Black screen raspberry pi 4

Rubicai

Hi again. I installed RetroPie yesterday on my Raspberry Pi 4 through Raspbian buster and I've been getting an error which really bothers me because I don't know how to fix it. It has been happening only when playing psp and n64 games using ppsspp and mupen64plus next as emulators, so maybe the issue is because those systems are hard to emulate or something, but it could be anything. Whenever I'm playing any game of those systems, sometimes, in the middle of a game, I get a black screen, and the audio and video don't come back. I have the raspberry connected through HDMI to the TV if it helps. I already got through config.txt and uncommented config_hdmi_boost and it's set to 7. Is there anything more I need to do?

EDIT: it happens when I play PSX games too, so I imagine the system doesn't really matter.

mitu

On the Pi4, config_hdmi_boost does nothing, so it's not going to help. This looks similar to this recent topic by @mckenna0312.

Did you use Raspbian Lite or the desktop variant for installation ? Are you starting EmulationStation from the desktop session or directly from the console session ? Are you using the miniHDMI cable sold with the system (by Raspberry Pi) or another one ?

Try disabling the Wifi and see if changes anything.

Rubicai

@mitu I used the desktop version, and to start emulationstation I write the command on the terminal. The miniHDMI I use is the one from the labists pack they sell on Amazon: https://www.amazon.es/LABISTS-Raspberry-Barebone-Disipadores-Ventilador/dp/B07XLK59Z3?th=1&psc=1
I'll try to disable the wifi and see if it helps. Also I'll check that other topic you said to see what happened. Thanks for your reply!

EDIT: I disabled the wifi and it's not fixed, the screen still goes black after a while.

Rubicai

@Rubicai Well if it helps anyone I formatted the sd card, followed the official installation guide for retropie and installed retropie buster instead of raspbian buster. Now everything works perfectly, very smooth. I changed some things in config.txt that someone on reddit mentioned, which is:

disable_overscan=1
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

And then on /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

aspect_ratio_index=21

If the user who posted this setup on reddit happens to read this, you are a true hero. Hope this can help if you get the same issue that I got

yaya

Hi Guys,

I was not so lucky - actually I made a clean install from PI-4 Image - the system is booting, during boot HDMI output is fine.

once the autologin is done and the autostart happens, the screen turns black - no menu, nothing.

I'm really new into this - not very understanding why this software not working. I'm not new into PI/Unix - normally I undestand dependencies..

mitu

@yaya Please open a new topic and add the info requested in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first. Are you using a 4k TV ?

peter.colemonts

@mitu

I have the same issue and it's also on a 4k TV.
My brother has the same issue and it's also a 4k tv but not the same one
Some background:

I have a raspberry 4(g) with 7" touchscreen. retropie is instaled on my rasp buster desktop install
When i play using HDMI on my tv, after a specific time (random) it turns black
i can still see the screen in my vnc viewer
and also on my touchscreen
I tried to change my config.txt setting s, but with no luck
my brother has the same issue and he doesnt have a touchscreen
When i close retropie using the vnc viewer -> the desktop is showed again on the TV
so it's really a retropie/emulators issue
It never happens when i play it on my 7" touchscreen

BuZz

@peter-colemonts RetroPie is not designed to be run from the Desktop on the RPI. You are experiencing the screensaver / screenblanker kicking in. You should exit the desktop and launch from a terminal.

joyrider3774

if it's screensaver / screenblanking shouldn't it happen when other screens are attached as well ? the settings about it do not change when switching screens so in theory he should have the issue on every screen attached then