PlayStation FFmpeg Recording causes Seg Fault in RetroPie 4.0.2 (Recording Megadrive, VCS, etc still fine)

RetroResolution

@BuZz okay, thanks for confirming that.

The problem is apparently in the very latest RetroArch 1.3.6 (version with the new UI) - I replaced my RetroPie 4.0.2's RetroArch with the ffmpeg-enabled version 1.3.4 from my RetroPie 3.8 system and was able to record from the PlayStation.

I initially tried replacing the lr-pcsx-rearmed PlayStation core from my RetroPie 3.8 build, but as expected it made no difference (both are version r22).

Unfortunately I didn't back up my RetroPie 4 rc1's ffmpeg-enabled build of RetroArch 1.3.6 before I updated everything earlier.

I need to look into pulling and building a specific version of RetroArch.

RetroResolution

@BuZz I'm confused - under RetroPie's github entry RetroArch is listed as forked:

RetroArch
forked from libretro/RetroArch
Reference frontend for the libretro API.
Updated on 17 Jun 2015

RetroResolution

There is a change specific to ffmpeg recording in the latest retroarch commit , adding a new null reference check, which perhaps is the issue with lr-pcsx-rearmed.

I've located the source for the July 17th release of RetroArch, and shall investigate building this with ffmpeg recording enabled. I'm aiming to have a workaround - building against a known-good recent version -whilst retroarch is in flux.

https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/archive/v1.3.6.tar.gz

I'll aim to post an issue to the retroarch git repository later as well.

For the record, I've tested recording vcs, megadrive, SNES and 32x with 4.0.2 and retroarch 1.3.6 (very latest) and all of these work perfectly as before.

BuZz

@RetroResolution said in PlayStation FFmpeg Recording causes Seg Fault in RetroPie 4.0.2 (Recording Megadrive, VCS, etc still fine):

@BuZz I'm confused - under RetroPie's github entry RetroArch is listed as forked:

RetroArch
forked from libretro/RetroArch
Reference frontend for the libretro API.
Updated on 17 Jun 2015

That is not used by the retropie-setup script.

RetroResolution

@BuZz okay, thanks

RetroResolution

Okay, I have determined the steps required to pull a specific version of RetroArch from the Git releases, and have the existing RetroPie setup system build this (instead of the default behaviour of pulling the very latest source code).

From test it seems that sometime in the last few days some changes have been made to RetroArch 1.3.6; as well as adding a very funky new UI, when recording is enabled using FFmpeg something fails when the PlayStation emulator lr-pcsx-rearmed is used. Recording from VCS, Megadrive, 32X, and SNES were all working as normal.

I'll write this up as an addendum to my original guide, but for now the required process is:

OBTAIN AND BUILD SPECIFIC VERSION OF RETROARCH TO ENABLE FFMPEG RECORDING

Modify the RetroPie setup script for RetroArch:

cd /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup

remove paramater which is disabling ffmpeg in retroarch:

sed -i "s/--disable-ffmpeg//" scriptmodules/emulators/retroarch.sh

Edit the script to prevent call which obtains the very latest version of RetroArch source from git repository:

sed -i 's@$gitPullOrClone "$md_build" https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch.git$@#\1@' retroarch.sh

Obtain RetroArch version 1.3.6 (as a tar) from the git archive:

cd /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/tmp/build

wget https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/archive/v1.3.6.tar.gz

Unpack tar archive file:

tar xzvf v1.3.6.tar.gz

Remove the tar file:

rm v1.3.6.tar.gz

Rename directory to that expected by setup script:

mv RetroArch-1.3.6/ retroarch

Run the setup script to build RetroArch 1.3.6 with ffmpeg enabled:

cd /home/pi/RetroPie-Setup

sudo ./retropie_packages.sh retroarch

Replace the modified script file (to prevent issues when running future updates via the retropie setup script, due to uncommitted changes in the local git repository casused by modifying this file)

git checkout scriptmodules/emulators/retroarch.sh

NOTE:
after running the script, the temporary build folder should be empty
/home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/tmp/build

...and /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarchshould contain the freshly rebuilt version 1.3.6 retroarch

meleu

@RetroResolution it seems that you changed the Menu Driver to xmb.

