RetroFE forums

General Category => General Discussion & Help => Topic started by: KushielAOC on December 19, 2017, 05:29:47 PM

Title: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 19, 2017, 05:29:47 PM: I've followed the directions completely (took me a bit to understand what was going on, I'm an IT guy but I've never really dived into Linux until now. I want to learn so I went the Linux route for RetroFE)

I think I have all the files, but I don't know how to launch RetroFE in Linux, if I open the app it just says it cannot display retro fe and there is no application installed.

I'd really like to get the Linux side up as the Windows version(Windows 10... ugh) has a lot of hiccups for me. (ie windows updates, PS3 controller issues, etc) and I want this thing to be running pretty before I throw it into a cabinet.

TL;DR:
How do I execute the RetroFE Front End in Linux?
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 19, 2017, 06:34:51 PM: Which instructions did you follow? The ones on bitbucket? If so, you should be able to just go into the RetroFE directory it created, and execute ./retrofe. You can also start the retrofe executable from any file browser like Konqueror or Dolphin.
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 19, 2017, 07:49:57 PM: Wow. Now I feel silly, but I had no idea. New to Linux by far :P
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 19, 2017, 08:11:54 PM: No worries; I'm a veteran. :)
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 20, 2017, 03:06:10 AM: Don't really want to open up a new post, and it still falls under the same stipulation of me being a Linux nub. Which emulator should I use, I had the Windows one running the Mame64 box because it was already set up but I've heard (and have a lot of experience with) RetroArch is better in most instances. Also, how is the install different? I can look up how to do it I just want your opinion on the matter.

Taking a break but figured I'd ask so I can get back at it tomorrow. I'm a true nerd but 12 hours of figuring out how to Linux has got me braindead.
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 20, 2017, 12:07:41 PM: Personally, I use MAME for almost everything as well. RetroArch is said to be very nice, but my personal experiences have been less than stellar with it. As such, I'm staying with MAME for now (and a few additional emulators for newer systems, such as PPSSPP for PSP emulation.
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 22, 2017, 07:37:16 PM: Okay, I've got everything working outside of the fact I don't know how to point the emulator to retroarch. I tried just putting retroarch and RetroArch (Which is how it's actually spelled) in the settings.conf (tried Atari first just because it's first on the list) but would not work. Also, with the included pack of MAME I'm also unable to use MAME it says cannot execute .exe file. RetroArch works fine if I launch it on it's own, though. I have been unable to find it's actual location but I don't even know how to use that if I even knew it's exact location.
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 22, 2017, 08:26:23 PM: As always when you encounter problems: please include your log.txt file so we can see what might be wrong. :)
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 22, 2017, 08:50:25 PM: Sorry about that. Had to figure out how to set up a share between Windows and Linux to get this Log File As my main computer still sits on Windows 10 ( Have far too much crap for work on here to make Ubuntu my main but after playing around kind of wish I could...)
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 23, 2017, 09:22:37 AM: Quote from: KushielAOC on December 22, 2017, 08:50:25 PM
Sorry about that. Had to figure out how to set up a share between Windows and Linux to get this Log File As my main computer still sits on Windows 10 ( Have far too much crap for work on here to make Ubuntu my main but after playing around kind of wish I could...)

No problem. :)

It looks like you still have the default launchers; those are just meant as examples, and should be updated in accordance with your emulators.

RetroFE basically uses the following decisions:
- If the launcher setting is defined in a collection's settings.conf file, use that launcher name; otherwise use the name of the collection as launcher name.
- Check the launchers directory (or launchers.linux/launchers.windows directory if you prefer those; it allows for a cross-platform setup of RetroFE) for a .conf file with the launcher's name, and use those settings to launch the game.

Internally it works slightly different: it first loads all the launchers, and then when executing the game it searches internally for that launcher, but for the general idea the above description works just fine. Now to your problems:

Your mame.conf file still contains the original MAME settings; you should change that to the correct command in your computer to launch your Arcade games. How did you install MAME exactly? In general, setting the executable to mame or mame64 (depending on how you installed MAME) should be sufficient.

Your Atari 2600 launcher is indeed set to RetroArch, but you don't have a RetroArch.conf file in your launchers directory, so RetroFE doesn't know what to do with it. You'll need to add that file, and set the executable and arguments depending on what RetroArch requires. If you can tell me how to launch a single game, I should be able to help you create one (even though I don't use RetroArch myself). I use MAME for almost everything, including Atari 2600, but that's a personal preference.
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 23, 2017, 02:10:32 PM: Aha knew there was something I was missing. I tried finding another config file but definitely wasn't looking in the right places. I originally copied folder by folder to another hard drive ( I kept my windows partition up and didn't have enough room on this hard drive for everything.) but I didn't copy my conf's over. Silly me.

I did the Sudo apt-install for both Retroarch/Mame. Honestly, because I a lot of experience with Lakka I'm going to go the RetroArch route if I can as well as many have said it's more flexible.

So what do I put as the executable? I've tried retroarch - Which is what launches it through the terminal - but I get the same problem in the log file.
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 23, 2017, 03:08:08 PM: Well, you updated your Atari 2600.conf launcher file to use RetroArch (I don't think the arguments are quite correct, but that can be sorted out later), but your Atari 2600 launcher is still set to retroarch in your Atari 2600 settings.conf file. This means that in stead of using the changed Atari 2600.conf launcher file, it searches for a retroarch.conf file in stead. Since you don't have that, it tells you that it cannot launch the game. You should set the launcher in your Atari 2600 settings.conf file back to Atari 2600 so it uses your changed Atari 2600.conf file.
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 23, 2017, 03:31:37 PM: Alright, I've done that now that I'm modifying in the right place what can I do to get retroarch to launch? I did notice it is trying to launch it within the folder??? As far as arguments, I don't have the slightest as to what they should be. Willing to learn though :D
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 23, 2017, 04:33:48 PM: Quote from: KushielAOC on December 23, 2017, 03:31:37 PM
Alright, I've done that now that I'm modifying in the right place what can I do to get retroarch to launch? I did notice it is trying to launch it within the folder??? As far as arguments, I don't have the slightest as to what they should be. Willing to learn though :D

So would I. :) As said: I don't use RetroArch myself.

I don't know where your retroarch executable is located, but as long as Linux knows where to find it (it's in your PATH variable), you should be OK. Alternatively you could use the full path to your retroarch executable in stead.

The "a2600 -cart" parts of the argument are typical for MAME. For RetroArch you'll probably have to replace it with something like -L /home/pi/RetroPie/emulatorcores/stella-libretro/libretro.so or wherever your Stella (Atari 2600 emulator) libretro.so file is located. Anyone with more knowledge of RetroArch willing to help out here?
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: KushielAOC on December 23, 2017, 05:20:14 PM: You gave me enough to go on. I was looking for .dll files and it was a .so file. Here's a sample one that ended up making it work on my machine. Thanks again for all of your help, again Linux nub so it's the stupid small things that get me. I work in IT for a living so I can usually find out the complex stuff pretty easy, I just get burned on the details :D

Now I actually have work to do instead of exhausting googling and fiddling. I think I might throw together a RetroArch with RetroFE for Linux dummies if I have time after the holidays. I have 3 Christmas parties to go to in the next 3 days so time is going to be sparse.

Again, thank you SO much for your help. It's really hard to find something when you're looking for the wrong thing :D
Title: Re: Linux Nub Help
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 23, 2017, 05:52:39 PM: That's good to hear. Enjoy your setup, and the holidays.

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