Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?

[Folly]

@ExarKunIv

I was thinking maybe we can do it as a dependency ,cloning it not to the standard shader folder but into a shader-extra folder.
Then it will not harm or have conflicts.

Perhaps I will change my version to do that than we have different versions for people to choose from and we will not have duplicate errors if someone has both.

[ExarKunIv]

@Folly said in Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?:

Perhaps I will change my version to do that than we have different versions for people to choose from and we will not have duplicate errors if someone has both.

i like that idea

[Folly]

@ExarKunIv

This should do the trick :
https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/7b64947e2f8d70f7ce29089a8366a44b47e69315

[mitu]

@Folly said in Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?:

https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/7b64947e2f8d70f7ce29089a8366a44b47e69315

Why don't you submit a PR to the RetroPie shaders' repo (for the right branch) to include this shader preset ? Should be simpler than adding another extra configuration step.

[fryguy1]

Hello. I have been following this thread with interest and testing out the new core on my RetroPie. Everything works great - except I am unable to get sound on Arduventure. (To get the *.hex file for this game, extract it from this *.arduboy file with 7Zip.)

This forum post suggests that you can resolve this issue with a Game Loader on original hardware - but that obviously doesn't apply to RetroPie.

I wondered if you might know if there's a workaround for this issue?

I've also encountered sound issues on PaqMan, FYI.

For what it's worth, I find the sameboy-lcd.glsl shader looks good with Arduboy.

[Folly]

@mitu said in Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?:

@Folly said in Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?:

https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/7b64947e2f8d70f7ce29089a8366a44b47e69315

Why don't you submit a PR to the RetroPie shaders' repo (for the right branch) to include this shader preset ? Should be simpler than adding another extra configuration step.

Yes, that is probably a better idea in the long run.
I must admit after adding it I have been thinking about what you suggest.
But first I want to do some playing, to be sure that the shader is good enough.

[Folly]

@fryguy1 said in Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?:

Hello. I have been following this thread with interest and testing out the new core on my RetroPie. Everything works great - except I am unable to get sound on Arduventure. (To get the *.hex file for this game, extract it from this *.arduboy file with 7Zip.)

This forum post suggests that you can resolve this issue with a Game Loader on original hardware - but that obviously doesn't apply to RetroPie.

I wondered if you might know if there's a workaround for this issue?

I've also encountered sound issues on PaqMan, FYI.

For what it's worth, I find the sameboy-lcd.glsl shader looks good with Arduboy.

I had a quick look, I don't think I can find a fix, sorry.
You should contact the developers of lr-arduous on github.

[ExarKunIv]

@Folly i updated the script on my end with your newest version.

[fryguy1]

@Folly Thanks for checking into it. I reported it to the lr-arduous devs: https://github.com/libretro/arduous/issues/8

[JimmyFromTheBay]

@ExarKunIv @Folly Super-excited to see this working. I have no idea what all the shaders stuff is about, except that the default one is a bit unpleasant and makes the Retroarch menus so slow they're almost unuseable.

While messing around, I found that if reduced the number of passes to 3, applied the changes (the Arduboy screen goes blank at this point), then set them back to 5 and applied the changes again without altering anything else, I got a nice clean fast black-and-white display that was much more agreeable for playing and also sorted the menus out. (It actually shows the number of passes as 0 even though I set them to 5.)

Unfortunately the emu reports an error if you try to save those shader settings in any way, and if you just disable shaders entirely you get a very fuzzy picture.

Any idea what's going on there?

[Folly]

@JimmyFromTheBay

On which pi are you running it ?

I think the shader looks nice, though it has some delay effects that simulates that effect of a real lcd.
The shader should be an improvement, if it's not then we have to reconsider.

Here you can remove or comment the shader for testing without it :
/opt/retropie/configs/arduboy/retroarch.cfg

Let me know what you think of it when you run it without shader.

[JimmyFromTheBay]

@Folly said in Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?:

On which pi are you running it ?

Running it on RPi4. In my personal opinion, while the shaders are very pretty, they make playing the games quite a lot worse because the graphics are very ghosty/flickery.

