android BIG NEWS...Then END of renaming softlists

[thatman84]

WOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!

 

I just loaded an Atari 5200 game with MAME (Arcade) RA core from Hyperspin that is named as per the official Hyperspin xml. NOT using software lists or hash files. In a rom folder named Atari 5200.

BUT its 11pm and I got work at 6am so gotta sleep.

 

Its not all good news as this method requires a bunch of text files to be created. I expect someone will come up with a little script easy enough for that. Until I have tested more it could be nothing but I dont think it is.

[Aorin]

2 hours ago, thatman84 said:

WOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!

 

I just loaded an Atari 5200 game with MAME (Arcade) RA core from Hyperspin that is named as per the official Hyperspin xml. NOT using software lists or hash files. In a rom folder named Atari 5200.

BUT its 11pm and I got work at 6am so gotta sleep.

 

Its not all good news as this method requires a bunch of text files to be created. I expect someone will come up with a little script easy enough for that. Until I have tested more it could be nothing but I dont think it is.

I never tried atari 5200 via Retroarch, but since I managed to run NEO GEO CD and CD-i via Rocket Launcher+Retroarch I'm almost sure you don't have to create any dummy files, nor create specific names for folders or the likes, Rocket Launcher sends CLI commands to Retroarch and mame core opens it without complaining.

I believe you already read some of my libretro guides to run MAME/MESS games without renaming anything, I have NEO GEO CD and CD-i games named according to our databases, no dummies, and no special folders and files.

 

Edit: Only now I noticed that this thread is meant for Android, that doesn't have Rocket Launcher at all, so ignore what I said above.

[thatman84]

6 hours ago, Aorin said:

I never tried atari 5200 via Retroarch, but since I managed to run NEO GEO CD and CD-i via Rocket Launcher+Retroarch I'm almost sure you don't have to create any dummy files, nor create specific names for folders or the likes, Rocket Launcher sends CLI commands to Retroarch and mame core opens it without complaining.

I believe you already read some of my libretro guides to run MAME/MESS games without renaming anything, I have NEO GEO CD and CD-i games named according to our databases, no dummies, and no special folders and files.

 

Edit: Only now I noticed that this thread is meant for Android, that doesn't have Rocket Launcher at all, so ignore what I said above.

Doh I forgot the android prefix tag was Overly excited , will see how long that lasts since I only tried one game from one system.

 

[THK]

I have a phone that is android....

[thatman84]

7 minutes ago, THK said:

I have a phone that is android....

Thanks for sharing:) my android device can't make/receive calls or texts and needs mains power.

[sanchezmike01]

Lemme know what the text file needs and I'll see if I can make a script for it...

[thatman84]

4 hours ago, sanchezmike01 said:

Lemme know what the text file needs and I'll see if I can make a script for it...

Tested 5 5200 games last night and all worked. so I expect this is going to work well across the board. (Unzipped roms tested only)

the script I could do with would need to do this.

1. Create a text file for every rom in a folder. 1 for each rom

2. The text file needs to be named as the rom name

3. Inside the text file needs to be the name of the rom with the extension inside of quotations. I can then inject the rompath with notepad++ and the system specific MAME command (a5200 -cart)

i should be able to do the rest with notepad++ and bulk rename utility. Although I'm not sure how to inject the rompath at a specific point. Bulk rename can change the extension easily

for Atari 5200 the format is this inside the text file (specific to my rompath)

a5200 -cart "/storage/MYCLOUD/roms/Atari 5200/GAMENAME.EXT"

over and above that if the batch could add the rompath and change the extension to .cmd that would be awesome. But it needs to be easily configurable to use for other people's rompaths.

the a5200 -cart part will be different for other systems and I would need to find that stuff out but the RocketLauncher MAME.ahk will help there.

