USB inputs dropped when enabling output through 3.5mm jack

Fiddla01

Pi Model or other hardware: Pi 4 B 8 gb
Power Supply used: 5v 3A power supply
RetroPie Version Used: 4.7.15
USB Devices connected: rockcandy xbox 360 controller, xbox one controller, keyboard

This is a new post related to my previous post, as the problem has been better diagnosed. For context: I was having a problem where my usb devices were freezing all inputs periodically for a couple seconds. This obviously makes gaming difficult and annoying.

The cause of this problem was found to be related to outputting a signal through the 3.5mm jack. In my case, I have enable_tvout=1 uncommented in /boot/config.txt, which outputs a component video/audio signal out of the jack, but apparently this issue occurs when audio only is routed through the headphone jack. (Outputting video and audio through HDMI causes the problem to disappear)

According to another user who had the same problem, this issue was not present in a fresh image of RetroPie 4.7.1, but after auto-updating all packages, the problem emerges. So the problem must be software related, and it was introduced somewhere between RetroPie 4.7.1 and 4.7.15.

My question is this: Will this problem be addressed and patched in later versions of RetroPie? If not, is there any way for me to revert to an earlier version, while keeping all of my config files, and roms on the system?
Also, I can't seem to find any resources that discuss the differences between the small patches of retropie 4.7.1, so if anyone has patchnotes/changelogs of the 4.7.1 auto-updates, I would appreciate being able to make an informed decision if I choose to stay on an older version.
Final note, if there's a fix for this problem that just requires an edit of a file, or something simple like that, I would also appreciate that as a solution.

mitu

Issue is already logged as https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/issues/3305, but there's nothing in the RetroPie script or configuration that can solve this, it's mainly an OS/Linux problem.

As a workaround, you can use the 4.7.1 image and - when upgrading the setup script - do not upgrade the kernel/firmware packages or maybe pin them before an OS upgrade.

Fiddla01

@mitu Wow, I can't believe I didn't find those posts before, because I was searching for forum posts about this exact thing. Thanks for the resource, and I'll try staying in the fresh 4.7.1 image as my solution.

mitu

@fiddla01 said in USB inputs dropped when enabling output through 3.5mm jack:

and I'll try staying in the fresh 4.7.1 image as my solution.

Just so there's no misunderstanding, you can still upgrade your RetroPie-Setup scripts and the RetroPie packages, it's just the OS's packages that you should try to leave at their original version.

Fiddla01

Just an update for anyone who stumbles across this thread, I just finished the process of starting with a fresh image, and getting back everything. There were a couple hiccups that made the process a bit tedious, but I can say for sure that it is a solution to the problem. No matter what conditions the pi was in, I could not replicate the problem.

Thanks to everyone who helped diagnose the problem and the community as a whole. Y'all are the best

Kanz1A

Thanx @Fiddla01 Fiddla01 for the new threat that brought us a solution.

@mitu that saves me a lot of sleep.

Not perfekt but a way i can live with it