Here you can remove or comment the shader for testing without it :
/opt/retropie/configs/arduboy/retroarch.cfg

As I say above, if I disable the shaders in RETROARCH.CFG I don't get the clean black-and-white display, I get an ugly fuzzy low-res one.

[Folly]

@JimmyFromTheBay

You have probably fiddled with the some setting or CRT SwitchRes video-setting in RetroArch, which have probably been saved somehow.
You should probably check in the RetroArch gui what is on and do a search on that in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

[JimmyFromTheBay]

@Folly said in Is it possible to install Arduous (Arduboy emulator)?:

@JimmyFromTheBay

You have probably fiddled with the some setting or CRT SwitchRes video-setting in RetroArch, which have probably been saved somehow.
You should probably check in the RetroArch gui what is on and do a search on that in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

I've never heard of that setting, and there's no mention of it in my RETROARCH.CFG.

## Skeleton config file for RetroArch

# Save all save files (*.srm) to this directory. This includes related files like .bsv, .rtc, .psrm, etc ...
# This will be overridden by explicit command line options.
# savefile_directory =

# Save all save states (*.state) to this directory.
# This will be overridden by explicit command line options.
# savestate_directory =

# If set to a directory, Content which is temporarily extracted
# will be extracted to this directory.
# extraction_directory =

# Save all input remapping files to this directory.
# input_remapping_directory =

# Save all playlist files to this directory.
# playlist_directory =

# If set to a directory, the content history playlist will be saved
# to this directory.
# content_history_dir =

# Automatically saves a savestate at the end of RetroArch's lifetime.
# The path is $SRAM_PATH.auto.
# RetroArch will automatically load any savestate with this path on startup if savestate_auto_load is set.
# savestate_auto_save = false
# savestate_auto_load = true

# Load libretro from a dynamic location for dynamically built RetroArch.
# This option is mandatory.

# Path to a libretro implementation.
# libretro_path = "/path/to/libretro.so"

# A directory for where to search for libretro core implementations.
# libretro_directory =

# A directory for where to search for libretro core information.
# libretro_info_path =

# Sets log level for libretro cores (GET_LOG_INTERFACE).
# If a log level issued by a libretro core is below libretro_log_level, it is ignored.
# DEBUG logs are always ignored unless verbose mode is activated (--verbose).
# DEBUG = 0, INFO = 1, WARN = 2, ERROR = 3.
# libretro_log_level = 0

# Enable or disable verbosity level of frontend.
# log_verbosity = false

# If this option is enabled, every content file loaded in RetroArch will be
# automatically added to a history list.
# history_list_enable = true

# Enable or disable RetroArch performance counters
# perfcnt_enable = false

# Path to core options config file.
# This config file is used to expose core-specific options.
# It will be written to by RetroArch.
# A default path will be assigned if not set.
core_options_path = /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-core-options.cfg

# Path to content load history file.
# RetroArch keeps track of all content loaded in the menu and from CLI directly for convenient quick loading.
# A default path will be assigned if not set.
# content_history_path =

# Number of entries that will be kept in content history file.
# content_history_size = 100

# Sets the "system" directory.
# Implementations can query for this directory to load BIOSes, system-specific configs, etc.
system_directory = /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS

# Sets start directory for menu content browser.
# rgui_browser_directory =

# Content directory. Interacts with RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_GET_CONTENT_DIRECTORY.
# Usually set by developers who bundle libretro/RetroArch apps to point to assets.
# content_directory =

# Assets directory. This location is queried by default when menu interfaces try to look for
# loadable assets, etc.
assets_directory = /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/assets

# Dynamic wallpapers directory. The place to store the wallpapers dynamically
# loaded by the menu depending on context.
# dynamic_wallpapers_directory =

# Boxarts directory. To store boxart PNG files.
# boxarts_directory =

# Sets start directory for menu config browser.
# rgui_config_directory =

# Show startup screen in menu.
# Is automatically set to false when seen for the first time.
# This is only updated in config if config_save_on_exit is set to true, however.
# rgui_show_start_screen = true

