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    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Exiting Emulation Station - Blackscreen with cursor

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    • E
      ebekeneezer
      last edited by

      Forgive me for being a complete noob here. I'm usually fairly saavy when it comes to Windows based machines, but I am completely new to Linux and have only had the Raspberry Pi 3 for a few weeks, so I feel like I know nothing at all...

      Initially everything was working fine, as it should. I got Retropie running, I got roms loaded via logging into the systems IP address on a Windows machine, copied over a few bios files for systems that needed, etc. I haven't made any changes to the system files or anything like that. In fact Retropie for the most part still works and roms still run correctly.

      However recently I have noticed Retropie/Emulation Station has been acting weird. These 2 things I've noticed may-well be unrelated but I noticed them happening around the same time.

      1. At first running the built in Scraper worked fine. Now for some reason it seems like it tries to run, looks like its locked up as soon as I run it (I can't back out of it or anything, looks like its frozen), eventually goes to the actual Scraper screen but does nothing and then the system reboots after a few minutes.

      2. After having problems with the Scraper, I looked online and saw that people had recommended sselph scraper instead of the built in one. So I figured I'd install that instead. However when I try to exit emulation station via the normal Retropie menu, all I get is a black screen with a cursor. No text or anything. I tried hitting enter (which I saw on another forum post previously to stop emulation station from restarting) but all it does is eventually restart emulation station after a minute or two. I can type text there but it just seems to display the text and skip to the next line, it doesn't seem like its registering.

      I don't know if I put a file in the wrong place and it is causing some kind of conflict or if my SD Card is becoming corrupted or what. I have not tried to manually change any of the systems settings, all I have done is put roms and system bios files onto the SD.

      If it helps, I am using a DVI -> HDMI converter on my monitor (the monitor doesn't have an hdmi input), but I am getting video signals, even when it's on the black screen, there's a cursor, so the video input is working. I am also using a SNES style USB controller.

      Thanks for the help. If there's any more information you need, let me know.

      herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • herb_fargusH
        herb_fargus administrators @ebekeneezer
        last edited by

        @ebekeneezer sometimes it freezes on the console like that for who knows why, try rebooting and pressing f4 to go to the terminal and see if it works.

        but yes sselphs scraper is much better: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/scraper

        you can also try sshing in to your pi if you cant get the terminal to work https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/ssh

        If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

        Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

        BuZzB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • BuZzB
          BuZz administrators @herb_fargus
          last edited by BuZz

          It sounds like it's saving rather than frozen. Many ROMs? Make sure you choose exit and not restart.

          To help us help you - please make sure you read the sticky topics before posting - https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

          herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • herb_fargusH
            herb_fargus administrators @BuZz
            last edited by herb_fargus

            @BuZz that too: see also https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/FAQ#why-does-shut-down-and-reboot-take-ages

            If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

            Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • CharcoC
              Charco
              last edited by

              I have done what herb suggested and my Pi 3 shuts down much faster now.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • E
                ebekeneezer
                last edited by ebekeneezer

                You guys are awesome! It seems BuZz was right about my system being bogged down by the massive amount of Roms. And thank you Herb for recommending pressing F4 to get to the terminal, that works like a charm. Now my system shuts-down/reboots fast and I can get into the terminal easily. Herb also thank you for posting that github wiki about the sselph scraper. I had seen youtube videos about how to install it via the terminal using commands, but it was much easier now that it's built right into the retopie setup menu. I'm scraping away now, and I'm not worried that my SD card is about to fail or something!

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • E
                  ebekeneezer
                  last edited by

                  Wow. People weren't kidding about sselphs scraper. To say it was faster is an understatement. It scraped all my roms in about an hour. The other by comparison could take hours to go through a single large console library.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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