MAME ROMs not working w/ Pi 2

Joshua2005777

I have a Rasberry 2. My emulators are ir-fbalpha, ir-imame4all, ir-mame2003, pifba, & mame4all. More that half of the MAME ROMs I have downloaded don't work. Is there a way to tell if a ROM will work with my system before uploading it?
FOLLOW UP QUESTION: If a ROM doesn't work, does it still use memory on the pi? I've tried searching for ROMs that are specific to each emulator and had little luck.
Thanks for the help! :)

BuZz

@Joshua2005777 Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

and https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/ - those emulators require specific rom sets.

AlexMurphy

@Joshua2005777 Which MAME ROM set do you have?

Darksavior

@Joshua2005777 No reason to ever use pifba. And no, you can't tell if a rom works without trial and error. Get the correct romsets and they'll work.

Joshua2005777

@BuZz https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/ was very helpful! I'm very new to the Retro Pi. I didn't see an answer in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first, but I did check it before posting. Thank you for the quick reply.

BuZz

@Joshua2005777 https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first doesn't contain an answer but instructions on how best to get help. Including checking the documentation, and then posting information about your set-up.

simonster

What is important is the information you should include in your post (pi version, where you got Retropie from, what version, etc.).

MAME is a complex subject. It is a project that has been in development for many years and the supported filesets are updated with each release. You cannot just take a MAME ROM and throw it at a random MAME emulator, it has to match the version of MAME that the emulator is based on. On Retropie there are a number of different MAME packages and each supports a different romset.

If you want to play a specific game, you need to get the ROM in the right version for the emulator (a list of romset versions for each emulator are in the wiki).