Simple enough stuff being hard to find.

pjft

The video screensaver uses the videos from your gamelists. A simple question will get the answers.

Documentation is on my TO DO list.

Hex

@pjft I bet nearly every dev says this.

pjft

@hex TO DO is the short version for "to document".

EctoOne

where do i put files for the video screen saver?
How do i enable usb sound?

I don't know but I also don't care. So I can't help with that.

What files are supported?

That is no Simple Stuff. What files do you speak off? Video Screensaver files (probably most that Linux supports), Roms (that's mostly covered in the Docs) or what?

Why do bios files just get dumped into a single folder for all emulators?

I guess for simplicity. At least for me that was easy to understand. Bios in the Bios folder, games in the roms folder.

Another thing is that you have downloaded a recent build... but you need to update.. and changes can make what worked before suddenly not work... so now you try endless guides with no luck.

Show me any OS nowadays that doesn't wants to update after a fresh installation. And you don't NEED to update if you don't want to. I personally update only once in a while when I know there's something that I want and then I'm willing to take the risk of breaking things. Good thing is that it is pretty easy to simply backup/restore a SD card.

Eventually this leads to a lot of topics made.. none are indexed when solved...

That's not the fault of the Retropie Devs, it's more a general problem today. People just want to get answers without searching for it. And when they have it they don't care anymore.

My personal opinion is, that this community is pretty awesome when it comes to helping and general caring for the project. Yet this project is for the biggest part maintained by like two people in their free time, plus some individuals which do their own magic to make things better. So I'm not surprised that not everything is documented but I also see that as a challenge to figure something out.
And then there is the wiki where everyone can contribute. But if it is kinda obvious that people don't use it to gain information I can understand why no one wants to keep updating it (I've seen that before when I soly was writing guides on a site and still every day there was a question in the forum that was covered in the wiki).

glennlake

All I can say is "https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first"

glennlake

@xeon said in Simple enough stuff being hard to find.:

For example.. AGAIN.. https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Sound-Issues/
These guides do not work.

But you can just downvote and achieve less.

Because you know so much, have you updated the docs to correct the issue?

RetroFreak89

@xeon curious i was just reading this topic but got me thinking what did you do with your pi? Did you do some sort of a project with it ? What was it :P i always like to see what people do with there Pi's
And sorry this has nothing to do with your topic..

Hex

@glennlake said in Simple enough stuff being hard to find.:

Because you know so much, have you updated the docs to correct the issue?

Please read what we are discussing >>

@hex said in Simple enough stuff being hard to find.:

The thing is we do not have many "doccumentors" and devs would rather code than explain. Devs see world in a different color than users. This makes devs generally the worst people to document. What is obvious to devs is not obvious at all to users. You can help solve this problem for us.
If you would like to volunteer I would gladly explain to you all my contributions to ES in depth so you can pen them down.

@xeon said in Simple enough stuff being hard to find.:

@hex
Sounds like a great plan.
We can meet on teamspeak or create a retropie dischord group too.
The community is growing.
I did get it to work but afterward i had a glitch, i just need to verify if it was the power supply or messing with usb devices that created the problem afterward.

@xeon said in Simple enough stuff being hard to find.:

@hex Cool
Will get something planned.

caver01

@xeon One of the challenges you face, especially if you are new, is gathering all of the combined knowledge that many of us have picked up over a much longer period of time. A question asked last year, for example, might have been answered a certain way at that time, but today there is a different way of doing things. It's not always the case, but for some issues, solutions evolve. I share your frustration, especially with something like USB audio. I gave up on my own USB audio for a while simply because my sound card was different than others and I was running into odd error messages. I realized that amixer was expecting me to reference my USB card as "Headphones" instead of simply PCM. Sound would work, but I would get errors when the system was trying to save audio settings. The ALSA configuration also changed during the transition from wheezy to jessie. Solutions included disabling the on-board audio, setting USB with a lower index, and even building an ALSA configuration file. Of course, these are OS challenges that are not actually RetroPie problems. It may be easy to find answers doing a forum search, but finding solutions--that can be tricky, especially when you don't know how the different answers stack up chronologically.

