Raspberry Pi RetroPie - Single Mame Rom Boot for Dedicated Vertical Display

[thestobbster]

Raspberry Pi RetroPie - Single Mame Rom Boot for Dedicated Vertical Display Cabinets

I am sharing my modified RetroPie Image if anyone wants to test it out. This is a first version of the image I used in my dedicated Galaga Cabinet. This version is pre-built to load Advanced MAME at startup and launch a single MAME rom via Attract Mode. This is a modified version of the RetroPie image released by Floob.

This image does not include any licensed Roms…. (I have included Gridlee for testing purposes)

note: (6 files of 650mbs each need to be downloaded) I had this image on an 8gb SD.

http://stobbs.us/documents/Download_Instructions.pdf

FAQ:

The image does not work how do I fix it? Make sure you have done the following after flashing the rom.

1. On first boot have a usb connected before powering up the pi.
2. If you do not have an imic connected to the pi edit the config.txt.... see known issues....
3. Put your roms on the card before first boot. (be sure you have a compatible rom set)

AdvMame .94 COMPATIBILITY LIST  - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AEQ94buG0rvbW0xdnYKeuEhHeCbuZlRfRJQCb1Dt8fw/edit?usp=sharing

AdvMame 1.4 COMPATIBILITY LIST - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RapyxChe2BMOfbX-FsCup9SXGxvS1WmXAofwaTJtmxc/edit#gid=0

When you start up a ROM it can be interrupted by pressing the firebutton or a key at startup to select the version of AdvanceMame. This could be the menu is being activated by a stuck key or button when launching the game.


How do I load Roms? Roms files must be placed in the following folder… /retropie/roms/mame-advmame/    --------- Watch this Video  ---------

How do I add a different game video for the “Games Menu”? Video files should be put in the following folder… /retropie/roms/mame-libretro/snap/      (name the video file with the same name as the ROM file)  --------- Watch this Video ---------

How do I change the Game Menu Theme? --------- Watch this Video ---------

How do I add a different AttractMode startup video?  Replace the following Video file in this folder… /home/pi/.attract/intro.mp4

What is the “pi” user password? raspberry

Keyboard Shortcuts

AdvMame

tab – maps buttons
Player 1 and Player 2 (together) – exit to Attract “Game Select Menu”

AttractMode

f – change from “Favorites Roms List” to “All Roms”
a – add or remove Roms from favorites list
Joy-Up or Joy-Down – select a different game in list
tab – AttractMode Setup Menu
q – Exit to Raspbery-Pi Cli


Known Issues:

(Updated fix 3/10/20) System boots and plays intro video then freezes -

1. You need to setup the audio correctly in the "config.txt" set this parameter to on....

dtparam=audio=on

2. Edit /etc/asound.conf (change the "card 1" to "card 0")

***********

pcm.!default {
 type hw
 card 1
}

ctl.!default {
 type hw
 card 1
}

***********

No Sound or low volume from Pi built in audio – Solution is to try selecting hdmi audio or use a usb sound card or Griffin iMic note: Default sound is set to Griffin iMic you must modify the config.txt file.

Display has vertical display orientation – Solution change the display orientation. The screen rotation is set in the config.txt on the boot partition. Edit this file by inserting and mounting the microsd card on a Linux PC.  ***Change the line "display_rotate=1" to "display_rotate=0"***

The joystick does not work – Solution is to hook up a keyboard to the Raspberry Pi before powering up your Pi. When the Mame Rom is loaded hit tab key and remap your joystick buttons. (Preconfigured to work with Reyann Zero Delay Arcade USB Encoder Pc to Joystick)

When changing load last played Rom in setting does not load the last game – Solution launch game from menu. Then exit the game. Exit Attract mode by selecting quit. Power of the Pi back on.

[ark_ader]

Will this work on my PiZero with KADE?

[thestobbster]

The image is a Raspberry Pi 2 and 3b+ Image. It has been tested on both.

[mike boss]

Perhaps a stupid question, but none the less I'll ask.

Theoretically I could add the 60 ROM files found on a 60 in 1 board and use it with this image ?

My buddy is looking for something to use on a vertical cab.....I've "kinda" sold him on going with a Pi.
I know he would want more than 1 game, he was prior leaning towards a 60-in-1 board.

I would assume this build of Retro Pi would support multiple ROMS as long as you put the required files in the correct folder.
IE - if he wanted 100 games he could do so with this build ?

