[SOFT] ARRM : Another Gamelist, Roms manager, and Scraper for Recalbox, Batocera, Retropie

nexusone13

Hi everyone,

A new version of ARRM is available :

1.9.1.1 (02/12/2022)

Memory optimization on Launchbox to avoid crashes due to lack of memory.
Addition of IGDB.com scrape engine. See wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=scraper-igdb-en
Addition: it is now possible to delete artwork/media tags in the replacement module
Addition of an 'Update' tab, allowing to update the LaunchBox database, SteamDB as well as the configuration files. See wiki : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=settings-en#update
Addition of a 'Provider Custom' checkbox in the 'Gamelist TAGs' tab which allows via a file %appdata%\Nexouille Soft\arrm\Database\provider_custom.txt to add tags/information automatically in the provider section of gamelist.xml . See wiki : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=customize_provider_gamelist_en
Addition of help links (?) leading to dedicated sections of the Wiki
Moved the 'Delete unused images and videos' button to the 'Tools' tab
Moved 'Unused Overlays' button to 'Tools' tab
Fixed a bug that copied '-extra1' images in the 'wheels' directory instead of 'extra1' when 4 images mode was not activated.
Fixed a bug that sometimes scraping on HFSDB would cause ARRM to freeze.
Fixed a bug that prevented scrapers other than Screenscraper from downloading the video if fanart was not checked
Correction: Addition of an LF (line feed), if not present, when adding Roms in collections files (detected by Soaresden)
Fixed: Export to Attract Mode now takes the name of the Attractmode system as Emulator and no longer the name of the ARRM system folder (Bug detected by BadFurDay on Retropie Forum)
Fixed: Export to Attract Mode no longer takes into account hidden Roms (not managed by AttractMode)

Donwload links:
Full version via arrm_setup.exe (remember to uninstall the previous version): http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/file/10-arrm-another-recalbox-roms-manager
Full version without using arrm_setup.exe. (Allows you to install or update the application by copying files): http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/category/12-arrm-executable-only

Changelog : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=changelog-en
Beta versions page: http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/category/11-arrm-update-correctif
ARRM WIKI: http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=Start-en
Videos tutorial playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwA4JmSgv-PtLlzwPMOad5Ti96UfsbSzK
Keep in touch : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=contact-en
Discord ARRM: https://discord.gg/p7QsBTS
Donations : http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=donations-en

nexusone13

Hello @mitu ,
I have a question about the behavior of Retropie.
When a rom file exists on the sd card but is not referenced in the gamelist.xml, will Retropie still display it in emulationstation or can it be told to display only those present in the gamelist.xml?
This is related to the fact that the EmulationStation handles the <hidden> tag badly or not.
Thanks in advance

mitu

@nexusone13 said in [SOFT] ARRM : Another Gamelist, Roms manager, and Scraper for Recalbox, Batocera, Retropie:

When a rom file exists on the sd card but is not referenced in the gamelist.xml, will Retropie still display it in emulationstation or can it be told to display only those present in the gamelist.xml?

By default, if a ROM is found and matches the system's list of extensions, it will be displayed. There is a configuration setting in EmulationStation (I'm sure there's also present in the versions used by Recalbox/Batocera) that disables this and instructs EmulationStation to read only the entries present in the gamelists (without checking if the file exists).

This is related to the fact that the EmulationStation handles the <hidden> tag badly or not.

The hidden tag is working fine, as far as I know. What do you mean by 'handles badly' ?

nexusone13

@mitu It's related to .M3U files.
In ARRM I added a feature to automatically create M3Us and put in <hidden> in the gamelist.xml the files indicated in the M3U. One of my users told me that the <hidden> didn't work on Retropie and gave me this link:
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/32385/hiding-files-where-m3u-is-used.
I then understood that <hidden> was not recognized

mitu

@nexusone13 said in [SOFT] ARRM : Another Gamelist, Roms manager, and Scraper for Recalbox, Batocera, Retropie:

In ARRM I added a feature to automatically create M3Us and put in <hidden> in the gamelist.xml the files indicated in the M3U. One of my users told me that the <hidden> didn't work on Retropie and gave me this link:

That's not how the hidden tag works in EmulationStation - or at least in RetroPie's fork. The games with hidden tag are really hidden only in Kiosk mode, not in regular operation mode. Similarly, games with the ~~kidmode~~ kidgame tag are the only ones shown in Child mode.

nexusone13

thank you @mitu for this clarification

nexusone13

Hi everyone,

A new version of ARRM is available:

1.9.1.2 (03/19/2022)

