"readonly mode, sorry [start with --edit?]" error message whenever I try to launch any game.

[Calvorejas]

Hi, I'm having a very annoying problem and I don't know what to do...
Since I installed Kodi in Optional Packages within the RetroPie Setup, I get this error message whenever I try to load ANY game:

readonly mode, sorry [start with --edit?]

I'm lost, I don't know what could have caused this issue, It's very annoying, as it prevents the games to autostart when I launch them... Loading screen gets stuck with that message and then takes you to the Launch options of the ROM...

All I did was install Kodi from the option within the RetroPie Setup...

The only weird thing I did was to follow this steps in order to get Kodi to show up as it's independent "icon" inside emulationstation:

Step 1.

sudo cp /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg /home/pi/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

Step 2.

sudo nano /home/pi/.emulationstation/es_systems.cfg

Step 3. Add the following codeblock anywhere after <systemList>:

<system>
  <fullname>Kodi</fullname>
  <name>kodi</name>
  <path>~/RetroPie/roms/kodi</path>
  <extension>.sh .SH</extension>
  <command>bash %ROM%</command>
  <platform>kodi</platform>
  <theme>kodi</theme>
</system>

Save your changes with ctrl+x , y , enter

Step 4. Then make a kodi rom directory

mkdir /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/kodi

Step 5. Make a launch script:

sudo nano /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/kodi/kodi.sh

Step 6. Add the following line:

kodi-standalone

Save your changes with ctrl+x , y , enter

Make the launch script executable:

Step 7.

sudo chmod +x /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/kodi/kodi.sh

That's it... That's all I did that could be suspicious to have destroyed something

The only thing I did was to revert those changes as I saw that the dedicated Kodi icon resulted from those steps was more like a folder than a direct shortcut to launch Kodi, I remodified "es_systems.cfg" deleting the code present in Step 3.... And then I deleted the Kodi folder from the roms folder as it was not going to be necessary anymore... I don't think I broke something by doing that... Did I?

In a desperate attempt to try to solve this, thinking it could be something related to permissions... I Googled "retropie changing permissions" and someone in this forum pointed out that trying this commands through an SSH client (I used PuTTY 64bits all this time) could potentially solve the issue...

sudo chown - R pi:pi /home/pi
sudo chown -R pi:pi /opt/retropie/configs

It didn't work... What I don't know is if doing that made the situation even worst...

PLEASE HELP... I don't want to reinstall everything just for this...

[mitu]

Kodi can be started from the Ports system, without resorting to any editing of configuration files. Any reason you're not using it ?

Please provide the info asked in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first.

[Calvorejas]

@mitu Hi!
Now I'm using that methot to launch Kodi... By following the steps I explained on the Topic I wanted to have an independent icon for Kodi that was not inside of the "Ports" section... But as I saw it was just another folder, not an actual Icon to directly launch Kodi I reverted the changes and I am now using the Kodi icon from "Ports"...

What's weird is that the issue I am having (the error message "readonly mode, sorry [start with --edit?]" appears randomly... After some reboots I discovered it appears normaly when emulationstation has just started... After some minutes running and a lot of launch / close / launch / close actions, The problems seems to disappear... But as soon as I shutdown the machine and turn it back on... The problem comes back, and I just can't figure out why...

[Calvorejas]

@calvorejas I'm starting to think that it might be a hardware problem...
Because I restarted multiple times and by wiggling the sticks (it's a homemade arcade machine) before launching any game, anything, it seems that the problem disappears... But I don't know for sure if this is possible... I though I broke something software related, but now it seems it has to do more with hardware than software...

A bug I have always encountered is that sometimes... My right stick gets stuck like it is being push to the right... And I have to wiggle it so it stops being permanently pushed... Although, the stick is not being physically touched or pushed to the right, it's not even broken, the microswitch that tells the arcade that the stick is being pushed to the right is not even being physically pushed...

What's weird is that this had never prevented games and programs to launch... And now it seems it does if I not wiggle the sticks before I launch something...

Does anybody have any idea why this could be happening?