Williams Games Give Rom Error When Using MAME-Libreto on Retropie

Ubisububi

Defender, Joust, Joust2, Robotron, and Stargate all give me ROM errors when launching them using MAME-Libreto (MAME2003) on Retropie (I routinely check for Retropie updates). I installed AdvanceMAME (MAME 2000) and all ROMs launch correctly there. I have tried ROM sets .78, 0.37b5, and the sets for the most current build. All installed ROMs are deleted using the Emulation Station UI before loading the next set via USB Drive. All return the same error, yet launch correctly when using MAME2000. Is this a known issue? If so, a Google search revealed no reference of anybody with the same problem.

In addition to the RAM errors at launch, all games leave sprite artifacts while playing.

Are there individual config files for each game that I should delete?
Is there a way to do a fresh install of MAME-Libreto without starting over from scratch?

I am running a Raspberry Pie 4b

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

mitu

@Ubisububi said in Williams Games Give Rom Error When Using MAME-Libreto on Retropie:

All return the same error, yet launch correctly when using MAME2000. Is this a known issue? If so, a Google search revealed no reference of anybody with the same problem.

This kind of arcarde ROMs don't work error is common and the explanation is in https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/ - use the right romset for the emulator you're using. Switching emulators for the same ROMset is not going to solve the problem.

If you think you have the correct romset for the emulator you're using and still have errors launching games, post a verbose log with the error.

Are there individual config files for each game that I should delete?

You can check for the .nvram / .cfg files some emulators save (2003/2003+) and delete them for the games in question.

Is there a way to do a fresh install of MAME-Libreto without starting over from scratch?

You can always re-install the package, but if configuration is the issue, then you can clear out your existing configuration before trying.

barbudreadmon

@Ubisububi your post is very misleading :

mame-libretro is not mame2003
advancemame is not mame2000

Romsets must match the emulator version exactly. The proper way to emulate arcade is to read the documentation, ascertain what emulator you want to use, and get the matching romsets.

In addition, a pi4 can usually handle the most recent emulators, so you should never use several decades old emulators if you can avoid it, because it is very likely that they'll be more glitchy. The only exception to that rule might be mame2003+, it's based on mame2003 but it also backports some fixes from more recent versions (not all of them though, so it might still be safer to use more recent emulators if you aren't sure).

Ubisububi

@barbudreadmon said in Williams Games Give Rom Error When Using MAME-Libreto on Retropie:

@Ubisububi your post is very misleading :

mame-libretro is not mame2003

advancemame is not mame2000

Romsets must match the emulator version exactly. The proper way to emulate arcade is to read the documentation, ascertain what emulator you want to use, and get the matching romsets.

In addition, a pi4 can usually handle the most recent emulators, so you should never use several decades old emulators if you can avoid it, because it is very likely that they'll be more glitchy. The only exception to that rule might be mame2003+, it's based on mame2003 but it also backports some fixes from more recent versions (not all of them though, so it might still be safer to use more recent emulators if you aren't sure).

Apologies for my “misleading” post. However, I came to that conclusion while searching online for answers, and also because I noticed that the system was generating folder names with those labels, and I was required to use those folder names for sound samples.

What I was trying to be clear about is the fact that I have used every rom set available to me (including the recommended ones) and all return the same error. Also, using more recent emulators didn’t seem possible because MAME-Libreto is installed with Retropie, and the only optional MAME package that seemed to be available was advmame.

To the previous poster who scolded me against trying to fix the problem by switching rom sets, it seemed a good first step. Your suggestion of fixing the config problem was quite informative, thank you.

mitu

@Ubisububi said in Williams Games Give Rom Error When Using MAME-Libreto on Retropie:

Also, using more recent emulators didn’t seem possible because MAME-Libreto is installed with Retropie, and the only optional MAME package that seemed to be available was advmame.

Which version of RetroPie version are you using ? Please fill out the complete info requested in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first. We have more than one version of Mame, plus FBNeo, as arcade emulators, so it's definitely not just mame-libretro and advmame - see https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/ and https://retropie.org.uk/docs/MAME/.

dankcushions

i think part of the confusion is that mame-libretro is a rom folder installed in ~/RetroPie/ where you put your roms in for any of the libretro MAME cores. eg, this folder is used for the default lr-mame2003 core that uses the 0.78 MAME romset. however, there is also a 'lr-mame' ("libretro-mame") emulator that is an experimental (not installed by default), that uses the current (or close to) MAME romset.

in any case, put your 0.78 roms in /mame-libretro/, use lr-mame2003, and if you get any issues please post the verbose log as instructed.