McAirpos disappearing after reboot on Recalbox 8.0(unresolved, but working on 4 of developer's tests)

[cfpwastaken]

Everytime I reboot my Recalbox 8.0 the icon for McAirpos gets removed for some reason, requiring me to go into the terminal and run the install script again. This is very bad for a portable game console if it is not portable anymore because you need a keyboard and internet to run the script. Tried using a Recalbox 7 image but i cant find it on the website.

~cfp

[Vegz78]

but yes once i run it again it does show up again... until a reboot

Getting hard for me now, when I am not able to reproduce the same situation as you are experiencing...

Have you tried running the McAirpos install sript on the local Recalbox console(F4 + ALT+F2) instead of over ssh?

As a last resort, is it worth trying as the first action on a clean system, before modifying anything else?

I am sorry, but I am a little out of clues here right now.

[cfpwastaken]

it already cleaned it :/

[Vegz78]

it already cleaned it :/

Sorry, don't understand...

And you are running the v8 McAirpos install script, without the HDMI fix?

[cfpwastaken]

with the HDMI fix

[Vegz78]

with the HDMI fix

Maybe the HDMI fix is doing something differently. Could you try the one without the HDMI fix first? Computers work in mysterious ways...

[Vegz78]

What I did was:

1. Boot fresh RB image
2. Run McAirpos v8.0 install script without HDMI fix from local RB console(F4 + ALT+F2)
3. Reboot
4. Add MakeCode Arcade .elf game file
5. Reboot

[cfpwastaken]

gimme a minute

[cfpwastaken]

it doesnt want to.

[Vegz78]

You cannot connect a local keyboard?

[cfpwastaken]

i actually have to go now so guess well continue 2moro. You could try checking if it breaks with the fix for you too.

[cfpwastaken]

You cannot connect a local keyboard?

i did but its just easier using ssh

[Vegz78]

Ok! I am on it, but waiting for W10 updates to finish…

[cfpwastaken]

Me with linux

[cfpwastaken]

is there a way to restart emulationstation without the web thing tho?

[cfpwastaken]

found it out

killall emulationstation
emulationstation &

[Vegz78]

From the local console? You could go to /etc/init.d folder and run S31Emulationstation start.

But I find the command “reboot” from console is always best.

[cfpwastaken]

yes but that would remove mcairpos again

[Vegz78]

Yeah, right. I forgot.

[Vegz78]

Ok, now I have tested both RB v8.0 installation scripts - with and without the HDMI fix - over ssh.

They both work fine, keeping the McAirpos installation intact between reboots on my Raspberry Pi 3 B+ with the newest Recalbox v8.0 image downloaded tonight as separate .xz file and flashed to SD with Balena Etcher on a W10 PC:

Procedure:

1. Flash and boot the RB v8.0 image
2. ssh into image, logon: root/recalboxroot
3. Run either of two v8.0 installation scripts - with or without the HDMI fix
4. Copy a MakeCode Arcade .elf game file onto the RB shared network drive in the folder /recalbox/share/roms/makecode
5. Reboot

NB for other readers: The MakeCode Arcade/McAirpos menu item will not appear in the Recalbox main menu unless there is at least one MakeCode Arcade .elf game file inside the /recalbox/share/roms/makecode folder.

So, I am really sorry, @cfpwastaken, but I am utterly unable to reproduce your situation with the McAirpos installation not being kept in your Recalbox v8.0 main menu and/or systemlist.xml on my system. My tests tonight show only that the installation scripts work, at least on my side.

I will try to help you as best I can to get this working also for you, but I have no idea nor any new theories about what the problem on your system might be at the moment.

I really hope you get it working!

[cfpwastaken]

Ok ¯\(ツ)\/¯ I could create a .img file from my card and you could flash it to yours and see what happens?

[cfpwastaken]

I also found another issue while testing but i made it its own issue #35

[Vegz78]

Ok ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I could create a .img file from my card and you could flash it to yours and see what happens?

Or maybe other way around, that you get a copy of my working image?

But we’re out ice skating right now.

Are we using the same RecalBox image, by the way? https://www.recalbox.com/download/stable/rpi/rpi3/alternative

[cfpwastaken]

i used the one in raspberry pi imager.

