Retroarch won't open from Launchbox (yet another thread)

[Lord Bobbymort]

Here goes another thread where someone's install isn't opening retroarch. It was working just fine a month or two ago, the last time I've played, but now it's just plainly not opening anything. I've poured through every other thread I could find and nothing is working.

I can run retroarch standalone and open/run ROMs but retroarch refuses to open from Launchbox, the spinny circle comes up (twice, actually) but nothing happens. I have unchecked all the boxes, checked the libraries, re-associated the retroarch.exe it's supposed to be launching in the emulator settings.  I'm on Launchbox version 13.14.

Oddly, I went looking at the ROM library directories that were associated and half of them changed to the Launchbox native folder instead of what I had them originally set as. It seems like an update at some point borked some things. I really don't want to lose all my configs for retroarch by doing a new install because I spent A LOT of time getting my shaders set for each platform, and really annoying having to set controllers and button combos for the quick menu and exiting for each platform.

P.S. Before not signing-in to the forum, writing this was really annoying, it re-did the security check, the captcha, once every minute it seemed, which kept kicking me out of the text box here. Now after a handful of times it isn't taking my mouse click for that checkbox so I need to copy all this and start the form over again. Is everything going to fight me today?

[Retro808]

1 hour ago, Lord Bobbymort said:

Here goes another thread where someone's install isn't opening retroarch. It was working just fine a month or two ago, the last time I've played, but now it's just plainly not opening anything. I've poured through every other thread I could find and nothing is working.

I can run retroarch standalone and open/run ROMs but retroarch refuses to open from Launchbox, the spinny circle comes up (twice, actually) but nothing happens. I have unchecked all the boxes, checked the libraries, re-associated the retroarch.exe it's supposed to be launching in the emulator settings.  I'm on Launchbox version 13.14.

Oddly, I went looking at the ROM library directories that were associated and half of them changed to the Launchbox native folder instead of what I had them originally set as. It seems like an update at some point borked some things. I really don't want to lose all my configs for retroarch by doing a new install because I spent A LOT of time getting my shaders set for each platform, and really annoying having to set controllers and button combos for the quick menu and exiting for each platform.

P.S. Before not signing-in to the forum, writing this was really annoying, it re-did the security check, the captcha, once every minute it seemed, which kept kicking me out of the text box here. Now after a handful of times it isn't taking my mouse click for that checkbox so I need to copy all this and start the form over again. Is everything going to fight me today?

LB updates never touch emulator settings nor game metadata so it would not edit any of the xml files associated with that. Best thing to do is share some photos to see if we an spot the disconnect. 

>Tools >Manage >Emulators and edit Retroarch

1. Pic of the main details page

2. Pic of the Associated Platforms page (be sure to expand it so we can see all that is in the list. 

Next pic a game and platform not working. Right click the game and edit it. 

1. Pic of the main details page. 

2. Pic of the emulation page.

3. Pic of the launching page. 

One of the more common issues is users having 2 Retroarch installs on their pc and testing directly in the Retroach in one location but having LB pointed to a Retroarch in another location. This happens quite a bit so make sure this is not the scenario. 

[Lord Bobbymort]

21 hours ago, Retro808 said:

Best thing to do is share some photos to see if we an spot the disconnect. 

Thank you very much for the detailed instructions. Just for kicks I just tried running something again, with no luck, so I went to getting screenshots and noticed every associated platform for Retroarch stated "missing core files", they were set on cores I didn't recognize and when I tried to drop-down NES only that one incorrect core was available - this was the case for other platforms too, only one incorrect platform available in the list. Got screenshots for Retroarch, then noticed the Dependency Files page and went for a look. As soon as I went back to the Associated Platforms page and all the cores were reset and no more "missing core files" statuses. 

I tried to run an NES game, it opened - YAY! (spreading some love for Pinball Quest)
I tried to run an SNES game - It didn't open.
I tried to open a different NES game - it didn't open.
I tried to run the first NES game again - it didn't open.
I restarted the pc and tried to run the first NES game again - it didn't open.

EDIT: I checked for Retroarch and only found the instance installed in the Launchbox emulators folder.

