How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?

[wrybread]

I'm trying to use the Attract Mode front end on my Raspbery Pi 3, since I've used Attract Mode for years. I have Attract Mode installed (through retropie_setup -> experimental packages), but it won't launch any ROMs. If I can figure out the command to run ROMs from commandline I should be all set.

I see posts mentioning needing to turn on commandline in the Libretro core, but haven't been able to find more info. Is that necessary?

And runcommand.log (the log created when running a ROM in Libretro MAME) isn't giving me much info. It says only:

Parameters: 
Executing: /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003/mame2003_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/retroarch.cfg "/home/wrybread/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/digdug.zip" --appendconfig /dev/shm/retroarch.cfg

When I run that command directly from commandline I don't get any info either.

/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003/mame2003_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/retroarch.cfg "/home/wrybread/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/digdug.zip" --appendconfig /dev/shm/retroarch.cfg

Nor do I get any info when I run this command:

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_mame-libretto "/home/wrybread/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/digdug.zip"

I'm reasonably sure the ROM I'm using is correct for this version of MAME (it's a MAME 2003 rom), but unfortunately I can't see any debug info.

Any tips to launch a ROM from commandline? And to get more debug info when I do?

[wrybread]

I installed MAME v0.206 using apt-get ("sudo apt-get install mame") and the game play seems ok, but it freezes when I hit TAB to configure the game inputs.

But using it with Attract Mode is a breeze since running a game from commandline is as easy as:

mame -rompath /home/wrybread/RetroPie/roms/mame digdug

If anyone knows how to do the same (run a ROM from commandline) with Mame Libretro I'd love to hear it.

[mitu]

[...]
I see posts mentioning needing to turn on commandline in the Libretro core, but haven't been able to find more info. Is that necessary?

What does 'commandline' mean for the Libretro core ?

And runcommand.log (the log created when running a ROM in Libretro MAME) isn't giving me much info. It says only:
[...]
When I run that command directly from commandline I don't get any info either.

Enable verbose logging to get more info.

[..]

Nor do I get any info when I run this command:
/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh 0_SYS_mame-libretto "/home/wrybread/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/digdug.zip"

Because the command you're trying is wrong - there should be some spaces between the parameters and there's no mame-libretto system.

Launching from the command line can be done with the command that you see in runcommand.log. Why it's not working is a different issue - most likely ROMset version is wrong, see the Arcade docs for how arcade emulation works and why it's important to have the correct ROMseet for the emulator used.

[wrybread]

What does 'commandline' mean for the Libretro core ?

Maybe I misunderstand what the libretro core is. I'm simply trying to launch a ROM using MAME using that version of mame via cli.

I don't think it was just a romset mismatch, I downloaded the correct ROM for that version of MAME, or at least I think I did.

As far as the space between 0_SYS_ and mame-libretro, good catch! I did have one in the actual commands I was running though, and it doesn't work with the space either.

I wound up installing Mame4All (and downloading a romset specifically for it), all seems to be working perfectly now. It's a simple matter of running:

/opt/retropie/emulators/mame4all/mame digdug

Not sure why mame-libretro isn't straightforward to run from cli, or maybe it was just a matter of extreme user error.

Does anyone know if there's a significant disadvantage to mame4all over mame-libretro? All the roms I've tested seem to be working perfectly, but my tastes do lean heavily to the super classics (80s and early 90s).

[mitu]

@wrybread said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

Not sure why mame-libretro isn't straightforward to run from cli, or maybe it was just a matter of extreme user error.

It's not that extreme. Verbose logging should clear up the issue.

Does anyone know if there's a significant disadvantage to mame4all over mame-libretro? All the roms I've tested seem to be working perfectly, but my tastes do lean heavily to the super classics (80s and early 90s).

Yes, mame4all is a very old and un-maintained MAME version, which runs only on a RPI. It's not supported on newer RaspiOS since it depends on the older Broadcom GPU drivers - it's only included for the weakest Pi devices (Pi0/Pi1). The Libretro based MAME cores will run wherever RetroArch runs and receive a modicum of maintenance.

EDIT: you can use the latest mame also to run things or FBNeo Libretro core, both of which are actively maintained and kept up-to-date. Mame2003-Plus is also an option, it still gets support and - sporadically - also new games.

