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

shift

@Folly it works perfectly

Another question:
I was testing the SF-7000 system, an add-on for Sega's SC-3000. I saw that in the media list:

SYSTEM           MEDIA NAME       (brief)    IMAGE FILE EXTENSIONS SUPPORTED
---------------- --------------------------- -------------------------------
sf7000           cassette         (cass)     .wav  .flac .bit  .tzx
sf7000           floppydisk       (flop)     .mfi  .dfi  .hfe  .mfm  .td0  .imd  .d77  .d88  .1dd  .cqm  .cqi  .dsk  .sf7
sf7000           printout         (prin)     .prn

there is only one floppy available

Since you need the floppy with the basic to load almost 90% of the games, would it be possible to add a second floppy to the script?

Ah! One more thing, in the SF3000 I'm using this line:

But I don't remember having told you that to make the games on cassette work you first had to load the basic from the cartridge, this is the line I'm using:

lr-mess-sc3000-basic-cass = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch --config /opt/retropie/configs/sc3000/retroarch.cfg --appendconfig /opt/retropie/configs/sc3000/retroarch.cfg.add -S /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/sc3000 -s /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/sc3000 -v -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mamemess_libretro.so 'sc3000  -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame;/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/sc3000/ -cfg_directory /opt/retropie/configs/sc3000/lr-mess -c -ui_active -cart basic3 -cass %ROM%'"

Folly

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

@Folly it works perfectly

Another question:
I was testing the SF-7000 system, an add-on for Sega's SC-3000. I saw that in the media list:
SYSTEM           MEDIA NAME       (brief)    IMAGE FILE EXTENSIONS SUPPORTED
---------------- --------------------------- -------------------------------
sf7000           cassette         (cass)     .wav  .flac .bit  .tzx
sf7000           floppydisk       (flop)     .mfi  .dfi  .hfe  .mfm  .td0  .imd  .d77  .d88  .1dd  .cqm  .cqi  .dsk  .sf7
sf7000           printout         (prin)     .prn
there is only one floppy available

Since you need the floppy with the basic to load almost 90% of the games, would it be possible to add a second floppy to the script?

This isn't possible, mame doesn't support a second floppy for this driver.

Ah! One more thing, in the SF3000 I'm using this line:

But I don't remember having told you that to make the games on cassette work you first had to load the basic from the cartridge, this is the line I'm using:

lr-mess-sc3000-basic-cass = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch --config /opt/retropie/configs/sc3000/retroarch.cfg --appendconfig /opt/retropie/configs/sc3000/retroarch.cfg.add -S /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/sc3000 -s /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/sc3000 -v -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mamemess_libretro.so 'sc3000  -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame;/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/sc3000/ -cfg_directory /opt/retropie/configs/sc3000/lr-mess -c -ui_active -cart basic3 -cass %ROM%'"

It's possible to add an extra install for sc3000 in the EXTRAS section.
I think for the orion128 that is also the best solution as my experiment in the default section was not a good solution.
Will have a look at these in the coming week.

shift

@Folly something very strange happened to me with the psionlz emulator.

The first time I launched a game with lr-mess (basename) everything went well, it booted where I chose the language and I arrived in the GUI, everything was fine in short. I go out.
I do the same procedure again and it gives me this message TRAP 5557 5555 and the screen goes blank, I can't do anything anymore.

I try again by changing launch mode, I use lr-run-mess, same thing, the first time it works, but from the second onwards the same message on the display TRAP 5557 5555.

I also try again with the mame, same thing, the first time it works, but from the second onwards the same message TRAP 5557 5555.

Tried with lr-mess (dpak1), different error message TRAP 012C CDE6

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the psionlz system, but nothing, it immediately gives me those errors, what could it be? Any configuration that remains active?

shift

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

It's possible to add an extra install for sc3000 in the EXTRAS section.

OK perfect!

Folly

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

@Folly something very strange happened to me with the psionlz emulator.

The first time I launched a game with lr-mess (basename) everything went well, it booted where I chose the language and I arrived in the GUI, everything was fine in short. I go out.
I do the same procedure again and it gives me this message TRAP 5557 5555 and the screen goes blank, I can't do anything anymore.

I try again by changing launch mode, I use lr-run-mess, same thing, the first time it works, but from the second onwards the same message on the display TRAP 5557 5555.

I also try again with the mame, same thing, the first time it works, but from the second onwards the same message TRAP 5557 5555.

