Integrated Music Player for RetroPie [IMP] 2021.10 (Background Music for RetroPie and More)

[mrmadcatz]

@rapidedwin08 This is so cool! Thank you very much for adding these :) Them just being there after the install was a pleasant surprise lol!

On a separate note: I'm noticing a bug. When I have "Fade Volume at Game [ON]" it fades the ES System Volume down to about 22-24% before launching the game. Then, upon exiting the game, the System Volume in ES remains at that low level and has to be manually raised again so that games being emulated are not too quiet.

In my testing, I found that if I don't touch the volume when returning to ES as it's stuck at 22-24%, the music will continue to play. If I adjust it to anything below what the Music Player volume is set to (in this instance 80%) the music will cut out, but will come back as soon as I put the system volume above that threshold.

Would you prefer us report stuff like this here or on your GitHub page in the issues section?

[RapidEdwin08]

@mrmadcatz said in Integrated Music Player for RetroPie [IMP] 2021.10 (Background Music for RetroPie and More):

@rapidedwin08 I'm noticing a bug. When I have "Fade Volume at Game [ON]" it fades the ES System Volume down to about 22-24% before launching the game. Then, upon exiting the game, the System Volume in ES remains at that low level and has to be manually raised again so that games being emulated are not too quiet.

Would you prefer us report stuff like this here or on your GitHub page in the issues section?

Here is fine.
Volume Fade is the Unicorn of BGM Features...

Was this occurring while Very Rapidly Selecting ROMs?
If so, I guess you could call it a Known Issue with the Fade.

If you are a Rapid-ROM-Selector, you can try to Increase the [Delay at Game End] Setting to avoid this issue.

EDIT The Fade Scripts were definitely Not acting right, and have been Reverted to an 0lder known working version.
Changes were Very Promptly Applied on github. (Reinstall if needed).
Thanks for Reporting.

[mrmadcatz]

@rapidedwin08 Funny enough, when I was seeing this consistently, it was only when I was playing ROMs for a length of time and not rapidly switching.

I'll keep this in mind if I see this issue again. Might just turn off the fade option if it has the potential to cause issues.

[RapidEdwin08]

IMP 2022.02 Released
Fixed issue with ES Not Loading after Retropie Update [es_systems.cfg]
Fixed issue with some Streams N0T Playing (Remove [:443] from Address)
Added Startup Song Setting [../music/bgm/startup.mp3]
Added Music Randomizer Mode
Added [RP/ES] Utilites to Installer Menu
Installer adjusted to Set Volume to %50 upon Install
Installer adjusted to Add Samba Share for [~/RetroPie/retropiemenu/imp/music]
Reverted to 0lder versions of [run-onstart] [run-onend] scripts to address Fade Issues

It's worth noting that Every Change in this Release was Driven by the Community.

Thank You All for your Feedback!

[mrmadcatz]

Thanks so much for the updates! I'm very honored to have been part of any feedback and excited to see IMP continue to be awesome. Thank you @RapidEdwin08 !

[cdaters]

@mrmadcatz said in Integrated Music Player for RetroPie [IMP] 2021.10 (Background Music for RetroPie and More):

Thanks so much for the updates! I'm very honored to have been part of any feedback and excited to see IMP continue to be awesome. Thank you @RapidEdwin08 !

Ditto!
Thank you very much @RapidEdwin08 !

[cdaters]

Okay... I upgraded, and it didn't go smoothly 😢

after backing up my ~/imp folder to ~/imp.bak I uninstalled using the setup script per the instructions.

cd ~/imp && ./imp_setup.sh

After the reboot, I get this:

After I press "A" to quit, I then get this:

I am preparing to run a DIFF of an old 'es_settings.cfg` file against this current one (I happen to have the initial 32GB SD card that I started this journey on, before I imaged it and put it on a 512GB SD card.) to see if there is any wierdness...

[RapidEdwin08]

@cdaters IMP should have the backup es_systems.cfg in both locations IF they existed at Install.

The issue might be with the paths for home:
[/home/pi/RetroPie-Setup...] or [~/RetroPie-Setup...].
Which does your es_systems.cfg have?

 <command>sudo /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_packages.sh

<command>sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_packages.sh

I think [~/] might be the issue.
Try replacing with [/home/pi/] instead.

