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    Getting the rom name and emulator

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Discussion and Gaming
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    • BuZzB
      BuZz administrators @daveyman123
      last edited by

      @daveyman123 no idea.

      To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • meleuM
        meleu @cyperghost
        last edited by meleu

        @cyperghost said in Getting the rom name and emulator:

        @buzz I call a python programm with $@ within runcommand. What will be the result and how does the python script "knows" how many arguments are given.

        So if
        $1 - the system (eg: atari2600, nes, snes, megadrive, fba, etc).
        $2 - the emulator (eg: lr-stella, lr-fceumm, lr-picodrive, pifba, etc).
        $3 - the full path to the rom file.
        $4 - the full command line used to launch the emulator

        can I just use romfile=$3 variable within python and I get my romfile even by using $@?

        I'm not comfortable with python at all, I only learned it to tweak the joy2key tool and never used it again. But I think the answer for your question can be found here: https://docs.python.org/2/library/sys.html#sys.argv

        Maybe this example can answer too:

        [PROMPT] $ cat args.py 
        #!/usr/bin/python
        
        import sys
        
        print '\nnumber of arguments:'
        print len(sys.argv)
        
        print '\nhere are the given arguments:'
        for arg in sys.argv:
            print arg
        
        print '\nhere is the third argument:'
        print sys.argv[3]
        
        
        [PROMPT] $ ./args.py one two three
        
        number of arguments:
        4
        
        here is the given arguments:
        ./args.py
        one
        two
        three
        
        here is the third argument:
        three
        
        [PROMPT] $ ./args.py catch errors
        
        number of arguments:
        3
        
        here is the given arguments:
        ./args.py
        catch
        errors
        
        here is the third argument:
        Traceback (most recent call last):
          File "./args.py", line 13, in <module>
            print sys.argv[3]
        IndexError: list index out of range
        
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        • cyperghostC
          cyperghost @meleu
          last edited by

          @meleu That's it
          Thank you

          D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • D
            daveyman123 @cyperghost
            last edited by

            @cyperghost

            Would you know why something about launching a game stops my unicorn hat from functioning?

            If I launch a game and immediately back out it will continue to scroll through the rom on the unicorn hat.

            However,
            if the game actually launches the unicorn hat stops.
            would there be something interfering with the PINS from retropie?

            I have the python script running in the background but no difference.

            cyperghostC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • cyperghostC
              cyperghost @daveyman123
              last edited by cyperghost

              @daveyman123 That isn't hard

              1. nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/runcommand-onstart.sh
              2. Add your script for ex /home/pi/RetroPie/loop.sh $1 &

              That's it

              code example loop.sh
              make loop executable by chmod +x loop.sh

              #!/bin/bash 
              counter=0
              while [  $counter -lt 10 ]; do
              echo The counter is $counter
              echo "The romsystem is $1" >> /tmp/counter.log
              let counter=counter+1 
              sleep 5
              done
              

              That's it ... now in tmp/counter.log is 10 times written "The romsystem is ....."
              As the ROM is loaded in foreground the bash example in background is logging the system.

              D 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • D
                daveyman123 @cyperghost
                last edited by

                @cyperghost
                almost done writing it up
                if this works youre a genius!

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                • meleuM
                  meleu
                  last edited by meleu

                  @daveyman123 can you tell me WTF is an unicorn hat?
                  I want to believe that you are not talking about this:
                  unicornhat

                  @cyperghost I remember that you said you didn't learn programming in a "formal" way. But I would like to make you care more about the importance of indentation.

                  Please, I don't want to sound like the smart guy teaching you the right way to code. If your code works for you, then it's fine. But I know that you like to share code with the community (giving and receiving contributions), and for this purpose indentation is a basic requirement. ;-)

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                  • SanoS
                    Sano
                    last edited by Sano

                    More like this I think : https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/unicorn-hat
                    But yours is way more fun :D

                    meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • meleuM
                      meleu @Sano
                      last edited by

                      @sano said in Getting the rom name and emulator:

                      But yours is way more fun

                      haha! both models are kinda psychodelic! :D

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                      • D
                        daveyman123 @cyperghost
                        last edited by

                        @cyperghost
                        here is the python script. I think its reading the log just fine.

                        from UHScroll import *
                        import sys
                        import time
                        import os
                        import unicornhat as unicorn
                        infile = r"/tmp/counter.log"
                        
                        #print len(sys.argv)
                        #emulator_name = $1
                        #emulator_name = os.environ["$1"]
                        #emulator_name = os.path.basename(os.path.normpath(sys.argv[3]))
                        with open(infile) as f:
                            f = f.readlines()
                        
                        for line in f:
                                rom_name = line
                                unicorn_scroll(rom_name,'white',255,0.2)`
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                        • D
                          daveyman123
                          last edited by

