First install of retroarch on ubuntu minimal - NOOB questions

RetroArch General
#1

Hello all,

I’ve just installed retroarch using the Hunter Kaller PPA on my HTPC. Plan is to have it running withing XBMC. But currently trying to run it from command line. I have a few questions which I hope you can answer. I installed the genesis core and I’m testing an MD rom.

  • retroarch cannot unzip my ROM. “Failed to extract rom from zipped file”. I tried using retroarch-zip command, but it didn’t work either. Any hints or tips on how to run roms in zip file?
  • the CFG file on the ubuntu system is placed in etc/retroarch.cfg but I don’t have rights to change it. I copied it to another dir and used retroarch -c /mydir/retroarch.cfg. Is this the correct way of working? Can you make retroarch start with a config file in another dir than /etc/retroarch.cfg?
  • When I run retroarch with the genesis core (-L /usr/lib/libretro-genesisplusgx.so) and use an “md” extension for the rom, I get the following error :Failed to init SDL video, cannot open video driver … exiting. Fatal error received in : "init_video_input. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

My specs : Intel I7 3770, 8gig ram, 120gb SD. No 3D card (using the intel onboard one)

Thanks a lot.

Grave

#2

  1. are they actual zips or 7z, rar, etc? If regular zips, they should work, but I would recommend decompressing them. Even with a full NTSC set, you’re probably only saving like 100 MB by zipping.

  2. You’re doing it exactly like you should. It should also use ‘retroarch.cfg’ if you put it in ~/.config/retroarch (you might have to create it if it’s not there already).

  3. Are you trying to run it in KMS mode? If so, do you have a desktop environment available to verify that it at least works there? Some people reported having problems using KMS if the SDL driver wasn’t disabled at compile-time. I thought I remember that being fixed at some point, but it could still be factor.

#3

Hi Hunterk,

Thanks for the reply. I will keep on searching getting this to work. But please keep in mind I’m a compleet NOOB, so I don’t know what ‘KMS’ means :-s

I’m running an ubuntu minimal install on my HTPC, with direct boot to XBMC. I don’t have a gui environment installed, I’m working from command line. I want it to work first from commandline, afterwards I hope to integrate in rom collection browser using XBMC.

I checked the config a little bit, and I found the SDL driver in the input section. maybe that has got something to do with it?

Cheers, Grave

PS : If I get this to work, I’m planning to add an how to thread on the XBMC forums, I bet more people wanne use retroarch in RCB on an ubuntu system…

#4

KMS mode lets RetroArch draw its own window directly from the console without the need for an X-server or anything like that (in fact, it’s one of the only programs around that can do it like that; it’s a fancy new kernel/driver feature).

Try this build and see if it works any better: http://www.mediafire.com/?bbyzkzqob5imdnd

If it does, the SDL conflict is probably still in effect and I will need to disable it in my normal packages.