[yotsuya]

Well, a 60-1 is plug and play. You sold him on the Pi and you're not sure how it works? What are you going to use to interface with the Pi?

[thestobbster]

You can load as many Roms as you like for this RetroPie image. You will need to also add the additional attract menu videos as well. Just load them over the network via SMB. Then you will have to update Roms in the AttractMode Settings to get the new files to be recognized. My intention was to have a minimal rom set to get rid of the clutter of too many games. Once I build some more cabs for the home arcade I plan to just have 1 rom on each machine. As far as an Interface for the Pi I used  the $12 Reyann Zero Delay Arcade USB Encoder Pc to Joystick. These work great. I put 2 of them in my Multi-cade Cocktail.

[mike boss]

I'm using the Zero Delay Encoder for my project.
Looking forward to giving it a try.

I know how the Pi works, the ROMS, the emulators, etc.
However I'm not familiar with alternate versions of the software.
I assumed that (like with any emulator/ROM set up) if I add only
10 games, my gameslist would display only the 10 loaded games.

I was just unsure if this build perhaps had some limitations.
That was what I was unclear of.

I know for myself I want all the games, all the ROM files, even if I play 10.
All be it, it does make sense to only list the games you'd actually play.

[adder]

thanks for sharing thestobbster, any chance you could make a video showing the booting up (just curious to see it in action and the time it takes to boot etc.  if too much trouble no worries of course)

[thestobbster]

[adder]

ace, thanks for the link

[thestobbster]

I just added a video that shows how to load up ROM files on my Pi Image for anyone who is testing it out....

[MAME TIME]

Hey mine takes some time too boot up, stays on the galaga splash screen for awhile,i have a rom set from 106, i placed a few roms in zip format in retropie/roms/mame-advmame, wont load and im not sure what im missing. when it does get past the splash screen it gives me game that plays for a few seconds then goes to a select menu 1 of 1

[thestobbster]

You can check the compatibility of the roms here.

AdvMame .94 COMPATIBILITY LIST  - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AEQ94buG0rvbW0xdnYKeuEhHeCbuZlRfRJQCb1Dt8fw/edit?usp=sharing

AdvMame 1.4 COMPATIBILITY LIST - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RapyxChe2BMOfbX-FsCup9SXGxvS1WmXAofwaTJtmxc/edit#gid=0

When you start up a ROM it can be interrupted by pressing the firebutton or a key at startup to select the version of AdvanceMame. This could be the menu is being activated by a stuck key or button when launching the game.

[thestobbster]

I just added a video that shows how to load Game Select Menu Video files on my Pi Image for anyone testing it out....

[macattack]

I am also testing this and finding it takes ages to load and even things like it takes 15 minutes to exit back to a prompt... I really can't seem to make it do anything with these huge lags.

have even tried running updates, I do have it running on a pi3 but again, really slow.

question, how did you rotate the display since there is no entry in config.txt to rotate it?

[nitrogen_widget]

I am also testing this and finding it takes ages to load and even things like it takes 15 minutes to exit back to a prompt... I really can't seem to make it do anything with these huge lags.

have even tried running updates, I do have it running on a pi3 but again, really slow.

question, how did you rotate the display since there is no entry in config.txt to rotate it?

are you using a class 10 card?
did you rotate the display in the config.txt file on the RPI or are you rotating the front end and emulator?
If the former you need to increase the memory to the GPU.

also there is a new image with attractmode front end for RPI out based on buildroot.

http://forum.attractmode.org/index.php?topic=1072.0

[thestobbster]

The screen rotation is set in the config.txt on the boot partition. I usually edit the file by inserting and mounting the microsd card on one of my Linux boxes.

Change the line "display_rotate=1" to "display_rotate=0"

Also you can tweak the clock speed of the pi in the same file.

I am also testing this and finding it takes ages to load and even things like it takes 15 minutes to exit back to a prompt... I really can't seem to make it do anything with these huge lags.

have even tried running updates, I do have it running on a pi3 but again, really slow.

question, how did you rotate the display since there is no entry in config.txt to rotate it?

[thestobbster]

It looks like the link for the attractmode image does not include Mame as an emulator?

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

also there is a new image with attractmode front end for RPI out based on buildroot.

http://forum.attractmode.org/index.php?topic=1072.0

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

[thestobbster]

I just updated the Pi Image Download on my server. It was deleted off the server by accident. A big thanks to Goochee64 for letting me know that the link was no longer working....