Tried with lr-mess (dpak1), different error message TRAP 012C CDE6

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the psionlz system, but nothing, it immediately gives me those errors, what could it be? Any configuration that remains active?

Seems there are issues with the driver.
Found that all psion2 software is marked as not supported in the hash table.
However I could load assem.zip.
Though indeed as you said there will be a TRAP message the second time you try.
You can circumvent this by deleting the nvram files.
For lr-mess they are saved in the same folder as the software is, like :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psionlz/mame/nvram/psionlz
For mame standalone it will be in :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/nvram/psionlz
Sadly no other options right now.

shift

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

Seems there are issues with the driver.
Found that all psion2 software is marked as not supported in the hash table.
However I could load assem.zip.
Though indeed as you said there will be a TRAP message the second time you try.
You can circumvent this by deleting the nvram files.
For lr-mess they are saved in the same folder as the software is, like :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psionlz/mame/nvram/psionlz
For mame standalone it will be in :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/nvram/psionlz
Sadly no other options right now.

As for the standalone MAME, actually the nvram was where you said, in fact deleting it worked, however I noticed that the path to the nvram for lr-mess was created here: /home/pi/psionlz -rompath /home/pi/ RetroPie/BIOS/mame/psionlz
not only psionlz but with that strange path I also found spc1000, svi328 and phc25
It seems a bit strange to me, are you saying it's the driver?

Folly

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

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

Seems there are issues with the driver.
Found that all psion2 software is marked as not supported in the hash table.
However I could load assem.zip.
Though indeed as you said there will be a TRAP message the second time you try.
You can circumvent this by deleting the nvram files.
For lr-mess they are saved in the same folder as the software is, like :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/psionlz/mame/nvram/psionlz
For mame standalone it will be in :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/nvram/psionlz
Sadly no other options right now.

As for the standalone MAME, actually the nvram was where you said, in fact deleting it worked, however I noticed that the path to the nvram for lr-mess was created here: /home/pi/psionlz -rompath /home/pi/ RetroPie/BIOS/mame/psionlz

Is the path :
/home/pi/psionlz -rompath /home/pi/ RetroPie/BIOS/mame/psionlz ?

not only psionlz but with that strange path I also found spc1000, svi328 and phc25

Had a look in the help of RetroArch, might be that these options don't work for newer versions anymore :

-s, --save=PATH                Path for save files (*.srm). (DEPRECATED, use --appendconfig and savefile_directory)
-S, --savestate=PATH           Path for the save state files (*.state). (DEPRECATED, use --appendconfig and savestate_directory)

Then we have to bisect the runcommand.
Although not really not sure, will have to think about that.
Could also be a corrupted retroarch.cfg somewhere.

It seems a bit strange to me, are you saying it's the driver?

Believe me, mame is a nice package but has a lot of issues and if far from perfect.
What do you think it would be ?

shift

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

Is the path :
/home/pi/psionlz -rompath /home/pi/ RetroPie/BIOS/mame/psionlz ?

yes, exactly that.

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

Had a look in the help of RetroArch, might be that these options don't work for newer versions anymore :

-s, --save=PATH Path for save files (.srm). (DEPRECATED, use --appendconfig and savefile_directory)
-S, --savestate=PATH Path for the save state files (.state). (DEPRECATED, use --appendconfig and savestate_directory)

If the use of -s and -S are deprecated it could be that some drivers behave strangely, also because, it doesn't do it with everyone, of all the systems I installed only 4 or 5 had this strange problem.

shift

@Folly I'm trying the Sord M5 system, however some cassettes require that the basic I from the cartridge be loaded first, I modified a line generated by the script to be able to make those cassettes work, the command line is this:

lr-mess-m5-basic-cass = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch --config /opt/retropie/configs/m5/retroarch.cfg --appendconfig /opt/retropie/configs/m5/retroarch.cfg.add -S /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/m5 -s /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/m5 -v -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mamemess_libretro.so 'm5  -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame;/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/m5/ -cfg_directory /opt/retropie/configs/m5/lr-mess -c -ui_active -cart1 basici -cass %ROM%'"

Folly

@shift

I could use some help with the script.
Seems you might be the one that could help.
Do you have a github account and do you want to help with the script ?

