Help testing: Random Video Screensaver on Main Branch

Hex

@pjft I would like to reconfirm that you are testing that the device starts with ALSA all caps and not equals.

Hex

@pjft what happens to the subtitles if overscan is enabled? Are they not visible or just no video?

pjft

@Hex correct, starts with, but I believe the option in the code is lower case? I'll re-check what's being used but I thought I saw it as lower case.

pjft

@Hex it'll depend. In some cases it works perfect - my old TV is one such case. That being said, the fact that it requires an extra layer from OMX Player may cause the HDMI signal to drop - I believe you experienced it earlier?

Removing the subtitles or disabling overscan (which is, for the GPU pipeline's purpose, just an additional forced black layer to allow for a forced margin) will allow the subtitles to not cause the HDMI signal to drop.

It's only for OMX Player though.

Hex

I didnt know OMX had subtitles.

pjft

@Hex same as with VLC, if you choose to display the game info.

Actually, did you manage to get the screensaver working on your pi? Your signal was dropping if I recall correctly?

I'd like to know if you're still experiencing that. I'd hate for that to be the case, but I could consider allowing VLC to be used for the screensaver on the Pi, if there are cases where OMX Player just load signal and there's no workaround, though that's really a recipe for overheating...

pjft

It compiles. Updated the PR.

Refactored the options - merged some, moved audio-related ones to the Sound menu, and added an explicit option on the Pi to use VLC as screensaver should people choose to (default: OFF).

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft I updated your build and I am not sure that I am getting the most up to date version? I made sure to do a clean install. I am not seeing any of the revised menu options on the pi 3? I believe above you mentioned a VLC option for the PI, as well as moving audio options under sound, and 3 different subtitle options. I am currently running on Pi3 4:3 monitor. Thanks

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy hm. It should but I'll check as I'm putting the boys to bed at the moment. What version does it claim to be? It should be 2.2.1 I think. If not, maybe it's the wrong branch, or maybe I messed something up - certainly possible.

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft It's 2.2.0RP - I am using the same branch that the PR was created with:
RetroPie-ScreenSaver-Merge

I have it saved in @meleu script. The first time i ran it, I had it ignore make clean to speed it up, I didn't see the updates, so I reran it and installed it clean, same results.

Thanks

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy sounds good, I'll check. I must have messed something up then.

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy hm.

The code seems to be there though:

https://github.com/pjft/EmulationStation/blob/RetroPie-ScreenSaver-Merge/es-app/src/EmulationStation.h

It's 2.2.1 that you should be seeing.

Could you open that file locally on the Pi and check whether the content is the same?

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft dumb question - but i am not sure where to find that! Your branch is currently in /opt/retropie/supplementary/es_pjft_retropie-screensaver-merge/ on the pi. I don't have a file named EmulationStation.h there.

pjft

Not a dumb question at all. I suppose @meleu would know where the code is compiled to. That's where you'd want to look into.

I've just done a final push to the PR, updating a few things that had gone missing. All seems to be good to go on my end, but more testing is always encouraged and appreciated.

@Hex : the Alsa test works fine, and actually when you change it and exit the options menu the video player is restarted immediately with the new audio option, so no worries about that. Do test it, but it seems to work well.

I do get an error on my end - I believe when set to alsa:hw:1,0 for "ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1667:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card".

Unsure if it's because it's not a valid option or if it's because I don't have an external card, but thought you'd like to know.

@TMNTturtlguy one thing you may want to do is to just do it old school style.

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/82820

I didn't test those instructions but they should work.

TMNTturtlguy

@pjft said in Help testing: Random Video Screensaver on Main Branch:

@TMNTturtlguy one thing you may want to do is to just do it old school style.
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/82820

Yeah, i have to run for a few hours, but i am going to install the main branch es and then install yours, if that doesn't work, i will install it the old way! Thanks

Edit, i am going to try the remove/remove source files from @meleu script and then try to reinstall.

meleu

@TMNTturtlguy the script saves sources at ~/src.

Edit: typo

Hex

@pjft said in Help testing: Random Video Screensaver on Main Branch:

Not a dumb question at all. I suppose @meleu would know where the code is compiled to. That's where you'd want to look into.

I've just done a final push to the PR, updating a few things that had gone missing. All seems to be good to go on my end, but more testing is always encouraged and appreciated.

@Hex : the Alsa test works fine, and actually when you change it and exit the options menu the video player is restarted immediately with the new audio option, so no worries about that. Do test it, but it seems to work well.

I do get an error on my end - I believe when set to alsa:hw:1,0 for "ALSA lib pcm_hw.c:1667:(_snd_pcm_hw_open) Invalid value for card".

Unsure if it's because it's not a valid option or if it's because I don't have an external card, but thought you'd like to know.

@TMNTturtlguy one thing you may want to do is to just do it old school style.

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/82820

I didn't test those instructions but they should work.

@pjft Yes if you dont have a second USB cad then it errors out. Its not harmful.

For those who are testing you can manually test it with a keyboard. you dont need the script or anything else

$ git clone URL DIR_NAME
$ cd DIR_NAME
$ mkdir build && cd build
$ cmake ..
$ make -j 2

"-j 2" if using Pi 2/3, omit if pi 1/zero
For pi 1/Zero you have less RAM than necessary to compile, so you need the script.

To run the executable
$ ../emulationstation
This allows you to test without installing and disturbing stock ES

To update build :
$ cd DIR_NAME/build
// Make sure you are on the correct branch
git branch
// Get updates
git pull
// Make same as above
make -j 2

TMNTturtlguy

@Hex Thanks for the info - @meleu script is so fun though!
@pjft after uninstalling and reinstalling i have your current build. Works well, thoughts below.
@meleu I think something broke in the script after the last update? It was working before updating the builds, now you must uninstall the build and reinstall it to get the newest updates.

@pjft - thoughts on the build

The screen saver works really well, as expected
I like the text options, work well.
sounds settings, OMX Player Audio Device - there are a ton of options, most users wont have any idea what all those mean the way they are presented. I think a lot of people will mess with them and the forum will be flooded with complaints and questions.
Video Options - on the 4:3 menu both OMX player options are identical because they get cut of now. I don't know which one i am changing. They both say: USE OMX VIDEO PLAYER (FAST) FOR...
I think we need to shorten them, OMX VIDEO (FAST) PREVIEW and OMX VIDEO (FAST) SCRNSVR

Hex

@pjft I think Video settings should be shifted to Other Settings. Video player for previews and screensaver can be same always so a single setting should work.

pjft

@TMNTturtlguy thanks, good catch on the option length on 4:3! Could you update and check again? I removed "use" and "video". Let's see if it helps!

As for the audio options, they're already on the main branch, @Hex put them together as he has an external sound card so he needed a few options there.

Are you referring to the OMX ones in particular? I think it's a good question and good feedback in general. Instead of having them be literally the option text that's passed to OMX Player it could be something more user friendly, like

HDMI -> HDMI
Alsa:hw:0,0 -> External sound card 1
Alsa:hw:1,0 -> External sound card 2
Local -> headphone jack
Both -> Default

Is something like this (assuming that I have them all correct) helpful? We could then do the option to parameters conversion via code.

Thoughts?