This is a weird one. If I click on a recent ROM from the third tab in the menu, RetroArch often - but not always - spawns a second instance of itself. I then have to quit that instance, and lo, behind it is the previous instance, now running the ROM I clicked on.
What’s the deal here?
That is indeed weird. Can you give some info on your setup (OS, bitness, version number, etc.) so we can try to reproduce?
Win 10 64, version 1.4.1. I always launch Retroarch through Steam.
Can you try with an updated RetroArch? 1.5.0 or a nightly?
Can do. BTW what’s the best way to update RA without losing any of the millions of config files, or saves, or other info I want to keep?
Download the new version and copy the retroarch.exe, retroarch-debug.exe and all of the dll libs into your old RetroArch directory. Make a backup of your old directory first, in case something goes awry.
So all the files in the root minus the two cfg files?
This seems to be fixed in 1.5.
I was using 1.5.0 up until about June 1 last with Steam in Big Picture mode without any problems, but now I’m beginning to experience problems like the ones described in the original post. I decided to try 1.6.0 and found that my problems persist.
I am also experiencing a generating of a second instance of Retroarch after loading ROMs. I’m loading standard NES ROMs. Things that differ about my situation is that I don’t need to quick load new ROMs from the history section to have this problem. I loaded up 10 Yard Fight, 1942, and then 1943 and got the second instance with 1943.
Steam did get updated on June 1st. Here’s the changelog: http://www.steampowered.com/platform/update_history/index.php I’m wondering if the newly updated controller configuration feature is messing with Retroarch. Even with it turned off, it’s still giving me issues. One extra bit of weirdness is that one time I did try to load Retroarch a couple times straight from the EXE in the directory I keep it, and I had weird problems like the start button exiting the game and the game running way too fast. Completely closing Steam fixed this problem for me immediately and completely.
One more bit of semi-relevant info I found is this: https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/issues/4721 Though I’m not experiencing this exclusively with ISO files.
Good luck fixing this or helping me to fix this, Retroarch guys! I love Retroarch!
I’m not seeing this problem in 1.6.
If it helps to clarify things, I’m loading games from a playlist file. If that’s still quick-loading within RetroArch’s nomenclature, then I’m still quick-loading.
I’ve tried completely new setups of RetroArch and even added a new listing for 1.6.0 in Steam, and it’s still doing it 
Yeah I load from a playlist always as well. Not sure what to tell you, except that (particularly via Steam Link), I used to get multiple RA instances spawning a lot, and now it never happens. I suspect this was as much a Steam problem as anything, because I’d sometimes see it in other games too - like I’d click ‘Quit’ on Lego Harry Potter, and Steam would immediately re-launch the game.
I just think Steam Big Picture intermittently has problems with leaking input, though for me it seems to have been solved sometime in the last few months.
FWIW I use PS4 controllers with Steam’s PS4 configuration functionality - not sure that was the case previously, when I had issues.
Thank you. The second instance of RA is still happening for me, but I have figured out the automatically closing RA outside of Steam problem. It looks like the new Steam update gives you desktop control when Steam’s minimized. The start button is automatically mapped to escape. Escape is RA’s close program button. I guess other buttons I pressed triggered other functions. Even outside of RA, the right stick was controlling my mouse. I already disabled the desktop control, thank goodness. Still need to figure out the second instance problem, though.