gamerforhire

@CriticalCid Don't know the version of chdman I was using, but I just pulled it from the latest MAME version (0242) and what do you know, it worked! Thanks for the help! Didn't know there were different versions of chdman, as when I searched for it, all the sites that had it all looked the same (same file name, same bat files). Didn't know it was a tool that's baked into MAME. Gonna run a batch of these and make sure it works, then convert the whole library. Thanks again!

@C-Beats yes, I'm only passing the CUE file to CHDMAN, as that's how the batch file is written (*.cue). As for the emulator, I'm using the most stable build of Redream (v1.5), but I just tested with the latest nightly and it still didn't work. You mentioned doing this process with one of your platforms, and I too have done it for other platforms (PS1 and PS2). It worked fine for those platforms.

@Headrush69 right, so my entire library is based off of the Redump library (all BIN/CUE). I took a handful of them that I know work in Redream and converted them to CHD with CHDMAN. However, once in CHD format, Redream doesn't recognize them. If I attempt to load up the CHD in Retroarch using the Flycast core, it doesn't work.

UPDATE: I made an error in assumption. I thought that the CHD files worked in Redream, but they don't. I can't get either Redream or Retroarch to play the CHD. However, if I load up the BIN/CUE file the CHD is based off of, it works fine. I'm using CHDMAN and using the supplied batch file (CUE or GDI to CHD.bat). So, like @Headrush69 said, that's where I'm at right now. My entire library is based on the ReDump library. I've seen in my searches that the TOSEC library is better for casual players, so I'm pulling that now, but in the meantime I'm fine with my current setup, which was searching for all the .cue files in my library and then dragging/dropping into Launchbox. My desire to have one file per game is a want, not a need. Thanks again for everybody's help. I'm going to try out these TOSEC dumps, see if I can get them to CHD and have them play nicely with Redream. If not, oh well, fallback on BIN/CUE works fine.

If I'm in Launchbox and I go play a Dreamcast game, if it's in BIN/CUE format and I point to the .cue file, the game loads up fine. If I do the same, but the game is a .CHD, it'll load to the Redream interface. Is there any way to fix this, like with an extra command in the emulator settings? Space isn't a concern, but I'd really like to have one file per game.

Hot damn, you guys are fast! Ok, I see the problem, it's set to "genesis_plus_gx_libretro.dll", but I was using "picodrive_libretro.dll". Odd, because I never changed anything in either Retroarch or Launchbox. Or at least not that I remember. Anyway, thanks for the help! Works perfect now!

Hello all! Launchbox/BigBox has worked fine for me since I switched to it earlier this year, but recently it has stopped working for one particular system: Sega Genesis. All my ROMs use Retroarch as the emulator and all the paths/settings/etc have all stayed the same. Nothing has changed. As of right now, only Genesis doesn't work, all the other systems work fine. In either Launchbox or Big Box, when I try to play a Genesis game, it tries to load, and then does nothing. When checking the Emulation tab under the "Edit Game" property, it's pointed to Retroarch, and I don't have any special commands running. Everything is default. Now, when I go into Retroarch and launch a Genesis game, works fine. What's the next thing I should check?

Jason Carr said Sorry everyone missed this, @gamerforhire. Unfortunately a search function does not yet exist for Big Box, largely because of the complication of building a search without a keyboard. I just put out a new beta today that adds alpha-numeric navigation, though. No worries, I've been away for a few days myself. I just saw the email for the alpha-numeric navigation, so I'll give that a shot. Are you familiar with Retropie? Just an idea, but the way it handles long lists is by have a dedicated "menu" button that you can hit and you can navigate to a certain section in the ROM list by selecting the beginning letter. This is all done on a gamepad with no keyboard input. I am code stupid, so I have no idea how hard that would be to implement. Anyway, thanks for getting back to me!

Sorry, still new to all this, but is their any way to pull up a search option in Big Box? It looks like it only exists in LaunchBox.

Hey thanks! I got some time this morning to mess around with it for a bit and I think I got it now. So what's selected in Hide Duplicates is what stays visible, hiding everything else, unless conflicts arise. Using this logic, I was able to quickly hide all the revisions and different versions of games within my sets. Looks much cleaner now, thanks!