Usually changed in Settings -> Driver -> Menu Driver. It is usually rgui, but it seems that it changed to xmb.

(Edit: it is menu_driver in retroarch.cfg.)

RetroResolution

@meleu hi,
Didn't know about that option - thanks!

As it happens I didn't make any changes explicitly - I grabbed the very latest version of retroarch this morning as a by-product of helping someone who posted a comment on my guide this morning. This variant of retroarch 1.3.6 is newer than that from which the binary version was built (the one you normally get when updating RetroPie).

It seems that in the overnight build that option is now default - on my machine I ended up with no icons in the menu. I posted a screen grab earlier, but I can't see the picture on the thread for some reason.

The new menu looks like it'll be very slick. Also means several of my guides are out of date again...

dankcushions

@RetroResolution that xmb menu is quite old now but is nice looking. it shouldn't be the default as retropie has the menu_driver set to rgui in the /all/retroarch.cfg, no? i don't know as i've been intentionally using the xmb driver for ages.

and yeah i would say your guides aren't out of date as i imagine retropie will keep using the rgui (old menu) as it's lighter on resources (although on an rpi3 i don't see any difference in game).

meleu

@dankcushions I took a look at the configure_retroarch function and there's no default setting to video_driver. I think it would be useful to set it to rgui.

RetroResolution

@dankcushions thanks for the insight - that menu being different really threw me this morning, and given the problems with recording I just assumed it was new. Glad my other guides can be left as-is!

dankcushions

@meleu you're right! hmm, interesting. perhaps the xmb will in fact be the default from now on :) i just asked in the retroarch IRC channel and apparently it's defaulted differently on different systems, so who knows when it changed.

like i said, it's fine on the pi3 but not sure about pi2 and 1.

meleu

@dankcushions said in PlayStation FFmpeg Recording causes Seg Fault in RetroPie 4.0.2 (Recording Megadrive, VCS, etc still fine):

perhaps the xmb will in fact be the default from now on

It's a bad idea for Android phones. The xmb doesn't accept input from the touchscreen...

meleu

@RetroResolution can you please paste here the output of this command:

grep video_driver /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

I'm curious if it is really the default or if somehow it is explicitly xmb.

RetroResolution

@meleu hi,

the video block is as follows:

#### Video

# Video driver to use. "gl", "xvideo", "sdl"
# video_driver = "gl"

All commented out...

dankcushions

@RetroResolution @meleu i think you want the menu_driver block :)

meleu

ooops! Indeed! I mean menu_driver

@RetroResolution

grep menu_driver /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg

RetroResolution

@meleu hi,

I'll try to get this for you soon; having some issues since switching out sd cards a couple of times earlier today to do testing - a kernel panic on boot, and then after a few more reboot tests a 'fixing recursive fault but reboot is needed' message.

I had a kernel panic on 5th July after removing the sd to make a backup image and the re-inserting it (not on the first boot though). Oddly enough, on my Pi 2 (with the older sprung-loaded sd slot, not the Pi 3 friction slot) I'd sometimes have to re-insert the card a couple of times for it to be recognised. I have used a number of different sd cards over the last year or so.

Anyway, I'll try and get that information to you soon.

meleu

I tested on a friend's raspi3 (I don't have one) and, indeed, RetroArch defaults menu_driver to xmb on raspi3. In other words, the menu_driver line is commented and when I invoke the menu with select+x it shows this screen:

xmb

herb_fargus

@meleu I was unaware it even functioned on the pi. I can't even get it to run on my pc. (As an aside the blank squares are due to the lack of the assets folder)