Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???)

Used2BeRX

Hey everybody,

I noticed when using MAME/FBL and having the neogeo.zip BIOS archive in the roms folder that it shows up in the rom list as an un-launchable file that will, as expected, just boot you back to the romlist if you try to select it.

I know it's not a huge deal or anything, but I was wondering if it would be possible to code RetroPie in the future so that it looks in the BIOS folder where you put all the other system BIOS files (/home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/) so this can be avoided?

Just a small tweak of a suggestion is all. :)

dankcushions

@used2berx fbalpha supports this already. i believe mame2003-plus does also.

Used2BeRX

@dankcushions

Ah... so it's on an individual basis by emulator then?

I'm running a Pi Zero, so I'm using pifba to run all of the NeoGeo games and it doesn't work.

EDIT: Anybody know a quick way to add that folder for the BIOS check? There's probably a config for it somewhere. I'll look into it later when I get a chance and post back if I find it.

dankcushions

@used2berx yeah it would need a code change unfortunately.

Used2BeRX

I've been through all of the various configuration files for both mame4all and pifba and I can't see anything that could fix this issue.

I guess anybody using a Pi Zero is just going to have to deal with the NeoGeo BIOS showing up in their gamelist unless anybody has any ideas.

EDIT: Weird... your reply wasn't here when I wrote that. I see it needs a code change.

paffley

Why don't you just hide the neogeo.zip (by pressing Select on the file in the gamelist, edit metatdata and select hidden)

Then put the system into Kiosk mode in the main menu - this will then hide the neogeo.zip from the gamelist. One way I guess, this is the method I use.

Used2BeRX

@paffley Nice. That works fine. Took a bit of work getting it back out of Kiosk mode, but now that I know where that's stored it won't be a problem.

Too bad Kiosk mode doesn't keep you from being able to go into the game menu before a game is launched. (The one that allows you to change the default emulator for a system/rom). I can imagine that this screen is going to pop up a lot when kids are playing the system.

Does anybody know if Kid mode blocks this? I didn't read anything about it here https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Child-friendly-EmulationStation/#ui-modes

cyperghost

@used2berx Annother possible solution (works not for every setup) is to rename the BIOS-file from neogeo.zip to neogeo.ZiP

I think it works for MAME but not for NEOGEO? Or opposite? Did not know anymore. The solution from @paffley is also nice ... but is limited since ES 2.7.x

Used2BeRX

@cyperghost I didn't think of that either. I'm not sitting at my Pi right now, but I believe that could be manipulated with the es_systems.cfg file. If memory serves, you can add or remove different types of extensions on a per-system basis, including different case capitalizations.

I guess the question would be, would the emulators themselves be coded to find any weird case entries, like neogeo.ZiP or not.

I probably will just use the Kiosk mode solution since it will shutdown many of the ways for my Bro's family to screw it up and require my help fixing it. It's just too bad that they can still press random buttons on the joystick when a game is loading and seriously mess up configurations still, such as changing a system-wide default emulator and such.

paffley

You need to edit run-command (retropie menu) to disable that feature.

See: Configuring Runcommand: - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Runcommand/

cyperghost

@used2berx Yes it's the es_system.cfg that controls contents visability to ES. For most MAME/FBA/NEOGEO the extensions are .zip .ZIP .fba .FBA but not .ZiP

My experience is, that the BIOS will be recognized by the emulator itself if you rename it with mixed file extension but ES won't. So it's a solution that should work.

I've to agree I'm still on ES 2.6.2 but I think the renaming is worth a try. After a restart of ES you see if the NEOGEO BIOS is still listed and if there is a failure in game running, you can just rename the files back.

Used2BeRX

@paffley said in Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???):

You need to edit run-command (retropie menu) to disable that feature.

See: Configuring Runcommand: - https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Runcommand/

Sweet! I wrote down this info so I don't lose it. This will be a huge help since I really want to be able to disable everything you can do except for launch and play games. I'm not super worried about my brother messing up stuff, but he's giving this to his nephews who are bound to mess up settings. It's not as if you can really tell a kid not to do something and believe that they're not just going to go and do that very thing. :)

@cyperghost said in Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???):

@used2berx Yes it's the es_system.cfg that controls contents visability to ES. For most MAME/FBA/NEOGEO the extensions are .zip .ZIP .fba .FBA but not .ZiP

My experience is, that the BIOS will be recognized by the emulator itself if you rename it with mixed file extension but ES won't. So it's a solution that should work.

I've to agree I'm still on ES 2.6.2 but I think the renaming is worth a try. After a restart of ES you see if the NEOGEO BIOS is still listed and if there is a failure in game running, you can just rename the files back.

I'm almost postive that your solution will work without any problems, as long as the emulators themselves will recognize strangely capitalized extensions. I won't know until I give it a shot. Even though I'll be putting on Kiosk mode and locking down whatever I can, I won't need to see it cluttering up my roms folder while I'm working on it if it does.

Thanks for bringing this method up. I used it over a year back when trying to get Pier Solar working on the Genesis without showing additional entries and it worked then too. I just forgot about this. ;)

GreenHawk84

@paffley Ooh ooh I needed this tip to hide clones! Thanks!

barbudreadmon

@used2berx said in Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???):

I'm running a Pi Zero, so I'm using pifba to run all of the NeoGeo games and it doesn't work.

That's your choice, i was playing neogeo at full speed on my rpi1 with libretro-fbalpha so the rpi0 should be able to handle it too. I never saw much interest in using pifba on rpi1 except for playing cps2 games (and i suspect it is not even necessary anymore on rpi0 where the clock is at 1Ghz).

thelostsoul

Deleting the entry from romlist xml file should do the trick, if you set Emulationstation to show up only games listed in romlist file (just a check in main menu only)

Used2BeRX

@barbudreadmon said in Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???):

@used2berx said in Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???):

I'm running a Pi Zero, so I'm using pifba to run all of the NeoGeo games and it doesn't work.

That's your choice, i was playing neogeo at full speed on my rpi1 with libretro-fbalpha so the rpi0 should be able to handle it too. I never saw much interest in using pifba on rpi1 except for playing cps2 games (and i suspect it is not even necessary anymore on rpi0 where the clock is at 1Ghz).

Strange... I was not getting a good framerate on a Pi Zero with libretro. I've got it overclocked to 1Ghz. I've also got a heatsink and it's not even in an enclosure.

@thelostsoul said in Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???):

Deleting the entry from romlist xml file should do the trick, if you set Emulationstation to show up only games listed in romlist file (just a check in main menu only)

Sweet. Another method that I wasn't even aware of. This tip could come in handy for all sorts of other things. Thanks. :)

thelostsoul

@used2berx said in Neo Geo BIOS (in the BIOS folder???):

Sweet. Another method that I wasn't even aware of. This tip could come in handy for all sorts of other things. Thanks. :)

Be aware, if you scrape.

Used2BeRX

@thelostsoul

I'm making everything from scratch man. You should check out my threads on the progress being made. Going to be sweet when I start putting this stuff out there. :)

DarishZone

To my knowledge fba should look to bios folder, so the bios file on rom folder should be useless, i'm pretty sure i was able to run Neo Geo roms without it.

dankcushions

@darishzone it reads both.