Added: If the boxbacks recovered on Screenscraper are less than 4 KB they are considered as blank and not recovered. To avoid green empty boxbacks.
Added: 'Enable cache' checkbox in the 'Main options' tab, which allows textual information retrieved during a Scrape to be stored in a cache. Can be used for example following a crash during a scrape or a lack of gamelist. See Wiki: http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=howto_cache_en
Added: 'Load from Cache' button to retrieve cache information kept during previous scrapes for selected Roms and selected system.
Added: 'Cache' button to cache already scraped selected elements.
Added: 'Compress databases' button in the 'Tools' tab, which allows to compress the size of the databases used by ARRM. Automatically launches every 20 ARRM launches.
Added: A checkbox: 'ROM Country Priority' in the 'Scrape Options' tab and in the media allocation forms. Allows to take in priority the artworks of the country indicated in parentheses in the name of the ROM file (screenscraper and launchbox). Wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=media-assignation-en#order_of_priority_of_the_media_according_to_the_country
Added: an 'Ignore existing MD5' checkbox in the 'Scrape Options' tab, which allows, when scraping on Screenscraper, to ignore the MD5 that already exists in the gamelist / Roms information panel
Added: 'Arcade to Database' button in 'Update' tab: Used to update via .dat / .xml files the database used in 'Rename with Dat' or 'Arcade Clone Filter'. See Wiki: http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=rename_game_with_datfiles_en#update_arcade_database_with_new_datfiles_dat_xml
Added: Date/time variables usable in provider_custom.txt: %yyyy% (year), %dd% (day), %MM% (month), %HH% (hour 24), %mm% (minute) Wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=customize_provider_gamelist_en
Added: 'Cartridge' checkbox in the 'Filter' tab
Added: Change from 10 layers to 15 layers for templates
Added: A Philips CDI template by RustyMG
Modification: Button 'Create M3U' which makes it possible to create the M3U automatically for all or part of the selected roms. ARRM will search for files containing (dis*) (side*) (tape*) (part*) [part*]. Unique files are ignored. scrape information will be retained. Roms added in M3Us will have the attribute hidden in the gamelist.
Modification: It is possible to indicate a local file with full path in the layers of the templates: see wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=create_template-en#definition_of_layers
Modification: It is possible to add other information for the customization of sub-folders with image and description. see wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=custom_subfolder_en#new_format
Modification: To avoid overloading the HFSDB server, searches are carried out in priority on the MD5 (if existing), then the name of the file, then the name of the game. For HFSDB, it is advisable to check 'Force MD5 before scraper' in the 'Scrape Options' tab if the MD5s do not exist.
Modification: 'Rename with DAT' button: If the processed system is one of the Arcade systems declared in the %appdata%\Nexouille Soft\arrm\Database\arcade_systems_list.txt file, the search will first be done on the file name which in Arcade is normalized and the result will be very reliable, otherwise if the previous search does not return anything, the search will be done as before via MD5 / CRC32.
Modification: Support for other .dat / .xml file formats for 'Arcade to Database' and 'Rename with Dat' procedures. Sample .dat and .xml files can be found in %appdata%\Nexouille Soft\arrm\Database\tosec\samples and %appdata%\Nexouille Soft\arrm\Database\dat\samples
Fixed: On launch, error messages now appear after the Splashscreen
Fixed: when creating M3U files on 1.9.1.2 Beta versions, sometimes spaces were added before the .m3u (thanks Cdaters)
Fixed: The linked values ??displayed in the combobox associated with the 'DB fields' in the 'Search' tab take into account 'Show hidden' and are updated when entering the 'Search' tab
Fixed: When deleting unused images, images referenced in <folder> tags are no longer deleted
Fixed: The <emulator> tag is written again in gamelists when creating gamelists
Fixed: Bug: Choosing Fanart in replacement modules caused a crash
Fixed: Bug: Searching with MD5 on Screenscraper must give more precise results (passing the system as an argument)
Fixed: Bug of previous Beta versions (only) which caused a slowdown when loading gamelist containing more than 1360 roms.
Fixed: Bug that could occur following the implementation of API call limitations on HFSDB.
Deletion: Button 'Delete Rom' of the panel 'Rom information': use the button 'Delete Rom' of the panel 'Possible actions on selected Roms'

Donwload links:
Full version via arrm_setup.exe (remember to uninstall the previous version): http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/file/10-arrm-another-recalbox-roms-manager
Full version without using arrm_setup.exe. (Allows you to install or update the application by copying files): http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/category/12-arrm-executable-only

Changelog : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=changelog-en
Beta versions page: http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/category/11-arrm-update-correctif
ARRM WIKI: http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=Start-en
Videos tutorial playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwA4JmSgv-PtLlzwPMOad5Ti96UfsbSzK
Keep in touch : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=contact-en
Discord ARRM: https://discord.gg/p7QsBTS
Donations : http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=donations-en

cdaters

I highly recommend this scraper! And if you are able, I suggest sending @nexusone13 some love! ARRM has so many more features than Skraper, (which seems to have stalled,) and development of this scraper app is very active.

ARRM makes short work of managing your gamelist files, and it works with different foundational platforms such as Batocera or Recalbox too. Unlike some additional setup steps to use Skraper on your PC (as opposed to directly on your Pi) ARRM allows you to work directly on your PC with whatever gamelist.xml file you give it.

