Stella 4.1.1

[mediamogul]

@BuZz

I removed the config files from /home/pi/.stella and tried launching it with and without -maxres 320x240 and the memory usage remained constant both times. It did however raise to 1.7% for a short time without the entry, only to return to 1.6% pretty quickly.

[BuZz]

@mediamogul very odd. Not sure why it's behaving differently - I will try another RPI - perhaps something related to video resolution on my dev machine or some other difference.

Please can you remove the config folder again and launch via runcommand and give me the r/dev/shm/uncommand log - it doesn't output much but perhaps there will be a clue there. Thanks for bearing with me - I'd like to know the cause of this before pushing out an update so I don't end up with bug reports if this issue affects others (although it might be safe with the maxres parameter anyway).

[mediamogul]

@BuZz

Thanks for bearing with me

Not a problem. I hope this all works out. I'd love for a modern version of Stella to be available in RetroPie.

Please can you remove the config folder again and launch via runcommand and give me the r/dev/shm/uncommand log

Here you go. I left it completely unedited. Just FYI, I run a script from runcommand-onend that consolidates screenshots from the various emulators into one location and as you can see, the feedback from when no screenshots are found obviously ends up here as well.

atari2600
stella-4.7.3
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Combat (1977) (Atari) [!].zip
/opt/retropie/configs/atari2600/temp-release/stella-release-4.7.3/stella -maxres 320x240 "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Combat (1977) (Atari) [!].zip"
/opt/retropie/configs/all/runcommand-onstart.sh: line 31: [: too many arguments
Parameters: 
Executing: /opt/retropie/configs/atari2600/temp-release/stella-release-4.7.3/stella -maxres 320x240 "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Combat (1977) (Atari) [!].zip"
ERROR: Couldn't load settings file
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/.openMSX/screenshots/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/atari*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/grab*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/image*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/shot*.gif’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/apple2/linapple*.bmp’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/ports/quake3/full/baseq3/screenshots/shot*.tga’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/scummvm/scummvm*.bmp’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/screenshots/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/configs/pc/capture/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/configs/ports/duke3d/duke*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/emulators/daphne/screen*.bmp’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/screenshots/*.*’: No such file or directory

[BuZz]

@mediamogul sorry, I meant without the maxres parameter. (After removing the configs - to simulate a fresh install).

[mediamogul]

@BuZz

My bad...

atari2600
stella-4.7.3
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Combat (1977) (Atari) [!].zip
/opt/retropie/configs/atari2600/temp-release/stella-release-4.7.3/stella "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Combat (1977) (Atari) [!].zip"
/opt/retropie/configs/all/runcommand-onstart.sh: line 31: [: too many arguments
Parameters: 
Executing: /opt/retropie/configs/atari2600/temp-release/stella-release-4.7.3/stella "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Combat (1977) (Atari) [!].zip"
ERROR: Couldn't load settings file
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/.openMSX/screenshots/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/atari*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/grab*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/image*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/shot*.gif’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/apple2/linapple*.bmp’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/ports/quake3/full/baseq3/screenshots/shot*.tga’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/scummvm/scummvm*.bmp’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/screenshots/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/configs/pc/capture/*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/configs/ports/duke3d/duke*.png’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/opt/retropie/emulators/daphne/screen*.bmp’: No such file or directory
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/pi/RetroPie/screenshots/*.*’: No such file or directory

[BuZz]

@mediamogul After some more testing - it looks related to my video resolution on my dev machine.

Please can you set your video mode to 800x600 and try launching combat.

Not sure if this is an SDL2 issue or related to stella, but it crashes here on 800x600 by not if i change res to 1024x768.

[mediamogul]

@BuZz said

Please can you set your video mode to 800x600 and try launching combat.

800x600 was not an option in my list of video modes. I know it's not the same thing, but I did launch it with an 800x600 framebuffer and that seemed to hold strong.

[BuZz]

@mediamogul you will have to force it perhaps. the framebuffer won't affect it.

this might work (or not).

tvservice -e "dmt 11"; fbset -depth 8; fbset -depth 32

It's not a problem if you can't reproduce, but I suspect this could crash for others . The maxres seems to work around it , but i'm just slightly worried there will be another resolution someone has that will cause the problem. I guess we will find out when I update ;-)

[mediamogul]

@BuZz

Well, forcing it doesn't appear to have worked as it still reports the same video mode afterward. This did however raise a potential issue that might exist in 4.1.15, in that after the runcommand has been accessed once, it doesn't appear to be possible to access it again without a reboot. I've been successfully working quite a bit with the runcommand menu for the past few days and only noticed this after updating to 4.1.15 this morning.

[BuZz]

@mediamogul nothing has changed in runcommand that I'm aware of, but I'll look into it. Someone else did report a similar issue, but not sure the cause.

[mediamogul]

@BuZz

Hopefully this is isolated to my own setup, but it appears as though this is only a factor when launching, or perhaps exiting Stella 4.7.3. I first tried to replicate it with a few other emulators, then I switched back to Stella 4.1.1 and in each case afterwards, I was able to invoke the runcommand. Then I switched to Stella 4.7.3 and after closing it out, I was not able to launch the runcommand menu a second time.

[backstander]

@mediamogul
Seams like I had similar issues with DraStic (NDS) emulator. It was like after launching a game with it, I had to reboot before the Runcommand would launch again. I'm not sure if that's related or not...or if BuZz can even do anything about that because it is closed source. I only messed with DraStic those first 2 weeks it was out and haven't touched it since. I only mentioned this here just in case it is related and might help BuZz know where to look?

[mediamogul]

@backstander

I only messed with DraStic those first 2 weeks it was out and haven't touched it since.

You should really check out 'Retro Game Challenge' by the same company that developed 'NES Remix'. Rather than going the rout of having a simple mini game collection, the title instead sets out to emulate the entire 80s video game childhood experience. Each individual game is as well crafted as a really good NES title, but as time progresses, fully detailed video game magazines are released into your library that review the current lineup of games, give inside player tips for them and then goes on to talk about upcoming titles. As more time progresses, you end up getting those games as well.

You also have a friend that you can interact with who will give you the occasional tip, but also spread a few rumors that he heard on the playground that may or may not be true. Sometimes even those that are inaccurate turn out to be only misunderstood slightly. While the house your playing games in is not your own, your friend's mom will surprise her son with a gift from time to time, such as a rapid fire capable controller that you can then make use of from that point on.

Anyway, you can tell that I'm kind of obsessed with the game and I've actually been watching the Japanese show it's based on (GameCenter CX) for a few years now. The game also got a sequel that was never released outside of Japan, but there's a full fan translation available that I have yet to get to.

[edmaul69]

@buzz do you have any info on the possibility of being able to run stella 5.0 or newer for the pi? There is a cool 2600 homebrew that requires at least 5.0.