[cdaters]

Nevermind, it seems to be the es_systems.cfg again. My custom one, lol! I've made a Pastebin for you to look at in case it's helpful.

I determined this once again from a --debug session, then a ls -alh

To remedy this, I just made a backup of my custom es_systems.cfg and copied the /etc/emulationstaion/es_systems.cfg file in it's place.

cp /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg ~/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

...and I am back up and running. [IMP] seems to still be there too, I didn't have to make any edits like before, yay!

I'll just have to go in and add my custom systems entries...

[RapidEdwin08]

@cdaters Do you recall what version of IMP gave you the issues on Removal?

I'm wondering if it was just an issue with 0lder version IMP or if there's still something to adjust with the Install/Remove in Latest version.

This Latest version should accommodate the <extensions> for both locations on Install and Removal.

EDIT I checked and an 0lder version like v2021.10 could give you this issue on Removal, as it Simply Restores the es_systems.cfg backup File, but 0nly if it was there to Backup upon Install of IMP...
I suspect you did not have an [es_systems.cfg] Backup file to Restore in [~/emulationstation/], so it 0nly Restored [/etc/emulationstation].
As a result, a mismatch was created on Removal of 0lder IMP, since the Custom es_systems.cfg you created after still contained MP3 <extenstions>...

I tested latest version with x2 es_systems.cfg files, and it did accommodate appropriately in Both [es_systems.cfg] Locations on Install/Removal.

[cdaters]

That was probably the case. Everything is all good now! Thank you for checking!

[RapidEdwin08]

ReadMe has been updated, and a few minor tweaks have been made to v2022.02 to ensure the startup song does not interrupt the current playlist.
Feel free to report any issues here.
Thanks all for the input.

[buzzardbait]

@rapidedwin08 Congrats- great update! I also had some issues uninstalling to upgrade.. My old version was from late 2021, for what it's worth- so I was skipping a few versions to the current one. I went through the uninstall, then tried to reinstall, and no luck. The software gave me messages that a current install existed, when I had already gone through the uninstall.

Checked es_systems.cfg.. That wasn't the issue.

As it stood, I had a host of other issues going on and I just bit the bullet.. I grabbed another SD card and just did a fresh install of everything again. That did the trick.

So I am back up and running and really happy with the newest version. I have all my tunes on A-SIDE randomly playing starting at boot, which is awesome, and I am working up another set of music for the B-SIDE that it will shuffle from (which I could switch to any time I feel like a different genre of music).

Thanks again!

[RapidEdwin08]

@buzzardbait said in Integrated Music Player for RetroPie [IMP] 2021.10 (Background Music for RetroPie and More):

@rapidedwin08 I went through the uninstall, then tried to reinstall, and no luck. The software gave me messages that a current install existed, when I had already gone through the uninstall.

IMP checks for the existance of one directory for the install, you can Rename/Remove if needed:
/opt/retropie/configs/imp

@buzzardbait If you still have the old card with issue, can you list the contents of this directory so I can see what the Uninstaller missed?:

ls /opt/retropie/configs/imp 

Thanks for the feedback.
...and the idea for the Randomizer

[buzzardbait]

@rapidedwin08 Ack, I'm sorry.. I formatted the card before I saw this.

I can tell you that I deleted the imp folder in configs as well as the imp folder in home/pi.. Then attempted to re-install, and got the message that a current install existed.

One other thing I'm noticing on my new install, (and it could be user error). I have randomizer on, A-Side ON, and B-Side OFF.

Upon boot up, random music plays from A-Side. Great.
Unfortunately, IMP seems to select the single track left in the B-Side folder among the A-Side music. Is that supposed to happen with B-Side set to OFF while "randomizing" tracks, or is there a setting I am missing?

Thanks again!

[ExarKunIv]

@buzzardbait im really enjoying what you have made here, but i have come across something very odd

Im using pegasus and well i get this

it is showing all the song in the main menu

and as you know when its ES

im going to play around with it and see what i can figure out

[RapidEdwin08]

@buzzardbait said in Integrated Music Player for RetroPie [IMP] 2021.10 (Background Music for RetroPie and More):

I can tell you that I deleted the imp folder in configs as well as the imp folder in home/pi.. Then attempted to re-install, and got the message that a current install existed.

