ALL games fail in LB but run fine in Retroarch

[Livin]

Fresh install on Win10 and all games, C64, MAME, FBA, etc... all fail to run. Even when I run LB in Admin mode (which I dont do for Retro)

Yesterday, I selected about 20 to test/play manually  with Retroarch - core selection screen popped up, I selected the core, they all ran great.
Then I try to launch them from LB and they ALL fail... literally nothing happens onscreen (debug log attached). I even tried a few that I had not ran in Retro (thus no manual core selection has occurred) and those also fail - but I can run them from Retro after selecting a core.

Paths:
C:\LaunchBox\emulators\RetroArch    *in LB Emulators, path is: emulators\RetroArch\retroarch.exe  (I used browse to select it several times) 

C:\roms\Arcade  *have been manually importing the ROMs.  Other folders under 'roms' are : Atari 2600, Final Burn Alpha, Neo Geo, etc)

example of config on all ROMs in LB:   ..\roms\Arcade\dkongo.zip

Debug logs attached for a few different games. I see different things from different ROMs but frequently see this...

2019-04-07 06:31:21 AM FIRST CHANCE EXCEPTION: The given path's format is not supported.
   at System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission.EmulateFileIOPermissionChecks(String fullPath)

 

Just wiped ALL LB data and started over... added a new log showing it importing 68 MAME roms that I placed inside the Launchbox\Games\Arcade

... same problem!

Debug 2019-04-07 07-34-21 AM.log

Debug 2019-04-07 08-00-33 AM.log

Edited April 7, 2019 by Livin

[Retro808]

So just to be clear. The games run fine if you launch them in Retroarch directly, correct?

If so that usually means something in LB is disconnected. From your post things appear ok, but it is always best if we can see pics which is my normal response for cases like this...

1. Share a pic of Launchbox showing your platform names as they appear. 

2. Right Click a game and choose edit. In the game's edit screen share a pic of the Launcher Tab and the Emulation Tab.

3. Whatever emulator you are using for the platform and game go to >Tools>Manage Emulators and choose to edit that emulator. In the edit screen share a pic of the Emulator Details and the Associated Platforms Tab.

 

[Livin]

@Retro808 thx for the help. Figured out the problem is LB has a 'trap' (super misleading problem without any built-in / onscreen guidance) that causes this problem. After much more searching I found other posts from users with the same problem. Hopefully we can put in a feature request to change this?

Unless there is a setting I'm missing (???) to let Retroarch be the smarts and LB simply tells it to run the ROM... this looks like an oversight or problem that should be addressed. 

Issue:

Using Tools / Import / ROM files...  LB provides a huge drop-down list which defaults to "Arcade". Without options for 'Neo Geo', 'Retroarch', 'MAME' so the user assumes that "Arcade" is correct. 

BUT LB doesnt have any default associations for "Arcade"

To a new user (one which read the wiki and several watched tutorials) assumes LB is somewhat smart with Retroarch, and should be doing this... 
(a) knows what association to use when it reads the ROM; since it recommends "Arcade" and there is no Platform association called Arcade it should prompt you not do nothing and not give a completely unusable debug log error
(b) would have warned you that  when you created the Arcade platform, on LBs own recommendation... that Platform has no association!
the REAL answer IMO... (c) LB should only pass basic parms to Retroarch and let Retroarch, which knows the proper Core to use, run the ROM however it wants.  *why would we not use the smarts in RA?!

 

[Lordmonkus]

2 hours ago, Livin said:

the REAL answer IMO... (c) LB should only pass basic parms to Retroarch and let Retroarch, which knows the proper Core to use, run the ROM however it wants.  *why would we not use the smarts in RA?!

RA doesn't know what core is the proper core when loading a game via command line which is what is being done through LB, you have to tell it what core to use.

[Livin]

@Lordmonkus oh - that sux! Strange that is missing in RA given is does know this info. I'll put in a feature request at RA

but...  FB is really nice but requiring users to manually edit each ROM config to tell it the correct Core is a deal breaker... cant justify paying for an app that makes some stuff easier and makes other stuff harder. I've only used FB for 2 days and already found 3 issues that could and should be addressed...
1> 'Arcade' Platform associations missing (or needs to be removed from options list altogether and RetroArch or multiple MAMEs added)
2> Fail to launch problem without any error
   ... no excuse on this one IMO (I work with coders for a living, not just spouting off)
3> CLI launch gap in RA that FB could but is not filling.
    ... RetroArch is missing a vital feature, yes.. But FB should fill this gap and since RA has Playlists which define what Core to launch for each ROM... FB could read this and auto create the CLI for the proper Core, on the fly.

