B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?

stevejp1978

Ok, it’s been a while since I’ve tinkered with retropie, need a little help with colecovison SGM games.
So the ‘iconic arcade’ from GameStop comes with a pi4 and coolcv is not compatible with this board. Bluemsx is fine for regular roms, but I couldn’t get SGM Roms to work.
Tried mess, tried mame, no go.
I’ve hear that FBneo is the way to go, but you need to have a rom set.
This is where I need help in understanding what I need to do to build a romset. I’m hoping it’s simple, can anyone point me in the right direction?

Folly

@stevejp1978

Try to find the regular FBneo romset.
I think they should be in there.
If not then this is probably what you are looking for :
Post 72 : Colecovision Start-Up Error: Turn Game Off Before Inserting Cartridge or Expansion Module.

stevejp1978

@Folly I think you may be my own personal Jesus!
So, SGM rims in a folder (zipped? Or .col?) with the bios mentioned and the crc32 installed, start a cmd prompt, select the directory and copy and paste your script?
Then after that? The roms will run with fbneo?

Folly

@stevejp1978

Yep !

Install crc32 with apt if not installed.
Looked it up and it should be installed with :

sudo apt install libarchive-zip-perl

Check the dat file mentioned in the script.
Here you can find which game roms are supported and what the crc32 is.
Place them in a your specific rom folder, cd to that folder and run the script.
Then it checks if the roms in the folder are compatible and creates the FBneo .zip files which contain the coleco.rom,colecoa.rom,czz50.rom,svi603.rom files and the specific coleco rom file that is compatible.

Remember to add coleco.rom,colecoa.rom,czz50.rom,svi603.rom in that folder too.

Hopefully it still works.
Let me know.

Good luck !

Folly

@stevejp1978 said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

(zipped? Or .col?)

.rom

TPR

@stevejp1978 said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

@Folly I think you may be my own personal Jesus!
So, SGM rims in a folder (zipped? Or .col?) with the bios mentioned and the crc32 installed, start a cmd prompt, select the directory and copy and paste your script?
Then after that? The roms will run with fbneo?

All my FBNeo ColecoVision SGM roms are zipped. For example:
kingvalley.zip

And it works just fine with FBNeo.

stevejp1978

Ok! I think I missed the fact I need to do this on the pi4 and not windows! Haha
Will try when I get home!
Thanks guys!!

Folly

@stevejp1978

I just tried the script and it doesn't work anymore.

I think this work now, but I have to test it :
(make a file make-FBneo-roms.sh containing next text and make it executable and run it with ./make-FBneo-roms.sh or run it with "bash make-FBneo-roms.sh")

#!/bin/bash

#make the directory fbneo_zips inside the rom directory
mkdir fbneo_zips
#list only the roms you want to convert and use every file to automate things
ls -w1 *.rom|grep -v coleco.rom|grep -v colecoa.rom|grep -v cczz50.rom|grep -v svi.rom|while read line
do 
#get the crc of the rom
crc=$(crc32 "$line")
#read the fbneo name from the dat using the crc if there is a match, with no match the string becomes empty
fbneo_name=$(cat '/opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fbneo/dats/FinalBurn Neo (ClrMame Pro XML, ColecoVision only).dat'|grep -B 4 $crc|grep "rom name"| cut -d '"' -f 2)
#check if it isn't empty and output all the data and create the zip file
if [[ -n "$fbneo_name" ]];then
echo $crc $line $fbneo_name
zip "fbneo_zips/$fbneo_name.zip" "$line" coleco.rom colecoa.rom czz50.rom svi603.rom
fi
#until every file is done
done

It is easier to just find the romset, just search for fbneo_roms_complete and you should find them.

Found that you don't have to have coleco.rom,colecoa.rom,czz50.rom,svi603.rom inside the zip file.
Seems that if you have the coleco.zip with above rom files it should work too.

edit :
For example mega8.zip will work if it contains :
Mecha 8 SGM (2013)(Team Pixelboy).rom
And you have to have coleco.zip with :
coleco.rom,colecoa.rom,czz50.rom,svi603.rom

Folly

@stevejp1978

Just tested the script and much more with FBneo has changed so the script will not work !!!
Just search for "fbneo_roms_complete" or create your .zip rom file manually.
See edit last post.

