RETROPIE & MAME - which version of MAME to use/saving controll settings ?

[mike boss]

Question for all the MAME + PI experts.
I had a premade image I was using in my Punch-Out bartop.
I loved it, it was super clean, well designed, had great background music, etc.
BUT it would not save my MAME configuration. Whenever I would exit a
game the config would be lost. I attempted to locate and modify the CFG file.
But I was unable to fix the problem.

So fast forward...........I decide I'll do a scratch build.
I download the latest version of RetroPie, and I was able to extract
all my existing ROM files from my previous build.

With some great videos from MLP and ETA Prime I was able to make some tweaks that I wanted.
I added scanlines and got everything to display in widescreen (I'm OK with the stretch).
I was able to delte the loadscreen text and got everything scraped.

Now to the issue..........I notice 3 versions of MAME in the emulators.
MAME Libretro, MAME (I think MAME 2003?), and MAME4ALL.
I'm unsure of what particular ROM set I'm using as I simply extracted it
from my previous PRE-MADE Pie build. So with that said, I'm unsure of
which version of MAME I should be using ?

For what it is worth, I've copied the files in two locations. MAME Libretro &
MAME4ALL - MAME Libretro displays as I'd like with the scanlines, etc.
MAME4ALL will not display as such. Does it matter which version I use ?
Will one give better performance ? I'm new to this, so any help is appreciated.

EDIT : I have another question. Looking online I seen a few videos where people made changes via the Retroarch menu, I recall it being some green menu for what it is worth. When I'm doing my configuration in MAME for my controls, do I do so via TAB (then entering my settings), or is it better to make the changes via the Retroarch menu ?

Thank you all

[mike boss]

nadda ?

[keilmillerjr]

You need to know what version romset you have. It’s important.

I personally recommend advmame/0.106 for the pi. Video changes afterwards effected performance. You need the correct romset.

[Gilrock]

I mainly only play the older games on the RetroPie so I just used MAME4ALL with the Mame0.37b5 rom set.  Didn't see any problems with the 64 games I chose for the menu.

[mike boss]

I've got a fresh new SD image set up for my Pi.
I had installed the newest version of RetroPi and I was able to move over all the old game files from my previous SD card.

With all that done I'm quite happy with the build so far, I've got everything scraped and watched some great videos from ETA Prime about a few hacks.

I've disabled the load screen upon boot, disabled the load screen when launching a game, and got my scanlines set up. Everything is displaying in fullscreen which I also wanted.

I had some issues with screen flicker, which was simply my VGA cable. Upon replacing it that the problem was solved.

Now onto the controls which in the past has been my biggest issue.
I have a typical street fighter layout, 3 over 3 is the button config.
I set it up as:

A B X
Y L R

I've begun testing in MAME. I really want to make sure Street Fighter and MK are set up and configured correctly. This actually gave me a heck of a time. In Street Fighter for example I wanted :

Light Punch / Mid Punch / Hard Punch
Light Kick / Mid Kick / Hard Kick

It did not work out as intended, I noticed in the config for the game itself the button sequence listed was kinda odd. Lets say it said button 1 3 6 - then 2 4 5...anyway when I simply pressed my buttons in order of appearance in the MAME menu it worked out that the buttons were configured as needed. ( I HOPE I'M MAKING SENSE!) - I got it work as desired, my punch and kick order were in the correct sequence.

Now if I can only figure out how to configure MK correctly. I'd like:

HP - BLK - HK
LP -  RUN - LK


Fingers crossed !!!!

*** I'M using a Zero Delay Encoder in the cabinet ***