[Vegz78]

i used the one in raspberry pi imager.

Ok, just an idea to try from the same basis.

[Vegz78]

Somewhere I could send you a download link to a working image?

[cfpwastaken]

do you have an image of the card?

[cfpwastaken]

downloading would take very long for me as i live in germany soo

[Vegz78]

Not yet, I was hoping you’d try this image first and run the McAirpos install script as first thing, like I had success with: https://www.recalbox.com/download/stable/rpi/rpi3/alternative

I can’t figure out a reason why the same actions on the same image would produce a different result?

[rdmueller]

@cfpwastaken German internet is not that slow 😁

[Vegz78]

Ok, @cfpwastaken!

I just made a final attempt where I tried to replicate your situation, as described by you above, the best I could...

It - kind of unfortunately - was also successfull:

1. Flash Recalbox v8.0 image for RPi 3 on SD using Raspberry Pi imager v1.6.2 running on Debian Buster
2. Boot image on Raspberry Pi 3 (B+), showing version logo "8.0-Electron 2021/12/01 13:43", same as above
3. Ssh into running Recalbox installation(logon: root/recalboxroot)
4. First action, run McAirpos installation script with HDMI fix: curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Vegz78/McAirpos/master/install_recalbox_v8.0_HDMI-Audio-Fix.sh | bash -
5. Over the Recalbox samba share, copy a MakeCode Arcade .elf game file to /recalbox/share/roms/makecode
6. Reboot

Installation of McAirpos is kept intact between reboots, and games and everything else seem to work fine.

Since I am unable to replicate the error you experience with the McAirpos entry disappearing from the Recalbox main menu/systemlist.xml, since at least 4 different attempts of mine where all successfull, and since there seemingly is no more response or attempts at gettig this to work from you, I am closing this issue as unresolved.

I am sorry that McAirpos did not work for you on your Recalbox v8.0 installation, and I hope that any of my 4 successfull attempts described above will also work for you!

[cfpwastaken]

showing version logo "8.0-Electron 2021/12/01 13:43"

Actually that is the version im using, same date, same time

I will try doing it on a fresh image again later.

German internet is not that slow

Yes but a >16GB image of an SD Card can take a very long time to download, especially when downloading from another country

[Vegz78]

I will try doing it on a fresh image again later.

did it work?

[cfpwastaken]

i didnt try yet because i dont have another sd card lying around, and i dont think i can copy the contents of the current install to my computer and flash it again in case i want to go back.

[Vegz78]

Ok, just reopen the case if/when you get a chance to try.

[cfpwastaken]

I just got it working on a fresh install of retropie. Works as expected, its just that the size of the games are way too small (should I open another issue for this?). This may be a configuration error of retropie and i will look into this tomorrow. I haven't tested it on recalbox yet but I will try that too.

[Vegz78]

hi,

No need for new issue.

What do you mean by «the size of the games are too small»?

Do the games run as they should or not? Too small compared to what?

[cfpwastaken]

too small compared to the menu i guess.

[cfpwastaken]

oh well, it was a configuration issue as overscan is enabled by default. Thanks anyway

[Vegz78]

oh well, it was a configuration issue as overscan is enabled by default. Thanks anyway

Ok, the screen image of the game was projected too small… ;-)

Great to hear that you found a solution and that McAirpos is now working for you! Thanks also for contributing here with the solution.

Happy retro games making and playing!

[Vegz78]

Got it working on Recalbox yet, @cfpwastaken? ;-)

[cfpwastaken]

I will tell you when I decide I will test it

[cfpwastaken]

I am really sorry for the long wait. The menu is now persistently showing up in the recalbox menu. However, the games dont launch at all. It just kicks me back to the menu saying "Looks like your game didn't launch!" The file has chmod +x and the directory is writeable.

[rdmueller]

Are you able to launch the games manually? Ssh into the system and start them?

[cfpwastaken]

the readme only says how to do it on retropie. And it seems like the recalbox script stores it somewhere else.

[Vegz78]

What does the McAirpos log say right after trying to launch? Please submit here.

And also a good idea to try to launch manually, ref. @rdmueller's suggestion: https://github.com/Vegz78/McAirpos#Usage