Topic: Can't Run Roms - Mameox 128 (Read 62 times)

nes6502 · « **on:** August 10, 2006, 04:13:00 PM »

You don't have the correct ROMs. Every version of MAME is different and requires lots of specific ROMs for that version only. The version of MAME on your PC is no doubt a different version of MAME then the one you are using on the Xbox which is why they work on one and not the other. So the solution is to go find newer versions of your ROMs and you'll have a better chance of them working in MAME128 on the Xbox

Cutriss · « **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2006, 08:08:00 AM »

And Romcenter says the checksums are all good. It did pick out a few of the games I was trying to run indicating my ZIPs were missing some files, but unsquad was fine and that's the one I was using for the test case.

Thraxen · « **Reply #2 on:** August 11, 2006, 08:55:00 AM »

QUOTE(Cutriss @ Aug 11 2006, 09:00 AM)

But all the filenames even match. The romdumps themselves aren't changing from version-to-version, are they?

And if the most recent version of MAME runs them, then that means that I have to scout out the ones I have and "fork" them into two different working sets. That seems to make no sense. I mean, I know you're a emulator developer and all, but that just seems like a bad way to do things. I guess I'll check them in Romcenter and see if that says anything helpful.

The game I'm testing here is a base game and not a cloneset (area88 is the clone) so there's only one ZIP file, with 11 roms in it, and those eleven are the ones listed by MAMEoX 128 as being missing.

Actually, yes, some romdumps do change with each new version of MAME. It's usually not a lot compared to the total number of games in MAME, but the changes stack up after several version have gone by and at this point the XBox version of MAME is many versions behind.

The "base game" you are talking about is usually called the "parent"... all the games based off the parent are called "clones". That might be your problem with some of the games. When you are at the ROM list in MAMEoX one of the listing methods (the default) has a column that lists the parent ROM, if there is one, for each game. If the ROM is the parent then that column will be blank. Try launching a game that is the parent, or if you do try launch a clone check to make sure that you have the parent ROM that is listed.

Cutriss · « **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2006, 12:49:00 PM »

QUOTE(Thraxen @ Aug 11 2006, 10:02 AM)

Actually, yes, some romdumps do change with each new version of MAME. It's usually not a lot compared to the total number of games in MAME, but the changes stack up after several version have gone by and at this point the XBox version of MAME is many versions behind.

The "base game" you are talking about is usually called the "parent"... all the games based off the parent are called "clones". That might be your problem with some of the games. When you are at the ROM list in MAMEoX one of the listing methods (the default) has a column that lists the parent ROM, if there is one, for each game. If the ROM is the parent then that column will be blank. Try launching a game that is the parent, or if you do try launch a clone check to make sure that you have the parent ROM that is listed.

Yeah, I'm doing that. unsquad is the parent game, and area88 is the clone, and I'm running unsquad.

I guess that's why one or more of the MAME releases on the Xbox comes with its own DAT. I guess that's for ROM validation purposes. I'll have to look there when I have a chance.

Thraxen · « **Reply #4 on:** August 11, 2006, 01:11:00 PM »

QUOTE(Cutriss @ Aug 11 2006, 01:56 PM)

Yeah, I'm doing that. unsquad is the parent game, and area88 is the clone, and I'm running unsquad.

I guess that's why one or more of the MAME releases on the Xbox comes with its own DAT. I guess that's for ROM validation purposes. I'll have to look there when I have a chance.

Yeah, the latest version of MAMEoX 128 Plus! (which is the current best version of MAME for the XBox) comes with it's own DAT which can be used to verify the ROMS.

Cutriss · « **Reply #5 on:** August 13, 2006, 09:28:00 AM »

Bleh, no help.

I loaded the DAT in Romcenter, and scanned the ROM pile. Plenty of errors reported, mostly due to clone ROMs being included in the same ZIP as the parent ROM, but still acceptable (just labeled as "useless files").

I looked through the list to pick one that was labeled as "OK" with no strings attached, and tried to run it. No dice. I was originally trying U.N. Squadron (CPS1) which showed as OK with two extra ROM files in it, and it failed. I tried running Vampire Savior 2 ("OK"), it didn't work. Since it's CPS2, I moved on, tried to load Galaga, nothing. Tried to load 1943kai, showed "OK" in Romcenter, no dice.

Edit: For the record, this also happens in MAMEdoX and the original MAMEoX.

Thraxen · « **Reply #6 on:** August 13, 2006, 10:19:00 AM »

QUOTE(Cutriss @ Aug 13 2006, 10:35 AM)

Bleh, no help.

