Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI

[wtstreetglow1]

Hello all,

Hoping someone can help me out with the subject based on the info provided below. I have added glsl, slang, and cg style shaders to the shaders directory and for some reason within RGUI, I see the folders but when I enter the folder, the gui shows nothing in them. Also, when I enter the presets directories in each of the shader types (scalenx, scalefx, etc.), there are no preset files showing even though when I go into the file system through winscp, they are showing as uploaded.

Below are the repos I have “borrowed” the files from. I then copy pasted the unzipped files/ folders to the

Opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/shader

CG:
https://github.com/libretro/common-shaders
Slang:
https://github.com/Themaister/slang-shaders
Glsl:
https://github.com/libretro/glsl-shaders

The biggest one I am interested in is “scalefx” and this is the reason I’m trying to figure this situation out.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be going on with this situation?

I am using retropie 4.8 on a pi 4

Thank you all

[windg]

Without be sure, i think slang shaders needs vulkan.

[mitu]

You've downloaded a lot of shaders, but the Pi4 is not powerful enough to run the most demanding ones - I think ScaleFX is one of those.

Basically, the shader support is tied to the video driver used in RetroArch.

Driver	Preset extension	Shader repository
gl (default)	.glslp	upstream (RetroArch) is glsl-shaders, default RetroPie installs a subset of them from a separate repository
glcore (Pi4/GLES3 needed)	.slangp	upstream (RetroArch) is slang-shaders
vulkan (Pi4/Pi5, but with bookworm RaspiOS)	idem	idem

So when you're browsing for a preset, look where the preset files are located and try to load it, but I very much doubt that Scale(N/F)X are usable on a Pi4.
In order to choose a different set of presets/shaders, you can change the video driver from the Configuration Editor and then your next RetroArch start-up will look for the corresponding extension when you browse the shaders folder(s).

[wtstreetglow1]

@windg Thank you for this reply @windg I will look into changing my driver and see if the options become available within RGUI

[wtstreetglow1]

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

mitu
GLOBAL MODERATOR
22 minutes ago

You've downloaded a lot of shaders, but the Pi4 is not powerful enough to run the most demanding ones

I agree because I have no clue what I'm doing :-)

And again thank you for everything you have helped me with lately. I would've never got this far without your and the others' assistance here on the forum.

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

I think ScaleFX is one of those.

Well that's a bummer. I've heard that is one of the best ones for bringing the pixels to more of a new style art.

That is the look I am going for, I know it isn't traditional but I would like to make these games look a little more HD/ smoothed but crystal clear. I had used ScaleFX on a windows machine in the past and it did such a good job. I follow you though on the not powerful enough.

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

Basically, the shader support is tied to the video driver used in RetroArch.

Thank you for this table. Very helpful!!

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

So when you're browsing for a preset, look where the preset files are located and try to load it, but I very much doubt that Scale(N/F)X are usable on a Pi4.

So I will try this again when I get home tonight but I'm pretty sure for whatever reason, when I search within RGUI and the same location where I have put all of the files in the filesystem through WINSCP, nothing is showing on the RGUI side even after a reboot.

For instance, see WINSCP screenshot below. When I get home tonight I will post a photo of me searching in RGUI on the shaders area and I don't believe any of those slangp files will show at this location:

/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/shaders/scalefx

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

In order to choose a different set of presets/shaders, you can change the video driver from the Configuration Editor and then your next RetroArch start-up will look for the corresponding extension when you browse the shaders folder(s).

Ok, so depending on what video driver is set in the configuration editor, RGUI will filter what you can see on the UI. With this being said, I will change my driver to glcore, and use the .slangp file as seen in the screenshot below called "scalefx-aa-fast.slangp" if it shows up in RGUI after the reboot.

Thank you for such a detailed response @mitu. I will test this when I get home a report back the result here.--> It's my thoughts that I have not changed my video driver from default so the .glslp files should have been showing up on RGUI and I don't think they were.

