I'd say that it's most likely broken and became read-only, thus the inability to erase the partition table and create a new one (re-partition).

Please add some info about your setup (like detailed in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first) when opening a support topic.

You can uninstall the .deb package manually, but to skip the post-install/post-remove scripts, look for the /var/lib/dpkg/info/<package-name>.postrm or /var/lib/dpkg/info/<package-name>.postinst files and remove them before manually removing the .deb package.

@spannernick1 Dude, retropie works without doing all that... only install with the script for debian and derivatives

I am glad to hear that!

I'm not sure what exactly I touched, but it seems to be working better now.

I found that my /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg had sdl2 driver set as default ... I changed that to udev. Now, both my controllers seem to work.

I had originally thought that my old PC had a legacy BIOS/usb option that was doing something ... but didn't prove out to be anything useful. I think the change from sdl2 to udev in the default config was what did it. I don't have a verbose logging or capture of files to prove that, but my verbose logging now shows that udev device being used. Spot check of a few other games seems to have good results. I have a feeling that my install for some reason defaulted to sdl2 driver and what was my issue.

Thanks for the help

@KM_64

I tried the retropie extras script and could never get it to work either so I used the flatpak version of citra. It’s been a while but I basically made a new system in retropie and changed my theme for the 3DS. My notes may be a little vague but here you go.

Adding new Emu
/etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg move to /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation
Change that file to add systems
In /opt/retropie/configs/ create new system folders and add runcommand script. Basically the start command followed by %ROM%

Here’s an example of my Xbox emu (don’t have access to my computer now to get the 3DS but should be close)

Config Files to create
Opt/retropie/configs/xbox emulator.cfg
xbox = "flatpak run app.xemu.xemu -dvd_path %ROM%"
default = "xemu"

Opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation es_systems.cfg
<system>
<name>xbox</name>
<fullname>XBOX</fullname>
<path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/xbox</path>
<extension>.iso .sh</extension>
<command>/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_xbox %ROM%</command>
<platform>xbox</platform>
<theme>xbox</theme>
</system>

Also if you wanted to use an iPad as the bottom screen this is what I found to get it sort of working. Touch screen is ok but not perfect

iPad as second monitor Citra
Dual monitors using wayland and rdp on iPad logged in through ip address. Separate monitors in citra then move and resize windows.
This is copied from a website:

First, open a Terminal window and run: gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.remote-desktop.rdp screen-share-mode extend. This step is needed to enable extendable virtual monitors over RDP. This feature is, at present, a hidden one because this stuff isn’t polished enough for the masses to make use of yet — so be aware!
Next, open the Settings app, navigate to the Sharing panel, and turn on Sharing, and turn on (once it appears) the ‘Remote Desktop’ option. You will want to set up a username and password too, to allow you to connect from a different device.

If nothing else maybe it’ll get you started in the right direction. But it is possible to have citra running through emulationstation on Ubuntu 22.04. And it’s really not that hard to do.

So essentially to get this to work I would have to compile a version of the kernal with the PanFrost files included.

I'm thinking that this would be easier, considering my linux-fu is scraping by level, to go with an actual pi or something like an orange pi.

At least it works for my original purpose for a 3D printer were everything is done via ssh or web interface.

Anyway, cheers for the help.

@mitu Oh understood on that front. As I mentioned above, I made a back up IMG file before wiping the retropie and reinstalling. I am just trying to figure out how I can access the ROMs on there. Because I think they are still there - the IMG file is 250GB...I just couldnt use it to actually install retropie because when I tried, I was running into these issues. Thats why I went down the path of a fresh install and trying to reaccess the ROMs in the backup file.

@mitu Sorry I wasn't clear, that's what I meant by complicated really, not that it was more technically complicated.

Thank you for the reply. Perfect!

i'm wondering if the option of Installing on top of an existing OS would be possible? there are several Ubuntu instances that are supported in this manner. it's worth noting that i am not a Linux or Pi guru, so i don't quite know what the differences are between these Ubuntu options or what the difference is between the Ubuntu PC vs Ubuntu RasPi versions mean for supported software.

@ranaday789 With the pi I want to squeeze every bit of performance I can and 64bit can be slightly faster than 32bit if the emulator is properly made for it.

In my tests, I'm not sure if it's 64bit or if it's bullseye (I didn't try 32), but I got a significant boost with lr-snes9x on my pi3b+. This is with the few alterations I did to the retropie-setup script so it's not properly optimized.

Here are some benchmarks though they're from benchmarks apps and not emulators:
https://www.phoronix.com/review/raspberrypi-32bit-64bit

@Goman60 You've provided absolutely no information.
Fill out this form: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

@mitu, also a BIG thanks. I recently installed two systems with Xubuntu 22.04.1 and RetroPie. Same issue as described. First time it took me about an hour to locate this post which solved the problem. The last system I had this posting ready and after the first error message (exactly stating the parameters I needed) I fixed it.

@ChesterCarl use RPiOS Legacy (Buster) or just use the image from the website.

Just me thinking that, works great now! Thanks!

Now the only thing not working is sound on the VIC-20, weird sound is working on the C64 side of things.

@mitu

@sleve_mcdichael I'm an idiot, no I didn't! Got it working now and it compressed the.img perfectly. I installed it onto the 16gb card, booted up and it all works!

Thanks a lot everyone, couldn't have done it without the help received!

@levelkro
Hi, I am having same issue. I was unable to get LCD from gamepi20 running at all, not even with different distro.
If you got anything out from waveshare, would you mind to share it across?
Thanks.

@breadncup There is a new version of Kodi, but with my limited technical knowledge, basically, many of the older apps on it won't work on it.

@thorr69 TBH it's probably the best-case scenario. It's brand new and I should be able to get a refund, and better that than the Pi being knackered or unable to run Retropie :)