New user with some questions about mame!

[glynharper]

Hello all..
I've got a full cabinet that I bought pre built, complete with a PC inside running Mamewah, and Mame. It appears the version of Mame it has is a dos version (mame.exe) and also a mame32p.exe which is 0.74u1
I've managed to add some more emulators in, and now have the Atari 2600 VCS and Sega Dreamcast working fine, using Z26 and Fusion, respectively.. so no worries there

Mame runs fine with the games on it, but I want to add a few more games to it. I added some, (tron, Space Harrier.. etc..) and they work fine, but some don't. The emulator won't even recognise the rom files, which I suspect is because it's an oldish version of mame it's running.
Also, a few of the roms work if I quite out of Mamway and use the mame32p.exe program, but only AFTER pressing 'ok' at a prompt for 'Warning: the game may not work correctly'. Mr Do's Wild Ride (dowild.zip) is a perfect example.
Because mamewah hides the error, I can't continue and the screen just stay black until I end task on mame.exe
this isn't the 'type ok to continue' screen.. I have a few roms with that message but it's fine after I press left/right.. It's a seperat window that appears that's causing the issue.

So, my questions are..
Is there a more recent version of the command line version of Mame that will play more recent roms, as well as all my existing old ones?
And also, is there a way to supress or somehow get around this pop up error windows?

A bit of background, I work in computers, so I'm pretty good generally with stuff like this.. and I've been using Mame for windows for years, so I'm aware of the fact some versions work with some roms, some versions don't. (sadly!)

Any help apprecaited!!

Cheers,
Glyn.

[quadrider1]

Also, a few of the roms work if I quite out of Mamway and use the mame32p.exe program,

This because mame32 is different than mame.exe. Mame32 could be a updated version of mame thus letting it run the rom witch can not be played on mame.

Because mamewah hides the error, I can't continue and the screen just stay black until I end task on mame.exe

I useed mamewah untill i had a cocktail but it never hid the errors on mame, it would always say stuff like, "there are known problems with this game, click joystick right left to continue" Problem probably is your running a rom that is not for your version of mame and mame just stops responding.

Is there a more recent version of the command line version of Mame that will play more recent roms, as well as all my existing old ones?

yes you can go download any version of mame from  mamedev.org, then download a rom updater witch will update your roms to work with your version of mame.

Does this help?

[glynharper]

Ah, this does help, thanks!! I've not heard of a rom update utility before! any idea where that can be obtained from?
this could be the answer to all my problems!!

What version do people normally use for the command line version of late?
cheers,
Glyn.

[quadrider1]

I have an older version, mame .108, but go to this site and start at 5.2, this will walk you threw and give you download links to updating your roms.
http://www.xente.mundo-r.com/mame/english/section5.html

[glynharper]

Excellent, will do. Thanks for that!

[wweumina]

Wow, interesting advice so far.

To remove the warning messages see this post: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64298.0

Most people run the most recent version of mame when they set things up (unless they have an older computer as updates can sometimes slow gameplay speed).  Others always update to the latest.

As for a 'rom updater', you just need to make sure you get the set of roms for your version of mame.  Clrmamepro and other rom management programs will help you update your set.

[quadrider1]

Wow, interesting advice so far.

To remove the warning messages see this post: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64298.0

that links take him to remove warnings, in his post he says mame gives him an ERROR and makes him shut it down. Yes that will help him remove warnings on mame32p but that is not what he is running under his frontend.