Have to go now.
Good luck.

stevejp1978

@Folly got two czz50 roms czz50-1 and czz50-2, both as is?

stevejp1978

so far so good, tried a few roms manually, 421, AE, Aerial, and Alpharoid.... Alpharoid is the only one that didn't load...
now i have both czz50 roms (1&2) in my coleco.zip... wondering if i need a merged copy?

stevejp1978

and to add... it loaded with bluemsx and fbneo

Folly

@stevejp1978

Here is my fixed script.
I tested it and it seems to be working correctly.
Also making it possible to make split roms.

#!/bin/bash

#install crc32 if not installed
if [[ ! -f /usr/bin/crc32 ]];then
	echo "crc32 is missing installing libarchive-zip-perl"
	sudo apt install libarchive-zip-perl
fi

echo "Do you want to make merged roms (y) / split roms (n) ? (y/n)"
read choice
#make the directory fbneo_zips inside the rom directory
mkdir fbneo_zips 2>&-
#list only the roms you want to convert and use every file to automate things
ls -w1 *.rom|grep -v coleco.rom|grep -v colecoa.rom|grep -v cczz50.rom|grep -v svi.rom|while read romfile
do 
	#get the crc32 of the rom
	crc32=$(crc32 "$romfile")
	#read the fbneo name from the dat using the crc32 if there is a match, with no match the string becomes empty
	#it will list 5 lines back from finding the correct crc32 so the fbneo name can be extracted
	#the fbneo name is used for the name of the created zip file
	fbneo_name=$(cat '/opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fbneo/dats/FinalBurn Neo (ClrMame Pro XML, ColecoVision only).dat'|grep -B 5 $crc32|grep "game name"| cut -d '"' -f 2)
	#check if it isn't empty and output all the data and create the zip file
	echo
	if [[ -n "$fbneo_name" ]];then
		echo create fbneo_zips/$fbneo_name.zip with $romfile which has the crc32 $crc32
		#remove zip file if existing and create a new one
		rm "fbneo_zips/$fbneo_name.zip" 2>&-
		if [[ $choice == y ]];then
			#make merged fbneo roms (coleco roms are inside the zip file)
			zip "fbneo_zips/$fbneo_name.zip" "$romfile" coleco.rom colecoa.rom czz50.rom svi603.rom
		else
			#make split fbneo roms (coleco roms are NOT inside the zip file)
			zip "fbneo_zips/$fbneo_name.zip" "$romfile"
		fi
	else
		if [[ $romfile != coleco.rom && $romfile != colecoa.rom && $romfile != czz50.rom && $romfile != svi603.rom ]];then
			echo "$romfile has not been found, no zip file created"
		fi
	fi
#until every file is done
done

Folly

@stevejp1978 said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

Alpharoid is the only one that didn't load...

Summarize :

Here is the alpharoid part of the dat file :

<game name="alpharoid" romof="coleco" sourcefile="coleco/d_coleco.cpp">
		<comment>Homebrew, SGM - Super Game Module</comment>
		<description>Alpharoid (SGM) (HB)</description>
		<year>1986-2018</year>
		<manufacturer>Opcode Games - Pony Canyon</manufacturer>
		<rom name="Alpharoid SGM (2018)(Opcode Games).col" size="131072" crc="6068db13"/>
		<rom name="coleco.rom" merge="coleco.rom" size="8192" crc="3aa93ef3"/>
		<rom name="colecoa.rom" merge="colecoa.rom" size="8192" crc="39bb16fc"/>
		<rom name="svi603.rom" merge="svi603.rom" size="8192" crc="19e91b82"/>
		<rom name="czz50.rom" merge="czz50.rom" size="16384" crc="4999abc6"/>
		<video type="raster" orientation="horizontal" width="272" height="228" aspectx="4" aspecty="3"/>
		<driver status="good"/>
	</game>

When manually creating a zip/7z file use the game name for the archive.
Only add Alpharoid SGM (2018)(Opcode Games).col to the alpharoid.zip file if you want to create a split rom.
(in order to load correctly you need to have coleco.zip with the .rom files)
Or add the other .rom files if you want to create a merged rom zip/7z file then you don't need the coleco.zip file.
Check the crc32 before adding otherwise the rom will not work.

stevejp1978

feeling a little overwhelmed lol.
I understand what I have to do, but i'm very inexperienced and get lost easily.
so,firstly, I ran "sudo apt install libarchive-zip-perl" that was ok
now to make an executable 'make-FBneo-roms.sh' file and where to put it....lost haha... need to figure that out.

