MAME not running ROMs issue

Dan1300

I am a noob to this so bare with me. Model ect is at the bottom.

The games come up under MAME, I open them, they go to boot screen to where you can change parameters, black screen then game selection menu again.

I have followed all of this: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/ and I am still lost (but wait there's more).

Last link got me here: https://retropietest.readthedocs.io/en/latest/MAME/ to where to place the files and still nothing.

Next I found this: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7247/guide-arcade-games-and-how-to-play-them-a-non-technical-mame-fba-tutorial/2 went through all the way to 5th step and placed downloaded and unzipped files where it said, "Let’s say that you managed to download a 0.78 “reference set” and you placed it in the Arcade ROM folder. The default emulator for the Arcade folder is lr-mame2003 so they should launch just fine. "

1st question is.. Was unzipping the MAME specific files my 1st mistake? All ROMs are zipped up nice and tight and even downloaded new ROMs to play it safe because I did unpack them when I first got them.

Now with the MAME specific folders... I followed https://retropie.org.uk/docs/MAME/ to below image

This is where I am beyond clueless, obviously. I followed locations but for example the "Binary" and "Samples" location doesn't exist and I can't even create them. I tried root before with something similar and both times I got the proverbial middle finger. I used the retropie package set up menu and added all of the MAME packages and updated them and still NADA DAMN THING.. lol.

This is where I am and if I need to read up more can you share those links or books with me, it would be appreciated. I have read everything I can Google and still lost.

Thanks in advance!

As requested.....

Pi Model: Pi 4 Model B Rev1.4
Revision: d03114
or other hardware: BCM2711
Power Supply used: Canna PI 4 starter MAX kit
RetroPie Version Used: Linux 10, Retropie 5.4.51-v7l+ #1333 SMP Mon Aug 10, 2020
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: wireless Logitech mouse, Vilros PS controller, Macally full keyboard
Controller used: Vilros PS cntrlr

dankcushions

1st question is.. Was unzipping the MAME specific files my 1st mistake?

yes, look at the supported extensions in the first table here: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/MAME/

for lr-mame2003, only .zip is supported. so your /roms/libretro-mame (or /roms/arcade) should look like:

/pacman.zip
/sfii.zip
/ffight.zip

and so on.

and even downloaded new ROMs to play it safe because I did unpack them when I first got them.

you can't just download new roms and add them - they have to be from the appropriate romset version for the version of mame you're running. typically, a downloaded collection of mame roms (eg a 0.78 "reference set") will contain all the roms supported by that version of MAME. you shouldn't be adding more.

This is where I am beyond clueless, obviously. I followed locations but for example the "Binary" and "Samples" location doesn't exist and I can't even create them.

your document screenshot is for mame4all-pi - i can't imagine you're using that for pi4 (infact, is it even installable?). refer to https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/#step-1-choose-your-arcade-emulators to select an appropriate mame emulator.

Dan1300

"your document screenshot is for mame4all-pi -
i can't imagine you're using that for pi4 (infact, is it even installable?). refer to https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/#step-1-choose-your-arcade-emulators to select an appropriate mame emulator."

I already did that and that's why I did the mame4all-pi because it had the best crosswalk for the games I wanted, but that was the 2nd thing I did. Firstly, I put them in their proper places like 1942, AliensV3, Cyberball in mame4all. Hang On and Hard Drive in lr-mame2003. Then ChaseHQ in the lr-fbalpha folder and I didn't have any success there either. I went and assigned them their ROM specific MAMEs ect.

I just did an update to get Scrot (screenshot pgm) and now my card is toast so I am going to start new and hopefully it fixes the issue(s) with this new understanding.

Thanks for your time so far. I bet I will thank you again soon.

Dan1300

Hello again...

I am still lost and need clarification on a few things.

Did this: https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/#step-1-choose-your-arcade-emulators
Which brings me to question 1. What is supported by Pi4? I have done a zillion different things from archive removed (8 hours remaining..yea) to downloading and or running UniBIOS 4 to clmamepro to the romcenter tool and had zero luck.

I tried the "wack a mole" approach for MAME and FB-NEO, after I have done everything short of buying one with things preloaded.
Is there an easier way to find version numbers or not really?

2nd big question: I installed fbneo via Retropie but the folder is empty (in the Arcade folder) so do I need .dat files in there or did I miss something altogether?

As always thanks for your time.

Pi Model: Pi 4 Model B Rev1.4
Revision: d03114
or other hardware: BCM2711
Power Supply used: Canna PI 4 starter MAX kit
RetroPie Version Used: Linux 10, Retropie 5.4.51-v7l+ #1333 SMP Mon Aug 10, 2020
Built From: Pre made SD Image on RetroPie website
USB Devices connected: wireless Logitech mouse, Vilros PS controller, Macally full keyboard
Controller used: Vilros PS cntrlr

mitu

@Dan1300 Please don't post links to ROMs, it's one of the rules of the forum. Please remove the link.

bollwerk

As you have probably noticed, there are many emulator options for playing Arcade games in RetroPie. With the Pi4, many of them should run fine, but it's still often a "game" of trial and error. Personally, I start with MAME 2003 Plus and FB-Neo, then go from there. On the default installation of RetroPie, some emulators are pre-installed, and others are not. You can add or remove emulators in the RetroPie-Setup tool. Many are under Optional or Experimental, but don't let that scare you. They may work just fine.

