Newb - Intial setup, video stuck at 640x480

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 15:57

Hi All!

Newb here with what I believe is a fairly easy question.

I've just purchased a Rasberry Pi 3 for my 9 year old son, and want him experience the fun games I grew up with.

I had some challenges getting my Retropi to display video on my LCD TV (Sony 55inch circa 2011) after digging through the forums and the wiki, enabling hdmi_safe=1 fixed the issue, but brought another.

My display is stuck at 640 x 480, so at the moment I am staring at this little square on my giant TV. After combing the forum and wiki, i came across https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Video-Issues and used to the suggestions to no avail.

Am I missing something here?

Here's my config.txt

# For more options and information see
# http://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt.md
# 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=16

# 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=0

#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 the lirc-rpi module
#dtoverlay=lirc-rpi

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

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on
gpu_mem_256=128
gpu_mem_512=256
gpu_mem_1024=256
overscan_scale=1

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 16:21

@Carbooja just to check... you are using an HDMI cable, right?

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 16:22

@columboscoat

Yes that is correct, brand new pi with latest build of retropi

TV supports 1080P

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 16:23

@Carbooja ok. I'll check my config.txt against yours.

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 16:25

@Carbooja You are missing a few hashes at the beginning of some lines. Is this a cut an paste error or your actual FULL config.txt file?

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 16:26

@Carbooja sdtv_mode should be commented out with a #.

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 16:32

yes its a cut and paste of my full config, let me hash out the sdtv

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

# For more options and information see
# http://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/config-txt.md
# 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=16

# 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=0

#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 the lirc-rpi module
#dtoverlay=lirc-rpi

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

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on
gpu_mem_256=128
gpu_mem_512=256
gpu_mem_1024=256
overscan_scale=1

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 16:37

Same issue.

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 16:39

@Carbooja Did you reboot after the change? You will need to.

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 16:40

@columboscoat

This is what i'm doing, I power off the unit, I have a copy of the config.txt file on PC which i'm editing using notepad++

Once i've made the change, i plug in the SD Card into my PC, copy the config file on the the SD card overwriting the one there.

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 16:45

@Carbooja change HDMI_mode to 1. And reboot. Can you not just make these changes on the pi from desktop or using nano text editor?

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 16:49

@Carbooja Use the command line / terminal and enter "tvservice -s" no quotes. Post the output.

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 17:52

@columboscoat said in Newb - Intial setup, video stuck at 640x480:

tvservice -s

What commands do I have to run prior to this ?

I'm connected via putty now..

pi@retropie:~ $ tvservice-s
-bash: tvservice-s: command not found
pi@retropie:~ $

mrbwa1 · 19 Jan 2017, 17:57

@Carbooja said in Newb - Intial setup, video stuck at 640x480:

@columboscoat said in Newb - Intial setup, video stuck at 640x480:

tvservice -s

What commands do I have to run prior to this ?

I'm connected via putty now..

pi@retropie:~ $ tvservice-s
-bash: tvservice-s: command not found
pi@retropie:~ $

There is a space before the -s: tvservice <space> -s should get you the correct output

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 17:58

@mrbwa1 state 0x12000a [HDMI CEA (1) RGB full 4:3], 640x480 @ 60.00Hz, progressive

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 18:08

@Carbooja change hdmi_mode to 16. Reboot.

mrbwa1 · 19 Jan 2017, 18:09

@Carbooja My standard Config.txt has the following lines commented out:

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

#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1

So as stated, change to hdmi_mode=16 (and you can probably comment out those lines if you are going for the standard 1920x1080 resolution).

EDIT: hdmi_mode=16 is the standard 1920x1080 and what is used if the lines above are commented out.

columboscoat · 19 Jan 2017, 18:19

@mrbwa1 tvservice -m cea will show him all resolutions and frequencies supported. To the left there will be native and prefer. Mode 16 is the preferred mode. My TV is mode 31 (native) @50MHz because I am in Ireland and that is standard. The same for the UK.

mrbwa1 · 19 Jan 2017, 18:31

@columboscoat said in Newb - Intial setup, video stuck at 640x480:

@mrbwa1 tvservice -m cea will show him all resolutions and frequencies supported. To the left there will be native and prefer. Mode 16 is the preferred mode. My TV is mode 31 (native) @50MHz because I am in Ireland and that is standard. The same for the UK.

Thanks for the clarification. That's what I get for only half-paying attention to the question. I forget that my TV is 1080P 60Hz native even though it's only a 720P TV.

Carbooja · 19 Jan 2017, 18:31

We're good!

I think in hindsight, disabling hdmi_safe=1 mode and then setting hdmi_mode=16 did the trick.

Thanks for all your help!

Now time to explore this thing :)