MarkRMWalker

I have recently started adding some Apple Mac games to LB using the latest MAME v0.273. I have been sticking with the earlier monochrome titles prior to 1990 and using the Mac Classic romset (macclasc). So far I have added around 100 games with about 5 not being able to run for various reasons. I would like to try and add some color titles from the early 90’s but not being a Mac guy I am unsure which Mac system to use. Also there is little information about which MAME Mac cores are usable. Could someone please point me in the right direction. TIA

As far as I can see, and please correct me if I am wrong, the only times I’ve seen transparencies used for discs and cart is for the spinning CD (which is a nice aesthetic) what are the use cases for transparent 5.25”, 3.5”, cassettes and cartridges. We already have a category for clear-logos why don’t we just add another category CD’s that checks for transparencies. This DB is not just a nice addition to a great front end it is also an archive for retro gaming history. Ok, hardcore contributors will bite the bullet and comply but I believe a very large number of casual contributors will just give up at the first barrier. How much rare images will be lost because a well meaning contributor doesn’t understand the requirement or does not know how to create a transparent layer or indeed has the software to do so. Yes “quality versus quantity” is a good and worthy target but what about the “KISS” principal.

Are you deliberately trying to make it more difficult for people to contribute to this project? I understand your argument to do this but many contributors will be discouraged/confused by the error and not contribute out of frustration. So:- A) like me they encounter the error and give up; or B) can’t or won’t take the time to add a transparency layer. Either way the database suffers. Why would you do this for such a limited use case. Outside of clear-logos (a category already seperate) and spinning CD’s, which most people understand intuitively need a transparent layer, the vast majority of submissions are solid background use cases. And what about the the vast majority of discs and carts that already exist without this attribute, they are not going away whilst you have made it less likely that their number will increase. I now have dozens of carts and discs that I have already cropped and prepared that need more work before I can contribute to appease the limited use case of spinning CD’s. “The road to hell is paved with good intention”.

No I have not tried that, but that should only be a requirement for Clear-Logo's not Cart's or Disc's. Occasionally people post these with transparencies like CD's for example but that should not preclude JPG's or non transparent PNG's from being uploaded.

That was the first thing i looked at and used Photoshop to resave them in JPG and PNG formats just to make sure. Still no luck. I have always used PS in the past for editing the thousands of submissions i have made to LB and had no issues. But that was under the old interface.

I have attached 2 examples (PNG & JPG) i have being trying to upload into the Apple II section as North American Carts.. When i submit the JPG file as a cart i get the error message - Upload Failed: File extension error. Please upload a png file for Clear Logo, Box - 3D, Cart, and Disc. When i submit the PNG file as a cart i get the error message - Error: This image type requires a transparent background. As a test to rule out possible issues with file format I tried to upload these files as Box Covers and both formats were accepted.

I’ve recently started uploading covers, media and snapshots to the DB again after a long break and am having trouble with this new interface not allowing me to upload certain images. It keeps on giving me an error when I try to upload cart and disc images even though they are in jpg or png format. I have converted these files between these formats but it still shows an error and says they should be transparent. I am not having this trouble with box covers or snapshots in jpg or png format and have not tried clear logos yet. I have a bucket load of missing cart and disc pictures for the Apple II but can’t upload them. is this a known problem or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks. I have been naming my them as “Disk A, Disk B….) that’s why I have had trouble with the version badge showing.

How do I get LB to differentiate between multiple versions and multiple disks? Currently if I have multiple (more than two) disks both the version and disk badges appear. If I have two disks only the version badge appears.

I have come across a pile of GEMDOS images for the ST and am having trouble figuring out how to run them in the Retroarch implementation of Hatari. So far i have deduced that i need to create an Ide HDD image but i am unsure how to load these GEMDOS files into the HDD image. Could someone please give me a heads up to get me started in the right direction, TIA

A few weeks ago I decided to add my first computer love to my LB collection. Back in 1979 I bought the TRS-80 Model 1 Level 2 16k and thus started my life long fascination computing technology. I was a little underwhelmed however with the meagre size of the LB database for that historically important system. Anyway, since then I have been beavering away and have made a substantial increase to the database for this venerable computer. I have added well over 100 titles complete with covers and sundry artwork. I decided only to add titles for which i can find covers. As of today I have about 20 titles left to upload and will continue as long as I can still find covers. Although, it seems I have almost tapped out that reservoir. So, for anyone interested in having a closer look at one of the original trinity, they will have a better experience than I did a month ago. By the way, I am using the TRS80GP emulator. It handles all the relevant file types and integrates well into LB.

It would not be necessary to match them against the hashes or crc’s just the names of the file. As far as completionism, I really would like to get an idea of the titles I have missing in relation to the database not every file available for that platform. I already have the the full TOSEC and No-Intro sets. The problem is finding new additions and missing titles in huge platforms that have thousands of entries. There is already a mechanism to upload your collection and that flags missing cover artwork. It surely can’t be to much more difficult to flag missing games as well. I’m certainly not complaining about LB I think it is a fantastic way to collect and categorise old and new software and artwork. It would just be nice to have someway to ensure your collection is current with the constantly changing database.

Is there some way to compare your rom collection against the LB database in order to find missing or needed files? This is a trivial matter to complete manually for small databases but some database platforms have a huge number of entries that get added to on a regular basis. Two years ago I added the Amstrad CPC platform to LB and can see that this database has been substantially increased since then. I know that I can rescan to update any added or updated artwork to my existing collection but there does not seem to be any way to ascertain newly added or missing software entries against my current collection. Most collectors, like myself, have a completionist or pedantic streak and this lack of this facility drives me, and I assume them, nuts. Half of the fun for me is tracking down missing software or artwork. Maybe this functionality already exists and I have missed it. Please help.

Over the weekend I put a few MAME only systems like Amstrad GX 4000, Epoch Game Poctket, Entex Adventure Vision and the super A,can into LB. They all work well but I still need to configure the controllers and figure out how to exit the games elegantly. Howeve, the big problem I can’t seem to solve is the lack of sound. I am using a recent build of MAME (the same one I am concurrently using for the Arcade systems) and have found the right ROMs that run the system software with no problem except for the lack of sound. I just checked the Arcade Setup and seem to have lost sound there as well. I had sound for the Arcade systems when I installed them last year but that seems to have stopped now. I am using the same MAME emulator for the Arcade and new additions. Could someone point me in the right direction to sort this out. TIA, k1w1 PS. All of the Retroarch, AppleWin, ZX Spectrum and other emulator systems have sound.

A belated thank you thfourteen. I gave up on this problem shortly after my post and did not see your response. Your solution worked wonderfully.