Was wondering why sometimes when i open RetroArch menu in a game it will freeze up my Pi 3 B?

dan18774

Just installed a new 4.4 stretch image and added roms to my Pi 3 B then updated. But i noticed when i open the RetroArch menu sometimes while playing games it will freeze up. And have to be rebooted then i will have to reboot the Pi through Putty. Been having the same problem on my Pi 3 B + as well for months. This doesn't happen all the time thankfully.

Everything i came across while searching this problem was saying it might have something to do with the power supply. I believe my power supply is good no yellow lightning bolt ever seen on my tv screen.

I have 6.5 gb left on 64 gb micro sd card my memory 299112kB (free) / 766748kB (total). Is it possible i have to many emulators installed and this is a memory problem causing this freeze? Sorry i bet this nothing to do with RetroArch freezing in game.

No idea what's going on as i'm sure you can tell. I personally have no problem rebooting every time this happens. Just i'm giving it to my uncle and i would really like for things to run smooth as possible for him.

Thanks if anyone could give me any sort of help. Understand if no one can help me.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Pi 3 Model B
Power Supply used: official pi 2.5v
RetroPie Version Used: 4.4
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: wifi, keyboard
Controller used: Logitech F310 gamepad

mitu

Can you run a dmesg command via SSH when the freeze occurs and post the output on pastebin.com ?
Did you increase the VRAM limit in Emulationstation or modified the GPU/RAM split in /boo/config.txt ? Did you enable the XMB menu driver in RetroArch ?

dan18774

@mitu thanks for the reply!

Next time the freeze occurs i will try to run that command and will post on pastebin.

Well it Vram was set at 80 and i decreased it to 70. Then i saw read something where someone said that only affects Emulationstation. Does Vram effect RetroArch Mitu?

No i didn't enable the XMB menu driver in RetroArch. Just been installing emulations, adding roms, scraping images, and playing the games.

If i enable the XMB menu driver do you think it will stop the random freezes when i open RetroArch in games possibly?

I found this on GitHub https://github.com/recalbox/recalbox-os/wiki/Change-RetroArch-Menu-to-use-XMB-Driver-Menu-(EN).

So i would open Putty and just put this in command in menu_driver = "xmb" in configs/retroarch/retroarchcustom.cfg ?

Sorry i'm not very good at this at all as you can probably tell.

Thanks for the time Mitu.

mitu

@dan18774 Yes, the VRAM settings affects only Emulationstation. It can be increased to accommodate themes that need more memory. A value of 80 is ok.
About the xmb menu driver - you don't need to enable it, it's not enabled by default because it's more demanding than the rgui driver.
Try getting a system log on the next crash and let's see if there's something we can pick on to come up with a solution.

dan18774

@mitu thanks for the replies. Alright will set Vram back to 80 and thanks for explaining the xmb menu driver. Alright will get back to
with the log next time i have the freeze. Thanks again!

dan18774

@mitu well i just had freeze up and put that command dmesg in, here is the log https://pastebin.com/sG5gdvLK . It might repeat towards the end sorry about that. Thanks.

mitu

You pasted the whole dmesg back to the CLI by mistake...
Anyway, I don't see any errors logged in dmesg, but can you post your config.txt file ? What resolution are you using on your TV/Monitor and did you set it manually ? Did you overclock your Pi ?

dan18774

@mitu i honestly have no idea what i posted. My bad Mitu. I'm sorry but where do i find the config.txt file? I'm looking in the configs folder in the RetroArch folders and i'm not seeing it.

I changed the aspect ratio to 16:9 in all the emulators. And no i haven't overclocked my Pi.

Never had this freeze problem until the 4.4 image Stretch. Think i should start from scratch and install 4.3? This Pi had Jessie on it but i didn't want to give him a outdated image.

Been updating every day hoping for miracle. No luck. Shame you saw nothing wrong with that PasteBin link i posted.

mitu

@dan18774 said in Was wondering why sometimes when i open RetroArch menu in a game it will freeze up my Pi 3 B?:

I'm sorry but where do i find the config.txt file?

Pop the SD card and insert it into your PC, ignore the 'do you want to format message'. The card should have a 'boot' partition where you can find the config.txt file. Get the contents and add them to pastebin.com also.

dan18774

@mitu here is the pastebin link to the config.txt https://pastebin.com/gq8wUUxu .Thanks again for helping me Mitu!

mitu

@dan18774 Sorry, I don't see anything different in the config.txt file. One thing you can do is force the resolution to be lower - from the dmesg output it seems to run at 1824 x 984 (?). That's why I asked you what resolution your TV has - you only said what's the screen aspect, but not the resolution.

dan18774

@mitu that's the problem i assume 1824 X 984 , doesn't seem right at all. I never adjust the resolution nor do i know how to. Aspect was the only thing i ever changed. Is default 1824 X 984?

I really appreciate your help Mitu.

How easy is it to lower resolution? If you have the time to explain i would be very grateful. Or possibly point me somewhere?

Think my other Pi has the same resolution that's why i assume the freezing is happening on there as well.

mitu

@dan18774 Check you TV settings and try to set a resolution - 1080p or 720p - in your TV menu.

dan18774

@mitu said in Was wondering why sometimes when i open RetroArch menu in a game it will freeze up my Pi 3 B?:

force the resolution to be lower - from the dmesg

Also what resolution would you suggest Mitu?

mitu

@dan18774 I just said in the previous post - 1080p or 720p.

dan18774

@mitu as soon i as posted asking what you would suggest you had already replied first answering my question.

Well my LG has something called super resolution ( improve bury or unclear areas for sharper image) and it was on medium. Turn it off Mitu?

There is no other option for resolution besides that.

dan18774

@mitu i'll just turn it off and see how things go. Thanks for your help and patience with me Mitu. Have a great day or night and happy holidays to you and your family.

mitu

@dan18774 Well, it's advisable to turn off any image processing on your TV and activate Game Mode on it - look it up on your TV model. But the image processing on your TV has little to do with your freeze.
You can force a resolution from your PI by uncommenting the lines in the config.txt file

#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

Remove the # to uncoment the line, then reboot the PI and the resolution should be 720p.

dan18774

@mitu alright i always have it in the auto power safer mode. Will put in game mode from now on.

Alright so do i hook the sd card back up the computer and remove the #'s from the 2 framebuffers on the config.txt file.

Then place the sd back in the Pi and the resolution should be good? Just double checking, thanks.

dan18774

@mitu i'm thinking it was the tv not being game mode the whole time that caused the freezing. Thanks once again for helping me. I'm done bothering you today Mitu.