Despite the mixture of old and new content, it can be really handy to have access to all of the discussions. If you find a solution that works, type up a wiki page entry! It's a great way to contribute, especially if you don't know the coding side of development. I hope you stick around long enough to ask simple questions and work through your issues. There are plenty of folks willing to help, but you will need to provide a high level of detail to get the best answers. Criticism is a sure way to get down-votes, but configuration questions, provided enough detail is included in your post, usually get a lot of helpful responses.

Is RetroPie perfect? That depends on your definition, but for a lot of us, the answer is yes because of its flexibility. Is it easy? It can be, but I would never try to convince someone that they don't need to learn the details. Can it get technical and challenging? Absolutely, especially since everyone has a different configuration. Consider the fact that the only common items we share are the Pi boards and the base image. We all add our own ROMs, our own controllers, our own displays--and we each have a different idea about what we want our systems to do. Mine is a 4-player cocktail arcade. Yours might be a console emulator on a big TV. I use aracade sticks and buttons, you might use a Playstation controller.

I guess my point is that RetroPie is a fantastic, flexible starting point. Your project can succeed with it if you take your time, have the right expectations and a good attitude about seeking help, and you give back where you can.

dunginhawk

Without trying to alienate this entire community, because so many of you have been insanely helpful with my rpi project, the OP is fairly accurate.

I have asked a lot of questions on here, and ultimately I arrived at the correct answer for my situation. However in one thread I posted, there were literally 4-5 suggestions (and im sure they all work) on achieving the desired outcome. I couldnt find but 1 of them truly documented somewhere.

Also, when using the search function, it does seem to return a lot of older posts, with outdated file structures etc. Thats not to say the info is bad, but its just hard to sort through what is current, and what wont work due to being outdated.

I also understand its impossible to simply purge all that old data without losing some potentially very worthwhile information.

So its a tough situation to be faced with. I sympathize with the OP because I endured much the same, but in the end the community came through for me. THis is a very active community and I respect the heck out of the folks that have put in so much time to help me and others.
Thank you

akafox

I agree with many things. However I disagree with others. A computer and or software you have to understand it is NEVER finished nor will it ever be until YOU decide that it is. You can always make a general manual, and the wiki is excellent, but yes..it could always be better. The best thing to do if you want to have a better "manual" is to find the things that work and then add them all to the wiki. But kno0w that you will be doing that or the rest of the project's life.

I understand your frustration. Trust me...and the web has made it worse. Many answers for the same problem..and you have to pick which one works..or at least find the one that does. But honestly this is no different than living life. Besides how many pre-fabed furniture things with "simple instructions" have people failed? I have seen many. That's life. Sometimes it's "simple" and we still screw it up. I can not tell you the countless times people have said "it's easy just do this and this ..and worse on youtube that can prove it..but I still can't make it work.

The other problem with well the pi is it is not windows..it's linux. People don't like the command line..scares them. but that is how it works. It sucks because it is a BIG learning curve for "point and clickers". Nor does it work like windows. But it really is the best choice for the pi (not to mention we would never have retropie at all if it were based on windows.)

Another problem is that people look up "retropie" for everything related to the pi. The pi itself is not retro..if it was we'd have flying cars by now with mini fusion engines! If y9ou want to find out how to do something that is other than do something with the retropie scripts or emulationstation then you must search without "retro" in your search terms. I posted something here about getting the 4-player on the genesis_plus_gx core to work..never got a response. I eventually asked on the attract mode forum..had and answer and a solution within two hours. But before I asked here I went to the retroarch forums to look...because that is where the problem was at to begin with.

