mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!

Scerion

Installed retropie on Ubuntu 19.10, and installed mame2003-plus from source to run my 0188 roms. They launch, but I can only escape by using the ESC button, which then switches to the default MAME ROM list interface, not to emulation station. I then have to use ALT+F4 to exit back out. This is a bit clunky when using it in a cabinet.

Is there a way to add a macro to a key so that if I hit start+select, it actually sends ESC, then ALT+F4 to exit back to the main game list?

mitu

Are you sure you're using mame2003-plus and not lr-mame ? I've seen this behavior when using lr-mame and the Boot to OSD option is selected in the core options.

barbudreadmon

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

installed mame2003-plus from source to run my 0188 roms

Maybe start by reading the documentation...

Scerion

@mitu Hi, yep, it's using mame2003-plus. I only put the ROMs into the arcade/mame2003-plus directory . I fixed it with hardware (I design PCBs) so a single button press triggers a series of keystrokes to back out properly back to the main UI instead of the MAME ROM listing :)

grant2258

you not launching mame2003 that doesnt give you a rom listing you must be stating some other version.

Scerion

@grant2258 You're right, it was mame2016. mame2003-plus would not run the 0188 ROMs. I gave up on it eventually - various things not working like the scrapers, menus were clunky - i.e. going into Arcade listed the subdirectories instead of amalgamating the ROMs, all emulators running very slowly (on a fast PC), even for old 80's games. .Plus having to pick the emulator core and remap the controls per-game got old fast. Reinstalled Windows+Launchbox - not sure if that uses Retropie underneath, but everything's working now! Downloaded artwork and videos etc straight away :)

barbudreadmon

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

the emulator core and remap the controls per-game

That's pretty much how mame works (start the game, open tab menu, map everything, then play), not really a retropie issue. There has been attempts to have mame cores with widely playable default controls (mame2003-plus would be at the top of that list) but mame2016 isn't one of those iirc.

Riverstorm

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

amalgamating

That's the word of the day! ;) I guess I don't see the need for folders (with arcade). You'll still need to sort emulator -> ROM regardless of the organizational hierarchy and folder usage. The arcade folder works wonders for it. I run several emulators and ROMs in a single pane seamlessly. I find it much easier and quicker to manually modify the emulators.cfg file directly to specify cores for ROMs when en masse works wonders.

I did try mame2016 and it didn't feel like a good fit for the Pi and some things need shored up a a bit as you found out but maybe succeeding generations of the Pi.

m3plus doesn't use 0.188 ROMs it's more of a custom MAME set. NO set will work perfectly in another version of MAME (close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades ;). Though it does have in game dynamic DAT generation (thanks to @grant2258) that allows you to create DAT files on the fly as the core is updated and games are added/upgraded. The tutorials on ROM management in the docs are really quite good and will give you a set that is 100% compatible.

Even on a fast PC there are many aspects that are difficult to emulate without expending a fair amount of CPU and RAM. A whole lot of mathmatical functions repeated millions of times in an attempt to emulate those old PCB's. That's MAME since its dawn. ;)

There's really no one-size-fits-all-control-setup that works for every game when it comes to any core in RetroPie or in MAME in general really. The core defaults are solid and should work for most games if planned out correctly when doing inputs. Beyond that it's easy to tweak those one off games that don't work with the defaults.

Launchbox is great I hear but don't be completely put off from RetroPie either. It does have a learning curve but it's pretty powerful and flexible once you get it down. m3plus, fb-neo, advmame, etc. are great cores and have a large pool of games that run RetroPie perfectly on even a modest Pi.

grant2258

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

You're right, it was mame2016. mame2003-plus would not run the 0188 ROMs. I gave up on it eventually - various things not working like the scrapers, menus were clunky - i.e. going into Arcade listed the subdirectories instead of amalgamating the ROMs, all emulators running very slowly (on a fast PC), even for old 80's games. .Plus having to pick the emulator core and remap the controls per-game got old fast. Reinstalled Windows+Launchbox - not sure if that uses Retropie underneath, but everything's working now! Downloaded artwork and videos etc straight away :)

Retropie does take a bit of getting used to. Actually retropie is very easy to setup it actually takes the complexities away form retroarch and presents a very usable user interface. If your using a fast pc there really is no good reason not to use stand alone emulators with launchbox.

I havent used mame2016 but its probably has enforced hard coded gamepad mappings.

Scerion

@Riverstorm Thanks, I guess what would make Retropie a little more approachable would be if you could specify "use THIS emulator for THIS directory", rather than making the user pick the emulator and controls for each and every game. The real issue was the performance though - I remember running MAME ROMs on PCs from around 20 years ago, and the same ROMs only run at half speed (and N64 is completely unplayable - maybe 10fps) on a modern PC with Retropie/Lakka for some reason :) The problem doesn't seem to exist with LB. I think the artwork sites no longer work either - I never got RP to download any artwork using the scrapers. I think maybe creating one section to configure things, instead of 10's (or 100's) of separate config files that need to be edited manually) might help! Cheers!

mitu

Thanks, I guess what would make Retropie a little more approachable would be if you could specify "use THIS emulator for THIS directory", rather than making the user pick the emulator and controls for each and every game.

That is how exactly RetroPie functions - you CAN override the emulater on a per-ROM basis, but generally each folder has its own emulator assigned by default. The arcade folder might be different, but you still have to choose a default emulator once - the first time you start an arcade ROM.