I have re-uploaded it as a multi-file 7zip. Each of the 6 files are 650megs. By breaking the image up it makes it easier to get the smaller files downloaded rather than a single 4GB file.

The download instructions are listed below for anyone who would like to test the image on their Raspberry Pi.

http://stobbs.us/documents/Download_Instructions.pdf

[mindbinge]

Would this work on a Pi 3 or just on the 2?

I'm working on restoring a Frogger cab (only have the cab nothing else) and this looks cool with the option to direct boot then play a few other games...I really only regularly play a few select classics anyway....would be great for the kids I think to have PacMan and a few others they like on there as well.

[thestobbster]

macattack said in an earlier post for this thread that the image does work on his Pi 3.

You may have to tweak the config.txt to match the CPU speed which an example of the Pi2 settings that are also shown in this thread.

If you try it out and it does work please post a reply to this thread.

[IamRoger]

I tried out your image, both on RP2 and RP3, both took at least 15 mins to load.  I then changed the config.txt on the RP3 to match speed, still took 15 minutes to load.  Im not sure what the issue is with the image, hmm. It looks great, good job, its too bad I can't get it to work either.

[langlem]

Nice image!... A few questions;

1. How did you get it to boot directly into a game. I am failing at this

2. What layout are you using?  I like its simplicity...

Thank you!

EDIT...just found your post on this a few pages back.  Oops

Would you be willing to share your layout/theme?  Thx again!

[IamRoger]

TheStobbster, I just want to thank you for your videos and all the info you have shared.  Although I haven't been able to get your image to work properly , I have been recreate the same setup from scratch using a RP3 and Floobs. I have one question:  Where is the setting or in the menu to be able to exit a game by pushing play 1 & 2 button or (keyboard 5 & 6) at the same time?  I have not been able to find the spot to exit or anything referenced to the ESC key to change. I look all through attract mode menu and Mame menu settings.  I still have to use the ESC key to exit a mame game.

[mahuti]

I still have to use the ESC key to exit a mame game.

Using the tab key in Mame, you can adjust the UI controls to use a different key other than ESC. To be specific I believe this is what you need to do:

1. start a game in mame
2. hit "tab" key to edit config settings
3. select "Input (general)" in the menu list.
4. select the "UI Cancel" option and hit whatever key or keys you want to use to escape.

[IamRoger]

Thanks, mahuti!  Found it. 

[thestobbster]

I tried out your image, both on RP2 and RP3, both took at least 15 mins to load.  I then changed the config.txt on the RP3 to match speed, still took 15 minutes to load.  Im not sure what the issue is with the image, hmm. It looks great, good job, its too bad I can't get it to work either.

IamRoger,

I am not sure why it is taking such a long time to boot. I will have a Pi3 version that I will post when I have some extra time. I just started a new job and I won't have time for a few weeks.

How many Roms have you loaded? You may want to try with less roms loaded. It could be your speed of your card. If you load the stock retropie image does it boot fast? 

[thestobbster]

Nice image!... A few questions;

1. How did you get it to boot directly into a game. I am failing at this

2. What layout are you using?  I like its simplicity...

Thank you!

EDIT...just found your post on this a few pages back.  Oops

Would you be willing to share your layout/theme?  Thx again!

The layout is a modified version of Grid.  If you have downloaded my image it comes with the Grid-New theme pre-installed. I will see if I can post a download link on my website for the Display layout when I get some extra time. I will also type up some instructions on where to place the modified files in the attract mode folders. I had to modify the border images to remove the white box that comes in the default attract Grid Display.

[thestobbster]

All,

Thanks for the feed back. 

I will try my best to do some additional testing and see if I can reproduce some issues like the slow booting. I will be ordering a Pi3 for my cocktail table. 2 Months ago I switched the cocktail over from Windows 7 to Ubuntu 16.04 Linux. I did a custom Mame compile that runs the latest Mame with attract mode. I am hoping to do a video series on this setup. Just haven't had the time to setup the camera to record a step by step on how I did it...

[thestobbster]

I received my Pi3 that I ordered for my cocktail cabinet. I flashed the image to an 8 gb micro sd card,  dropped some roms in the folder and it boots on the Pi3. It's not a speed demon... You just need to be patient on the initial startup. Both the Pi2 and Pi3 boot time is about the same. Once it's loaded it all works good. 

