Can't navigate RetroPie menus with gamepad or keyboard

mitu

Is this an older image, upgraded to 4.6 ? Which image did you use to install your system ?
We've seen similar reports from users trying using a Pi4 on a 4k TV, but since you're using a Pi3B, it doesn't seem the same problem.

phonecord

@phonecord Update: I have been able to get the £ sign to print if I press SHIFT+3 but there is still no command line (no pi@retropie_3 $ - it's just a blank cursor). Obviously this doesn't fix anything, but not sure if helps track down the issue. SHIFT+~ prints out ¬ and if I press Pause/Break I get a strange printout of commands. I'm still stuck at what could be causing the issue. Google hasn't been able to help yet haha. Oh boy...

phonecord

@mitu Hi! Yes, it's an older image upgraded to 4.6. I can't remember the original image, as I've been running it for over 2 years (since 2018) and update it somewhat frequently. If I had to guess the original, it would be 4.14. I also don't have a 4K TV sadly, haha. Thanks for the reply.

phonecord

Sorry, one more update - I tested an older SD card just to rule out a hardware problem, and everything works fine.

mitu

'Older SD card' - this means an older backup, before the update ?

phonecord

@mitu Yes, correct. It's an older SD card running 4.5.1. Thanks!

mitu

@phonecord Did you modify any of the boot configuration files - like /boot/cmdline.txt ? Any error messages during boot-up that were not present before ?

phonecord

@mitu I didn't change anything. I did compare the cmdline.txt on the working version 4.5.1 which is:

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=serial0,115200 console=tty3 root=PARTUUID=f2d3cb4f-02 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait loglevel=0 consoleblank=0 plymouth.enable=0 quiet spash logo.nologo vt.global_cursor_default=0

Below is the current cmdline.txt on 4.6.4 I have.

dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=PARTUUID=6397c987-02 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait loglevel=3 consoleblank=0 plymouth.enable=0

I'm not savvy enough in linux to spot any issues in the text file, but I didn't notice any errors while booting. ES does load the system config twice (meaning it runs through all the systems, then blinks and does it again), but ES works perfectly as far as I can tell. Thanks again for your help.

mitu

@phonecord The cmdline.txt looks ok, but EmulationStation booting twice doesn't look ok.
Can you post the contents of the /opt/retropie/configs/all/autostart.sh file ?

phonecord

@mitu This was it! I have a script that controls an LED light/Power button on my case, (as well as shows heat/fan speed, etc) and it seems that the new update doesn't like it. If I delete the python line, the retropie command line and the RetroPie UI work as expected. Not sure what the conflict is, but it's clearly to do with the script on my end.

Below is the autostart.sh if you're curios. Thanks so much for your help!

python /home/pi/scripts/picontrol/picontrol.py&
emulationstation