Also, I tried to go the easy route and searched and downloaded complete fb neo romset from internet archive but I don't see any SGM listed there... am I missing something?

Folly

@stevejp1978 said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

feeling a little overwhelmed lol.
I understand what I have to do, but i'm very inexperienced and get lost easily.

I can understand but bash is really awesome if you understand.
It's not that difficult just see it as the old msdos and creating a .bat file.
You can find much info on the internet.
Start with simple commands like ls to list the files or cd to change directory.

so,firstly, I ran "sudo apt install libarchive-zip-perl" that was ok

Super.

now to make an executable 'make-FBneo-roms.sh' file and where to put it....lost haha... need to figure that out.

Go to your coleco rom folder with :

cd
cd RetroPie/roms/coleco

I placed the script on my github just download it in your folder with :

wget --backups=1 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FollyMaddy/RetroPie-Share/refs/heads/main/00-scripts-00/make-fbneo.sh

Then you can just run it with :

bash make-fbneo.sh

Also, I tried to go the easy route and searched and downloaded complete fb neo romset from internet archive but I don't see any SGM listed there... am I missing something?

The sgm's are just inside the romset but not all have sgm in the name just like alpharoid that is also an sgm.

stevejp1978

@Folly said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

Check the dat file mentioned in the script.
Here you can find which game roms are supported and what the crc32 is.
Place them in a your specific rom folder, cd to that folder and run the script.

How do i check the dat file?
most of my sgm games are .col and not .rom.
not sure how to cherry pick from the complete romset of FBneo.
I've tried your script twice, failed both times... we're getting closer tho!
I think i need clarification on exactly what to add to the coleco rom folder and how to name it.
I will be buying you a beer after this!

Folly

@stevejp1978 said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

@Folly said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

Check the dat file mentioned in the script.
Here you can find which game roms are supported and what the crc32 is.
Place them in a your specific rom folder, cd to that folder and run the script.

How do i check the dat file?

If you have installed FBneo then it is here :
/opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-fbneo/dats/FinalBurn Neo (ClrMame Pro XML, ColecoVision only).dat
Or you can view it online over here :
https://github.com/libretro/FBNeo/blob/master/dats/FinalBurn Neo (ClrMame Pro XML%2C ColecoVision only).dat

most of my sgm games are .col and not .rom.

The dat file also contains .col files.
Might be the ones you have.

not sure how to cherry pick from the complete romset of FBneo.
I've tried your script twice, failed both times... we're getting closer tho!

Can you explain what failed ?
Do you have .zip files in the roms/coleco/fbneo_zips ?

I think i need clarification on exactly what to add to the coleco rom folder and how to name it.

Just your .col and .rom files.

I will be buying you a beer after this!

That would be nice ;-)

stevejp1978

@Folly said in B how to build coleco romset for fbneo ?:

Can you explain what failed ?
Do you have .zip files in the roms/coleco/fbneo_zips ?

I did not have the fbneo complete rom set in that directory... no
moving that now.
I have the 'coleco.rom,colecoa.rom,czz50.rom,svi603.rom' inside the coleco rom directory.

stevejp1978

I need to dumb this down and wrap my head around what's happening here lol, lets say i only wanted to use your script for black onyz.

I have a .col file i downloaded called 'black_onyx_colecovision'

in the .dat file i'm viewing on github I'm looking at the following:

-description is 'Black Onyx, The (HB)'

-'game' is 'blackonyx'

rom name is 'Black Onyx, the (2013)(Team Pixelboy).rom'

Now with that said there is no reference to 'blackonyx' in the 'fbneo complete romset'.
How to proceed using your script?
and how to proceed manually?
(crc32 looks to be already installed after entering sudo command)