[Lordmonkus]

3 minutes ago, Livin said:

1> 'Arcade' Platform associations missing (or needs to be removed from options list altogether and RetroArch or multiple MAMEs added)

Can you explain your issue more clearly here ? I'm not understanding what your problem is exactly.

3 minutes ago, Livin said:

2> Fail to launch problem without any error
   ... no excuse on this one IMO (I work with coders for a living, not just spouting off)

The problem here is of the emulator fails to load a game for whatever reason (missing bios, incorrect command line or whatever) Launchbox has no way of knowing what the issue is to spit an error out to you.

4 minutes ago, Livin said:

3> CLI launch gap in RA that FB could but is not filling.
    ... RetroArch is missing a vital feature, yes.. But FB should fill this gap and since RA has Playlists which define what Core to launch for each ROM... FB could read this and auto create the CLI for the proper Core, on the fly.

So you are saying that end users should generate a playlist in RA which requires a very specific rom set and doesn't work with CD based systems yet and Launchbox should use that playlist ? Why would you add an extra layer to things that is not needed, LB doesn't care what rom set you use so it makes life easier on the end user in that regard.

Launchbox lets you choose which core you use with a simple dropdown menu, it really can't be much more easier than that, download the core in RA so that it is in your cores folder and select that core from within Launchbox.

[neil9000]

38 minutes ago, Livin said:

FB is really nice but requiring users to manually edit each ROM config to tell it the correct Core is a deal breaker

You dont do that, you put in the associated platform tab of your retroarch entry what core to use per platform, so for snes for example i pick higan from the dropdown menu. Now all my snes games open with higan, couldnt be any simpler than that really.

[Livin]

 

27 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

You dont do that, you put in the associated platform tab of your retroarch entry what core to use per platform, so for snes for example i pick higan from the dropdown menu. Now all my snes games open with higan, couldnt be any simpler than that really.

Fine for totally separate systems but there are multiple versions of MAME and different ROMs work better on some versions. You are saying just for FB's use, we must have separate folders for each different MAME version and place those ROMs in that folder. For RA I just have all my ROMs in a single folder and it doesnt care, nor need, to sort by MAME version. 

1 hour ago, Lordmonkus said:

Can you explain your issue more clearly here ? I'm not understanding what your problem is exactly.

The problem here is of the emulator fails to load a game for whatever reason (missing bios, incorrect command line or whatever) Launchbox has no way of knowing what the issue is to spit an error out to you.

So you are saying that end users should generate a playlist in RA which requires a very specific rom set and doesn't work with CD based systems yet and Launchbox should use that playlist ? Why would you add an extra layer to things that is not needed, LB doesn't care what rom set you use so it makes life easier on the end user in that regard.

Launchbox lets you choose which core you use with a simple dropdown menu, it really can't be much more easier than that, download the core in RA so that it is in your cores folder and select that core from within Launchbox.

Using Tools / Import / ROM files...  LB provides a huge drop-down list which defaults to "Arcade". Without options for 'Neo Geo', 'Retroarch', 'MAME' so the user assumes that "Arcade" is correct. 

BUT LB doesnt have any default associations for "Arcade" So ROMs will never run (thus the fail to launch issue without an error). New Users have no way of knowing we must manually associate MAME, Neo Geo, and FBA roms as we think that is what "Arcade" is doing for us when FB defaults to it.

Unless LB fixes (makes it so FB reads core/rom associations from within RA)  is should remove 'Arcade' and add ALL options for ... MAME, FBA, and Neo Geo - (one for every version the user has a Core for under Emulators... this way Platform associations will be in place (which they are NOT now) correct upon import. 
another way to solve, the nicer way using a little coding smarts, is to read the config from RA (which is simply a few XML files) and use the rom/core associations RA uses. Thus, no need to have RA users set ANY associations at all. 

 

[Lordmonkus]

9 minutes ago, Livin said:

Using Tools / Import / ROM files...  LB provides a huge drop-down list which defaults to "Arcade". Without options for 'Neo Geo', 'Retroarch', 'MAME' so the user assumes that "Arcade" is correct. 

Arcade is a platform, NeoGeo is under SNK NeoGeo, Retroarch is not a platform and neither is Mame.

9 minutes ago, Livin said:

BUT LB doesnt have any default associations for "Arcade" So ROMs will never run (thus the fail to launch issue without an error). New Users have no way of knowing we must manually associate MAME, Neo Geo, and FBA roms as we think that is what "Arcade" is doing for us when FB defaults to it

You need to assign an emulator to it.

