lr-np2kai: HDI Files, "How Many Files(0-15)?" and "Set System Disk" Solutions

[AlfredoAVA 0]

Hey everyone, newbie here!
I recently discovered the PC-98 games library and have been trying for 2 days to get lr-np2kai to run on my Pi 4. I ran into a few snags along the way and just thought I'd share my findings with anyone else who may be having trouble running PC-98 roms on their RetroPie.

lr-np2kai boots up, but then gets stuck on a black screen with a single line of Japanese text.
When translated the text says "Set System Disk" but from my experience, this means that your BIOS files are no good. When this happened to me, I downloaded the BIOS from a different source and made it past this screen. Look for "RetroPieBios-master" and be sure to use the required BIOS mentioned in lr-np2kai's documentation.

lr-np2kai boots, but I get the "How Many Files(0-15)?" message.
This only seemed to happen when I tried running .hdi files. Other files like .d88, .fdi etc. worked just fine on boot. Found out this means the Permissions settings on the .hdi files were rendering them unusable. I fixed this by right-clicking on the .hdi roms I have, then going to Properties, and under Permissions, setting the "Octal" field to 0777 (thereby checking all of the R, W and X boxes)

Only the Keyboard is working, not my Joypad.
While running lr-np2kai, go into the RetroArch menu (by default it's your HotKey + North Face Button on your Joypad) and from the Main Menu, go to Quick Menu > Options > Joypad D-Pad to Mouse/Keyboard... and change it to "Arrows."

Hope this helps :)