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wiki-rtd/docs/wiki_faq_howto/faq.md
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@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
# FAQs: Frequently asked questions
What follows is questions and answers to a variety of topics.
<br>
## General Questions
### What is the scope of this project?
@ -35,7 +38,7 @@ RetroDECK comes with:
* Emulationstation Desktop Edition - RetroDECK version
* The RetroDECK Framework
* The RetroDECK Configurator
* For emulators and other software check here: [[RetroDECK: What's included?]]
* For emulators and other software check the RetroDECK: What's included? section of this wiki.
We plan to have support for all of the the different systems ES-DE support in the long term. But the goal is only to have the best emulator per system and not every emulator in existence.
@ -61,10 +64,9 @@ RetroDECK only includes those BIOS and Firmware that are Open Source. All others
For purchased titles we recommend that you use your own game backups and look into how to extract the Firmware or BIOS from your own consoles.
</details>
<br>
## Flatpak
## Flatpak Questions
### Retrodeck is a flatpak, what is it?
@ -83,7 +85,19 @@ A flatpak is generated from a manifest file. A software called flatpak-builder
You can find out manifest here: https://github.com/XargonWan/RetroDECK/blob/main/net.retrodeck.retrodeck.yml
</details>
#### Will you make a snap version of RetroDECK?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Right now RetroDECK's main focus is flatpak. If the demand is very high for a snap version we might look into it post the launch of version 1.0.
</details>
#### Will you make a appimage version of RetroDECK?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
No, that is not within the scope of the project.
</details>
<br>
## Supported Devices / OS
@ -91,13 +105,7 @@ You can find out manifest here: https://github.com/XargonWan/RetroDECK/blob/mai
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
We do support the Linux Desktop and technically it is working, but the user experience might not be as great as we want it to be. RetroDECK could contain desktop specific bugs and other issues.
You will also need to manually configure the input to match your desktop and might need to tweak more settings. Read more here: [[Linux Desktop: Installation and updates]]
</details>
#### Will you make a snap version of RetroDECK and just a flatpak version?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Right now RetroDECK's main focus is flatpak. If the demand is very high for a snap version we might look into it post the launch of version 1.0.
You will also need to manually configure the input to match your desktop and might need to tweak more settings.
</details>
@ -127,173 +135,9 @@ Not supported and not planned.
Not supported, ES-DE does support the ARM emulators but it is a very different landscape. Maybe one day in the far future, but it would need to be a different experience as the emulators and other systems would not be the same.
</details>
## Feature Requests
<br>
### Will you implement X/Y/Z emulator?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Our goal is to implement and configure a selection of the best emulators for each system. If your favorite system is not integrated you can request its integration by opening an issue on this github page.
</details>
### Will you implement none emulator software inside of RetroDECK like Batocera?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
We do have plans for a ports downloader / manager in the future.
</details>
### I have a good idea on a new feature, how do I suggest it?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Check if the request already exists in the issue list on github, if not you can make a new issue and suggest it.
If you want to discuss before submitting feel free to post your ideas in our discord community.
</details>
## RetroDECK Updates
### What does the "b" stand for in the versioning number?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
It stands for Beta.
</details>
### How do I update RetroDECK?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Updates to RetroDECK is handled automatically via your software manager when there is a new version released.
Or if you want to update from the terminal you can type: <br>
`flatpak update`
</details>
### How do I update a specific emulator in RetroDECK?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
You can't in a easy way do that without breaking several things. RetroDECK builds many emulators and add RetroDECK specific features on top of them and makes it into one application. That said we are looking into a custom emulator installation for those that have payed early access versions like Yuzu (that installation will still be more limited then the one we ship with RetroDECK and might have less features then normal Yuzu in term of hotkey support and other things).
</details>
### Do you only ship stable versions of the emulators or nightly versions?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
RetroDECK ship the version that is the best for running the games on a case by case basis.
For example: many bleeding edge emulators like Yuzu or RPCS3 it's nightly we ship, but for things like RetroArch it is stable releases. <br>
Even if it is a nightly version we want to make sure that the version we ship is works.
</details>
### When does the next version of RetroDECK come out?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
When it's ready.
</details>
#### When does the version after the upcoming version come out?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
After the upcoming version.</details>
#### When does the version 1.0 of RetroDECK come out?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
In the future.
</details>
## Documentation
### What is sudo?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
The command stands for "superuser do" and in the windows world it is called "run as administrator".
Su in "sudo" refers to the "superuser" or in the windows called the "administrator".
