Problems with freezing / Fast forward button / PS3 controller

deadpool

Hello,
brand new pi user here - pretty ignorant to how to reconfig files in retropie via the console. Loving retropie, but I've been having 3 major problems:

How to program a fast-forward button (or is it frame skip that speeds up the game)? I have seen other guides on reconfiguring the inputs via the console, but they seem for older versions of retropie. I have found where it says "# input_hold_fast_forward = 1" within the sudo nano /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg file, but this key does not respond (on keyboard) within the emulator. In fact, most of the keyboard commands listed don't seem to work in-game, other than the few I could program within emulation station, which seems touchy at best.
I've been having similar problems some other users have with getting the PS3 controller to work properly - it doesn't seem well recognized in emulationstation for configuring the buttons. It does seem to work fine with bluetooth only (not with USB cable connected) so I guess I can live with it for now
The newest problem is freezing within games. I'm talking screen locking up, no response from controller or keyboard, no apparent solution other than unplugging power to the raspberry pi (which i know is a no-no, but honestly what other choice do I have?) The emulator started freezing very frequently as of last night. I suspect it is because of my attempts to use multiple controllers (my ps3 as 'controller 1' and my roommate using a cheap USB SNES controller as 'controller 2'), but I also suspect it won't let me use two bluetooth PS3 controllers at once. I will find out later today if I can do so.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give!

wetriner

Try again while holding rshift or even select on your joypad. Once a input_enable_hotkey or input_enable_hotkey_btn has been set, you have to use it in combination with any hotkey. I prefer to use input_toggle_fast_forward_btn and set it to one of my controller buttons in the retroarch-joypads directory, but if you like the hold function then you're doing the right thing. Just note if you want to put it into your joypad file for easy access on your controller, add _btn to the end of it.

ErayMan

For your #3, using ps3 controller using the builtin pi3 bluetooth make emulationstation or any emulator crashes after a minute or two.
See bug report: https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/1360
I am not aware of any fix for that, aside from using an USB bluetooth

Samwise

@deadpool said:
..... # input_hold_fast_forward = 1

Hi, though you could add a toggle_fast_forward_btn= "X" to correspond to a certain button on your pad (I have it on my up-Dpad button), I found that I was losing this hotkey each time I rebooted the Pi.

I found a more permanent solution to be, while playing a game, hold Select and press Triangle to pull up the Retroarch menu, then find the input settings (it may be under core input, sorry I don't have it in front of me) and there will an option for binding hotkeys. The top one will be the toggle fast forward option. Within the Retroarch menu, make sure you have it set to save your configuration on exit and the toggle hotkey will be there whenever you reboot.

The freezing within games is caused by using the onboard BT and a wireless PS3 controller. It seems to affect all emulators except the PS1 one.

deadpool

Thanks for the responses. Do you guys know if it only freezes with the PS3 controller? or any bluetooth controller? Can I use a bluetooth snes controller like [this one] ?(http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Bluetooth-Controller-Classic-Joystick/dp/B014QP2H1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460230044&sr=8-1&keywords=bluetooth+snes+controller)

deadpool

@Samwise Thanks! Without being able to use the PS3 controller (in that connected via USB it doesn't sync, and bluetooth makes it crash) what kind of controller do you use? What I mean is with using replicated SNES controllers there aren't any extra buttons to leave to a fast forward function (In using SNES games that are made for the controller i mean). Appreciate any input, and I will definitely try this

deadpool

@Samwise Thanks! This worked perfectly. Do you know if there is a way to adjust the fast forward (i.e. make it faster?)

Samwise

@deadpool I use PS3 controllers, but I've disabled the onboard bluetooth on my pi3 and I'm using a bluetooth dongle. Although none of my emulators crash anymore, I can't seem to connect any of my 8bitdo controllers to the dongle together with my PS3 controllers, so I haven't quite figured it all out yet.

I've just gone with PS3 controllers until I work it out (I'd like to be able to use the SNES30 8bitdo for SNES games)

Samwise

@deadpool Sorry just saw the rest of your post - no idea if there's a way to speed up the fast forward (I don't think so but maybe someone else can jump in?) but I noticed a massive improvement in the stability and speed of fast forwarding after overclocking my Pi (actually using advice from someone on this forum).

You don't need any extra buttons for hotkeys, a standard USB snes controller should be fine (the up button on the Dpad isn't used for any hotkeys so you could just map your toggle fast forward to that, I think down on the dpad is the same, and the Y/square button). Hope that helps

deadpool

@Samwise I just ordered an 8bitdo controller and another corded usb SNES controller as well. How did you disable the bluetooth? Also, how did you overclock - and are there any risks to doing so? Thanks

Samwise

@deadpool https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=142481&p=943702 the first two posts helped me disable my onboard bluetooth and get a dongle set up. Before you do any of this, you should go to the command line and run sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade.

It wasn't a painless process and I'm still not convinced I've done it right. I have 3 PS3 controllers paired to my Pi3 but none of my 8Bitdos will pair and I've kind of given up at this stage. You may want to look at the Retropie subreddit for advice on getting your 8bitdo set up.

You overclock by editing /boot/config.txt

You should read around overclocking before you do anything, there are lots of different overclock settings and some may not be right for your Pi. I think you can kind of brick your Pi if you go too high. Anyway the overclock settings I used were given to me by another user here in this thread: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/26/best-overclock-settings-for-psp-emulation-on-rpi-3/11

wetriner

@deadpool There's this section in the retroarch.cfg

# The maximum rate at which content will be run when using fast forward. (E.g. 5.0 for 60 fps content => 300 fps cap).
# RetroArch will go to sleep to ensure that the maximum rate will not be exceeded.
# Do not rely on this cap to be perfectly accurate.
# If this is set at 0, then fastforward ratio is unlimited (no FPS cap)
fastforward_ratio = 0

I don't know if this is a very healthy setting to be using, or how much it even effectively speeds things up. There doesn't seem to be a way to get the really zippy frameskipping fastforward that you find with a lot of pc emulators. At least, I haven't come across it yet.