# Flushes config to disk on exit. Useful for menu as settings can be modified.
# Overwrites the config. #include's and comments are not preserved.
config_save_on_exit = "false"

# Load up a specific config file based on the core being used.
# core_specific_config = false

#### Video

# Video driver to use. "gl", "xvideo", "sdl"
# video_driver = "gl"

# Which OpenGL context implementation to use.
# Possible ones for desktop are: glx, x-egl, kms-egl, sdl-gl, wgl.
# By default, tries to use first suitable driver.
# video_context_driver =

# Windowed x resolution scale and y resolution scale
# (Real x res: base_size * xscale * aspect_ratio, real y res: base_size * yscale)
# video_scale = 3.0

# Fullscreen resolution. Resolution of 0 uses the resolution of the desktop.
# video_fullscreen_x = 0
# video_fullscreen_y = 0

# Start in fullscreen. Can be changed at runtime.
# video_fullscreen = false

# If fullscreen, prefer using a windowed fullscreen mode.
# video_windowed_fullscreen = true

# Which monitor to prefer. 0 (default) means no particular monitor is preferred, 1 and up (1 being first monitor),
# suggests RetroArch to use that particular monitor.
# video_monitor_index = 0

# Forcibly disable composition. Only works in Windows Vista/7 for now.
# video_disable_composition = false

# Video vsync.
# video_vsync = true

# Forcibly disable sRGB FBO support. Some Intel OpenGL drivers on Windows
# have video problems with sRGB FBO support enabled.
# video_force_srgb_disable = false

# Attempts to hard-synchronize CPU and GPU. Can reduce latency at cost of performance.
# video_hard_sync = false

# Sets how many frames CPU can run ahead of GPU when using video_hard_sync.
# Maximum is 3.
# video_hard_sync_frames = 0

# Sets how many milliseconds to delay after VSync before running the core.
# Can reduce latency at cost of higher risk of stuttering.
# Maximum is 15.
# video_frame_delay = 0

# Inserts a black frame inbetween frames.
# Useful for 120 Hz monitors who want to play 60 Hz material with eliminated ghosting.
# video_refresh_rate should still be configured as if it is a 60 Hz monitor (divide refresh rate by 2).
# video_black_frame_insertion = false

# Use threaded video driver. Using this might improve performance at possible cost of latency and more video stuttering.
video_threaded = true

# Use a shared context for HW rendered libretro cores.
# Avoids having to assume HW state changes inbetween frames.
# video_shared_context = false

# Smoothens picture with bilinear filtering. Should be disabled if using pixel shaders.
video_smooth = true

# Forces rendering area to stay equal to content aspect ratio or as defined in video_aspect_ratio.
# video_force_aspect = true

# Only scales video in integer steps.
# The base size depends on system-reported geometry and aspect ratio.
# If video_force_aspect is not set, X/Y will be integer scaled independently.
# video_scale_integer = false

# A floating point value for video aspect ratio (width / height).
# If this is not set, aspect ratio is assumed to be automatic.
# Behavior then is defined by video_aspect_ratio_auto.
# video_aspect_ratio =

# If this is true and video_aspect_ratio is not set,
# aspect ratio is decided by libretro implementation.
# If this is false, 1:1 PAR will always be assumed if video_aspect_ratio is not set.
video_aspect_ratio_auto = true

# Forces cropping of overscanned frames.
# Exact behavior of this option is implementation specific.
# video_crop_overscan = true 

# Path to shader. Shader can be either Cg, CGP (Cg preset) or GLSL, GLSLP (GLSL preset)
# video_shader = "/path/to/shader.{cg,cgp,glsl,glslp}"

# Load video_shader on startup.
# Other shaders can still be loaded later in runtime.
video_shader_enable = "true"

# Defines a directory where shaders (Cg, CGP, GLSL) are kept for easy access.
video_shader_dir = /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/shader/

