Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.

loopyeddie

@dankcushions said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

one way to check if you have the right zip is to unzip it somewhere else, look at the files and their sizes. they should match the relevant entry in the .dat file. for example:

MAME 0.78.dat

	<game name="1942">
		<description>1942 (set 1)</description>
		<year>1984</year>
		<manufacturer>Capcom</manufacturer>
		<rom name="01d_sb-2.bin" size="256" crc="8bb8b3df" sha1="49de2819c4c92057fedcb20425282515d85829aa"/>
		<rom name="01m_sb-9.bin" size="256" crc="4921635c" sha1="aee37d6cdc36acf0f11ff5f93e7b16e4b12f6c39"/>
		<rom name="02d_sb-3.bin" size="256" crc="3b0c99af" sha1="38f30ac1e48632634e409f328ee3051b987de7ad"/>
		<rom name="03k_sb-8.bin" size="256" crc="f6fad943" sha1="b0a24ea7805272e8ebf72a99b08907bc00d5f82f"/>
		<rom name="06d_sb-4.bin" size="256" crc="4858968d" sha1="20b5dbcaa1a4081b3139e7e2332d8fe3c9e55ed6"/>
		<rom name="08e_sb-5.bin" size="256" crc="93ab8153" sha1="a792f24e5c0c3c4a6b436102e7a98199f878ece1"/>
		<rom name="09e_sb-6.bin" size="256" crc="8ab44f7d" sha1="f74680a6a987d74b3acb32e6396f20e127874149"/>
		<rom name="1-c11.bin" size="16384" crc="bd87f06b" sha1="821f85cf157f81117eeaba0c3cf0337eac357e58"/>
		<rom name="1-f2.bin" size="8192" crc="6ebca191" sha1="0dbddadde54a0ab66994c4a8726be05c6ca88a0e"/>
		<rom name="1-n3a.bin" size="16384" crc="40201bab" sha1="4886c07a4602223c21419118e10aadce9c99fa5a"/>
		<rom name="1-n4.bin" size="16384" crc="a60ac644" sha1="f37862db3cf5e6cc9ab3276f3bc45fd629fd70dd"/>
		<rom name="1-n5.bin" size="16384" crc="835f7b24" sha1="24b66827f08c43fbf5b9517d638acdfc38e1b1e7"/>
		<rom name="1-n6.bin" size="8192" crc="821c6481" sha1="06becb6bf8b4bde3a458098498eecad566a87711"/>
		<rom name="1-n7.bin" size="16384" crc="5df525e1" sha1="70cd2910e2945db76bd6ebfa0ff09a5efadc2d0b"/>
		<rom name="10e_sb-7.bin" size="256" crc="f4ade9a4" sha1="62ad31d31d183cce213b03168daa035083b2f28e"/>
		<rom name="2-a1.bin" size="8192" crc="3884d9eb" sha1="5cbd9215fa5ba5a61208b383700adc4428521aed"/>
		<rom name="2-a2.bin" size="8192" crc="999cf6e0" sha1="5b8b685038ec98b781908b92eb7fb9506db68544"/>
		<rom name="2-a3.bin" size="8192" crc="8edb273a" sha1="85fdd4c690ed31e6396e3c16aa02140ee7ea2d61"/>
		<rom name="2-a4.bin" size="8192" crc="3a2726c3" sha1="187c92ef591febdcbd1d42ab850e0cbb62c00873"/>
		<rom name="2-a5.bin" size="8192" crc="1bd3d8bb" sha1="ef4dce605eb4dc8035985a415315ec61c21419c6"/>
		<rom name="2-a6.bin" size="8192" crc="658f02c4" sha1="f087d69e49e38cf3107350cde18fcf85a8fa04f0"/>
		<rom name="2-l1.bin" size="16384" crc="2528bec6" sha1="29f7719f18faad6bd1ec6735cc24e69168361470"/>
		<rom name="2-l2.bin" size="16384" crc="f89287aa" sha1="136fff6d2a4f48a488fc7c620213761459c3ada0"/>
		<rom name="2-n1.bin" size="16384" crc="024418f8" sha1="145b8d5d6c8654cd090955a98f6dd8c8dbafe7c1"/>
		<rom name="2-n2.bin" size="16384" crc="e2c7e489" sha1="d4b5d575c021f58f6966df189df94e08c5b3621c"/>
		<rom name="f01_sb-0.bin" size="256" crc="6047d91b" sha1="1ce025f9524c1033e48c5294ee7d360f8bfebe8d"/>
		<rom name="k06_sb-1.bin" size="256" crc="712ac508" sha1="5349d722ab6733afdda65f6e0a98322f0d515e86"/>
	</game>

it should have all those .bin files in the .zip, if you have a valid set. they also need to match the crc/sha1 check, but that's more complex to check.

another thing you can do is look at /dev/shm/runcommand.log after a failed load. this may show some error messages, depending on the emulator.

