Sinden_Lightgun_Autostart (v1.02)

A utility to automatically start and stop Sinden Lightgun used in RetroPie, with options.

Intended for use only with Barebones 9.0-9.1 and the v1.08 Sinden driver software If you are using Barebones 9.2 then you should use the ver2 branch

This utility is very clean. Everything is self-contained within one script and references to this script placed only where necessary, making use of command line switches to activate different functions. I've tried to make the code as economical as possible, so it doesn't take up thousands of lines of repetition where only around 400 is necessary, whilst still making it feature-rich.

WARNING

If you already have some other autostart utility in place, and you want to use this one, make sure you purge the other one first. There's no telling what those two guys will get up to if left alone in the same space!

How to install

If you already have an older version of the install script, you should delete it first. It will not be overwritten by the wget command below

If running from the Pi itself with a connected keyboard, press F4 to exit EmulationStation and reach the command line.

Or you can connect to your Pi via SSH using a reliable utility such as PuTTY.

From the command line, type the following:

cd /home/pi/
wget https://github.com/Widge-5/Sinden_Lightgun_Autostart/raw/ver1/autostart_install.sh
chmod +x autostart_install.sh
sudo ./autostart_install.sh

This will download the script to your /home/pi folder and make it executable. The last line executes the script. You could add --auto to that last command and it will run the installation without prompting for input.

When you run the script you will be asked whether your Sinden start scripts are in the Sinden group (for BB9) or the Ports group (for BB8) (the --auto option will assume that your scripts are in the Sinden group).

The script will then download the files needed and install them in their appropriate locations.

If the widgeutils.cfg file doesn't already exist on your system, then it is generated by the installer. If it does exist, the installer will check if the variables needed by this tool are contained within and, if not, it will add them in with default values.

The install script will offer to delete itself then you will be prompted to restart EmulationStation (the --auto option will cause the install script to delete itself without prompt).

What to expect

In the Sinden (or Ports) group, you will find a new script available called Sinden Lightgun Autostart Options. Executing this script will launch a menu system that will enable you to edit the way the Autostart will work. The Autostart is designed to only start the guns if it identifies the game being launched as a lightgun game. The purpose of this is to ensure that your Pi isn't burdened with unnecessarily allocating resources to running the guns when you want to play a non-lightgun game. It identifies games as Lightgun Games by their inclusion in a Collection of lightgun games which you will need to create. If you do not already have such a Collection, you can create one in EmulationStation as follows:

• In EmulationStation, press Start then go to Game Collection Setings --> Create New Custom Collection. Then type in a name for it, such as "Lightgun Games" using a connected keyboard.
• Then go through your games and press Y to add/remove games to the Collection.
• When you've finished, restart EmulationStation so the additions to the Collection are written to the file.
• Later, you can update the Collection by going to the Collections group, selecting the collection, pressing Select and choosing Add/Remove Games To This Collection.

You may already have a widgeutils.cfg file present on your system from another utility. If you don't already have widgeutils.cfg on your system, then it is generated by the the utility when it is first run. If it does exist, the installer will check if the variables needed by this tool are contained within and, if not, it will add them in with default values.

The utility is pre-configured with the addresses of the Lightgun config files as they are in BareBones. If your config files are in another location then you should edit the variables in the config file at /home/pi/Lightgun/utils/widgeutils.cfg.

When you first visit the Options menu, hte first thing you should do is choose Set Lightgun Collection File in order to apply the Collection file you created earlier. Then Save Changes. The utility will not work if no Collection file is set. The Collection file chosen will be remembered and can be changed later if needed.

The options available are as follows :

• Autostart Lightguns [on/off] - Choose to Enable the Autostart function, or disable it entirely. When enabled, the guns will be started automatically on launch of any game present in your chosen Collection, and will be stopped when the game closes. Both Start and Stop functions are disabled if this setting is off.
• Set Global Recoil [all off|single|auto|individual] - This decides which recoil option is used by all connected guns. Making a selection here automatically adjusts the individual guns' recoil types.
• PX Recoil [off|single|auto] - (X is a the Player number 1-4) Choose which recoil type to use for each individual player. This setting is automatically adjusted by the Global setting above, or setting this independantly will automatically adjust the Global setting to individual.
• Reset recoil on each boot - Enabling this option will automatically reset the Global recoil option to all off each time your Pi is booted up. Disabling this option will preserve the last setings used on each boot. You may wish to enable this option if you only occasionally use recoil and you might forget to disable it again after a session.
• Set Lightgun Collection File - Define the Collection file that Autostart will refer to in order to identify a lightgun game.
• Save Changes - This must be applied after making your selections for them to take effect.
• Reset Unsaved Changes - Restore these settings to those currently saved.

Finally, this Autostart also takes into account the unique config required by the Supermodel emulator. If the lightgun game being launched is a Supermodel game then it will use the Supermodel-specific lightgun config files which apply a ratio correction to the lightgun tracking.

Uninstalling

If you want to uninstall, from terminal just type sudo /home/pi/Lightgun/utils/sindenautostart.sh -u You will be asked for confirmation then the script will remove the commands it placed in EmulationStation files and then delete itself. The widgeutils.cfg file won't be deleted because it is a shared cfg with other utilities of mine so might still be needed, but it's harmless if not.