# CPU-based video filter. Path to a dynamic library.
# video_filter =

# Defines a directory where CPU-based video filters are kept.
# video_filter_dir =

# Path to a font used for rendering messages. This path must be defined to enable fonts.
# Do note that the _full_ path of the font is necessary!
# video_font_path = 

# Size of the font rendered.
video_font_size = 12

# Enable usage of OSD messages.
# video_font_enable = true

# Offset for where messages will be placed on screen. Values are in range 0.0 to 1.0 for both x and y values. 
# [0.0, 0.0] maps to the lower left corner of the screen.
# video_message_pos_x = 0.05
# video_message_pos_y = 0.05

# Color for message. The value is treated as a hexadecimal value.
# It is a regular RGB hex number, i.e. red is "ff0000".
# video_message_color = ffffff

# Video refresh rate of your monitor.
# Used to calculate a suitable audio input rate.
# video_refresh_rate = 59.95

# Allows libretro cores to set rotation modes.
# Setting this to false will honor, but ignore this request.
# This is useful for vertically oriented content where one manually rotates the monitor.
video_allow_rotate = "true"

# Forces a certain rotation of the screen.
# The rotation is added to rotations which the libretro core sets (see video_allow_rotate).
# The angle is <value> * 90 degrees counter-clockwise.
# video_rotation = 0

#### Audio

# Enable audio.
# audio_enable = true

# Mutes audio.
# audio_mute_enable = false

# Audio output samplerate.
# audio_out_rate = 48000

# Audio resampler backend. Which audio resampler to use.
# Default will use "sinc".
# audio_resampler =

# Audio driver backend. Depending on configuration possible candidates are: alsa, pulse, oss, jack, rsound, roar, openal, sdl, xaudio.
# audio_driver =

# Override the default audio device the audio_driver uses. This is driver dependant. E.g. ALSA wants a PCM device, OSS wants a path (e.g. /dev/dsp), Jack wants portnames (e.g. system:playback1,system:playback_2), and so on ...
# audio_device =

# Audio DSP plugin that processes audio before it's sent to the driver. Path to a dynamic library.
# audio_dsp_plugin =

# Directory where DSP plugins are kept.
# audio_filter_dir =

# Will sync (block) on audio. Recommended.
# audio_sync = true

# Desired audio latency in milliseconds. Might not be honored if driver can't provide given latency.
# audio_latency = 64

# Enable audio rate control.
# audio_rate_control = true

# Controls audio rate control delta. Defines how much input rate can be adjusted dynamically.
# Input rate = in_rate * (1.0 +/- audio_rate_control_delta)
# audio_rate_control_delta = 0.005

# Controls maximum audio timing skew. Defines the maximum change in input rate.
# Input rate = in_rate * (1.0 +/- max_timing_skew)
# audio_max_timing_skew = 0.05

# Audio volume. Volume is expressed in dB.
# 0 dB is normal volume. No gain will be applied.
# Gain can be controlled in runtime with input_volume_up/input_volume_down.
audio_volume = -10.0

#### Overlay

# Defines a directory where overlays are kept for easy access.
overlay_directory = /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/overlays

# Enable or disable the current overlay.
input_overlay_enable = "true"

# Hide the current overlay from appearing in menu screens.
input_overlay_hide_in_menu = false

# Path to input overlay
# input_overlay =

# Overlay opacity
# input_overlay_opacity = 1.0

# Overlay scale
# input_overlay_scale = 1.0

#### OSK (Onscreen Keyboard) Overlay

# Defines a directory where overlays are kept for easy access.
# osk_overlay_directory =

# Enable OSK overlay.
# input_osk_overlay_enable = true

# Path to OSK overlay
# input_osk_overlay =

# OSK Overlay opacity
# input_osk_overlay_opacity = 1.0

# OSK Overlay scale
# input_osk_overlay_scale = 1.0

#### Input

# Input driver. Depending on video driver, it might force a different input driver.
# input_driver = sdl

# Input device driver. (Valid: linuxraw, sdl, dinput)
input_joypad_driver = udev

# Path to input remapping file.
# input_remapping_path =

# If enabled, overrides the input binds with the remapped binds set for the current core.
# input_remap_binds_enable = true

