Having issues w/ different versions of MAME

[DANYCYO]

ok so the issue is that I have 1 folder with all of my Mame Roms approximately 69gbs worth.  

Certain games require different versions of Mame to run.   I am currently using version .187 on my build but certain games are incompatible with this version that I want to play.

I created a platform called Arcade and it has a lot of titles in it.  How can I filter just the MAME games that are compatible in that platform.  If I can do that then I plan on downloading other MAME versions and just creating other Platforms and filtering so those platforms will filter with just those titles  Any help would be appreciated.   The consoles were much easier to setup than the Arcade.  

I essentially want to be able to click on any box art or most box art and have the version the rom needs automatically play with the correct version of MAME.  How can I do this?

Edited October 30, 2020 by DANYCYO

[neil9000]

3 hours ago, DANYCYO said:

Certain games require different versions of Mame to run.   I am currently using version .187 on my build but certain games are incompatible with this version that I want to play.

Thats not true at all, the working games in a MAME romset are designed to work with the matching version of the emulator. You say you have a 0.187 romset, are you using the 0.187 version of the emulator? If you have games that are supposed to work and dont, then that will be the issue, using the wrong emulator version. Also it could be that the games you are testing also need a CHD file and you dont have them (they are not in the standard romset you have, they are a separate, and much much larger pack).

[DANYCYO]

so the challenge is that I have collected roms over the years from different versions of MAME not just romset version .187.  The problem is I put my entire mame rom collection in 1 folder so I don't know which romset version each game is.  I am currently using mame version .187 and it works with the .187 roms but i have several other games that aren't working in LaunchBox although the titles generate.  Now when I exported all the titles to Lunch box some titles will play and others won't.  Is there an application that will auto organize them or is there a version of mame that plays all rom set versions?

Edited November 2, 2020 by DANYCYO

[neil9000]

4 hours ago, DANYCYO said:

Is there an application that will auto organize them or is there a version of mame that plays all rom set versions?

No, you would need to get a proper fullset. Version doesnt really matter to much, but the newer the better. Then just make sure whatever set you get to match that to the same emulator version. You should never trawl the net for random MAME roms for this very reason, things change not only with the emulator, but the roms themselves, and the emulator has a list of every zip, and the files that should be in said zip, if that is different in any way to what it expects, the game wont work at all.

[DANYCYO]

So all of my roms are in individual zip files but as you mentioned only certain roms are compatible with certain versions of MAME thus needing a full set for that version.  For those that have a full arcade how many different versions of MAME are you using on your Launch box to get the majority of these titles working?  I see there are programs on the net that do organize and remove duplicates, clones, and will organize by version.  That seems like the easy way to go rather then redownloading 60gb of full rom sets when I already have them all in a single folder.  I just downloaded the newest mame version 126.  There has to be an easier way to accomplish this.  I have all my other emulators and roms setup but mame has to be the challenge and the most important piece of the puzzle for my home build.  This would also mean that I would need to set individual controls for each version of MAME which isn't too difficult but just a PITA. 

Edited November 3, 2020 by DANYCYO

[neil9000]

4 hours ago, DANYCYO said:

  For those that have a full arcade how many different versions of MAME are you using on your Launch box to get the majority of these titles working?

Just the one thats what i'm saying. If you have a actual romset and not something cobbled together from all over the internet then you just match the romset to emulator version. So if your romset is the latest 0.226 version then all the games that actually work in MAME will work in the 0.226 version of the emulator, you dont need any other versions.

 

5 hours ago, DANYCYO said:

  I see there are programs on the net that do organize and remove duplicates, clones, and will organize by version. 

For those you need the update packs, which are released every month along side the actual fullset, so if you have every singly update pack from when your set is from until now (which would be about 40 update packs and would probably be around the size of a actual full romset at this point then you can do what you want, but im guessing you dont have those and wont be able to find them all)  You cant just point it at your cobbled together romset, as i stated in my previous reply, you are missing all sorts of files from inside the zips probably thousands of them at this point, there is no software on earth that can make what you have a correct romset, you need a new one, again, like i said in my previous post.

 

5 hours ago, DANYCYO said:

That seems like the easy way to go rather then redownloading 60gb of full rom sets when I already have them all in a single folder

What you have is NOT a romset, what you have will not work, you need to start from scratch with a correct romset, otherwise you will never get MAME working correctly. Just ditch the rubbish you have that mostly doesnt work, and get a proper romset that does, you have no other choice at this point if you want games to actually work and not just take up space on your HDD for no reason.

[Retro808]

9 hours ago, DANYCYO said:

For those that have a full arcade how many different versions of MAME are you using on your Launch box to get the majority of these titles working? 

My comments mirror everything @neil9000 already stated. One version of Mame and that is it. I used to pick and choose the roms I wanted form different sites many, many years ago and fell into the same hole. It is more troublesome this way, especially if you ever want to update Mame to take advantage of its improvements. Keeping multiple versions of Mame to run different roms is just over-complicating things.

10 hours ago, DANYCYO said:

I see there are programs on the net that do organize and remove duplicates, clones, and will organize by version.  That seems like the easy way to go rather then redownloading 60gb of full rom sets when I already have them all in a single folder.

To me it is easier just downloading a new set when you are ready to update your roms and emulator. I do not import the full working Mame set, but I do keep the full set in my files. I only import about 500 or so roms. Since I keep the roms in the same folder I just remove the old set and drop in the new set in. Some users will just run the new torrent against the existing rom folder and it will just download the changed/missing files from the new set. So that is an even easier way. I only update my roms maybe once or twice a year so I just download a new fresh set. The whole process take me really only as long as the download takes.

[DANYCYO]

Thanks for the help guys forgive my newbiness.  So here is my next question. Is there a way to export MAME roms from launch box that I have listed as my favorites so I can have a folder of the roms that I know work fine and then carry just those titles over being that I know they work correctly?  (I am not certain what version the roms are but I know they work on .187 and version 126 also).

I currently have a full rom set of 4000 games that work with version .187.  How can I update the romset version to ensure it will be compatible on 126?   do I need to test each one individually?  or do I just download a full romset version for 126 and then just replace any existing files in the folder by pasting them into that folder and having it replace any duplicates etc.?