Very slow loading times on lr-flycast

[heaven76]

Hi! Sorry for the question, i’m a little new in this world.
I'm trying to have lr-flycast working on my Retropie installation.

The problem isn’t for speed in games. But is (i think) in strange loading times.
I tryed with two different GDI format roms:

• Virtual Striker 2
• Virtual Tennis 2

The problem is the same for this two roms. When i launch the game, i immediately see the dreamcast logo. After about 2 minutes, the sega logo… after about 5 to 10 minutes the game start.
During game selections, when the game need to load something it takes minutes…
But when the game really start, for example for virtual striker… it’s playable.

To start playing it… i takes about 20 minutes… really bad.

I tried with lr-flycast binary installation… source installation… and reicast binary installation… almost the same problem, so i think it’s a problem related to some overall configuration or about some hardware compatibility problem. I don’t know.

Here some information:

PI Model: RPI4-MODBP-8GB
Power supply: Original PI4B Power supply (USB-C 5,1V 3A)
Retropie version: 4.7.1
Built from: pre-made SD image on Retropie website (file: retropie-buster-4.7.1-rpi4_400.img.gz)
USB Devices connected:

• 3 controllers
• 1 SanDisk Plus SSD 240 GB SATA III, connected with the Sabrent cable USB 3.0 to SATA (optimized for SSD, support UASP SATA III
  Controller used:
• 2 arcade controller (identified like dragonrise usb controllers)
• 1 usb-to-wireless keyboard (Trust mini keyboard)
• 1 8BitDo SF30 PRO bluetooth controller with upgraded firmware
  Errore message: no specific errors identified
  Runcommand log:
  https://pastebin.com/FaSQzjFG

Emulator with problems: lr-flycast (but the same with reicast)

I hope to find a way to resolve this! i think retropie is the best!

Thanks a lot for your help.

[mitu]

@heaven76 said in Very slow loading times on lr-flycast:

1 SanDisk Plus SSD 240 GB SATA III, connected with the Sabrent cable USB 3.0 to SATA (optimized for SSD, support UASP SATA III

Some SATA controllers have issues with Linux/Pi4 and they need some 'quirks' added - see https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=245931 - and this might impact the performance of the SSD.

Try to update to the latest OS/firmware (you can do it from RetroPie-Setup) and see if you still get the problem, otherwise see if the troubleshooting info and solution from the Raspberry Pi forum post apply to your setup.

[quicksilver]

@heaven76 can you confirm your SSD is connected to the usb 3.0 port on your pi 4? It's the blue port.

You can also give the Redream emulator a shot as well. It's in the experimental section of retropie setup. In general it has much better performance than flycast on the pi. I suspect though your issue is related to your setup.

[heaven76]

@quicksilver yes, i confirm that my SSD is attached to the USB 3 port (the blue one). I try also with Redream, but i think too that the problem is on my setup.

[heaven76]

@mitu Thanks for the suggestion, i read the topic and try to update everything. I let you know if it help

[heaven76]

I tried an update of the core OS but nothing changed.
I have poor disk performance with my SSD (almost 500 Mb/s read on my PC):
61 Mb/s write - 199 Mb/s read

After that i tried using the quirks workaround as suggested by @mitu
With quirks enabled, disk performance are a little bad (but almost the same):
56 Mb/s write - 171 Mb/s read

but in this way i don't have problems to run the games with lr-flycast... all seems to work well.
Thanks for your suggestions.

[Crush]

@heaven76 said in Very slow loading times on lr-flycast:

After that i tried using the quirks workaround as suggested by @mitu

What filesystem are you using on your SSD? ext4 or NTFS?
NTFS is no good.