One other thing I'm noticing on my new install, (and it could be user error). I have randomizer on, A-Side ON, and B-Side OFF.

Upon boot up, random music plays from A-Side. Great.
Unfortunately, IMP seems to select the single track left in the B-Side folder among the A-Side music. Is that supposed to happen with B-Side set to OFF while "randomizing" tracks, or is there a setting I am missing?

Deleting the imp folder in configs was not needed, and probably caused your issues.
For the uninstall process, really you only need to:

• replace /home/pi/imp with the latest version
• Run the Uninstall with the latest version
• Run the Install with the latest version

As stated in the ReadMe, the Randomizer will generate Playlist based on All the BGM/Music folders.
It does Not respect the BGM Settings.
Saying this out loud makes me think it should... I'm open to suggestions.

[RapidEdwin08]

@ExarKunIv said in Integrated Music Player for RetroPie [IMP] 2021.10 (Background Music for RetroPie and More):

i have come across something very odd

Im using pegasus and well i get this
it is showing all the song in the main menu

I recall seeing this when I was initially testing IMP, but I don't really use Pegasus, so I never pursued it...
All menu entries for IMP and Songs.mp3 were available in Pegasus-FE, but they were not Sorted like in ES.
They did appear to be in alphabetical/numerical order if I remember correctly?

I would assume there's some kind of gamelist.xml or similar that can be tweaked to make it just as pretty as ES?
If there's a way to make IMP appear more organized in Pegasus-FE like in ES I'm open to incorporating it.

Any input from avid Pegasus-FE users would be appreciated.

[buzzardbait]

@RapidEdwin08 said in Integrated Music Player for RetroPie [IMP] 2021.10 (Background Music for RetroPie and More):

Deleting the imp folder in configs was not needed, and probably caused your issues.
For the uninstall process, really you only need to:

• replace /home/pi/imp with the latest version
• Run the Uninstall with the latest version
• Run the Install with the latest version

Thanks. Definitely user error! I keep backups of my game setup and careful notes on my install & settings, but I'm far from a Linux wizard or anything.. More a "careful tinkerer" who sometimes gets into trouble.

As stated in the ReadMe, the Randomizer will generate Playlist based on All the BGM/Music folders.
It does Not respect the BGM Settings.
Saying this out loud makes me think it should... I'm open to suggestions.

I read the ReadMe again- Probably more user error here on my part, but hear me out. I have confused what Randomizer will do, and what Shuffle will do.. I did a little trial and error with settings again, and here's what I found out based on my use case:

I have a group of tracks in A-SIDE and another group in B-SIDE..

If I set:
A-SIDE on, B-SIDE off, Shuffle on, Randomizer off.. IMP plays tracks from A-SIDE, shuffled up differently. If I reboot- It will shuffle the tracks again differently. Great!

If B-SIDE is on and A-SIDE off, Shuffle on, Randomizer off. IMP plays tracks from B-SIDE, shuffled up differently every time I reboot. Also just what I want it to do.

I think it would be great to have an option for IMP to pick a "side" randomly at reboot and play it.. (I would use Shuffle ON in conjunction with this feature to make it shuffle the tracks each time at startup). So it would give me a shuffled A-SIDE, or a shuffled B-SIDE, but NOT a mix of both.

RANDOMIZER as you currently have it is a great option that I wouldn't change.. If I set Randomizer ON it shuffles ALL of my tracks. Which sometimes I'll want to do! I would suggest renaming the option to avoid confusion. Maybe change it to "RANDOMIZE ALL TRACKS" or something like that, to make it a bit clearer?

And then SHUFFLE - I'd rename it to SHUFFLE CURRENT PLAYLIST..
I just think I got the two options confused.

One other thing I have noticed.. When I use the Current Settings option, it does not display whether Shuffle is ON or OFF.

Thanks! You've done awesome work here.. It's been a great add for my arcade cab!

[RapidEdwin08]

@buzzardbait Thanks for the input.
I'll definitely keep all that in mind and will consider relabeling Randomizer/Shuffle in the next release.

The Shuffle Setting status is listed in Current Playlist, not in Current Settings.