ROMs not working on clean install (after working fine on pre-built image)

alpinemonkey

I'm using a Pi4, with Retropie version 4.8, with a Canakit power supply.

This is a clean install, with usb-mount set up, and my ROMs all on a connected USB.

The ROMs are taken from a pre-built image which I originally had (and still have on a different SD card).

I wanted to set up this clean install so I'm doing everything properly and can customise the set-up better.

The trouble is that although the ROMs I had were working fine on the pre-built image, some of them don't work at all with this clean install. Some do, some don't, and this is true across different platforms. (It does seem that the simpler emulators - Sega Master System, Megadrive - all seem to be working ok, but that more modern systems - Psx, N64 - are where there are differences in the ROMs working on the pre-build and not working on this new install).

I know I can't ask for help with the pre-build - but I'm really confused as to why the ROMs wouldn't be working on this clean install....I'd have thought this would be MORE reliable for them to work, rather than less.

The other problem in troubleshooting this is that the errors in the runcommand log file are not consistent.

Sometimes the game won't load at all, sometimes all the menus work but then they crash when trying to actually play the game.

Here's an example of the error when trying to load Tekken 3, which worked absolutely fine on the pre-build but not here:

[WARN] [Core Info] Error parsing chunk:
---snip---
{"version":"1.2","items":[,{"display_name":"Sony - PlayStation (PCSX ReARMed)","display_version":"r21","core_name":"PCSX-ReARMed","system_manufacturer":"Sony","systemname":"PlayStation","system_id":"playstation","supported_extensions":"bin|cue|img|mdf|pbp|toc|cbn|m3u|ccd|chd|iso|exe
---snip---
[WARN] [Core Info] Error: Invalid JSON at line 1, column 27 - unexpected ',' in value.
[WARN] [Core Info] Core info cache has invalid version - forcing refresh (required v1.2, found v(null))

Any ideas why this might be, or if there are any settings from the pre-build I could copy over to the new system?

I appreciate the vagueness of the explanation but I wondered if there was a general reason why this might be happening?

Thanks.

mitu

@alpinemonkey said in ROMs not working on clean install (after working fine on pre-built image):

ild and not working on this new install).

I know I can't ask for help with the pre-build - but I'm really confused as to why the ROMs wouldn't be working on this clean install....I'd have thought this would be MORE reliable for them to work, rather than less.

Not sure why it would be more reliable and there's no one-size-fits-all answer here. Check on a system by system basis:

the ROM files are correct (i.e. no incompletely copied or corrupted files)
if the system needs a BIOS to function, make sure you have provided the correct BIOS files
for systems with multiple emulators available, try to see if the ROM file is supported by the current emulator. This includes mis-matched ROMSet collections for arcade games or zipped files when the emulator doesn't support it, etc.

Failing that, please give a concrete example and a post the log of the emulator to check for errors (the log is in /dev/shm/runcommand.log).

alpinemonkey

@mitu Thanks for this.

I'm pretty sure all bios are fine and as I said, the ROMs are the same ROMs I've had on a previous system (with an older version of Retropie on a pre-built image) which all worked fine. The change is that I'm using the same ROMs and bios on a clean recent install from a USB.

I'm getting this happening across all my emulators but with seemingly random games.

Will post a full log file from a couple of different examples next time it happens in this thread.

Thanks again

alpinemonkey

@mitu Here's an example of a ROM that isn't working in my new system, but which worked fine on the pre-built image. This is Tekken 3 on the PSX. The game started fine and I got through all the menus but then stalls on going in to actual gameplay. Would be good to know what the particular issue is with this one...

https://pastebin.com/7V1vPj0J

mitu

@alpinemonkey This looks like a bad compressed file, since it can't be read by the core:

....
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_GEOMETRY: 368x480, Aspect: 1.333.
[libretro INFO] uncompress failed with -3 for block 16582, sector 265312
[INFO] [SRAM]: Saving RAM type #0 to "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx/PCSX-ReARMed/Tekken 3.srm".
...

alpinemonkey

@mitu OK, thanks. If that's the case with that one, why would it work on another system?

mitu

@alpinemonkey Maybe the file has not been correctly copied. Either way, the error in the log file explains why it's not working on the target system.

EDIT: actually, another cause may be the emulator core (pcsx-rearmed) having a regression. Does this error happens with all PS1 .pbp games ~~(i.e. multiple discs)~~ ?

alpinemonkey

@mitu Interesting. Thanks for the info. I'll try recopying that one and see if I can get it to work.

Another .pbp file I have is Tony Hawk 2. This doesn't even get to the menu but stalls when trying. Here's the log file for that one:

https://pastebin.com/wfecdZ92

mitu

@alpinemonkey said in ROMs not working on clean install (after working fine on pre-built image):

Another .pbp file I have is Tony Hawk 2. This doesn't even get to the menu but stalls when trying. Here's the log file for that one:

https://pastebin.com/wfecdZ92

This doesn't seem to be a PBP file, it's a .cue + .bin file:

Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-pcsx-rearmed/pcsx_rearmed_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/psx/retroarch.cfg "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx/Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Europe, Australia).cue
..
[libretro INFO] Loaded CD Image: /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psx/Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (Europe, Australia).cue[+cue].
[libretro INFO] Track 01 (DATA) - Start 00:02:00, Length 70:39:42
[libretro INFO] CD-ROM Label: SLES02908                       
[libretro INFO] CD-ROM ID: SLES02908
[libretro INFO] CD-ROM EXE Name: SLES_029.08;1
[libretro INFO] BIOS: 19951204, 'CEX-3000/1001/1002 by K.S.', 'A'
....

I don't see any obvious error here from the RetroArch/libretro core. Did you disable the Dynarec (dynamic recompiler) in the core options ? That's usually a cause for slowdown.

alpinemonkey

@mitu No - haven't touched it and that setting is enabled. That's a strange one then. Again...this works fine on another system.

One odd things is that when this one stalls, a red square appears in the top right of the screen...not sure if that is a signifier of anything?!

mitu

@mitu No - haven't touched it and that setting is enabled. That's a strange one then. Again...this works fine on another system.

If the same disc is working on a system but not on the other, the other 2 variables are the emulator and the BIOS file.

One odd things is that when this one stalls, a red square appears in the top right of the screen...not sure if that is a signifier of anything?!

Doesn't ring a bell. I tried the NTSC Tekken 3 image in PBP format and I don't get a crash, so it's not a core regression. For good measure you can try updating the pcsx-rearmed core from source. The only difference here is the BIOS uses, I've tested with SCPH1001.BIN, checksum (MD5) 924e392ed05558ffdb115408c263dccf. What's the checksum on your BIOS file ?

alpinemonkey

@mitu Thanks. I've reinstalled the emulator from source, and have also checked that the BIOS is the same as yours, which it is.

I also found another version of the game (bin/cue files), have added it and it works.

I guess it's going to be a case of finding new ROMs for those that aren't working. Was hoping for a simpler, catch-all solution but I'll keep going through them individually and see if new ROM files help in the first instance.

mitu

@alpinemonkey said in ROMs not working on clean install (after working fine on pre-built image):

I also found another version of the game (bin/cue files), have added it and it works.

For PS1 games, Redump validated .cue/.bin files should always work. You can compress them yourself with chdman if you'd like to save space.