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Is Final Burn Advance something different from FinalBurn Alpha? I am not familiar with the FB Advance EMU. As noted in my post, I was having BIOS issues with FinalBurn Alpha no matter the BIOS version or the Neo-Geo ROM set. From above:

I am in the same boat... and I will apologize for the lengthy post in advance. I am currently refreshing (top-to-bottom) an ancient cocktail arcade cabinet that I built back in 1998. It's running WindowsXP SP3 x86 and the front-end of choice is 3DArcade. I've been trolling these (very friendly) forums for a while, getting info in setting-up my EMU commandlines for FE use. For those not familiar, 3DArcade is old, and almost unsupported (there is still some life in the support forums). Since I am on WinXP, RA is not a possible option. I am using MAME v0.161 for all MAME arcade stuff (before the convergence with MESS). The reasoning is that 3DArcade is able to parse MAME's listinfo.txt & catver.ini files for creating well-populated 3DA gamelists that contain all that info for display within the FE. Prior to this refresh, I basically used individual ancient EMUs for non-Arcade platforms. During this refresh, I've decided to go with MESSUI v0.187 wherever possible. So far, I have ~18 systems running via MESSUI, and I am almost halfway through my sets. There is some mednafen, Snes9x & Project64 thrown-in, and I expect Kega Fusion & maybe Higan to be making an appearance when I get to the Segas. I plan on installing alternate EMUs as backup when MESS is misbehaving. ROMsets: For MAME, obviously, I have a complete v0.161 set for the MAME arcades. I have a complete MAME v0.187 set (there are handhelds and BIOS files hidden in here, so I needed this) as well as a complete v0.187 Software List set (as a backup, where I don't have a No-Intro set), and, as mentioned, No-Intro sets (my preference). I also grabbed a WinKawaks set of ROMs (games) from the "Dome of Pleasure" hoping to get my Neo-Geo set going. My preference is to have as many systems as possible run via MESSUI v0.187. Now, MESS is relatively new for me (the software list XMLs, hash folder, etc.) and I've been googling like a madman. As I really am not going to use the UI and simply use commandlines, I don't think there is much configuration I need to do, except associate the SoftwareList ROMs folders to their corresponding systems in the system properties. So far, so good. Except for Neo-Geo (aes). Been trying for a while, hence, this post, as I am googled-out. First, here is what is going on with Neo-Geo & MESS v0.187: Bottom-line, no matter what I do, when launching through the UI (I mount a game by navigating to the game name, as I am assuming the SW Items are listing games via the SoftwareList file or hash XML file), the system starts with no errors. But, all I get is a solid screen (either white when using the Uni BIOS or Blue when using the default). No game is launched. This is using the MAME v0.187 Neo-Geo AES ROMs. neogeo.zip BIOS file is lumped-in with all my other BIOS files for my systems in the G:\emulators\MESSUI0187\ROMs folder. I also have a copy of the neogeo.zip in the G:\Games\SoftwareList\Neo-Geo - AES\ folder (this is the folder with the games\ROMs). I figured using the v0.187 ROM/Gameset with MESSUI0187 should be straightforward, especially since the BIOS ROMs come with the set. I even grabbed a MACHINES-BIOS-DEVICES set for v0.187. My aes.ini file includes the following: for rompath "roms; G:\Games\SoftwareList\Neo-Geo - AES\" and for swpath: "G:\Games\SoftwareList\Neo-Geo - AES\". Hash is set to default hash directory. Not sure what is going on, maybe someone could help as my MESS experience is limited... although I was able to manually extract all the v0.187 handhelds into a homemade MESS- Handhelds SoftwareList games folder and launch via commandline appropriately. When launching Neo-Geo AES via commandline: G:\EMULATORS\MESS0187> MESSUI.EXE aes -cart "G:\Games\SoftwareList\Neo-Geo - AES\breakers.zip" -skip_gameinfo -mouse -joy, I get the same behavior described above when launching via the UI when mounting a cart and firing-up the system. I'd be surprised if it were a BIOS/ROM issue, as I am using everything included with v0.187. I'd prefer using MESS for this. Any insight would be helpful. Secondly, after being discouraged with getting MESS to launch my NeoGeos, I then turn to alternate 3rd party EMUS. WinKawaks was successful in launching everything from the MAME v0.187 set. I also grabbed a WinKawaks set, which includes the CPS1 and CPS2 sets, which bumps-up the games total from 170-ish to 780-ish (if I am remembering correctly). Anyways, WinKawaks is able to play them all fine. But, as noted in this thread, it should be avoided and I have no idea what to use for a commandline... also, I fear that it won't behave nicely with my 3DA FE. I am having BIOS/ROM difficulties with FBAlpha. The neogeo.zip is being reported with wrong checksums no matter what game set I use. I even have various versions of he BIOS files. I even tried adding multiple ROM paths in FBA, hoping it's find the "correct" one. I also alternated/swapped-out versions while testing. Still no-go, but I didn't spend as much time with FBA as I did with WinKawaks and MESS. I also have Raine and Nebula left to test, but I'd really like to get MESSUI0187 working before trying a 3rd and 4th EMU. I'm not asking for where to get the correct BIOS files for Neo-Geo. I just have a feeling I am in need of some MESSUI assistance when trying to get the Neo-Geos going. As stated above, I really don't have much contemporary MESS experience. The only notable configurations I did in MESSUI, were to set-up the default directories, reflected in the mess.ini file as: rompath "roms; G:\Games\SoftwareList\MESS - Handhelds; G:\Games\SoftwareList\Neo-Geo - AES\" and swpath "G:\Games\SoftwareList\". The settings for my aes.ini file are above where I manually pointed the swpath to the G:\Games\SoftwareList\Neo-Geo - AES\ directory. I also manually chose the uni BIOS from the dropdown BIOS option in the Miscellaneous Properties editor. I wish I were able to use LB, but I believe it is x64 and my old cab can't handle it :-(. As I said before, I've been using this forum as a reference and it has been invaluable in assisting me in getting my commandlines sorted for my systems/platforms. Thanks!!! I also know that this is a friendly community, which also nudged me to join a post this. Again, sorry for the long post. It's been a long road so far in getting my system up, and I have a long way to go on my refresh. Any help would be fantastic. Let me know if there is any info I've omitted to help troubleshoot.