Autostart function not working

Clyde

@Razak It depends on whether your Pi is behind a router with a firewall, then it should be safe without further measures. If the Pi is directly connected to the Internet (e.g. with a modem without a firewall), you should change the password for the user Pi to a safe one (three links) with the command passwd in Retropie's command shell that you land in if you press F4 in Emulation Station. You exit the shell and return to ES with the command exit.

Razak

Hi @mitu @Clyde

So I verified in the file manager that my ROM is in the /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600 folder, and I'm now connected to a wifi network.

When I go into Retropie -setup, and attempt to install Stella from source, I'm still getting the following error:
Error running 'tar -xv -J -c /home/pi/Retropie-Setup/tmp/build/stella--strip-components 1' returned 2'

Then, it tells me to check the logs at
/home/pi/retropie-setup/logs/rps_2019_04_20_002846.log.gz

When I go there through the file manager, I get this:

*Installing dependencies for 'stella' : Atari2600 emulator STELLA
/home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/tmp/build/stella /home/pi

Getting sources for 'stella' : Atari26000 emulator STELLA

xz: (stdin): file format not recognized
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
/home/pi
Error running 'tar -xv -J -C /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/tmp/build/stella --strip-components 1' -returned 2*

Any thoughts on what may be happening?

mitu

@Razak said in Autostart function not working:

Any thoughts on what may be happening?

The error indicates that the emulator's archive is corrupted and you're still not connected to the internet to download. You can check by exiting Emulationstation, and typing at the command line

ping retropie.org.uk

If you get a reply, then it means you're connected, otherwise you may be just connected to Wifi, but without internet access.

Razak

@mitu The emulator archive meaning the ROM?

I pinged the retropie site and got no response. :(

Is there a way of installing Stella as an optional package that does not necessitate that I get on the internet?

I'm attempting to jump on a public wifi network and it's giving me the error describe above, while my other option is to get on a network that requires I authenticate myself using a username and password.

mitu

The emulator archive meaning the ROM?

No, I mean file containing the emulator, packed and compressed (archive), which should be downloaded from either the RetroPie site, if you're using a binary installation.

Is there a way of installing Stella as an optional package that does not necessitate that I get on the internet?

No, you need to connect to the internet.

Clyde

@Razak said in Autostart function not working:

I'm attempting to jump on a public wifi network and it's giving me the error describe above, while my other option is to get on a network that requires I authenticate myself using a username and password.

The easiest way would be to connect your Pi with an Ethernet cable to an internet router with a built-in firewall. Then you should be able to install any packages you want. Is that an option?

If not, please explain in detail how your "attepting to jump on a public wifi network", why that doesn't work (errors in detail, please), and what other network you're trying to connect to that asks for authentication.

Finally, please put any quoted output in a code block like @mitu did with the ping command. See https://commonmark.org/help/ on how to do that in this forum.

It's much more readible this way. ;)

Razak

@Clyde

I was wondering how to do block quotes on here. Thank you for clearing this up for me and providing a link! :)

Okay, so I connected the pi to the Internet using an Ethernet cable and was able to download Stella as an optional package. It now says 'installed' next Stella. Great.

Should I now go to autostart or runcommand on the Retropie-Setup script menu?

And if I manually edit the runcommand script, should it now read like so:

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 _SYS_ lr-stella /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Yar_rev.bin
emuluationstation #auto

mitu

@Razak If it's installed, then boot to Emulationstation, run the game and then use the Runcommand launch menu to choose stella as the default emulator for atari2600 system. You won't have to modify the autostart file, just leave it as is, runcommand will choose the correct emulator.

In stella, you can press Tab on the keyboard to access the configuration menu and map your inputs the way you want.

Razak

Hey @mitu
When you say boot to Emulationstation, do you mean through the GUI/booting up the pi as normal or through the commandline?