When I go to the SNES platform dependency files I see that some are missing (I don't even know how to deal with that, especially since Launchbox with Retroarch worked out of the box originally, and up until now), but NES doesn't have any dependency files and it also doesn't work. I've tried a handful of platforms and none of them open Retroarch still - NES, SNES, GBA, Genesis, N64. Just had luck running an NES game a single time after having it magically re-associate the actual installed cores with Retroarch.

Edited June 30 by Lord Bobbymort

[NP88]

Hey there, I hope someone can figure out your problem as I am in the exact same situation as you are.  Everything worked fine for the past few years and for the past month I cannot launch a game that uses Retroarch as the emulator through LaunchBox.  I hope someone is able to help you soon.

[Lord Bobbymort]

32 minutes ago, NP88 said:

Hey there, I hope someone can figure out your problem as I am in the exact same situation as you are.  Everything worked fine for the past few years and for the past month I cannot launch a game that uses Retroarch as the emulator through LaunchBox.  I hope someone is able to help you soon.

Thanks, same to you then. I was excited about the newest updates natively hosting pcsx2 and dolphin for download, but now I can't play anything. I hope the recent updates weren't the problem but the timing seems to point to it as the May 13th and 16th updates have the updates to the Dependency File section and other things to do with Retroarch.

Seeing as Retroarch is natively installed in the Launchbox folder I may need to be sure to make copies of the config files and slangp and glsl files for each core if I try blowing out the retroarch installation and re-installing it. And I'll wait to see if anyone comes back with some more suggestions before I try re-installing retroarch, or then re-installing Launchbox.

Edited July 1 by Lord Bobbymort

[NP88]

So I have a bit more of information after doing some digging into Retroarch in the history section.

When a game is launched through LaunchBox that uses Retroarch as the emulator, the file path is shown as follows C:\LaunchBox\ThirdParty\7-Zip\Temp\10-Yard Fight  The game does not launch anymore in LaunchBox and when trying to launch it direct though Retroarch using the same path (going into history and attempting to launch the game from the list in history).  It will come back with an error that it cannot find the file.

Digging deeper into the history section of Retroarch (games launched 8 weeks ago and older) the file path for the game is different C:\LaunchBox\Games\Nintendo Entertainment System\10-Yard Fight.  Launching the game instance in History will work in this instance.

It seems like LaunchBox is sending the games to a temp folder (to un-zip the rom?) and for some reason Retroarch cannot read the rom or find the location.  I'm not sure what to do with this information but maybe it's a step in the right direction to help with this issue.

 

 

 

[Lord Bobbymort]

14 minutes ago, NP88 said:

folder (to un-zip the rom?) and for some reason Retroarch cannot read the rom or find the location.  I'm not sure what to do with this information but maybe it's a step in the right direction to help with this issue.

Interesting. My file path in settings shows where I put them, which is a folder away from the Launchbox installation folder just in case anything happens which also makes my roms folder more easily portable for me. Your way of storing roms might be different than mine though, because it looks like you have them zipped up. Do you have the "Extract ROMs archive before running" setting checked or unchecked in your Retroarch emulator settings?

How do you see the history? I'll investigate my instance. Maybe post screenshots here of the settings and the two history entries for reference.

[NP88]

I do have the option checked to extract roms, and I assume that is the reason it is being sent to the 7-zip temp folder.  See below for the screen snips:

[Lord Bobbymort]

Hmm for you try unchecking that box. That's usually one of the first things I've seen in past threads about this.

so you're directly in Retroarch looking at history?

[NP88]

Yes, I have unchecked the box and still roms will not launch (nor should they since they are zipped.
Also, yes I am using Retroarch direct to view the history and attempt to launch the roms.

It may not be the reason, but it is strange that all this started happening (roms not launching with Retroarch) once the 13.14 update was implemented

.

[Lord Bobbymort]

Just now, NP88 said:

It may not be the reason, but it is strange that all this started happening (roms not launching with Retroarch) once the 13.14 update was implemented

That's exactly what I'm thinking. Well, hopefully someone else chimes in - or we get a fix in the next update. And there's already a TBD dated changelog for 13.15 on Launchbox's website with some other things. https://www.launchbox-app.com/about/changelog

[Lord Bobbymort]

Checked retroarch history and there is no history from the last few days trying to run things because it isn't actually opening RetroArch at all from Launchbox enough for it to record history. 

