Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone

Retrodade

@Folly That is exciting news as the pi5 will slowly get more popular I feel it.
I have a question, any system I add my retoarch has no ability to add bezels, are you able to do so?

also hoping the more powerful pi5 allows more mame systems to run on it
here is to a positive outcome!

Retrodade

@Folly i had issue with this "add-ext-repos" at end it killed the set up i had to redo the set up, I tried twice both times same result
have you had better luck with this by chance?

Folly

@Retrodade said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly i had issue with this "add-ext-repos" at end it killed the set up i had to redo the set up, I tried twice both times same result
have you had better luck with this by chance?

An old version doesn't work anymore because of github changes.
I updated it to the changes but could be that it has more issues.
I recommend not to use it.
Just paste the scripts in manually.

Folly

@Retrodade said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly That is exciting news as the pi5 will slowly get more popular I feel it.
I have a question, any system I add my retoarch has no ability to add bezels, are you able to do so?

also hoping the more powerful pi5 allows more mame systems to run on it
here is to a positive outcome!

Seems you talk about adding them manually.

I used my script for adding some bezels to the classich category.
It revealed that these bezel pictures show, however they are not in sync with the games.

Then I installed Orionsangels_Realistic_Overlays from my script.
Here NO bezels are shown and that the shader seems to work OK.

I have to investigate this more but indeed it seems that RetroArch has changed significantly and that some configs don't work anymore.

Edit 1 :
Running kgradius from konamih with an overlay in lr-mess looks OK though.

Edit 2 :
The lr-mess/lr-mame (full-mame versions) compiled with gcc10 for aarch64 work OK even in "lite" console mode on RPI5.

Folly

Will reserve this post for updates about the progress about the issues about Bookworm and latest Retroarch in combination with RPI4 an RPI5 :

@DTEAM @bbilford83 @Retrodade

The first tests promised some good results but ouch that hurts.
There seem to be quite some obstacles/issues on the way.
The obstacles/issues are probably due to severe changes in probably both software and hardware (hardware at least for the RPI5).
I will try not to post a lot about it and see from time to time if I can tackle these problems.
All in all it's quite disappointing.
My guess is that the latest Retroarch is the most responsible for these issues :
~~- bezels not in sync with games~~ (see fixes)
~~- bezel pictures not shown when shader is also used~~ (see fixes)
- seems some options of lr-mess and lr-mame are not correctly read and therefor it's likely why mame hotkeys like checking frameskipping with F11 doesn't work (however could be due to something else, or even due to changes in lr-mame/lr-mess)(use game focus and hotkeys will work)
~~My advice is not to update Retroarch to the latest 1.16.x~~(use game focus and hotkeys will work)

The most irritating thing the is that my gcc12 pre-compiled mame M1 binary, which compiles in just 1 hour,
doesn't work at all on the RPI4 ~~and for the RPI5 only in Desktop mode~~. (see facts)
~~Also tested the gcc10 pre-compiled mame binary from stickfreaks on the RPI5 which also works in Desktop mode only.~~ (see facts)
~~Again, this probably means compiling mame directly on RPI4 and or on the RPI5 which will take loads of time and hoping that it works after that.~~ (see facts)
~~Though, we might be lucky on the RPI4 using the gcc10 pre-compiled mame binary.~~ not needed anymore and doesn't work anymore from 265 and up

Standalone MAME test facts :

compiling standalone mame on 64 bits Bookworm takes about 2:40 hours (done from the "lite" console in Retropie-Setup)
sadly the compiled standalone mame from RPI5 give the same garbage screen as the M1 compiled binary when started from the "lite" console environment
- seems the same issue as described over here, here and here
  ~~- a workaround is to put this SDL_RENDER_VSYNC=1 in front of the runcommand until a real fix comes along~~ not needed anymore
  ~~- the M1 binary works too with the workaround on the RPI5~~ not needed anymore
- my kernel is now Linux 6.1.0-rpi7-rpi-2712 aarch64, looks like this issue is fixed in kernel 6.7 so it seems it will be fine in the future
  (the fix has been back-ported and is working now (31-01-2024) Linux raspberrypi 6.1.0-rpi8-rpi-2712)
running kgradius from konamih with artwork in mame, without frame-skipping, reveals that the speed is now about 50% VS 24% on a RPI4

~~Retroarch + lr-mess/lr-mame test facts :~~
~~- bezels like used in astrocmd from classich are not in sync with games~~
~~- Retroarch 1.16.0 + lr-mess0261 on RPI4 in Bookwork 64 bits has this issue~~
~~- Retroarch 1.15.0 + lr-mess0261 on RPI4 in Bullseye 32 bits has this issue too~~
~~- seems not related to RPI5 only~~

~~- bezel pictures not shown when shader is also used~~
~~- Retroarch 1.16.0 + lr-mess0261 on RPI4 in Bookwork 64 bits has this issue~~
~~- Retroarch 1.15.0 + lr-mess0261 on RPI4 in Bullseye 32 bits has this issue too~~
~~- seems not related to RPI5 only~~

lr-mess/lr-mame 266 would not compile on regular Debian VM Bookworm aarch64 on Apple M1. Says that it needs version 7 or higher of Clang. For Bookworm this should be good though it seemed like it was missing so installed the package but that didn't help (sudo apt install clang). On the RPI5 no problems so tried again on the M1. Then I removed the lr-mess source and removed clang entirely (sudo apt purge clang). Then I tried again and now it works.

