launch_a_script [Batocera.linux - Wiki] (2024)

If you are looking for how scripts behaved in v37 and below, refer to the legacy scripts page.

You can opt to have scripts launched at various points in Batocera. This will change the location you save the script to and how it opens.

When booting and shutting down, Batocera checks for scripts three times at different stages in the boot/shutdown process:

• /boot/boot-custom.sh, a special case if you need scripts executed very early in the boot process

• /boot/postshare.sh, to launch scripts right after userdata is mounted

• /userdata/system/custom.sh, after EmulationStation has loaded, the preferred method for most use-cases

When these scripts are executed, Batocera sends the first argument to the script as start when Batocera is booting and stop when Batocera is shutting down. Putting code into cases or other checks for these argument values will cause that code to only be executed when booting or shutting down, otherwise code will be executed on both boot and shutdown.

In Batocera v32 and higher, scripts can be launched early in the boot process, before much of Batocera has even begun loading. This is done by storing the script in the boot partition at /boot/boot-custom.sh. Keep in mind that this script will be limited to more basic commands/modules, as most things have not loaded yet. The filename must be boot-custom.sh otherwise it will not be checked.

Precisely, this is the first thing executed once init.d has begun. This is before the network/share population/IR remote daemon have even loaded so capabilities are limited. Check /etc/init.d to see the exact order of all the modules have been loaded in (S00bootcustom is when the /boot/boot-custom.sh is executed).

This can be used to effectively patch and/or override the modules loaded by Batocera. Here are some examples that are only possible with this method:

• Customize or disable S33disablealtfn to allow a certain text mode console on a particular TTY session.

• Tinker with hwclock to save local time instead of universal time to RTC.

• Run fsck -a or e2fsck -p to harden the file system against data corruption in the case of a power cut/disconnection.

In Batocera v35 and higher, scripts can also be launched after /userdata is mounted in the boot process, before the splash video plays (and before Emulationstation has begun loading). It has to be placed to /boot/postshare.sh and is executed directly by the bash interpreter (no executable flag required).

This is the only init.d scripts that doesn't execute in background. So if you use a sleep timer for example, the script will halt till the time from sleep command is up! Be aware of endless do-while loops! Get familiar with shell commands and the usage of the ampersand &

Sometimes you just want to fire up one script after successfully booting, for example when you want to start up a VPN or other after-boot tasks. In order to do this, create a script text file at /userdata/system/custom.sh. Be aware that the script will be executed independently of the executable (x) attribute being set to the script file or not!

This script is the very last one that will be invoked by Batocera at boot time after EmulationStation has launched (check /etc/init.d/ to see all the modules that are loaded before then, S99userservices (previously S99custom in Batocera v38 and below) is when the user script is launched). The filename must be custom.sh otherwise it will not be checked.

Make sure your script ends with Unix line terminators (LF), not Windows-style line terminators (CR/LF) otherwise the script will not launch. Use a real text editor to edit your scripts, especially if you edit them under Windows.

custom.sh

#!/bin/bash# Code here will be executed on every boot and shutdown.# Check if security is enabled and store that setting to a variable.securityenabled="$(/usr/bin/batocera-settings-get system.security.enabled)"case "$1" in start) # Code in here will only be executed on boot. enabled="$(/usr/bin/batocera-settings-get system.samba.enabled)" if [ "$enabled" = "0" ]; then echo "SMB services: disabled" exit 0 fi ;; stop) # Code in here will only be executed on shutdown. echo -n "Shutting down SMB services: " kill -9 `pidof smbd` RETVAL=$? rm -f /var/run/samba/smbd.pid echo "done" ;; restart|reload) # Code in here will executed (when?). echo "SMB services: reloaded" ;; *) # Code in here will be executed in all other conditions. echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart}" ;;esacexit $?

Batocera 5.23 and higher supports running a script right before a game launches and/or after a game is exited. Here are some examples:

• Automatic controller setup

• Automatic scraping for new games

• Change screen resolution (though it might be better to use switchres for this)

• Sync savestates to an external/network device

• … give me your idea here

Place an executable script (can have any filename) with the correct setted shebang (first line!) or an executable binary into directory /userdata/system/scripts/.

# Open up a text editor to create your script:nano /userdata/system/scripts/first_script.sh# Write in your script, save and exit.# Then to add the executable bit to it:chmod +x /userdata/system/scripts/first_script.sh

You can add as many subfolders as you want, every script placed there will be executed. To distinguish between START or STOP condition the first argument parsed in the script have either of these flags:

• gameStart is passed to your scripts if you select a game from EmulationStation (Game Starts!)

• gameStop is passed to your scripts if you are going back from a game to EmulationStation (Game Stops!)

If you do not set cases for first argument, then the script is executed on every start and on every end of a game.

