MAME2003 red/green, flashing graphics, ram checks on ROM load

ironsocks

Hello there,

RaspberryPi 3 B+
Linux 4.14.98-v7+ armv7l GNU/Linux
Retropie 4.5.1 flashed from RetroPie image

mame-libretro (MAME2003)
Full Non-Merged MAME 0.78 ROM collection
I have read https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/2859/how-to-use-mame-with-retropie-help-guide
& countless other blogs and youtube videos.

I have a great list of games up and all working pretty flawless (step 1 - check).

Now the thing I can't seem to wrap my head around is how to clean up the booting of some roms. Some games start just as you'd expect (select game, cover art shows from run command, game starts no flashing or weird screens). While other roms go through this bright green/red flashing screens, pixel graphics flying and flashing on screen, and ram check pages (once done, games load flawless and play beautifully). Is there a fundamental thing I am not understanding on how roms are loaded in MAME? Is there a way for me preset all these video and ram features so the roms boot cleanly? I would love to build a cabinet of this setup for my family but those screens (while harmless) create a confusing user experience.
I have looked in my /dev/srm/runcommand.log and everything shows clean start and stops on all games and once started they play clean with solid frame rates.

Also from the [removed] where I first obtained the rom set was a MAME BIOS so I placed that in /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2003/mame.zip . Is that the correct place for this BIOS file or naming schema (I know BIOS are case sensitive and picky about naming convention).

If I have duplicated a question I apologize I did dig through the forums for my answer for quite some time. Maybe I am just phrasing my question incorrectly and that is why I can't find my answer.

Look forward to talking about solutions.

Stephen

mitu

That's how some of the old arcade machines worked when first started - some of them went through an initialization routine. That part is also emulated since the game needs it. For instance:

shows how a Galaga machine starts (aroun 2:36).
So there's nothing wrong with your setup, that's part of the original arcade experience.

Note: please don't post links to ROMs - it's against the forum rules.

ironsocks

@mitu duly noted about the ROM links won't happen again.

Thank you so much for your prompt reply and it is bitter sweet to know that everything is working as it should.