[sanchezmike01]

Honestly idk if it's even possible to 2....not only do u need multiple copies of the file (which can be done with a batch script)  but u need the files named a certain way and u also need the info in each file different depending on each game.....seems like alot of work will need to be done...for me it's easier 2 rename them according to the xml

[thatman84]

manually is easier this way than renaming 4 sets of media imho. You also get the benefit of adding other mame commands to lauch with, your not confined to using MAME romsets and finally there is no need for a custom XML. You can use official databases with all the metadata

[sanchezmike01]

When u have time can u link an example file?...would like to test on my phone and how 2 use it...such as when I load core then load content, do I load the text file or the rom I will be testing with... it's a text file not a rom or bios so I beleive it stays within forum rules

[thatman84]

rom folder structure (CMD files can be anywhere) a5200.zip bios needs to be with roms

Command files zipped just extract

Atari 5200.zip

my ini file. Please use as reference as its customised

Atari 5200.ini

use the hyperlist xml or any other stndard one

[sanchezmike01]

I tried this on my phone but it keeps crashing....edited the cmd to point to my location but it won't load 

[thatman84]

7 hours ago, sanchezmike01 said:

I tried this on my phone but it keeps crashing....edited the cmd to point to my location but it won't load 

You got the MAME (Arcade) .183 core and your bios in with the roms?

[sonkun]

On 3/12/2017 at 5:11 PM, thatman84 said:

You got the MAME (Arcade) .183 core and your bios in with the roms?

I go away for a bit and here you are bringing new good things to the table ? This looks interesting. If this whole thing is a success this may even alter the whole "renaming project". May give this a try at some point.

[thatman84]

 fingers crossed. I didn't carry on while you were away I was waiting till MAME 0.184 and got sidetracked by a couple of things. Be cool to have someone testing it out let me know when your ready to go via discord.

[sonkun]

Nice, a new MAME core coming. Hopefully the controls are fixed in that one along with the option to bring up the one button menu again.  I also have a new project I'm I already started working on, I have a about 1,500 MAME artwork files I plan to turn into Retroarch overlays using cfg files just like how we did with the Vectrex ones. Some artworks come with multiple bezels so I'm just cherry picking which ones I like but anyone can use their own bezels if they don't like mines. I'm already up to the letter G in renaming. I'll keep you guys updated on this.

[thatman84]

Did you grab the Metalzoic pack or something different?

[sonkun]

I can't remember where, the thing is I downloaded random packs from everywhere and just combined them. They're all made for 1080p monitors I believe. Once I get done with them all I'll either make a new thread here or on the Retroarch forums or both with links and everything needed. It's a lot to work on so it won't be done for a little while but hopefully soon.

 

Edit: After searching Metalzoic pack I see his is most likely what I have as my artwork includes bezels from all those names (Ashurax, AlexDC22 etc.) included in almost every game so that most likely is the one. I know there isn't artwork available for every single MAME game out there but I'm definitely trying to get my hands on everything that is available. More than likely when I make the new thread it will be kind of like a constant update thread as well when new art becomes available.

[thatman84]

Phulshoff manages a pack of metalzoics and continues to update it for MAME which can be used with retroarch MAME. I have not tried it but prolly best to check it out may work better than ra overlays. Even John Merit has moved over from ra to MAME because it's better at handling bezels and he made/edited a lot of overlays. Just a thought before you spend to much time doing something like that

[sonkun]

When you say MAME you're talking about Mame4Droid handling bezels better than RA? Also Phulshoff has all the available MAME artwork converted to overlay cfg files? The whole reason I started this project was because when using Mame4Droid and I load up a bezel for any game it doesn't display it on top of the game, instead it becomes "apart" of the game. Then if you happen to add any kind of overlay (I always use scan lines) then the bezel too then has scan lines all over it. Here's an example using Mame4Droid with scan lines and bezel art turned on:

You can see the scan lines all over the bezel when it should just be covering the game but when I convert that same bezel for use on Retroarch it looks like this:

The bezel is nice and clear and the shader covers the game only. And that's the look I want for all my MAME games and what I hope to acheive with this project. Unless there's another method I don't know about this seems to be the only way to get clear looking MAME bezels on the screen while using shaders.

[brentg]

OK  so I have tried, tried and tried on this one and am reaching out for help.

 

I used your batch file creator and setup the paths.  Batch files all just dandy.  Setup for shield but "path"ed a couple to the external hdd to test in windows environment.

On shield running either latest from store or nightly - crash - logs are a PITA as its not rooted so I switched across to windows environment to see what was happening

Same crashing constantly when trying to run these CMD files - it's not just a5200, but all of them (astrocde, gamecom, atom, intv to name a few) so it has to be a path issue

I have tried stable, nightly and an older 1.4.1? version

I wish (or I can't find where) that the log  file showed where it looked for these things

Error is the dreaded....

