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    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Running Retro Pie on my RGB Commodore monitor at 240p

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    rgb-piretro pipi2scart
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    • L
      lakitu
      last edited by

      I have Retro Pi running but cannot figure out how to get the PI2SCART working and outputting correctly. I am not sure on what to do to get to output on the RGB monitor. Retro Pi menu etc works through HDMI.

      mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • mituM
        mitu Global Moderator @lakitu
        last edited by

        @lakitu Don't they have instructions on how to configure it with the PI ? A cursory search indicates you need to configure the output video device and the resolutions through the config.txt file on the sdcard:

        https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8uZtHByEHyBMkNRRmk4T2E1ZUk

        L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • L
          lakitu @mitu
          last edited by

          @mitu I know I have tried but nothing seems to work, I was just hoping there was someone out there that wouldn't mind me sending them the Pi and PI2SCART and them setting it up and I can gift them for their time.

          mituM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mituM
            mitu Global Moderator @lakitu
            last edited by mitu

            @lakitu Without the same hardware, there's always a possibility that a pre-made setup wouldn't work with your monitor. I mean, people have been successfully set-up Pi2Scart, so the configuration instructions are fine - if it doesn't work for you, maybe there's something else.
            Is the Pi2Scart setup working with another CRT TV - did you test it ? You should try eliminating any hardware related faults - like bad cable, bad Pi2Scart unit, etc.

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            • EfriimE
              Efriim
              last edited by Efriim

              Very cool.

              config.txt
              The easiest way to write to this file might be to plug in the microsd to the reader/adapter on your computer

              Have these added to config.txt

              dtoverlay=vga666
              disable_audio_dither=1
              enable_dpi_lcd=1
              display_default_lcd=1
              dpi_group=2
              dpi_mode=87
              hdmi_timings=320 1 16 30 34 240 1 2 3 22 0 0 0 60 0 6400000 1 
              

              I'll look up some more timings. I think the above is 320x240
              The 1084 needs to have the switch in back pressed inwards and the switch in front outwards for RGB.

              or try this one

              hdmi_timings=320 1 14 46 28 256 1 17 32 9 0 0 0 50 0 6400000 1 # 320:256 Amiga (PAL)
              

              I've never used this setting I think it changes the hdmi output and the target "projected" display, as far as I know the scart is purposed to convert into these things, and doesn't actually need to read timings from hdmi.

              https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/raspberrypi/dpi/README.md

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              • L
                lakitu @Efriim
                last edited by

                @Efriim Thank you so much, I will try that today! Really appreciate the time you took :)

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                • EfriimE
                  Efriim
                  last edited by Efriim

                  It would be a good idea to confirm one by one, all the physical components are working, by using them separately from each other if you have the extra means to do so, and you are getting a blank display.

                  The text after the #(pound)key before a line break; are "commented out" meaning they wont be configured until you remove the # at the beginning of the line. Of course only use one timing at a time.

                  Be aware that some configurations can exceed the limits of your hardware potentially altering its function permanently especially with old hardware that is known to burn out.

                  # 240p from 15khz korean retro image: seven-pi.
                  # I think they used a scart adapter different than pi2scart but old hardware none the less
                  hdmi_timings=320 1 23 30 34 240 1 4 3 16 0 0 0 60 0 6400000 1
                  

                  coordinated view timings
                  dpi/hdmi timings

                  If use ssh to edit the config.txt you will need to use root to be able to save the changes, you can superuser into root for your text editor by using this command
                  sudo nano /boot/config.txt

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                  • Y
                    youxia
                    last edited by

                    Did you try the official image from Arcade Forge (pi2scart seller) site? It's supposed to be working out of the box (the timings and configs are tailor made).

                    I wouldn't advise just throwing random timings and settings at your monitor because you may well damage it.

                    Try also reading this thread, we've all been through this a couple of years ago: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/8521/best-way-to-output-scart-rgb-from-pi-3/7
                    Apart form config.txt changes mentioned earlier here, you will also need to adjust your runcommand onstart/onend as described in the above thread.
                    It's a bit of work, but well worth it in the end.

                    EfriimE 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • EfriimE
                      Efriim @youxia
                      last edited by Efriim

                      @youxia
                      You couldn't seriously damage the CRT with RGB specifically could you? If so I should edit my posts.

                      You know you're right. Especially with old hardware that is already on its last life and anyone else who is trying to apply this to that even if not with RGB, I'll try to edit my work.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • Y
                        youxia
                        last edited by youxia

                        @Efriim It is possible if you feed it some outlandish timings. I am not saying the ones you have posted will do that, they may well work OK, but not knowing the source and what they were intended for it's hard to say. I'm talking about the hdmi_timings ones, these can be dangerous. The config.txt is good, but I would skip the ones from your post starting with hdmi_cvt.

                        I'm bit busy now but will post my confirmed-working settings (for a CRT TV though) later. In any case OP should try the arcade forge image first, even if just to copy the configs from it to the official Retropie.

                        EDIT: my old config.tx. You can also try the "AF" and "mohl" settings (just make sure to remove #AF for example)

                        
                        gpu_mem_256=128
                        gpu_mem_512=256
                        gpu_mem_1024=256
                        
                        disable_overscan=1
                        disable_audio_dither=1
                        dtparam=audio=on
                        dtoverlay=vga666
                        enable_dpi_lcd=1
                        display_default_lcd=1
                        dpi_group=2
                        dpi_mode=87
                        
                        hdmi_timings=320 1 15 20 49 240 1 6 8 10 0 0 0 60 0 6400000 1
                        
                        #c64hdmi_timings=336 1 10 18 46 288 1 5 6 6 0 0 0 50 0 6400000 1
                        #AF hdmi_timings=320 1 16 30 34 240 1 2 3 22 0 0 0 60 0 6400000 1 
                        #mohl hdmi_timings=320 1 10 20 54 240 1 6 8 10 0 0 0 60 0 6400000 1
                        
                        

                        This should give you a stable picture, I have used these settings on many CRT TV sets, they should work on a monitor too I think (or at least won't damage it).
                        problem is, this will only work for few emus in 1:1 scale, since they often used different resolutions. To handle this you need to use the high-res trick (read the thread I linked to)

                        For that you need to change the runcommand and then also adjust the settings in retroarch.cfg (custome aspect ratio and resolutions, or use integer ON/Off option). Unfortunately I'm not near my SCART TV sets and can't remember all these settings exactly so can't help you here. You either use the Arcade Forge image, figure it out from the resources here or post on reddit in /r crtgaming sub.

                        My runcommand-onstart

                        fbset -depth 8 && fbset -depth 16 -xres 1920 -yres 240 
                        

                        My runcommand-onend

                        fbset -depth 8 && fbset -depth 16 -xres 320 -yres 240
                        
                        
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