Could really use some direction

[javo]

Almost 4 years ago I built my cabinet for the sole purpose of playing 80's games. I bought GameEx and set it all up once and forgot about it. It's worked great, I love it.

I was talking to some friends about coming over, and the MAME machine came up and they asked if I had DigDug. I knew I had the ROM but it wasn't in the ROM directory, I put it in and it didn't work. So I found and tried about 10 other different Dig Dug ROMS and none of them worked.

I found some threads that suggested it may be because of the version of MAME I'm running. So I found an old already compiled version of MAME32 and it works. BUT, after you select the game it comes up with a screen that has the ROM info with resolution and stuff. I've tried going through the GameEx configuration looking for where I turn that screen off but I can't find anything. Can anyone tell me where I do that?

Also does someone have an idiots guide for keeping MAME up to date? I set this thing up like I said almost 4 years ago and I dont remember how I did it. I found a MAME compiler app where I compiled a version for my processor but I dont know how to compile a new one. There has to be an easier way.

I greatly appreciate any help anyone can offer. I've been searching the forums and just haven't found the answers I need. I'm sure they are out there.

Thanks for the help

[bkenobi]

The easy answer is to only use a romset that matches your MAME version. if you want to use a new MAMVE version with an old romset and don't want to update your set, use CLRMAME Pro to convert the set to the current version. Basically, this will copy valid roms to a new directory. If they don't work, they won't copy over. OR, go find a current romset and use it with a current version of MAME. OR, don't update at all. No '80's game has been updated in a while, so there is no need to update...

[Draco1962]

To tag on what bkenobi just said, you can simplify the compiling proce by using Headkaze's Mame Compiler. This GUI does all the command line stuff for you, you just have to obtain the MAME source and .diff files and move a few folders.

If you follow the instructions to the letter and in the correct order, you can compile the most recent version of MAME or MAMEUI (GUI version) that allows for Hi Score support and removes the ever-unpopular "nag" screens.

Compiling my own version of MAMEUI64 and updating my ROM sets with CLRMAME Pro helped streamline my collection quite a bit and I soon found I had a few ROMs that did not work before working perfectly now.

If you run into trouble along the way, just ask and one or more of us will be there to help (just as they have been there for me on my many "first times and not getting it right." Be prepared to provide error messages, etc. when reporting any problems.

[javo]

To tag on what bkenobi just said, you can simplify the compiling proce by using Headkaze's Mame Compiler. This GUI does all the command line stuff for you, you just have to obtain the MAME source and .diff files and move a few folders.

If you follow the instructions to the letter and in the correct order, you can compile the most recent version of MAME or MAMEUI (GUI version) that allows for Hi Score support and removes the ever-unpopular "nag" screens.

Compiling my own version of MAMEUI64 and updating my ROM sets with CLRMAME Pro helped streamline my collection quite a bit and I soon found I had a few ROMs that did not work before working perfectly now.

If you run into trouble along the way, just ask and one or more of us will be there to help (just as they have been there for me on my many "first times and not getting it right." Be prepared to provide error messages, etc. when reporting any problems.

Thanks to both for the help, I'm certain I will need more soon.

Thanks for the link to Headkaze's Mame Comiler. Thats actually what I had on my system but I didn't know where I got it. I have version 0.3 so it's a bit old.

I'm trying to run CLRMame now using my old compile of MAME and seeing if it fixes anything. Keeping my fingers crossed. All I'm seeing are red X's scrolling up so I'm not sure if its working or not.

[javo]

Alright well I clearly did something wrong. Nothing has changed.

My PC is only a P4 1.8 with 1gb of RAM and running XP. It works great for the older stuff. I only have 3 buttons for each player (2 players) so a lot of the newer games I cant even consider playing.

What would you do? I only use this thing for playing games. I dont use any of the other features that GameEx provides.

I'm afraid if I recompile a newer version of MAME then I will be stuck with 0 working ROMS. CLRMame was pretty confusing for this arcade n00b. I dont know if I have merged sets or split sets. I followed the directions but it still requires some knowledge that I don't have.

My end goal is this. Only to have 50 or so games from the 80's with maybe a couple of early 90's games mixed in. I need to use the hardware I have because I just dont have the money for anything else now.

Whats the easiest way to get there? Most of the games work great, but Dig Dug isn't. I'm sure there are others that don't as well I'm just using that one as an example. Once I get it to work, it will close it up and never update it again.

Thank you again for the help..

[mesk]

im pretty sure romlister will work for that its HERE

[javo]

im pretty sure romlister will work for that its HERE

That's pretty cool but I am ok with manually selecting games and dropping them in the ROM directory and having GameEx update the list. My (bigger) issue is ROMs not working.

I did a custom compile years ago and I don't know what version it is. I also don't know where I could download the ROM's specific for my version if I knew what version it was. I've pulled down at least 10 different versions of the original Dig Dug rom and none will work with my build, but will work with an already compiled version of MAME32 I found (version 0.119) but if I use it as my MAME executable it pops up that "NAG" screen which I don't like.

[mesk]

well unfortunately I cannot help you with where to get roms from,all I can tell you on that is GOOGLE is your friend

most likely you wont find roms for your specific build.my advice to you is to compile the most current version of MAME,patch it so you dont get the "NAG" screen,then try and find the most current romset which is 0.141,which is also the most current MAME version

[Adultery]

Plus as long as you have a MAME exe that's current and all the parent roms you're trying to run you should be ok as many of these (for sure dig dug) hasn't changed in a really long time.

And I'm fairly certain your current rom set is split not merged.

[javo]

I pulled down the 141 source and the newest MAME Compiler from Headsoft (v 1.20)

As far as patches go which patches do I use? If I look here 140u1-3 are the newest patches. I don't see anything for 141. What do I use for no nag screen?

[mesk]

get the patch from HERE

[Draco1962]

0.141 is the latest - no diffs for that build yet. .diff files are interim updates to the current build. You can use that source code and also download the hi_141.txt to enable hi scores and remove nag screens. You will just skip Step 5 instructions for Headkaze's compiler for obtaining and placing the .diff files.

[javo]

Well I tried to just compile a 119 version since MAME32 version 119 works (but with nag screen)

I compiled a new one and I still have the nag screen. I've missed something during the compile that removes that. Can anyone tell me what?

I'm using MAME Compiler version 117.

Thanks

[Draco1962]

Refer to my previous post. It is the hi-score file that enables hi-scores keeping for some games as well as removes the nag screens. I think if you go ahead and compile 0.141 with the hi_score.txt file noted, you will be in good shape.

[javo]

Yay.. I'm working now without having to pull down a whole new rom set.

I got the source for 119 compiled it and used the high score patch to get rid of the nag screen.. All games seem to be working correctly.

One last question if I may. How do I create a favorites list? Right now when I select a game the next window shows the controls or title art but theres not an add to favorites option.

All I've ever done is only keep the few "favorite" roms installed because that list just gets too big when I have all of them installed. If I could just make a list that had those 25-50 games for easy access I could keep those other games.

When you have people over that are 8 - 10 beers in, their patience level to find that one game in a list of several thousand is very low.

Thanks again for your help,

[Adultery]

If you want to you can just delete the games you don't want from the list. It's unusual that you don't have a favorites option there though... Try opening up GameEx advanced config, select enable/disable features, and look and see if there's a way to enable your favorites list.

[Draco1962]

I guess with all that beer, typing or using the Search feature might be problematic