Any software that is built has many layers to it thus why you have many "unsolved" cases for things. Some has a problem and they think it is because of x or y so they take that route..which is unknowing taking them away from the core problem. If you want to find out how to enable usb sound then you look for usb sound on the pi..not in retropie. First and foremost the pi is a computer same thing with your cell phone...it's not a phone..it's a computer. It has "bad" software in it like EVERY OTHER COMPUTER out there. If you want a pure phone get a land line and plug in a phone from 1975. If anything has software it will be broken. I've never seen any software that was perfect (no matter how good Gates thought windows 3.1 was :P) Yes this even includes cars and coffeepots. The pi is not made for games. It is a computer plain and simple..it is a tool and you use it as you see fit. A media center..a desktop computer..a server..the brains for a LCD sign..or the brains of a drone..or something for sale that a company many too little of and now everyone is pissed..(yes it was basically a modified pi with a custom GUI for $60..)

But that is the entire problem with retropie it has layers of software..the more layers the more problems happen. The other problem is is that it is not "simple enough". Well I guarantee you that if it not for retropie we would not have so many questions being asked about emulation. A lot of people wouldn't even try if it were not for RetroPie. Because emulation in itself is hard and a pain in the ass. (and trust me I am sure that the developers of retroarch or any emulator wishes it was easy.) This is almost magic what they are doing here. They are making HARDWARE work on SOFTWARE that most of these old computers have never even "seen".
The other problem is that it runs a "unfamiliar" operating system. Well honestly if it ran another one ahem we would never see retropie because well you can't distribute that "other operating system". So yeah..retropie sucks..it's broken..has flaws..doesn't do everything I want it to do out of the box..and it's never exactly what I want. If you want my honest opinion. However can be made better..be fixed..be repaired..and make it do things I want/need it to do with some time and effort..and I am free to change it to make exactly like I want.

I have worked more on my games that I have played them because of retropie. I spend more hours tweaking and changing and adding and fixing..I'm sure I could have finished FFVII or IX or even Shining Force but I would rather "perfect my system". One day I might be finished and then actually sit down to play a game.

If you want to make a better wiki or instructions be my guest claps and cheers just know that you will be at it for the life of this project and all you will get out of it is that you helped many people enjoy of find "old games" again. If that does not bother you..well then more power to you.

Xeon

True linux has always been a art of fine practice and hard work.
Mistakes and bugs happen.

However.. not properly documenting and updating changes can make the end users experience utter hell.

obsidianspider

@ectoone said in Simple enough stuff being hard to find.:

And then there is the wiki where everyone can contribute. But if it is kinda obvious that people don't use it to gain information I can understand why no one wants to keep updating it

so much this

Hex

@Xeon felt apt

alt text

akafox

What you mean people don't read anymore?

Xeon

@akafox He is right this is why i was going to do video guides.

Also... this downvoting... i said it was abuse able.. whoever keeps doing it... GROW THE HELL UP.
Very childish to down vote for the smallest thing without even justifying why.
This must end.. either remove down voting or disallow who ever keeps downvoting me.

Also this users name does not show when hovering over it.
That requires a bit of BACK END ACCESS TO THE FORUM AND HER SETTINGS.

So i am guessing a admin.
If you don't like me tell me and i'm gone.
Wont even say 1 word further.

Hex

@Xeon Dude chill. Mods dont ban you based on downvotes.

Xeon

@hex said in Simple enough stuff being hard to find.:

@Xeon Dude chill. Mods dont ban you based on downvotes.

Well it's obviously a mod downvoting instead of saying what is on his mind.

I'm sitting here the cast on my arm has sanded all the skin off my armpit and it's bleeding, pain killers do nothing.
My doctors are not going to help, at work i grind twice as hard and get the same pay, i do this with one hand.

I can't sleep, i'm irritable and then somone downvotes for no reason other than pure butthurt.

For the next 30 damn years i am stuck with only my left arm till they can replace the shoulder.
and my left arm is failing me too.

Would you be chilled?

So Yeah i am so chilled.

I would rather be dead.

Xeon

This post is deleted!

dankcushions

@xeon the only people who can see who downvoted you are mods.

please take this stuff elsewhere. this is a forum for retropie.