Reccommended ROM manager?

[stigzler]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for a Rom manager that will rename rom file names to those in .dat or .xml files (e.g. no-into;redump;hyperlist)

The awkward thing is it needs to do this by fuzzy match on the per-existing filename, not the CRC.

Here's what I've tried:

RomManager - great overall, but seems to match based on CRC

HSpin Tools - again - matches by CRC

FatMatch - someone suggested using this 'in reverse' - have correct filenames on the emumovies dl'd boxart - match + rename rom - however can only rename image from rom

Perfect Match - as above

ROMVault - doesn't display existing roms despite scanning them in - I'm assuming this also works on CRC

ClearMamePro - Thought I read somewhere that this also works on CRC. Must admit, haven't gone into CMP in detail because of this and also on initial impressions - it looks like something that you'd have to dedicate time to learning - don't want to do this if won't help.

So - any rom managers work on fuzzy match with existing filenames and dat/xmls? Frustrating because most are just tags off (e.g. (E) and or (J) or things like that)

As ever, any help greatly appreciated.

[nullPointer]

Hi Stigz!

Not to question your motives or anything, but are you sure you don't want an auditing tool to match on the CRC? Most of the tools you mention go beyond simple renaming to verify that the ROM itself is valid (or at least as valid as the source DAT). The renaming is a nice side benefit, but most ROM auditing tools are used primarily to verify that a ROM set is complete and valid.

Matching only by name could get very ugly. Consider a GoodSet for instance. The Super Mario Bros set alone probably has at least 100 component ROMs, and many of those are going to be named Super Mario ... Something. I'd hate to have all those bad dumps and hacks renamed to something I could mistake for being valid and runnable (or good ).

[stigzler]

Hmmm.. feels like one should tread lightly over such discussions... please advise if of bad form...

Prob is null - these run fine, so don't appear to be bad dumps so would prefer to keep them

I'll go away and do some reading on CRC I think

thanks

[nullPointer]

Basically the CRC is a code value generated via a common algorithm based on the data within a ROM (or other) file. So if you have two ROMs both named Super Crazy Awesome Bros. (for instance) if there's even one bit of misplaced data in one of them, the CRC will be different for each of them. That's how ROM auditing software can determine whether a given ROM is good, bad, or misnamed. Groups like No-Intro release DATs containing CRCs for known working ROMs (according to the standards of their group), and the ROM auditing software takes it from there.

Always good to be cautious regarding the discussion of ROMs, but discussing ROM auditing is generally considered fairly safe. The de facto assumption is that you're either running public domain ROMs or own the ROMs in your possession.

[stigzler]

Thanks as ever Null - helpful explanation.

I'll continue hunting around for this as would appear maybe there isn't software to do this.