Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.

Maverickneo

Hello. This is my first time diving into Raspberry pi zero inside a sweet little Nes mini printed case. Everything is running great and Im learning more and more on how to navigate everything but I have a couple of questions.

How do I connect it to my PC to see how much memory I have left? I only have a mini dvi for power, HDMI port and one USB port.
Some roms dont work using Mame4all, Final Burn or Mame2003

One specific game Im trying to get running is Xmen Children of the Alpha fighting game. This doesnt seem to be able to run at all.

Another game is Megaman Power battles 1. It runs, but very, very laggy.

Some other random games I am having no luck with Robocop, Robocop 2, Golden Axe, Altered beast, Spiderman the arcade game and captain america and the avengers.

pjft

@Maverickneo hi, and welcome!

I'd recommend reading up on the Managing ROMS section of the wiki, as well as the specific arcade emulators section in the wiki.

Summarizing: each emulator needs a different ROM set version, and there's no way around it. See which ROM set is needed for the emulators you're looking for, and use those as source.

Robocop 1 and 2 run well on FBA and MAME 2003, to the best of my recollection, and X-Men as well so look up those ROM sets from the wiki.

Done games may run slow indeed, especially on the zero though, so if you have the right ROM sets and are using these emulators, it could very well be that for whatever reason you won't be able to run them (well, at least) on the zero, for lack of power or memory or something.

Still, I'd check the ROM set versions first before writing them off.

To connect to the Pi, search the wiki as well. You should be able to SSH into it, but I believe you may need to turn that on in the latest versions.

Best.

rbaker

@Maverickneo said in Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.:

Some roms dont work using Mame4all, Final Burn or Mame2003

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/, basically, you have the wrong roms for your emulator of choice.

Maverickneo

Im using Raspberry Pi Zero with Retro pi 4.2.1

Even though I did check the list out and I have the appropriate rom, (Xmen Children of the Atom) this rom wont run at all with any configuration I do.

herb_fargus

@Maverickneo if it isn't working, you don't have the correct romset.

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/#step-two-use-the-right-rom-set-version

pjft

@Maverickneo I'll re-echo what myself and @herb_fargus stated. But, in case that's a possibility, there's always an easy way to get to the bottom of it.

Would you be able to check what the run command log contains? The path shows on the window when you're launching a ROM. On my phone, so it's tricky to search/copy and paste here.

Maverickneo

@herb_fargus When I look at the website it says
Pi 1 and Pi Zero mame4all (not lr-mame4all) pi-fba

so I click on the mame4all compatibility list and I get this "Sorry, the file you have requested has been deleted."

When I click on the pi-fba list for roms, it pops up but I only see "rpi 1 status, rpi 2 status and rpi 3 status"

Im running Retro Pi 4. No option for 4.

Also, some roms I do have I ran with lr-fbalpha and lr-mame2003 compatability modes and it worked, even though it says and recommends "Pi 2 and Pi 3 lr-mame2003 lr-fbalpha"

Overall this is a little bit overwhelming since I spent the last 3 hours downloading basically all the roms I can find for one game at a time and trying them all out and nothing works.

Hasnt someone gotten Xmen Children of the Atom for example working with my version of raspberry pi and retro pi?

herb_fargus

@Maverickneo said in Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.:

I spent the last 3 hours downloading basically all the roms I can find for one game at a time and trying them all out and nothing works.

its not that simple: from the wiki page:

Start with a full Non-Merged ROM collection (not an individual ROM) with the exact MAME or FB Alpha version number for the emulator you wish to use

more reading.

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/2859/how-to-use-mame-with-retropie-help-guide

anyways. it isn't as simple as you think and you'll have to do your due diligence in reading the docs and finding the correct romset, not downloading individual roms willy nilly and hoping they work.

Maverickneo

@herb_fargus I am reading the documents. One of them has a dead link so that doesnt help and the documents that do work says "Rpi 1 status, Rpi 2 status and Rpi 3 status" Where is Rpi 4?

