Weeding out unwanted/non-working roms.

[tagnetti]

Hello all, I am now finally working with my cabinet, Props to Birdtales for coming to my house to help. What is the best way to remove non working /unwanted roms. Can I run any kind of file? I am using mamewah but say for example : I have 6 versions of Arkanoid. I only want 1.  It locks up my machine which is not pleasant so I want to rid my roms of the evil ones. In mamewah there are many nice features and I know I can remove ones that have errors with color and other things but, Is there a way to just delete a rom on the fly through mamewah or MAME for that matter?

Thanks in advance.

Tom

[SirPoonga]

First, you can get a list of parent roms by setting the clones in the mame.ini and doing a listinfo.

[Birdtales]

What we were discussing was a selection in a FE that allows you to delete a ROM. I was manually writing down games that either I didn't like or didn't work properly, then going back to Windows to delete them (took to long). What I'd like to see is if I try a game and it either bombs or I hate it, I highlight the game and hit say the Delete key (mapped to a key combination via th iPac that is unlikely to be accidentally hit) and the ROM goes away, I regenerate my list and no more bad ROM.

...Edited for spelling...

[tagnetti]

thanks Sirpoonga, can you expand or clarify. SO I go into mame.ini and edit the clones line? This will give me one copy of each game the parent? Doing a listinfo, do you mean an extra command like -listinfo

SOrry if my questions are elementary but I am new to configuring within mame and mamewah.

Thanks

[SirPoonga]

Yeah, I think setting clones to 0 (1 default?) means it won;t show clones.  So doing a mame -listinfo will only list parents.

[Howard_Casto]

1 word guys.... romcenter

[BuZz880]

What I would like, since we are on the subject is not to delete a rom but simply to be able to move it to a different directory that is not used in my master games list.

For example, I have a directory called craproms that contains all the mahjong and quiz games.  I can use clearmamepro properly since it looks at my roms and my craproms directory but in my FE I never see what has been moved into that directory.  The best of both worlds... a complete rom set with the ability to move the crappy games off the main menu.

[Birdtales]

1 word guys.... romcenter

That would work for bad dumps but when romcenter figures out whether I like a particular game I'll surely be impressed.  


And I also agree with BuZz880 that it would be OK to move the ROM vice deleting it.

[Howard_Casto]

Why wouldn't you just filter the rom off?

mamewha's filters are very similar to mine I figure it's as simple as entering the rom name of the game to exclude.  

[Birdtales]

Not going to argue that point Howard. I was looking for a 1 step procedure. In your suggestion I would have to figure out the Rom name (I don't have MameWah display them right now) then manually type it into the filter.

 I'm not particularly lazy but how hard could it possibly be to add a "Remove from Main List" selection in one of the menu's that either would delete or move the ROM? The FE knows the name of every ROM even if I don't.

[Minwah]

It would be easy to add a 'delete rom' key/option.  But I'm not going to do it  

I just don't want to be responsible for people (including me) accidentally deleteing their ROMs...

A suggesion:  Use MAME32 to play through the games, and have an Explorer window next to it, so you can delete straight after playing.  Be careful not to delete parent roms though...

[Odonadon]

It would be easy to add a 'delete rom' key/option.  But I'm not going to do it  

I just don't want to be responsible for people (including me) accidentally deleteing their ROMs...

A suggesion:  Use MAME32 to play through the games, and have an Explorer window next to it, so you can delete straight after playing.  Be careful not to delete parent roms though...

Hmmm... key, how about having the option in mamewah, but turned off by default?  And it revert to default each time mamewah is loaded.  And have like 2 or 3 confirm delete screens.

I would LOVE to have this incorporated in my mamewah.  Nothing I hate more than like 3 versions of a particular game, each with it's own highscore list, and not remembering which one you need to beat next.  Plus, on my cab, I have a keyboard hooked up, but have the sharpness and stuff set so low that the text through windows is almost impossible to read.  No way I'm putting mame32 on it.

I think we need to start a petition to get this option in mamewah.  Who's with me?

Odonadon

[Minwah]

Hmmm... key, how about having the option in mamewah, but turned off by default?  And it revert to default each time mamewah is loaded.  And have like 2 or 3 confirm delete screens.

I would LOVE to have this incorporated in my mamewah.  Nothing I hate more than like 3 versions of a particular game, each with it's own highscore list, and not remembering which one you need to beat next.  Plus, on my cab, I have a keyboard hooked up, but have the sharpness and stuff set so low that the text through windows is almost impossible to read.  No way I'm putting mame32 on it.

Sorry, it's still no atm

Apart from what I said before (maybe the careful confirmation screens would do the job), I now have a very clear idea of what I want for my 'final' v1.0.  As it stands today (in my WIP version) I have 4 bugs to fix and 3 improvements / things to add back in (+ a little tidying up etc.).  I do not plan adding anything not on this list (unless I think it is a *very* good idea)...

