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Usage of batocera-settings

This command is a bit out of date to use now, most if not all things can be adjusted within Batocera EmulationStation itself or through manually editing the text file. Certain commands may no longer be functional.

batocera-settings is a command-line tool that can work with regular config files to read/write its content instead of manually editing it yourself. The /userdata/system/batocera.conf contains most of the machine's settings and uses the key[game-if-applicable].setting=value 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] -v [value] write value key=value to batocera.conf
    • batocera-settings-get -f [file] [key] read value key from file
  • BATCOERA Extended usage FIXME 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

Basic usage: batocera-settings-set -f [CONFIG_FILE] [KEY] [VALUE]
Extended usage:
batocera-settings-set -e -g [game] -s [system] -r [key] FIXME This flag no longer exists, was it moved or outright deleted?
-f – Specifies the config file to read from. Defaults to /userdata/system/batocera.conf.
-v – Set value to selected 'key', any alphanumeric value
-e – Activate extended mode, needed for parsing game/system specific keys FIXME This flag no longer exists, was it moved or outright deleted?
-g – Filename of the specified game, enclose in double-quotes (“”) to avoid globbing FIXME This flag no longer exists, was it moved or outright deleted?
-s – Shortname of specified system FIXME This flag no longer exists, was it moved or outright deleted?

FIXME This flag no longer exists, was it moved or outright deleted?
If -e is not set the parameters -g and -s are ignored!
Use the errorlevels for scripts!
Always use quotes if you use arguments containing blanks!

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 8-) You made it!
EC 1 General error, e.g. command line error 8-o Check your command line for correct parameters
EC 2 File error, e.g. the config file is not available m( Check file path and r/w access to it
EC 10 Value error, key found but value is empty 8-o 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 m( 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 8-)

1. bash: Obtain a value

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

2. bash: Activate UART in ''/boot/config.txt''

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

3. bash: Set a new key

activate_uart.sh
#!/bin/bash
#This is an example file how batocera-settings can be utilized
#to set a new key in /userdata/system/batocera.conf
 
value=$(batocera-settings -w core.PS4.emulator -v SONY4EVER
ret=$?
if [[ $ret -eq 0 ]]; then
    echo "PS4 core enabled!"
else
    echo "Annother error occoured!"
fi

4. python: Obtain a key

FIXME

obtain_value.py
#!/usr/bin/python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
#This is an example file how batocera-settings can be utilized
#to read a value out from /userdata/system/batocera.conf with python
 
import subprocess
 
value = (subprocess.check_output(['batocera-settings', '-r', 'power.switch.device']))
if value:
    print "Power Switch Detected: ", value
else:
    print "No power switch detected!"
  • usage_of_batocera-settings.1629617803.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 3 years ago
  • by atari