# Maximum amount of users supported by RetroArch.
# input_max_users = 16

# Keyboard layout for input driver if applicable (udev/evdev for now).
# Syntax is either just layout (e.g. "no"), or a layout and variant separated with colon ("no:nodeadkeys").
# input_keyboard_layout =

# Defines axis threshold. Possible values are [0.0, 1.0]
# input_axis_threshold = 0.5

# Enable input auto-detection. Will attempt to autoconfigure
# joypads, Plug-and-Play style.
input_autodetect_enable = true

# Show the input descriptors set by the core instead of the
# default ones.
# input_descriptor_label_show = true

# Hide input descriptors that were not set by the core.
# input_descriptor_hide_unbound = false

# Influence how input polling is done inside RetroArch.
# 0 : Early  - Input polling is performed before call to retro_run.
# 1 : Normal - Input polling is performend when retro_input_poll is
#     requested.
# 2 : Late   - Input polling is performed on first call to retro_input_state
#     per frame
# 
# Setting it to 0 or 2 can result in less latency depending on
# your configuration. 
#
# When netplay is enabled, the default polling behavior (1) will
# be used regardless of the value set here.
# input_poll_type_behavior = 1

# Directory for joypad autoconfigs.
# If a joypad is plugged in, that joypad will be autoconfigured if a config file
# corresponding to that joypad is present in joypad_autoconfig_dir.
# Input binds which are made explicit (input_playerN_*_btn/axis) will take priority over autoconfigs.
# Autoconfigs can be created with retroarch-joyconfig, manually, or with a frontend.
# Requires input_autodetect_enable to be enabled.
joypad_autoconfig_dir = /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-joypads/

# Sets which libretro device is used for a user.
# Devices are indentified with a number.
# This is normally saved by the menu.
# Device IDs are found in libretro.h.
# These settings are overridden by explicit command-line arguments which refer to input devices.
# None: 0
# Joypad (RetroPad): 1
# Mouse: 2
# Keyboard: 3
# Generic Lightgun: 4
# Joypad w/ Analog (RetroPad + Analog sticks): 5
# Multitap (SNES specific): 257
# Super Scope (SNES specific): 260
# Justifier (SNES specific): 516
# Justifiers (SNES specific): 772

# input_libretro_device_p1 =
# input_libretro_device_p2 =
# input_libretro_device_p3 =
# input_libretro_device_p4 =
# input_libretro_device_p5 =
# input_libretro_device_p6 =
# input_libretro_device_p7 =
# input_libretro_device_p8 =

# Keyboard input. Will recognize letters ("a" to "z") and the following special keys (where "kp_"
# is for keypad keys):
#
#   left, right, up, down, enter, kp_enter, tab, insert, del, end, home,
#   rshift, shift, ctrl, alt, space, escape, add, subtract, kp_plus, kp_minus,
#   f1, f2, f3, f4, f5, f6, f7, f8, f9, f10, f11, f12,
#   num0, num1, num2, num3, num4, num5, num6, num7, num8, num9, pageup, pagedown,
#   keypad0, keypad1, keypad2, keypad3, keypad4, keypad5, keypad6, keypad7, keypad8, keypad9,
#   period, capslock, numlock, backspace, multiply, divide, print_screen, scroll_lock,
#   tilde, backquote, pause, quote, comma, minus, slash, semicolon, equals, leftbracket,
#   backslash, rightbracket, kp_period, kp_equals, rctrl, ralt
#
# Keyboard input, Joypad and Joyaxis will all obey the "nul" bind, which disables the bind completely, 
# rather than relying on a default.
input_player1_a = "z"
input_player1_b = "x"
input_player1_y = "s"
input_player1_x = "a"
input_player1_start = "enter"
input_player1_select = "rshift"
input_player1_l = "q"
input_player1_r = "w"
input_player1_left = "left"
input_player1_right = "right"
input_player1_up = "up"
input_player1_down = "down"
input_player1_l2 = "num1"
input_player1_r2 = "num2"
# input_player1_l3 =
# input_player1_r3 =