I am about to build my cab also, so I need to have a break from programming.

v2.0 will included anything good that I (or you guys) think of after I actually have my cab up & running  

Edit: BTW I wasn't suggesting you put MAME32 on your cab, but you must use another PC to download ROMS etc. (?), so maybe you could do any deleting on that, and then transfer to your cab...

Alternatively, why not just filter out clones?  You wouldn't have 3 versions of the same game then  

[Spaced Invader]

I found a bat file that moves clones into a seperate directory (can't remember who wrote it). After looking at that file, I used triggerfins catver (.70) to write a bat file to move mahjong, and adult roms into a seperate directory. Then I wrote a third bat file to sort the remaining roms into 9 catagories...I like to be organized. I probably still have them...somewhere.  

If anyone's interested I can post.

[BuZz880]

There is also a program out there called MAME CONTENT MANAGER that will grab categories of ROMS and rename them for you.

The only problem with removing the clones is some games have clones that are better or enough different from the Original that you want to keep them, for example Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

I like how in MAMEWAH you can generate lists based on filters or simply a favorites list and then just tell it not to cycle through the master list anymore and voila you only show what you want.

[Sprucemoose]

Interested

[BuZz880]

Hmmm, just thought of something while typing my last comments - this should solve this problem for anyone that wants it.  

Since you were talking about BAT files, this will allow you to configure one button to move a ROM to a new directory.  I haven't tested it but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work.  

1.  In MAMEWAH specify MAME.BAT as your executable instead of MAME.EXE or whatever.  
2.  Also in MAMEWAH specify "EXTRA OPTIONS #1" as "MOVE".  Now when you press Player 1 Button 1, MAMEWAH will generate the command line for example "mame pacman move".  A BAT file would call the variable "pacman" %1 and "MOVE" is %2.
3.  Make sure MAMEWAH is not sending the file extension with the ROm name.
4.  Make sure you create manually the directory you want these roms moved into.
5.  Make sure you regenerate your list from time to time as once a ROM is moved it will still appear in MAMEWAH until you regenerate and may give an error if you try to run it.

Mame.bat contains only the following:

if "%2"=="" goto rungame
if "%2"=="MOVE" goto movegame

:rungame
cd c:\mame
mame.exe %1
goto end

:movegame
move c:\mame\roms\%1.zip c:\mame\junkroms\%1.zip
goto end

:end
exit

[Minwah]

Your batch file creativeness is unsurpassed BuZz - that should do the trick for you guys!

[Spaced Invader]

There is also a program out there called MAME CONTENT MANAGER that will grab categories of ROMS and rename them for you.

The only problem with removing the clones is some games have clones that are better or enough different from the Original that you want to keep them, for example Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

I like how in MAMEWAH you can generate lists based on filters or simply a favorites list and then just tell it not to cycle through the master list anymore and voila you only show what you want.

Yes, I did have to do some sorting by hand. The reason I used these files is my FE (HTPC) had no filtering ability at all. Further, it parsed the whole list each time it ran making it s-l-o-w, so I needed the roms put into sub catagories to make the FE usable. I now use Mamewah, but have left the roms in seperate directories as I like the simplicity it creates (I have each directory set up as a seperate emulator). Plus I HAD to get rid of those mahjongg titles, and since I have kids the adult stuff was a no go. So, if these files help...great if not, don't use 'em.  

PS. I LOVE your bat file idea for use with Mamewah..It is brilliant! I'm currently using it to get rid of roms I really don't like. Thanks a ton!

I have attached the zip "romtools.txt" rename to romtools.zip if you want to use it.

[Birdtales]

Hmmm, just thought of something while typing my last comments - this should solve this problem for anyone that wants it.  

Since you were talking about BAT files, this will allow you to configure one button to move a ROM to a new directory.  I haven't tested it but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work.  

Thank you, you've made me very happy!!!!

[tagnetti]

Thanks awesome. I'll give this a shot. Great!

[Howard_Casto]

It would be easy to add a 'delete rom' key/option.  But I'm not going to do it  

I just don't want to be responsible for people (including me) accidentally deleteing their ROMs...

For the record, just about every fe developer feels the same way.  That's why I was rather straight forward with my answer.  We get enough email without adding "where did my roms go" to the pile.  

Confuscious say:  No matter how many time you ask question, answer still no.  

[tagnetti]

Hey Buzz880,

Thanks for the bat file. I was wondering if you could help me fix my trouble I'm having. Basically I created the bat file, change the paths to correspond with my bat file, the roms list and the new folder to send them too.

I changed the path in Mamewah and the bat file launches roms fine. However when I configured options 1 I put move and also tried - move  . Whenever I hit the key that goes with the one to launch it automatically launches. Is something set wrong? Basically I get no chance to hit both keys.

Thanks for working on this

[BuZz880]

You answered your own question.  You do not need to use a key combination.  Just hit the P1 Button 1 key.

[jdjuggler]

An idea to add to BuzZ880's bat file.
I asked Minwah a while ago if he was going to add in some type of quick key to add a game to the favorites folder.  I guess this was removed because of change to the "custom folders" format.  Although, I still want (and do) have a Favorites folder.
I'm aware of the method in the menus, I'm just looking for a "hotkey" idea.
So, my thought is by using the same batch file with another section called
:copygame
copy c:\mame\roms\%1.zip c:\mame\favorites\%1.zip
goto end

And using the:
 "EXTRA OPTIONS #2" as "COPY".  