Changed associated platform for NES from mesen to mesen-s and it launched retroarch but retroarch didn't actually run the game, it was just a black screen. Changed back to mesen and it didn't open. Changed to nestopia and it didn't open. 5-24 (probably was still open after sleeping and hadn't updated yet) was the last time I had run a game from Launchbox properly.

 

 

 

[Retro808]

The updates to LB and the emulator dependancies would not have affected existing game paths and/or emulator paths and cores. It is just an added function that performs a check on your emulator and the core dependancies such as bios files. As mentioned LB updates, even to any of the emulator features, does not touch existing paths. If it did we would have a ton more people with this issue. 

@Lord Bobbymort I do not see any settings issues in your images. Did you set Retroarch up when you first added it or did you use the option in the import wizard to have LB download and setup?

I would recommend going into LB emulator setup for Retroach and reassign the emulator path and reassign the core in the Associated Platforms tab. Then I would go into one of your platforms (such as NES) and do a bulk edit of the rom path for all games (Select all games in the platform then go Tools >File Management >Change ROMs Folder Path for Selected Games).  Just to make sure both the emulator path and the rom paths are proper. Then test launching a game. If after doing this you still have an issue let us know. 

[Lord Bobbymort]

I'm unsure what I had done initially, it's been set up since May or June 2023. I imagine I used the Launchbox import wizard as I was excited that I didn't have to do anything else manually.

I had already reassigned the emulator path for Retroarch but just did it again. My most recent update with screenshots I had changed the associated platform core to mesen-s and changed it back to mesen with no success, so I just went through bulk editing the ROM path and tried to open another rom with no success. The spinny loading wheel came up (Windows 11, btw), went away for a split second, came back for a few seconds then went away without loading RetroArch.

I wish I had taken a screenshot of the Manage Platforms screen a few days ago because a few of them had changed to the Retroarch installation folder, the Games folder in there. That's what I referenced in the original post here:

On 6/29/2024 at 2:15 PM, Lord Bobbymort said:

Oddly, I went looking at the ROM library directories that were associated and half of them changed to the Launchbox native folder instead of what I had them originally set as.

I have changed the associated platforms file path to the true file path.

Edited July 2 by Lord Bobbymort

[Retro808]

OK, yeah this does seem a bit odd. I wonder maybe if something with a Win11 update. All my builds are on Win10.

The loading (spinning wheel) shows LB is sending the command line but clearly something is disconnected since it stops. 

I know you have done this already but can you do it again and just provide the result: Following the path you set in LB for Retroach can you open that path in Windows and launch Retroarch directly. Then inside Retroarch open an NES game, but do so by following the path to the file you have set in LB for the game (do not use the option for recently opened games) and launch the game with the core you have set in the Associated Platforms tab. Doing this can you confirm it launches the game without issue?

[Lord Bobbymort]

1 hour ago, Retro808 said:

I know you have done this already but can you do it again and just provide the result: Following the path you set in LB for Retroach can you open that path in Windows and launch Retroarch directly. Then inside Retroarch open an NES game, but do so by following the path to the file you have set in LB for the game (do not use the option for recently opened games) and launch the game with the core you have set in the Associated Platforms tab. Doing this can you confirm it launches the game without issue?

Well, I could yesterday or the day before so I thought this was going to be an easy response but now I can't. 

Went to the file system to open a rom from there with RetroArch - no dice. Spinny circles in exact same pattern. Short spin, gone for a sec, back for a few and nothing happens.
Went to the file system and opened RetroArch fine. Loaded mesen core, loaded the rom, tried to start the rom and the RetroArch windows closed and the spinny circle next to the mouse did the exact same thing.

Interestingly while mesen-s was available as a core according to Launchbox in the Associated Platforms window, only mesen was available natively in RetroArch to use. More interestingly mesen-s is available in the cores folder.

I just checked to see if RetroArch was running in the background as a stuck app or something - no dice.
Restarted computer and tried to run a rom in retroarch and still could not.

I'll have to make a backup of my configs and shader files for each platform, but I could try removing RetroArch using Launchbox and running the import wizard again. BUT, I'd like to see if there's a troubleshooting step first that would take care of it. For posterity's sake.

[Retro808]

5 hours ago, Lord Bobbymort said:

Well, I could yesterday or the day before so I thought this was going to be an easy response but now I can't. 

