total newb needs help

[jeremy.n79]

Hi guys/gals. I'm new here and I've got a problem with mame not being able to play neogeo roms. I've searched useing google and here on this forum and through research I found out that I need the neogeo bios. Well I have the neogeo bios now and I still have the same problem running the games using mame. Can someone please help me. Thanks

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

Try updating the list, also, do they work in MAME on its own - not using GameEx?

[jeremy.n79]

Try updating the list, also, do they work in MAME on its own - not using GameEx?

i havent started setting up gameex because mame doesnt run the games on its own. like a stated in my first post im a total noob. ive got game ex installed and everything but havent gotten to use it just yet. im trying to configure mame to play the games ive got downloaded.

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

Sorry, misinterpreted what you meant.

Firstly, the bios are meant to be in the folder named roms. Are they there? And is the rom there?

Also, some games need a chd file. What game is it? This file needs to be put in a folder (named the same as the corresponding rom) inside the rom directory.

Plus games/chds/bios have specific names. Are they named correctly?

I'll be happy to help if you're not sure about any of these questions and still can't get it working.

What exactly happens when you try and play the game as well?

[Adultery]

Wonder if you're not using a rom set that doesn't match your mame.exe build? Roms frequently change when mame gets updated so you may run into a problem like this one.

MAME is touchy like that.

[Dan_Dan_91_07]

^ Yeah and that

Damn, not thinking of that whilst replying to the OP was pretty poor...

[Adultery]

Haha! I have that happening to me all the time. Especially when something doesn't work right!

[jeremy.n79]

the game is metal slug. i have the bios in the rom folder and the game in the same folder.

[Adultery]

I assume you are running this from the command line right? You using mame.exe or mameui.exe? Like how are you launching the game? Are you double clicking something? What version of mame are you using? What version is the rom built for?

There's a lot of blanks that need to be filled in if you need some help.

[jeremy.n79]

mame 141. the on that game ex installs. how do i know what version the roms im download are?

[Adultery]

GameEx doesn't install MAME? You have to get that elsewhere. All GameEx does is act as a front end for MAME. It's up to you to put it on your machine.

:EDIT: wait you mean the one you installed from setup wizard maybe?

You need to audit your roms to know if they're compatible with the version you're running. You can do this in GameEx or use the command line. Again... How is it you're running MAME in the first place? Are you just double clicking the exe and waiting for something to happen? You gotta meet me halfway here bud.

[jeremy.n79]

GameEx doesn't install MAME? You have to get that elsewhere. All GameEx does is act as a front end for MAME. It's up to you to put it on your machine.

:EDIT: wait you mean the one you installed from setup wizard maybe?

You need to audit your roms to know if they're compatible with the version you're running. You can do this in GameEx or use the command line. Again... How is it you're running MAME in the first place? Are you just double clicking the exe and waiting for something to happen? You gotta meet me halfway here bud.

its mame from the game ex installer. im clicking the mama.exe then it loads up the list of games. when i click on metal slug 3 it says im missing some files.

[Draco1962]

Jeremy - OK, you are not able to get Metal Slug to work. Are you able to get any of the games to work in MAME? I think we all need to take a few steps back and begin by asking a few questions to which all will need to be answered please:

Q1. What version of MAME are you attempting to use?

A1. MAME .141

Q2. What version are your ROMs, BIOS files, and (if applicable) CHDs?

A2.

Q3. Besides Metal Slug, have you successfully run any games from within MAME?

A3.

Q4. Have you confirmed that your file names match for the ROM and BIOS files?

A4.

Q5. Have you setup your file paths within MAME Options?

A5.

Q6. Have you audited your ROMS within MAME (provided you have setup the file paths within MAME first)?

A6.

[Adultery]

Thank you Draco.

[jeremy.n79]

Jeremy - OK, you are not able to get Metal Slug to work. Are you able to get any of the games to work in MAME? I think we all need to take a few steps back and begin by asking a few questions to which all will need to be answered please:

Q1. What version of MAME are you attempting to use?

