Roms not recognized - Tips needed!

[MagicalFrank]

Yesterday I was trying to add Genesis roms and I was wondering why RL wasn't able to recognize any rom. Now I've found out that the roms must be named exactly the way are named in a specific DB. That it's quite annoying since I'm using those roms also in LB so now I have to configure once again LB with the new renamed roms. However, HS is so amazing that I won't probably use LB that much and it's worth the effort.

Just would like to ask you guys if Don rename tool is the best tool to rename roms or are there any better options? Also, I've got an important question... I have a pair of system romsets who are contained into subfolders (by genres). Do roms need to be contained in one folder in order to be recognized? I feel like the rom searching tool isn't able to search in subfolders...am I right?

 

[rastan]

1 hour ago, MagicalFrank said:

Yesterday I was trying to add Genesis roms and I was wondering why RL wasn't able to recognize any rom. Now I've found out that the roms must be named exactly the way are named in a specific DB. That it's quite annoying since I'm using those roms also in LB so now I have to configure once again LB with the new renamed roms. However, HS is so amazing that I won't probably use LB that much and it's worth the effort.

Just would like to ask you guys if Don rename tool is the best tool to rename roms or are there any better options? Also, I've got an important question... I have a pair of system romsets who are contained into subfolders (by genres). Do roms need to be contained in one folder in order to be recognized? I feel like the rom searching tool isn't able to search in subfolders...am I right?

 

Well I'm sure other's would disagree but me.. personally for certain systems (almost anything other than NES related or MAME) I could careless about official databases and what I'd do is just let RL build a database from the roms you have in the folder. you'll lose all the extra information in the databases but RL will find the roms and launch them.. which is the goal. I do know some people are serious about official databases and like all the extra info they provide but I never even miss that info for the systems that I've let RL build a database... I have my setting set to not show any info anyways.

when it comes to renaming large amounts of roms it's best to use a few tools... I use fat match which catches most but then the renaming tool in dons is good for manually matching stuff that got missed with fat match.. the one in dons is pretty good for automatically matching as well... but I use it after I use fat match just to catch the stuff that was missed.

[rastan]

5 hours ago, agent47 said:

Yes, I would because it's completely counterproductive. Instead of just renaming the roms which is quite quick and easy to do with something like Don's you then have to rename every single piece of media for every game. That means wheels, videos, boxes, carts, and any other media.

I agree it's best to rename when you have full sets... I personally only let RL scan the folder to build a database for systems that I'm honest with..  the systems like PlayStation 1 and 2 that I only have the roms that I actually had the games for those systems so it's normally just a few games and really doesnt matter.

[MagicalFrank]

That makes sense. Thanks for the useful info! What about the roms scanner in RL? Is it not able to scan the roms in subfolders?

[rastan]

2 hours ago, agent47 said:

I doubt it, you would probably have to add each subfolder to the rompaths in RLUI.m

[rastan]

3 hours ago, agent47 said:

Good for you man, but I don't need to know how you have your roms organized and it doesn't help answer Frank's question about his roms being in subfolders.

That was my bad I fucked up when I replied to that.. I didn't read the previous post and thought the response was to my post. I'm responding from the email notices on my phone so it was hard to follow the thread. My mistake 

[MagicalFrank]

I didn't believe that mathing both SNES and Genesis Roms was SOOO time-consuming. I spent 3 hours to rename those roms and creating customized DBs. I didn't get how to use that 'Fat' tool properly so I used Tur-search to rename my roms and then I used Don renaming tool. I guess there's a better way to do this (there MUST be!), but anyway...  However there's a SERIOUS BIG BIG Issue...both Genesis and Snes XMLs (and I guess many other Official XMLs) refers only to USA romset...this is PURE MADNESS guys... I've got at least 30 Japanese roms which aren't included in those official DBs...also some European roms aren't there. Is there any European or/and Japanese romset list that I can use to complete my Genesis and SNES DBs?

 

[32assassin]

you are dong something wrong, or you still don't fully understand how to use any of the renaming software.  

renaming your genesis or snes rom sets should not take you more than 20 min each.

 

Hyperspin XMls have a preference of US versions for every available game.  ONLY European Exclusives are added to the XMLs.

Japanese versions of games are ONLY added if they contain NO Japanese text. If you need to speak or read Japanese to play the game the game WILL NOT be added.

