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    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

    Can't get ROMs to work :(

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Help and Support
    roms dont work
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    • A
      audi321
      last edited by audi321

      Hi all,

      I've got Retropie downloaded and all the emulators installed, and I've got about 8 ROMs which I want to play (just the popular ones like Galaxian, etc) but of all the 8 I've tried, I can only get 1 working (Galaxian).

      Am I just being unlucky, or are these things notoriously hard to get working? They're all MAME ones. For example Scramble, and I've tried 5 different versions from places but nada.

      Has anyone any advice for what I might be doing wrong?

      Thanks for any help.

      PS - Thanks for all your quick replies, I'll check out those pages now.

      SanoS markyh444M 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • rbakerR
        rbaker
        last edited by

        @audi321 said in Can't get ROMs to work :(:

        Am I just being unlucky, or are these things notoriously hard to get working? They're all MAME ones. For example Scramble, and I've tried 5 different versions

        You really need to read this asap: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

        Then this: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/2/forum-rules

        Then this: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7247/guide-arcade-games-and-how-to-play-them-a-non-technical-mame-fba-tutorial

        Then you can play.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • SanoS
          Sano @audi321
          last edited by

          @audi321
          First please edit your message by removing any name or link of websites providing roms. This is against the rules.
          Second, please read the link provided at top of every forum page : https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first
          Third, I'll help you by pointing the adequate doc page : https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/ - Basically, you need Mame 0.78 rom versions.

          markyh444M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • markyh444M
            markyh444 @audi321
            last edited by

            @audi321 I'd also remove mention of sites where you downloaded ROMs from too. It's against the forums rules.

            Retropie in a NES - Pi 3 with Mausberry circuit shutdown switch wired to buttons and 8bitdo NesPro30 controller
            Retropie in a Saturn Controller - Pi Zero, GPIO controls using DB9 driver
            Retropie in a PSX - Pi3
            https://markyh444.wordpress.com

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • markyh444M
              markyh444 @Sano
              last edited by

              @sano DOH, got there before me!

              Retropie in a NES - Pi 3 with Mausberry circuit shutdown switch wired to buttons and 8bitdo NesPro30 controller
              Retropie in a Saturn Controller - Pi Zero, GPIO controls using DB9 driver
              Retropie in a PSX - Pi3
              https://markyh444.wordpress.com

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • SanoS
                Sano
                last edited by

                Ok guys, Nice combo ! I think our job here is done :)

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • G
                  grant2258 Banned
                  last edited by grant2258

                  mame roms are complicated. The details are spread across the forums itll try explain it. will make a game name up called zigzag and it has 3 versions zigzag1 zigzag2 zigzag3

                  zigzag1.zip contains
                  prg1.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  zigzag2.zip contains
                  prg2.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  zigzag3.zip contains
                  prg3.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  snd.rom and gfx.rom are same on all roms

                  mame can store the roms 3 way there is parent rom in this case it will be zigzag1

                  first storage method and the prefered method for people that stuggle getting roms working

                  method none merged
                  all the roms are zipped like this

                  zigzag1.zip contains
                  prg1.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  zigzag2.zip contains
                  prg2.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  zigzag3.zip contains
                  prg3.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  method split the parent rom has all the zips and the children zips only have the changed files that are needed
                  so if you only have zigzag2.zip you will be missing gfx.rom, snd.rom you would have to get the parent rom as well.

                  zigzag1.zip contains
                  prg1.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  zigzag2.zip contains
                  prg2.rom

                  zigzag3.zip contains
                  prg3.rom

                  3rd method merged all files in parent (zigzag1.zip)

                  zigzag1.zip contains
                  prg1.rom
                  prg2.rom
                  prg3.rom
                  snd.rom
                  gfx.rom

                  then to add to the confusion roms change in mame versions new dumps bad dumps ect so you have to get the right version as well.

                  you dont want merged romsets for retropie your roms wont all list it has to be split or none merged.

                  If you are planning on getting the full set go for split to save space

                  if you only want one or two games of your choice use non merged sets because they have all the roms the zip needs.

                  I hope this clears things up for you its not the easiest thing to explain.

                  A RiverstormR 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • A
                    audi321 @grant2258
                    last edited by

                    @grant2258 said in Can't get ROMs to work :(:

                    if you only want one or two games of your choice use non merged sets because they have all the roms the zip needs.

                    Thanks for the explanation, I think I'll go with this (if I can find them) as I'm only wanting about 8 games. Cheers.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • G
                      grant2258 Banned
                      last edited by herb_fargus

                      ask your friend google

                      removed

                      i cant give any links sorry

                      herb_fargusH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -2
                      • herb_fargusH
                        herb_fargus administrators @grant2258
                        last edited by

                        @grant2258 that's the same thing.

                        If you read the documentation it will answer 99% of your questions: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/

                        Also if you want a solution to your problems read this first: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

                        G 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • RiverstormR
                          Riverstorm @grant2258
                          last edited by

                          @grant2258 said in Can't get ROMs to work :(:

                          mame roms are complicated.

                          This is a pretty good visual representation of how ROM files are arranged in to the 3 main set types in a parent/clone relationship.

                          I always thought it was the cleanest picture of how to explain it. It gets wordy trying to explain it in written form. It doesn't explain BIOS files or Device Sets but it's a good solid base.

                          Basically it shows the relationship between the parent and clone when using those different set types. Another way of looking at it is 2 games. Common files are blue and identical that both games use, orange is game 1 and red is game 2.

                          If you focus on Non-Merged (what people mainly use here) you can see the parent and clone has 4 common ROM files. What makes game 1 and 2 unique is that single different ROM file/chip (ROMs 5 & 6) for each game ("orange" & "red").

                          Building sets out this way is a huge waste of space if you can imagine a game with multiple clones, multiple common files across thousands of ROMs but it does allow for exact game selection.

                          I just built a FBA 0.2.97.42 set and it came out to around 27GB Non-Merged. If I store that same exact set as split it's around 14GB. That's a difference 13GB. Big space savings.

                          @herb_fargus I don't if it would help or enhance the docs to have something like this posted with the written explanation on set types.

                          0_1521478920341_MAME Non-Merged, Merged and Split Sets.jpg

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • G
                            grant2258 Banned @herb_fargus
                            last edited by

                            @herb_fargus

                            sorry didnt think about that too much before i posted

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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