From a60951c0caab3bd63f9347c683b11696e352030d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Abdessamad Derraz <3028866+Abdess@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:58:07 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix: say when the RetroDECK home is a guess

---
 install.ps1           |  2 +-
 install.py            |  8 ++++++++
 install.sh            |  2 +-
 tests/test_install.py | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/install.ps1 b/install.ps1
index a3f7ad4b..c2269dd4 100644
--- a/install.ps1
+++ b/install.ps1
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ param(
 
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 $defaultInstallUrl = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.py"
-$defaultInstallSha256 = "236441baeb94f442c15a93ac01a203ce63f2938553b491db13dfb19074bbef46"
+$defaultInstallSha256 = "c997339fd3efb879983937ed9dea6d0190d4689dedf627906c622f329587b757"
 $maximumInstallerBytes = 2MB
 $installerExit = 0
 $installer = if ($PSScriptRoot) { Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "install.py" } else { $null }
diff --git a/install.py b/install.py
index 8eed9f68..5e2a906c 100644
--- a/install.py
+++ b/install.py
@@ -952,6 +952,14 @@ def detect_platforms(os_type: str) -> list[tuple[str, Path]]:
         retrodeck_cfg = retrodeck_conf_dir / "retrodeck.cfg"
         if retrodeck_json.exists():
             rd_home = _parse_json_path(retrodeck_json, "paths", "rd_home_path")
+            if not rd_home:
+                # A home moved to an SD card lives only in this file: the
+                # default is a guess, and the user is told so.
+                print(
+                    f"Warning: could not read paths.rd_home_path from "
+                    f"{retrodeck_json}; assuming {home / 'retrodeck'}",
+                    file=sys.stderr,
+                )
             found.append(("retrodeck", Path(rd_home) if rd_home else home / "retrodeck"))
         elif retrodeck_cfg.exists():
             rd_home = _parse_bash_var(retrodeck_cfg, "rdhome")
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 39c5d91c..52e0b607 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ esac
 TEMP_INSTALLER=""
 TEMP_DIRECTORY=""
 DEFAULT_INSTALL_URL="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abdess/retrobios/main/install.py"
-DEFAULT_INSTALL_SHA256="236441baeb94f442c15a93ac01a203ce63f2938553b491db13dfb19074bbef46"
+DEFAULT_INSTALL_SHA256="c997339fd3efb879983937ed9dea6d0190d4689dedf627906c622f329587b757"
 MAX_INSTALLER_BYTES=2097152
 
 cleanup() {
diff --git a/tests/test_install.py b/tests/test_install.py
index 24bd3737..47815ca5 100644
--- a/tests/test_install.py
+++ b/tests/test_install.py
@@ -2260,5 +2260,26 @@ class CaseVariants(unittest.TestCase):
         )
 
 
+
+class AnUnreadableRetroDeckConfigIsSaid(unittest.TestCase):
+    """retrodeck.json present but unreadable: the installer wrote to
+    ~/retrodeck without a word, where a home moved to an SD card is not."""
+
+    def test_the_fallback_is_announced(self):
+        import contextlib
+
+        home = Path(_tempdir(self))
+        conf = home / ".var" / "app" / "net.retrodeck.retrodeck" / "config" / "retrodeck"
+        conf.mkdir(parents=True)
+        (conf / "retrodeck.json").write_text("{truncated")
+        err = io.StringIO()
+        with unittest.mock.patch.object(install.Path, "home", return_value=home), \
+                unittest.mock.patch.object(install, "_detect_embedded", return_value=[]), \
+                contextlib.redirect_stderr(err):
+            found = install.detect_platforms("linux")
+        self.assertIn(("retrodeck", home / "retrodeck"), found)
+        self.assertIn("could not read paths.rd_home_path", err.getvalue())
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()