EMULAB Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

The new forum is online, hope you enjoy it!

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: ClrMame Tutorial  (Read 3888 times)

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
ClrMame Tutorial
« on: 12 April 2022, 16:35 »

Hello!  I'm not EXACTLY a noob, but I am really struggling with ClrMamePro.  I have watched countless YouTube videos and web-based tutorials and still don't quite understand how to use this program.. I have two goals.  Maintain a full MAME ROM/CHD set with updates (non-merged) and.. generate custom ROM sets for various uses from the full set.  I've seen many different variations on ROM sets made by others but none are exactly what I want and I want to know how to do it myself.  I have spent a lot of time on Progetto Snaps and really can't make heads or tails about how to use a lot of what's there.

Here's my problem.  I have wrecked my full ROM set so many times trying to figure this out.  None of the tutorials are quite right, and make assumptions based on their own needs, or the knowledge level of the listening/watcher.  Every time I have to restore my backup ROM set to try again its a 1.5 hour ordeal, only to wreck it again in a matter of minutes.

Are there any good tutorials that you can recommend to finally get some level of competency with this?  I really appreciate any help!

Here's my current scenario.  I have ROM set 0.241 and update ROMs for 0.242.  Am I supposed to have a profile for my 0.241 ROMS?  I create one from the .exe file for 0.242 and try to apply the update pack and it keeps on fouling my full set to the point where I don't know how to recover and end uo deleting it and restoring my backup.  It's a grueling process.  Please help!
Logged


MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #1 on: 12 April 2022, 16:44 »

I'll reply to add some further details.  So, as I mentioned, I have 0.241 and I create a profile using the .exe file.  I then do a scan of the ROMs and find a TON of errors.  Is this normal?  Why do I see errors for the ROM set that was made for the version of MAME I am using?  That's my first point of confusion
Logged

Roman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • ***
  • Karma: 112
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3287
  • Operating System:
  • Windows NT 10.0 Windows NT 10.0
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 100.0.4896.75 Chrome 100.0.4896.75
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #2 on: 12 April 2022, 16:59 »

What you normally do:

1 ) Run clrmamepro, go to profiler, add one exe-based profile for *the current* MAME: Profiler -> create... -> filename: browser for your mame binary, description: MAME, Emulator MAME, hit create profile

2)  double click the profile, it will prompt that it runs mame etc....after confirming, it will import data. If a prompt asks you about importing Software lists, answer NO. Other prompts while importing can be answered with OK to all and yes to all.

3) after the main window appears, go to settings, top left drop down box should show ROM-Paths. Now you can add your rompaths here (either drag'n drop or use the Add... button). Same can be done (if needed) for sample paths (if you switch the drop down box accordingly)

4) Go to scanner, select your prefered merge mode (most likely it's split or merged sets) and that's basically it (maybe disable samples if you don't use them). If you now hit "new scan" your rompaths are scanned. Nothing is touched since you didn't enable the check options yet.
Everything which now appears in the scan results window is bad.

Now what does BAD mean:
You can examine the output (expand/collapse) to see what is wrong with the mentioned set.
If you think that can't be right, then maybe your setup is not ok.
For example: You're checking a collection which does not belong to the loaded database or your rompath setup is bad. If you have your roms in e.g. e:\temp\test\neogeo_roms\mslug.zip and f:\other\pacman.zip, then e:\temp\test and f:\other should be setup as rompaths. Or your chosen merge mode does not match the one of your collection.

Enabling the fix options and running another scan will actually FIX the problems (if possible).


This is one standard scan (+ fix)....after that the scan result should either be empty (no problems) or you might miss files (e.g. when a new MAME is out and new stuff was added). There are various ways of adding missing files, one is the rebuilder (rebuilder destination should point to your rompath).


When a new MAME is out, you don't have to repeat all of the above. You simply replace your MAME binary and when you load your old profile, cmpro sees and asks you to update its database. And of course you don't have to resetup your rompaths again or your scanner options.



So basically it's:
- load profiler, run a full scan with all fix options, use the rebuilder to add missing stuff (there are some nice scanner context menu options for drag'n drop which automatically run another scan after a rebuild etc....)


"Tons of errors" is not normal. As mentioned, you either use a wrong database, didn't setup the rompaths correctly or used a different merge mode.


