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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

    Pi Zero arcade issues

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    pi zeroarcadetroubleshootingmamefinalburn
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    • mituM
      mitu Global Moderator @FormulaFox
      last edited by

      @formulafox said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

      As for the recommended emulators, pifba doesn't work with my ROMset, and I'm not seeing mame4all on the list of emulator options when I go to download it.

      As with all arcade emulators, you need the matching romset for the emulator - otherwise you'll get errors. See the arcade emulators' setup link that @dankcushions posted.

      mame4all is in optional packages section - are you sure it's not there ?

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      • F
        FormulaFox @mitu
        last edited by FormulaFox

        @mitu Didn't see your reply before I edited. I found mame4all - it was apparently preinstalled.

        But any game I try to load with it crashes the entire system - it goes to black screen and freezes up. Can't do anything but flip the power switch. I assume this is also it not liking the ROMset.

        I know about the need to match up arcade ROMsets - been through it on my Pi 3, 4, and arcade PC. I've been trying with a MAME2003 (0.78) set, I'll try another one when I have more time.

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        • S
          sleve_mcdichael
          last edited by

          @formulafox said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

          I know about the need to match up arcade ROMsets - been through it on my Pi 3, 4, and arcade PC. I've been trying with a MAME2003 (0.78) set, I'll try another one when I have more time.

          https://retropie.org.uk/docs/MAME/#mame4all-pi

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          • F
            FormulaFox @sleve_mcdichael
            last edited by

            @sleve_mcdichael Thank you. Always nice to get some help saving time. ;)

            Unfortunately, I've got the same problem happening. The entire unit freezes up if Itry to load a game from that set on mame4all.

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

              @formulafox from the 0.78 set? yeah obviously that won’t work. a freeze isn’t ideal but it would be an exit if it didn’t freeze.

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              • F
                FormulaFox @dankcushions
                last edited by FormulaFox

                @dankcushions I'm having it happen with the 0.37b5 set recommended in the documentation linked by sleve_mcdichael as well.

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

                  @formulafox in that case think it’s time to repost the https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first information for a specific game that’s crashing(including full file path, file name, etc). you won’t be able to get a verbose log for a non-lr emulator like mame4all, but it should still log something in /dev/shm/runcommand.log which you should be able to get at if SSH/SFTP still works during the freeze. if not, try the same file with lr-mame2000 which accepts the same romset and does allow for verbose logging (it may also be a viable alternative if it works fine)

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                  • B
                    barbudreadmon @FormulaFox
                    last edited by

                    @formulafox said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

                    I know you can only go so far on a Pi Zero, but I'm having trouble with games on the level of Galaga '88 or Ghosts 'N Goblins. Only the really, REALLY old stuff -Galaga, Joust, Asteroids- is running at full speed.

                    Its age is totally unrelated to how fast a game will be emulated

                    FBNeo developer - github - forum

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                    • F
                      FormulaFox @dankcushions
                      last edited by FormulaFox

                      @dankcushions said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

                      @formulafox in that case think it’s time to repost the https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first information for a specific game that’s crashing(including full file path, file name, etc). you won’t be able to get a verbose log for a non-lr emulator like mame4all, but it should still log something in /dev/shm/runcommand.log which you should be able to get at if SSH/SFTP still works during the freeze. if not, try the same file with lr-mame2000 which accepts the same romset and does allow for verbose logging (it may also be a viable alternative if it works fine)

                      I'll try to get the log dump info(and a wider sample set of games along with it) when I have time(workweek beginning, not much time available for troubleshooting), but I can already attest that lr-mame200 has the same slowdown issues on all the same games. Plus not displaying the proper aspect ratio(but I know I can fix THAT within the display options, so no actual concern there)

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                      • F
                        FormulaFox @FormulaFox
                        last edited by FormulaFox

                        The wireless on the Pi Zero is giving me grief - it just seems to be some connection instability so I'll try again later, but I can't SSH in at this time. But until I get it worked out I plan to try another ROMset with pifba, however-

                        THE FOLLOWING IS NOT A REQUEST FOR ROM LINKS. I REPEAT THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR ROM LINKS.