# Two analog sticks (DualShock-esque).
# Bound as usual, however, if a real analog axis is bound,
# it can be read as a true analog.
# Positive X axis is right, Positive Y axis is down.
# input_player1_l_x_plus =
# input_player1_l_x_minus =
# input_player1_l_y_plus =
# input_player1_l_y_minus =
# input_player1_r_x_plus =
# input_player1_r_x_minus =
# input_player1_r_y_plus =
# input_player1_r_y_minus =

# If desired, it is possible to override which joypads are being used for user 1 through 8.
# First joypad available is 0.
# input_player1_joypad_index = 0
# input_player2_joypad_index = 1
# input_player3_joypad_index = 2
# input_player4_joypad_index = 3
# input_player5_joypad_index = 4
# input_player6_joypad_index = 5
# input_player7_joypad_index = 6
# input_player8_joypad_index = 7

# Input device buttons.
# Figure these out by using RetroArch-Phoenix or retroarch-joyconfig.
# You can use joypad hats with hnxx, where n is the hat, and xx is a string representing direction. 
# E.g. "h0up"
# input_player1_a_btn =
# input_player1_b_btn =
# input_player1_y_btn =
# input_player1_x_btn =
# input_player1_start_btn =
# input_player1_select_btn =
# input_player1_l_btn =
# input_player1_r_btn =
# input_player1_left_btn =
# input_player1_right_btn =
# input_player1_up_btn =
# input_player1_down_btn =
# input_player1_l2_btn =
# input_player1_r2_btn =
# input_player1_l3_btn =
# input_player1_r3_btn =

# Menu buttons.
# menu_ok_btn          =
# menu_cancel_btn      =
# menu_search_btn      =
# menu_info_btn        =
# menu_default_btn     =
# menu_scroll_down_btn =
# menu_scroll_up_btn   =

# Axis for RetroArch D-Pad. 
# Needs to be either '+' or '-' in the first character signaling either positive or negative direction of the axis, then the axis number. 
# Do note that every other input option has the corresponding _btn and _axis binds as well; they are omitted here for clarity.
# input_player1_left_axis =
# input_player1_right_axis =
# input_player1_up_axis =
# input_player1_down_axis =

# Holding the turbo while pressing another button will let the button enter a turbo mode
# where the button state is modulated with a periodic signal.
# The modulation stops when the button itself (not turbo button) is released.
# input_player1_turbo =

# Describes the period and how long of that period a turbo-enabled button should behave.
# Numbers are described in frames.
# input_turbo_period = 6
# input_turbo_duty_cycle = 3

# This goes all the way to user 8 (*_player2_*, *_player3_*, etc), but omitted for clarity.
# All input binds have corresponding binds for keyboard (none), joykeys (_btn) and joyaxes (_axis) as well.

# Toggles fullscreen.
# input_toggle_fullscreen = f

# Saves state.
# input_save_state = 
# Loads state.
# input_load_state = 

# State slots. With slot set to 0, save state name is *.state (or whatever defined on commandline).
# When slot is != 0, path will be $path%d, where %d is slot number.
input_state_slot_increase = "right"
input_state_slot_decrease = "left"

# Toggles between fast-forwarding and normal speed.
# input_toggle_fast_forward = space

# Hold for fast-forward. Releasing button disables fast-forward.
# input_hold_fast_forward = l

# Key to exit RetroArch cleanly. 
# Killing it in any hard way (SIGKILL, etc) will terminate RetroArch without saving RAM, etc.
# On Unix-likes, SIGINT/SIGTERM allows a clean deinitialization.
input_exit_emulator = "enter"


