I need help with MAME on my RaspberryPi 3

martinrdgz

I have the latest RetroPie image installed on my Raspberry Pi 3. I added several arcade ROMs, but none seem to work. Here’s what I did:

I placed pacman.zip in the mame4all folder inside my Raspberry Pi.
I restarted EmulationStation, and the MAME logo appeared with pacman.zip listed.
When I tried to launch it, I got an error, and it exited back to the menu.
I read that pacman.zip also needs puckman.zip, so I added both files.
Even after that, the game still doesn’t work.

What am I missing? Any help would be great!

herb_fargus

@martinrdgz you have the wrong romset. Read through the docs again as this is all clearly explained

martinrdgz

@herb_fargus I read through it, but I'm having difficulty understanding. Could you simplify it for me?

Darksavior

@martinrdgz It is simplified. Please read it again https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/MAME

martinrdgz

@darksavior I've already tried, bro. I'm breaking my head over here trying to understand, but I just can't. I see that mame4all-pi requires ROM set version MAME 0.37b5, but how do I check what ROM set version I have since all the ROMs are in .zip format?

Darksavior

@martinrdgz You can't identify what you have. Google the required romset. It's the fastest way. Mame4all is old. Use fba or mame2003.

sirhenrythe5th

@darksavior not to forget AdvanceMame ☺
I know: most of the Pi - Users seem to hate AdvanceMame, but it also does it job very well and is friendly for beginners.

Btw, you can also google after packman.zip and find the merged romset with no need of puckman.zip as parent.
Easy to find, put it in the ROM-Folder of AdvanceMame and....it will work.

meleu

@martinrdgz

Hey bro, guess what?! You're a lucky man! Our friend @Floob wrote a post specially for you: How to use MAME with RetroPie - Help Guide. I'm sure you'll find your answer there!

I have the latest image of retropie installed in my pi 3.

Also, you should read the read-this-first post, where you can see that you have to clearly say your version, and don't write "latest".

Darksavior

@sirhenrythe5th I didnt forget:P . Not a libretro core. I can't use the crtpi shader. I don't believe advancemame has any exclusives to ever use it and I don't see how that's easier to use than a libretro emulator.

sirhenrythe5th

@darksavior i also use a lot of other emulators basing on libretto.
And for them i use the CRT Pi-Shader as well as far as my Pi is concerned that is connected to my LED - TV (have another Pi connected to a CRT so i dont have to use shaders)

CRT-Pi is o.k., but guess what: i love the "Horizontal Scanlines 2" for AdvanceMame much more! (you find this one under "RGB Effects" under "Video" in the TAB-Menu)
Of course IMHO, but i wish there would exist a similar shader for all libretto - ports.

So creating a simulated retro look of the image is not the problem when using AdvanceMame.

martinrdgz

@darksavior Okay, you said I can't identify what romsets I have, right? Well, the romsets are inside a folder called AdvanceMAME, which only runs romset version 0.94. So, my question is: these romsets must be version 0.94, right?

Also, how do I get a folder named AdvanceMAME on my RetroPie v4.2? I don’t see one.

simonster

Hi @martinrdgz

Just because you put a file in the folder, that doesn't make it that version. You need to obtain the correct version of the rom. If you search for MAME 0.94 roms and the name of the game on the internet, I have no doubt you'll be able to find it somewhere out there. If you randomly obtained MAME roms from the internet, it is unknown what version you will have (but most likely a newer version than the one required by the Pi).

martinrdgz

@simonster Let's just say I downloaded a 128GB Raspberry Pi image from the internet (I won't mention the name to follow forum rules). Now, these romsets I’m talking about are located inside a folder. So, my question again is: if these romsets are in the AdvanceMAME folder, that means they are version 0.94, right?

meleu

@martinrdgz Lets just say that forum users really read the read-this-first post. Then they would see the point 5:

Make sure you are using an official image, or have done a manual install yourself. We will not support 3rd party images.

martinrdgz

@meleu Got it, my bad.

Darksavior

@martinrdgz Ah you got a premade image with roms. You shouldve told us that. So some random boob made it and arcade games won't load? With advancemame and mame4all? What a joke. If you've followed my advice from 13hrs ago, you'd be up and running.

martinrdgz

@darksavior Okay, I got the MAME 0.37b5 romsets. Do I need to delete them and get the current ones if RetroPie’s MAME gets updated? I've been trying to figure this out, but I just can't seem to get it. I did what you said, but I just want to understand how this works. I’ve even posted an ad locally offering to pay someone to teach me.

Some people learn by reading, but I learn better one-on-one or by using analogies. I’ve always struggled with reading comprehension.

I’m feeling overwhelmed by all these links that have been posted for me to read. I really appreciate all of your help, but it’s been difficult for me to follow.

There are a lot of MAME romset versions—do I have to get every single one of them?

HurricaneFan

@martinrdgz You only need 1 romset for MAME if your rom works on that version number.

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/MAME

The wiki has compatibility google spreadsheets for most of the MAME romset versions so you can look to see which romset has your game that you want to play that works.

You don't need every version of romset on that list. Just one that works for what you want to play.

martinrdgz

@hurricanefan I got the mame 0.37b5 romset, but metal slug 5 is missing and tnmnt audio is bad. do I have to download another romset contining metalslug 5

simonster

With metal slug games, I would checkout using the FBA ROMs. I use lr-FBA for all my neogeo titles.

With regards to tmnt, get the 0.78 version and use lr-MAME2003 there were a number of sound and graphical glitches fixed between 0.37 and 0.78.