[mitu]

@wtstreetglow1 said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

Thank you for such a detailed response @mitu. I will test this when I get home a report back the result here.--> It's my thoughts that I have not changed my video driver from default so the .glslp files should have been showing up on RGUI and I don't think they were.

You can use the default video_driver, there are .glslp presets for ScaleFX in the glsl_shaders repo. It may not even run, due to the lack of GPU features - may require an OpenGL version which is not supported by the Pi4's GPU. I also expect that switching to the glcore video_driver will not be enough, since the shader may expect a higher OpenGL version than what's currently supported by the Pi.

[wtstreetglow1]

@mitu Everything is working excellently now following your advice/ guidance!! Thank you so much again on helping me get everything working from the start up until now.

Very happy with the results of the cabinet build!!

[wtstreetglow1]

@mitu I follow you. Everything is showing up now as you explained. Over the next few days I will test some of the different shaders. I guarantee you are correct so hopefully I can track one down that does similar effects as scalefx but is less taxing for the system.

Thank you again!!

[wtstreetglow1]

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

It may not even run, due to the lack of GPU features

@mitu I think this is what happened to me on the issue we've been talking about in another thread. Linked below for other forum members:

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/34899/no-games-launching-currently-please-help-everything-worked-the-last-time-system-was-shutdown/3?_=1702214707271

I ended up downloading the slang and glsl files you spoke of in the previous post.

Can you possibly lead me to some preset files that will give me the scalefx look of almost like a smoothed pixel. (Artistic style).

I was really trying for the scalefx-fast as I heard that was built specifically for the pi but I couldn't get it to work.- So I pretty much deleted all of the contents in my shader directory and started with the downloads you lead me to. (Because most of what I downloaded originally wasn't working)

One last question I have is how do I know which shaders will work in retropie on the pi 4?

-- I noticed on the glsl shaders master gitub, "scalefx" is a selection. I imagine this repo is used for larger systems also (so no issue there).

But how do I know which preset could work for the pi 4 and retropie (or the answer is you really don't unless you research each one or test each one?)

Thank you for this. I think I got screwed up because my originally thinking on these shaders were if they were in the provided repos, they would work on pi 4/ retropie setup.

[mitu]

Can you possibly lead me to some preset files that will give me the scalefx look of almost like a smoothed pixel. (Artistic style).

There are presets for ScaleFx for both glsl and slang shaders in the Github repositories I mentioned before in this topic. I don't know of any other ones.

I was really trying for the scalefx-fast as I heard that was built specifically for the pi but I couldn't get it to work.

Where did you hear that ?

But how do I know which preset could work for the pi 4 and retropie (or the answer is you really don't unless you research each one or test each one?)

Load a game without any shader applied and then use the RetroArch quick menu to load one of the shader presets you have downloaded - you can see if it works and how well it performs on the Pi.

[wtstreetglow1]

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

There are presets for ScaleFx for both glsl and slang shaders in the Github repositories I mentioned before in this topic. I don't know of any other ones.

I noticed this. No problem. I will test them.

Just to make sure I understand, you said that the scalefx would likely not working even if they are from the repo you linked me to, correct?

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

Where did you hear that ?

I am wrong, I went back to the reddit post I saw that on and that was for "Open EMU" not "Retropie", I apologize.

@mitu said in Can’t get shader/ shader presets that I have uploaded to pi to show in UI:

Load a game without any shader applied and then use the RetroArch quick menu to load one of the shader presets you have downloaded - you can see if it works and how well it performs on the Pi.

Ok, I follow you now. So the shaders at the github you linked me to would need to be tested to see how they will perform on the pi4. (These shaders are for the retroarch project but not a specific hardware)--> Thank you for helping me understand this.

[mitu]

Just to make sure I understand, you said that the scalefx would likely not working even if they are from the repo you linked me to, correct?

Indeed.