 

if you feel like the XMLs are missing games that match the Hyerspin XML standards  feel free to suggest them in the Official XML forums.

http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forums/forum/17-hyperbase-databases/

 

so that they can be added to future XML releases.

 

 

[MagicalFrank]

I'm pretty sure I've done the renaming task in the most inefficient way. @32assasin any good tutorial to suggest me or any tips to share? Don' tool is actually unable to recognize half of the roms (at least it failed in Game Gear/Snes/Genesis/NDS romsets). Maybe I didn't set Tur-search properly since the tool failed to recognize 2/8 of the romsets. @agent47 maybe I'm wrong, but It seems like some exclusive European roms are missing from those DBs. Also I don't get why there can be several clone roms for Mame, but on the 16bit system I'm 'forced' to get used to the USA name or version of the games just like "Another World" which is currently "Out Of This World" in USA. However is not a big deal...I'm just giving my point of view

 

I'll have a look on the DB info. Still I've got a lot to learn about HS!

 

[32assassin]

their should be multiple Don's tools tutorials in this site.  You can also find multiple tutorials video tutorials @ YouTube.

 

I would recommend that you use your google powers and look for Hyperspin ready rom sets.  Someone already took the time to rename all the roms for you; all you have to do is find

them and download them.  this is your best option since XMLs now contain Japanese translated roms,  

In order to get those you will have to apply patches to your roms.

 

I will tell you how Don's  tools work and why your roms are not being found.

Dons tools uses 2 methods to match your roms

1.  crc numbers (THIS DOES NOT WORK ON CD BASED SYSTEMS)

2. fuzzy match

 

CRC numbers:

Their are multiple groups that release rom sets,  TOSEC, REDUMP, GOOD, No-INTRO and many others I'm forgetting.   Each group has its own unique crc number to each rom.  a rom can be ripped by the same cart by NO-INTRO and GOOD set but they will not have the  same crc.  in generic terms think of a CRC number as an ID number on a rom.

The Hyperspin XMLs are built to have crcs for the NO-INtro sets.

typical  game entry in the XML

  <game name="Action Fighter (USA, Europe)" index="" image="">
    <description>Action Fighter (USA, Europe)</description>
    <cloneof />
    <crc>3658F3E0</crc>
    <manufacturer>Sega</manufacturer>
    <year>1986</year>
    <genre>Driving</genre>
    <rating>Other - NR (Not Rated)</rating>
    <enabled>Yes</enabled>
  </game>

 

 if you have the game Action Fighter,  Don's tools will look for the CRC 3658F3E0

If you pulled the rom from a  TOSE, REDUMP or any NON NO- Intro set Dons tools will not match your rom.

 

 

2 Fuzzy match

You can disable "Match using CRCs"   in Don's tools and use Fuzzy Scan.   This method will guess the correct name of the rom based on the current rom name.

their are some drawbacks.

if you have a rom named "Super Mario Bros"

Dons tools can be fooled into guessing  that the rom is either

Super Mario Bros  (USA, Europe)

Super Mario Bros 2 (USA, Europe)

Super Mario Bros 3 (USA, Europe)

 

this is why I do not like to use fuzzy scan, Your best bet is to download a complete No-Intro rom set and use the CRC match method.  their will be a handful of roms that are not found.  but the number is so small that you can do it manually.  But again,   look for a Hyperspin Ready rom set,  it will save you allot of time.

[MagicalFrank]

53 minutes ago, 32assassin said:

I would recommend that you use your google powers and look for Hyperspin ready rom sets.  Someone already took the time to rename all the roms for you; all you have to do is find

This is probably the best and fastest way!LOL However although it's a practical solution it wouldn't suit to my needs since I usually use a customized collection according to my tastes. There's no need to have complete romsets if you're not a serious romsets collector... 

Anyway, it was a very good suggestion, but it's too late for that...I'm almost already done with renaming roms. Fortunately I didn't need to rename any arcade roms such as Mame CPS Naomi and so on. I also find out an easier and fastest way to rename those nasty roms...I think that Hyperspin Checker is the best tool to rename a rom selection (if you have no more than 100 roms of course...). Autorename feature and autofilter feature let you do the renaming task in no time...it took me 25minutes to rename 200 NEC roms...it' a reasonable time!