I am reading the documents, I am looking at the wiki, I am finding the supposed "correct roms sets" but they simply do not work. Its very frustrating.

BuZz

@Maverickneo There is no such thing as a rpi4.

All the information is in the documentation regarding mame versions and romsets. If you cannot find the right romset, that is not something we can help with.

Maverickneo

@BuZz Hmmm. I was given wrong information then. Is there a way to see exactly which version (rpi 1 rpi 2 or rpi3) I am running?

pjft

@Maverickneo RPi is Raspberry Pi. For all intents and purposes, the compatibility list is NOT what you're looking for.

You want to see:

What emulator you'll be using (I recommend MAME 2003)
Then, in the documentation you'll see the ROM set (= version of the ROMs, in the case of MAME 2003 you're looking for the 0.78 MAME Roms).

You need to find the MAME 0.78 ROM set. Anything different to that will very likely not work.

Please also check what the runcommand log states. Very likely it's confirming that it can't find specific files in the rom you've provided, further confirming you do not have the correct ROM set.

rbaker

@Maverickneo said in Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.:

Is there a way to see exactly which version (rpi 1 rpi 2 or rpi3) I am running

Which one did you buy? You said earlier you had a zero?!??

Maverickneo

@pjft said in Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.:

MAME 0.78 ROM set

Ok thank you!! I have gotten one step closer. Now I finally understand what I am looking for. So I tried out the romset for MAME 0.78 using mame 2003. I got the roms I wanted to run, except that now they run, but they run poorly. Mainly a lot of lag (slow) or lag with the sound.

So my next step would be to try and track down a rom set for, lets say, mame4all MAME 0.37b5? and try to see if those run better?

pjft

@Maverickneo correct. Or pifba. I'm not familiar with those emulators but I think they offer the best performance.

Maverickneo

@pjft Thanks so much once again! You got me in the right direction.

My issue with final burn is for fighting games. I cant seem to re map my controls using final burn. From reading I think the only way to remap the buttons would be to configure a script and I dont have the slightest clue on how to even get said script or even program it.

Maverickneo

@rbaker said in Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.:

@Maverickneo said in Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.:

Is there a way to see exactly which version (rpi 1 rpi 2 or rpi3) I am running

Which one did you buy? You said earlier you had a zero?!??

Sorry Im getting them confused. I have Raspberry Pi Zero with Retro Pie 4.2.

Im going to guess rpi1, rpi2 and rpi3 stands for Raspberry Pi and NOT Retro pie.

But even then, those lists dont include Raspberry Pi Zero.

But anyways, Im getting closer and closer to running all the roms I want. Still no luck with Xmen Children of the Atom. Its VERY laggy.

rbaker

@Maverickneo said in Just got Raspberry pi Zero. Having trouble running some games. Need help.:

But even then, those lists dont include Raspberry Pi Zero.

This was discussed here. It has all the answers that you need. lr-mame2003 and lr-fba are beyond the zero. Details on the alternatives are here. The mame4all compatibility list appears to be working for me. You might like to look at this article on benchmarking. The rom that you want to run is a CPS 2 title I believe. This will be hard to run on a zero at a guess. It is untested in this compatibility list for lr-fba but is marked as ok in pifba. Remember you cannot try and download that one single rom. It will not be verified. You need the full set.

Maverickneo

@rbaker Thanks. I searched and searched and I cant find anything with the specific romset for "PiFBA (0.2.96.71 .114 Romset)". I did however find "X-Men - children of the atom (950105 Euro)". But you said that one single rom wont work. What do you mean by full set? All the different versions of that rom? There are 13 listed.

dankcushions

@Maverickneo rom "versions" are not the same as rom"sets". each romset can contain many version of each rom. all of those in that list will likely be from one particular mame romset.

just downloading individual roms from websites will not work as they won't be this ancient romset. you need to find the full set somewhere.