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

dmmarti

@hhtien1408 .. the work that @Folly and @DTEAM have been doing is a further continuation of the original script/idea from @valerino (see his other post for it and the run_mess.sh script information).

The way we are making it work with Retroarch and the lr-mess core on a RetroPie build is by sending an additional MESS *.cmd launcher file to the core (much like you used to do with standalone MESS in the past).

This way we do not use software list conformity (don't have to use MESS's special rom filename, etc)...and we can pass additional parameters (like different -cart assignments, BIOS assignments, and RAM configurations).

This makes is pretty easy to get any MESS based system up and running with Retroarch/MESS core in Retropie. Although, like this NES Datach system, sometimes we have to play around a bit with the passed parameters in order to get it to work. TI-99 I think was another one that had some special tweaks to it (can't remember exactly what).

So, in this way, passing "-cart1 datach" and then "-cart2 %ROM%" ... let's us use the MESS *.cmd launcher script to get it working.

I'm sure there's other ways, but in my testing this morning, that's how I got it working. These Datach roms are special somehow. I downloaded the official stand alone MAME today and verified it does not have a system called "nes_datach" but was also able to launch these roms using the "cart1 datach -cart2 romfile" method.

Hope that makes sense,

David

hhtien1408

@dmmarti
It just bring me to NES system, I should choose Datach and insert cart 2 manually. If I paste the command line (nes datach -cart2) into official mame, it should work.
Maybe enabling the softlist of lr-mame/mess does not allow my code line to pass to assign cart 1 (datach) and cart 2 (game like dtc_dbz). Your method does not use softlists, so no hash folder located at /BIOS/mame is not needed? Right?
Could you explain step by step to use your method if I am using lr-mame (opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame/mame-libretro.so)? Thanks.
P.S. Success with mame standalone as I told in my guide above but no RA.

DTEAM

@folly @hhtien1408

All supracan games work wells also with (emulators.cfg):

mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c supracan %BASENAME%"
mame-basename-autoframeskip = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c -autoframeskip supracan %BASENAME%"
lr-mess-cmd = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch --config /opt/retropie/configs/supracan/retroarch.cfg -v -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so %ROM%"
mame-system-supracan-cart = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c supracan -cart %ROM%"
mame-system-supracan-cart-autoframeskip = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c -autoframeskip supracan -cart %ROM%"

for Basename you need to add this rom path in opt/retropie/configs/mame/ mame.ini (for people who want to use the hashfiles (gamelist))

/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/supracan

I deleted my supracan folder and regenerated it with the script. Everything is fine now. I don't know why only the first game loaded before reinstalling everything.

The non-working options are :

lr-mess-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch --config /opt/retropie/configs/supracan/retroarch.cfg -v -L /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so %BASENAME%"
lr-mess-system-supracan-cart = "/home/pi/RetroPie-Setup/scriptmodules/run_mess.sh /opt/retropie/emulators/retroarch/bin/retroarch /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so /opt/retropie/configs/supracan/retroarch.cfg \supracan /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame -autoframeskip -cart %ROM%"
mame-cmd = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/supracan -v -c %BASENAME%"
mame-cmd-autoframeskip = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/supracan -v -c -autoframeskip %BASENAME%"

sometime, with those last options, the emulator load but not the game

Folly

@dteam

Confusing, but yes indeed, with the normal -cart lines they do load properly.
I have had that working too, earlier on.
But some games don't work as they should and sound is missing too.
Do you have that same problem ?
I was thinking the lr-mame_libretro.so way booted them better.
Btw. I also tried with the mame-basename without succes, and yes I added /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/supracan in mame.ini .
It seems it is not loading the rompath from the mame.ini.
Forcing it in the commandline is working now using this :

/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -hash /opt/retropie/emulators/mame/hash -rompath /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/supracan -v -c supracan sangofgt

I will test this part again on where it is going wrong.

I did have a go again with with the lr-mame_libretro.so.
No luck with the lr-mame_libretro.so nightly on pi4, it seems a 64bit one, and I run 32bit OS.
So tried on my x86_64 ubuntu 20.04.
Well boomzoo loaded, but others, no.

DTEAM

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

No luck with the lmame_libretro.so nightly on pi4, it seems a 64bit one, and I run 32bit OS.
So tried on my x86_64 ubuntu 20.04.
Well boomzoo loaded, but others, no.

Like you, It doesn't work on my side for all games. I played with UI parameters and everything stopped working ! The 5 options above are the best ones for me.

For

mame-basename = "/opt/retropie/emulators/mame/mame -v -c supracan %BASENAME%"

It works well for me. It's strange if it doesn't work on your side
Seems to be a picky emulator.

I'll retry hhtien1408 solution

Folly

@dteam

Seems the mame basename line doesn't work on both x86_64 and the pi4.
But it works if I force the rompath.

Where is your mame.ini located ?
Mine is in :
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/mame.ini

DTEAM

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

Seems the mame basename line doesn't work on both x86_64 and the pi4.

