MAME Importing

[grim.]

A month ago I used the MAME Import Tool to import my MAME games and I left all filtered settings checked. However, I made the incorrect assumption that the games unsupported by MAME were simply unplayable. Now I'm realizing that they're only unplayable in MAME and some play smoothly on other emulators (i.e. NAOMI games on Demul).

So now I've got this situation where I'd like to import many of these "unsupported by MAME" games which I can play through Retroarch or standalone emulators, but the issue is properly filtering the romset to pick out those games.

Is there an easy way to select MAME Romset games by machine so that I can import only those into the "Arcade" platform or separate platforms? I'm guessing someone figured out how to use a DAT file to pick out Atomiswave or Sega Model 1 games only.

I know that AFTER I've imported games, I can search for the machine name on Launchbox and successfully find results, but I was hoping I could avoid what I'm doing right now which is re-importing my entire ROM collection. It's going to take HOURS and I'm gonna get so much junk in LB.

[sundogak]

Went through a similar gyration this weekend focusing on the Naomi side. Did similar where pulled in full set of Mame with working/non-working. But like you, it pulls in a ton of stuff that have to wade through. Particularly since the Naomi sets (1, 2 and GD) were only 12GBs total inclusive of the CHDs fit seemed excessive to manage all those other ROM entries. So I went the copy the ROMs via batch file to another directory route (i.e., Sega Naomi, etc.).  There are a couple older threads here on the forum with batch files to copy from MAME to another directory and there is a GIT posting (ver 0.215) as well that does similar. However, I wanted a current set with 0.223.  I did look briefly at DAT with CLRMAME Pro but decided to just work a batch file. 

A great site resource for helping with this is here. The options are not quite intuitive but it does allow you to sort by source/bios and then you can export out via multiple formats (XML, TXT, DAT). So first item is to select Additional Filters, then Driver Tab. Then you can use the required BIOS entry and although it isn't a drop down box it is a "smart" box that will type in closest match. So you can type in Naomi for Naomi hardware, Naomi 2, etc.  Once you do that and hit search it will display rom set matching.  It also allows you to select by ROM set (i.e., 0.223, 0.222).  Then if you go to Options and Export the Results it gives you a variety of export options. I chose TXT and then used those to generate a crude batch file set.  

Once figure it out it was easy to generate other files. For plain old ROM only entries works relatively easy to use the file names to make a copy batch set. For CHD files can be somewhat of a pain with a bit more manual matching. An example TXT output is attached for Naomi Bios and a few of the Batch files I created.  I didn't get fancy with trying to do file list inputs to batch file so relatively crude.  I REM'd out any prototypes. 

I am sure there are more elegant solutions but this worked for me and I was able to get the Naomi sets and Atomiswave hardware in to LB using Flycast for Retroarch or Demul. I chose to duplicate the roms into separate folder simply since was easier to import into LB. The downside is using more drive space and also separate MAME set for maintenance.

Again, I am sure there are much better ways but after doing some Googling nothing popped out that wasn't using older ROM sets.  I find sometimes that I spend more time looking to find a cooler way then it would take to brute force it.

0.223 NAOMI MAME search - ADB.txtMy_223_naomi.batMy_223_naomi2.batMy_223_Hikaru.bat

Edited August 10, 2020 by sundogak

[wallmachine]

5 minutes ago, sundogak said:

Went through a similar gyration this weekend focusing on the Naomi side. Did similar where pulled in full set of Mame with working/non-working. But like you, it pulls in a ton of stuff that have to wade through. Particularly since post sort the Naomi sets (1, 2 and GD) were only 12GBs total inclusive of the CHDs for the GDs seemed excessive to manage all those other ROM entries. So I went the copy the ROMs via batch file to another directory route (i.e., Sega Naomi, etc.).  There are a couple older threads here on the forum with batch files to copy from MAME to another directory and there is a GIT posting (ver 0.215) as well that does similar. However, I wanted a current set with 0.223.  I did look briefly at DAT with CLRMAME Pro but decided to just work a batch file. 

A great site resource for helping with this is here. The options are not quite intuitive but it does allow you to sort by source/bios and then you can export out via multiple formats (XML, TXT, DAT). So first items is to select Additional Filters, then Driver Tab. Then you can use the required BIOS entry and although it isn't a drop down box it is a "smart" box that will type in closest match.  So you can type in Naomi for Naomi hardware, Naomi 2, etc.  Once you do that and hit search it will display rom set matching.  It also allows you to select by ROM set (i.e., 0.223, 0.222).  Then if you go to Options and Export the Results it gives you a variety of export options. I chose TXT and then used those to generate a crude batch file set.  

Once figure it out it was easy to generate other files. For plain old ROM only entries works relatively easy to use the file names to make a copy batch set. For CHD files can be somewhat of a pain with a bit more manual matching. An example TXT output is attached for Naomi Bios and a few of the Batch files I created.  I didn't get fancy with trying to do file list inputs to batch file so relatively crude.  I REM'd out any prototypes. 

I am sure there are more elegant solutions but this worked for me and I was able to get the Naomi sets and Atomiswave hardware in to LB using Flycast for Retroarch or Demul. I chose to duplicate the roms into separate folder simply since was easier to import into LB. The downside is using more drive space and also separate MAME set for maintenance.

Again, I am sure there are much better ways but after doing some Googling nothing popped out that wasn't using older ROM sets.  I find sometimes that I spend more time looking to find a cooler way then it would take to brute force it.

