MAME .283 Set won’t play any CHD based Games.

[ViperJPB]

I have been setting up a new clean Launchbox install on my new system. Put the full .283 MAME unmerged set on. Could not get it to run at all with Retroarch and libretto cores and I don’t know why. Problem for another time. So instead got it running with just the standard MAME install. All works fine but I can’t get any of the CHD games to run. Does the CHD set need to be unmerged to match the unmerged roms, as my current CHD set is merged? Should I change to a merged set to match the merged CHD set? 

[JoeViking245]

1 hour ago, ViperJPB said:

All works fine but I can’t get any of the CHD games to run. Does the CHD set need to be unmerged to match the unmerged roms, as my current CHD set is merged? Should I change to a merged set to match the merged CHD set? 

Where are your CHD folders located?  (semi-rhetorical) 

This depends on how you tell MAME where your 'regular' ROMs are located.

1. You set the rompath(s) via the MAME UI (or manually edited mame.ini)
2. You have -rompath %romlocation% in you default command-line parameters (in LaunchBox - Edit - Emulator)

 

if (1), you need to also add the path to your CHDs folder.

 

If (2), your CHD folders need to be in the same folder as your non merged ROM set.

e.g.

1. D:\My Games\MAME NonMerged\asteroid.zip
2. D:\My Games\MAME NonMerged\dkong.zip
3. D:\My Games\MAME NonMerged\gauntleg.zip
4. D:\My Games\MAME NonMerged\gauntleg\gauntleg.chd

1 & 2 are non-CHD games.  3 is the ROM for Gauntlet Legends and 4 is the CHD folder\file for it.

 

[ViperJPB]

Thx for the quick and detailed response JoeViking. I did add the CHD folder to MAME itself via the UI (also tried the ini) and the CHD folders are in with the roms as described. I’m not sure about that Launchbox command line parameters though. Will have to check. MAME itself does not run the CHD games either so it’s likely not a Launchbox issue. 
 

Will double check all though and get back. 
 

Just wasn’t sure if I was chasing my tail and needed to match a merged to merged CHD set or a non-merged to non-merged CHD set?

[JoeViking245]

53 minutes ago, ViperJPB said:

Just wasn’t sure if I was chasing my tail and needed to match a merged to merged CHD set or a non-merged to non-merged CHD set?

Ah ya, forgot to comment about that.  If you find a non-merged CHD set, I wouldn't trust it.   From a "reliable" source, they are Merged.

Check your mame.ini file for proper formatting of the rompath line. Should be something like:

rompath     "roms;D:\My Games\MAME NonMerged;D:\My Games\MAME CHDs"

Quotes at the beginning and end, only.  ; (semicolon) separating each path.  Paths can be relative to your MAME folder.  e.g. "roms" is a folder under the MAME root folder.

And since you've done this and it's working directly in MAME, make sure you DON'T have -rompath %romlocation% in the command-line parameters.

[ViperJPB]

I have this in the MAME ini. Seem alright? "roms;D:\LaunchBox\Games\Arcade;D:\LaunchBox\Games\Arcade"

 

When I try a CHD game from Launchbox screen blinks black then kicks back to launchbox. If I try the same game from the MAME emulator itself I get an error saying 

" game.chd DIFF CHD ERROR: Invalid parent
Fatal error: Required files are missing, the machine cannot be run"

These are matching complete sets of .283 from a reputable famous source.
 

[ViperJPB]

Well I just tried an older copy of the CHD in question and the game worked!!!? So this golden standard source isn't so golden. Complete is apparently an misused term. May need to try a different set since the complete merged .283 doesn't work with .283 rom set.

[JoeViking245]

Well, that's good to hear you got it working and sad to hear "the source" file didn't work.  The only golden source I know of is PD.  The 'archive' source is too volatile.  

Which game were you trying?  The ROM filename.  Call it morbid curiosity, but would like to test it also.

 

Speaking of "tests", I completely forgot about this little plugin.  If all went well, it would have mentioned either an issue with the ROM and or CHD not being accessible to MAME or the files missing (and I believe would also say exactly which files were missing).  Maybe if more issues arise.  

 

[ViperJPB]

Sadly this CHD set and rom set was from PD. CHDs of that set (1TB worth) at least three that I tried didn't work from the .283 set. kinst, kinst2, gauntleg. Not sure if i use the handful of old ones I have or just try an older set of CHDs from PD? Wanted a complete set this time around.

Interesting on the mame plugin. Will definitely look at that. 

[JoeViking245]

Just tried all 3 and they worked here (0.283 non-merged ROMs and 0.282 merged CHDs).  Well Gaunt Legends (1.6) would load and accept coins. But pressing player 1 start wouldn't do anything.  But was able to load and start v1.2 (gauntleg12) (which the CHD is [already] in with the /gauntleg/ folder).

 

As for getting a complete set for the CHD's... some food for thought:  (this was as of 0.266 as I'm too lazy to update it. 😊)

There were 640 CHDs, including clones.  351 of those are parents.  If those 351, 57 were considered "working".  I'd recommend cherry-picking which ones you decide to get.  

A great resource for determining which games are considered working is the Arcade Database.

e.g. gaultleg

[ViperJPB]

Thx will check that out. No idea why the .238 wouldn’t work for me. Tried a few more. Same issue. Then just copied my old ones over those and they started working again. 
 

[JoeViking245]

1 minute ago, ViperJPB said:

Thx will check that out. No idea why the .238 wouldn’t work for me. Tried a few more. Same issue. Then just copied my old ones over those and they started working again. 

Without knowing the specifics on the error(s) (not sure if the error said which exact files were missing), is there a possibility the version of mame.exe you're testing with is not 0.238?  Maybe you have different installs and accidentally started testing with an older version of the executable.

Although, looking through the revision releases for the ROM and the CHD, nothing appears to have changed with the 4 total files (3 in the zip and the CHD) in a long time.  At least their SHA hashes haven't changed. Not sure if that's an actual indication of anything or not.  If my thinking on that is correct, using mame.exe v0.278 with ROM v0.280 and CHD v0.282 should work.

Which leads me to think your CHD's may be screwy. As in, maybe something happened during download. And 'the old ones' you used that did work are "not screwy". (technical term. )

If you're so inclined, you could cross check the SHA1 hashes of your files against what's shown on Arcade Database.

 

Or.... just use the older ones and start playing these games.