Went to the file system to open a rom from there with RetroArch - no dice. Spinny circles in exact same pattern. Short spin, gone for a sec, back for a few and nothing happens.
Went to the file system and opened RetroArch fine. Loaded mesen core, loaded the rom, tried to start the rom and the RetroArch windows closed and the spinny circle next to the mouse did the exact same thing.

Interestingly while mesen-s was available as a core according to Launchbox in the Associated Platforms window, only mesen was available natively in RetroArch to use. More interestingly mesen-s is available in the cores folder.

I just checked to see if RetroArch was running in the background as a stuck app or something - no dice.
Restarted computer and tried to run a rom in retroarch and still could not.

I'll have to make a backup of my configs and shader files for each platform, but I could try removing RetroArch using Launchbox and running the import wizard again. BUT, I'd like to see if there's a troubleshooting step first that would take care of it. For posterity's sake.

Well, the big issue here is if trying to run the game directly through Retroach without using LB is not working then it is not a LB issue. Something has gone wrong in your RA build. So no amount of troubleshooting LB is going to fix it. It may be worth reinstalling Retroach. Could be a WIn11 update possible messing with something in RA like a video driver.

Not sure what antivirus you are using but can you check it to see if it has quarantined anything related to Retroach and while you are at it anything related to LB. 

[Lord Bobbymort]

2 minutes ago, Retro808 said:

Not sure what antivirus you are using but can you check it to see if it has quarantined anything related to Retroach and while you are at it anything related to LB. 

Nothing, I will profess the ability of modern Windows Defender until they prove it's not as useful anymore (and never suggest anyone install bloatware a third-party antivirus software haha). This has gotten annoying because I have to keep getting up to go to the living room to test things with an annoying keyboard because it's a dedicated system on the living room tv, so I just got something good out of this whole thing - I just realized I can RDP to it from my office computer so I set that up.

Anyway, there's nothing in Protection History in Windows Security, so it hasn't ever said RetroArch is a problem.

[rexryan]

What's the log file say in RA?

[Lord Bobbymort]

44 minutes ago, rexryan said:

What's the log file say in RA?

I can't get it to work in a way that seems correct but I did get there. I try to turn on logging, so in RetroArch > Setting >  Logging and I turn on Logging Verbosity and it opens up a "Log Console" window. I turn on Log to File after that and click OK. I've done this a few times and every time RetroArch is closed and re-opened the logging settings are all turned off again. So I went through all of it and left the Log Console open then loaded a core and a rom.

Just before this I updated RetroArch through the button in Launchbox's Edit Emulator window for RetroArch.

Here's the log:
 