Table of parsed arguments in correct order and their functions:

At first create the directory where the scripts need to be set up. Connect through SSH and type mkdir /userdata/system/scripts. After this we can set up our first script by typing nano /userdata/system/scripts/first_script.sh. The filename can be anything readable by bash.

Here's the template script:

first_script.sh

#!/bin/bash# This is an example file of how gameStart and gameStop events can be used.# It's good practice to set all constants before anything else.logfile=/tmp/scriptlog.txt# Case selection for first parameter parsed, our event.case $1 in gameStart) # Commands in here will be executed on the start of any game. echo "START" > $logfile echo "$@" >> $logfile ;; gameStop) # Commands here will be executed on the stop of every game. echo "END" >> $logfile ;;esac

Now you can see a log file created /tmp/scriptlog.txt, that parsed all arguments in this file. This is just a small test of course. You can check out the SSH page and the usage of batocera-settings page for general and Batocera-specific commands.

In case Batocera's provided scripting functionality is not sufficient, ES itself also triggers scripts of its own volition. Extra scripts can be created at /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/<event name>/<script>.sh; unlike regular Batocera scripts the event named will trigger all scripts in the respective event folder. For instance, to have a script execute at every game-start event, it must be placed in /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/game-start/.

# Open up a text editor to create your script:nano /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/game-start/first_script.sh# Write in your script, save and exit.# Then to add the executable bit to it:chmod +x /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/game-start/first_script.sh

EmulationStation sends different arguments to these scripts based on the event type. For game-related events:

All events need to be added here.

This script is an example of an EmulationStation game-selected script for controlling the Pixelcade display. More robust results with the Pixelcade may be achieved with the Pixelcade Batocera scripts.

pixelcade.sh

#!/bin/bash# Save the arguments into variables.system="${1}"rom="${2}"romname="${3}"# Convert an argument into another value.if [[ "${system}" == "fbneo" ]]; then system="mame"fi# Switch case for certain systems.case ${system} in fbneo) system="mame" ;; scummvm) rom="${rom%.*}" ;;esac# Execute this part every time this event triggers.curl -G \ --data-urlencode "t=${romname}" \ http://127.0.0.1:8080/arcade/stream/${system}/`basename ${rom}`

Friendly reminder that older examples have now been moved to the legacy scripts page.

• Shutdown Batocera at a given time.

custom.sh

#!/bin/bashwhile true; do currenthour=$(date +%k%M) if [ $currenthour -eq 2355 ]; then shutdown -h now fi sleep 30done

• Disable a specific network interface (e.g. eth0, eth1, etc.):

custom.sh

#!/bin/bashifconfig eth1 down

In that example, we want the Batocera system to shutdown one hour after the screensaver is launched (so that the system shuts down itself automatically after being idle).

To do so, you will need to add two scripts:

• /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/screensaver-start/shutdown-trigger.sh that is launched when the screensaver starts, and will start a 1 hour timer (see in the script the 3rd line where you can tune that with options possible through the date command).

• /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/screensaver-stop/shutdown-cancel.sh that cancels the automatic shutdown, triggered when you touch the controller.

The script to put in the directory /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/screensaver-start/ is:

shutdown-trigger.sh

#!/bin/shTRG=/tmp/shutdown.screensaverdate -d "+1 hour" +"%s" > "$TRG"while true; do now=$(date +"%s") [ -f "$TRG" ] || break trg=$(cat "$TRG") if [ "$now" -ge "$trg" ]; then shutdown -h nowrm "$TRG" fi sleep 5done

And the script to put in the directory /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/screensaver-stop/ is:

shutdown-cancel.sh

#!/bin/shTRG=/tmp/shutdown.screensaverrm "$TRG"

• Output text to a file

outputsomething.sh

#!/bin/bash# by cyperghost for batoceratestfile="/userdata/system/scripts/output.txt"echo "END Script!" >> $testfileecho "Parameter: $@" >> $testfileecho "Systemname: $1" >> $testfileecho "Emulatorcore: $2" >> $testfileecho "ROM: $(basename "$3")" >> $testfile [[ "$4" == "libretro" ]] && echo "You are free!" >> $testfile || echo "No hotkey is pure hell eh??" >> $testfile

• Change LED colors while running games, and shutdown on button press

shutdownsimple.sh

#!/bin/bashLED1=22LED2=27SHUTDOWN=3 case "$1" instart) # LED init echo "$LED1" > /sys/class/gpio/export echo "$LED2" > /sys/class/gpio/export echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$LED1/direction echo 0 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$LED1/value echo out > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$LED2/direction echo 1 > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$LED2/value #Button init echo "$SHUTDOWN" > /sys/class/gpio/export echo "in" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$SHUTDOWN/direction #This loop continuously checks if the shutdown button was pressed  #It sleeps as long as that has not happened.  buttonstate1=$(cat /sys/class/gpio/gpio$SHUTDOWN/value) shutdownSignal=$(cat /sys/class/gpio/gpio$SHUTDOWN/value) while [ $shutdownSignal = $buttonstate1 ]; do shutdownSignal=$(cat /sys/class/gpio/gpio$SHUTDOWN/value) sleep 0.5 done shutdown -h now ;;stop) #unexport all GPIOs #echo "$SHUTDOWN" > /sys/class/gpio/unexport  echo "$LED1" > /sys/class/gpio/unexport echo "$LED2" > /sys/class/gpio/unexport ;;esacexit $?