Fixes :

bezel pictures not shown when shader is also used is orted out now explained over here
bezel syncing problem is sorted out now explained over here.
a 64bits binary for RPI3 or higher can be compiled on the Apple M1 see here

OrionBunny

@Folly hi, i am doing the layout for the games of the "entex select a game", "entex_sag" or "sag" (how is it named internally, but it doesn't matter what I do, it dont work, can someone please help me? before hand thanks n.n (its my first time doing a layout and i already can put the vectex layouts)

i promise to share it for the use of everyone when all is done

Folly

@OrionBunny

Welcome, thanks for joining in.

Edit :
Installed it.
OK, that driver.
Me and mostly @bbilford83 have been busy with this so there is a basic artwork-file already, however far from perfect.
I must say @bbilford83 did a great attempt in doing so.
Right now it uses zoomed images which sort of works and are reasonably in sync but the pictures could be cleaned up a bit better.
I think, as backup, the whole pictures are included in the artwork-file or they are in a separate g-drive folder of @bbilford83.
I tried to use the whole picture to see if I could match it up.
With regular drivers this is quite easy.
However, somehow matching up was too difficult with this driver as I could not match up the game.
Changing the "custom views" of the pictures or the game meant that the game and background picture both changed in perspective on opposite directions.
So this is really a problematic thing to deal with.
If you want to give it a shot then it is better to make a separate topic for it as it will take much more that 10 posts.

DTEAM

@Folly

Hi Folly, are you able to run a CD systems like CDI, NeoCD or VIS without the "basename" option with MAME standalone 0.261. I always have a bus error

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh: line 1319:  3449 Bus error

I'm using a Pi4.

bbilford83

@DTEAM said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly

Hi Folly, are you able to run a CD systems like CDI, NeoCD or VIS without the "basename" option with MAME standalone 0.261. I always have a bus error
/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh: line 1319:  3449 Bus error    
I'm using a Pi4.

@DTEAM you didn't ask me but I'll share that VIS and CDI both work fine for me with the libretro versions but for the first time I tried MAME and it also gives me an error. I only usually use libretro so I never noticed before. Also Pi4.

Folly

@DTEAM @bbilford83

Not at my pi right now, I will try it when I can.
Can be that I do it next week when I am free.
If I can test it sooner I will let you both know.

On my VM I already tested CDI.
When running the arcadecl.chd from the folder cdimono1 it runs ok with runcommands with -cdrm and also using basename does work.
I am using standalone mame0261.

Can you both share the failed runcommand from the runcommand.log ?

bbilford83

@Folly here you go:

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh: line 1304: 23028 Bus error /opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame;/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/vis -v -c -ui_active -statename vis/"Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US)" vis -cdrm "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/vis/Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US).chd" -view "Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US)"

DTEAM

@Folly said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

On my VM I already tested CDI.
When running the arcadecl.chd from the folder cdimono1 it runs ok with runcommands with -cdrm and also using basename does work.
I am using standalone mame0261.

Can you both share the failed runcommand from the runcommand.log ?

I'm outside today, but tomorrow i'll send it to you. Just for clarification, 8 months ago, when you added NeoGeo CD and Tubografx CD, I was able to run those CD games without the "basename" files and with MAME standalone. CD-i worked also, I think It's a recent bug for CD games.

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

@Folly here you go:

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh: line 1304: 23028 Bus error /opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame;/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/vis -v -c -ui_active -statename vis/"Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US)" vis -cdrm "/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/vis/Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US).chd" -view "Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US)"

Got myself the same game and tested it with both lr-mess0261 and mame0261 using the runcommands with -cdrm and did this on my pi5/64bits/Bookworm.
Indeed for lr-mess I had to remove the quote and also inside the cue.
The file just loaded in mame standalone with this runcommand :

/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame\;/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/vis -v -c -ui_active -statename vis/"Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US)" vis   "Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US)" -view "Americas National Parks (1992)(Multicom)(US)"

The runcommand seems the same as yours.
Be sure when you post it that you post it as code so the backslash is also shown.

I will test this again later on my pi4/32bits/Bullseye.
Could be that it doesn't work on 32bits binaries.

