RetroPie randomly freezing/crashing while browsing through game lists.

beastmode

@pjft I'm only experiencing this problem at the game list menu, never in game or at the system selection screen. Slowly browsing a large game list menu for any system, from top to bottom, pausing for a second or two on each game selection while the scraped video file plays is when my system crashes at random.

OMX Player: enabled
Theme: Comic Book Theme created by @tmntturtlguy
Device Temperature: CPU: 47°C/116°F GPU: 47°C/116°F
VRAM: currently set to 80mb. crashing continued with 100 as well.
ES Version: EmulationStation - v2.4.1rp, built Aug 3 2017 - 17:01:17
Controller: usb connected PS4 controller | usb connected XBOX 360 controller
HTOP: installed. memory usage steadily in the 155mb range while browsing game lists.
Image Artwork: images and marquee .png files, enabled and displaying properly. file size varies from 3kb to 750kb.
Video Artwork: 320x240 .mp4 files, enabled and displaying properly. file size varies from 813kb to 4.5mb.
Overclock: 1.4 ghz. gpu_mem=400, arm_freq=1400, over_voltage=6, sdram_freq=500, core_freq=500, gpu_freq=400, gpu_mem_256=128, gpu_mem_512=256, gpu_mem_1024=256

Steps taken after experiencing the problem, but didn't correct it:

lowering the overclock to 1.35 ghz and 1.3 ghz.
reducing video and image file sizes
updated RetroPie setup and all core packages
changed theme to carbon

TMNTturtlguy

@beastmode - when you start up, do you see a White or Black ES background before it loads to the system select screen?

@pjft - What version did you implement all of the final updates to ES to make it run better? I am wondering if that is the issue?

@beastmode there was an update a while back that @pjft made a ton of updates to how ES uses memory and loads textures. This allowed not only the ComicBook theme to run better, but also made it possible for so many of the new cool themes we are seeing today. I am wondering if you are still on an a version of ES prior to those updates? Can you try to run the carbon theme and see if the problems still exist? You may have already tried this, so i apologize for asking. I assume the file size reduction has not helped? I still see you listing your images as high as 750kb.

Thanks

beastmode

@tmntturtlguy the ES background is black. Which version of ES are you using, and how would I go about checking the exact version I have installed? I checked my es_log.txt file which lists the version as: EmulationStation - v2.4.1rp, built Aug 3 2017 - 17:01:17. I also updated all core and main packages including ES through the retropie setup menu. The problem persists with images reduced and nonreduced.

pjft

This is a recent enough version, it'll have all the fixes.

@beastmode if you can replicate it fairly consistently, send over what htop reports on (picture even or copy and paste the text) from when it crashes, after a minute or so.

Also, try with OMX player off and see if it helps.

I spent three better part of an hour today don't what you described on a long gamelist without success on my end :/ But I know it can happen, so I'm hoping you can shed some more details from when it crashes on your end.

Thanks for chasing this with us!

beastmode

@pjft I'll try with OMX player off. My system crashed earlier while htop was open but it didn't record anything at all at that exact moment or there after. It came to a complete halt and I was disconnected from the SSH connection, unable to reconnect at all. Had to pull the plug. The crashes don't seem to be as frequent today as they were the past few days.

pjft

@beastmode Oh. That's unfortunate that htop and the ssh session also died :S

I had hopes that that wouldn't be the case.

I suppose if we won't be able to make it with htop or top, we'll try to fly blind then and just adjust things on ES.

If you could try out the steps I mentioned in 2) including disabling OMX, as you just mentioned, but also forcing it to just show just the detailed view (and if it still crashes, I suppose just the basic view...) to see if we can narrow it down.