</details>
### Whats the meaning of the ~ character mean in documentation and examples?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
The tilde character ~ is the a short way of saying the logged in users home directory in the UNIX world.<br>
So for example the Steam Deck<br>
`~ = /home/deck`<br>
Read more on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_directory)</details>
### Whats the meaning of the SA acronym in documentation and examples?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
SA means Standalone and the emulator is not inside RetroArch/LibRetro but a separate program launched within RetroDECK. </details>
### Whats the meaning of the CLI acronym in documentation and examples?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
CLI stands for command-line interface and is often refereed commands you can run in the the Linux Terminal </details>
## Other Emulation Solutions
### Are you related to EmuDeck?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
No, the two projects are not related.
</details>
#### So what's the difference between RetroDECK and EmuDeck?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Apart of that from the user point of view EmuDeck and RetroDECK may sound similar but technically they're completely different.
EmuDeck is a shell script that you run in the Steam Decks desktop mode that downloads and configures all the separate emulators & plugins for you from various sources using a built in electron based gui.
RetroDECK is an all-in-one application contained in a sandboxed environment called "flatpak", that is downloaded from Discover (Flathub). This is Valves and other Linux desktops recommended way of distributing applications on the Steam Deck and Linux desktop in a safe way. It grantees for example even if Valve makes major changes to the file system in a SteamOS update, RetroDECK and it’s configurations will not be touched and will be safe.
RetroDECK only writes in these two folders: `~/retrodeck` for roms/configurations/bios etc.. And an hidden flatpak folder located in `~/.var/net.retrodeck.retrodeck`.
As everything is contained within those two folders it will not have conflict if you decide to install an emulator from another source like Yuzu or RetroArch with your RetroDECK setup. Even if you uninstall RetroDECK all your roms/bios/saves/etc.. are safe until you remove the `~/retrodeck` folder. So if you for some reason don't like the application after playing for a while you can easily move out your important files after an uninstall (or you can just reinstall RetroDECK again and start where you left off).
This approach of everything is in a all-in-one package will also allow RetroDECK to do tighter integrations with each bundled emulator in the future and expose all those settings when you are inside RetroDECK, so you do not need to go into Steam Decks desktop mode to do changes and tweaks. All things should be, in the long term, inside the application itself and you can already see a part of that inside the RetroDECK Configurator in the Tools menu.
</details>
#### Can I install RetroDECK if I have EmuDeck already?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Yes, as RetroDECK is completely standalone.
</details>
#### Why create RetroDECK when EmuDeck and other solutions exists?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
RetroDECK is older then EmuDeck, EmuDeck was created later.
</details>
### Are you related anyway to Batocera?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
No, but RetroDECK had some dialog before the project started with some of the Batocera crew if there where any plans to start a Batocera non-OS application (there where no plans at that moment and their focus is to make the best retro gaming operative system). RetroDECK and Batocera also have good dialog together with representatives of each projects inside the internal development channels.
</details>
### Batocera or EmuDeck or RetroDECK I still don't get it?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
- Batocera is a retro emulation operative system that you need to boot into separately (like from an SDCard) or replace your current OS. <br> For the Steam Deck you lose access to the SteamOS features and your emulation gaming is separate from your SteamOS gamemode gaming. That said; Batocera has many years of development time, is a great mature OS with a lot of features.
- EmuDeck is a shell script that you download and run. The script downloads & configures all the separate emulators & plugins for you from various sources for various operative systems.
- RetroDECK is an all-in-one application that already provides everything you need without to many extra steps for the user.It is on flathub and thus allows the users to update the application via standard safe operative system update methods.
You can see RetroDECK as the in between of EmuDeck and Batocera. We hope that one day we can offer a complete Batocera-like experience right inside your operative system.
</details>
### What is your relationship with EmulationStation Desktop Edition (ES-DE)?<br>
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
ES-DE and RetroDECK are separate projects, but we collaborate to give the best possible user experience.<br>
We have a unique partnership where inside the ES-DE code is a section just for RetroDECK specific features. <br>
[Read more on ES-DE FAQs](https://gitlab.com/es-de/emulationstation-de/-/blob/master/FAQ.md#what-is-the-relationship-between-es-de-and-retrodeck)
</details>
## RetroDECK Usage
## Using RetroDECK
### Do I have to partition or format my disk/sdcard to install RetroDECK?
@ -371,7 +215,6 @@ Yes, check over at [[How to: Move RetroDECK to a new device]]
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Not yet but might be in the future, it is technical possible but quite complicated and needs to be done via launch script. We hope we can simplify this in the future via an API call or inside the Configurator.