Maybe some additions:

You should store sets like this (and setup your rompaths accordingly)
rompath\setname.zip (.7z/.rar) for compressed set
rompath\setname\file 1... file n for decompressed sets

so e.g. c:\temp\test\puckman.zip (with puckman.zip holding the puckman roms and c:\temp\test is your rompath)
or c:\temp\test\puckman\pm1_chg1.5e (and so on) (with c:\temp\test is your rompath, puckman is the setname which is a folder then and the single files like pm1_chg1.5e inside that folder


The merge modes:
- full merged (sometime also simply called "merged"): Only parent sets exist but the sets include the clone set files, too
- split merged (simetimes simply called "split"): Each set exists but the clone sets only hold the files which are unique and aren't shared with the parent set
- unmerged (not merged): forget that mode...it's not really used, each set exist and even clone sets have the shared parent files in them...a waste of diskspace and not even a real standalone since today a set has other dependencies as well (bios / devices).
« Last Edit: 12 April 2022, 17:12 by Roman »
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #3 on: 12 April 2022, 17:11 »

Hi Roman!  Thanks for your reply!  To address the "tons of errors" issue.  I have a non-merged set for 0.241.  I created a profile from the MAME.exe also 0.241.  I added my mame\roms path to the ROMS path and did a scan.  I see a ton of issues with the scan.  Errors like:
  • unneeded file
  • not separated biosrom

Your suggestion about different merge mode.. I know my roms are non-merged, but what would the profile generated from MAME be?  I suspect these particular errors are as you say, due to a mismatch in merge mode.  Most of the "unneeded" files are .bin and .svg filenames

Logged

Roman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • ***
  • Karma: 112
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3287
  • Operating System:
  • Windows NT 10.0 Windows NT 10.0
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 100.0.4896.75 Chrome 100.0.4896.75
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #4 on: 12 April 2022, 17:14 »

"I have a non-merged set for 0.241"

Then you're the only person on the planet who does that :) and actually I highly doubt that...it does not make sense to keep MAME roms unmerged since they are NOT stand alone. You still have device and bios relations (ok, the latter can be handle with turning off separate bios roms option, but you won't have luck with the device relation.

So....check again...sure that you're using unmerged sets...it's really really really uncommon. Use split instead ;)
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #5 on: 12 April 2022, 17:16 »

I most assuredly have a non-merged set.  I wanted to have the simplicity of copying one ROM around without having to worry about parent ROMS and BIOS files, etc.  Many tutorials for front-end system say this is the preferred format, while just about EVERYTHING else suggest split or merged
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #6 on: 12 April 2022, 17:20 »

Also, that output is JUST the scan.  I made no attempt to fix yet.  I am terrified of wrecking my ROMS again and having to restore my backup
Logged

Roman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • ***
  • Karma: 112
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3287
  • Operating System:
  • Windows NT 10.0 Windows NT 10.0
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 100.0.4896.75 Chrome 100.0.4896.75
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #7 on: 12 April 2022, 17:23 »

Unmerged is not "stand alone"...simply due to the device references.
Modern Frontends should all handle split or full merged sets (this is nothing new...)
So there is really no real need to use unmerged (unless I add a real stand alone mode).
I'd say the most common is split....and of course there are some hd-space-gurus who have everything fully merged in solid 7z archives (hey wake up....it's 2022 and TB of HD space is cheap... ;-))

You can turn off Scanner->Advanced -> separate bios sets...in case each of your sets really contains the bios files for their own....(yikes)....

but really....believe me: noone (should) use unmerged sets :-)
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #8 on: 12 April 2022, 17:36 »

I'm going to try and create a split set from my current set, and see how that changes things.  If it still doesnt work, I'll grab the native split set and try again.
Logged

Roman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • ***
  • Karma: 112
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3287
  • Operating System:
  • Windows NT 10.0 Windows NT 10.0
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 100.0.4896.75 Chrome 100.0.4896.75
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #9 on: 12 April 2022, 17:42 »

You can convert your sets by using the rebuilder by the way......

(in case your sets are compressed as zip, you can disable "recompress" in the rebuilder options, so it should run rather fast (depending on your system))

The rebuilder takes everything from the source which matches entries in the loaded dat (match by hash) and creates all instances of that match in the destination. There it uses the correct name etc....
« Last Edit: 12 April 2022, 17:43 by Roman »
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #10 on: 12 April 2022, 17:45 »

Yes, Thanks!. I'm using clrmamepro to do just that.  And thank you for that tutorial info.  Thats actually more helpfiul than anything else I have found online, especially the suggested structure info
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #11 on: 12 April 2022, 17:49 »

Regarding:
"You should store sets like this (and setup your rompaths accordingly)
rompath\setname.zip (.7z/.rar) for compressed set
rompath\setname\file 1... file n for decompressed sets"

Is it common to store set uncompressed?
Logged

Roman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • ***
  • Karma: 112
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3287
  • Operating System:
  • Windows NT 10.0 Windows NT 10.0
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 100.0.4896.75 Chrome 100.0.4896.75
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #12 on: 12 April 2022, 17:53 »

No...I only wanted to point out that it follows a general storing schema (and MAME follows it too).

