Getting an amiberry error when trying to run an Amiga game on a new system

craigbot

I'm a very new RetroPie user: this is my first time. I purchased the Amiga ROMs a while ago from Amiga Forever. I have installed RetroPie on a Raspberry Pi 4 and am using an Xbox controller. I installed from the Raspberry Pi imager, selecting RetroPie inside of it, and I updated the OS through EmulationStation RetroPie Setup -> Update. I installed the Amiberry binary through Setup -> Manage Packages, etc. I put the Amiga ROMs in the BIOS/amiga directory, and I put LeisureSuitLarry2_v1.3_0193.lha to test a game in roms/amiga. When on boot I try to run the game, it just goes back to the Amiga home screen.

I'm seeing this error in /dev/shm/runcommand.log:

Parameters:
Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/amiberry/amiberry.sh "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/LeisureSuitLarry2_v1.3_0193.lha" --model A1200
Launching ...
./amiberry --autoload /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga/LeisureSuitLarry2_v1.3_0193.lha --model A1200 -G
malloc(): unsorted double linked list corrupted
/opt/retropie/emulators/amiberry/amiberry.sh: line 107:   873 Aborted                 "$emulator" "${params[@]}"

I Googled around and found this on the Amiberry Github site:

You can alternatively use the pre-compiled binary from the Releases page, which seems to work better under RetroPie: https://github.com/BlitterStudio/amiberry/releases/tag/v5.7.1

Pick amiberry-v5.7.1-debian-buster-armhf-rpi3.zip or amiberry-v5.7.1-debian-buster-armhf-rpi4.zip depending on your device.

I had the same issue and error in the log. After wasting a lot of time trying to get it to work. I did this and it worked!

Questions:

Does anyone know about this error and how to fix it?
Does getting a different pre-compiled binary make sense?
If so, how do you install a different pre-compiled binary on the Amiberry in RetroPie?

Many thanks in advance--this is an amazing project, and I know that once I get this running, I'll love it! And Happy New Year!

sleve_mcdichael

Does anyone know about this error and how to fix it?

Yeah, you just need a file /opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry/conf/amiberry.conf with the following content:

rom_path=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/amiga

(Make sure it's capitalized exactly like this, and if your install is under other than the default pi user, then make sure to edit the home dir path /home/pi accordingly.)

See for more details:

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/301768

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/pull/4009

Does getting a different pre-compiled binary make sense?

If so, how do you install a different pre-compiled binary on the Amiberry in RetroPie?

If you get the amiberry binary from the release page and replace the one in /opt/retropie/emulators/amiberry, it can work even without placing the conf file. But it is easier I think just to place the conf and then it works with the default RP provided binary.

craigbot

@sleve_mcdichael said in Getting an amiberry error when trying to run an Amiga game on a new system:

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/pull/4009

Thank you. so much! I made the amiberry.conf file, and that definitely moved the ball forward. I'm now experiencing 2 issues, and I need to fix the first before the second. When I'm in the Amiga emulator, I can't seem to use the controller to function correctly. I have an Xbox controller set up as in the docs https://retropie.org.uk/docs/RetroArch-Configuration/, but the only way I can interact with the GUI is the cursor moves super fast and uncontrollably (for me) with the left analog switch, and no button that I press selects anything. So a few questions related to that:

Can an Xbox controller be set up to work easily with Amiberry? If so, how?
If not, should I be using a keyboard and mouse plugged into the Pi4? If so, how can I have both an Xbox controller for the RetroPie in general and a keyboard and mouse for the Amiga?

The second issue: when I bring up the game, I get this screen:

I saw this following the link you provided:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/36602/amiberry-broken-on-pi-4-buster/8

pi@retropie:/opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry $ cat conf/amiberry.conf 
rom_path=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/amiga
floppy_path=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga
harddrive_path=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga
cdrom_path=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga
lha_path=/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/amiga

I included those other paths in amiberry.conf but it didn't solve the issue.

Last question: I have 2 choices in the Amiga start menu now. Start Amiberry and Leisure Suit Larry. If I click on Start Amiberry, I get this screen:

I can't really do anything with it because of my first issue with the Xbox controller, but when I can interact with the emulator, do I do anything here? In order to play a game, will I need to configure this, or is it pretty much set up out of the box?

Again, many, many thanks, and Happy New Year! I'm hoping that for me, 2025 will be a year of retro gaming 😊

sleve_mcdichael

@craigbot

the only way I can interact with the GUI is the cursor moves super fast and uncontrollably (for me) with the left analog switch, and no button that I press selects anything. So a few questions related to that:

Can an Xbox controller be set up to work easily with Amiberry? If so, how?

I'd imagine so -- it works with other gamepads -- but I do not have one to test with.

I can't replicate this on my (Logitech) controller; Dpad and L-analog both move the highlight cursor one list-item at a time, and holding in a direction does not scroll. Pressing the A or B buttons ("south" or "east") , selects the current item.

When you say "cursor moves super fast" do you mean it's scrolling the highlight through list-items, or is it like free-moving the mouse-pointer?

Have you done any other edit/customize controls besides setup the Xbox gamepad in EmulationStation?

If not, should I be using a keyboard and mouse plugged into the Pi4? If so, how can I have both an Xbox controller for the RetroPie in general and a keyboard and mouse for the Amiga?

Keyboard and mouse should work fine, and might be required for some games. There is no problem having them all plugged in at the same time, they don't interfere; Pi have four USB ports which should be enough for a kb, mouse, and 2x gamepads. You can use a hub or splitter if you need more ports. I keep a kb plugged in at all times and plug the mouse in or out when I want to play some Starcraft.

The second issue: when I bring up the game, I get this screen:

Looks similar but not quite the same as when I had the wrong filename on my kickstarts. Can you try run and post the output of

ls -l /opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry/whdboot/save-data/Kickstarts/kick34005.A500

And also whatever file that path points to if it's a symlink:

ls -l "/path/to/that file.xyz"

If I click on Start Amiberry, I get this screen (...) will I need to configure this, or is it pretty much set up out of the box?

You shouldn't have to do anything here, or at least I didn't. This is just what happens if you start the emulator interface without loading any particular rom.

Dekawar

thanks this might be what going on with mine.

Dekawar

@sleve_mcdichael ok i made the file amiberry.conf copyed and put the text in you gave us.

rom_path=/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/amiga

saved it over network to a the spashcreens fold and now going to move it to

/opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry/conf/

if this works wow. Thanks does this mean i need to move or make a file called amiga in BIOS/ and that is where i need to put my kickstarts?