Can't edit boot/config.txt

bradleyhollander

Ok sorry I followed the official retropie setup 100% and I even did it again and nothing shows on screen when I switch the raspberry pi on. only when I use a hdmi screen does it work or if I plug a usb into the rasp pi

DarkWolf

@bradleyhollander if you have no screen connected what should it show?

AlexMurphy

@bradleyhollander That is odd. I Would re-download the image and burn it again to a newly formatted SD card just to be sure. Sometimes stuff just goes wrong. Never assume anything!

bradleyhollander

Could it be my sd card because I have tryed formatting it and flashing the .img twice. but I'm still left with no image coming on when I plug in a screen and power into my pi

AlexMurphy

@bradleyhollander Is the green LED lighting up?

bradleyhollander

I will try again maby it works on try number 3

DarkWolf

otherwise try another sd card

AlexMurphy

@bradleyhollander Before you do that, plug it in. Is the green LED flashing at all?

bradleyhollander

@AlexMurphy yes it flashes in quick succeshion

AlexMurphy

@bradleyhollander That means it is working. What sort of display is it connected to? Try a different TV or a different HDMI cable.

DarkWolf

@bradleyhollander the power supply could also be a problem
use one with a minimum of 1A output

bradleyhollander

@AlexMurphy I use a old Vga screen with a hdmi adapter

AlexMurphy

@bradleyhollander Your adaptor is not compatible, sorry.

DarkWolf

Ok that is the problem
The vga adapter disables the hdmi auto detection of your monitor
this can be resolved somehow, let me look into my old pi, I made it there somehow

DarkWolf

Ok so what you have to do:

connect via ssh over network (you need a console for this, however you get to it)
type

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

Remove the # in front of

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

press ctrl+x, enter and than y,enter to save the file
restart your pie with

sudo reboot

if you get no output:
Remove the # in front of

hdmi_safe=1

as well and reboot

Now the hdmi port is forced to be activated and outputting at any time.
This diables composite output, but I guess you don't want to use it.

Hope that helps

bradleyhollander

Composit the yellow plug?

DarkWolf

@bradleyhollander yeah, I guess that was it

DarkWolf

One important thing left:
As the hdmi safe mode is disabled, it could happen that the pi overheats, so keep an eye on it ;-)

I found a great thread for this, so if you need more information you can probably look it up here.

bradleyhollander

@DarkWolf can I do this by editing the config.txt on the sd card

DarkWolf

@bradleyhollander the config.txt file is located on the boot partition of the sd card
you can find the config.txt file at the root

Edit:
Another addition:
First remove the # of

hdmi_force_hotplug=1

and try it out, if you get no output remove the # of

hdmi_safe=1