Edit :
For me it also works on pi4/32bits/Bullseye, no problem.

Folly

@bbilford83

Btw did you make a gamelist for vis ?
Vis was mentioned in your gamelists but downloading via the script didn't work.
I now get this error :
ERROR: content-disposition not found and confirm=t did not work
When trying to get your gamelists.

Edit :
I tried this on my pi5, could be an issue of Bookworm as I read that python in this OS needs a venv (vitual python environment)
Will have a look later and test this also on th pi4 with Bullseye.

Edit 1:
Seems to be an issue with a change in the gdrive server.
Added an issue so Matt can have look and hopefully fix it :
https://github.com/matthuisman/gdrivedl/issues/31

bbilford83

@Folly I am going to be away from my computer for quite a while but yes there should be both a game list and art for VIS up there now. I can check again later but hopefully it is just a problem with pi5.

Edit: I'm still not near my pi but I did confirm on my gmail that the VIS stuff is all where it should be.

bbilford83

@Folly on an unrelated note, I have been adding a few more systems to my own build that don't really require a keyboard, namely the VTech Socrates, the Tomy Tutor (aka Pyuta in Japan), and the Umtech VideoBrain Family Computer. I finished the Socrates and it works well. The Tutor I have been adding now and it works well too, but I discovered that there is also a "consolized" version of the Japanese model - the "Pyuta Jr." See here for info.

I see that there is a pyutajr.zip bios file in MAME, and in your script there's an option to install pyutajr, but when I tried it kicked me back out without installing. As far as I can tell all three systems - Tutor, Pyuta, and Pyuta Jr. - should be the same romset (like with Zemmix and MSX). Is there any way to tell if Pyuta Jr. should be installable as a system? I would like to add the "console version" if it is possible to do so.

EDIT: I don't know what I did wrong last time but this time I tried again it installed fine. I will mess around with it now; I'd rather use the console version but I forgot that when you load a rom you have to select an option to load a cartridge (like in the computer menu), so if that is in Japanese I will stick with the Tutor anyway.

EDIT 2: So it is interesting, Pyuta Jr. loads correctly and it is in English (doesn't say "Pyuta" in the menu but doesn't say "Tutor" either, so I assume that is just how it worked). Game loads fine too. But I think there is an error in MAME, because even though you can properly map all the buttons on the console itself, and you can properly map the directional movements with the joystick, it is missing the mapping spots for the two joystick buttons. Obviously this has nothing to do with your script, but the games aren't playable without joystick buttons being available of course, so I guess I'll stick with emulating the Tutor for now. Shame though - it is fun being able to add the really unheard-of "consolized" versions.

Second, more practical question, do you want me to share my gamelists/art for these systems? The Tomy is kind of scrapable but the descriptions I found don't say anything but the year/developer etc. I have found better art and looked up specialty websites about the Socrates and Tutor to come up with better descriptions, so maybe they would be helpful.

Folly

@bbilford83

Nice tinkering.
Yea sure, share your gamelists.

bbilford83

@Folly OK, gamelists and matching art for Socrates and Tutor are up now. Take a look if you would like, Socrates is very small, Tutor is longer. For Tutor I have nice 3d box images for all the US games, but just 2D box covers for the Japanese ones (couldn't find 3D).

I started on VideoBrain tonight but have encountered a strange issue. When you go to map controls on the in-mame menu, by default it sets up the controllers as having an analog joystick, mapping them the way you would typically expect: analog x is Joy 1 LSX, analog y is Joy 1 LSY, and then analog inc./dec. lets you use the d-pad in the four directions. But when I actually tried to play my first game, the analog is totally wrong - it seems to register its entire range of motion only near the bottom, from like 4 to 8 o'clock (if you get what I mean). And I tried a bunch of stuff in the analog settings but nothing fixed it. Then I tried deleting the analog options entirely - i.e. I set "analog x" and "analog y" to undefined, hoping I could just use the dpad, but even with those still in the "analog increase/decrease" mapping nothing at all registers. I am inclined to just give up on the system because it is looking like many/most games will need the keyboard anyway, but if you have encountered anything similar/have ideas on how to fix this, please let me know.

Edit: I went back and tried again with mame standalone, same problem with the analog stick. I didn't think it would be different but realized I had only tried on libretro.

Folly

@bbilford83 @DTEAM

I added information to post 1807 and 1808.

Sadly I can't reproduce the error :

/opt/retropie/supplementary/runcommand/runcommand.sh: line 1319:  3449 Bus error

Will have a look later.

I added an issue regarding the gamelist downloads, see 1808.

Folly

@bbilford83 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess, lr-mame and mame standalone:

Edit: I went back and tried again with mame standalone, same problem with the analog stick. I didn't think it would be different but realized I had only tried on libretro.

Looks indeed like it's a mame issue.