Extremely Slow emulation station and games running slow

KingCosmuder

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 4G Ram
Canakit Power Supply
Retropie 3.7.1
Built from raspberry pi imager
PS4 Controller Connected Via Bluetooth

Just yesterday i bought and received my pi 4 with the canakit and installed everything smoothly but the emulation station runs at 10-15 fps and drops to 5-6 sometimes. i have tried a few nes games like super mario bros and they run at 20-25 and its unplayable, i haven't found a solution, my pi is connected to my tv using game mode and forced 1080p but its unbearably slow and i dont know what to do

IanDaemon

@kingcosmuder Memory split? I don't have a Pi4 so I'm guessing based on Pi3 experience.

KingCosmuder

@iandaemon not sure im very new to this how do i check

mitu

@kingcosmuder Post the /boot/config.txt file from system. Should be easily accessible from another PC - it's in the boot partition that pops up.

KingCosmuder

@mitu

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
overscan_scale=1

mitu

@kingcosmuder said in Extremely Slow emulation station and games running slow:

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

This should force 1080p, but I think it's ignored by/for your TV somehow. Can you add

hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080

below those lines and reboot ? Is the resolution/frame rate changed ?

KingCosmuder

@mitu it changed it and now i am getting a consistent 20-30ish on menu and slighter better nes performance also i have a black border around the screen not a big issue but noticable

mitu

@kingcosmuder Try to play with the overscan (scale) options - see https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Overscan/.

KingCosmuder

@mitu thanks, anyway to improve the fps further in game and in the menu? i feel as if its not quite what it should be still

mitu

@kingcosmuder Can you exit EmulationStation and run tvservice -s on the command line ? It should show you the current video resolution and the other video modes supported by your TV/Monitor.

KingCosmuder

@mitu sorry i do not have a external keyboard not sure if there is another way to do it or use the command line another way?

mitu

You can use SSH and connect remotely, from another system/PC in the same network.

KingCosmuder

@mitu state 0xa [HDMI CUSTOM RGB lim 16:9], 1920x1080 @ 60.00Hz, progressive. thats what is shows

mitu

Looks fine - the Pi is outputting at 1080p. Are you sure your TV is in game mode ? What TV model is it ?

You can enable more logging for the game running, just to check that the game runs at 60fps, as explained here. The log file can be retrieved via SSH (using WinSCP), if you manage to get it, post it on pastebin.com and provide the link.

KingCosmuder

https://pastebin.com/Wt90MTYH

mitu

That's not the entire file. I was mainly interested in the video resolution chosen by the emulator.

KingCosmuder

@kingcosmuder thats all i got running the command however i tired some dreamcast using redream and both games i tried, sonic adventure and marvel vs capcom 2 both ran 60 fps consistently so i believe its working now