Did Retroarch mess up my Xbox? Help!

[Ark9]

Right, LOCALFOLDER is the only one I really interacted with.
That doesn't necessarily mean Retroarch hasn't created files elsewhere or Durango hasn't altered another partition's structure I guess, but still seems worth checking.

Thanks again for the files!

 

[fringle]

the D drive is external hdd on retail mode.

Ah that makes sense if it's a media formatted drive. Since my external is for Xbox games it doesn't show up like that.

 

[godreborn]

yeah, it's for a media formatted drive. afaik, there's no way to access an xbox formatted drive with ftp. not even sure of the partition for it.

 

[Ark9]

After installing a lot of random games I've found that there are actually some exception to the crashing rule, such as Doom (the classic one) and Shadowrun (demo).
In these games I can even save and load my progress as normal, so IF the game launches it works just fine, and my theory about faulty storage may be incorrect.
I've also noticed that if I go offline, the problematic games give me a black screen instead of crashing to the dashboard.

On the internet I've found a few users that seem to have the exact same issue (most games crashing to dashboard on all profiles, no overheating or shutting down), but not as a result of using Retroarch or Durango so that might have been just an extremely weird coincidence. None of them seem to have found a solution.
At this point I don't think I'll ever fix this, it's just that it's so bizzarre and perplexing I kind of wish I knew what happened.

 

[godreborn]

After installing a lot of random games I've found that there are actually some exception to the crashing rule, such as Doom (the classic one) and Shadowrun (demo).
In these games I can even save and load my progress as normal, so IF the game launches it works just fine, and my theory about faulty storage may be incorrect.
I've also noticed that if I go offline, the problematic games give me a black screen instead of crashing to the dashboard.

On the internet I've found a few users that seem to have the exact same issue (most games crashing to dashboard on all profiles, no overheating or shutting down), but not as a result of using Retroarch or Durango so that might have been just an extremely weird coincidence. None of them seem to have found a solution.
At this point I don't think I'll ever fix this, it's just that it's so bizzarre and perplexing I kind of wish I knew what happened.

your only option may be to send it in. claim it happened after a system update, and they may fix it for free even if it's out of warranty.

 

[fringle]

After installing a lot of random games I've found that there are actually some exception to the crashing rule, such as Doom (the classic one) and Shadowrun (demo).
In these games I can even save and load my progress as normal, so IF the game launches it works just fine, and my theory about faulty storage may be incorrect.
I've also noticed that if I go offline, the problematic games give me a black screen instead of crashing to the dashboard.

On the internet I've found a few users that seem to have the exact same issue (most games crashing to dashboard on all profiles, no overheating or shutting down), but not as a result of using Retroarch or Durango so that might have been just an extremely weird coincidence. None of them seem to have found a solution.
At this point I don't think I'll ever fix this, it's just that it's so bizzarre and perplexing I kind of wish I knew what happened.

After reading this I'm curious if it may be a video mode switching issue. What resolution and video modes are you using? Have you by any chance another monitor or TV you can try it on to see if it follows. If it's a 4k display try disabling 4k and see if games load in 1080p or if your tv supports it 1440p. Try disabling auto hdr, vrr, auto low latency and using 60hz exclusively if using 120hz display.

Edit:
You can try this to reset your display settings

1. If there's a disc in the console, eject it.
2. On the console, press and hold the Power button on the front of the console for 10 seconds to turn off the console.
3. Press and hold the Power button and the Eject button until you hear a beep to turn on the console. You'll hear one beep right away and a second beep 10 seconds later. The power light will flash on before the second beep. Don't let go until you hear the second beep or see the console start up in low resolution mode (the Xbox startup screen will appear slightly pixelated).
   NoteIf you have an Xbox Series S or Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, press and hold the Xbox button  and the Pair button  instead, as your console doesn't have an Eject button.
4. In either case, this will start up your console in low resolution mode (640 × 480).
   • To change this setting, press the Xbox button  on your controller to open the guide. Go to Profile & system > Settings > General > TV & display options, and then select the resolution that you want from the options under Display. For more info, see:
     How to change the display resolution for your TV on Xbox
5. If you're required to complete these steps on every startup, change your TV connection to HDMI as shown in step 3 on the section below, "Your screen is blank, and you use an AVR in your setup."

 

[Ark9]

your only option may be to send it in. claim it happened after a system update, and they may fix it for free even if it's out of warranty.

The warranty lasts another year and a half (I'm in Europe) but I'm a bit worried they could complain that I installed Retroarch and modified some files.
Also I've read multiple times about people having their consoles sent back unrepaied and not having a great experience with Microsoft's assistance but I guess I'll have to try my luck sooner or later.

After reading this I'm curious if it may be a video mode switching issue. What resolution and video modes are you using? Have you by any chance another monitor or TV you can try it on to see if it follows. If it's a 4k display try disabling 4k and see if games load in 1080p or if your tv supports it 1440p. Try disabling auto hdr, vrr, auto low latency and using 60hz exclusively if using 120hz display.

I don't have a 4K TV where I'm staying now so most options are already unavailable and the rest had no effect. I'll try the low-res thing though.

 

[fringle]

The warranty lasts another year and a half (I'm in Europe) but I'm a bit worried they could complain that I installed Retroarch and modified some files.
Also I've read multiple times about people having their consoles sent back unrepaied and not having a great experience with Microsoft's assistance but I guess I'll have to try my luck sooner or later.


I don't have a 4K TV where I'm staying now so most options are already unavailable and the rest had no effect. I'll try the low-res thing though.

That sounds like a good idea. Even though you don't have a 4k tv right now the option to allow 4k may still be checked in display settings and could be a reason that games are loading to a black screen. As they are switching their internal resolution and your tv is unable to display the image. This could be why older games that don't natively support higher resolutions such as 4k are working as there would be no need to upscale the image. I could be way off but it seems like it could be plausible.

 

[Ark9]

Even in low resolution mode the games that launch and the ones that don't are exactly the same.

Speaking of which, I've found a few more games that work and they all seem to share low hardware requirements. None with high fidelity graphics and large install size have worked so far.

If it's a problem with the graphics card it would still make sense that switching account has no effect and cloud gaming works normally, but it's not something I can solve on my own so I think I'll just call Microsoft next month.

 

[fringle]

Even in low resolution mode the games that launch and the ones that don't are exactly the same.

Speaking of which, I've found a few more games that work and they all seem to share low hardware requirements. None with high fidelity graphics and large install size have worked so far.

If it's a problem with the graphics card it would still make sense that switching account has no effect and cloud gaming works normally, but it's not something I can solve on my own so I think I'll just call Microsoft next month.

It's a very strange problem indeed. I doubt it's a problem with the graphics card per say as it's an apu(cpu/gpu combined in one die) and if that were the case the system wouldn't play anything or boot for that matter. That's why I was curious if it might be the monitor/tv rather than the xbox. Very strange that this happened after using retroarch as well. I'm still thinking if it's not the display itself the problem lies in the software at some level. Have you by any chance reinstalled retroarch and just reset retroarch to it's default settings and see if that might trigger something. Maybe it's stuck in DX11 mode and unable to switch when games require DX12.

 

[Ark9]

Have you by any chance reinstalled retroarch and just reset retroarch to it's default settings and see if that might trigger something. Maybe it's stuck in DX11 mode and unable to switch when games require DX12.

When I try to reset the default setting in Retroarch's main menu, it freezes (not the whole OS, just the app). It did the same the first time I installed it too, before I reset the console (but apart from that it seemed to run without issue, I could emulate games etc). I have no idea why or if it's related.