RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login
    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

    EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Help and Support
    errorstartupfiledatafolder
    16 Posts 3 Posters 1.7k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • RapidEdwin08R
      RapidEdwin08 @mitu
      last edited by RapidEdwin08

      @mitu said in EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4:

      I don't think an OS update is responsible for this issue.
      More likely the entries added by the music player are not compatible with ES's gamelist. For instance, the following entry might be the issue:

      <game>
          <path>./imp</path>
          <name>Music Player</name>
          <desc>[IMP] Integrated Music Player.</desc>
          <image>./icons/imp.png</image>
        </game>
      

      @mitu Thanks for the input.

      I think the problem might be HTML character codes (or lack there of)...

      The RetroPie update might have struggled to parse the [gamelist.xml] correctly because of special characters that were neglected to be input in HTMLCode/NameCode.

      example: ( i had to put a SPACE ; for Demo since THIS is HTMLCode)
      [IMP]
      &#91 ; IMP &#93 ;

      << Previous Track
      &lt ; &lt ; Previous Track

      I will try to update the [gamelist.xml] with HTMLCode and test updating RetroPie.

      Raspberry Pi B, Pi B+, Pi2 B, Pi3 B, Pi3 B+, Pi Zero W, Pi4 (4GB/8GB), Pi5 (8GB/16GB), Pi Zero 2 W, GPi V1, minisforum GK50 / RetroPie 4.8.x

      mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • mituM
        mitu Global Moderator @RapidEdwin08
        last edited by mitu

        @rapidedwin08 said in EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4:

        I think the problem might be HTML character codes (or lack there of)...

        No, it's not that (and you're probably thinking about XML character entities). The XML is correct, it's the folder metadata that's not supported in gamelists.

        RapidEdwin08R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • RapidEdwin08R
          RapidEdwin08 @mitu
          last edited by

          @mitu said in EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4:

          No, it's not that ... it's the folder metadata that's not supported in gamelists.

          Ah 0K, so it's this info?:

          <playcount>1</playcount>
           <lastplayed>20220219T201836</lastplayed>
          

          If so, I can work around this...

          Raspberry Pi B, Pi B+, Pi2 B, Pi3 B, Pi3 B+, Pi Zero W, Pi4 (4GB/8GB), Pi5 (8GB/16GB), Pi Zero 2 W, GPi V1, minisforum GK50 / RetroPie 4.8.x

          mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mituM
            mitu Global Moderator @RapidEdwin08
            last edited by

            @rapidedwin08 said in EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4:

            Ah 0K, so it's this info?:

            No, I was referring to the fact that the gamelist contains a game entry for a folder, which is not correct, since it's not a file and it doesn't have one of the supported extension for the retropiemenu system (sh or rp).

            RapidEdwin08R 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • RapidEdwin08R
              RapidEdwin08 @mitu
              last edited by RapidEdwin08

              @mitu said in EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4:

              No, I was referring to the fact that the gamelist contains a game entry for a folder, which is not correct, since it's not a file and it doesn't have one of the supported extension for the retropiemenu system (sh or rp).

              This got me thinking about the [es_systems].
              Did the RetroPie Update remove/replace those .mp3 extensions added by IMP from [es_systems.cfg]?

              @cdaters If ES is still failing to Launch, can you check your [es_systems.cfg] ?

              cat /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg
              
              

              And Check the RetroPie System extension Section for .mp3?

                <system>
                  <name>retropie</name>
                  <fullname>RetroPie</fullname>
                  <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/retropiemenu</path>
                  <extension>.rp .sh .mp3 .MP3 .pls .PLS .m3u .M3U</extension>
              
              

              Either way, safe to say that [IMP] is the culprit here for issues after RetroPie update.

              Raspberry Pi B, Pi B+, Pi2 B, Pi3 B, Pi3 B+, Pi Zero W, Pi4 (4GB/8GB), Pi5 (8GB/16GB), Pi Zero 2 W, GPi V1, minisforum GK50 / RetroPie 4.8.x

              C mituM 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • C
                cdaters @RapidEdwin08
                last edited by

                @rapidedwin08, that is what I love about comminities like this...I was tired last night, it was late, so I added my last comment or two and went to bed. I wake up this morning and boom! SOLVED!

                Well, I am back up and running anyway, lol! Your suggestion did the trick! The es_systems.cfg was missing the mp3 entries in the <extension> element for the <system> attribute for RetroPie just like you had surmised!

                After I replaced the missing extensions and restored my gamelist.xml file that was causing the problem, RetroPie/EmulationStation fired right back up!

                Thank you!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • mituM
                  mitu Global Moderator @RapidEdwin08
                  last edited by mitu

                  @rapidedwin08 said in EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4:

                  Either way, safe to say that [IMP] is the culprit here for issues after RetroPie update.

                  Any update for a system (retropiemenu in this case) will restore the default extensions for that system. Don't modify /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg with your edits, this is a file maintained by the RetroPie-Setup scripts.
                  If you wish to add more extensions to a system, the proper way is to add your own platforms.cfg (see here), however retropiemenu is not a regular system so it doesn't apply to it. You can create your own es_systems.cfg, which is not going to be modified by RetroPie-Setup on installs or upgrades, but you'll have to maintain it yourself - see here.

                  C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                  • C
                    cdaters @mitu
                    last edited by cdaters

                    @mitu, could you provide a little clarification on this? I have looked at the documentation for bothes_systems.cfg and platforms.cfg and I have a couple of questions where I am thinking a little more broadly as I am building out my RPi4.

                    es_systems.cfg
                    So the documentation that you pointed out above instructs one to copy the main es_systems.cfg file into ~/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg as a custom, manually maintained file.

                    But then in the documentation for adding a new system to ES, it recommends making a copy of this file into the /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation folder.

                    Are these two different methods of acheiving the same end result for a new system, or is there some disparity in the documentation and the es_systems.cfg edits documentation you referenced above is the correct methodology?

                    platforms.cfg
                    The documentation says nothing about copying the existing main file to /opt/retropie/configs/all/platforms.cfg, like it did with es_systems.cfg but to create one instead, at that location. Is it enough to only list those systems to be overridden (as in the example on that page), or does it need to contain all of them (thereby prompting one to copy over the exiting main file to edit)?

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

                      @cdaters said in EmulationStation fails to launch after update on Pi4:

                      Are these two different methods of acheiving the same end result for a new system, or is there some disparity in the documentation and the es_systems.cfg edits documentation you referenced above is the correct methodology?

                      ~/.emulationstation/ is a symlink to /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation, so it's the same location.

                      platforms.cfg
                      The documentation says nothing about copying the existing main file to /opt/retropie/configs/all/platforms.cfg, but create to one instead, at that location. Is it enough to only list those systems to be overridden (as in the example on that page), or does it need to contain all of them (thereby prompting one to copy over the exiting main file to edit)?

                      As the docs says, you need to add just the system you want to override.

                      C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • C
                        cdaters @mitu
                        last edited by

                        Thank you @mitu!

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • First post
                          Last post

                        Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                        Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.