                        -I cannot find a resource for the recommended ROMset(0.2.96.71) for pifba according to Retropie documentation. Is there another ROMset that is known to work on pifba I could look for?

                        Apologies if I emphasized my "not requesting ROM links" bit a little too strongly. I know the rules forbid the sharing of such links and I wanted to ensure my inquiry was not misinterpreted.

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                        • S
                          sleve_mcdichael @FormulaFox
                          last edited by

                          @formulafox said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

                          -I cannot find a resource for the recommended ROMset(0.2.96.71) for pifba according to Retropie documentation. Is there another ROMset that is known to work on pifba I could look for?

                          This might be one of those cases where you need to start with the full current MAME romset and then filter it to your desired version with a tool like clrmamepro. See validating, filtering, and rebuilding arcade romsets.

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                          • B
                            barbudreadmon @FormulaFox
                            last edited by

                            @formulafox fwiw, fbalpha 0.2.96.71 was based on mame 0.114 romsets

                            FBNeo developer - github - forum

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                            • F
                              FormulaFox
                              last edited by

                              Been a while, but we had a sudden health crisis(not COVID) in my family that understandably took precedence over this project. Still have not had time to check log files but I did another quick search for FBA 0.2.96.71 sets, but still have not found one(again: NOT requesting ROM links here!), but I have another question in the meantime...

                              Will 0.2.96.74 work with pifba?

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

                                @formulafox said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

                                Been a while, but we had a sudden health crisis(not COVID) in my family that understandably took precedence over this project.

                                :( wishing you and your family well!

                                Still have not had time to check log files but I did another quick search for FBA 0.2.96.71 sets, but still have not found one(again: NOT requesting ROM links here!), but I have another question in the meantime...

                                Will 0.2.96.74 work with pifba?

                                given that it's only a few versions apart most games should work, but as with every romset version release, some games are re-dumped, new games added, and perhaps some prexisting ones renamed, so you'd expect at least a few games within the 0.2.96.74 romset collection to not work in pifba.

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                                • F
                                  FormulaFox
                                  last edited by FormulaFox

                                  Okay, he's where I stand. The FBA ROMset I inquired about just kicked me back to the menu no matter what game I tried. (it wasn't a complete set, anyway, and was missing a TON of stuff I was interested in)

                                  So I went and ran my ROMs through clrmamepro following the instructions provided earlier, setting up with the recommended mame4all(0.37b5) information. Whole system just crashes when I try to load a ROM with mame4all.

                                  I cannot ssh in to see if it is still running during the black screen, as no matter when I attempt to do so my PC just refuses to recognize that the Pi is on the network.

                                  So I'm at a complete loss where to go from here.

                                  EDIT: Random retry to ssh in got me a "connection refused" error. First time I've gotten any indication that the PC can see the Pi.

                                  EDIT2: HOLYCRAPIGOTIN. Don't know what changed, but I'm in and will hopefully be able to find the logs. I'll make a separate post for whatever I find.

                                  dankcushionsD F 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • dankcushionsD
                                    dankcushions Global Moderator @FormulaFox
                                    last edited by

                                    This post is deleted!
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                                    • F
                                      FormulaFox @FormulaFox
                                      last edited by

                                      Okay, I'm going to do MULTIPLE tests to see what we get.

                                      Test 1 - Altered Beast. Black screen freeze. runcommand.log produces the following:
                                      "Parameters:
                                      Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/mame4all/mame "altbeast""
                                      That's all

                                      Test 2 - Asteroids. Black screen freeze runcommand.log produces the following:
                                      "Parameters:
                                      Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/mame4all/mame "asteroid""
                                      That's all

                                      Test 3 - Galaga. Gets to initial load screen before freezing. runcommand.log produces the following:
                                      "Parameters:
                                      Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/mame4all/mame "galaga""
                                      That's all.