[INFO] [Content]: Updating firmware status for: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\cores\mesen_libretro.dll" on "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system".
[INFO] [Core]: Using content: "C:\Emulation\roms\nes\Bomberman.nes".
[INFO] [Core]: Content ran for a total of: 00 hours, 00 minutes, 00 seconds.
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core..
[INFO] [Core]: Unloading core symbols..
[INFO] RetroArch 1.19.1 (Git 427e3fa6f6)
[INFO] === Build =======================================
[INFO] CPU Model Name: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics         
[INFO] Capabilities: MMX MMXEXT SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE4 SSE42 AES AVX AVX2 
[INFO] Version: 1.19.1
[INFO] Git: 427e3fa6f6
[INFO] Built: Jun  5 2024
[INFO] =================================================
[INFO] [Input]: Found input driver: "dinput".
[INFO] [Core]: Loading dynamic libretro core from: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\cores\mesen_libretro.dll"
[INFO] [Overrides]: Core-specific overrides found at "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\Mesen.cfg".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Content dir-specific overrides found at "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\\nes.cfg".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Content dir-specific overrides stacking on top of previous overrides.
[INFO] [Overrides]: Game-specific overrides found at "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\Bomberman.cfg".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Game-specific overrides stacking on top of previous overrides.
[INFO] [Config]: Loading config: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\retroarch.cfg".
[INFO] [Config]: Appending override config: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\Mesen.cfg".
[INFO] [Config]: Appending override config: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\\nes.cfg".
[INFO] [Config]: Appending override config: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\Bomberman.cfg".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save file to "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\saves\Bomberman.srm".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save state to "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\states\Bomberman.state".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_VARIABLES.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [Environ]: RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_SET_CONTENT_INFO_OVERRIDE.
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'nes' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'fds' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'unf' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'unif' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LOG_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Content]: Loading content file: "C:\Emulation\roms\nes\Bomberman.nes".
[INFO] [Environ]: SYSTEM_DIRECTORY: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system".
[INFO] [Environ]: SAVE_DIRECTORY: "C:\Users\xxxxxxxxx\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\saves".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: XRGB8888.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_GEOMETRY: 256x240, Aspect: 1.219.
[INFO] [Environ]: RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_GET_GAME_INFO_EXT.
[libretro INFO] 
[libretro INFO] Loading rom: Bomberman.nes
[libretro INFO] PRG CRC32: 0xA913A222
[libretro INFO] PRG+CHR CRC32: 0xDB9DCF89
[libretro INFO] [iNes] Mapper: 0 Sub:0
[libretro INFO] [iNes] PRG ROM: 16 KB
[libretro INFO] [iNes] CHR ROM: 8 KB
[libretro INFO] [iNes] Mirroring: Vertical
[libretro INFO] [iNes] Battery: No
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_MEMORY_MAPS.
[INFO] [SRAM]: Skipping SRAM load.
[INFO] [Core]: Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core]: Geometry: 256x240, Aspect: 1.219, FPS: 60.10, Sample rate: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Audio]: Set audio input rate to: 47920.27 Hz.
[INFO] [Video]: Set video size to: 879x720.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found vulkan context: "vk_w".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Detecting screen resolution: 1920x1080.n top of previous overrides.
[INFO] [Overrides]: Game-specific overrides found at "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\Bomberman.cfg".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Game-specific overrides stacking on top of previous overrides.
[INFO] [Config]: Loading config: "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\retroarch.cfg".
[INFO] [Config]: Appending override config: "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\Mesen.cfg".
[INFO] [Config]: Appending override config: "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\\nes.cfg".
[INFO] [Config]: Appending override config: "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\config\Mesen\Bomberman.cfg".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save file to "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\saves\Bomberman.srm".
[INFO] [Overrides]: Redirecting save state to "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\states\Bomberman.state".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_VARIABLES.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_CONTROLLER_INFO.
[INFO] [Environ]: RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_SET_CONTENT_INFO_OVERRIDE.
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'nes' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'fds' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'unf' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Content Override]: File Extension: 'unif' - need_fullpath: FALSE, persistent_data: FALSE
[INFO] [Environ]: GET_LOG_INTERFACE.
[INFO] [Content]: Loading content file: "C:\Emulation\roms\nes\Bomberman.nes".
[INFO] [Environ]: SYSTEM_DIRECTORY: "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\system".
[INFO] [Environ]: SAVE_DIRECTORY: "C:\Users\rjcil\LaunchBox\Emulators\RetroArch\saves".
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_PIXEL_FORMAT: XRGB8888.
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_GEOMETRY: 256x240, Aspect: 1.219.
[INFO] [Environ]: RETRO_ENVIRONMENT_GET_GAME_INFO_EXT.
[libretro INFO] 
[libretro INFO] Loading rom: Bomberman.nes
[libretro INFO] PRG CRC32: 0xA913A222
[libretro INFO] PRG+CHR CRC32: 0xDB9DCF89
[libretro INFO] [iNes] Mapper: 0 Sub:0
[libretro INFO] [iNes] PRG ROM: 16 KB
[libretro INFO] [iNes] CHR ROM: 8 KB
[libretro INFO] [iNes] Mirroring: Vertical
[libretro INFO] [iNes] Battery: No
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_INPUT_DESCRIPTORS:
[INFO] [Environ]: SET_MEMORY_MAPS.
[INFO] [SRAM]: Skipping SRAM load.
[INFO] [Core]: Version of libretro API: 1, Compiled against API: 1
[INFO] [Core]: Geometry: 256x240, Aspect: 1.219, FPS: 60.10, Sample rate: 48000.00 Hz.
[INFO] [Audio]: Set audio input rate to: 47920.27 Hz.
[INFO] [Video]: Set video size to: 879x720.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Vulkan dynamic library loaded.
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Found vulkan context: "vk_w".
[INFO] [Vulkan]: Detecting screen resolution: 1920x1080.