Example of a launch script to launch to launch a Wii game called Baloon World:
`flatpak run --command=dolphin-emu-wrapper net.retrodeck.retrodeck -e "/run/media/mmcblk0p1/retrodeck/roms/wii/Baloon World.rvz" -b `
@ -396,6 +239,178 @@ However you can run this to fix it: `flatpak remote-delete retrodeck-origin`
</details>
<br>
## Feature Requests& & Bug Reports
### Will you implement X/Y/Z emulator?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Our goal is to implement and configure a selection of the best emulators for each system. If your favorite system is not integrated you can request its integration by opening an issue on this github page.
</details>
### Will you implement none emulator software inside of RetroDECK like Batocera?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
We do have plans for a ports downloader / manager in the future.
</details>
### I have a good idea on a new feature, how do I suggest it?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Check if the request already exists in the issue list on github, if not you can make a new issue and suggest it.
If you want to discuss before submitting feel free to post your ideas in our discord community.
</details>
<br>
## Updating RetroDECK
### What does the "b" stand for in the versioning number?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
It stands for Beta.
</details>
### How do I update RetroDECK?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Updates to RetroDECK is handled automatically via your software manager when there is a new version released.
Or if you want to update from the terminal you can type: <br>
`flatpak update`
</details>
### How do I update a specific emulator in RetroDECK?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
You can't in a easy way do that without breaking several things. RetroDECK builds many emulators and add RetroDECK specific features on top of them and makes it into one application. That said we are looking into a custom emulator installation for those that have payed early access versions like Yuzu (that installation will still be more limited then the one we ship with RetroDECK and might have less features then normal Yuzu in term of hotkey support and other things).
</details>
### Do you only ship stable versions of the emulators or nightly versions?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
RetroDECK ship the version that is the best for running the games on a case by case basis.
For example: many bleeding edge emulators like Yuzu or RPCS3 it's nightly we ship, but for things like RetroArch it is stable releases. <br>
Even if it is a nightly version we want to make sure that the version we ship is works.
</details>
### When does the next version of RetroDECK come out?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
When it's ready.
</details>
#### When does the version after the upcoming version come out?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
After the upcoming version.</details>
#### When does the version 1.0 of RetroDECK come out?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
In the future.
</details>
<br>
## Documentation & Wiki
### What is sudo?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
The command stands for "superuser do" and in the windows world it is called "run as administrator".
Su in "sudo" refers to the "superuser" or in the windows called the "administrator".
</details>
### Whats the meaning of the ~ character mean in documentation and examples?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
The tilde character ~ is the a short way of saying the logged in users home directory in the UNIX world.<br>
So for example the Steam Deck<br>
`~ = /home/deck`<br>
Read more on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_directory)</details>
### Whats the meaning of the SA acronym in documentation and examples?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
SA means Standalone and the emulator is not inside RetroArch/LibRetro but a separate program launched within RetroDECK. </details>
### Whats the meaning of the CLI acronym in documentation and examples?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
CLI stands for command-line interface and is often refereed commands you can run in the the Linux Terminal </details>
<br>
## About Other Emulation Solutions
### Are you related to EmuDeck?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
No, the two projects are not related.
</details>
#### So what's the difference between RetroDECK and EmuDeck?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Apart of that from the user point of view EmuDeck and RetroDECK may sound similar but technically they're completely different.
EmuDeck is a shell script that you run in the Steam Decks desktop mode that downloads and configures all the separate emulators & plugins for you from various sources using a built in electron based gui.
RetroDECK is an all-in-one application contained in a sandboxed environment called "flatpak", that is downloaded from Discover (Flathub). This is Valves and other Linux desktops recommended way of distributing applications on the Steam Deck and Linux desktop in a safe way. It grantees for example even if Valve makes major changes to the file system in a SteamOS update, RetroDECK and it’s configurations will not be touched and will be safe.
RetroDECK only writes in these two folders: `~/retrodeck` for roms/configurations/bios etc.. And an hidden flatpak folder located in `~/.var/net.retrodeck.retrodeck`.
As everything is contained within those two folders it will not have conflict if you decide to install an emulator from another source like Yuzu or RetroArch with your RetroDECK setup. Even if you uninstall RetroDECK all your roms/bios/saves/etc.. are safe until you remove the `~/retrodeck` folder. So if you for some reason don't like the application after playing for a while you can easily move out your important files after an uninstall (or you can just reinstall RetroDECK again and start where you left off).
