Single platform not launching after Retroarch / Launchbox update

[falcon2001]

Hey folks, I've run into a weird problem - it might be retroarch but it could be how Launchbox is setting up configs. After updating, Retroarch just silently refuses to load Nintendo Game Boy platforms, unless I go in and browse to it after launching retroarch (at which point it works just fine).

The logs I enabled do show an error but I can't really get anywhere with it:

[INFO] RetroArch 1.9.1 (Git cf6ca2a)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six-Core Processor            
[INFO] Capabilities:  MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE4.2 AES AVX AVX2
[INFO] Built: Mar 28 2021
[INFO] Version: 1.9.1
[INFO] Git: cf6ca2a
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input]: Found input driver: "dinput".
[ERROR] [Core]: Frontend is built for dynamic libretro cores, but path is not set. Cannot continue.
[ERROR] Fatal error received in: "init_libretro_symbols()"
[INFO] [Core]: Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds.
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] [Video]: Does not have enough samples for monitor refresh rate estimation. Requires to run for at least 4096 frames.

This happens even if I switch the cores around in Launchbox and I even tried downloading a new one, but to no avail. As far as I can tell, it's loading a bad path but I can't find any config settings that dictate which core it should be loading.\

Notably, Game Boy Color and other games work just fine, it's just this one that's borked.

Edited April 20, 2021 by falcon2001

[Lordmonkus]

15 minutes ago, falcon2001 said:

but it could be how Launchbox is setting up configs

Launchbox doesn't touch any emulators config files ever.

[neil9000]

Yeah this is a Retroarch error and issue, as stated we never touch configs for any emulator, so the issue must lay with your Retroarch configs somewhere.

[falcon2001]

On 4/19/2021 at 11:29 PM, Lordmonkus said:

Launchbox doesn't touch any emulators config files ever.

So I guess that's my confusion then. Launchbox launch options for the games indicate that it's just using like this: 

retroarch.exe $PathToRomFile

But LaunchBox also maintains a 'default core' option for RetroArch, found in the RetroArch configs. How is Launchbox calling Retroarch with the selected core if it isn't providing it in the run arguments, and it isn't modifying any configuration files?

[C-Beats]

We don't display it in the Edit windows but we do pass a command line parameter to RetroArch that essentially says "Load this core" based on the core you tell LaunchBox to use.

[falcon2001]

Ahh, okay. Alright, I'll focus on the retroarch side of it; there isn't any way to see what the full command being used is for debugging purposes, is there?

[falcon2001]

An update: I figured out what it was, and it was an issue with LaunchBox, although I have no idea why it came up and it might be my fault, although I have no idea how to figure out why.

I started by wiping my RetroArch install - no dice, didn't fix it.

I then tried to replicate the shortcut via commandline, and that didn't fix it either - but IT DID show that launching with the core option seemed to work just fine. So Launchbox was somehow launching with the wrong core option.

I dug into the .XML file for the emulators config and realized that I didn't have an emulator platform for Nintendo Game Boy, only Nintendo Game Boy Color. I have no idea how this happened, as I definitely successfully played some Gameboy games a while ago. Essentially when launching the game it wasn't specifying the core since there was no platform, but it didn't error or anything either; I'm actually surprised it was even trying to launch RetroArch at all, given the lack of a platform, but it was, and so that was causing the weird behavior and logged errors on RetroArch. 

I dunno what caused it? Maybe some weird bug, or maybe I accidentally did it myself somehow, I think either are possible. In any event if someone finds this again later, here's what happened. 

[neil9000]

6 hours ago, falcon2001 said:

realized that I didn't have an emulator platform for Nintendo Game Boy, only Nintendo Game Boy Color

Yeah, there is no Game Boy platform there by default, just the Colour platform, so if you imported to a Nintendo Game Boy platform, then yeah those games wouldnt launch with Retroarch until that platform was added to the associated platforms list of your Retroarch entry and a core specified.

[falcon2001]

5 hours ago, neil9000 said:

Yeah, there is no Game Boy platform there by default, just the Colour platform, so if you imported to a Nintendo Game Boy platform, then yeah those games wouldnt launch with Retroarch until that platform was added to the associated platforms list of your Retroarch entry and a core specified.

I'm reasonably certain these games were launching previously though, I've had Launchbox going for over a year now and I've definitely played Super Mario Land a few times, but maybe not recently? I did update retroarch at some point, perhaps the older version of it was managing to launch them without a core specified and it broke?

In any event, fixed!