raspberry pi not booting into emulationstation

mitu

Post your config.txt - as it it now.

Devenhulk

For more options and information see

http://rpf.io/configtxt

Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
hdmi_safe=1

uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible

and your display can output without overscan

#disable_overscan=1

uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console

goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border

#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus

overscan.

#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output

#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)

#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1

uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in

DMT (computer monitor) modes

#hdmi_drive=2

uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

uncomment for composite PAL

#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces

#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.

#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)

dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]

Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack

dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
overscan_scale=1

mitu

Replace hdmi_safe with

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16
hdmi_drive=2

and see if you get a proper picture.

Devenhulk

okay ill try thanks

Devenhulk

@mitu i tried all 3 but when i try to boot up it doesn't Evan show that it finds a signal anymore so i switched it back to HDMI_safe

mitu

@Devenhulk Try choosing another video mode - see https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt/video.md. It's strange that for a monitor that claims to support 1080, setting the video mode to 1080p doesn't work.

EDIT: you can add

hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080

to the previous lines, this will make the Pi ignore what your monitor sends in the EDID.

Devenhulk

@mitu k ill go try that

Devenhulk

@mitu i am sorry for the late reply been a little busy but when i type in those lines it still doesn't change that it boots up and there's a black screen i can still access terminal though but when i type in emulation station it just goes back to the black screen

Devenhulk

hey guys solved the problem it was the hdmi it needed to be closetest to the power

carbonatedwater

@Devenhulk Hi. What do you mean by this? I'm having the same problem, Retropie boots up, but then it just goes into a black screen when it goes into EmulationStation. I'm not really a Linux user, so I have no idea what is going on.
I'm using Retropie 4.8, on a Raspberry Pi 4. I've used my computer monitor and my TV.

superdan

@carbonatedwater Do you have any log while booting?

carbonatedwater

@superdan said in raspberry pi not booting into emulationstation:

log while booting?

I'm not sure what you mean. Again, I'm not an expert of this sorts.

mitu

@carbonatedwater The solution @Devenhulk mentioned was to use the mini-HDMI port close to the USB-C port used by the power supply. Did you try to switching the mini-HDMI port on the Pi ?

carbonatedwater

@mitu That is really odd, is there a reason it works when you switch HDMI ports? Also, that method stopped working after I turned it off and back on, and switched the ports back. I didn't have my controller plugged in the first time.

Now I have to leave it off for a while, since that's the only way that worked.

mitu

@carbonatedwater said in raspberry pi not booting into emulationstation:

That is really odd, is there a reason it works when you switch HDMI ports?

Mostly placebo, there's little difference between them when using a monitor. However when switching the ports you're most likely to re-seat the connector, which may fix problems when the cable is not properly connected.

carbonatedwater

@mitu EmulationStation is running, but it's not displaying. At all. Is there an HDMI mode I should enable?

EDIT: Also, the Retropie screen is not showing up either. Also also, the reason I know EmulationStation is running is because I was able to stick the USB Drive into the Raspberry Pi 4 while it was running and it made new folders. It is a display issue.

EDIT 2: Also also also, I did some research and found out you could run EmulationStation in a smaller resolution with a command line "-emulationstation -w 800 -h 600"... but I have no idea where to put it in config.txt.

mitu

@carbonatedwater Are you running on a 4k display ? We've had a few reports of the RetroPie-Setup script not working correctly on such displays - in this case you can try and lower the maximum resolution to 1080p (see this doc page).

carbonatedwater

@mitu I ran it on my monitor which is not 4k. I am pretty sure the tv might be 4k but I had the same problem with both screens.

DarkFaker

Ok so this is probably one of the weirdest issues I've seen. I've had the same problem as @Devenhulk and what he meant and this is what also solved my problem is that the HDMI cable which plugs into the raspberry pi is not in the right spot. My raspberry pi 4 has, as far as I know, two HDMI ports. Plugging the HDMI cable in the port closest to the power port solved the problem for me. I think the emulation station otherwise has some weird problem to detect the monitor and display something on the screen and that's why it is just black. I know the conversation is quite old but maybe this is helpful to some people who have the same problem.

mitu

@DarkFaker I understand, but it's still not a pattern, I think it's just a coincidence. FWIW I've been using the Pi4 with either HDMI ports and never had any issues whatsoever, audio or video. I'm sure other users have had the same experiene aswell. That being said - if you'd like to diagnose this, then please open a separate topic and add more info about your setup before trying to isolate the issue.