Of course, all this comes with my big question.
How can I actually add these roms that are now in my favorites directory to the "Favorites" custom folder listing within MameWah?
Thanks,
JD

[clok]

I was going to post almost hte same question ( for my 3rd or 4th time)  

I still have a question along these lines, Im just using mame32 for a front end now (changeing it soon, but htere are so many good ones to switch to, Im just not sure yet). My problem, alot of games have 5 version (capcomVSStreetFighter) but only one works, and sometimes its not the parent rom (or am I dense here?), is there a way to remove from my list the ones mame always says something like "bad dump, use CapVsSFWrld.rom" I know alot of the fighting games have several roms, but only this one or that one work, and if I remeber right (probebly dont) they are not always the WORLD or USA version... (for us English speaking folks).

any ideas, I have yet to try a sorter (heck everytime I catch up on roms, get Em installed and Mame, somebody makes a new frontend, or something else cool to look at... just havent got to it yet...

Clok

[BuZz880]

An idea to add to BuzZ880's bat file.
I asked Minwah a while ago if he was going to add in some type of quick key to add a game to the favorites folder.  I guess this was removed because of change to the "custom folders" format.  Although, I still want (and do) have a Favorites folder.
I'm aware of the method in the menus, I'm just looking for a "hotkey" idea.
So, my thought is by using the same batch file with another section called
:copygame
copy c:\mame\roms\%1.zip c:\mame\favorites\%1.zip
goto end

And using the:
 "EXTRA OPTIONS #2" as "COPY".  

Of course, all this comes with my big question.
How can I actually add these roms that are now in my favorites directory to the "Favorites" custom folder listing within MameWah?
Thanks,
JD

One way to do this is to setup another instance of your MAME emulator that looks in your favorites directory instead of your ROMS directory.  

Another way, and what I would do though it has its drawbacks because it is somewhat manual is this:

1.  Use COPY in the BAT file as you have outlined
2.  COPY all your favorites to whatever folder.
3.  Change your ROMS directory in MAMEWAH to your favorites directory.  
4.  Re-generate your games list - this should now be all your favorites.  
5.  Open emu1-0.lst in notepad and re-save it as emu1-x.lst (x being whatever list number you want to call it)
6.  Change your ROMS directory back to ROMS in mamewah
7.  Regenerate list to rebuild emu1-0.lst containing all roms.

You should now have a Custom list #X which contains only your favorites.

This is kind of awkward but not as bad as it sounds because initially you have alot of games to add so you can do it fairly quickly like this.  Once your main favorites list is built I suspect you will only be adding one game at a time in most cases going forward so you can use the in-game menus.

[PiNPOiNT]

The moving batch file works great, but the problem is, or perhaps not, im new to Mamewah.  Is that I would like to be able to test a game, then quit and if i dont like it, THEN run the move command.  So i would need to have the Start game button and the Move Game button to be two different commands.... Is this possible?

[Minwah]

The moving batch file works great, but the problem is, or perhaps not, im new to Mamewah.  Is that I would like to be able to test a game, then quit and if i dont like it, THEN run the move command.  So i would need to have the Start game button and the Move Game button to be two different commands.... Is this possible?

Read BuZz's reply about "EXTRA OPTIONS #1" as "MOVE" etc.

Basically '1' starts a game normally, and Ctrl (by default) would move the game

[wj2k3]

I took the opposite approach to build my games list.  I use MameWah's ability to add a game to a Custom List after I play it and decide that it is worth playing/actually plays/doesn't duplicate 50 other games I already have on my list.  I have the Main List not cycling so no one but me can get to it.  This way no one crashes my cab by using a game I haven't tested yet.  Also, the little ones do not get into any adult game that might have slipped through.

If I ever want to delete a game from my custom list, I can use the MameWah Setup program.

Just my 2 cents.

-wj2k3

[Minwah]

I took the opposite approach to build my games list.  I use MameWah's ability to add a game to a Custom List after I play it and decide that it is worth playing/actually plays/doesn't duplicate 50 other games I already have on my list.  I have the Main List not cycling so no one but me can get to it.  This way no one crashes my cab by using a game I haven't tested yet.  Also, the little ones do not get into any adult game that might have slipped through.

Good point...I don't think this option was in there when this thread started!

[creatine28]

I have attached the zip "romtools.txt" rename to romtools.zip if you want to use it.

I've modified Spaced Invaders Romtools .bat slightly (hope you dont mind?) to remove only Mahjong and Quiz games based on the new .86 catver.ini.  

Here it is in case anyone is interested.


Just change it from .txt to .bat

[paigeoliver]

I don't know if anyone has ever mentioned this but an easy way to have a clone without the parent is simply to dump the contents of the parent rom into the clone rom. The clone will work fine, but the parent won't show up on any frontends I know of.