Upgrade SD Image

[r0ckarong]

Maybe I got this wrong but I can't find info about this here.

I keep updating my FP CM3 through the RetroPie Setup utility and that seems to work fine. Now I guess this does not include the changes Ed makes manually to the image like the new LCD driver.

How can I get these improvements without completely reinstalling my image? If I flash the image over my card I will lose my games and other customizations.

Is there a way to upgrade the FP CM3/Zero specific pieces without reinstalling? If so that should probably go into the readme or somewhere here.

[Flavor]

I assume that the issue you're mentioning has to do with the joystick/button driver. Typically this is the piece that doesn't work after an upgrade. That is because it is a kernel module, and (if you get a new kernel) a program called dkms is supposed to recompile the module and install it. I have not yet figured out why it doesn't.

From https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3u1iT...XdieTdZc28
If you upgrade RetroPie (using ‘sudo ~/RetroPie-Setup/retropie_setup.sh’) and get a new kernel in the process, you may need to add the joystick drivers to this new kernel. After rebooting to the new kernel, the following commands should build and install the drivers. Then reboot, and the buttons/dpad should work again.
dkms build -m mk_arcade_joystick_rpi -v 0.1.5.5
dkms install -m mk_arcade_joystick_rpi -v 0.1.5.5

But notice the "0.1.5.5" on the end. Depending on which install you started with, this may be a different version number. Use this command to determine the version you have.
ls /usr/src/

Also see https://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=4641

[r0ckarong]

I assume that the issue you're mentioning has to do with the joystick/button driver.

Thanks, but that is not what I was asking about.

I wanted to know if the new LCD drivers etc. get updated by RetroPie setup if I run that or if I have to install your image. And if I have to install that image how I can preserve the changes like games/savegames/settings that I already made.

As far as I understand the image is a "fresh SD card" image and will erase everything on the card. That's what I want to avoid but get the latest changes.

[Flavor]

Oh, yes. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Using a new image will completely overwrite anything on the SD card and you would definitely lose games/savegames/settings/etc.

You have a few options:
1) Back up your games/savegames/settings/etc., make a new SD image, and add the games/savegames/settings/etc. to the new SD.
2) Run all the updates and then fix anything that went wrong.
3) Leave it alone. I think this is what most people do, but, of course, some people want the latest/greatest when it comes out.

#1 isn't always as easy as it should be. Most of the things you care about will be in the /home/pi/RetroPie folder. You can copy/backup most of that stuff from the old image. The settings are more difficult, because new software may use different configs or whatever.

#2 can be tricky for multiple reasons. There was a while where RetroPie was recommending starting with the latest SD image instead of upgrading/updating. As for our Freeplay LCD drivers, there isn't anything that is kernel-specific there. LCD things should work fine after upgrading. It's just the joystick/button driver that has issues after a kernel upgrade.

You could always make a backup image of your SD card (or grab a new SD card) and try either #1 or #2. Linux stuff like this is never quite as easy/seamless as Mac/Windows updates (which aren't always 100% seamless either).

[r0ckarong]

As for our Freeplay LCD drivers, there isn't anything that is kernel-specific there.  LCD things should work fine after upgrading. 

Is there any reason to update to these new LCD drivers? The readme just says "they should be faster" but what does that mean?

I think I'll just keep updating through RetroPie for now until I run into issues at some point. Honestly though, I'm just an update addict and haven't had any problems so far.

Thanks for all your time and the hard work.

[Flavor]

Is there any reason to update to these new LCD drivers? The readme just says "they should be faster" but what does that mean?

Actually we have our "Freeplay" driver that we've always had and we have also included an experimental one from another developer. I think the new/experimental one is likely faster/better, but it's also fairly untested.

If you wanted to ssh into your machine and add these drivers, you could try this.

cd /home/pi/Freeplay
git clone https://github.com/Mootikins/FreeplayILI9341.git
cd FreeplayILI9341
./setupCM3.sh OR setupZero.sh

In theory, that will add options to your RetroPie menu that allow you to switch between LCD drivers. If you do this, please come back and let us know how it went for you.