This approach of everything is in a all-in-one package will also allow RetroDECK to do tighter integrations with each bundled emulator in the future and expose all those settings when you are inside RetroDECK, so you do not need to go into Steam Decks desktop mode to do changes and tweaks. All things should be, in the long term, inside the application itself and you can already see a part of that inside the RetroDECK Configurator in the Tools menu.
</details>
#### Can I install RetroDECK if I have EmuDeck already?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Yes, as RetroDECK is completely standalone.
</details>
#### Why create RetroDECK when EmuDeck and other solutions exists?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
RetroDECK is older then EmuDeck, EmuDeck was created later.
</details>
### Are you related anyway to Batocera?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
No, but RetroDECK had some dialog before the project started with some of the Batocera crew if there where any plans to start a Batocera non-OS application (there where no plans at that moment and their focus is to make the best retro gaming operative system). RetroDECK and Batocera also have good dialog together with representatives of each projects inside the internal development channels.
</details>
### Batocera or EmuDeck or RetroDECK I still don't get it?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
- Batocera is a retro emulation operative system that you need to boot into separately (like from an SDCard) or replace your current OS. <br> For the Steam Deck you lose access to the SteamOS features and your emulation gaming is separate from your SteamOS gamemode gaming. That said; Batocera has many years of development time, is a great mature OS with a lot of features.
- EmuDeck is a shell script that you download and run. The script downloads & configures all the separate emulators & plugins for you from various sources for various operative systems.
- RetroDECK is an all-in-one application that already provides everything you need without to many extra steps for the user.It is on flathub and thus allows the users to update the application via standard safe operative system update methods.
You can see RetroDECK as the in between of EmuDeck and Batocera. We hope that one day we can offer a complete Batocera-like experience right inside your operative system.
</details>
### What is your relationship with EmulationStation Desktop Edition (ES-DE)?<br>
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
ES-DE and RetroDECK are separate projects, but we collaborate to give the best possible user experience.<br>
We have a unique partnership where inside the ES-DE code is a section just for RetroDECK specific features. <br>
[Read more on ES-DE FAQs](https://gitlab.com/es-de/emulationstation-de/-/blob/master/FAQ.md#what-is-the-relationship-between-es-de-and-retrodeck)
</details>
<br>
## Emulation & Games
@ -452,7 +467,9 @@ The long term answer is yes, but there are several issues that need to be addres
</details>
## Steam Deck Emulation
<br>
## Emulation on the Steam Deck
### Can I launch RetroDECK from inside of the Steam Decks gamemode?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
@ -489,6 +506,8 @@ The Steam Deck does not have the power to play all the games in those high resol
</details>
<br>
## Emulationstation-DE: Themes
### How can I add more themes?
@ -529,6 +548,8 @@ You can switch between them by open the menu and then navigate to `UI Settings >
</details>
<br>
## Emulationstation-DE: Scraping
### Can I manually add custom game images/videos/media for games that I can not scrape?
@ -552,33 +573,13 @@ The error message mentions something about quota. You have a quota limit on how
You can pay them to get a bit more daily quota and show your support or just wait 24 hours.<br>
</details>
### I got some weird error message about about server or service!
### The Scraper said: The Server or Service is down?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
The website is down, check [Screenscraper.fr](https://www.screenscraper.fr/) when they get back up.
The service is down, check https://www.screenscraper.fr/ when they get back up.
</details>
### The scraping is too slow!
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
[Screenscraper.fr](https://www.screenscraper.fr/) offers different types of donations that can increase your speed with extra threads.
</details>
### My systems storage ran out after scraping!
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Images and videos takes a lot of space, you can clean some out under `~/retrodeck/downloaded_media`
</details>
#### But I still want them!
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
The only way to still keep them is either: delete something else from the storage or buy more storage.
</details>
### Can I only scrape one game or can I narrow down the scraping method?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Yes, check the [[EmulationStation DE: User Guide]] for more details.
@ -589,3 +590,32 @@ Yes, check the [[EmulationStation DE: User Guide]] for more details.
You can move it with the the move RetroDECK option inside the configurator.
</details>
### Can I copy the downloaded_media folder to another device?
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
Yes, just copy it into the other device RetroDECK folder.
</details>
### The scraping is very slow...
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
https://www.screenscraper.fr/ offers different types of donations that can increase your speed with extra threads.
</details>
### My systems storage ran out after scraping...
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
You can clean out images and videos that takes a lot of space under: <br>
~/retrodeck/downloaded_media
</details>
#### But I still want them...
<details><summary>Click here to see the answer</summary>
The only way to still keep them is either delete something else from the storage or buy more storage.
</details>