0.223 NAOMI MAME search - ADB.txt 7.61 kB · 1 download My_223_naomi.bat 3.44 kB · 0 downloads My_223_naomi2.bat 595 B · 0 downloads My_223_Hikaru.bat 231 B · 0 downloads

ever consider doing tutorials on youtube or something you've posted heaps of stuff on the forums and help out everyone, sundogak for mod @Jason Carr.

Edited August 10, 2020 by wallmachine

[grim.]

Wow, well thanks for the reply. It'll take me a moment to understand your strategy, but I want to say that your point about having a separate folder and separate MAME maintenance for NAOMI CHDs is kind of a deal breaker in my end. Months ago when I bought my 4TB drive just for LB/BB/MAME, I wouldn't have cared. Now it's 80% full and I'm getting frugal and I'm trying to get the most out of my MAME ROM and Software List set without having separate copies of games in other directories.

 

Well, because I'm unfortunately very impatient in getting most of my collection set up (my last backup was BEFORE the MAME downloading) I decided to do this manually and just type "naomi.cpp" on the LB search bar and I got all the Naomi 1, 2, GD, and Atomiswave games. Then I spent too long of a time separating them into platforms and when I found confusing duplicates I verified with ProgettoEMMA what they were. Yeah, I did it the hard way. 

Edited August 10, 2020 by grim.

[sundogak]

Understood, typically try to do same with MAME set and was pretty space constrained up until my recent upgrade. If have to update down the road, the above web link to http://adb.arcadeitalia.net will help with total brute force approach since it outputs a rom name and "real" name in text file by rom set and bios. I used it to double check I got everything, particularly for CHDs.  Easy or hard way, whatever works is what matters ultimately. 

[JoeViking245]

13 hours ago, sundogak said:

maintenance.

Keeping inline with the simplicity of batch files, once it's initially set up...  assuming A) you keep a full (updated) set in one place [well maybe 2. one for roms and one for chd's] and B) no new roms/chds are added... you can use Windows built-in (Windows 7 and above)  robocopy to copy only the updated roms/chd to your LB/BB 'subsets'

Rem  robocopy "f:\source_directory" "d:\destination_directory" /LOG:"logtest.txt" /XL /R:10 /W:10 
Rem
Rem  /LOG:file   Redirects output to the specified file, overwriting the file if it already exists.
Rem  /TEE        Log output to both the command prompt (visual monitoring) and the specified file in /LOG
Rem  /XL         Copies a file from the source directory only if a file of the same name already exists in the destination
Rem  /R:n        Specifies the number of retries on failed copies. (The default is 1 million.)
Rem  /W:n        Specifies the wait time between retries. (The default is 30 seconds.)
Rem
Rem

robocopy "F:\Roms\MAME\Roms" "D:\LaunchBox\Games\Naomi\Roms" /LOG:"RomsLog.txt" /TEE /XL /R:10 /W:10
pause
robocopy "F:\Roms\MAME\CHDs" "D:\LaunchBox\Games\Naomi\CHDs" /LOG:"CHDsLog.txt" /TEE /XL /R:10 /W:10
pause

/XL is the key ingredient here.  Copying only the roms from Source that are (by file_name.exe) in the Destination folder and are newer.  This way it will only copy the updated roms, saving (at least a little bit of) time.

/LOG (optional) is nice if you want to see what and how many were updated/copied.

pause is also nice if you want to see what /LOG produces, but as it happens (happened).

Of course the caveat being if new roms or chds were added to MAME.  But hey, that's what  whatsnew.txt is for.  

Edited August 11, 2020 by JoeViking245

[sundogak]

@JoeViking245 Thanks for sending, very helpful. I had been playing around with a more robust batch file last night as wells as Robocopy which less familiar with command wise. I typically have been using Freefilesync to keep my Mame files in sync across a couple computers and my main PD set.  Like you noted, the whatsnew.txt file is good enough in my book to find the occasional new rom/chds popping up. 

[JoeViking245]

4 hours ago, sundogak said:

I typically have been using Freefilesync

Oh holy snap!!  I never even thought about using FreeFileSync for that!   [Homer Simpson "DOH!" forehead slap]  And it's way prettier than my little batch script. lol

I've been using that program for a couple years now, but guess I never really explored beyond a one way mirror for a backup.  I assume it's as simple as selecting "Update >" in the synchronization tab.?.  And I suppose if someone was dead set on sticking with batch file, they could run FreeFileSync from a [batch] command line. lol  

BIg Thanks in return!!

[wallmachine]

[sundogak]

@JoeViking245yeah, through the settings gear icon, and then the synchronization options box you can set for variety of ways for how you want it to treat files on the "left" or "right" side by clicking the icons. So for example the "update" box if do selections right is similar to the XL for Robocopy (only newer files). Takes some fiddling if get complicated but can save the settings and paths so just click and go the next time. File list input for syncing is one thing I wish it would add to features (didn't see it buried in features), so still stuck using batch files for things like in this thread where doing an initial copy. 

[grim.]

What a coincidence that I settled for FreeFileSync as my backup software yesterday after my old SyncToy started acting funny. Little did I know that people would be using it at a more complex level.

I'll have to look into this batch file stuff later when my 3TB of data are safe and I'm calm again. By the way, the Donation Edition seems to work faster b/c of that parallel operation stuff. Not sure how to optimize it exactly but my transfer speeds went from 5 MB/sec on the free version to 60-80 MB/sec on the Donation version. I was gonna donate anyway.