[thestobbster]

I just posted a video on my YouTube channel showing the boot time. It looks like it takes about 2 minuted to startup on the Raspberry Pi 3.

[SAVAGExMLGPRO]

What kind of monitor are you using? send a link or something please 

[thestobbster]

Viewsonic VA926G 19-Inch LCD Monitor with outer case removed - in my Galaga

https://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-VA951S-Monitor-Enhanced-Viewing-dp-B00NM75OZ4/dp/B00NM75OZ4/ref=dp_ob_title_ce


Dell 19 Monitor P1914S - In my Cocktail cabinet

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Professional-P1914S-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B00FZ2AQOI

[Brokemmogamer]

Pi3 here.  No roms installed. Boots to the Galaga graphic and no combination of keys or buttons gets me off the screen.  I assume that I need it to boot all the way to get in and set up network connection to install roms so at this point I am stuck.
Can anyone help?

Update:  After a very long time (10+ minutes?) it finally booted up. 

All I had was a usb keyboard plugged in and of course my monitor via hdmi.  No sound connected, no game pads. 

I was just about to give up and was making some fries for dinner when I saw the screen flash out of the corner of my eye and noted it was booted finally. 

I know there has been some discussion about long boot times.  I am using a rather speedy SD card but I will try another one just to see if there is a difference. 

[thestobbster]

If anyone is having issues downloading the image lately from my website it was missing again and I just put it back up. I am looking into hosting it in an alternate location for future hosting.

I have re-uploaded it as a multi-file 7zip. Each of the 6 files are 650megs. By breaking the image up it makes it easier to get the smaller files downloaded rather than a single 4GB file.

The download instructions have been updated as well...

http://stobbs.us/documents/Download_Instructions.pdf

[RIJOSROBERTO]

hello every one , does anyone know where i can download the layout/theme that THeSToBBSTeR is using i think its called grid-new , i know it comes with his image download but i just need the layout/theme its self please ,.

[lashedup]

Total NOOB question here...

Should this image allow you to boot up a brand new PI3+  or do you have to have a basic OS installed already?   Is THeSToBBSTeR image the only thing necessary to have on the SD card to boot a brand new PI?

Thanks for the patience and help!

-j

[thestobbster]

This image has not been tested on the latest version of the Pi 3. It runs an earlier version of retro-pie that may not be compatible with your version of the Raspberry Pi.

Once I get a hold of a newer Raspberry Pi 3, I will likely test my image or update it to be compatible. For now if you buy a Pi2 or model 3, it should work fine on either one. I am running a pi 2 with Centipede in my cocktail table and a Pi 3 in my Galaga cabinet. Both of these work without any issues.

Keep in mind that the disk image must be flashed onto your micro sd card using a program like etcher or win32 disk imager. You can't just copy it to the card using file copy.

Hope this helps answer your questions.

[mrclean]

Certain Logic Boards are just getting wayyyy out of hand / too $$$$ expensive, some of those components are unreliable as well. This is EXACTLY what I want a compatible RPI3B+ Image that loads a single MAME Rom and loads it directly / launches it as if it were an original PCB inside the cabinet. Also to note I want it to work with libretro2003 because to me .78 MAME set runs damn good.

-Hide load up junk
-(Insert Custom splash, (i can always change it to black should i wish to have it blank)
-LOAD "insert game title here" MAME game.
-I don't want the ability for anyone to be able to exit the game by accident or on purpose.
-I want a safe shut down.

Ideally I want it to be able to rinse repeat this process. Have it compatible for Horizontal & Vertical monitor orientations. Predominately for right now I typically place them into Horizontally oriented monitors. I've already built a rpi3b+ image with tons of games but I just want single load capability to circumvent using expensive unreliable / unpredictable hardware.

[morton]

Certain Logic Boards are just getting wayyyy out of hand / too $$$$ expensive, some of those components are unreliable as well. This is EXACTLY what I want a compatible RPI3B+ Image that loads a single MAME Rom and loads it directly / launches it as if it were an original PCB inside the cabinet. Also to note I want it to work with libretro2003 because to me .78 MAME set runs damn good.

-Hide load up junk
-(Insert Custom splash, (i can always change it to black should i wish to have it blank)
-LOAD "insert game title here" MAME game.
-I don't want the ability for anyone to be able to exit the game by accident or on purpose.
-I want a safe shut down.

