FBA vs. MAME

Loggahead

@udb23 the option in lr mame is not working for me because i use seperate usb controllers for p1 and p2...
however via mame menu i finally made it work!

@grant2258 oh my god you are right it is working! via mame menu i can assign the p2 buttons totally flexible. i did not know about this possibility i always used retroarch menu...
THANK YOU! i was close to giving up here after searching the compkete internet (grant was pointing me into that direction ib github issue discussion)
its so cool to play robotron now like its meant to be played!

Yup, just now catching up on this thread. This is exactly what I did. Just used the mame menu to map the P2 joystick as the P1 right joystick. I also did this for Smash TV, Black Widow, and Wacko.

Loggahead

I just came across an isse trying to run Shock Trooper (shocktro.zip) using FBA. I am on retropie 4.4 on an rpi3b and update fba from source to check that. Here is part of the run command verbose log I get when trying to launch it:

[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 0 with CRC 0xefedf8dc and name 238-pg1.p1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 128 with CRC 0x91b64be3 and name asia-s3.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 129 with CRC 0x9036d879 and name sp-s2.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 130 with CRC 0xc7f2fa45 and name sp-s.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 131 with CRC 0xe72943de and name sp-u2.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 132 with CRC 0x62f021f4 and name v2.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 133 with CRC 0x2723a5b5 and name sp-e.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 134 with CRC 0x2025b7a2 and name sp1-u3.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 135 with CRC 0xf0e8f27d and name vs-bios.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 136 with CRC 0xacede59c and name sp-j2.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 137 with CRC 0x9fb0abe4 and name sp1.jipan.1024 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 138 with CRC 0x03cc9f6a and name sp-45.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 139 with CRC 0xdff6d41f and name japan-j3.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 140 with CRC 0xfbc6d469 and name sp1-j3.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 141 with CRC 0x16d0c132 and name neo-po.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 142 with CRC 0xd27a71f1 and name neo-epo.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 143 with CRC 0x698ebb7d and name neodebug.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 144 with CRC 0x162f0ebe and name sp-1v1_3db8c.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 145 with CRC 0x24858466 and name uni-bios_3_3.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 146 with CRC 0xa4e8b9b3 and name uni-bios_3_2.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 147 with CRC 0x0c58093f and name uni-bios_3_1.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 148 with CRC 0xa97c89a9 and name uni-bios_3_0.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 149 with CRC 0x27664eb5 and name uni-bios_2_3.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 150 with CRC 0x601720ae and name uni-bios_2_3o.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 151 with CRC 0x2d50996a and name uni-bios_2_2.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 152 with CRC 0x8dabf76b and name uni-bios_2_1.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 153 with CRC 0x0c12c2ad and name uni-bios_2_0.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 154 with CRC 0xb24b44a0 and name uni-bios_1_3.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 155 with CRC 0x4fa698e9 and name uni-bios_1_2.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 156 with CRC 0xe19d3ce9 and name uni-bios_1_2o.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 157 with CRC 0x5dda0d84 and name uni-bios_1_1.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 158 with CRC 0x0ce453a0 and name uni-bios_1_0.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 159 with CRC 0xcb915e76 and name neopen.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 162 with CRC 0x94416d67 and name sm1.sm1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 163 with CRC 0xc2ea0cfd and name sfix.sfix => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 164 with CRC 0x5a86cff2 and name 000-lo.lo => Not Found
[libretro INFO] [FBA] Parsing archive /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/neogeo.
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 0 with CRC 0xefedf8dc and name 238-pg1.p1 => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 134 with CRC 0x2025b7a2 and name sp1-u3.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 140 with CRC 0xfbc6d469 and name sp1-j3.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 141 with CRC 0x16d0c132 and name neo-po.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 142 with CRC 0xd27a71f1 and name neo-epo.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 143 with CRC 0x698ebb7d and name neodebug.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 145 with CRC 0x24858466 and name uni-bios_3_3.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 159 with CRC 0xcb915e76 and name neopen.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro INFO] [FBA] Parsing archive /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade/0 FBA/shocktro.
[libretro WARN] [FBA] **Searching ROM at index 0 with CRC 0xefedf8dc and name 238-pg1.p1 => Not Found**
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 134 with CRC 0x2025b7a2 and name sp1-u3.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 140 with CRC 0xfbc6d469 and name sp1-j3.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 141 with CRC 0x16d0c132 and name neo-po.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 142 with CRC 0xd27a71f1 and name neo-epo.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 143 with CRC 0x698ebb7d and name neodebug.bin => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 145 with CRC 0x24858466 and name uni-bios_3_3.rom => Not Found
[libretro WARN] [FBA] Searching ROM at index 159 with CRC 0xcb915e76 and name neopen.sp1 => Not Found
[libretro INFO] MVS Neo Geo Mode selected => Set NeoSystem: 0x00 (asia-s3.rom [0x91b64be3] (MVS Asia/Europe ver. 6 (1 slot))).
[libretro ERROR] [FBA] ROM at index 0 with CRC 0xefedf8dc is required ...
[libretro ERROR] [FBA] Cannot find driver.
[libretro ERROR] [FBA] Cannot load this game.
[ERROR] Failed to load content.