9 minutes ago, Livin said:

Unless LB fixes (makes it so FB reads core/rom associations from within RA)  is should remove 'Arcade' and add ALL options for ... MAME, FBA, and Neo Geo - (one for every version the user has a Core for under Emulators... this way Platform associations will be in place (which they are NOT now) correct upon import. 
another way to solve, the nicer way using a little coding smarts, is to read the config from RA (which is simply a few XML files) and use the rom/core associations RA uses. Thus, no need to have RA users set ANY associations at all. 

First off, what is FB ? I first thought this was a typo for LB but now I have no clue.

Launchbox doesn't tell or force people what to use, that is up to the end user, it gives much more flexibility.

Edit: I have no clue if I am understanding you correctly or not, you are not explaining your issue very well beyond "Launchbox is doing it wrong".

[Jason Carr]

@Livin With all due respect, you're insisting on changes that are difficult to understand, all with an entitlement attitude that suggests you know better than the entire LaunchBox community. "Working with coders" is not a job that entitles you to any kind of expertise here. Going forward, I would suggest:

• Refraining from making suggestions until you fully understand the existing solution
• Refraining from littering your requests with details about your life that suggest you have superior expertise
• Presenting changes/suggestions as recommendations instead of insinuating that existing solutions are poor

I generally take feedback very well, but I really need you dial it down a notch if this conversation is going to be at all helpful for anyone. Unfortunately it does not at all look good for the poster to come forward with a strong attitude when he or she does not even fully understand the product.

[Livin]

15 hours ago, Lordmonkus said:

Arcade is a platform, NeoGeo is under SNK NeoGeo, Retroarch is not a platform and neither is Mame.

You need to assign an emulator to it.

First off, what is FB ? I first thought this was a typo for LB but now I have no clue.

Launchbox doesn't tell or force people what to use, that is up to the end user, it gives much more flexibility.

Edit: I have no clue if I am understanding you correctly or not, you are not explaining your issue very well beyond "Launchbox is doing it wrong".

FB  = LB  ... typo, sorry about that.

I thought I was explaining the 'Arcade' thing well and detailed.  There is an option to select "Arcade" when you import ROMs (see attached screenshot) as well as real actual game systems (Atari 2600, N64, C64, etc) so what is "Arcade"?  Under the Platforms Association (see screenshot) there are real game systems, by default... but not "Arcade".  This is the disconnect and what is confusing for new users. In that list ALL systems have a real associated Platform in Eumlators... but not Arcade. Thus, a new user must create the association for Arcade manually but Not for the other Platforms, they are already there.  This is confusing.  

IMO the fix is to simply eliminate 'Arcade' from the selection list and add MAME & FBA into the list. If the users want to create a label called Arcade, LB already allows that.

 

14 hours ago, Jason Carr said:

@Livin With all due respect, you're insisting on changes that are difficult to understand, all with an entitlement attitude that suggests you know better than the entire LaunchBox community. "Working with coders" is not a job that entitles you to any kind of expertise here. Going forward, I would suggest:

• Refraining from making suggestions until you fully understand the existing solution
• Refraining from littering your requests with details about your life that suggest you have superior expertise
• Presenting changes/suggestions as recommendations instead of insinuating that existing solutions are poor

I generally take feedback very well, but I really need you dial it down a notch if this conversation is going to be at all helpful for anyone. Unfortunately it does not at all look good for the poster to come forward with a strong attitude when he or she does not even fully understand the product.

Jason, if you are taking my comments in that way then I'm sorry but that is not how I see my posts. I'm not bashing anyone by asking why one item is the way it is (Arcade).  "Littering" with 1, and only 1, comment that I work with coders just to let you know I'm not just an inexperienced person - OK?  Don't take my posts personally, they are not an attack. 

Yes, I'm trying to understand the concepts as I'm new.  I describing one point of confusion which no person or doc/wiki has explained : Arcade has no default Association in Emulators.  All other Platforms given are real game systems and have associations built-in to LB. 
 

[Lordmonkus]

1 hour ago, Livin said:

This is the disconnect and what is confusing for new users.

Actually it's not confusing for new users, only you.

1 hour ago, Livin said:

IMO the fix is to simply eliminate 'Arcade' from the selection list and add MAME & FBA into the list.

Again, Arcade is a platform, Mame and FBA are not.

1 hour ago, Livin said:

Yes, I'm trying to understand the concepts as I'm new.

We have lots of guides on the YouTube channel and written ones here on the forums and an extremely helpful community. There is a difference in "trying to understand" something and just telling us "it's all wrong".

Locking thins thread.