I am afraid that you need to switch it back each time. The PowerBlock only listens to a certain GPIO signal that cannot be manipulated for the reboot process AFAIK.
Theoretically, I could be possible by modifying the current firmware of the PowerBlock and reprogramming it, if you are into that ...

How are you powering the PI ? Please add more info about your system, as detailed in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first.

Do you maybe have the micro-USB connector attached to the Raspberry Pi or the PowerBlock? It needs to be attached to the PowerBlock. Could you send me a photo of your hardware setup?

Can you tell me which version of RetroPie and which version of the Raspberry Pi you are using? I could try to reproduce the issue at my site.

Please provide us with the information that is asked for in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first and with the exact wording of the crash screen (preferably in form of a screenshot).

@mikozzz Can you check the log file to see where ES gets stuck ? It's in /home/pi/.emulationstation/es_log.txt.

@LionSquall read the sticky topics and open a new topic with info. This is a 3 year old discussion.

I suggest that you buy the raspberrypi charger wire as you will have no problem here is the one I have

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Raspberry-Pi-3-Model-B-5V-3A-Power-Adapter-Micro-USB-Port-Power-Charger-EU-US/32761294031.html?src=google&albslr=220568862&isdl=y&aff_short_key=UneMJZVf&source={ifdyn:dyn}{ifpla:pla}{ifdbm:DBM&albch=DID}&src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=494-037-6276&isdl=y&albcp=756822904&albag=35305934810&slnk=&trgt=68416666751&plac=&crea=en32761294031&netw=g&device=c&mtctp=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw_TNlLew1wIVmTUrCh0bLgcOEAQYBCABEgLoD_D_BwE

Thanks for that elaborate answer. I need to step through this now.

After the installation of the PowerBlock and the ControlBlock drivers you need to enable the driver in a second step. I realise that this is not intuitive so that I created a patch for the RetroPie Setup. In the future, the drivers will be enabled with the installation.

@sirkreuab you need to change ownership of your /opt/retropie/configs folder back to user pi. Go to the terminal (command line) and type

sudo chown -R pi:pi /opt/retropie/configs

Remember linux is case sensitive, so the R is in caps but nothing else

@josete2k If Kodi crashes, with default settings, and doing simple things like that, your problem is likely a hardware one. Make sure you have a good SD card and a good power supply, preferebly a one piece one, whitout a separate usb cable.
Making a python script to kill/restart Kodi isn't going to do any better.

@stewam7 What do you mean by micro USB into the wall? If it's not a power supply but a USB socket in a plug plate then you are probably looking at 500mA max as opposed to 2.5A and this will be the cause.

Well finaly i got to putting om my new powerblock after putting in the script code it seemd like it went the same way as the previous version with the rebooting and all.

I removed the powerblock went in to the retropie setup and updated the installation script, then went to the drivers and installed the powerblock from there.

After a reboot it works like a charm now.

Thanks Florian

Retropie rocks !!

It doesn't need to be formatted if writing the image to it as that contains all the partition information.

I know this is an old thread but I'm just getting into RetroPie (and Raspberry Pi's in general!)

@LeatherOtter Out of curiosity, did this end up working the way you expected? If so, I'm thinking the Powerblock might be a very easy way to modify my just arrived Retrflag NESPi case to make the power and reset buttons functional as expected. The Power button would just shut it down, and the reset button (which just momentarily cuts power) would cause a restart.