New Idea/Help Needed - es_systems.cfg Selector

cyperghost

That isn't a big thing imho

Create a new folder "Things to show" and copy there your configs.
The folder shows .shas ROMs
Then you edit bash-files and copy them over the orignial state or symlinkink to the es_config used by ES

then.... here is the part I can't help ;)
Force ES to restart..... is there a command-line parameter?

But I think you are in need to use sudo command

TMNTturtlguy

@meleu Use Case Described:

Lets say I have 40 systems with roms and art setup. Includes standard systems like NES and Game Boy as well as custom systems like Mega Man and Fighting. Current es_systems.cfg has all 40 systems included.

Case 1: Standup Arcade - I want to show only actual console systems like NES, Atari, Arcade, Neo Geo.
Case 2: Bartop Arcade - I want to show only custom systems using your link script like, Mega Man, TMNT, Mario.
Case 3: TV setup (playing on HDTV) - I want a Mix of favorite consoles and customs, Maybe just 10 systems i play most.

Reason for request to have ability to change es_systems.cfg = I am playing on my bartop with a friend, and well we are having a few adult beverages at the bar, maybe a few to many! We decide we want to play ZX Spectrum, but that isn't currently in the es_systems i have set because I am showing only custom systems (case 2 above). I want to be able to go to the menu or retropie menu, choose System Config Selector. Choose - All systems (shows everything), or Custom Systems (shows case 2), or Mix Systems (shows case 3). I select which one i want to run, restart ES and what do you know, i now have all 40 systems that i can choose from. No need to FTP in or setup a keyboard and type in the command line and rename files.

Does this make sense?

TMNTturtlguy

@cyperghost how would you run the bash script? My hope is to run this off of just a controller, no need to type anything in.

Also - the restart thing could be as easy as the user pressing start and selecting restart es.

cyperghost

@TMNTturtlguy
To run these bash scripts is not the problem. You handle the bash files just like usual ROMs. The same thing is used in the PORTS section of ES.

I know you want a small selection tool at the bootup to select your favourite settings but the magic of the code masters out here. It's much easier to use the API a program provides then to rewrite a own one. Maybe I'm wrong and it's easier than thought to realise input.

I think python gots controller support but I really have no clue how to use that for text selection windows. I think you are on a point to do some coding on yourself.

I think it's also easier than thought. You can use this as test to rename your es_system.cfg
Just as test... will there any system show up?

EmulationStation has a few command line arguments that could be helpful to you for various customisation. Let's say you wanted to setup a kiosk but did not want to give access to the builtin scraper function or you didn't want the end user to be able to exit EmulationStation, you can simply edit /opt/retropie/configs/all/autostart.sh and append the corresponding command line argument.

meleu

@TMNTturtlguy said in New Idea/Help Needed - es_systems.cfg Selector:

Does this make sense?

OK, it makes sense. But I still think it's an edge case.

You can launch bash scripts via ES, I would put it in RetroPie menu. Every *.sh file in ~/RetroPie/retropiemenu/ is displayed in RetroPie menu and is launched with a joypad.

cyperghost

@meleu You are quicker :)
But @TMNTturtlguy want's a small frontend with a simple selection tool to what config is loaded at startup or did I misunderstood?

So my and suggestion was to use .shin a Special folder or even in the Retropie Settings menu as meleu already wrote ;)

TMNTturtlguy

@cyperghost No it does not need to be at startup, i would actually prefer it in a menu. Being as startup would affect the ability to properly run my launch video. being the the retropie menu would be preferred.

cyperghost

Then take the solution from meleu or me.
If you find a smooth trick to restart ES please let me know.

Maybe renaming files would be better than just copying but be aware you access from user Pi to Owner root. So you may use sudo

I am wrong user and owner is Pi

meleu

@cyperghost completely off-topic, sorry, but are you cyperghost at github?

cyperghost

No ... I never released software via git :)
Makes things complicated :)

mattrixk

I just want to jump in with a question: There are some new builds floating about that let you filter by Genre, or number of players, etc...

Would it be possible to have a menu option that just lets you turn any System on or off? Basically, all Systems are shown, then you go "start" -> "Visible Systems" and turn off the ones you don't want to see. All the Systems would still be there and active, but they'd just be hidden from the Carousel (and skipped over when cycling left or right in Basic/Detailed/Video View). I don't know if it's viable, but it seems like a simple way to clean up a large System list.

Syhles

@mattrixk
Let's say we did what @TMNTturtlguy did and added extra "systems" to the main .cfg wouldn't anytime we did an update to EmulationStation this be overridden?

