Compatibility Problems/Help (New user)

Jiryn

Pi Model or other hardware: Raspberri Pi 3 B
Power Supply used: Vilros Adapter 100-240V
RetroPie Version Used (3.6, 3.8.1, 4.01 etc.. - do not write latest): 4.1
Built From: Image on Site
USB Devices connected: PS4 Controller, USB Keyboard
Controller used: PS4 controller

I literally have almost every system from the NES onward and decided to build a Emulator Pi so that I don't have to dig through all my storage just to pull out a console and game, then hook it up every time I wanted to play retro.

It's been a long time since I've done emulation, so I've kinda fallen out of how to make sure everything works.

I set up the RetroPi with the base download from this site, then loaded it with games.

The problem is, that 90% of the Arcade games are not working.... I tried them on my PC using Mame and they work fine, but Metamorphic Force, Vendetta, Ninja Baseball Batman, and a bunch fo others don't work on the Retropi.. I tried both default Mame emulates included (mame4all and whatever the other is) with RetroPI, the screen goes black as if loading the game, then pops back to the rom list.

The SNES, TG16, and GENESIS games all work perfectly (Though I need some help with Duo games.. I have to edit the CHD file supposedly?)

I could get all my NES Roms working except for Famicon New Ghostbusters 2, it was never released in the US, and I downloaded the translated version.. so I am not sure if that was the cause.

Anyways, any and all help would be appreciated.
I saw there were other emulators available on the site, but have no clue how I am supposed to install or update them!

Thank you!

herb_fargus

@Jiryn

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

you can start by reading the forum rules.

And then you can read the documentation both of which you agreed to when registering on the forum

And then come back if you still have questions.

batesman

Because when you read the documentation you will find out that the MAME roms you "acquired" are not the right romset for the emulator that you are using.

Jiryn

@herb_fargus
Eep sorry about that, got a bit over zealous, and jumped the gun on my post.

Edited it to be within Forum Guidelines, I will post the rest of the info now.

Jiryn

@batesman
That's the problem, I don't understand what you mean by "Romset"
I apologize.

The reason I am confused, the roms talk about how Konami based games uses a different emulator, yet it seems 50/50 if a Konami game works on PI's mame or not, which is where the confusion is coming from.

batesman

@Jiryn

https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/MAME

https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Managing-ROMs

Jiryn

@batesman
Thank you, I had already gone over those before posting..
I think that's part of my confusion since I thought MAME covered all arcade roms save for Neo Geo.
I'm still trying to figure out how I tell which runs on each emulator.

I'll try FinalBurn after this..
Thank you for your help and support!

Jiryn

Also, I just wanted to apologize entirely for my ignorance on this subject..
Thank you for taking the time to reply, all of you.

markwkidd

@Jiryn some new text I'm adding to the documentation. Does this help clarify?

ROM version or ROM set version - Each version of the MAME emulator must be used with ROMs that have the same exact version number. For example, MAME 0.37b5 ROMs are required by the MAME4ALL emulator, but will not work correctly with the lr-mame2010 emulator, which requires MAME 0.139 ROMs.

(By the way, MAME does include Neo Geo.)

Jiryn

@markwkidd
Thank you so much!

I am used to just dropping all the roms into a single folder and having Mame 0.172 run them without a problem.
So I'm going to have to go through and sort them on my system.
How do I know which rom since all I have is <GameName><region>.Zip for all of them.

(It's really annoying me that I am not getting this as quick as I should be)

markwkidd

@Jiryn you will find that there is documentation on Verifying and Rebuilding ROMs in order to yield earlier versions of the ROMs if you read the bottom section of this page https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/Managing-ROMs

You'll also see that the advice is to find another set that has already been converted to what you need

Jiryn

@markwkidd
Thank you sir!

I admit, some of that page I had already skimmed.
I didn't think the "Rebuilding" portion would have pertained to me, sorry about that.

markwkidd

@Jiryn said in Compatibility Problems/Help (New user):

@markwkidd
Thank you sir!

I admit, some of that page I had already skimmed.
I didn't think the "Rebuilding" portion would have pertained to me, sorry about that.

Until recently, the documentation unintentionally was encouraging everyone to try rebuilding their ROMs to the desired version, but that is not really worth the time it takes to learn unless it's something you plan to do on a regular basis.

The hope for the documentation is it's written now is that the docs will help people understand how arcade ROM version numbers work while also suggesting that they find the correct ROMs to begin with so they don't get trapped in a frustrating rebuild process.

Thank you for your feedback on the docs. If you work through the instructions and the setup process with the correct version of the MAME ROMs and it's still not making sense then post again.

Jiryn

@markwkidd
I still apologize for my ignorance on the subject and how over zealous I was when I posted my original topic. I was just frustrated with the the roms not working correctly when they worked just perfect on my pc (I tested them all before transferring).

Also if roms only work with certain builds, why do about 10% I do have actually work?
Is it a more universal format, or did I just happen upon the right build for these?

I am still curious as to why the NES rom doesn't work though... any suggestions?

batesman

@Jiryn said in Compatibility Problems/Help (New user):

@markwkidd
I still apologize for my ignorance on the subject and how over zealous I was when I posted my original topic. I was just frustrated with the the roms not working correctly when they worked just perfect on my pc (I tested them all before transferring).

Also if roms only work with certain builds, why do about 10% I do have actually work?
Is it a more universal format, or did I just happen upon the right build for these?

I am still curious as to why the NES rom doesn't work though... any suggestions?

If you look around you can find reference rom sets that will match up with the version of MAME you are using. I'd strongly suggest sticking with MAME2003 since it's a libretto core. I think the romset for that is .79 off memory, but it's listed on the Wiki page. Using roms from reference sets that match up to your MAME version will save you a lot of headaches. Otherwise you have to dig into the rom to see what version it is and then get into rebuilding...That stuff is a bit messy for my tastes.

Regarding the NES rom - it's hard to say. Probably a bad rom. Try the untranslated version and see if your luck is better.

Jiryn

@batesman
Thank you for all your help, and yea I've been looking for a set compared to roms piecemeal.

Jiryn

@markwkidd @batesman
Odd, all the roms that I have already are MAME 0.164
As I said, only about 10% of them work though.. which seems weird

I am finding this quite interesting, and your help was very insightful.

batesman

@Jiryn said in Compatibility Problems/Help (New user):

@markwkidd @batesman
Odd, all the roms that I have already are MAME 0.164
As I said, only about 10% of them work though.. which seems weird

I am finding this quite interesting, and your help was very insightful.

Glad to help!

Double check and ensure that you are using the right emulator with roms in question. The default emulator can be set for the Arcade folder, and you can even set an emulator per rom.

Where are you roms located? In the arcade folder? If so, what's the default emulator?

Also, and I'm not sure which roms you're trying to run, but there are some that, for whatever reason, don't work or don't work well.

Jiryn

@batesman
Can I mention the games here?

I tried both LR-Mame2003 and Mame4All
I literally go into /ROMS/ and put into both folders..

dankcushions

@Jiryn said in Compatibility Problems/Help (New user):

@markwkidd @batesman
Odd, all the roms that I have already are MAME 0.164
As I said, only about 10% of them work though.. which seems weird

why would that be odd? there is no mame 0.164 emulator on retropie. that's like putting a playstation 4 game in your playstation 1 and expecting it to work :)

(the 10% of games that are working would be the minority of roms that happen to be unchanged in 15-odd years since the versions we use in retropie, and mame 0.164)

as instructed, forget about the set you have and acquire the correct set for the emulators in retropie. for example, MAME 0.78 romset will work in the /mame-libretro/ folder, running lr-mame2003.