Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install

gvfo

As I'm not very well versed in Linux, I accessed the file directory through the IP address. This is what I see in the sugested directory:

gvfo

@barbudreadmon

You are absolutely right. Thing is, googling "retropie neo geo cd" I just couldn't find anything different than that article, which I read all messages. I'm going to try and read the documentation you kindly posted.

gvfo

I'm really sorry, but I still can't get it to work. I guess those "for dummies" tutorials would be necessary for me.

The documentation barbudreadmon posted didn't help me find where I am mistaken. As it is now, I'm not even sure that I need to edit es_systems.cfg (and I still can't find it, anyway).

Maybe it would be easier if I told you what I already did?

After the fresh install, I connected the Pi to my wi-fi, saw its IP address and opened it in Windows Explorer on my PC through the network.

This is what I see then:

I copied a couple games in .ZIP format (those CUE / ISO / WAV that the official documentation says work) to the \neogeo rom directory and then created a \neocd in the bios directory. There, I copied neocd.zip (572 kb), neocdz.zip (213 kb) and, just to be sure, neogeo.zip (1.384 kb).

Whenever I try to run any of those games, it shows the little Neo Geo CD spinning and then I'm back to the menu.

Once again, I am very grateful for any answers and apologise for my almost complete lack of "tech savvyness".

mitu

@gvfo You need to unzip the CD archive first, so the .cue/.bin/.wav files are standalone, not archived.

gvfo

@mitu

Thanks for your answer. I tried that. Sorry, but still can't get it to run.

gvfo

I found this es_log.txt in configs\all\emulationstation.

I don't know if it's any help, but...

Apr 15 17:42:15 lvl2: req sound [basic.launch]
Apr 15 17:42:15 lvl2: (missing)
Apr 15 17:42:16 lvl2: Attempting to launch game...
Apr 15 17:42:16 lvl2: /opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 SYS neogeo /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/neogeo/King\ of\ Fighters\ '96,\ The\ (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)[!][NGCD-214\ MT\ A01,\ NGCD-214E].cue
Apr 15 17:42:29 lvl2: Creating window...
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: Created window successfully.
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: GL vendor: Broadcom
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: GL renderer: VideoCore IV HW
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: GL version: OpenGL ES-CM 1.1
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: Checking available OpenGL extensions...
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: ARB_texture_non_power_of_two: MISSING
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: Added known joystick PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller (instance ID: 1, device index: 0)
Apr 15 17:42:30 lvl2: Added known joystick PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller (instance ID: 1, device index: 0)
Apr 15 17:42:31 lvl2: req sound [basic.launch]
Apr 15 17:42:31 lvl2: (missing)
Apr 15 17:42:32 lvl2: Attempting to launch game...
Apr 15 17:42:33 lvl2: /opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0 SYS neogeo /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/neogeo/King\ of\ Fighters\ '96,\ The\ (1996)(SNK)(Jp-US)[!][NGCD-214\ MT\ A01,\ NGCD-214E].zip
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: Creating window...
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: Created window successfully.
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: GL vendor: Broadcom
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: GL renderer: VideoCore IV HW
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: GL version: OpenGL ES-CM 1.1
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: Checking available OpenGL extensions...
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: ARB_texture_non_power_of_two: MISSING
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: Added known joystick PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller (instance ID: 2, device index: 0)
Apr 15 17:42:43 lvl2: Added known joystick PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller (instance ID: 2, device index: 0)

barbudreadmon

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

where I am mistaken

Literally everywhere, assuming you are trying to use the neocd emulator since you are trying to put bios files in the neocd folder (???), as pointed in the documentation i already linked at https://github.com/libretro/neocd_libretro#readme , the neocd.zip, neocdz.zip and neogeo.zip files aren't the bios files you need. On the other side it seems you put the iso files in the neogeo folder :

1st mistake : this is the folder for neogeo mvs/aes, not for neogeo cd
2nd mistake : the default emulator for that rom folder is FBNeo, which has indeed a neogeo cd mode too (that's not the default for that rom folder though), however, as pointed at the documentation at https://github.com/libretro/FBNeo/tree/master/src/burner/libretro#neogeo-cd-doesnt-work-why-, doesn't use that neocd bios folder you put bioses in, and doesn't work with the iso format you are trying to feed him.

As i said, read the documentation for the emulator you are using instead of mixing everything together.

gvfo

@barbudreadmon

Thanks for your answer, barbudreadmon.

I forgot to say that I changed the default emulator to lr-fbneo-neocd.

barbudreadmon

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

I forgot to say that I changed the default emulator to lr-fbneo-neocd.

Then, as explained in the FBNeo documentation :

the folder you put your bios in is wrong
the iso files you are trying to read are incompatible

gvfo

@barbudreadmon

Ok, I got that I'm using the wrong emulator then.

I am reading the NeoCD Libretto documentation (which I thought was the one I was using) but still can't undersand a few things:

Is it already installed in Retropie?
Where is this retroarch directory the documentation is referring?
I'm sorry about the iso directory confusion, but I just couldn't find in the documentation where is the right one.
Should I discompact those bios files, then?

Again, I'm really sorry. Maybe these seem like dumb questions, but the answers aren't obvious at all for me.

barbudreadmon

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

Is it already installed in Retropie?

No idea if it's installed by default, but at the very least it can be installed from the retropie-setup script

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

Where is this retroarch directory the documentation is referring?

