symptom is somehow related. I did confirm my 02_shader_path_config_enable.diff file matches your latest commit.

No noticeable information in the log from /dev/shm/runcommand.log, other than it's using the default shader.

[INFO] [GL]: Default shader backend found: glsl.
[INFO] [Shader driver]: Using GLSL shader backend.
[WARN] [GL]: Stock GLSL shaders will be used.

Any thoughts?

mitu

Post your config file and also a verbose log (on pastebin.com).

roslof

@mitu the verbose log won't yield anything of interest, and I can explain why.

My config files reference other files that use the now defunct RetroArch video_shader option. Because it's not used, it doesn't appear in any log.

Which brings me to what I believe the problem is:

The RetroPie retroarch module script (patch #2) is trying to restore this legacy video_shader behavior, but it doesn't appear to be working anymore.

I remember dealing with this before, and without the [convenient] patch, the workaround is to manually generate a bunch of reference files in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/config/

Not ideal, but I've done it before. Can do it again. I had to write scripts that scanned all of my .cfg files, looked for the shader being used and generate compatible game files for each emulator. A true nightmare for the "arcade" games, but doable.

I'm not at all a fan of RetroArch's decision to single out video_shader as being a problem (again, back with 1.7.8) but it is what it is. Have appreciated this patch up to this point.

mitu

@roslof said in RetroArch 1.9.4 Shaders from .cfg's:

My config files reference other files that use the now defunct RetroArch video_shader option. Because it's not used, it doesn't appear in any log.

Actually it should log something, when loaded, the fact that it doesn't means that - indeed - the patch is not working. I'll take a look, I remember I tested the patch with 1.9.2 and it worked.

mitu

Thanks for the report - it looks like the shader patch was incomplete for v1.9.4. We'll get it fixed.

Not ideal, but I've done it before. Can do it again. I had to write scripts that scanned all of my .cfg files, looked for the shader being used and generate compatible game files for each emulator. A true nightmare for the "arcade" games, but doable.

A few versions back, RetroArch has gained the ability to save a shader preset per-folder - you don't need to set presets for each game (for cores used in more than one system where 'save shader preset per core' is not practical).

mitu

Try updating the RetroPie-Setup script and re-install the retroarch package from source. See if the video_shader parameter behaves better with the updated version.

roslof

@mitu said in RetroArch 1.9.4 Shaders from .cfg's:

Try updating the RetroPie-Setup script and re-install the retroarch package from source. See if the video_shader parameter behaves better with the updated version.

Thank you @mitu.

I updated the RetroPie script and confirmed that a new 02_shader_path_config_enable.diff file was downloaded.

I then rebuilt RA from source.

Unfortunately the video_shader option in cfg files is still not being read by RA.

Has me wondering if RA refactored code in this area.

mitu

@roslof Can you get a verbose log again ?

roslof

@mitu said in RetroArch 1.9.4 Shaders from .cfg's:

@roslof Can you get a verbose log again ?

Yes, will do, but in the meantime, I found something...

If a global shader exists, the .cfg override for video_shader doesn't work.

If a global shader does not exist, the .cfg override for video shader works.

So the new patch is working. It was only masked by the Global Shader. Of course, the .cfg should override the Global Shader, but this shows the patch is otherwise good.

I'll generate a couple of verbose logs with each condition (have to get to my real job, but will come back).

mitu

@roslof said in RetroArch 1.9.4 Shaders from .cfg's:

If a global shader exists, the .cfg override for video_shader doesn't work.

Yes, this is normal/how the patch works. The video_shader is applied only when no other shader preset exists - it has the lowest priority of all, after global/core preset/content or game presets. We don't want the patch to override RetroArch's default behavior, hence the lower prioritisation.

roslof

@mitu said in RetroArch 1.9.4 Shaders from .cfg's:

Yes, this is normal/how the patch works. The video_shader is applied only when no other shader preset exists - it has the lowest priority of all, after global/core preset/content or game presets. We don't want the patch to override RetroArch's default behavior, hence the lower prioritisation.

In that case, everything is back to normal and I have removed my global shader.

Thank you, as always, Mitu for all the things.

busywait

@roslof @mitu

Thanks for exploring this one - I assumed that my RetroPie upgrade had overwritten my retroarch.cfg files. The advice here has fixed my missing shaders in my install (a 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS install).

Running and updating the setup script, navigating
P Manage packages
C Core
43 Retroarch
U Re-install (from source)
has fixed the problem for me.