RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues

Wolfman100 · 31 May 2016, 20:22

@meleu I was only joking sir,somehow I have developed a somewhat sadistic joy from configuring RetroPie and having it turn into a full time job :-)

Also I didn't actually realise that all these responses had been posted as I wasn't notified....as you can see it doesn't take much to confuse me!

Wolfman100 · 31 May 2016, 20:24

@meleu Also thanks for the in-depth response....just trying to get my head around it all right now,which is proving a little trickier than usual after just having to write a two hour long email!

Wolfman100 · 31 May 2016, 20:36

Just to really clarify my process and how I was going about editing the config files.

At the moment I was concentrating mainly on the PSX emulator.I would open the RetroPie-Setup script via the menu in Emulation Station.This would then take me to the RetroPie Setup interface,in there I would then select:

list item 'Edit RetroPie/RetroArch Configurations' >
list item 'Configure basic libretro emulator option' >
list item 'Configure Additional Options for PSX' >
list item I would then make the required changes and exit

Noooooow......the crazy thing is,as I went through the steps in order to write this....I have now discovered that the settings have actually been saved,and the correct shader,aspect ratio etc is already selected when going through the configuration!!!!

Ermmmmm,so I guess the only thing to ask is whether this is the best and most robust way to make the configuration changes?

meleu · 31 May 2016, 20:50

@Wolfman100
don't take my suggestion to recalbox as a reprimand. :-)

It's a good system for those who just wanna play videogames and don't care about learning/tinkering with Linux. But, as you said, this is not your case.

I'm enjoying messing around with RetroPie too. It brought me back to programming after some years away... And somehow this is the purpose of Raspberry Pi.

I guess the only thing to ask is whether this is the best and most robust way to make the configuration changes?

I think the most robust and organised way is editing the file ~~by hand~~ with the Configuration Editor. But I can't say if it's the best, this is a very personal answer! :-)

The problem is that editing the file by hand requires that you know the variables name. I don't know a good reference for the meaning of each variable in retroarch.cfg.

dankcushions · 31 May 2016, 21:08

@Wolfman100 said in RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues:

Ermmmmm,so I guess the only thing to ask is whether this is the best and most robust way to make the configuration changes?

yes, i'd say so. the configuration editor explains all the settings, and limits your changes to valid settings.

Wolfman100 · 1 Jun 2016, 02:16

Sooooo....ignore my last post,switching to a different PSX game seems to have actually reset all the config settings to default again!Jeeeeeezzzz....time to investigate!

meleu · 1 Jun 2016, 02:16

@Wolfman100 hahahaha this is the very same feeling I had while I kept the "save config on exit" enabled!!!
:-D

Floob · 1 Jun 2016, 10:15

@Wolfman100 said in RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues:

Sooooo....ignore my last post,switching to a different PSX game seems to have actually reset all the config settings to default again!Jeeeeeezzzz....time to investigate!

Watching file changes in /opt/retropie/configs/psx/ can be a useful way to understand whats going on when you make changes in the GUI (either from RGUI or the Configuration editor etc..). Try PuTTY out and check it out.
The video above should cover system and per game changes that are possible.

Wolfman100 · 1 Jun 2016, 15:10

@meleu hahaha.....top tip!

Wolfman100 · 6 Jan 2016, 16:15

@Floob Will look into that.Thanks

Wolfman100 · 1 Jun 2016, 15:17

@Floob

As far as I can tell looking through the config file in the folder you mentioned,there is no options to enable/disable shaders,set aspect ratio etc.The closet thing I can see is setting the destination directory for shaders...

dankcushions · 1 Jun 2016, 15:23

@Wolfman100 said in RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues:

@Floob

As far as I can tell looking through the config file in the folder you mentioned,there is no options to enable/disable shaders,set aspect ratio etc.The closet thing I can see is setting the destination directory for shaders...

there is. every setting in can be changed in the /corename/retroarch.cfg. the /all/retroarch.cfg overrules it, the same setting is in there and uncommented.

in this specific case, you're interested in:

# Path to shader. Shader can be either Cg, CGP (Cg preset) or GLSL, GLSLP (GLSL preset)
video_shader = "/path/to/shader.{cg,cgp,glsl,glslp}"

# Load video_shader on startup.
# Other shaders can still be loaded later in runtime.
video_shader_enable = true

as before, you should change these via the config editor unless you know exactly what you're doing.

