Framerate and install issues....
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Okay, so.... This is gonna need a LOT of background... I'll list and link to pertinent hard/software at the end, of course.
So I have been working on making myself a GhettoPi Boy based on the design from ETA Prime on Youtube, though I did mine in a 3.5-inch screen instead of a 5-inch. I got a display to use from a friend who no longer needed it, and it obviously needs some unique software to work as it is pure GPIO - no HDMI connection for the display whatsoever.
Presently I have everything running, so the most immediate thing is a framerate issue I've had. I know this display has a 50Hz refresh rate, but in Retropie it's showing MAYBE 20. When I initially was setting things up in Raspbian(more on that later) there was no discernible issue here, so I'm assuming there's some setting I'm missing somewhere to fix it. The games -and the ES menus- are running as if frameskipping is on(IE, no lag despite the framerate), but it's not.
This issue, the frameskipping, is my main priority to fix. The installation issues are all trying to make things more convenient - I can work around it if we can't get it to work properly, and the framerate issue might come back even if we do get it running, so finding the cause of the framerate problem is top priority here.
But the install issue I'm having is installing Retropie/EmulationStation as an app in Raspbian. I've followed instructions I found online on how to do it, but ran into a problem: After installing everything, the terminal won't display itself. The desktop stays overlaid on everything EXCEPT the ES menus once I open them - I can enter the emulationstation command to start it, and the menus come up, but the moment I load a game or try to go into a settings menu, desktop pops back up. There are a couple spots in the corner that blink occasionally while it's in this state, but I also can't do anything ON the desktop while EmulationStation is open.
I think part of the problem is that I have had to use a build of Raspbian made by the display's manufacturer. I have tried to install the display/touchscreen drivers they provide to the latest versions of Raspbian, but doing so causes the system to be unable to boot. Updating to the latest Raspbian software from within the manufacturer build causes the same thing. This isn't a big issue for me, as this gaming device will rarely be online, so any issues with security will be of little concern.
I want to use RetroPie/ES as a separate app as I have had issues with running DOSBox and Amiga games through ES/RetroPie, but far less trouble in Raspbian. But if we can't figure out the installation issues I can just have Raspbian on one SD card, and Retropie on another(as I've been doing with my Waveshare Game Hat up to now)
Hardware:
Raspberry Pi 3 B+
3.5-inch GPIO touch display: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N38B86S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (this is the EXACT display my friend gave me - he dug up his old Amazon order when he bought it to send me)Software:
Manufacturer-provided Raspbian OS: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rQQyoNXkxVH8vcLW_tUKWsMs4fgfJacj/view
Manufacturer-provided Retropie OS: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KQpI3sJ6l3NNQTEruPT83050_Sl4IDsi/view
Attached image is a scan of the directions to install display/touchscreen drivers.Thanks in advance for any and all help! Despite moments like this making me tear my hair out, I've been having fun learning about this stuff via my Game Hat and Pi-powered arcade cabinet, and I hope to continue learning on this!
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UPDATE: I finally got the system to update and actually boot up afterwards. Don't know what was different this time to cause such, but there we go. Unfortunately, the framerate issues persist. I am considering reflashing the card to try all over again, but I simply don't know if that will help since I don't know what caused it to develop the framerate issue. The problem is definitely something with the display drivers or something related to display options, as there is no framerate issue when plugged into an HDTV(and as I noted earlier, there wasn't one on the GPIO display before).
In case it helps, I also just realized that the Retropie splash image does not appear on the GPIO display during startup, but it will appear on any HDMI screen it is plugged into.
EDIT: My friend came back by and checked things out, and he's pretty sure the display's interface is dying. He set things up exactly as he had before(which as it turns out is exactly as I did), and got the same issues I'm having despite him not having them before. - he tested on his Pi 3 B+ as well to rule out failure on my board. So it looks like I'm gonna have to buy my own display for this after all... Or deal with 20 FPS frameskipping at all times.
I still have the display until I select and order in a new one, so if anyone can think of something else to try, please let me know. I'd love to try and save money by sticking with this display if there's something we may have overlooked.
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No ideas from anyone? Disappointing... But I guess we can't expect to figure out a fix for everything. (especially if my friend is right)
EDIT: YEAH, my friend was right. Screen was dying. No longer functioning at all. Sorry to have wasted the time of anyone who read this - fix a dying screen with configuration changes is....kind of impossible.
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