SNES - Multitap

Wurls80

Newbie here.

Received 4 of these for christmas for 4-player bomberman (SNES).
https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-compatible-usb-gamepad-controller-snes-style?variant=27592012872

All plugged in via USB hub. All controllers work correctly in the menu's but once into the games only two players are recognised.

I believe I have followed this correctly (instructions link):
https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Super-Nintendo-Entertainment-System#3-5-players
Between the lines is the contents of ./retropie/opt/retropie/configs/snes/retroarch.cfg

Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/snes/"
input_libretro_device_p2 = "257"

#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

I also found this: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/4234/snes-super-bomberman-4-players-multitap/4 but can't follow the instructions - I can access the RGUI and access "Quick Menu" but the "Controls" doesn't exist. If I go "Settings -> Input -> Input User 2 Binds" I can find a "User 2 Device Type" option but can't select Multitap.

Pi Model: B overclocked to medium (900MHz)
Power Supply used (If using a Pi): Mains plug, 2A
RetroPie Version Used: 4.1.6
Built From: Image on clean SD card from Retropie website several months ago, through RetroPie Setup updated RetroPie-Setup Script and updated all installed packages tonight
USB Devices connected: WiFi dongle, USB hub with 4 USB gamerpads connected
Controller used: PiHut USB gamerpads (see first link)
Error messages received: None
Log found in /dev/shm/runcommand.log: None found
Guide used: See second and third links above
File: N/A
Emulator: lr-snes9x2002
Attachment of config files: See above for retroarch.cfg

If anyone could help it would be much appreciated! What am I missing or doing wrong?

The github instructions link above says the only emulator multitap will work with is "lr-snes9-next".

Is the emulator I'm using right?
If it isn't, how do I change it? I notice the GitHub for snes9 emulator is now at 2010, how would I update the emulator on my setup?
Before I updated Retropie today I used to be able to hold a button down on my controller when the ROM loaded to then get to an options menu to choose an emulator (from those installed) to run specific with that ROM. For some reason since updating this no longer works - any ideas? I can press any button but the ROM just loads anyway.

Many thanks in advance....

BuZz

@Wurls80 you switch emulator with https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/runcommand

lr-snes9x-next was renamed to lr-snes9x2010

I doubt your RPI will be able to run this emulator at fullspeed though. You would need a RPI2 or 3.

Did you disable the runcommand menu ? (Check in RetroPie menu in Emulation Station under runcommand launcher)

Wurls80

@BuZz Thanks for the prompt response.

Runcommand menu is enabled. After I updated all the installed packages I had lots of unexpected things happen - lost splash screen, wasn't automatically logging in - so thought that might have changed the setting. Unfortunately not but I wouldn't have found the runcommand menu anyway, so thank you for the pointers!

Does it have to be lr-snes9x2010 to use the multitap? When I look at the documentation for lr-snes9x2002 that says it supports it.

Wurls80

@BuZz having disabled and re-enabled the Runcommand menu I did manage to open it while loading Bomberman. I changed to lr-snes9x2005 just to see if it made a difference; unfortunately it didn't but will try and add 2010 at some point and see if that works.

I have noticed when the ROM is loading the yellow text at the bottom no longer goes through all the game pads connected (ports 0-3), just seems to say one is in port 3. However both player 1 and player 2 pads work. All pads work in the emulation station menu, and all have been configured.

I have tried connecting one pad into USB port and the other three through the USB hub on the other port (more like the multitap would be connected on the SNES, just in case) but this hasn't made a difference.

Anything else to try other than trying to get lr-snes9x2010 running? Maybe an excuse for a new RPI :-)

meleu

@Wurls80 said in SNES - Multitap:

I have noticed when the ROM is loading the yellow text at the bottom no longer goes through all the game pads connected (ports 0-3), just seems to say one is in port 3.

It's a known issue: https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/4237

Wurls80

Holy thread resurrection Batman! But having finally got back to this I thought I'd reply with my findings, in case they help anyone else, and to acknowledge the help that I received.

In summary, listen to the experience on the forum: as @BuZz said, use emulator lr-snes9x2010, and the model B isn't powerful enough to run it full speed.

In case it helps anyone, this is how I got it working.

Started with a fresh install following https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/First-Installation using the latest image from https://retropie.org.uk/download/. Technically wasn't different to the image I originally installed previously but as alluded to above after an update some oddities were occurring so figured best to start over.

Once installed, first job was to update following the instructions on https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/updating-retropie. The update all packages take a long time - rather than tie up the TV I ssh'd into the pi and used
sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh
at the terminal prompt to run the setup script. Then it was

"Update all installed packages", sat back and let it do it's thing
"Manage Packages" to find the lr-snes9x2010 emulator. From memory it was "Manage Optional Packages", but it may have been "Manage Main Packages", can't quite remember...
"Install/Update from Binary", find the emulator, and tell it to install/update.
Then "Perform Reboot".

Once it was booted up I ssh'd back in and updated the contents of ./retropie/opt/retropie/configs/snes/retroarch.cfg in line with https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Super-Nintendo-Entertainment-System#3-5-players and as given in my first post. Then rebooted again.

Once powered back on I loaded up SuperBomberman. As the game was loading I pressed a button to switch emulator for this ROM to lr-snes9x2010as described in https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/runcommand as @BuZz had directed. The game then reloaded - running very slowly - and we carried on.

I still couldn't select 4-players. So following @meleu 4 steps in his first reply from https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/4234/snes-super-bomberman-4-players-multitap/3 I accessed the RGUI and changed the "User 2 Device Type" to multitap. Back to the game and it worked - I had multitap support and 4 players selectable on Super Bomberman!

But as @BuZz had predicted the pi ran the emulator very slowly. Taking full responsibility for the risks I quit out of the game, went to the RetroPie menu and ran the raspi-config script. I figured I'd push it straight to it's limit to see whether it could run it... what could go wrong, right? Into turbo mode and reboot.

Sadly my pi would then no longer load up - the screen would go blank after the Emulation Station splash screen and go no further. As it wasn't loading fully I couldn't ssh into it to fix, so powered it down, whipped out the SD card and using the instructions on https://github.com/retropie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Overclocking edited the /boot/config.txt file to wind back the overclocking.

With that saved the SD card went back in the pi and I could load retropie once more. It appears the furthest I could push my pi was "high", and even then while the emulator would run it couldn't run fast enough to play the game.

So, in summary:

the knowledge on the forums and the github documentation is worth its weight in gold! While I've only replicated what I found spread around if putting it all in one place helps someone then I'm happy to have given back
if you want to run with a multitap setup, you're going to need more processing power than a pi B, even overclocked (your pit might run in turbo mode, but I don't know if this is enough as mine wouldn't. Besides, what harm's another pi?)

meleu

@Wurls80 If you try other SNES cores and find any able to play 4 players with a satisfactory performance, please share with us! I have a raspi 1 and have interest in improve its performance.
Cheers!