Retropie freezes and looses save files

DKarn

New to Pi's in general and had a quick question.

I am running a RPI 3 B+ with official Raspberry Pi 3 case
Power Supply used: 5 amp cable
RetroPie Version Used : 4.4
Built From: blank SD card (size 116 gig, used 74 gig, avail 38 gig, use % 67% per PuTTy), Retropie downloaded from retropie website, Etcher
USB Devices connected: none
Controller used: PS3 dual shock 3, connected via Blu Tooth
Error messages received: none
File: /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx/Legend of the Dragoon/legend_of_dragoon,the(disk_1).bin (.cue)
Emulator: RetroArc (or whatever it comes with)

First sorry for the long post I am trying to give as much detail as possible without creating a long tread train. Trying to get copies of my physical games in a more portable package and was having a new issue that started up today. I will play for about 20-40 mins and the system will lock up, usually in battle, and will require a hard restart (unplug -> plug) to get working again. After I restart the saves, both in the virtual memory card and save states, will be reset to when I started that session. So if I save and quit, restart system, play, save, then crash I will be back at the first save not the second. I am still very new to this, I do not know how to access error messages but when I crash there is none displayed. My thought on this is that I am dealing with over heating, the official RPI 3 case does not appear to have airflow and it happens in combat which would be when more processing is being done. However I am curious about other issues that might be happening and if anyone has anything that I should check. This has so far only happened on this game.

So am I correct is assuming over heating as the issue?
Are there other issues I should investigate?

Thank you for your time in advanced.

mitu

@DKarn said in Retropie freezes and looses save files:

So am I correct is assuming over heating as the issue?

Not necessarily. Whenever the CPU temp is over the threshold limit (I think it's 70 centigrades on the 3B+ model), the system would automatically underclock the CPU to lower the temp - and an over-temp icon should appear on the screen (top right).

Are there other issues I should investigate?

Did you overclock your PI ? Are you using a reliable power supply for the 5v/2.5A required by the Pi ?

DKarn

@mitu 5.0 v 2.4 a just found it on the box it came with the case I just ordered comes with a 5V 3A so maybe that will fix it. I am getting neither the temp nor the amp logo while playing

DKarn

Oh and I did not over clock

lostless

@DKarn the PSx emulator isn’t the best and can lock up in some games. it’s also buggy in a lot of games, but it’s
the the best the pi can do for now as better emulators require better hardware. I don’t think it’s a pi issue, but an emulator issue because you said it only crashes during battles. Unfortunately, by default, retroarch does not hard save the save file of a game to the SD card until you quit. So even though the game says it’s saved, it’s only in RAM. Now this can be fixed. Open the retroarch menu by pressing hotkey and x (top button). Go to settings and then saving. Look for “saveRAM autosave interval”. Set the timer to whatver. All this does is every x seconds, it will check if the save has been changed and will write to the SD card if it sees an change. Now if the game crashes, your save file will be the most recent.

DKarn

@lostless said in Retropie freezes and looses save files:
Open the retroarch menu by pressing hotkey and x (top button). Go to settings and then saving. Look for “saveRAM autosave interval”. Set the timer to whatver. All this does is every x seconds, it will check if the save has been changed and will write to the SD card if it sees an change. Now if the game crashes, your save file will be the most recent.

@lostless okay I will do that I was coming in to post an update. I got a case that had a built in fan because I wanted it anyways and it came with a new power cord that is 5v 3a, chip temp was holding steady at 39.6 degree C. Game still froze up the system. I am going to be implimenting the work around that you have mentioned and if it works will post something about it working.

DKarn

@DKarn For anyone else that likes the menu path it is Main Menu -> Settings -> Saving -> SaveRAM Autosave Interval

lostless

@DKarn I still don’t think it’s a hardware issue but a emulator issue. Do any other games freeze up? If so, your pi might be bad.

DKarn

@lostless Not as of yet, still fairly new and my schedule is limited but I am playing when I have down time pretty much been with 2 games and only the 1 has had issues

DKarn

@lostless I set the system to save from RAM every second and the issue appears to be fixed not just corrected. I was also getting little periods were the sound was muted and that also seems to have stopped. I was assuming that was a different problem and that was why I did not include that in the original question, but that has stopped as well. Great information thank you.