Import Roms issue - not working some arcade roms

[gudwls5022]

I followed the tutorial video on importing FB Neo into Launchbox, but encountered an issue.

Certain ROMs were missing during the import process. They clearly exist in the Launchbox database, but it seems unable to recognize them.

For example, it fails to import ROM files like Akai Katana and Dodonpachi Saidaiojou, which are not part of the MAME romset. I tried rescan operations and re-importing, but they still won't add. Even when attempting to manually add the missing ROMs via drag-and-drop, the Import Wizard displays “0 games imported.”

 

I've tried changing all the options:

Unchecked “Search local metadata database”,

Checked “Force import duplicate games”,

Unchecked “Use MAME database”.

 

Even after trying every possible combination, nothing gets added.

 

This clearly seems like a functional issue, and I don't understand it. Where could the problem be?

Is there a specific file name structure required for import, and does it absolutely prohibit importing if the file name doesn't match?

 

If it worked properly, during the ROM import process from a folder, it should either import only those found in the database (omitting those without metadata), or import everything and display ROMs not in the database even if they lack metadata. At this point, with unintended, unknown missing files existing, I believe it has already lost its value as an emulator frontend.

 

However, seeing that it even refuses manual addition via drag-and-drop for individual missing files makes me suspect something is amiss, prompting this inquiry.

 

Is this actually the intended normal operation as designed by the developer? Or am I completely misunderstanding how it's supposed to work?

I recently reinstalled Launchbox entirely, using both the official build and updating to the beta build.

 

If I'm mistaken or there's a better way, please let me know.

[JoeViking245]

8 hours ago, gudwls5022 said:

If I'm mistaken or there's a better way, please let me know.

I believe those 2 Cave games were removed from Official MAME, so the ROMs aren't found when running mame.exe -listxml. Which is what LaunchBox uses to cross-check MAME (Arcade) ROMs/games.

When in your FBNeo platform (that's set to scrape-as Arcade), you can press Ctrl+N to manually add them.  Fill in the games Title and press Enter (to search the database), they'll be found.  Then in the Launching section Browse to your ROM(s).  Just be sure to spell DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou correctly.

[gudwls5022]

2 hours ago, JoeViking245 said:

I believe those 2 Cave games were removed from Official MAME, so the ROMs aren't found when running mame.exe -listxml. Which is what LaunchBox uses to cross-check MAME (Arcade) ROMs/games.

When in your FBNeo platform (that's set to scrape-as Arcade), you can press Ctrl+N to manually add them.  Fill in the games Title and press Enter (to search the database), they'll be found.  Then in the Launching section Browse to your ROM(s).  Just be sure to spell DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou correctly.

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the additional caution. It seems manual addition is possible using that method now.

 

So, at this point, is there no option to import all files, including those that don't match the database in the specified folder? Users typically organize ROM sets for one platform or emulator per folder unless there's a special case, so the absence of this option is somewhat puzzling. Many users employ other arcade emulators like FightCade or HBmame besides FinalBurn Neo. Having this option would allow ROMs with existing databases to automatically retrieve metadata, while users could manually fill in metadata for ROMs without databases or combine hacked ROMs with other parent ROMs.

 

Without this feature, the situation seems problematic: 1. Users don't know which ROMs were missed during import. 2. Even if they identify the files, they must manually specify each ROM's location and add them individually.

[Jayinem]

"It seems manual addition is possible using that method now. "

Not a new feature that's pretty much how I always add mine for over 6 years now. 

Edited Monday at 03:26 PM by Jayinem

[JoeViking245]

10 minutes ago, gudwls5022 said:

So, at this point, is there no option to import all files, including those that don't match the database in the specified folder?

I don't believe any platform imports games based solely on the LaunchBox Games Database.  Pretty sure they're imported based on the games filename. And in some (most? all?) cases, the file extension as well.

The Arcade platform (or Scrape-As Arcade) is unique to most all other platforms.  It imports games base on the filename and extension also, but then looks them up (cross-checks) them against the MAME.xml file (located in the Metadata folder).  This file is created by running mame.exe -listxml, as mentioned earlier.  This will produce a "list" of all Arcade machines [available to MAME].  The 2 you mentioned were removed by MAME at the request of the games' developers.  Note: not all games in the "list" are playable in MAME.

For the MAME derivatives, e.g. HBMAME, they generally use the same set of ROMs and are able to emulate some games MAME can't. And they may also add in those 2 in question (and others?).

 

I'm not sure if these other Arcade emulators have an available -listxml parameter or at the least, a definitive list of the ROMs (along with the machines game Title) they can emulate.  If they do, you might want to put in a feature request to include a custom importing feature for games using those specific emulator(s).  (Top of this page, under Help & Support)

[gudwls5022]

59 minutes ago, JoeViking245 said:

I don't believe any platform imports games based solely on the LaunchBox Games Database.  Pretty sure they're imported based on the games filename. And in some (most? all?) cases, the file extension as well.

The Arcade platform (or Scrape-As Arcade) is unique to most all other platforms.  It imports games base on the filename and extension also, but then looks them up (cross-checks) them against the MAME.xml file (located in the Metadata folder).  This file is created by running mame.exe -listxml, as mentioned earlier.  This will produce a "list" of all Arcade machines [available to MAME].  The 2 you mentioned were removed by MAME at the request of the games' developers.  Note: not all games in the "list" are playable in MAME.

For the MAME derivatives, e.g. HBMAME, they generally use the same set of ROMs and are able to emulate some games MAME can't. And they may also add in those 2 in question (and others?).

 

I'm not sure if these other Arcade emulators have an available -listxml parameter or at the least, a definitive list of the ROMs (along with the machines game Title) they can emulate.  If they do, you might want to put in a feature request to include a custom importing feature for games using those specific emulator(s).  (Top of this page, under Help & Support)

Thank you for your kind and detailed response!

It would be very useful if the Arcade Importer could skip the part where it cross-checks with the XML file, or if it allowed for customization during import. I'll look into it and submit a feature request!