Either you have your sets in archives (.zip or .7z) OR you keep them decompressed.

Of course 99.99999999999% use archives.
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X 10.15.7 Mac OS X 10.15.7
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.74 Chrome 99.0.4844.74
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #13 on: 12 April 2022, 23:57 »

I downloaded the split set (conversion was still at 66% when the download completed).  I ran the scan again.  This time, a LOT fewer errors, but still a lot.  They are all "Missing set" errors.  I am trying to understand where these errors are coming from.  I am using the version of MAME these ROMS are meant for.  Shouldn't there be no errors in the scan?  Is the problem that my "FULL" set is missing data that the profile I generated from MAME knows about?

Again, this is just a scan.. no FIX options selected.  I'm taking this one step at a time to make sure I understand what I am doing.
Logged

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Windows NT 10.0 Windows NT 10.0
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 100.0.4896.75 Chrome 100.0.4896.75
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #14 on: 13 April 2022, 03:10 »

OK!  I figured it out.. the missing set errors are all due to missing CHD files.  Now it all makes sense.  Thanks for your help!  This is the first successful run of ClrMamePro I've had!
Logged

f205v

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 100
  • Operating System:
  • Windows NT 10.0 Windows NT 10.0
  • Browser:
  • Chrome 99.0.4844.84 Chrome 99.0.4844.84
    • View Profile
    • EMMA dumping team
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #15 on: 13 April 2022, 07:08 »

Sorry for stepping in ;)
I just wanted to point out that I also keep a NON-MERGED set!
It is very handy when I use romcmp to compare a freshly dumped set with things already in MAME.
With a non-merged set I'm usually sure that ALL roms get compared, and not only those of that specific clone.

Just my 2 cents....
« Last Edit: 23 April 2022, 11:01 by Roman »
Logged
-------------
ciao
f205v

yescabernetnointernet

  • "And the wind screams Mary"
  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 1
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 70
  • RED is for WINE
  • Operating System:
  • Linux Linux
  • Browser:
  • Firefox 100.0 Firefox 100.0
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #16 on: 19 May 2022, 19:52 »

"I have a non-merged set for 0.241"

Then you're the only person on the planet who does that :) and actually I highly doubt that...it does not make sense to keep MAME roms unmerged since they are NOT stand alone. You still have device and bios relations (ok, the latter can be handle with turning off separate bios roms option, but you won't have luck with the device relation.

So....check again...sure that you're using unmerged sets...it's really really really uncommon. Use split instead ;)

Hey Roman!! And hello everyone else!!!
So... Just to say that I am a non-merged user too!  :D
You're not alone MrGrynch ;)

Are there ways to actually create full non-merged sets? Well... Yes!  8)
Is this a waste of gigabytes? Absolutely!!  ;D

My M. A. M. E. (0.243) complete romset it is currently structured as follows:
  • non-CHD sets > this directory has full non-merged sets (.zip): both parent(s) and clone(s) includes all their relative roms+bioses+devices
  • CHD sets > this directory contains merged sets (.zip) and CHD folders
  • samples > this directory contains samples (.zip)
Logged
Lo stalker portò scrittore e professore nella Zona...

MrGrynch

  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
  • Operating System:
  • Mac OS X Mac OS X
  • Browser:
  • Safari 15.4 Safari 15.4
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #17 on: 19 May 2022, 19:59 »

What I do now is maintain the full split set and then create a non-merged set with just the games I use on my cabinet.  I haven’t found a way to do a full non-merged set, but I have figured out how to get the BIOS and device files to get copied into the set separately. 
Logged

yescabernetnointernet

  • "And the wind screams Mary"
  • Member
  • *
  • Karma: 1
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 70
  • RED is for WINE
  • Operating System:
  • Linux Linux
  • Browser:
  • Firefox 100.0 Firefox 100.0
    • View Profile
Re: ClrMame Tutorial
« Reply #18 on: 19 May 2022, 20:07 »

What I do now is maintain the full split set and then create a non-merged set with just the games I use on my cabinet.  I haven’t found a way to do a full non-merged set, but I have figured out how to get the BIOS and device files to get copied into the set separately.
I just PMed you.
Logged
Lo stalker portò scrittore e professore nella Zona...
Pages: [1]   Go Up
 

Page created in 0.132 seconds with 19 queries.

anything