I was able to see the runcommand launch screen, like in the picture below a few days ago, but for some reason I can't anymore. I changed the runcommand on the Retropie-Setup back to

emulationstation #auto

Clyde

@Razak said in Autostart function not working:

Hey @mitu
When you say boot to Emulationstation, do you mean through the GUI/booting up the pi as normal or through the commandline?

Though I'm not @mitu, it shouldn't matter as long as you don't add custom commands to your autostart.sh.

I was able to see the runcommand launch screen, like in the picture below a few days ago, but for some reason I can't anymore.

Any chance that you've disabled it? See here how to check on that: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Runcommand/#configuring-runcommand

Razak

@mitu Nevermind. Just realized that the runcommand launch menu was disabled on Emulationstation.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU'RE AN ANGEL!!

Razak

@Clyde You too, Clyde! Thanks a million for your patience!!!

Razak

Wait, wait. I'm a bit confused.

After using the runcommand launch menu to choose stella as the default emulator for atari2600, do I have to go back to the retropie-setup menu to manually edit the autostart script of emulationstation?

I'm still not booting up to my game. I want for the pi to boot directly into the game and eliminate the emulationstation and/or retropie splash screens or console menus.

mitu

@Razak said in Autostart function not working:

do I have to go back to the retropie-setup menu to manually edit the autostart script of emulationstation?

if you disabled the auto-start line, then yes.

Razak

Ok, and should I manually edit the autostart script like so?

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_ lr-stella ~/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Yar_rev.bin

or

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_ lr-stella ~/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Yar_rev.bin

and do I need to eliminate the emulationstation #auto on the second line?

Can you confirm that I'm supposed to disable the auto-start line in which menu?

Clyde

Your first line has one error: There shouldn't be a ~ before /home/pi/…. In Linux, ~ stands for the home directory of the logged-in user, i.e. /home/pi in this case. So, ~/home/pi would expand to /home/pi/home/pi which is wrong. Is my explanation comprehensible? :)

Apart from that, both lines should work, since /home/pi/Retropie/… and ~/Retropie/… are interchangable.

If you keep emulationstation #auto after your custom line in the script, Emulation Station will be started when you exit the game. Nothing more, nothing less.

Razak

@Clyde Yes, now I understand much better! I inserted the line like so. and included the emulationstation #auto line at the bottom.

After re-booting–quitting out of emulationstation and the system, the pi will boot back into the retropie/emulation station menu.

I would it that after I interrupt the power on the pi (like, disconnect from the wall for example) that the pi boots directly into the Game and that I don't have to select the emulator/game. Is there a way to do this?

Clyde

@Razak said in Autostart function not working:

After re-booting–quitting out of emulationstation and the system, the pi will boot back into the retropie/emulation station menu.

Seems like that for some reason lr-stella doesn't start the game, or exits immediately, after which Emulation Station is started. You could look into /dev/shm/runcommand.log for any error messages.

Does the game start if you enter the line with lr-stella directly in Retropie's command console?

For further diagnoses, please show us the complete contents of your autostart.bat and, to check the validity of your path and file permissions of Yar_rev.bin, also the output of this command:

ls -l ~/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/Yar_rev.bin

Razak

Does the game start if you enter the line with lr-stella directly in Retropie's command console?

I get the 'launching screen/ press button to configure menu'

Where is /dev/shm/runcommand.log and autostart.bat?

Clyde

And what happens after the Runcommand menu (i.e. the "launching screen") is shown?

/dev/shm/runcommand.log is the full path of the file. The first / marks the top of the directory tree in Linux. There's nothing "above" it in the directory hierarchy.

Sorry, I meant autostart.sh (shame on me for involuntarily typing a Windows file extension 😳 ). It is located at /opt/retropie/configs/all/autostart.sh.

In the Retropie console, you can display these files easily by adding a cat before them, i.e. cat /dev/shm/runcommand.log, or copy them to your home directory via cp /dev/shm/runcommand.log /home/pi and cp ./opt/retropie/configs/all/autostart.sh /home/pi, if you have better access to that location over the network or otherwise.

edit: I'm going to sleep now. "See" you tomorrow.