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Why Is Mame Failing To Launch Plus Other Issues.


C64Crazy

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Using Launchbox/Bigbox. So just installed MAME 0.185 and when I go to launch a game via Launchbox or Big box using Mame 0.185 as my emulator, I get a small pop up menu that asks where I want to unzip that game's archive.

I thought perhaps the emulator settings in launchbox we're set wrong, as I had it set to unzip rom before launching, but unchecking that box still gives me the pop up when trying to launch a game. Obviously I don't want every game I'm playing being duplicated and saved as an unzipped file.

I have unzipped my mame roms file, which then produces a folder of zipped individual game roms, and this is the folder I used to import ROMs from.

The mame file I have is of split roms. Do I have to unzip this unzipped folder further or what am I doing wrong? I know mame does not need game ROMs unzipped to execute them because it will do it it's self. I'm not sure if the pop up window asking me where to unzip is being produced by launchbox or Mame.

Edited by C64Crazy
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Oh I see! I thought unzip files on import was asking if I wanted to unzip files before launching Mame, but I guess it imported them unzipped? I chose to keep the ROMs in the same folder I originally unzipped the folder to, so I assumed these files would not be moved or unzipped. So I'll need to delete folder, unzip original file, which produces a folder of zipped ROMs, and then uncheck unzip on import?

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Fixed that problem but have another. The problem was I was pointing to the zipped Mame file and not the unzipped exe file. But now when I select a game to play thru launchbox I see a small window open for a few seconds and then it goes away and nothing happens, still sitting in launchbox like I never clicked on it to play. The game files are still zipped and I know Mame will unzip them. Do they need to be in mames ROM folder or will it launch them from where I have launchbox set to their path? Or, could it be an issue with launchboxes command line to launch? And I'm guessing in lb I should leave unzip on launch off or does it matter?

Edited by C64Crazy
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MAME is different to most emulators as it needs to know where your roms are even when launching through Launchbox  as it also needs to load bios files for the specific game you are loading, and those bios files should be in the same folder as your games. If MAME doesn't know where your games are it wont load them, even if you are launching them from Launchbox.

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I tried to run mame64 through windows file manager to set mame like you said but same thing happens... A window pops open for a split second and goes away. Am I running the wrong file or something? BTW using Windows 10. Shouldn't be any issues. Downloaded from mames official site.

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Redownloaded and unzipped Mame. Still does same thing when I try to run it. Even tried to run it via windows compatibility mode for Windows 8. Same deal. I should be downloading the binary windows file for it right? And I'm using the 64 bit version to match this computer. It's mame version 0.185 by the way to match my ROMs.

Edited by C64Crazy
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No dice with trying next version of mame. Same deal. Could it be that mame needs to see ROMs in it's roms folder or it will terminate it's bootup? I get a small window as it launches and then it closes. Wish the darn thing would stay open long enough for me to see if it's reporting an error or something. I'm at a loss now. I'm guessing it's either some setup file mame wants done first or it doesn't like my computer for some reason.

Edited by C64Crazy
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It's not an issue with lb, it's mame it's self closing right away even when running it directly via windows. I think I've found the issue but don't know how to fix it. This guy was having same problem and it was due to mames setup file being set to use 3D graphics or whatever when he only had onboard graphics and no video card (same as me). Any ideas on how to do this? Link http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51486&title=mame-will-not-open

BTW they suggested to him to run Mame via DOS so you can see any errors reported. Think I'll try that next.

Edited by C64Crazy
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Well my tutorial isn't how to get Mame working with LB as such, it's more a guide on how to get it setup in general.

4 minutes ago, C64Crazy said:

This guy was having same problem and it was due to mames setup file being set to use 3D graphics or whatever when he only had onboard graphics and no video card same as me. Any ideas on how to do this?

Try setting your video to direct draw, open your mame.ini and look for the line:

video    d3d

and change it to

video   ddraw

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