I'm a MALA newbie and I'm sure this problem has a simple solution, but I just can't figure it out. I've searched these forums and can't find a similar post, so here I am... Please help me Mala experts.
I recently installed the latest version of MALA along with the excellent retroGUI layout. After pointing Mala to all the correct set-up files (catver.ini, controls.ini, nplayers.ini, history.dat, mameinfo.dat, snaps, marquees, cpanel, roms, mame.xml, etc, etc) it initially showed my "All Games" list. After making a few "tweaks" I somehow lost this list on the main menu of MAME.
Under 'Game List' tab of the Mala Options/Configuration window it shows 'All Games' under the MAME emulator. To the right it lists all roms sorted by Name. I do NOT have the 'Hide 'All games' list checked. It is unchecked so this game list should show up right? 'Use most played game list' is unchecked. As a test, I've even created other game lists under the Game Lists/MAME emulator area (using Malagamelist.exe) and added a few games to the list on the right, saved the .mlg file, but none of them show up either on the main MAME menu. Under GUI/Filter, all filters are Off (if that even matters).
Now...When running Mala, the initial Menu (MAME) shows no 'All Games' listing (or any other) but does show 5 categories: Control, Genre, Manufacturer, Players, and Year. If I browse into any of these categories I can get to various lists of MAME games (from the large rom collection) that will ultimately show up on the screen as expected and launch just fine. However, this is not what I want to have happen. I want game lists, not categories. Why is it showing categories of games I haven't set up instead of "All Games" or other gamelists. What I want is for Mala to show "All Games", "Lightgun Games", "Trackball Games", etc per the lists I create and populate. I can't seem to get rid of the categories as the first line menu for MAME
I did notice (while running Mala) that if I click on the left or right arrow for (Next List or Prev List) it will show the name of my created lists in the 'Text2' layout area. IE: "All Games: 1 of 5" or "Test List A: 1 of 3". The 1 of 5 "games" in both cases are the five categories mentioned previously. I can't get to any game unless I drill down through one of those 5 categories in any case.
I set up other layouts for other emulators (Sega Model 2, Daphne) and those layouts correctly show the "All Games" list immediately. No problem. MAME seems to be the only messed up with these dumb categories (that I didn't set up that I know of) being the first filters for any MAME games.
Wow, this is frustrating. What did I do to mess this up? How can I fix it?
Thanks in advance to all you Mala experts out there.