Awesome, I'll do this when I get home. Thank you for the help!

@BuZz said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

in the latest retropie there is a verbose launch mode in runcommand which will log more info for retroarch emulators (adds the --verbose flag when launching)

I have seen the verbose launch mode, but I still don't really understand what it means to log more info for retroarch.

loopyeddie

Ok, some progress!

I used ClrMamePro to build a non-merged .78 romset, using the .DAT link on the Managing Mame page here. I chose non-merged because sometimes I prefer a clone over the parent and only plan on loading maybe 50 games or so. But for now, I loaded the entire romset on my pi, and some games that didn't work before now work! 1941 works as does 1942.

There are still some games that don't seem to want to load that show as working in the compatibility list however. Most notable are all the CPS2 games and Neo-Geo games. I'm not too concerned about the Neo-Geo ones as I've already got those running great in Final Burn Alpha. I'd absolutely love to be able to play the CPS2 games though.

All of the CPS2 games that are supposed to work, launch to a black screen, then just kick me back to the menu. R-Type did this for me as well, so it isn't just CPS2.

Lastly, I wouldn't be concerned if these games didn't play, it's just that they are listed as working in the compatibility list, so I know I must just be doing something wrong.

Lyle_JP

@loopyeddie I run all of my CPS1 and CPS2 games in final burn alpha, but I can confirm that R-Type, R-Type II, and R-Type Leo all run (for me) in Mame2003 with no trouble.

For the record, I am running on a Pi3, with a RetroPie 3.8.1 image that has had all components upgraded on a monthly basis.

suprjami

@loopyeddie said

I used ClrMamePro to build a non-merged .78 romset, using the .DAT link on the Managing Mame page here. I chose non-merged because sometimes I prefer a clone over the parent and only plan on loading maybe 50 games or so. But for now, I loaded the entire romset on my pi, and some games that didn't work before now work! 1941 works as does 1942.

I don't believe RetroArch supports non-merged sets. MAME itself supports non-merged sets but the RetroArch MAME cores do not.

So you need split sets with both parent and clone. More correctly, there is effectively no difference between split and non-merged, the emulator core will always look for a clone file in the clone ROM, and will always look for a parent file in the parent ROM.

There is no way to avoid this AFAIK.

suprjami

@loopyeddie said

I have the complete .78 romset but I have only copied certain files to the pi.

Have you also verified the ROMs you want to play with the DAT file?

I always do so. I know I've downloaded plenty of "complete verified working" romsets then you run them thru clrmamepro or romcenter and you find the ROMs have files with the right checksum but wrong name, or missing/extra files, so obviously the set isn't verified and you need to actually check every game you want to play.

I just throw the games I want to use in a separate directory then point romcenter at those and ignore the non-working ROMs. Just make sure the ROMs you want to use are green (or fix them if they are yellow) and then you should be good to copy those to the Pi.

Lyle_JP

@suprjami said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

I don't believe RetroArch supports non-merged sets. MAME itself supports non-merged sets but the RetroArch MAME cores do not.

So you need split sets with both parent and clone. More correctly, there is effectively no difference between split and non-merged, the emulator core will always look for a clone file in the clone ROM, and will always look for a parent file in the parent ROM.

There is no way to avoid this AFAIK.

This has not been my experience. I have dozens of clones in Mame2003 that work flawlessly without parent files present. This WAS a problem with lr-fba-next, but that was also fixed just a couple of weeks ago, and now non-merged clones work perfectly there, too.

loopyeddie

Wow, you guys are super helpful!

I threw some CPS2 roms in FBA, and whamo! They work great.

I now see the benefit of using multiple arcade emulators. I'm going to keep working on this. Rebuilding and verifying sets for any emulator I want to use. So far I think I'm going to stick with lr-mame2003 and FBA. Between those two, I've got damn-near every game I'm interested in playing working great.