RetroArch's system folder is your bios folder

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

I'm sorry about the iso directory confusion, but I just couldn't find in the documentation where is the right one.

Hmm, wasn't there a neocd folder on retropie ? I never play neogeo cd tbh (mvs/aes is so much better imho), so i can't remember

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

Should I discompact those bios files, then?

Yes, the files required by the NeoCD emulator can be found in the neogeo.zip, neocd.zip and neocdz.zip archives.

sleve_mcdichael

This post is deleted!

gvfo

@sleve_mcdichael

I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one lost there, then.

@barbudreadmon

Yes, there’s no \neocd rom/iso directory. That’s why I thought \neogeo was the right one.

sleve_mcdichael

@barbudreadmon said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

No idea if it's installed by default, but at the very least it can be installed from the retropie-setup script

Oh, there it is...I must not have been looking in the right place, or I just skipped over it the first time I looked. Yes it's under "experimental packages" so definitely not pre-installed.

gvfo

Okay, I installed the "experimental package", the required bios files are in the right \neocd directory, but it's still not working.

A few things happened: it returned to the menu or it froze the OS after that "press any button to configure" screen. Once, it loaded the Neo Geo bios animation but froze at the end of it.

I tried .ZIP and unzipped files (.CUE, .BIN and .WAVs).

@sleve_mcdichael , did you get it to work?

sleve_mcdichael

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

@sleve_mcdichael , did you get it to work?

Oh I'm just watching; I don't have any stock in playing NeoCD roms, but I'm happy to help troubleshoot. I had a look and, of the half-dozen or so exclusive titles it had, the only one that looked at all interesting to me was Iron Clad, which actually has a dump from a prototype MVS cart, so it works just fine in lr-fbneo. And it's my understanding that it's the same "system," just with a cheaper storage medium (optical disc vs. cartridge); so I wonder, are the non-exclusive titles updated versions that take advantage of the extra capacity of the CD-ROM (maybe better graphics and sound, etc?) or are they straight copies of the data from the AES/MVS versions?

Anyway, if you're set on using neocd...

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

the required bios files are in the right \neocd directory,

This is inside the BIOS folder? What files do you have in there? Can you post a screenshot?

Likewise, do you now have a neocd folder in roms, too? What's in that one?

gvfo

@sleve_mcdichael

I had a Neo Geo CD for almost a decade, so I grew fond of the music. I imagine most people would rather hear the chiptunes, but, to me, those arrangements are incomparable.

So, back to my issues. This is what's inside the bios folder:

I didn't have a \neocd folder, but that's because the lr-neocd emulator reads what's inside the \neogeo.

Just for the sake of testing, I created a \neocd, moved an ISO there and rebooted emulationstation, but it doesn't recognize a new system or anything.

mitu

@gvfo I think the BIOS files you have won't be enough for lr-neocd. Here is a list of the files it expects to find in the BIOS/neocd sub-folder:
https://github.com/libretro/libretro-core-info/blob/master/neocd_libretro.info.

Try running with verbose logging enabled, then check the log file (in /dev/shm/runcommand.log) for errors related to missing files (BIOS or ROM/CD image).

sleve_mcdichael

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

So, back to my issues. This is what's inside the bios folder:

Okay, that looks right. And your neogeo folder (and neocd for good measure) have the unzipped sets in them (separate .cue, .bin, .wav files)?

(The docs seem to imply it should either be .cue/.bin sets or .cue/.iso/.wav sets. Not sure if that's going to be a hang-up, wouldn't think so though as .cue/.bin are still there.)

So I guess: launch a game, when "press a button to configure" pops up (or just after the launching image disappears, if you have launch images enabled), press any button to open the runcommand launch menu.

Make sure to select lr-neocd as the emulator either for that rom, or make it default for the directory if you'll be using it all or most of the time. Then select "launch with verbose logging."

After it crashes, go get the log it makes. It will be saved to /dev/shm/runcommand.log. You can't access this over the network share. The easiest way is to plug a USB keyboard into your Raspberry Pi and press F4 to exit EmulationStation. If you don't have a USB keyboard, you'll have to SSH in from your PC:

First, you need to enable SSH on the Pi. From the RetroPie menu, select raspi-config, then interface options, ssh. Choose yes, ok, and then finish.

Then, on the PC, click the search bar and type cmd to open a command prompt. Windows has a built-in SSH client. Simply connect with:

ssh pi@retropie.local

If that doesn't work, use:

ssh pi@<your.pi's.ip.address>

The password, if you haven't changed it previously, is raspberry.

One way or another, you should now be at the RetroPie command prompt. It should look something like:

pi@retropie:~ $

Next, copy the log with the cp command. Just put it in your roms folder so you can access it from the network share:

cp /dev/shm/runcommand.log /home/pi/RetroPie/roms

That will copy the log file into your roms folder. Now, just type exit to restart EmulationStation or end the SSH session. If you were on SSH type exit again to exit the PC's command prompt.

Now, you should see the log file in your roms folder on the network share (on the PC.) Post its contents to pastebin.com and post the link here.

barbudreadmon

@gvfo said in Neo Geo CD enquiry and lack of es_systems on a fresh install:

So, back to my issues. This is what's inside the bios folder:

you are missing quite a lot of them, while you shouldn't need all of them, the documentation mention 12 bioses. iirc there is a story about cracked and non-cracked games that require CDZ and normal bios