Export to Andriod copies all MAME roms

[pokrplyr]

Hello:

I am trying to use the export tool but when I select a small number of games (or select full set but only export favorites) it copies all my game files into the transfer folder. I assume I am doing something very simple wrong but I cant figure it out.

Thanks.

 

[neil9000]

4 minutes ago, pokrplyr said:

Hello:

I am trying to use the export tool but when I select a small number of games (or select full set but only export favorites) it copies all my game files into the transfer folder. I assume I am doing something very simple wrong but I cant figure it out.

Thanks.

 

That is probably by design, because if you dont have a Non-Merged romset then you cant just pull out specific games like that as the games also rely on other zips in the pack to actually work, so just pulling out a selection like that would lead to a lot of games simply not working.

[pokrplyr]

5 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

That is probably by design, because if you dont have a Non-Merged romset then you cant just pull out specific games like that as the games also rely on other zips in the pack to actually work, so just pulling out a selection like that would lead to a lot of games simply not working.

ah okay so if I have (say) 1,000 MAME games and only want to copy one (say) PacMan, it needs to copy all 1,000 games in case PacMan relies on a file in another game?

[neil9000]

11 minutes ago, pokrplyr said:

ah okay so if I have (say) 1,000 MAME games and only want to copy one (say) PacMan, it needs to copy all 1,000 games in case PacMan relies on a file in another game?

Pacman is actually a clone, the parent rom is pukman, so yes if you wanted to play pacman and dont have a Non-Merged romset then you need both of those files, as well as probably a bios file zip also, so three different zip files to play that version of the game, hence why pulling single zips out isnt a good idea and for many users would simply break most of their games.

If you want to pull out games like this you need a Non-Merged romset, which is the largest in size, but each zip is a working rom, the set is larger in size because the same files are duplicated hundreds of times throughout the romset instead of being referenced from one specific game zip and all games that need it using that file. If you have a Non-Merged set in Launchbox you can actually use the copy/move tool to copy all the working games to another folder, this results in about 2900 games totalling around 12GB of space, but that only works for a Non-Merged romset, as i said.

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by neil9000

[pokrplyr]

1 minute ago, neil9000 said:

Pacman is actually a clone, the parent rom is pukman, so yes if you wanted to play pacman and dont have a Non-Merged romset then you need both of those files, as well as probably a bios file zip also, so three different zip files to play that version of the game, hence why pulling single zips out isnt a good idea and for many users would simply break most of their games.

If you want to pull out games like this you need a Non-Merged romset, which is the largest in size, but each zip is a working rom, the set is larger in size because the same files are duplicated hundreds of times throughout the romset instead of being referenced from one specific game zip and all games that need it using that file. If you have a Non-Merged set in Launchbox you can actually use the copy/move tool to copy all the working games to another folder, this results in about 2900 games totalling around 12GB of space, but that only works for a Non-Merged romset, as i said.

Thanks very much. I do understand the merged Non-merged concept didn't occur to me that this would cause every zip file to have to be transferred in the Android export but it does makes sense. Appreciate your help.