Have a look at these lines in the script :
https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/blob/main/00-scriptmodules-00/supplementary/mamedev.sh#L739-L816

These are CSV lines to do the EXTRAS installs.
You can add a custom line for the driver you want.
For example for :

orion128
sc3000
m5

If it works then you can do a PullRequest to add the lines to the script.

Folly

@shift

It has taken me a while to proceed with adding stuff.
For now I added the extra install lines for orion128.
For compatibility I used the hash table names as sub-directories.
The commit is here :
https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/928d1ca6e54d5723aa6129df6b9087904d2700fd

Will try to do the others when I feel to it.

Folly

@shift

I have added sc-3000 :
https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/0066451621e0e236e3b28f010d55e2826af3c45a

Folly

@shift

Added m5 with cassette support loading basici :
https://github.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/commit/0bc737c3c2c8389ea8f29370f1f1263038284404

duglor

PC-98

@Folly
Which emulator would i use right now for pc 98 games, not counting the default lr-np2kai emulator? Any lr-mess-pc98 or lr-mame-pc98 or just lr-mame or just mame? Any?

Folly

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

PC-98

@Folly
Which emulator would i use right now for pc 98 games, not counting the default lr-np2kai emulator? Any lr-mess-pc98 or lr-mame-pc98 or just lr-mame or just mame? Any?

I am not sure how good pc98 (pc9801) will run with mame or lr-mess but you can give it a try.
lr-mame is arcade only so lr-mame will not work.
There seem to be more types you can try and there are also pc9821 types.

I am not very active right now with RetroPie and my script these days and I want to spend less time on it.
For now I will update necessary things only.

duglor

@Folly Ok . Thank You.

Folly

Wasn't planning to update the script.
However I discovered some issues due to updates and changes elsewhere.

For instance downloading the cheats was broken due to changes in source website.
The python-modules needed to be updated in order to get retroscraper working again, correctly.
I also detected changes that the regular way to get roms didn't work anymore.
Best way seems to get full sets using the "magnet links" manually.
Therefor I added the option now to create hardlinks from files that are in ~/RetroPie/BIOS/mame.
The idea is to get a whole mame-merged set and place it inside ~/RetroPie/BIOS/mame.
Then you know all bios files are there and so there is no need to link them to another folder.
The categorized roms can be hardlinked from the script now, with or without linking clones.
Hardlinking has it's advantages over softlinking.

What is a Hard Link?
A Hard link acts as a copy (mirrored) of the selected file. It accesses the data available in the original file. If the earlier selected file is deleted, the hard link to the file will still contain the data of that file.

Advantages of Hard Link :

It makes efficient use of disc space by avoiding the unnecessary creation of record blocks.
There is no risk of link breaking as a result of the removal of the actual file(as long as one hard hyperlink survives, the data will persist).
The speed of Hard Links is fast.

Not sure yet when or if I update to a new mame version.
Updating the database takes a lot of time and there don't seem to be very interesting updates in mame so the plan is to skip updating the database until it gets interesting enough.

That is it for now, enjoy !

Edit 1 :
Sadly, Retroscraper still seems to have some issues.
Something for later.
(added an issue : https://github.com/zayamatias/retroscraper-remote/issues/1)

Edit 2:
Good to know :
The hardlinks are only created when the file exists in BIOS/mame.
So you can use your own collection without having invalid hardlinks.

bbilford83

@Folly, I know it's been forever, but randomly today I discovered the existence of a system I had never heard of before, the Elektor TV Games Computer. It seems this is emulated (though "imperfectly") on mame, and I was able to install it with the script. To my surprise, at least from here it seems there were many, many games, but I don't see a software list mame set by that name. Just wondering if you have heard of it or ever gave it a try?

Hope all else is well!

Folly

Hi @bbilford83,

Interesting :-)
I will have a look too, if I can.

Folly

@bbilford83

Doing this command revealed that it can use the vc4000 software list :

/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -listsoftware elektor

(I used the terminal from within Desktop mode and made sure that I could scroll back at least 4000 lines in the terminal)

This wiki shows more info.

Saw that these games will indeed run however the elektor seems to differ from the vc4000 as keybindings concerned.

There don't seem to be software lists for cassettes and quik load.

For quik load I found .tvc files on the internet.
They seem to work but whenever I try to start the game I get some sort of input line or lines.
So you seem to have to find out what key you have to use in order to run the game properly.
Sadly, I did not find yet.

Could not find any cassette files on the internet either.

There are some docs on the internet archive that possibly can explain how you have to use this TVGC.