Wolfman100 · 1 Jun 2016, 15:29

@dankcushions Hmmmm strange....

Unless I'm going blind I definetly can't see that in there...

http://pastebin.com/wTkPZks9

dankcushions · 1 Jun 2016, 15:34

@Wolfman100 said in RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues:

@dankcushions Hmmmm strange....

Unless I'm going blind I definetly can't see that in there...

http://pastebin.com/wTkPZks9

perhaps it doesn't appear there unless it's set? this is why you should be using the config editor and not looking at the files :)

Wolfman100 · 1 Jun 2016, 15:42

@dankcushions that would maybe make sense.

This is kind of exact example though of conflicting information regarding this,one school of thought says to just use the config editor and enable save on exit and another completly conflicting one is to edit the files manually...I'm also slightly baffled as to why there is not simply ONE config file for each emulator to edit via either the config editor or manually and any changes made to this ONE file in turn cause the desired changes to happen

dankcushions · 1 Jun 2016, 15:51

@Wolfman100 said in RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues:

@dankcushions that would maybe make sense.

This is kind of exact example though of conflicting information regarding this,one school of thought says to just use the config editor and enable save on exit

what? why would you enable save on exit if you're editing through the configuration editor? save on exit is only for editing via the retroarch GUI.

and another completly conflicting one is to edit the files manually...I'm also slightly baffled as to why there is not simply ONE config file for each emulator to edit via either the config editor or manually and any changes made to this ONE file in turn cause the desired changes to happen

because certain changes you want to be global, and certain changes you want to be for specific emulators. i think maybe there's an argument that the /all/retroarch.cfg file goes away, and all the various core emulators have only their unique .cfgs, but then you'd have to extend configuration editor to do batch-updates if you wanted to change global settings. i can forsee people quickly getting into messes.

honestly, it's not as hard as you're all making it out, but you've asked for opinions about what's the best, and apparently attempted a mixture of all :P

Wolfman100 · 1 Jun 2016, 15:57

@dankcushions I hear ya.I think I'm just possibly getting a little flustered because it just doesn't seem to be as straightforward as it could be and I'm being impatient..rather than digesting the information logically.

I did mention earlier though that all the changes I was making WERE being done in the configuration editor,yet were not being saved....

meleu · 1 Jun 2016, 15:58

@Wolfman100 said in RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues:

@dankcushions that would maybe make sense.

(...)one school of thought says to just use the config editor and enable save on exit and another completly conflicting one is to edit the files manually...

If save config on exit is enabled, the manual configuration is insane!

Please, forgive me. I didn't put it so clear. If you want to edit the retroarch.cfg (the file directly or with Configuration Editor), turn off the config save on exit.

Wolfman100 · 1 Jun 2016, 15:58

@meleu OK cool....that's clear enough..think I manage that :)

Riverstorm · 1 Jun 2016, 16:15

@Wolfman100 said in RetroArch Config Confusion and Issues:

@dankcushions that would maybe make sense.

This is kind of exact example though of conflicting information regarding this,one school of thought says to just use the config editor and enable save on exit and another completly conflicting one is to edit the files manually...

It probably is multiple schools of thought. I wouldn't call it conflicting information it just different points of view and different ways of doing the same thing! Given the same challenge people will present multiple solutions. Perception is everything. It just depends on your level of experience and knowledge. It's like command line vs. GUI. One way is probably more comfortable and suits your needs better than the other but that's neither right nor wrong. It wouldn't be very flexible if everything was completely linear! ;) Options are good!

It's a hierarchy which makes perfect sense really. Global changes at the top and more granular at the bottom. I agree with Dank you would being doing a lot more work if it was only one config file per emulator! :/