[wrybread]

@mitu said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

EDIT: you can use the latest mame also to run things or FBNeo Libretro core, both of which are actively maintained and kept up-to-date. Mame2003-Plus is also an option, it still gets support and - sporadically - also new games.

I tried using the latest MAME, or at least the latest MAME available in the apt package manager, installed via apt-get ("apt-get install mame"). It can launch and play games but it freezes when I hit the TAB key to configure the button inputs.

I wonder if there's a version in retropie_setup.sh that I missed.

[wrybread]

@mitu said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

It's not that extreme.

It is a bit oddly complicated. Every other version of MAME I've ever used can be run from commandline like:

mameExecutable romname

With some optional commandline args of course.

The Libretro version is running something like:

/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003/mame2003_libretro.so --config /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/retroarch.cfg "/home/wrybread/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/digdug.zip" --appendconfig /dev/shm/retroarch.cfg

I'm sure it's possible to wade through that and make it work, by enabling verbose output (which doesn't seem to be simply adding a "verbose" commandline arg, but I might be wrong about that). But that's a lot more complicated than every other version of MAME I've ever used.

Not saying there aren't good reasons for it though.

[mitu]

I tried using the latest MAME, or at least the latest MAME available in the apt package manager, installed via apt-get ("apt-get install mame"). It can launch and play games but it freezes when I hit the TAB key to configure the button inputs.

I wonder if there's a version in retropie_setup.sh that I missed.

There is and that's the version I was referring to. Not sure what what version of RetroPie you're using and how it was installed, since you haven't added any info about your setup, but recent RetroPie versions include a MAME binary installation which installs the latest stable MAME version.

[wrybread]

@mitu said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

since you haven't added any info about your setup

I mentioned that it's a Pi 3, and it's running retropie-buster-4.8-rpi2_3_zero2w.img.

[wrybread]

@mitu said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

There is and that's the version I was referring to.

Is that the version in retropie_setup.sh called "mame" under Experimental Packages?

There's a few others, pasting them in in case it's one of those:

Under "main packages":
avmame-0.94
advmame-1.4
advmame
mame4all
lr-mame2000
lr-mame2003-plus
lr-mame2010

Under "experimental packages":
mame
lr-mame2015
lr-mame2016
lr-mame

[wrybread]

The package under Experimental named simply "mame", which is MAME 0.254, has the same issue as the one installed via apt-get, it plays games just fine but when you press TAB everything slows to a crawl and I have to kill the process.

[wrybread]

Trying to get the Libretro version of MAME working, running with verbose flag I get a lot of errors, lots of them related to trying to create directories in /home/pi subfolders (even though I'm running as user wrybread, so paths should start with /home/wrybread).

I pasted the output into this pastebin, I don't imagine anyone has any idea how to fix?

https://pastebin.com/raw/Z1JBJUpG

[mitu]

@wrybread said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

Trying to get the Libretro version of MAME working, running with verbose flag I get a lot of errors, lots of them related to trying to create directories in /home/pi subfolders (even though I'm running as user wrybread, so paths should start with /home/wrybread).

Looks like a broken configuration for the core. Did you copy the configurations from another system ? How did you install RetroPie specifically ?

[wrybread]

@mitu said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

Looks like a broken configuration for the core.

Interesting.

Did you copy the configurations from another system ? How did you install RetroPie specifically ?

No, didn't copy anything, just installed retropie-buster-4.8-rpi2_3_zero2w.img.gz using [Raspberry Pi Imager] (https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-imager-imaging-utility/)

Is there a way to reset the config for the core?

[mitu]

@wrybread said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

No, didn't copy anything, just installed retropie-buster-4.8-rpi2_3_zero2w.img.gz using Raspberry Pi Imager

The image is using the pi username for the installation, but you seem to be using a different username (wrybread) for the installation. That's not supported.

Is there a way to reset the config for the core?

You either use the pre-configured username (which is kind of the point of using the pre-installed image) or do a manual installation from the desired user account so that configurations are generated correctly.

[wrybread]

@mitu said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

The image is using the pi username for the installation, but you seem to be using a different username (wrybread) for the installation. That's not supported.

Whoa. And oof. I wonder if creating the user "pi" will fix it.

[mitu]

@wrybread said in How to run libretro MAME from commandline? And/or see debug info?:

Whoa. And oof. I wonder if creating the user "pi" will fix it.

The user is already present, but the configs are probably broken now since you've run the setup as a different user. Just reinstall the image and start again.