I noticed that it is looking for a file called 238-pg1.p1 and when I open shocktro.zip there is only a file names 238.p1.p1. Could that be the issue? This same rom worked perfectly on 4.3 and all my other neo geo roms are still working now.

Any thoughts?

mitu

@loggahead You should open a new topic for this particular problem, but anyway - it's probably because the Romset has changed between FBAlpha 0.2.97.42 (which was the default in RetroPie 4.3) and FBAlpha 0.2.97.43 - which is the version you get if you update from source right now.

Loggahead

@mitu said in FBA vs. MAME:

you get if you update from source right now.

roger that and sorry about posting here. I've just noticed a lot posts about fixing particular games in this thread. I'll make a topic under help / support.

AndersHP

@Pussyfoot @markwkidd @cosmo0
are these "optimal cores" still being updated after 0.2.97.43 and do we have some place online to find the complete lists with best cores? I see you @cosmo0 have been asking and concluding things above, but shouldn't we have a central place to store these lists for easy access?

markwkidd

We (mostly arcadez) is doing a thorough job of maintaining the mame2003-plus CHANGELOG. The intention is that be a reliable reference for the one core at least. If someone notices something wrong or out of date it with, an issue report or PR is very welcome. That's what I can commit to helping with as part of the overall goal of having accurate information.

Edit: In addition, arcadez and @grant2258 have both have been keeping the status of individual games updated at the driver level, so it's possible to in theory produce reports and gamelists for mame2003-plus that have details about whether games have known issues, how severe they are, does the issue affect sound, etc.

That information should be the basis of any data-driven/spreadsheet type analysis. The changelog is for more qualitative human use.

AndersHP

@markwkidd Allright, I might start getting into this MAME2003_plus business. Is there generally no downside compared to the default MAME2003 emulator?

Do you have the supported games in MAME 2003_plus on a list, to replace my old mame2003 list?

This would come in handy when building the Arcade folder to contain both FBA and MAME2003_plus.

robertvb83

@andershp fba has also updated, so we can start fresh ;-)

AndersHP

@robertvb83 yeah. Actually, it's really hard to find out what to do when building a combined Arcades folder.. Both the FBA and MAME2003_PLUS boys are making progress all the time. But having 2 nearly identical romsets on your build just seems silly.

robertvb83

@andershp i totally hear you. when i started a year ago with planing and research for my cabinet it really gave me frustration and headaches.

there is also no real good list about all this. the user generated xls lists are not vry useful and nobody has the Motivation to do all this for thousands of games.

and there is your approach of best core list that i find interesting, but then again i use some clones and these are not coverd.

i went an easy way and decided to use batch files of these so called NoFiller-lists to copy roms from a romset. i first apply this batch file to fba as preferred emu, the games not included in fba will be copied from my mame romset

but this will only set fba as preferred and only use mame for others. over time i adjzsted and recently i put more games in the mame lists according to the great features and progress of mame2003-plus.

in my opinion there is already no reason to stick to old mame 2003 because 2003-plus already has everything of the old one with many really nice features and more game support and better sound

AndersHP

It could be an interesting shoot-out to have the FBA guys and MAME2003 PLUS guys tell us, why we should choose their solutions over the other.

Until now, MAME2003 was my goto for MAME, and if something didn't work or was allegedly running better in FBA, I would "upgrade" to this.