I loaded the DAT in Romcenter, and scanned the ROM pile. Plenty of errors reported, mostly due to clone ROMs being included in the same ZIP as the parent ROM, but still acceptable (just labeled as "useless files").

Well, you can change how Romcenter arranges the ROMS. You are using "merged" sets where clones are in the same zips with the parent. In Romcenter go to "File" -> "Preferences" and then select the "Romsets" tab. At the top you will see a section called "Rom Structure". Make sure "Merged" is selected there.

QUOTE

I looked through the list to pick one that was labeled as "OK" with no strings attached, and tried to run it. No dice. I was originally trying U.N. Squadron (CPS1) which showed as OK with two extra ROM files in it, and it failed. I tried running Vampire Savior 2 ("OK"), it didn't work. Since it's CPS2, I moved on, tried to load Galaga, nothing. Tried to load 1943kai, showed "OK" in Romcenter, no dice.

Edit: For the record, this also happens in MAMEdoX and the original MAMEoX.

Hmmm... so each time it says that files are missing? Maybe your ROMS are zipped in an odd format. Try unzipping one, then rezipping it, and then trying it again in MAMEoX.

Cutriss · « **Reply #7 on:** August 13, 2006, 12:19:00 PM »

QUOTE(Thraxen @ Aug 13 2006, 11:26 AM)

Well, you can change how Romcenter arranges the ROMS. You are using "merged" sets where clones are in the same zips with the parent. In Romcenter go to "File" -> "Preferences" and then select the "Romsets" tab. At the top you will see a section called "Rom Structure". Make sure "Merged" is selected there.

Ah, okay, thanks. It has been a bit confusing to figure out.

QUOTE(Thraxen @ Aug 13 2006, 11:26 AM)

Hmmm... so each time it says that files are missing? Maybe your ROMS are zipped in an odd format. Try unzipping one, then rezipping it, and then trying it again in MAMEoX.

That's what I thought too, but I tried to unzip and rezip U.N. Squadron in WinRAR to see if that was the problem, and it's not (and yeah, I'm not saving them as RARs - they're ZIPs).

Another interesting thing - When the ROMs are loading, the available memory drops sometimes, but not always. It's hard to tell with the limited screen space, but it looks like it's successfully loading some of the files, but not always. So, I assume it is actually successfully opening the files. I just don't know why it's loading some and not others.

And I presume they're not bad dumps - after all, Romcenter reports them with correct checksums for the DAT file, and I've loaded the games in MAME32. I'm stumped.

Cutriss · « **Reply #8 on:** August 13, 2006, 02:02:00 PM »

Two things I thought of that I wanted to add -

The ROMs are on F:, not C:.

And though they're in the folders given above, I also tried starting Galaga and U.N. Squadrom in just the F:\ROMs\MAME\ROMs folder, just in case it was a folder name issue, and that wasn't it. I gave that a shot since the in-MAME configuration tool doesn't have '-' as a character option, and I have my ROMs sorted due to volume. No help there.

nes6502 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2006, 02:07:00 PM »

Have you tried deleting the previous MAME saves on E and rebuilding the rom list within MAME128?

nes6502 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 13, 2006, 02:30:00 PM »

QUOTE(Cutriss @ Aug 13 2006, 09:17 PM)

Yeah, that was the first thing I did, and then I had to open the save file on my PC to add in the custom directory names (since I couldn't enter a '-' in). Then I did a rescan.

In the midst of trying to get all this to work, I deleted all the old homebrew saves I had on the system (at least the ones that store in TDATA/UDATA), except for XBMC and DVD2Xbox.

I'll try it again though.

Just for the heck of it, try loading the unsquadron rom in FBAXX to see if it works there.

Cutriss · « **Reply #11 on:** August 14, 2006, 09:22:00 AM »

QUOTE(nes6502 @ Aug 13 2006, 03:37 PM)

Just for the heck of it, try loading the unsquadron rom in FBAXX to see if it works there.

Yep, peachy keen. Also loads SFA2 and SFA3 without incident.

Thraxen · « **Reply #12 on:** August 15, 2006, 04:06:00 PM »

Well, there must be another cause out there, but I'm stumped at the moment.

Cutriss · « **Reply #13 on:** August 16, 2006, 09:01:00 AM »

Just for the hell of it, I even installed WinZip, extracted all the ROM files, made a new ZIP with Normal compression, and made the file in WinZip (just to rule out some WinRAR weirdness), and that didn't work either.

Thraxen · « **Reply #14 on:** August 16, 2006, 09:44:00 PM »

OK, let's just focus on one game. Take SFA3. What files does it say are missing when you try to load it... and does your zip actually contain those files?

Author Topic: Can't Run Roms - Mameox 128 (Read 62 times)