I get ROMs working in MAME, then they "can't be found"

[erleichda]

I have tried the following ROM sets .151, .149 and a .155 set I found online.
I used ROMcenter to audit the games and try to fix those that appear yellow or red.
I used MAMEPLUS! latest version initially to open and check the ROMS, most that ROMCenter stated were working actually did but there were exceptions.
I used Maximus Arcade to create a favorites list of just the working ROMS I wanted, pared it down to about 200.  I was ready to go, and all worked!
Then, Maximus Arcade was opened about a week later and almost all of the ROMS were not found.  I checked the path to ROMS, nothing had changed.  I tried opening them in MAMEPlus! directly, and they still were not found.  I checked the path to ROMS in MAMEPlus! and it was correct.  I then removed the ROMS and readded them, had MAMEPLUS! rescan.  Still can't find the ROMS. 

So:
I tried MAMEUI .149 - no nag -highscore init.  I moved the .149 ROM set in, pointed to the correct directory, it build the game list.  I again checked them with ROMcenter, and opened games that were listed as working with MAMEUI and voila!  The games were working.  Unfortunately, Maximus Arcade has a bug and won't work with MAMEUI .149.  So I tried other frontends to see if I could find one I liked.  Hyperspin seemed to be downloading malware, or just wouldn't open (I downloaded from their website too).  GameEX worked, but wasn't a fan of the MCE style.  mGalaxy was ok but tough to pare out the junk ROMS.  Regardless, I went to open ROMS in MAMEUI after about 2-3 days of working on frontends and voila again...now the ROMS can't be found.  I again checked the directory in MAMEUI, removed and readded/rescanned the ROMS.  Still won't find them.  Just like before it's not all the ROMS but most of them.

So:
I read up more on maximus arcade issues and bugs.  I ensured the right directory to the ROMS, I changed the ROM path from 'short' to 'long'.  I deleted the game file and had forced a rescan.  It still can't find almost all of the ROMs when I try to open them, but no surprise they aren't found when I try to launch in MAMEPlus! too.  I keep the ROMs in the emulators main folder, in a ROM folder  without any subfolders, I have not unzipped them.  I tried changing the ROM version from .149 to .151 or vice versa  wtih both emulators.  I'm formally now stuck... 

I can provide more details if it is helpful.  My cabinet is built and waiting!!

[JDFan]

What compression format are your roms using ?? By Default Maximus only checks for .zip and most newer romsets are in .7z !! SO you need to go into preferences and add .7z in the media extensions list of files it scans for.

[erleichda]

Good point, but doesn't explain why ROMs are not found when launched directly from either emulator  (MAMEUI or MAMEPlus!) too, or why they once did but are no longer...
I can't think of  a systematic reasons here.

[haynor666]

That roms exactly? Probably you are missing some bios or firmware files for example qsound.zip nmk004.zip. Many games require not only bios but also firmware/dump of mcu\dump of custom chip to work. Good example are CPS2 games, NMK games, many Namco games. Also some laserdics require dumps of firmware from laserdisc player.

This should be complete list of bioses and other firmware/mcu files that are required:
22vp931 3dobios acpsx airlbios aleck64 alg_bios allied ar_bios aristmk5 aristmk6 atarisy1 atluspsx atpsx awbios
bsmt2000 bubsys cdibios chihiro cpzn1 cpzn2 crysbios cubo decocass f355bios f355dlx filetto_cga galgbios gp_110
gq863 gts1 gts1s h63484 hd61830 hikaru hng64 hod2bios isgsm iteagle k573dio k573mcr k573msu k573npu
konamigv konamigx kviper ldv1000 lindbios m50458 mac2bios macsbios maxaflex mb90082 megaplay megatech
midssio mie mk6nsw11 namco50 namco51 namco52 namco53 namco54 namco62 namcoc69 namcoc70 namcoc74
namcoc75 namcoc76 naomi naomi2 naomigd neogeo nmk004 nss pgm playch10 pr8210 psarc95 pyson qsound
saa5050 sammymdl sfcbox shtzone simutrek skns stvbios su2000 sys246 sys256 sys573 taitofx1 taitogn taitotz
tetriskr_cga tms32031 tms32032 tourvis tps triforce v4bios votrax vspsx ym2608

[erleichda]

Thanks, but I think I have almost all BIOS ROMS.

And this should be verified by the fact they worked...and then they didn't. 

[haynor666]

Romcenter can fix names, move files but will not add missing ones. Between 149 and 155 is big gap. You may have all bioses but also mentioned additional files. Please post what games does not work.

BTW. On my main PC I'm keeping whole mame set on partition reserved only for mame. I don't have any spaces in names. Maybe you could try to use different path without spaces and shorter (personally never had problem with such paths).

[erleichda]

thx.  Is there an app that can add missing BIOS or is it better just to search for each of those you listed to find them?  Also, will romcenter or clrmamepro identify which bios are missing as a part of the identification of ROMS that don't work?

When opening ROMS and they were working, most of the 3700 odd ones did.  Many that didn't were unusual and I didn't pursue figuring out why.  Now, almost all of the 3700 ROMS do not work.  Not that I tried each, but did try many.  I pared down my favorites to just 400 or so, that should help troubleshoot.

[haynor666]

Here is mine script that will copy all bioses and support files from directory where whole mame set is to specified directory. Before you run it you must change 2 lines

SET folder_source=[source where mame with all subfolders is not just roms]
SET folder_destination=[exact places where you are planning copy files]

for example

SET folder_source=F:\MAME
SET folder_destination=D:\bioses