Now, it just seems like 2 parties are doing the same work simultaneously, or am I missing something?

grant2258

@andershp said in FBA vs. MAME:

It could be an interesting shoot-out to have the FBA guys and MAME2003 PLUS guys tell us, why we should choose their solutions over the other.

Until now, MAME2003 was my goto for MAME, and if something didn't work or was allegedly running better in FBA, I would "upgrade" to this.

Now, it just seems like 2 parties are doing the same work simultaneously, or am I missing something?

Two completely separate emulators I would never encourage anyone to pick mame2003plus over fba or vice versa.

Mame2003+ exists to improve mame2003 (mame078 code base) and this is the core that works best for low end hardware for raspberry pi.

If you like fba use it, if you like mame2003+ use it, if you like both use both.

I would quiet happily help fix fba if i seen a bug in the code and noticed it. For me its not one or the other.

barbudreadmon

@andershp said in FBA vs. MAME:

It could be an interesting shoot-out to have the FBA guys and MAME2003 PLUS guys tell us, why we should choose their solutions over the other.

Why should we do that ? I'm using both myself. Use whatever you want, and if you see an issue in one of them, report it. Which makes me think, did you try gyruss with latest fba ? I think the sound core had some update, but i can't say if it fixed your "fuzzy sound" issue since i never heard it myself.

AndersHP

@barbudreadmon @grant2258
No disrespect, I think it's awesome that people are using their spare time to mod mame games for others to enjoy.

I just feel like these parties are doing the same job, why not spare the energy and work together instead? I don't know the tecnical differences, but maybe that's just me being a newbie on this scene.

I haven't tried the FBA version of Gyruss since last we talked about it, it was kind of a gamechanger to me that the sound was off and it didn't save hiscores. But I'll give it another whirl, sure!

grant2258

@andershp i have no buzzing in gyrus in fba at all for what it worth. If you are experiencing buzzing and using the raspberry pi headphone jack thats a big cause of buzzing. There is kernel settings to stop it if you are using the headphone jack.

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17828/rampage-sound-issue-retropie-4-4/3

markwkidd

The answer is obvious -- merge the two cores. First we need another layer of abstraction, or two. Then we need a name. Something like "Multi Multi Arcade Machine Emulator: Final Burn Beta"

My god, it's full of stars.

barbudreadmon

@andershp said in FBA vs. MAME:

I just feel like these parties are doing the same job, why not spare the energy and work together instead?

MAME and FBA teams have been working together for a loooong time, and both emulators have different focus.

I haven't tried the FBA version of Gyruss since last we talked about it, it was kind of a gamechanger to me that the sound was off and it didn't save hiscores.

not sure why, but i was never able to reproduce your "fuzzy sound" issue, i'm even wondering it it's not some kind of performance issue since the most noticeable thing for those is generally choppy audio.
hiscores work, not sure why they didn't on this specific game at some point.
to my knowledge, the pace of gyruss music in fba is the same as in current mame, it seems mame changed it a few years ago (v0.146) because it was off, old mame cores should be the ones with the bad timing. I can't confirm this with the actual pcb though.

grant2258

@markwkidd said in FBA vs. MAME:

The answer is obvious -- merge the two cores. First we need another layer of abstraction, or two. Then we need a name. Something like "Multi Multi Arcade Machine Emulator: Final Burn Beta"

My god, it's full of stars.

@markwkidd get that idea out of your head right now lol! :)

UDb23

@markwkidd
2001: a cat odyssey ?
;-)
btw the Pi probably has more processing power than HAL 9000 was supposed to have...

AndersHP

Aww, I was trying to update my games to newest FBA version but copying from my list with the command mentioned earlier

cp `cat lr-fbalpha.txt` /Volumes/where/my/games/are

just copies the last file of my txt file (the zzyzzyxx.zip game) and returns this error (every other game mentioned):

cp: 1941.zip\r: No such file or directory
cp: 1942.zip\r: No such file or directory
cp: 1943.zip\r: No such file or directory
cp: 1943mii.zip\r: No such file or directory
cp: 1944.zip\r: No such file or directory
cp: 1945kiii.zip\r: No such file or directory

Terminal didn't do this the last time I copied - what can this be related to? What does the \r: mean? @dudleydes any hints?