A1. MAME .141

Q2. What version are your ROMs, BIOS files, and (if applicable) CHDs?

A2.

Q3. Besides Metal Slug, have you successfully run any games from within MAME?

A3.

Q4. Have you confirmed that your file names match for the ROM and BIOS files?

A4.

Q5. Have you setup your file paths within MAME Options?

A5.

Q6. Have you audited your ROMS within MAME (provided you have setup the file paths within MAME first)?

A6.

i got the games to work in mame and in gameex now. it was the version neo-geo bios i was using. the next problem is when in game ex looking at the list of games i have in mame. they arent game titles but the name of the files. for example, instead of metal slug 3 its showing me mslug3. the name of the zip file minus the extension. when i go into game ex to update my game listinfo.dat it freezes or gets stuck at 25%.

[Draco1962]

Jeremy - Glad you got things working! Please locate and upload your GameEx.ini and log files following an attempt to update the list. The gameex.ini file can be found in the \GameEx\CONFIG path and will need to be saved as a text file via Notepad before uploading to the forum. The log.txt file is located under \GameEx\LOG . These files will help us to better diagnose what is happening.

Thanks,

Mike

[Adultery]

I'm gonna bet you don't have the support files on your computer (ie MAMEinfo, History, Catlist, etc).

PS: Everyone named Mike is a friggin genius!

[mesk]

Jeremy-these files are what you need.

History.dat

Catlist.ini

Nplayers.ini

Mameinfo.dat

Command.dat ------->CORRECTION I would go with the shorthand but it really is all about personal preference

Controls.ini

what you want to do is download these files,make a new directory in the GameEX folder,then go to advanced mame options and set the path to these files,then update your list.not only will the game names be correct,you will have categories & game information.Also I would delete the cached game list located in GameEx\data.It is a text filed called gamelist,delete it,(make backup just in case) then update your list

Let us know how you are doing.We will have you up & running

[Draco1962]

I'm gonna bet you don't have the support files on your computer (ie MAMEinfo, History, Catlist, etc).

PS: Everyone named Mike is a friggin genius!

I wouldn't say "genius" but perhaps just well informed.

[jeremy.n79]

Jeremy-these files are what you need.

History.dat

Catlist.ini

Nplayers.ini

Mameinfo.dat

Command.dat ------->CORRECTION I would go with the shorthand but it really is all about personal preference

Controls.ini

what you want to do is download these files,make a new directory in the GameEX folder,then go to advanced mame options and set the path to these files,then update your list.not only will the game names be correct,you will have categories & game information.Also I would delete the cached game list located in GameEx\data.It is a text filed called gamelist,delete it,(make backup just in case) then update your list

Let us know how you are doing.We will have you up & running

thanks so much for the links. can i use the 142 version with the 141? im really amazed at what this emulator can do. i have another question. what is a chd file? is it not included in the rom itself?

[fRequEnCy]

what is a chd file? is it not included in the rom itself?

Taken from the MAME FAQ:

You may find that some games require CHD files. A CHD file is a compressed representation of a game's hard disk, CD-ROM, or laserdisc, and is generally not included as part of a game's ROMs. However, in most cases, these files are required to run the game, and MAME will complain if they cannot be found.

[simbamame]

I wouldn't say "genius" but perhaps just well informed.

I'm afraid i must agree with adultery on this one people name mike r genius, mind quite a few other on here also fall into that category

Ian.

[Draco1962]

You should be able to - best to review the bug fixes on the MAME site. I have not found too many problems with upgrading from an immediate previous version up to the next. CHDs (Compressed Hunks of Data) are digital versions of laser disk or hard disk data. Some ROMs also require CHDs for those games that require them unzipped and in a folder of the same name as the ROM. Further explanation can be found here.

[Draco1962]

[jeremy.n79]

so i got everything in there and it works like you guys said it would. there just one problem now. ive got 34 roms and only 18 are shown. most of them work when i open them using mame but in gameex i see only half of the roms i have. are there suppose to be icons next to the titles? some have them some dont.