Jumping on the bandwagon here, but No-Intro is the be all, end all for ROM sets. Each and every ROM is tested and maintained by a large community and, as far as I know, only official games are allowed within the sets. "Official" being no ROM hacks where you play as Sonic in the Mushroom Kingdom or something. As for having a script or application that loads each ROM and verifies if it loads or not, there was an option built into GameEx (another gaming frontend) that would record the first 5 seconds of every game and save it as a title snap. Essentially, this was doing exactly what you're asking for: it loaded the ROM, ran a screencap, then saved the video file, and moved onto the next ROM. As you can imagine, it took forever, haha. But, as long as you ended up with the same number of video files as you do ROMs, then you know that each ROM loaded and ran. BUT It's not always that cut and dry. Take for example the game Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos for the SNES. In a lengthy article written by arstechnica in 2011 about the preservation of gaming and building the "perfect emulator" (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/08/accuracy-takes-power-one-mans-3ghz-quest-to-build-a-perfect-snes-emulator/), it was noted this one particular game was literally unbeatable on every emulator (except one at the time, bsnes) because of one particular bug that occurred during one of the last levels, which locked the game and crashed the emulator. So, even if you had a script or an application to open and run every ROM to check its integrity, there's no way to know that it will be a perfect, 100% emulation from start to finish. Moral of the story? If you want true, 1 to 1 simulation, then purchase the original console and game. Barring that, use No-Intro sets and sleep well knowing that there's a 99.99% chance that every game within a No-intro set will work flawlessly. The next caveat is the emulator itself, but that's an entirely different topic.

Hello everybody! Ok, so with the help of some fellow LaunchBoxers, I came across a wonderful application called LaunchBoxTools (if you're unfamiliar, go download it now! https://www.launchbox-app.com/forum/features/launchboxannotator-tool). This tool has helped me fill in all the necessary meta data needed to sort my ROMs to my personal tastes. Now that I got everything sorted out via region, I want to go through and hide the duplicate versions, but I'm getting a bit hung up on how I do that with this tool. When I go to the "hide duplicates" section and use a built-in field to select the version and set "equals" to "Rev. 1" or "Beta", I get back a long list of ROMs from which I need to pick and choose. It looks like it wants me to pick out which ones I want to keep. This is fine if this is how I have to do it, but I thought the process was automated? I feel like I'm using the tool incorrectly. Basically, I thought I would go to the "hide duplicates" section, select the ones I want to keep, then it would auto-magically hide the rest. Am I doing this wrong? If not, how do I go about doing the above? Should I select what I don't want and put it in the "equals" or "not equals" section? Or should I select what I do want to keep? Haha, sorry for the confusion, I hope I've made my request clear. Thanks in advance. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!

Oh, don't you worry, I'm gonna have your number on speed dial! The last 24 hours have completely rewritten how I think about emulators, ROMs, frontends, and everything in between. I was completely set to go in and set up my FE like I've always had in the past where it was just a giant wall of games that had a couple bells and whistles with fancy boxart and snaps. But with LaunchBox, RetroArch, and now this new fangled LaunchBoxTools, I'm completely removing all prior knowledge of how I used to set things up and starting from square one. So as you might have seen above, last night I did my first initial install of LaunchBox, RetroArch, and my NES ROM set. After doing some manual organizing, I had it where it was "good enough", but then I came back to check this thread only to be shown yet another marvel of technology: the almighty LaunchBoxTools. So, I ditched everything I had setup the night before (basically just the ROM list in LaunchBox) and started again fresh with the LBTools app. I'm currently following the "My Personal Build" section, because that's pretty much my end goal. I'm already familiar with sselph's scraper because I'm also currently building a raspberry pi powered retro console, so I'm working on both the big and small scale. I'm so excited to learn new stuff!

CADScott, where were you like 5 hours ago, haha I'm just kidding, I should've checked the forums before I started tinkering tonight. That tool sounds AWESOME! Gonna go download and mess with it right now!

The PS4 controller is pre-configured? So I just plug a PS4 controller via USB and RetroArch will auto-map the keys? If so, that's great, because I got a ton of PS4 controllers laying around the house. How about over bluetooth? Nevermind, I just did a quick search and it looks like there's quite a few tutorials out there, so I'll check out one of those. Ok, I think that's it for now. Thanks to everybody for your help!