Raspberry PI 400, how to limit to 1080p and use with AVR

BenMcLean

OK I have tried disabling 4K screen modes altogether.
I have tried limiting the console to 720p.
But always at some point during boot, RetroPie overrides whatever was put in config.txt and forces it back to 4K.
Even if I reflash the SD card to start over.
Also, EmulationStation isn't just black anymore -- it actually stays in text mode now and lets you fill up the screen with whatever characters you type, but they do nothing.
What.

BenMcLean

I was able to watch this crap boot more closely and it looks like the display settings from config.txt get wiped away when some kind of "kernel hack" is being applied.
Devs, what the hell did you do?

I used to think that these do-it-yourself retro consoles were the way to go for everyone but after using it myself for years, I absolutely cannot recommend RetroPie to anyone who isn't already a hardcore Linux user and even then, I begin to think you'd be better off installing something more generic like Raspberry PI OS and then configuring all of it yourself.

mitu

@benmclean said in Raspberry PI 400, how to limit to 1080p and use with AVR:

But always at some point during boot, RetroPie overrides whatever was put in config.txt and forces it back to 4K.

That would be the GPU driver loading and detecting the display settings. There's nothing that RetroPie installs that configures or changes the video output settings.

Devs, what the hell did you do?

Nothing here, the RetroPie image is a stock RaspiOS Lite Buster image with the RetroPie installed. You'd probably get the same result by booting an official RaspiOS image. Post your config.txt and dmesg (on pastebin.com).

hdmi_edid_file has an effect only if you supply and EDID file to the kernel, overriding the EDID supplied by your display (or AVR).
If you connect the Pi directly to the TV, do you get the same issue ?

Also, please use a civil tone and leave the snarky remarks aside if you wish to get help in the forums.

BenMcLean

@mitu OK I have pasted those here.

I managed to get SSH and Samba turned on, ran updates and transferred my games over, so that's why the SD card is now mostly full. It's also filling the screen now and EmulationStation starts, although trying to view the Pico8 or Tic-80 menus make it crash. Pokemon Mini does too. I think this has to do with putting systems in which don't have custom artwork for the default theme. Can EmulationStation be fixed so that it won't crash from missing artwork? Seems like a few if then blocks should take care of that.

But it is still a major problem for me to read the text any time I have to go into any of the text menus on the TV.

I tried this:

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

and that makes the console start in 720p but it doesn't stay in 720p.

Also, while it's OK to plug the pi 400 into the TV just for testing, the audio needs to be coming through the AVR in the final setup. I'll try plugging it in directly just for a test and report back on that.

BenMcLean

I figured out my big problem with the device apparently ignoring my config.txt edits!

The Raspberry PI 400 has two display ports. I plugged in to the one nearest the power port when I should have instead plugged in to the one nearest the SD card slot. After I switched to the other port, the display was finally limited to 1080p as expected based on my config.txt edits.

Also, to help me read the menus on the TV, I found the "consolefont" option in the RetroPie Setup menu and chose a bigger font.

Getting the cheats to work is a pain but I got that working finally.

I am still having problems with the controllers though. I got them to stay remembered after a reboot this time, but the left and right triggers aren't recognized in EmulationStation. (while the shoulders are) Fortunately, I can set them manually in the RetroArch GUI but it would be nice if they'd just work.

mitu

Can EmulationStation be fixed so that it won't crash from missing artwork? Seems like a few if then blocks should take care of that.

I don't recall such a bug - what theme are you using and which ES version ?

Also, while it's OK to plug the pi 400 into the TV just for testing, the audio needs to be coming through the AVR in the final setup. I'll try plugging it in directly just for a test and report back on that.

If the AVR doesn't send a valid EDID, but your TV works directly plugged in, then you can dump the EDID from your TV and use the hdmi_edid_file in config.txt to override the HDMI port settings:

# dump the EDID from the TV
sudo tvservice -d /boot/edid.dat

in config.txt:

hdmi_edid_file=1
hdmi_edid_filename:0=edid.dat
hdmi_edid_filename:1=edid.dat

[..] I got them to stay remembered after a reboot this time, but the left and right triggers aren't recognized in EmulationStation.

How are the gamepads connected ? If they's connected via USB, try re-installing the xpad driver from RetroPie-Setup. This may help if the gamepads are started in XInput mode. Make sure you're using the latest RetroPie-Setup, there have been a few fixed for installing the xpad driver.

BenMcLean

@mitu said in Raspberry PI 400, how to limit to 1080p and use with AVR:

Can EmulationStation be fixed so that it won't crash from missing artwork? Seems like a few if then blocks should take care of that.

I don't recall such a bug - what theme are you using and which ES version ?

Default theme, which I think is called Carbon.

Build Date: 2021-12-26T16:26:11+00:00
Built from source via:
Type: git
URL: https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation
Branch: stable
Commit: c9d905c31acf4b92d0a76b76c5cdf49e2b266d43
Date: 2021-12-26T15:38:57+00:00

How are the gamepads connected ?

Bluetooth.

mitu

Default theme, which I think is called Carbon.

Build Date: 2021-12-26T16:26:11+00:00
Built from source via:
Type: git
URL: https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation
Branch: stable
Commit: c9d905c31acf4b92d0a76b76c5cdf49e2b266d43
Date: 2021-12-26T15:38:57+00:00

That seems to be the latest stable (2.10.1), this version will have a new default theme (Carbon-2021), but Carbon should work just the same. If you run ES with --debug, can you see where it crashes and what's the last error message ?

How are the gamepads connected ?

Bluetooth.

In this case, if the gamepads are started in XInput mode, I'd recommend installing the xpadneo driver from RetroPie-Setup and re-pair/re-configure the controller(s).

BenMcLean

I think I just got over-frustrated when I said I wouldn't recommend RetroPie anymore.

But that display port issue was an enormous problem for me. Can we get this info about the two display ports added to the official documentation? Or was it there all along and I just missed it, in which case this would have been totally my own fault?

mitu

We have some notes in the docs about dealing with a 4k resolution, but the canonical source is always the Raspberry Pi docs at https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/configuration.html#hdmi-configuration.

EDIT: I'll add some notes about the 2nd port and a link to the video mode table listing.