Do you have a backup so far, though? These crashes can render your card corrupt - and in fact, I wouldn't be shocked if that wouldn't be what's driving this, in a kind o vicious cycle. Maybe the first time it was a coincidence, but now the more we pull the plug the worse we we do. :S

Thanks!

beastmode

@pjft I have everything backed up =). I thought maybe a corrupt SD card might have been the problem, so I formatted it and started fresh but the problem was still there. I'll test omx and detailed view shortly.

beastmode

@pjft @tmntturtlguy I turned OMX player off, while leaving the Comic Book Theme in Gamelist View Style: Automatic. Crashed after 30 minutes of bouncing around the gamelist. Did the same in Gamelist View Style: Detailed, and have not experienced a single crash in the same time period.

pjft

@beastmode thanks.

So, summarizing: you managed to experience freezes on videos with both players, did I get that right?

If so, that's one less factor to worry about.

If you can keep up the detailed view for a while, let me know how it goes.

It might certainly be related to the video views or playback. Anything that can help narrow this down will be helpful.

No urgency, though :)

Thank you!

beastmode

@pjft That's correct. I'll continue to test all through the evening and report back to you in a few hours. Thank you as well =)

pjft

@beastmode thanks. As I said, no urgency - make sure to have fun with it and play for a while as well :)

If in a few days you haven't experienced any further crashes, I'll put together a build with logging on the video playing but, hoping it will shed some more light.

Thanks! Have a good evening.

beastmode

@pjft Thanks, dude.

beastmode

@tmntturtlguy @pjft perhaps you can help me with something else that is unrelated. are you familiar with lr-nestopia, overscan and overlays? I have another thread open on the topic, I will tag you there if so.

pjft

@beastmode you may try, sure. I'm not sure about nestopia, but I've used overlays in the past. Feel free to tag me and if I feel I can help I'll let you know there!

TMNTturtlguy

@beastmode I don't have to much experience with overlays, but tag me in the thread and I will have a look. Looks like @pjft has done a good job of covering the current gamelist questions in this thread. The only thing I would still like to know is if you experience crashes in video view using carbon as a theme. I would finish testing detailed view and if you don't experience any issues in this view, switch to carbon in video view and see if you get the freezes. Thanks

beastmode

@tmntturtlguy I'll test with carbon for a few hours this evening and report back to you in the morning as well.

BigMan1982

@pjft , @beastmode here's my status on:

VRAM setting = 90
ES version = v2.4.1RP
Controller you're using (in particular, bluetooth or wired) = wired Rapoo V600
OMX Player or not = yes

My problem is consistent, every time I scroll into the titles that begin with "mu" in the "ALL GAMES" menu only. I can jump past and make it through the whole list after the 2nd title with the beginning "mu".

beastmode

@pjft said in RetroPie randomly freezing/crashing while browsing through game lists.:

@beastmode thanks. As I said, no urgency - make sure to have fun with it and play for a while as well :)

If in a few days you haven't experienced any further crashes, I'll put together a build with logging on the video playing but, hoping it will shed some more light.

Thanks! Have a good evening.

@tmntturtlguy @pjft It's been 24 hours since we last spoke and I have not experienced a single crash while browsing the game list menu in both the Comic Book and Carbon themes. Turning omx player off and changing gamelist view style to detailed seemed to solve the problem.

pjft

@bigman1982 thanks.

I'm struggling to understand why or how exactly can you replicate it so consistently. It might be a different problem, but let's explore that as well.

Could you try out the two steps described earlier then and report back?

disable OMX player, see how it goes.
set the view to Detailed only, see how it goes.

In your case though I'm intrigued as to whether it's a problem with that exact set of games, or is it that the number of (something - page refreshes, videos loaded, images loaded) when you get there that causes the problem.

What happens if you use R1 to get there and then navigate to those games?

Also, can you login via SSH, install htop or top and run it, and then lead it to a freeze and see what htop or top report, and send it over here?

Thank you!

pjft

@beastmode thanks. For better or for worse, then, we can attribute it somehow to at least the video rendering having a role in it.

I may create a debug build for the two of you if it helps, that would log a lot more information. Would that be something you'd be available to use?

Thanks.