The templates that you have access to for mix-art is amazing and configurable. Everything is configurable! There is in-line help, and/or the Wiki for more information/how-tos.

nexusone13

Thank you very much @cdaters for your encouragement, it makes me very happy.
Thank you also for identifying problems and suggesting improvements.

morenr1

Hi,

@nexusone13 for this excelent piece of software and for the continue improvement of the tool.

My question is related to subdirectories. I have some subfolders with artwork and samples with zip files inside. When I create the gamelist these samples and artworks appear in gamelist as a new entry.

Is there any way to avoid it, just scan the rom directory (parent directory) without subfolders?
workaround is mark as hidden these entries, but I wondering if there is other alternative.

Thanks
moren1

nexusone13

Hi @morenr1 ,
If .zip is one of the searched extensions, ARRM will display it. It is not possible to indicate only the parent, since it is quite common to place roms in subfolders. That would be too many scenarios to handle. The solution to put in 'hidden', as you indicate, remains the solution. sorry

I just sent you an email (check your spam)

nexusone13

Hi, @morenr1
Could you contact me Nexusone13#8474 on our ARRM discord: https://discord.gg/p7QsBTS channel #arrm or in private
Thank you

nexusone13

Hi everyone,

A new version of ARRM is available:

1.9.1.3 (04/30/2022)

Added: Unitary or mass translation of Game Descriptions in the language of your choice. See wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=translate_description_en (thanks Schmurtz for the url)
Added: When several systems are checked, it is now possible to choose the scrape engine you want and no longer only Screenscraper
Added: When creating video with overlays, if auto template is not checked, ARRM will look in the 'templates_video' directory for a template with the same name as the template currently used by ARRM. If not present, ARRM will take the currently used template it finds in 'templates'. See Wiki : http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=video_overlay_en
Added: Checkbox 'compress video+overlay' allowing to compress 'video+overlay' during their creation (the 'Compress video' checkbox no longer applies to 'video+overlay'
Added: In templates, layers can be applied depending on the format (Portrait, Landscape, CD) of Screenshot/Boxart/Cartridge/Boxback. See example with the mix_splash_MAME template from TVsIan (see wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=create_template-en#conditional_layers)
Added: In templates, screenshot can take Portrait, CD or Landscape attributes. See wiki: http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=create_template-en#screenshot (see TVsIan template : mix_splash_MAME)
Added: When scraping on HFSDB if the game is not found with its MD5, a file %appdata%\Nexouille Soft\arrm\temp_missing_HFSDB_MD5_%system%.txt is created which could be useful to feed the HFSDB DB . See wiki: http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=scraper-hfsdb-en#list_of_md5_not_found (look at template : cd portrait landscape sample)
Added: 'Round Wheel (HFSDB / Screenscraper)' button in the 'Images Options' tab allows to recover the 'round wheels' on HFSDB and Screenscraper in the wheels directory. For Screenscraper the type (carbon or steel) can be selected in the 'Assignment media Screenscraper' module
Modification: Adaptation of certain forms so that essential information can be displayed on a resolution of 1280x720
Fixed: STOP button on multi-system scrape was not acting as expected
Fixed: Steam multi-system scrape not working
Fixed: A crash could occur when ARRM wanted to use a template referenced in template_association.txt when it no longer existed
Fixed: On Steam, some artwork found was not downloaded
Fixed: the 'Hide cue/gdi/m3u' button did not have the expected behavior (the files did not take the <hidden> tag when they were in subdirectories) thank you cdaters

Donwload links:
Full version via arrm_setup.exe (remember to uninstall the previous version): http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/file/10-arrm-another-recalbox-roms-manager
Full version without using arrm_setup.exe. (Allows you to install or update the application by copying files): http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/category/12-arrm-executable-only

Changelog : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=changelog-en
Beta versions page: http://jujuvincebros.fr/telechargements2/category/11-arrm-update-correctif
ARRM WIKI: http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=Start-en
Videos tutorial playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwA4JmSgv-PtLlzwPMOad5Ti96UfsbSzK
Keep in touch : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=contact-en
Discord ARRM: https://discord.gg/p7QsBTS
Donations : http://www.jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=donations-en

ZzackK

hi Program is great job.

I have two small problems.
-I can not skip by letter
-Some games are not sort alphabetically

nexusone13

Hi @ZzackK ,
Thanks,
you should find anwser for your problem in the wiki .
this is relative to the sortname tag option.
So Check the "Remove Sortname Tag" and save your gamelist again

wiki : http://jujuvincebros.fr/wiki/arrm/doku.php?id=settings-en&s[]=add&s[]=index

ZzackK

thx

ZzackK

I want use only "clear name" for my gamelist but I do not scraping all roms. Is possible do it fast?

nexusone13

@ZzackK

Select options you want in 'Scrape Options',
Select the roms you want
then click on 'Check Roms'

If you leave your mouse over each button, you'll see a tooltip that explains the feature

ZzackK

@nexusone13 thx

Is too many options for beginning :)

ExarKunIv

@ZzackK yes all the options are over whelming but it is so worth it with how powerful this tool is.

It is the only one I use now.

Also with how responsive @nexusone13 is. Is such a big help and he is always updating it to make it even better