...so that it works in a mirror...

Did you try display_rotate in config.sys? I found this explanation on the web:

"Can be used to rotate or flip the screen orientation; the default value is 0.
display_rotate result
0 no rotation
1 rotate 90 degrees clockwise
2 rotate 180 degrees clockwise
3 rotate 270 degrees clockwise
0x10000 horizontal flip
0x20000 vertical flip
Note that the 90 and 270 degree rotation options require additional memory on the GPU, so these won't work with the 16MB GPU split.
You can horizontally flip the display by adding
display_rotate=0x10000"

I use "display_rotate=1" at home for my arcade cocktail cabinet.

Advmame 0.94 is the only emulator that runs Asteroids well I've found (good resolution, and no lag on the sound effects). Would love to get this working.

Thank you both so much for sticking with me. I'm not quite sure what the precise issue was but having the gorf.zip in arcade,

(0) Drop gorf.zip in the arcade folder, with MAME2010 config files.
(1) Go to terminal (F4 on keyboard)
(2) Type sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/autostart.sh
(3) Edited as follows...

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ arcade ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/gorf.zip
wait $!
emulationstation --no-splash #auto

(4) CTRL+X > yes to save and return to save as the file name is suggests.
(5) Restart the Pi.
(6) Gorf auto loads.

Thanks so much. I'll get this working for Space Invaders, ideally once I've found a way to flip the screen so that it works in a mirror so I can use a CRT monitor vertically. That would be so nice. Then I can flick my arcade on at the wall, and have it all auto-boot.

Huge thanks again, I really appreciate it. Excellent community here.

(All one line, no line breaks): /opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 SYS mame-libretro ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/gorf.zip && emulationstation —no-splash #auto

Before no splash that big dash is two hyphens. Make sure you accurately capture where there are spaces. The SYS in italics just has two underscores before and after it with no spaces as in @mitu’s example.

That's bad! If the ROM would fail to load than emulationstation will also not start. Furthermore the command switch are two dashes....

@OneSwitch
This will run the emulator setted up. I don't know what's your config now! (arcade, mame, check pathes and emulator call on yourself ....) - I think @mitu suggested more correct of your current config so I took his command line.

wait command could be usefull (you can try to remove it)

# you suggested
#/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ mame-libretro ~/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/gorf.zip
# mitu suggested
/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ arcade ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/gorf.zip
wait $!
emulationstation --no-splash #auto

(All one line, no line breaks): /opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 SYS mame-libretro ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/gorf.zip && emulationstation —no-splash #auto

Before no splash that big dash is two hyphens. Make sure you accurately capture where there are spaces. The SYS in italics just has two underscores before and after it with no spaces as in @mitu’s example.

If this does not work for you I am at a loss as it is the exact contents of my autostart file. I just pulled it up.

Not quite sure what you mean. The test gorf.zip rom works in Emulation Station/RetroPIe when I select it manually as I would any other game with a joypad. Works in Mame 2003 and 2010 libretro.

I mean if the game doesn't run normally, it would also not run during 'auto-boot' - this is what @BJRetro was referring also (I think).

Do you mean starting the game after pressing F4?

That's something you can try with the runcommand command from the autostart.sh file, to verify that it works.

you first have to make the game work normally - from ES, using the Runcommand menu to choose the right emulator for the ROM. After that, using the Runcommand from the auto-start script will run the game normally - using the chosen emulator. If this part is not working, then the 'auto-boot' will not work.

Not quite sure what you mean. The test gorf.zip rom works in Emulation Station/RetroPIe when I select it manually as I would any other game with a joypad. Works in Mame 2003 and 2010 libretro.

Do you mean starting the game after pressing F4?

Thanks for trying to help me. It would be brilliant to get this sussed for 4.4 or newer.

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_ arcade ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/tmnt.zip

it should be

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ arcade ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/gorf.zip

Other ES settings shouldn't affect this command, since it's run outside of Emulationstation.

(1) Go to terminal (F4 on keyboard)
(2) Type sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/autostart.sh
(3) Edited as follows...

emulationstation #auto
/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_ mame-libretro ~/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/gorf.zip

(4) CTRL+X and save, then run by typing emulationstation.

But no luck. Tried restarting. No luck. I wonder if the path is wrong. Any ideas appreciated.

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_ arcade ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/tmnt.zip --no-splash && emulationstation

I think this should be

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_ arcade ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/tmnt.zip

emulationstation --no-splash

if you want to remove the ES splashscreen.

(1) Go to terminal (F4 on keyboard)
(2) Type sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/autostart.sh

(this is to edit the autostart file)

(3) now add the command to indicate the rom to start on:

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_ arcade ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/tmnt.zip --no-splash && emulationstation

You replace tmnt.zip with whatever your arcade rom is. Note where SYS appears in italics it is actually an underscore on either side of SYS but that’s just the way the forum displays this code.

(4) exit using the command at the bottom of the screen and save on exit when prompted

Delete boot text and emulation station loading screen, raspberries

(1) when back in terminal type sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt

(2) make sure on the line of text that appears that you change anything that you see about console=tty1 to console=tty3 or add that whole phrase if nothing is pre-existing there and then also add logo.nologo to the line that you see, keep it all in one line

(3) exit (CTRL+X) and save when prompted

(Note the —no splash in the autostart.sh file above is what removed the emulationstation splash screen)

(4) Now back in terminal type sudo nano /boot/config.txt
Scroll to bottom of file add the following line:
disable_splash=1

If you want to also add a custom splash screen there’s are separate instructions for that - I think it may even be on the retropie menu .

ach thing is just editing a line of code to a file, so not too hard, it’s just that I think when I was brainstorming/doing this I had to separately find out how to do each piece. If I have time over this weekend I will try to post the directions all together. The only problem is I never upgraded emulation station the last major update so I don’t know if that will change any of the coding or locations of the files needed to do this.

It would be great to see what you did, even if it it a lot older. I'm using RetroPie 4.4 for a Pi 3+B.

If you google for (1) retropie boot directly to rom (2) custom splash screen retropie (3) delete boot text retropie and (4) hide emulation station loading screen retropie then those all all of the things you need to do this.