# Applies next and previous shader in directory.
input_shader_next = m
input_shader_prev = n

# Hold button down to rewind. Rewinding must be enabled.
input_rewind = r

# Toggle between recording and not.
# input_movie_record_toggle = o

# Toggle between paused and non-paused state
# input_pause_toggle = p

# Frame advance when content is paused
# input_frame_advance = k

# Reset the content.
input_reset = "x"

# Cheats.
# input_cheat_index_plus = y
# input_cheat_index_minus = t
# input_cheat_toggle = u

# Mute/unmute audio
# input_audio_mute = f9

# Take screenshot
# input_screenshot = f8

# Netplay flip users.
# input_netplay_flip_players = i

# Hold for slowmotion.
# input_slowmotion = e

# Enable other hotkeys.
# If this hotkey is bound to either keyboard, joybutton or joyaxis,
# all other hotkeys will be disabled unless this hotkey is also held at the same time.
# This is useful for RETRO_KEYBOARD centric implementations
# which query a large area of the keyboard, where it is not desirable
# that hotkeys get in the way.

# Alternatively, all hotkeys for keyboard could be disabled by the user.
# input_enable_hotkey_btn =

# Increases audio volume.
# input_volume_up = kp_plus
# Decreases audio volume.
# input_volume_down = kp_minus

# Toggles to next overlay. Wraps around.
# input_overlay_next =

# Toggles eject for disks. Used for multiple-disk content.
# input_disk_eject_toggle =

# Cycles through disk images. Use after ejecting.
# Complete by toggling eject again.
# input_disk_next =

# Toggles menu.
input_menu_toggle = "a"

# RetroPad button combination to toggle menu
# 0 = none, 1 = L + R + Y + D-Pad Down, 2 = L3 + R3
# input_menu_toggle_gamepad_combo = 0

# Toggles mouse grab. When mouse is grabbed, RetroArch hides the mouse,
# and keeps the mouse pointer inside the window to allow relative mouse input
# to work better.
# input_grab_mouse_toggle = f11

#### Menu

# Menu driver to use. "rgui", "lakka", etc. 
menu_driver = "rgui"

# If enabled, the libretro core will keep running in the background when we
# are in the menu.
# menu_pause_libretro = false

# Enable mouse input inside the menu.
# menu_mouse_enable = false

# Enable touch input inside the menu.
# menu_pointer_enable = false

# Shows current date and/or time inside menu.
# menu_timedate_enable = true

# Shows current core inside menu.
# menu_core_enable = true

# Path to a .png image to set as menu wallpaper.
# menu_wallpaper =

# Dynamically load a new wallpaper depending on context.
# menu_dynamic_wallpaper_enable = false

# Display boxart in place of the content icon if available
# menu_boxart_enable = false

# Wrap-around toe beginning and/or end if boundary of list reached horizontally
# menu_navigation_wraparound_horizontal_enable = false

# Wrap-around to beginning and/or end if boundary of list reached vertically
# menu_navigation_wraparound_vertical_enable = false

# Filter files being show in 'Load Content' by supported extensions
# menu_navigation_browser_filter_supported_extensions_enable = true

# Collapse subgroup settings into main group to create one big listing of settings
# per category.
# menu_collapse_subgroups_enable = false

#### UI

# Suspends the screensaver if set to true. Is a hint that does not necessarily have to be honored
# by video driver.
# suspend_screensaver_enable  = true

# Start UI companion driver's interface on boot (if available).
# ui_companion_start_on_boot  = true

#### Camera

# Override the default camera device the camera driver uses. This is driver dependant.
# camera_device =

# Override the default privacy permission for cores that want to access camera services. Is "false" by default.
# camera_allow = false

#### Location

# Override the default privacy permission for cores that want to access location services. Is "false" by default.
# location_allow = false

#### Core Updater

# URL to core update directory on buildbot.
# core_updater_buildbot_url = "http://buildbot.libretro.com"

# URL to assets update directory on buildbot.
# core_updater_buildbot_assets_url = "http://buildbot.libretro.com/assets/"

# Automatically extract archives that the cores are contained in to the libretro cores directory.
# core_updater_auto_extract_archive = true

#### Network

# When being client over netplay, use keybinds for user 1.
# netplay_client_swap_input = false

# The username of the person running RetroArch. This will be used for playing online, for instance.
# netplay_nickname = 

# The amount of delay frames to use for netplay. Increasing this value will increase
# performance, but introduce more latency.
# netplay_delay_frames = 0

