Errors running ROMs from USB

brettsalyer

Hey all,

I decided I wanted to run all of my ROMs from a 128GB flash drive. I formatted it in FAT32 and created the folder /retropie-mount and plugged it into the pi, following all the directions in the github guide. I started by placing all my NES roms into the populated filesystem on the flash drive. I plugged it back into my Pi and it worked no problem. I took it back out and copied all the rest over, however this time I get a terminate called after throwing an instance of 'char const*' error.

At this point the terminal is completely locked up and no commands can be given. So i launch putty and ssh in and try restarting emulationstation. No change, same error. When I pull the flash drive out, I get a "No systems found" error, but this time it at least makes it to emulationstation.

Any ideas? I've been at this all day and no luck.

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer So to warn you, I am fairly new to having my games on a USB and at first I ran into some issues as well, and I am not great with code. I might not have a solution, but here is a thought. Do you have some type of ftp connection like WinSCP to your pi, or the experimental manager installed? if you do, can you remove the USB and put an NES rom into your NES folder and restart your pi? This should let you start to emulation station and have a game available for at least 1 system. I actually have a single game in 5 different systems, just in case I ever need to start the pi up without my USB stick.

Second thing, is there more to the error that shows up? If there is, please provide the entire error. From what i am seeing i am wondering if you don't have one bad file or folder on the usb? Is the error 'char cost' or 'char const'?

Last question, did you at one point have all of the files you put on the USB stick running on the pi?

brettsalyer

@TMNTturtlguy It is "char const*". My bad. I fixed it above. And I will try that shortly. Will report back soon.

EDIT: And....yes I did have all of them working. The USB drive should have one folder called /retropie-mount with all the normal files (BIOS, ROMs, etc) inside if that directory, correct?

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer said in Errors running ROMs from USB:

The USB drive should have one folder called "retropie-mount" with all the normal files (BIOS, ROMs, etc) inside if that directory, correct?

You should have created the folder "retropie-mount" when you put it into your pie, it should have moved 4 folders over to the USB - i don't know off the top of my head what they are, i know that one of the folders is 'roms' and another one is 'splashscreen' i believe. You should put all of your roms inside retropie-mount/roms/*system name*

Is that how you have it set up?

@brettsalyer said in Errors running ROMs from USB:

It is "char const*".

Again, i am not good with code, but I believe you have a bad file that the system is "failing to construct" thus you are failing and locking up. If we can identify the rest of the error code it might point me to the location of that file that is causing the issue.

brettsalyer

@TMNTturtlguy Yes, that is how I set it up. Where can I go to find more details on the error? I may just reformat the drive and try adding systems only by one until I get to one that doesn't work. Is it possible for me to just rename the folders for each system, sort of like commenting code, so I don't have to re-copy everything over?

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer can you recreate the error? If you shut down, put the USB in and start back up, will the error code show on your screen? How did you see the error the first time?

@brettsalyer said in Errors running ROMs from USB:

Is it possible for me to just rename the folders for each system,

I am not sure what you mean? When you put the roms into the retropie-mount/roms/ folder did you not put them into folders with names that matched the systems? I am assuming that all of your NES roms are in the nes folder, all of your super nintendo are in snes

is this the case?

brettsalyer

@TMNTturtlguy Yes, I can't get rid of the error. It happened as soon as I finished transferring over all my ROMs to the appropriate folder (as you've mentioned already). I plugged it back in and boom! Error. Can't make it stop unless I pull the USB out. And I only mean that if I rename the ROM directories, that the system may ignore them if they're an improper name. So that I don't have to delete the files themselves. So that I can test for any possible bad files without deleting them

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer not sure on that, you could give it a try. it would be great if you could provide the entire error code

brettsalyer

@TMNTturtlguy I'm giving you all that I can see. I'm not sure where it would be logged if there was more information.

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer ok, that is fine. what i would do is delete the files and add them back in system by system and see what works.

brettsalyer

@TMNTturtlguy Doing that now. (By the way, aren't you the guy who created the comic theme? Love that theme :) )

Gameboy check
Gameboy Color check
Atari (5200, 7800, Lnyx, & ST) check
Gameboy Advance check
N64 check
All other systems now working!

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer

@brettsalyer said in Errors running ROMs from USB:

(By the way, aren't you the guy who created the comic theme? Love that theme :) )

That is me! Thanks for the kind words. Working on the 4:3 version tonight, hopeing for a huge update to both versions early next week.

brettsalyer

@TMNTturtlguy Good luck with that! Definitely looking forward to it! And thanks for your help. So far so good, maybe it just didn't like me adding them in such huge bulk. We shall see shortly. Will update the list as I finish the tests. (By the way, how do I format code in the forum posts? I can't seem to be able to find that function...

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer good luck!

How to format forum posts: link

TMNTturtlguy

@brettsalyer it looks like you have everything running!?! Do you mind sharing with us if you found the issue? Or did just reinstalling the roms to the USB card fix the problem? Thanks