How to add more roms for ArcadeOS 2.52?

[homunculusr]

I'm new here, so i dont really have an idea where to post this..but here goes:

I recently got a hold of an arcade cabinet with ArcadeOS 2.52 and Advancedmame (no idea on which version) installed on it. The problem is, the guy that had it before me never installed more than 10 games. So i figured i would try to add more roms, but because of this not running in windows..i have no idea how to get the roms inside the machine.

I read some stuff about burning roms on a cd and in the option menu for ArcadeOS, select "add more roms" or add them through the cd rom. Now i've done everything i found..step by step, but still no new roms. So my question is basically: How can i add roms, when running the program through dos, because it seems like i cant exit arcadeOS..and need to do the rom adding through there

[scofthe7seas]

I don't have any experience with Arcade OS, but maybe pop the hard drive out, and either put it as a slave, or in an external enclosure on another PC to transfer roms.

[Gray_Area]

Will it boot into safe mode? Otherwise, you have to slave or network it (this latter possibly being difficult because of the current normal boot mode).

[Thenasty]

what scoff is saying is to:

removed the HD.
get a external connector so you can connect it to a USB PORT in ANOTHER PC or Laptop.

or

removed the HD
installed it in ANOTHER PC (internally as a SLAVE or use the secondary channel if tis PATA).
you will still BOOT to your Normal OS in the 2nd PC and the HD will be seen as another DRIVE.

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You can EXIT AOS, I just forgot how to.
If the PC has a CD/DVD-ROM and the DOS Driver is loaded, you can burn the ROMS from another PC.
Pop in the CD into the Drive and use DOS commands such as COPY and copy the contents you wants from the CD.

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Since the PC you mentioned has WINDOWS, maybe it has a NIC card. Attach that to your network and do some file sharing and transfer the ROMS that way.

I could come up with some more ideas to how to tranfer files to one PC to another, but the above should get you going.

[homunculusr]

It starts right up in Mame, but it seems to have windows installed.
So a possibility would be to try and start up in safe mode..and add the Roms there?

I've tried to burn Roms on a CD, and enter the option menu in arcadeos to transfer the content from the CD to the Roms on the arcade machine. But i end up in this endless circle. "press 1 to copy press 2 to exit" then i press 1. "Please put in a CD ROM and press 1 to copy press 2 to leave" Then i put in a CD, press 1..then i jump back to the first option again "Press 1 to copy press 2 to exit"..then i press 1 then i get back to the second option again (the text isn't 100% correct..but you know what i mean ) All i know the CD ROM starts reading when i hit 1 the second time..then stops when it gets back to the first option again.

I also went into the "file menu" on arcadeos, and clicked "add more Roms"..it updates..but nothing happens.
So my guess is that i need to get back into windows..and add the Roms manually. And that's where my problem is "how to enter windows"..but I'll check out the safe mode thing..it might work..

[abispac]

tha easys way would beto take the harddrive out and conect to another machine, then just transfer some roms, then put back the harddrive.

[Thenasty]

what Windows version is it anyway ? i'm guessing Windows 98. If so hit F8 during boot and make selection there.
Then from you can make some changes into INI files not to load AOS or simply RENAME the AOS folder to something else so when you boot back to windows, it won't find it and brings you to your Desktop..

[BobA]

Was your CD ROM formated for fat to be readable by a dos program?

[homunculusr]

Ok so 1 week later, this is what i've tried:

Installing the roms with DOS: Failure
Open windows in safe mode: Failure (it says it's bypassing the startup files)

Only thing left is to find and install windows on an old harddrive (i only have a new hard drive with different wire connections), and see if i can add the arcade hard drive as slave and see if i can enter from there..is it possible that the previous owner has removed all windows components from it? It doesnt seem so because Windows 98 is mentioned at startup.
But can i install..lets say XP and still use the 98 hdd as slave? Or do i need to have 98 on both

[zorrobandito]

If you're wanting to use ArcadeOS, then you should leave the underlying OS alone. Later Windows 'integrated / assimilated' DOS and it is a lot less robust than it was under earlier Windows (which were basically GUI front-ends for DOS.