• Load latest created savestate automatically

loadlatestsave.sh

#!/bin/bash# disable auto load/save state inside ES# add 'global.retroarch.savestate_auto_load=true'# to your batocera.conf# by cyperghost aka lala for BATOCERA# # download this script to '/userdata/system/scripts' and set executable bit# rom_no_ext="$(basename "${5%.*}")"sav_path="/userdata/saves/$2"[[ "$(batocera-settings get global.autosave)" -eq 1 ]] && exit[[ "$(batocera-settings get global.retroarch.savestate_auto_load)" == "true" ]] || exitif [[ $1 == "gameStart" ]]; then file="$(/bin/ls "$sav_path/$rom_no_ext."* -turR1A | tail -1)" [[ -n "$file" ]] || exit [[ "${file##*.}" == "png" ]] && file="${file%.*}" [[ -f "$file" ]] || exit cp -f "$file" "$sav_path/$rom_no_ext.state.auto"fiif [[ $1 == "gameStop" ]]; then rm -f "$sav_path/$rom_no_ext.state.auto"fi

• Faff about with audio settings.

audio-shenanigans.sh

case "$1" in start) # Get the current audio profile. defaultprofile="$(batocera-audio get-profile)" # Get the current audio device. defaultaudio="$(batocera-audio get)" # Set the audio device to HDMI-2. batocera-audio set HDMI-2 # Set the default "auto" audio profile. batocera-audio set-profile auto # Unmute the audio device. batocera-audio setSystemVolume unmute # Set audio level to 69. batocera-audio setSystemVolume 69 # Test the audio device with Mallet.wav batocera-audio test ;; stop) # Toggle the audio mute. batocera-audio setSystemVolume mute-toggle

boot-custom.sh

#!/bin/bash# Delay Syncthing until other boot stuff has completed.if [[ "$1" != "start" ]] && exit 0; then if mv /etc/init.d/S27syncthing /etc/init.d/S99syncthing; then echo "Successfully delayed Syncthing." elif ls /etc/init.d/S99syncthing; then echo "Command has already run!" exit 0 else echo "Syncthing failed to be delayed." touch /userdata/check-boot-custom-sh shutdown -h now exit 1 fifiexit $?

Original forum post with a deeper explanation. Artwork needs to be sourced and placed in the appropriate Marquee and roms/Marquee folders first.

Place game.sh into system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/game-selected

game.sh

#!/bin/bashSystem=$1 #system nameRomname=${2%.*} #romnamerom=${Romname##*/}/userdata/marquee.sh Gameselected $System "$rom"

Place system.sh into system/configs/emulationstation/scripts/system-selected

system.sh

#!/bin/bashSystem=$1 #System name/userdata/marquee.sh Systemselected $System &

Place marquee.sh in /userdata

marquee.sh

#!/bin/bashcase $1 inStart)Romname=$3Gamepath=$2marqueeimage=$Gamepath/images/$romname-marquee.pngif [ -f "/userdata/roms/Marquee/videos/$Romname.mp4" ]thenffmpeg -i /userdata/roms/Marquee/videos/$Romname.mp4 -vf scale=1280:720 -sws_flags bilinear -pix_fmt rgb565le -f fbdev /dev/fb0fiif [ -f "/userdata/roms/Marquee/hires/$Romname.jpg" ]thenfbv /userdata/roms/Marquee/hires/$Romname.jpg -ferelif [ -f "$marqueeimage" ]thenfbv $marqueeimage -ferelsefbv /userdata/roms/mame/images/mame.png -ferfi;;Gameselected)System=$2 #system nameRomname=$3 #romnameif [ -f "/userdata/roms/Marquee/$Romname.png" ]thenfbv /userdata/roms/Marquee/$Romname.png -ferelif [ -f "/userdata/roms/$System/images/$Romname-marquee.png" ]thenfbv "/userdata/roms/$System/images/$Romname-marquee.png" -ferelsefbv /userdata/roms/Marquee/mame.png -ferfi;;Systemselected)imagepath="/userdata/roms/sysimages/$2"if [ -f "$imagepath.png" ]thenfbv "$imagepath.png" -ferelsefbv /userdata/roms/mame/images/mame.png -ferfi;;esac

Place script.sh in system/scripts

script.sh

#!/bin/bashcase $1 ingameStart)gamepath=${5%/*}romname=${5##*/}/userdata/marquee.sh Start $gamepath ${romname%.*} &;;gameStop)killall ffmpeg;;esac