Thank you again!

Lyle_JP

@loopyeddie said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

Wow, you guys are super helpful!

I threw some CPS2 roms in FBA, and whamo! They work great.

I now see the benefit of using multiple arcade emulators. I'm going to keep working on this. Rebuilding and verifying sets for any emulator I want to use. So far I think I'm going to stick with lr-mame2003 and FBA. Between those two, I've got damn-near every game I'm interested in playing working great.

Thank you again!

Just remember that for best results, use the 0.173 romset for lr-fba-next. Rom files from 0.78 may work, but you're better off getting the roms it was built for.

dankcushions

@suprjami said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

I don't believe RetroArch supports non-merged sets. MAME itself supports non-merged sets but the RetroArch MAME cores do not.
So you need split sets with both parent and clone. More correctly, there is effectively no difference between split and non-merged, the emulator core will always look for a clone file in the clone ROM, and will always look for a parent file in the parent ROM.
There is no way to avoid this AFAIK.

it sure does support non-merged :) in fact, the recommended set for mame2003 is the 'mame 2003 reference set' which is non-merged, and easily locatable.

@loopyeddie said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

Ok, some progress!

I used ClrMamePro to build a non-merged .78 romset, using the .DAT link on the Managing Mame page here. I chose non-merged because sometimes I prefer a clone over the parent and only plan on loading maybe 50 games or so. But for now, I loaded the entire romset on my pi, and some games that didn't work before now work! 1941 works as does 1942.

There are still some games that don't seem to want to load that show as working in the compatibility list however. Most notable are all the CPS2 games and Neo-Geo games. I'm not too concerned about the Neo-Geo ones as I've already got those running great in Final Burn Alpha. I'd absolutely love to be able to play the CPS2 games though.

All of the CPS2 games that are supposed to work, launch to a black screen, then just kick me back to the menu. R-Type did this for me as well, so it isn't just CPS2.

Lastly, I wouldn't be concerned if these games didn't play, it's just that they are listed as working in the compatibility list, so I know I must just be doing something wrong.

yes, you have, but who knows what :) my only advice is to avoid rebuilding and acquire a non-merged set to begin with. as above, the 'mame 2003 reference set' is the one you want. CPS2 and neogeo games work totally fine with that.

suprjami

@dankcushions said

it sure does support non-merged :) in fact, the recommended set for mame2003 is the 'mame 2003 reference set' which is non-merged, and easily locatable.

Cool, thanks! Today I Learned :)

Are you uploading for the mame2010 reference set? I was going to but haven't bothered getting TorrentZip going on Linux.

loopyeddie

@dankcushions said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

@suprjami said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

I don't believe RetroArch supports non-merged sets. MAME itself supports non-merged sets but the RetroArch MAME cores do not.
So you need split sets with both parent and clone. More correctly, there is effectively no difference between split and non-merged, the emulator core will always look for a clone file in the clone ROM, and will always look for a parent file in the parent ROM.
There is no way to avoid this AFAIK.

it sure does support non-merged :) in fact, the recommended set for mame2003 is the 'mame 2003 reference set' which is non-merged, and easily locatable.

@loopyeddie said in Most games work in M.A.M.E., but some don't. Confused.:

Ok, some progress!

I used ClrMamePro to build a non-merged .78 romset, using the .DAT link on the Managing Mame page here. I chose non-merged because sometimes I prefer a clone over the parent and only plan on loading maybe 50 games or so. But for now, I loaded the entire romset on my pi, and some games that didn't work before now work! 1941 works as does 1942.

There are still some games that don't seem to want to load that show as working in the compatibility list however. Most notable are all the CPS2 games and Neo-Geo games. I'm not too concerned about the Neo-Geo ones as I've already got those running great in Final Burn Alpha. I'd absolutely love to be able to play the CPS2 games though.

All of the CPS2 games that are supposed to work, launch to a black screen, then just kick me back to the menu. R-Type did this for me as well, so it isn't just CPS2.

Lastly, I wouldn't be concerned if these games didn't play, it's just that they are listed as working in the compatibility list, so I know I must just be doing something wrong.

yes, you have, but who knows what :) my only advice is to avoid rebuilding and acquire a non-merged set to begin with. as above, the 'mame 2003 reference set' is the one you want. CPS2 and neogeo games work totally fine with that.

AWESOME! Getting reference set now. Thanks!