                          and here is the loop bash script

                          #!/bin/bash
                          counter=0
                          while [ $counter -lt 10 ]; do
                          echo The counter is $counter
                          echo "$3" >> /tmp/counter.log
                          let counter=counter+1
                          sleep 5
                          sudo python /opt/retropie/configs/all/onstart2.py
                          sleep 5
                          done
                          
                          

                          and here is the startup script (runcommand-onstart.sh)

                          /home/pi/RetroPie/loop.sh $1 &
                          sudo python onstart2.py "$1" &
                          cyperghostC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • cyperghostC
                            cyperghost @meleu
                            last edited by

                            @meleu A Unicorn Hat seem to be a LED grid of 8x8. So it can be used/abused as simple display. As far as I understood this

                            Yes the code is of course messy and unclean ... it's just an example that a bash file can run in the background by wrinting a logging file. I don't have an code editor so everything is written in nano. I'm thankfull for every tip and I appreciate your way you tell me do and what is better not done!

                            @daveyman123 Thanks for your comment but please don't call me genius for writing a simple bash script. There are others that do programming as profession. I do it just for hobby and still make lot of errors ... like missing indentation or not using remarks for this.

                            D 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • D
                              daveyman123 @cyperghost
                              last edited by

                              @cyperghost

                              its just my way of sayin i appreciate the help

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                              • D
                                daveyman123 @cyperghost
                                last edited by

                                @cyperghost said in Getting the rom name and emulator:

                                A Unicorn Hat seem to be a LED grid of 8x8. So it can be used/abused as simple display. As far as I understood this

                                @cyperghost said in Getting the rom name and emulator:

                                A Unicorn Hat seem to be a LED grid of 8x8. So it can be used/abused as simple display. As far as I understood this

                                I am coming to believe this is not how it works. However I am unsure and should probably do some research. :)

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                                • cyperghostC
                                  cyperghost @daveyman123
                                  last edited by cyperghost

                                  @daveyman123 No no :)
                                  The loop.sh was just intended as an example how to call a bash or python script.
                                  for the loop.sh. You used the way and read out a logfile ... this isn't neccesary.

                                  Your pyhton script should use the argument given via sys.argv[1]
                                  so the runcommand-onstart.sh should only contain

                                  sudo python onstart2.py "$1" &
                                  

                                  why do you use sudo? Can't you use the regular user? sudo commands are often responsible for unwanted effects (locked file access)

                                  Keep in mind ... now the process python is running endless in background. You can end it by sending a exitcode to the script or by killing the python process.

                                  Sorry I don't know how the Unicorn device works and what can be done by coding. I think you have to do some research ... the magic of the background is the & sign

                                  @meleu
                                  Is there a better way to end a process running in background?

                                  cyperghostC meleuM 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • cyperghostC
                                    cyperghost @cyperghost
                                    last edited by cyperghost

                                    @daveyman123
                                    Well there could be a method that should work.

                                    You write the $3 argument to a file on runcommand-onstart.sh

                                    echo $3 > /home/pi/unicorn.txt
                                    sudo python onstart2.py &
                                    

                                    Open the file /home/pi/unicorn.txt in python for every loop and dispaly the string from written file to your program

                                    Then on runcommand-onend.sh

                                    echo "killterm" > /home/pi/unicorn.txt
                                    

                                    you write on killterm to the same file as on runcommand-onstart.sh
                                    Within python you analyse the content of unicorn.txt
                                    if it's not "killterm" then the unicorn flys, if it's killterm the python program ends

                                    BUT THAT'S A MESSY STYLE!!!

                                    D 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • D
                                      daveyman123 @cyperghost
                                      last edited by

                                      @cyperghost
                                      I use sudo because it wont run otherwise
                                      lol its ok that your code is sloppy im a newbie and cant tell the difference

                                      as for the python script. I think the problem lies in something to do with RetroPie being an experimental OS for the unicorn.

                                      here is my code in the python script

                                      
                                      from UHScroll import *
                                      import sys
                                      import time
                                      import os
                                      import unicornhat as unicorn
                                      
                                      rom_name = os.path.basename(os.path.normpath(sys.argv[3]))
                                      
                                      unicorn_scroll(rom_name,'white',255,0.2)
                                      

                                      this produces the result of freezing half way through writing "GOLDENEYE". e.g it prints "GOLDEN" then freezes.

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                                      • meleuM
                                        meleu @cyperghost
                                        last edited by

                                        @cyperghost said in Getting the rom name and emulator:

                                        Is there a better way to end a process running in background?

                                        My favorites are using pgrep/pkill.

                                        @daveyman123 I'm confused about this unicorn stuff. Can you explain what exactly you want to do and what info you need from runcommand?

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                                        • cyperghostC
                                          cyperghost @meleu
                                          last edited by cyperghost

                                          @meleu and what about the method here
                                          I thought killing processes by pkill/kill is bad style? Isn't it not?

                                          meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • SanoS
                                            Sano
                                            last edited by

                                            SIGKILL (-9) is bad, SIGTERM (-15) is totally normal.
                                            Default behaviour of kill/pkill is to send a SIGTERM.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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