# Netplay mode for the current user.
# false is Server, true is Client.
# netplay_mode = false

# Enable or disable spectator mode for the user during netplay.
# netplay_spectator_mode_enable = false

# The IP Address of the host to connect to.
# netplay_ip_address = 

# The port of the host IP Address. Can be either a TCP or an UDP port.
# netplay_ip_port = 55435

#### Misc

# Enable rewinding. This will take a performance hit when playing, so it is disabled by default.
rewind_enable = false

# Rewinding buffer size in megabytes. Bigger rewinding buffer means you can rewind longer.
# The buffer should be approx. 20MB per minute of buffer time.
rewind_buffer_size = 10

# Rewind granularity. When rewinding defined number of frames, you can rewind several frames at a time, increasing the rewinding speed.
rewind_granularity = 2

# Pause gameplay when window focus is lost.
# pause_nonactive = true

# Autosaves the non-volatile SRAM at a regular interval. This is disabled by default unless set otherwise.
# The interval is measured in seconds. A value of 0 disables autosave.
# autosave_interval =

# Path to content database directory.
# content_database_path =

# Path to cheat database directory.
# cheat_database_path =

# Path to XML cheat config, a file which keeps track of which
# cheat settings are used for individual games.
# If the file does not exist, it will be created.
# cheat_settings_path =

# Directory to dump screenshots to.
screenshot_directory = /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/screenshots

# Records video after CPU video filter.
# video_post_filter_record = false

# Records output of GPU shaded material if available.
# video_gpu_record = false

# Screenshots output of GPU shaded material if available.
video_gpu_screenshot = true

# Block SRAM from being overwritten when loading save states.
# Might potentially lead to buggy games.
# block_sram_overwrite = false

# When saving a savestate, save state index is automatically increased before
# it is saved.
# Also, when loading content, the index will be set to the highest existing index.
# There is no upper bound on the index.
# savestate_auto_index = false

# Slowmotion ratio. When slowmotion, content will slow down by factor.
# slowmotion_ratio = 3.0

# The maximum rate at which content will be run when using fast forward. (E.g. 5.0 for 60 fps content => 300 fps cap).
# RetroArch will go to sleep to ensure that the maximum rate will not be exceeded.
# Do not rely on this cap to be perfectly accurate.
# If this is set at 0, then fastforward ratio is unlimited (no FPS cap)
# fastforward_ratio = 0.0

# Enable stdin/network command interface.
# network_cmd_enable = false
# network_cmd_port = 55355
# stdin_cmd_enable = false
input_enable_hotkey = "rshift"
auto_remaps_enable = true
game_specific_options = "true"
input_player1_analog_dpad_mode = "1"
input_player2_analog_dpad_mode = "1"
menu_unified_controls = "true"
ai_service_enable = "true"
ai_service_mode = "0"
ai_service_pause = "true"
ai_service_source_lang = "0"
ai_service_target_lang = "1"
ai_service_url = "http://ztranslate.net/service?api_key=HEREISMYKEY"
input_ai_service = "t"
#input_ai_service_btn = "11"

[JimmyFromTheBay]

@JimmyFromTheBay This is what it looks like by default:

This is what it looks like if I change the number of passes:

And this is what it looks like with shaders off:

[Folly]

@JimmyFromTheBay

With the shader off it should look like the second picture.

The problem is on your side.
You have this line enabled :

video_smooth = true

To solve it you have to comment it like this :

# video_smooth = true

[JimmyFromTheBay]

@Folly Blimey, I've never heard of that setting either, I assume it must be on by default. But that sorted it, thanks! :)

(It's still very weird that I managed to disable the smoothing just by changing the number of passes from 5 to 3 to 5.)

[Folly]

@JimmyFromTheBay

I think the smoothing is turned off by default, when a shader is in use.
That would be a plausible explanation .
Thought the comment of smoothing isn't that clear :

# Smoothens picture with bilinear filtering. Should be disabled if using pixel shaders.

It suggests more that you have to force disabling it but I think it does it automatically.