Ideally I want it to be able to rinse repeat this process. Have it compatible for Horizontal & Vertical monitor orientations. Predominately for right now I typically place them into Horizontally oriented monitors. I've already built a rpi3b+ image with tons of games but I just want single load capability to circumvent using expensive unreliable / unpredictable hardware.

There is a program called AM builder, that is a super user friendly Attract Mode layout builder. I used it to build a layout that was for a vertical cabinet... It only displayed a full sized screen video snap and the game logo. No fancy junk.

I have heard its better performance wise to rotate in RetroArch and that the display_rotate command is harder on the performance.

What I would recommend is that since this can be done in such a way that AM runs in a native horizontal way. Except the snap and wheel art are rotated to accommodate your monitors rotation. That way when you set up the attract mode menu, you set next game to be "down" but AM sees it as right (because the monitor is rotated - not AM). Set it up so that the game loads in RetroArch rotated. Then the contols are the same, because it sees up as up, etc... Make sense? Probably not, but it worked much better for me than using display_rotate.

I will try to dig up a layout file. No promises.

[Lilwolf]

Last time I tried vertical screen on a raspberry pie, the performance sucked.  Has this been taken care of yet?

I have a cocktail table I would love to throw retropie in (it had an old computer in it that died and I haven't got around to buying something new for it).

Thanks

[ark_ader]

Last time I tried vertical screen on a raspberry pie, the performance sucked.  Has this been taken care of yet?

I have a cocktail table I would love to throw retropie in (it had an old computer in it that died and I haven't got around to buying something new for it).

Thanks

Yeah kinda. Nearly not really.  Almost.

The only noticed slow downs was NEo GEo horizontal games like Baseball Stars 2.  It was irritating to watch.

Better to get a PC than a Pi.  Even the Tinker has problems with vertical displaying horizontal games.  I would think the video driver is not there yet.  You could try giving more memory to the GPU, but I doubt it.

Check newegg as I got a refurbished SFF i3 entry spec for $50 with windows 10 home.  The Raspberry Pi is a developer board, better suited to 16bit home console games.  Flamers welcome to comment.

[Lilwolf]

What I heard  the problem was that the video drivers were emulating a horizontal scan pattern.  For vertical screen, it scans each horizontal line, to draw a single pixel, then moves to the enxt... instead of drawing the whole line at once.  I didn't get if it was a retropie issue / lib problem, or unix driver problem... 

[thestobbster]

Updates to know issues in the original post have been made at the beginning of this post for those who had problems with the following issue.

If you get a freeze during boot and you are not using a usb sound device do the following:

Known Issues:

(Updated fix 3/10/20) System boots and plays intro video then freezes -

1. You need to setup the audio correctly in the "config.txt" set this parameter to on....

dtparam=audio=on

2. Edit /etc/asound.conf (change the "card 1" to "card 0")

***********

pcm.!default {
 type hw
 card 1
}

ctl.!default {
 type hw
 card 1
}

***********

[keilmillerjr]

Last time I tried vertical screen on a raspberry pie, the performance sucked.  Has this been taken care of yet?

I have a cocktail table I would love to throw retropie in (it had an old computer in it that died and I haven't got around to buying something new for it).

Thanks

Yeah kinda. Nearly not really.  Almost.

The only noticed slow downs was NEo GEo horizontal games like Baseball Stars 2.  It was irritating to watch.

Better to get a PC than a Pi.  Even the Tinker has problems with vertical displaying horizontal games.  I would think the video driver is not there yet.  You could try giving more memory to the GPU, but I doubt it.

Check newegg as I got a refurbished SFF i3 entry spec for $50 with windows 10 home.  The Raspberry Pi is a developer board, better suited to 16bit home console games.  Flamers welcome to comment.

Neo Geo is an m68k and z80. 16/32-bit and super common. Yeah...

[gregmaletic]

If anyone is having issues downloading the image lately from my website it was missing again and I just put it back up. I am looking into hosting it in an alternate location for future hosting.

I have re-uploaded it as a multi-file 7zip. Each of the 6 files are 650megs. By breaking the image up it makes it easier to get the smaller files downloaded rather than a single 4GB file.

The download instructions have been updated as well...

http://stobbs.us/documents/Download_Instructions.pdf

The download instructions link is broken. Any idea where they could be found, along with the images? Thank you.

[Wavfact]

Did you get your system running?  I have one I built for Tron but you could swap out the rom for something else.. uses Mame v0.251. It also drives a second monitor but that can easily be disabled.

All bootup screens have been disabled, boots directly to the game..