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Can't get Launchbox to recognize CD-I .chd files


WraithTDK

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I've been having a devil of a time trying to get Launchbox to recognize my CD-I files. Per the advice of the YouTube tutorial, I aquired them in .chd format from the MAME software list. The only thing I've done differently from that tutorial is that I'm using MAME instead of MESS, because MESS no longer really exists, having been merged with MAME. Do I need to be doing something vastly different here?

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52 minutes ago, WraithTDK said:

I've been having a devil of a time trying to get Launchbox to recognize my CD-I files. Per the advice of the YouTube tutorial, I aquired them in .chd format from the MAME software list. The only thing I've done differently from that tutorial is that I'm using MAME instead of MESS, because MESS no longer really exists, having been merged with MAME. Do I need to be doing something vastly different here?

For some reason, this is one of the most tricky systems to get working with Mame, based on the number of posts I've seen here on the LaunchBox forums, and I'd have to agree with that, mostly because of Mame's slightly picky configurations for software games like this. First, make sure you have the correct bios file (named "cdimono1.zip" or "cdimono1.7z") and also make sure you have the cdimono1.ini the "ini" folder of mame with the correct directory of where your bios is located. For example, like this:

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
homepath                  .
rompath                   C:\launchbox\emulators\mame\bios
hashpath                  hash
samplepath                samples
artpath                   artwork
ctrlrpath                 ctrlr

I just tested this out, and it's now working for me.

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15 minutes ago, WraithTDK said:

I don't have cdimono1.ini. That's gotta be it. I'm not even sure what that is. I'll have to do some digging.

okay, it's basically a copy of the mame.ini file, but customized for only cdi games. so if you don't have it, just copy the mame.ini file and rename it to cdimono1.ini and then change the settings accordingly

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8 hours ago, WraithTDK said:

I don't have cdimono1.ini. That's gotta be it. I'm not even sure what that is. I'll have to do some digging.

You don't need it. You just have to make sure that the your mame.ini rompath variable points to where your roms (BIOS) are AND where the root directory is for your software list software. (in there should be a folder cdi with your CHDs)

If you are having issues, if you start mame from a command prompt or powershell with the verbose option it should tell you the issue.

If using software lists:

Quote

./mame.exe cdimono1 defcrown -v

Or you can directly start a CHD without using software lists like any other rom:

Quote

./mame.exe cdimono1 -cdrm 'E:\Philips CD-i\Hotel Mario.chd' -v

You still need your rompath set in mame.ini so it can find the cdi bios file.

I prefer the second method in most cases. I keep my bios files in the rom directory in the mame directory which is on my SSD. On my HD I have folders for each platform and store the CHDs. It's easy to import that folder into LB and in general if I have a CHD or image that doesn't match the one mame's software lists wants, I can still run it. 

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Alright, so, right now I have cdimono1.ini in my F:\ROMS\Phillips CD-I\ directory, and Using Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon as an example, I've got F:\ROMS\Phillips CD-I\zeldgam\zelda - the wand of gamelon (1993)(philips)(us).chd.

I've got cdimono1.ini in F:\Arcade\MAME\ini\ (F:\arcade\MAME being where MAME64 is installed). In it I've got

----------------------------------------------------

#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig                1
writeconfig               0

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
homepath                  .
rompath                   "roms;F:\ROMS\Phillips CD-I\"
hashpath                  hash
samplepath                samples
artpath                   artwork
ctrlrpath                 ctrlr
inipath                   .;ini;ini/presets
fontpath                  .
cheatpath                 cheat
crosshairpath             crosshair
pluginspath               plugins
languagepath              language
swpath                    software

---------------------------------------------------------

And I've got this setup on my ROMS in Launchbox

image.thumb.png.884cdc4e0efa3c28f873926ad659f172.png

One thing that may well be relevant that I noticed: when I launch MAME64 on its own, none of the CDI games show up in the games list, even when it's unfiltered, which typically typically includes unavailable games. Perhaps the answer lies there?

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10 minutes ago, WraithTDK said:

Alright, so, right now I have cdimono1.ini in my F:\ROMS\Phillips CD-I\ directory,

This file will not be used. MAME will only read the one in it's ini folder.

10 minutes ago, WraithTDK said:

And I've got this setup on my ROMS in Launchbox

image.thumb.png.884cdc4e0efa3c28f873926ad659f172.png

When you are using the -cdrm option, you are no longer using MAME's software lists and are passing the path to the chd for MAME to use. 

Your file structure needs to be like this if using software list loading:

Quote

F:\ROMS\Phillips CD-I\cdi\zeldgam\zelda - the wand of gamelon (1993)(philips)(us).chd

We also need to see your default MAME settings in the LB Emulator page. When using software lists, you only want to pass the software name, not a full path.

 

Edited by Headrush69
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Quote

This file will not be used. MAME will only read the one in it's ini folder.

