Recalbox on rapberry pi zero w running slow

[T-Nieblas]

Hi all I'm new in this.

I'm currently trying to run recalbox in a raspberry pi zero w. But it's running really slow. Anybody here knows hot to improve the performance ? Any configuration ?

[Zing]

@t-nieblas

• What is your version of Recalbox (say version, don't say "latest")?
• Did you build your Recalbox yourself, or download a ready-made image from the internet, or did you buy everything ready-made?
• Have you tried with another HDMI input from the TV?
• Have you tried with another TV? Another Cable?
• Ever tried to do a factory reset (via advanced settings)? Factory reset does not delete any personal files, but resets all custom settings.

[T-Nieblas]

@zing it is the recalbox version 7.2.2, and I did download form from recalbox page as image. I have been displayed in a 48 inches tv by HDMI. I will try with other monitor. A smallest one, and the rested too. I will let you know what happen. Thanks for your input.

[recalboxfan1]

For technical issues, folks will generally need more detail about /which/ component is slow.

Do you mean playing games? If so, what systems/consoles are slow?

Or do you mean the Recalbox interface? If so, do you have a large number of consoles and/or large number of games in the list?

If the interface is fine and it’s just complex games (e.g. PS1) that are slower, it may be that the Pi Zero is not powerful enough. Most people seem to use a Pi3B or Pi4 model which are significantly more powerful.

[T-Nieblas]

@recalboxfan1 it si the recalbox interface. Slow when it is starting. And I have to wait to can move the gamepad. If I move immediately recalbox is initiated it doesn't response. And then trying to play a sens game with audio lag. I think in general. But you are right. It is more slow when I insert roms in the folders.

[recalboxfan1]

@t-nieblas said in Recalbox on rapberry pi zero w running slow:

@recalboxfan1 it si the recalbox interface. Slow when it is starting. And I have to wait to can move the gamepad. If I move immediately recalbox is initiated it doesn't response. And then trying to play a sens game with audio lag. I think in general. But you are right. It is more slow when I insert roms in the folders.

It’s hard to say exactly since these are various symptoms. My guess is something like a slow SD card (if possible, use a “Class 10” card from a major vendor like Sandisk) combined with the fact that a Pi Zero is only a $5 USD computer…not much horsepower there. I know this seems silly but SNES emulation can actually be heavyweight, even more than many PSX games!

Other thing you can try is to look at the log files written by Recalbox’s emulationstation front end. If you SSH into the system, there is a “logs” folder right there. Perhaps you will find an error or timeout message inside.

This is kind of a “dive in and read” thing. It’s not easy to troubleshoot blind for us. Of course you can also try a reinstall if you are not able to spot anything.

[digitaLumberjack]

O/

Go in recalbox.conf and disable the manager and the virtualpads.

We have that by default for the 7.3.

It will give a new life to your rpi1/0

https://gitlab.com/recalbox/recalbox/-/merge_requests/1881/diffs