                                      I'd do more, but I think we can discern a clear pattern here. I have to run out for a bit so I'll look into verbose logging with lr-mame2000 later.

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

                                        @formulafox yeah, it's a bit of coin toss as to whether non-libretro emulators provide anything useful in the logs.

                                        but i'm confused why you'd provide us a lr-mame2000 log? you already said it worked:

                                        I can already attest that lr-mame200 has the same slowdown issues on all the same games. Plus not displaying the proper aspect ratio(but I know I can fix THAT within the display options, so no actual concern there)

                                        however it would at least verify that your romset is indeed correct, and give us a bit of info that we're still missing like full filename plus extension, etc.

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                                        • F
                                          FormulaFox @dankcushions
                                          last edited by FormulaFox

                                          @dankcushions said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

                                          @formulafox yeah, it's a bit of coin toss as to whether non-libretro emulators provide anything useful in the logs.

                                          but i'm confused why you'd provide us a lr-mame2000 log? you already said it worked:

                                          I can already attest that lr-mame200 has the same slowdown issues on all the same games. Plus not displaying the proper aspect ratio(but I know I can fix THAT within the display options, so no actual concern there)

                                          however it would at least verify that your romset is indeed correct, and give us a bit of info that we're still missing like full filename plus extension, etc.

                                          Well, for one thing because a while back you recommended it if the mame4all logs weren't helpful, but more importantly because lr-mame2000 is not working properly. Like I said in the post you quoted, it's having severe slowdown issues with numerous games. It loads, but few games actually run correctly. I would not still be trying to solve this if I was only having the aspect ratio issue.

                                          Anyhow, I've done the verbose logging check with lr-mame2000. I did the previous three games plus Galaga 88 just as a double check. Since we're dealing with the extensiveness of VERBOSE logging, I won't copy/paste. and will instead post a link to a zip file containing the three logs. But first, you'll probably want to know exactly what each game did...

                                          Altered Beast: Ran normal speed during gameplay when no major visual or voiced sound effects were occurring - mild slowdown when such things WERE happening. Audio was glitching out throughout play sessions regardless of game slowdown.

                                          Asteroids: Loaded to main screen but as soon as the "controller configured" messages appeared, I got kicked back to the menu.

                                          Galaga: No issues at all save for incorrect aspect ratio.

                                          Galaga 88: Constantly running slow, incorrect aspect ratio.

                                          I have plenty of other games I can try if you want further info.

                                          Here are the log files: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tzop55xfv6cppn4/runcommandlogs.zip?dl=0

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

                                            @formulafox said in Pi Zero arcade issues:

                                            Well, for one thing because a while back you recommended it if the mame4all logs weren't helpful, but more importantly because lr-mame2000 is not working properly. Like I said in the post you quoted, it's having severe slowdown issues with numerous games. It loads, but few games actually run correctly. I would not still be trying to solve this if I was only having the aspect ratio issue.

                                            i don't think it working slowly is not it working "properly" - it's not a recommended emulator for pi 1/0. the mame4all-pi emulator is standalone (libretro cores add a little bit of overhead), which can make a lot of difference for very low power devices like a pi zero, and it's got some specific optimizations - hence we recommend it.

                                            i realise that mame4all-pi crashing, and your bad luck with the pifba romset, leaves you with little choice, but yeah.

                                            that said, the logs can still prove useful, like i said. it looks like there's room for improvement with your setup

                                            [INFO] [Video]: Video @ 960x672
                                            
                                            [INFO] [Video]: Video @ 1200x900
                                            
                                            [INFO] [Video]: Video @ 864x672
                                            

                                            these don't seem quite right - retroarch should default to 640x480 for pi1/0. can you please supply /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg and /opt/retropie/configs/arcade/retroarch.cfg ?

                                            EDIT: also /boot/config.txt

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