NAME: a5200
DESCRIPTION: Atari 5200
YEAR: 1982
MANUFACTURER: Atari
5200.rom NOT FOUND (tried in a5200 a5200)

my CMD files look like this...

Test one for Windows - 

FILENAME - Activision Decathlon, The (USA).cmd

CONTENTS OF FILE -

a5200 -cart "f:\roms\Atari 5200\Activision Decathlon, The (USA).a52"

 

Ironically if I pass this command line straight into MAME

mame64.exe a5200 -cart "f:\roms\Atari 5200\Activision Decathlon, The (USA).a52"

then it and all the others work without a hitch

 

I think it's also fair to say I have the BIOS files in just about every directory known to man too (haha though obviously not the one where its looking)

system/mame/roms/a5200 - in there zipped and unzipped, plus a further sub directory zipped and unzipped

system/mame/roms - a5200.zip in here

f:\roms\Atari 5200     - a5200.zip in here, plus a sub directory with it zipped and unzipped haha and yes another sub dir with it again

 

I have tried diff BIOS versions too - but I still have the all round problem of it not finding any of them

Retroarch cfg is set to...    system_directory = ":\system"

I also have tried playing with the mame core setting turning off softlists? etc

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

 

Brent

 

 

 

output.log

[thatman84]

What version mame core is it?

I dont think i got it working on PC so you may aswell forget that for testing.

 

Please post your shield CMD file

 

I remember a few things like no spaces in folder names

Last folder should be named a5200

Make sure you have the correct / or \ in right places.

Keep all the games and bios files on shield internal storgage for testing

Logs are a pain i do it with Android sdk terminal but its a bitch to setup

[brentg]

Currently trying with MAME 0.186 core from nightly

tried with play store version too

Do you have a mame.ini? if so I wouldn't mind a nose at it or your mame.cfg to see the settings re softlists or CLI

also is folder mame case sensitive?  I noticed my /config folder had a MAME created in it (all caps) whereas I have been using lower case mame in the system folder

shield CMD file is...

Filename: Ballblazer (USA).cmd

------CONTENTS----------

a5200 -cart "/storage/5ACA0207CA01E05D/roms/Atari 5200/Ballblazer (USA).a52"

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

I thought spaces were ok in the CMD file and roms dir, when I copied your example

 a5200 -cart "/storage/MYCLOUD/roms/Atari 5200/Activision Decathlon, The (USA).a52"

It was already similar to my layout

 

excerpt of Atari 5200.ini

[exe info]
rompath                = /storage/5ACA0207CA01E05D/roms/Atari 5200/
userompath            = true
exe                    = com.retroarch/com.retroarch.browser.retroactivity.RetroActivityFuture
romextension        = cmd
parameters            = cores/mame_libretro_android.so
searchsubfolders    = false
pcgame                = false
winstate            = HIDDEN
hyperlaunch            = true

 

I have just been trying to get it running fine through Retroarch first before moving into Hyperspin launching it as I cant see that being a problem.  Guess I will have to do something for rooting the shield if I want to get log files easily.  Thats my only unknown - retroarch stops responding error on all CMD file launches.  I only "assumed" it is the same missing BIOS files as thats the error reproduced when retroarch crashes on windows pc though as you said you could never get it going on it i might be searching in the wrong spot

 

Thanks for the response

 

Brent

[thatman84]

I will try and have a look later but got plans tonight.

Spaces is probably fine then

Try moving the roms to internal and check libretro to see if cmd support has been removed in latest core

[brentg]

Well as a little tester - I went down the hash file renaming route and they work fine( on RA in both windows and Android).  Not really a viable option as it would mean renaming of all graphics & videos within hyperspin.

Doesn't look like CMD is broken nothing reported anyways.  Plus I have tried most retroarch variants and still crashing.  CMD is still listed as accepted filetype in the latest mame git info screen too.

 

Are there a few android users out there with this working?  I would love to go this route so I can carry on with the "standardized" hyperspin graphics naming and xml's.

 

thanks

 

Brent