Usage of batocera-settings

batocera-settings is a command-line tool that can work with regular config files to read/write its content, useful for scripting (like say you need to change the config based on what machine you have the drive plugged into). The /userdata/system/batocera.conf contains most of the machine's settings and follows batocera.conf's regular syntax.

When manually editing the batocera.conf file:

• Use ## This is a text comment for text comments.
• Use #enable.godmode=hallelujah for commenting values.
• Describe content and functions in comments when adding them for future reference.
• It's recommended to add content in their appropriate sections, but not strictly required.

Down here is a small excerpt of an example config file

# ------------ B - Network ------------ #
## Set system hostname
system.hostname=BATOCERA
## Activate wifi (0,1)
wifi.enabled=0
## Wifi SSID (string)
#wifi.ssid=new ssid
## Wifi KEY (string)
## after rebooting the batocera.linux, the "new key" is replace by a hidden value "enc:xxxxx"
## you can edit the "enc:xxxxx" value to replace by a clear value, it will be updated again at the following reboot
## Escape your special chars (# ; $) with a backslash : $ => \$
#wifi.key=new key

batocera-setting is utilized by parameters parsed. These parameters can be used in the long and in the short format. It's a relic of RecalBox times thus its syntax should seem familiar.

As batocera-settings is more modern and supports reading/writing values. For these examples, replace the contents in the square brackets with your intended setting (and don't include the square brackets themselves).

• BATOCERA Basic usage
  • batocera-settings-get [key] read key from batocera.conf
  • batocera-settings-set [key] [value] write value key=value to batocera.conf
  • batocera-settings-get -f [file] [key] read value key from file
• BATOCERA board-specific usage (added in Batocera v36)
  • batocera-settings-get-master [key] read key from /usr/share/batocera/sysconfigs/batocera.conf.${BOARD_MODEL}
• BATCOERA Extended usage This flag no longer exists, was it moved or outright deleted?
  • batocera-settings -e -r [key] -s [system] iterate keys system.key and if not available use global.key
  • batocera-settings -e -r [key] -s [system] -g [game] iterate keys like above, but start with system[“game”].key

Whenever batocera-settings-set or batocera-settings-get is called from a script you will receive an exit code number. This will help to identify errors (for debugging you can use the status command for more useful output).

File and Key/Values error
Error Code	Error code explaination	Troubleshooting
EC 0	No Error, value found	You made it!
EC 1	General error, e.g. command line error	Check your command line for correct parameters
EC 2	File error, e.g. the config file is not available	Check file path and r/w access to it
EC 10	Value error, key found but value is empty	Unusual setup but no error at all
EC 11	Value error, key found but it is commented out	Activate the key entry by uncomment command
EC 12	Key not found	Add the key by manual or check your command line for typos

I present here some short scripts, to show you how to make batocera-settings work in your script. As I'm more confident in shell scripting I give you just some small examples in shell script.

1. bash: Obtain value
2. bash: Activate UART in /boot/config.txt
3. bash: Set a new key
4. python: Obtain a value

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK

obtain_value.sh

#!/bin/bash
#This is an example file how batocera-settings-get can be utilized
#to read a value out from /userdata/system/batocera.conf
 
value="$(batocera-settings-get power.switch.device)"
ret=$?
if [[ $ret -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo "Power Switch detected: '$value'"
else
    echo "No Power Switch detected!"
fi

activate_uart.sh

#!/bin/bash
#This is an example file how batocera-settings-set can be utilized
#to activate UART in /boot/config.txt
 
batocera-settings-set -f /boot/config.txt enable_uart 1
ret=$?
if [[ $ret -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo "UART activated, uncommented enable_uart"
elif [[ $ret -eq 2 ]]; then
    echo "File is write protected!"
    echo "Remounting boot-partition with write permissions..."
    mount -o remount, rw /boot
    batocera-settings-set -f /boot/config.txt enable_uart 1
    if [[ $ret -eq 0 ]]; then
        echo "UART activated, uncommented enable_uart"
    fi
else
    echo "Key: enable_uart not found"
    echo "Not a Raspberry System?"
fi

set_new_key.sh

#!/bin/bash
#This is an example file how batocera-settings-set can be utilized
#to set a new key in /userdata/system/batocera.conf
 
value=$(batocera-settings-set core.PS5.emulator SONY5EVER
ret=$?
if [[ $ret -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo "PS5 core enabled!"
else
    echo "Another error occurred!"
fi

obtain_value.py

#!/usr/bin/python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
#This is an example file how batocera-settings-get can be utilized
#to read a value out from /userdata/system/batocera.conf with python
 
import subprocess
 
value = (subprocess.check_output(['batocera-settings-get', 'power.switch.device']))
if value:
    print "Power Switch Detected: ", value
else:
    print "No power switch detected!"