I really like your idea though being able to "filter" out systems would be pretty awesome for people who have rom collections over multiple systems.

TMNTturtlguy

@Syhles If you save a copy of your es_systems.cfg file to /home/pi/.emulationstation the it will not be overwritten after updates. This also is a safety factor, if you screw up the .cfg file in this location, you can delete it and ES will default back to the main es_systems.cfg in the /ect/ location.

TMNTturtlguy

Updated 2017-06-29

Here it is! For anyone interested i have created a script that will do exactly what I was asking about above. Get the script here: github - change_es_systems

download the script and place it in /home/pi/RetroPie/retropiemenu/

In order to run the script you must create the following folders:
/opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/es_systems

Then within that folder create these 5 folders:
All
Consoles
Customs
Favorites
Hacks

Example of the full path: /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/es_systems/Favorites

Within each folder you have created place a es_systems.cfg file. The file needs to be named the same in each folder, but the systems can be different.

That is it! Restart emulationstation. Go into Retropie and select Change_ES_Systems from the menu. Select which es_systems.cfg you want to run. It will take a few seconds and your screen will flash. Choose exit. Now you have to restart ES again. Once ES restarts the new systems will be there!

I have tried several methods of restarting ES from the script. I have successfully done it 2 ways, but then i get different errors. Most of the errors are freezing when trying to run the script a second time. I will continue to work on this.

cyperghost

@TMNTturtlguy That's a working solution.
Can you please also descripe in your branch what to do with the script.

Where to locate, what it does and so on.
Or simple write a readme.mdand reference to this thread here.
In a few month you've forgotten what you exactly did.

TMNTturtlguy

@cyperghost I have updated the readme and updated the script!

Thanks to @cyperghost we now have a method to restart ES. This is probably not the final code we will use, but it works for now. If you would like to test, use the link in the post above.

pjft

Oh wow, only now am I catching up with this thread.

Hm. Seems like the RetroPie menu script might be the way to go, especially if we're planning on storing pre-set es_systems.cfg .

That being said, it still requires some manual work to set up those same es_systems.cfg so it still requires some sort of advanced set of skills to pull off - but thanks to the solution, now, it's no longer hard to operate after the initial setup.

I have nothing to add here at the moment. Well done on iterating on this quickly @TMNTturtlguy @cyperghost @meleu .

cyperghost

@pjft Well there annother thread about restarting ES via bash files :)

Syhles

@TMNTturtlguy
This seems like a cool idea that I'd love to see built into ES.

Some minor suggestions you currently have a folder for

All
Consoles
Customs
Favorites

It would be nice to see this expanded ever so slightly with

Handhelds
Computers
Arcades (Maybe)

This is just my opinion.

TMNTturtlguy

@Syhles Thanks for your thoughts. I am away from my pi until Sunday and the script is a work in progress. @BuZz @cyperghost @meleu worked on this a better part of the day today. We got a good script running for restarting ES, but I am having issues with it combined into my script. @meleu has a new solution for us to try, however I am unable to do so at the moment. Also during our process @BuZz updated the retropie setup and in doing this I need to change permissions on the current script. Long story short, the script I have posted works well, until you update retropie startup. The restart ES command is also not ideal. Hopefully Sunday evening I can incorporate @meleu commands and get the script working as intended. Once that is completed we can start talking about what to include in the menu options. The key issue is that this will require each user to create their own es_systems.cfg files for each option in the menu. If you leave one folder empty, the script will run the remove command and won't complete the copy command, ES will default to the es_systems.cfg file located in /etc/ this will then break the script.

Sorry for the long explanation. I think this is a great tool for the right users. When I build my themes i have a master es_systems.cfg with all systems included, however the systems are linked to psp because i only have 8 roms. this allows me to test 40, 60. 80 systems at one time to make sure they look correct before I issue. Being able to run this script to switch from my "ALL" to "Favorites" is a huge time saver, i can change on the fly to test my settings. This will also be great for users that want to use @meleu linking script and create custom systems. Now you can create an infinite amount of systems without adding roms or taking up space on your usb/sd card. This script can allow you to organize them and not show all your systems. Now for the downside - as described above, how do we make this script work for everyone? I am thinking about writing directions on how to modify the script. It is fairly easy, then you could have the script menu contain as many files as you want. Issue here, just one more thing that the user will need to modify. This is a pretty simple tool/script, but a very advanced thought process and understanding of how es_systems and scripts work.

Once this is complete I will be more than happy to create a custom script to send to you with the options you would like!