Once you have some emulators installed, the next step is to make sure you have roms from the proper rom set. With arcade games, dumps change over time, for a variety of reasons. So it's critical to make sure you have roms that match the emulator version. For example, MAME 2003 (and 2003 plus) are based on MAME 0.78, so you need a rom set specific to MAME 0.78. We don't link where to find these, so you are on your own.

The DAT file is just used to validate the rom set, using a tool like clrmamepro. If you're not sure the rom set is clean and valid, this is a useful thing to do, but it's not for beginners. It takes some time to learn how to use the tool.

Once you have roms, you just copy the roms into the appropriate folder that the emulator will look for them in (this will be in the RetroPie docs).

EDIT - It's worth noting that MAME and FBA/FBN add support for new games with new versions, or improve the emulation quality, so it might be useful to have a list of games you want to play, then find the minimum MAME (or FBA/FBN) that supports them, or the point at which the game was set to "working" status. I've found Arcade Italia useful in this regard, as it has a history of each game supported by MAME - http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/mame.php

dankcushions

@Dan1300 said in MAME not running ROMs issue:

Which brings me to question 1. What is supported by Pi4?

what is “supported” is anything you can install via the retropie-setup script. what is recommended is currently the same for pi3 in your link. in truth, the jury is still out on the best MAME emulators for pi4, but mame2003 and fbneo are a safe bet.

I have done a zillion different things from archive removed (8 hours remaining..yea) to downloading and or running UniBIOS 4

why did you download “unibios 4”? unibios is an optional customised BIOS for neogeo. it is not needed for non-neogeo, and indeed not needed at all for normal function. the completed romset collection for a given MAME/fbneo emulator will contain ALL the required files, including the neogeo.zip neogeo BIOS file.

to clmamepro to the romcenter tool and had zero luck

you shouldn’t need clrmamepro or romcenter for normal function.

I tried the "wack a mole" approach for MAME and FB-NEO, after I have done everything short of buying one with things preloaded.
Is there an easier way to find version numbers or not really?

why do you need to find version numbers? you acquire the romset collection for the version of the emulator you have chosen, and then all the files within will be the right version.

2nd big question: I installed fbneo via Retropie but the folder is empty (in the Arcade folder) so do I need .dat files in there or did I miss something altogether?

no dat files are needed. again just follow the docs and it will tell you what to do. if you’re having problems please refer us to the exact step you’re stuck with.

Dan1300

@mitu Sorry about that. I did forget.

Dan1300

Weird how it happens.... I got the MAME files from the archive and man do I miss playing Aliens in the arcade. That was my test game.

For future people reading this....
Get the ROMs from a reputable site, DONT RENAME YOUR FOLDERS (that's how I got Neo Geo working) and be patient.

Looking back its still maddening.

Dan1300

Yep another question... MAME ver .185 doesn't seem to exist outside of MAMEdev but I have a ton of those ROMs so....

Which version of MAME or FBA works for these .185 ROMs?

I got the 185s from the archive.

As always.... Thanks for your time.

dankcushions

@Dan1300 said in MAME not running ROMs issue:

Yep another question... MAME ver .185 doesn't seem to exist outside of MAMEdev but I have a ton of those ROMs so....

Which version of MAME or FBA works for these .185 ROMs?

as you can see from the first table in https://retropie.org.uk/docs/MAME/, no version of MAME supplied with retropie supports this romset version.

be sure to follow https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Arcade/ in the order it dictates - choose emulator, then get romset version for said emulator. if you start with a random romset, it will invariably be for an unsupported version.

bollwerk

It is perhaps worth noting that, I believe it's possible to create a romset for any version of MAME, by using the latest romset, the latest "rollback" romset, a DAT file from the version of MAME you need a set for, and a tool like ClrMamePro.

Dan1300

@dankcushions I figured that but I rather ask the question, than not, and wonder where I went wrong.

You just confirmed what I figured my next step is.

dankcushions

@bollwerk said in MAME not running ROMs issue:

It is perhaps worth noting that, I believe it's possible to create a romset for any version of MAME, by using the latest romset, the latest "rollback" romset, a DAT file from the version of MAME you need a set for, and a tool like ClrMamePro.

yes, but the romset collections for the recommended MAME/fbn emulators are very available, so i would save yourself the bother.

Riverstorm

@Dan1300 @bollwerk said in MAME not running ROMs issue:

It is perhaps worth noting that, I believe it's possible to create a romset for any version of MAME, by using the latest romset, the latest "rollback" romset, a DAT file from the version of MAME you need a set for, and a tool like ClrMamePro.

I agree I think it's worth noting and worth bothering to learn to use the tools depending on your setup. With current MAME and the rollback sets you can build any version of MAME from the beginning of development for RetroPie or other projects outside the RP scope.

You can build partial or full sets which is handy if using multiple cores with "Arcade" for RetroPie and only need a few games from a specific ROM set or a few per core.

It works fine for vanilla MAME to just get the set from whatever source. If using mame2003-plus or fbneo who's rom sets are ever changing it's a big plus to know the tools but you'll still need to track down some miscellaneous or decrypted ROMs that may not included in the official MAME set when rebuilding.

I find it easier to grab the current DAT once in a while for a changing core to complete a set vs. following every commit to grab the added/updated ROMs.

Also mame2003-plus has the source driver files in the DAT which allows you to build subsets like neogeo only or cps1, cps2, cp3 or whatever combination you want. Now if we could only have the region information.

Along with the rollback CHDs you can include those also in your sets too which is usually v3 with the older cores. A few games with CHDs run acceptably on the Pi 4.

Mame2003-plus has support for UNIBIOS up to 4.0 if you have a need, want to tweak a setting or experiment, it's a core option.