It works on my Pi4

Where is your mame.ini located ?

in
opt/retropie/configs/mame

new edit:
I added the location in my comment above

Folly

@dteam

Perfect !
That works !

Just tried the lr-mame_libretro.so nightly on my x86_64 renaming it as /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so
It just runs trough the runmess.sh script just like mess_libretro.so does.
The file-size is a bit different but other than that it's looks the same package but just the name is different.

DTEAM

@folly

Just tried the lr-mame_libretro.so nightly on my x86_64 renaming it as /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so
It just runs trough the runmess.sh script just like mess_libretro.so does.
The file-size is a bit different but other than that it's looks the same package but just the name is different.

Good to know

hhtien1408

@dteam Ok. Because I use softlists and cart type so I do not need -cart. All roads lead to Roma in the end. Different methods, same result. All supracan games should work as they are.

hhtien1408

@folly Sound weird. Do you download the suggested lr-mame nightly I gave you download link? Do you use the same method with me via softlist and cart type chosen? I do not use automatic script just do manually. It should work under Ubuntu. Maybe you miss some points on the road.

hhtien1408

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

@folly

Just tried the lr-mame_libretro.so nightly on my x86_64 renaming it as /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mess/mess_libretro.so
It just runs trough the runmess.sh script just like mess_libretro.so does.
The file-size is a bit different but other than that it's looks the same package but just the name is different.

Good to know

Thanks for letting me know. I will try run_mess.sh when I have free time later.

hhtien1408

@Folly @DTEAM @dmmarti
Here are some pictures for my Retropie.
![Pictures](https://ibb.co/k3rgyzQ
https://ibb.co/xSLPgTG
https://ibb.co/9vjVTPn
https://ibb.co/ZGL714N
https://ibb.co/bgcVyK6
https://ibb.co/bWczbyM
https://ibb.co/2WW0yMf
https://ibb.co/XZjcjbk
https://ibb.co/tY7kSpJ
https://ibb.co/phXKtQH)

Folly

@hhtien1408 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess and mame standalone:

@folly Sound weird. Do you download the suggested lr-mame nightly I gave you download link? Do you use the same method with me via softlist and cart type chosen? I do not use automatic script just do manually. It should work under Ubuntu. Maybe you miss some points on the road.

I tried as you suggested, but it seems i am missing something here.
Not sure what though.

Don't have that much time to try every time, I will try again later.

Btw. how good are you games running ?

hhtien1408

@folly perfect as it used to be in official MAME. Tested! See some pictures above for fun!

Folly

@hhtien1408

Pictures are looking good :-)

Can you check your sha1sums with mine ?

pi@raspberrypi:~/RetroPie/roms/supracan $ sha1sum *
d642db0ff9bb4986d62b4676da31e536e9595058  boomzoo.zip
7cc99d26a1a3062fe8869d6d99eb1bd914fb54b0  gamblord.zip
56e71e6f6f8a7ab0eb1af44dbe0eaf9aad8e75a2  jttlaugh.zip
3c3f5ba50a3e3062eb7536168341b8866de858ab  magipool.zip
5588e33b23d61781428a9bb953b1d07a3b274501  monopoly.zip
ca92963db119fe94455532c2fcb9c76f98ef0eb5  sangofgt.zip
113fc81d6f46a822d73c759dba3dda58397797d8  slghtsag.zip
42e48389323247d9e3806c2fdcbe2aaa1a34a946  sonevil.zip
d6712a946b80cb22c4c49b78bb2a29f4408f8ec6  speedyd.zip
0b5ca6c00d9040918afdb60a5af446718426f9d3  staiwbbl.zip

hhtien1408

@folly If you download from MAME Softlist 0.202 archive, they should be the same. I will check SHA later and tell you results soon.

DTEAM

hhtien1408 about 4 hours ago
@folly If you download from MAME Softlist 0.202 archive, they should be the same. I will check SHA later and tell you results soon.

@hhtien1408
You don't need to download the softlist. It's already in / opt / retropie / emulators / mame / hash with the latest standalone version of MAME if you updated it.

The problem is that MAME points there but not Lr-Mess and maybe also lr-MAME. You need to force them to go there or "cut and paste" the hash files into the appropriate folders for lr-Mess and / or lr-mame (only if you want to use softlists - not an obligation - advantage = cheat codes and MAME artworks).

Do you have sound with your Supracan games.
I have no sound on my side

hhtien1408

@dteam Could you share me your compiled mame standalone you are using to test?
I would like to use script run_mess.sh without using softlist just for my trial.
No sound with all games of supracan system due to emulator even with the lastest official MAME 0.232.
Thanks!

DTEAM

@hhtien1408 said in Development of module-script generator for lr-mess and mame standalone:

@dteam thanks a lot. Could you share me your compiled mame standalone you are using to test? Thanks!

Now, I'm using MAME 0.229 on my Pi4 (usually, I update it from source). If I do the update, it will be ~~0.332~~ 0.232 probably.