I'm sorry,I meant I've got cdimono1.zip (the BIOS file) there. Since you suggested adding cdi\ to my path, I copied the BIOS in there, and just for good measure, I added it to F:\MAME\ROMS\

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It's definitely the BIOS. Looks like MAME is looking for those two files - 

zx405042p__cdi_slave_2.0__b43t__zzmk9213.mc68hc705c8a_withtestrom.7206  

zx405042p__cdi_slave_2.1__b43t__zzmk9213.mc68hc705c8a_withtestrom.7201 

and none of the dumps I've found seem to have them, just cdi200.rom & cdi200b.rom.

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29 minutes ago, WraithTDK said:

AHHH-HAAAAA!

That IS a useful command! I'll make note of that for later!

image.thumb.png.6544caa0073c5446f3553c935707c0cc.png

Looks like I must have got a bad BIOS file from somewhere. I'll have to track down a better one. First time I've seen a site with a bad ROM dump.

Bios files usually come with a romset, you shouldnt need to source them from random parts of the internet, that is likely exactly your issue. You are using the wrong bios version for the version of mame you are using, MAME emulator and MAME romsets are versioned for a very important reason. Roms and bios files change over the years and the emulator version knows exactly what files should be in the zip for its specific version, if that is not correct nothing will load.

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58 minutes ago, WraithTDK said:

It's definitely the BIOS. Looks like MAME is looking for those two files - 

zx405042p__cdi_slave_2.0__b43t__zzmk9213.mc68hc705c8a_withtestrom.7206  

zx405042p__cdi_slave_2.1__b43t__zzmk9213.mc68hc705c8a_withtestrom.7201 

and none of the dumps I've found seem to have them, just cdi200.rom & cdi200b.rom.

these 2 files can be found in the cdi910.zip, I couldn't find it in any romset, so had to download it from the web.

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SO CLOSE! Alright, I was able to get an updated set and a good BIOS from PD. The trick was that the BIOS was in the standard MAME ROM set, not the Software List set. That got it working. Now the trick is getting it to work with Launch Box. if I tell it Launchbox that I want to use MAME during the import, it doesn't find any games at all in my ROMS\Phillips CD-I directory. Presumably this is because it's looking for MAME ROMs, and the CD-I games aren't listed in the standard ROM set. I can get around this by telling it that I'm going to use Retroarch, and then swapping the console's default emulator to MAME once all of the games are scrapped.

The problem there is that now is that the games aren't launching from Launchbox, which I assume is because it's sending the full name of the .chd file, instead of the shortened name that MAME recognizes. So instead of just sending zeldgamu, it's sending zelda - the wand of gamelon (1993)(philips)(us).chd

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59 minutes ago, WraithTDK said:

SO CLOSE! Alright, I was able to get an updated set and a good BIOS from PD. The trick was that the BIOS was in the standard MAME ROM set, not the Software List set. That got it working. Now the trick is getting it to work with Launch Box. if I tell it Launchbox that I want to use MAME during the import, it doesn't find any games at all in my ROMS\Phillips CD-I directory. Presumably this is because it's looking for MAME ROMs, and the CD-I games aren't listed in the standard ROM set. I can get around this by telling it that I'm going to use Retroarch, and then swapping the console's default emulator to MAME once all of the games are scrapped.

The problem there is that now is that the games aren't launching from Launchbox, which I assume is because it's sending the full name of the .chd file, instead of the shortened name that MAME recognizes. So instead of just sending zeldgamu, it's sending zelda - the wand of gamelon (1993)(philips)(us).chd

In LB It is setup as shown below:

Capture2.thumb.PNG.64cdeb185cd7fedcf1bbde7f7a077ad0.PNG

cdimono1 -cdrom

Capture.thumb.PNG.fc5007526f9dfee4f2dbce8db8669595.PNG

Capture3.thumb.PNG.392addfd7f604a3d7e67e1f5398e5801.PNG

 

There is also this thread on CD-i if still having issues.  

Lastly make sure your Mame.ini paths under rompath are set correctly to CHDs and ROMs based on your directory setup as well as hash path.  Mame will figure out the naming appropriately based on the hash file.  As example, my rompath is below but you would need to adjust to fit yours

rompath                   roms;roms_chds;software;software_chds

 

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I've got my Launchbox settings screnshotted a few comments up, looks the same as yours. I know the .ini file is functioning correctly, because like I said, I can now run the games from a command line prompt, for example mame.exe cdimono1 zeldgamu -v. The trouble - at least as near as I can tell - is that mame is looking for zeldgamu, which is the MAME-formatted name of the zelda - the wand of gamelon (1993)(philips)(us).chd, but instead it's getting the full name of the .chd file. That's why mame.exe cdimono1 zeldgamu -v will launch the game, but LB won't.

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