The real issue was the performance though - I remember running MAME ROMs on PCs from around 20 years ago, and the same ROMs only run at half speed (and N64 is completely unplayable - maybe 10fps) on a modern PC with Retropie/Lakka for some reason :)

That's strange, especially on a PC, the emulation performance for MAME should be ok.

The problem doesn't seem to exist with LB.

I think you're confusing things. LaunchBox is not an emulator, just a front-end/launcher. The choice of what launcher you use does not influence the emulator performance.

I think the artwork sites no longer work either - I never got RP to download any artwork using the scrapers

The built-in scrapers in EmulationStation are having problems right now because of the source sites, which have either changed their API (TheGamesDB) or don't function at full capacity and disallow access for un-registered users (ScreenScraper). It is what it is, but you have the choice of using Skyscraper/Skraper/ARRM for scraping, outside of EmulationStation/Retropie.

barbudreadmon

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

I remember running MAME ROMs on PCs from around 20 years ago

That's called mame2000 (or mame4all), you can use it, it's still fast if you don't mind the lower accuracy & compatibility.

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

modern PC with Retropie/Lakka

What's a modern PC ? There is no such thing as "a newer PC is faster than an older PC", it's all about specs.

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

N64 is completely unplayable - maybe 10fps

Hard to troubleshoot this without knowing the specs of your computer or the N64 emulator you use on windows (LB is not an emulator, just a launcher...), but 3D emulation either use the CPU (software rendering) or the CPU+GPU (hardware rendering), default N64 emulator on retropie uses hardware rendering but if your GPU sucks it will be a problem. I think there are ways to set the emulator to software rendering in retropie.

Scerion

@barbudreadmon said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

I remember running MAME ROMs on PCs from around 20 years ago

That's called mame2000 (or mame4all), you can use it, it's still fast if you don't mind the lower accuracy & compatibility.

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

modern PC with Retropie/Lakka

What's a modern PC ? There is no such thing as "a newer PC is faster than an older PC", it's all about specs.

The one I'm using for this is an i5, 4ghz, 32GB RAM, old GTX1060, SSD. Not exactly cutting edge, but it was being used as a server until recently replaced and I decided to use it to replace the Pi in an arcade cab. Nvidia driver was loaded - tested with a GLSL shader program I wrote from a while back.

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

N64 is completely unplayable - maybe 10fps

Hard to troubleshoot this without knowing the specs of your computer or the N64 emulator you use on windows (LB is not an emulator, just a launcher...), but 3D emulation either use the CPU (software rendering) or the CPU+GPU (hardware rendering), default N64 emulator on retropie uses hardware rendering but if your GPU sucks it will be a problem. I think there are ways to set the emulator to software rendering in retropie.

The nvidia kernel modules were loaded all the time, so no reason it wasn't hardware accelerated, unless RP creates a frame buffer and renders into that I guess. Anyway, switching to Windows+LB fixed it, so it's all good now :)

barbudreadmon

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

i5, 4ghz, 32GB RAM, old GTX1060

Mario Kart 64 is running full speed on lr-mupen64plus with 3.4Ghz cpu + gtx960 here, actually with a lot of power to spare (fast forward brings me to 550 fps). There is something seriously wrong with your setup if it ran at 10 fps.

Scerion

@barbudreadmon <shrug> As said, it's fixed now by using LB. I didn't change anything in Retropie besides adding ROMs and BIOS'. So who knows? :)

grant2258

@Scerion said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

@barbudreadmon <shrug> As said, it's fixed now by using LB. I didn't change anything in Retropie besides adding ROMs and BIOS'. So who knows? :)

I wouldnt worry about it its working now was probably a retroarch bug or setting it would take you too long to find anyway. Why struggle when its working anyway job well done. The path to the least resistance is always the way to go. Launchbox will also open you up to using standalones as well you wont be limited to RA `s interpretation. If your using a barcade i would really suggest not using any libretro arcade cores as they only tailor for gamepads on this port

barbudreadmon

@grant2258 said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

Launchbox will also open you up to using standalones as well you wont be limited to RA `s interpretation.

You really like your RA/libretro drama... emulationstation is just a launcher, it doesn't prevent the launch of non-libretro apps, including non-emulators.

grant2258

no drama here at all apart form you making it one there is emulations beyond retroarch as well people might need to use things like advanced mame or any of the other stand alones retropie uses computers definitely do better on the standalones with full keyboard use.

barbudreadmon

@grant2258 said in mame2003-plus exits to its own interface!:

no drama here at all apart form you making it one

That's rich coming from the guy whose most posts are whining about RA/libretro, if i make a summary of your 2 posts above :

don't try to fix issues with RA => i seriously doubt it was an issue with RA in the first place if the OP was using default settings, a look at glxinfo would have been useful, having the kernel module loaded doesn't mean Xorg is using it
you are better using LB for standalone emulators, blahblahblah RA => ES allows that too...
don't use libretro arcade cores on a barcade => not bored after saying it for years ? iirc @dankcushions will love this too
don't use libretro computer cores either, standalone are better => not familiar with this one, but it just seems like your expected and usual ranting

Could you stop making of everything an opportunity to trash talk about RA/libretro ? It's boring, you were banned, it was well deserved, get over it.

grant2258

I suggest you get over it. The user got his issue fixed before i replied to him. Then you take it as another opportunity to attack me. I know you dont like me but i suggest you get over that lol.