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[Chad]

I was wondering if you could help me with some settings in ClrMamePro? Prior to version 4 I had my sets separated like Pleasursdome for downloading into ROMs, CHD's and LD-CHD's.

When I run version 4 it seems to put all the files into one directory (ROM's). I wasn't sure what I was doing, so I manually cut/pasted the files back into the folders and ran it again and lost and handful of CHD's on the 2nd or 3rd run (insanity theory).

I had a backup and just cut/pasted all the existing files along with the deleted files into working ROM's directory and it finally completed fine.

I don't mean to be long winded but is there a switch or option to keep the files separated in the directories but still check it like version 3.x or is the separation really not necessary?

I am sorry if this is a repeat topic and thank you for the help!

[Roman]

Generally I think it doesn't really make sense to keep chds in a different path than the belonging set (like why keep area51.zip here and area51.chd there....it's one and the same set). And keeping laserdisks again differently...erm? for what? But anyway, tastes do differ.

If you don't use system default paths, you can keep chds in an own rompath, however you need to be aware that found missing chds or wrong named chds will be moved to their belonging set's rompath. In other words, you may have to manually take care of the chds a bit. If the set is not (yet) available, the 1st rompath is used.
If you do use system default paths, you will get warnings about wrong placed chds since system default paths organize rompaths by system and won't accept a folder for chds.

[Chad]

Thanks for the reply Roman, I appreciate it.

I guess the separation is more from when downloading the ROM's, CHD's and LD-CHD's. They are separate torrents for each so when I join the torrent I know where to download them. I guess it wouldn't matter if it's one large subdirectory since I don't think the torrent would remove "extra" files?

I know I am completely green when it comes to understanding what you wrote so can I give you my example.

What I do is download the newest ClrMamePro which I do before updating the ROM's each time. I add 3 directories to Settings/ROM paths. ROMs, CHDs, LD-CHDs and 1 to the Samples subdirectory called Samples.

Under Rebuilder it shows the 1st listed ROM path in Destination but use system default paths is unchecked. Then I run the scanner with Sets, ROMs, Samples and CHDs checked and all the Fix options checked, (I guess I am not quite sure what the difference is between a Set and a ROM) and also I always click Auto-detect under Scanner/Systems, not sure if that's needed. Lastly the Hash & CHD/Run Analysis and Fix File (If Possible). It's a "habit" at this point that I always do by default for everything I scan. After it runs I dump the update packs on it and let it fix the sets.

After it completes it copies almost everything over to the ROMs folder but it does leave a few CHD's in the CHD folder. I am not sure but I think that's new or possibly different in the newest version?

When you say using or not using System Default Paths is that the option under Rebuilder? Also I didn't quite understand when you said if the set is not available, the 1st rompath is used?

Sorry if these are newbie questions since most tutorials don't quite explain the options but just the basic functionality. I looked for an answer but figured this would be the best place to try and understand how it works.

[Roman]

Set = a set of ROMs/CHDs/Samples; ROM = a single IC/PAL/GAL dump
So you got a set called "pacman" which consists of e.g. 8 single ROMs. Or you got the set area51 which consist of 1 chd and several romfiles. Usually romfiles are kept in an archive (zip), while chds are stored in a subfolder named after the setname. There are also chd-only sets.

The rebuilder does not rebuild chds, only roms.
Scanner's fix missing option scans various places for a missing rom/chd and if it finds it, it will be moved to the correct place. Correct place is either where part of the set already exist or -if nothing of a set exists- the 1st rompath.

You said you clicked auto-detect in systems, which means you DO use system default paths.
Now you scan with system default paths enabled but you rebuild with no use of system default paths...which is most likely not what you want. If you use the rebuilder as an adder, it should move the found files to the place you're prefering in the scan...and there you're prefering the setup sysdef paths.
System default paths means that you assing a rompath to each bios based system (and default/mechanical/devices). This is usually done if you want to organize sets in various rompaths, split by systems, e.g. neogeo belongs to rompath x while naomi belongs to rompath y.

As mentioned in my earlier post, in that mode you won't be able to split chds in an own rompath. If you got a naomi chd, it will be moved to the folder which is assigned to naomi. If you got a Triforce chd, it will be moved to the folder which is assigned to triforce and so on but the same applies to the roms of that set.

So if you really want to keep chds in a different folder than the belonging set (I still wonder why it should make sense to split sets apart ) you need to disable the usage of system default paths. This can be done by removing all assigned system default paths. Double click the path and don't select one in the folder browser. This will clean the entry. You will see that there's a tiny bug in 4.01 which doesn't allow you to alter the last entries in the list, so you can either create a new profiler or wait for the next version or edit the belonging .cmp file of the used profile (cmpro settings folder) and remove the entries Misc_BIOSSets, Misc_StandardBIOSPath, Misc_StandardMechPath and Misc_StandardDevicePath


So to sum it up: If you really want to keep chds in an own folder, get rid of system default path settings.

[Chad]

Thanks Roman for the great explanation, that really helped a LOT in understanding things! You're also right in that wasn't what I was wanting it to do. Can I ask one more question?

If you don't use 'System Default Paths' in the Scanner and you don't use them in the Rebuilder what happens when you drag-n-drop files on the scan Results window?

I see the 'Destination' under the Rebuilder shows the first ROM path that I chose under 'Settings'. Is that setting/path doing anything at all in that scenario?

Or does it just use the paths from 'Settings' and leave them in there original locations?

What happens if it's a new set in that scenario? Does it have a default location (like the first path in the Settings/ROM-Paths) to rebuild/create the set?

I hope that makes sense!

[Roman]

The rebuilder checks all files in the specified source folder (or what you drag'n'drop either in the scanner or rebuilder window), checks if the files matches anything in the loaded datfile and creates all instances of this match in the set destination path and uses the correct naming there.

So, everything valid will end in the rebuilder destination path and only there!

The destination path is not necessarily a rompath, but usually if you want to use the rebuilder as a nice and fast way to add files to your collection, it is.

When you require multiple destination paths, the only option currently is to use system default paths (where you can only split files by systems).

Some general facts about the rebuilder:
- it does not (yet) rebuild chds
- it does not rebuild samples
- it adds files to the destination, it does not overwrite the archives there, it adds the files and if an archive does not exist yet, it creates it.
- it's file based, not set based, this means you do not necessarily get full/complete sets as an output
- it creates all instances of matches, i.e. if 10 sets (which don't have a parent/clone relationship) all got 1 single rom in common, the rebuilder adds it to these 10 sets.

[Chad]

Hey Roman, that really helped a lot in understanding the program. I just wanted to say thank you very much! I have been using the program for years but I mostly just follow the tutorials and don't vary beyond that. Basically just a lurker in the forums.

The eye avatar you use is like a trade mark that I always associate with your name and a good thing. I know you probably have explained things over and over 100's of times and it can be a thankless "job" I am sure, but I just want to say thank you very much and have a great weekend!

[Roman]

you're welcome. by the way, the eye picture is from a c64 game (also amiga/atari iirc) called ******** happy guessing.