Confused

[arcade-mad]

Hello ive used mame for ages (mame32) and loved every minute of it but now ive built a few cabs using this emu i was wondering if someone could give me an idiots guide to using mamewah.
I know i will probably get flamed for asking a question that has been asked a million times before but ive used the search function and looked at various sites for my answers but im still in the dark its as clear as mud to me.

firstly if its not too much trouble could these few questions be answered please. If not ill try and search some more.

1.do i need a differant version of mame other than mame32 to get mamewah to work ?? (when i start mamewah it just says no games available)

2 do i need to make a rom folder inside my mamwah folder

3 how do i get to the options screens in mamewah (ive pressed all keys and nothing happens)

as you can tell from these stupid questions im not very computer literate and havnt a clue what im doing 

if somone could point me in the right direction and tell me what to download and how to get mamewah going i would be extreamly greatfull.
i only want to run mame emulator so it shouldnt be too hard but im thick 

thanks in advance for any help and please dont flame the new boy

cheers

[unclet]

Funny, I was in the same boat you are in now ... but only two months earlier.   I used Mame32 only and loved it, however, I wanted a better way to switch between all the emulators I had so since everyone was talking about MameWah, I gave it look.   Yes, it seems very daunting since when you try to start it, then it really does nothing :>)

I will help you out the best I can.   I can help you set up emulators in MameWah if you want, however, I have not looked into using the screensaver, movies, CPViewer interaction, etc... which is possible with MameWah as well.  also, I have not created my own layouts either, I simply use the very nice ones which already exist.

What I would recommend is downloading MameWah1.62b9 (which is what I am using) and extract the contents into a MameWah directory.  This is a beta version so all support files (like the layout configuration EXE is not included in this ... but you will not need anything else at this point if you are learning MameWah from scratch).   Anyway, you can always grab the layout configuration tool from MameWah1.61 package ......     

As for your questions:

1) MameWah is a frontend and only interacts with command-line emulators, so since Mame32 is a GUI front-end which I believe does not allow itself to start a game via the command window prompt, then you must use the associated official command line version of Mame instead.   Go and download the mame.exe file related to the version you want to use.  Yes, you can use Mame32 since this can be started from the command line.

2) You can make a Rom folder whereever you want to .... you will simply create an INI file in MameWah specific to the emulator you want to use and inside the INI file, you will point to the folder which has the ROM files ....

3) Very basically, once you install MameWah into a folder (ie: C:\MameWah lets say) then  go into the CONFIG folder and you will see that MameWah is already configured for MAME.   Each emulator will have it's own folder under the CONFIG folder.   Inside each emualtor folder you will notice INI files.  The <emuname.INI> file is the main file, the <emuname-0.INI> file is always required to exist to show AllGames available and all other INI files (ie: <emuname-1.INI>, <emuname-2.INI> ...... <emuname-N.INI>) can exist which allow you to display only certain games you want (ie: NoClones, Favorites, Driving Games, Shooters, etc..)

What you want to do is go into the CONFIG folder, go into the MAME folder and edit the "mame.ini" file.  To get you started, set the following values for now (thus replacing the the "auto" text which is currently displayed)

rom_path = path to where Rom files are located
rom_extension = extension of Rom files (some emulators use different extensions)
emulator_commandline = How you would execute the emulator via the command line (plus add the {nodosbox}{nosafelaunch} stuff at the end for MameWah).
list_generation_method = which method MameWah should use to list games in the gamelist

Example:
rom_path                      "C:\mame\roms"
rom_extension               zip
emulator_commandline   c:\mame\mame.exe "[rompath]\[name].[romext]"{nodosbox}{nosafelaunch}
list_generation_method    rom_folder


NOTE1: MameWah replaces [rompath] with the path you indicated.  MameWah replaces [name] with the game file you select to play.  MameWah replaces [romext] with the extension you supplied ....   easy right !

NOTE2:  The {nodosbox}{nosafelaunch} helps MameWah launch into (and exit from) Dos nicely.  Some emulators need to be started with any one of the following combinations to work properly.  If you use the "wrong" combo, then perhaps the emulator will start in the background, etc... 

{nodosbox}{nosafelaunch}
{dosbox}{nosafelaunch}
{nodosbox}{safelaunch}
{dosbox}{safelaunch}


Now ...save the mame.ini file.

Now go into the CONFIG/MAME/JCROUSE folder and you will find a nice Mame layout created by Jcrouse which can be used in MameWah (note: jcrouse has tons of these nice looking layout files available at his cpviewer site for download for many other emulators ...these are what I use).  Copy these layout files into the CONFIG/MAME folder.    I guess these files do not currently exist in the MAME folder since some people might not want to use jcrouse's layout for Mame, they might want to use a different one or make their own.  However, it is nice MameWah includes one layout file set you can understand how to use them.

now if you double-click the MAmeWah.exe file then the application will start and it will find at least one layout file, so you should see the nice Mame layout display now.   

Ok, I believe MameWah can be set to use any keys you want but the main default keys I recommend using for now are the following only:

1 = make a selection
2 = brings up options menu
up arrow = scroll up one at a time
down arrow = scroll down one at a time
left arrow = scroll (up?) many at a time
right arrow = scroll (down?) many at a time

Now do this :

1) Press "2" so the options menu pops up
2) Press down/up arrows to go to "Game List Options"
3) Press "1" to select "Game List Options"
4) Press down/up arrowsto go to "Generate List"
5) Press "1" to select "Generate List"

MameWah should now have displayed all you Rom files in a game list format.   You can now scroll down to a game and press "1" to play one.

Let me know how it goes......


HINT (highly recommended):
Since MameWah is just a "frontEnd" for emulators, then what I do is open a command window and execute the emulator's EXE file (with all command line parameters I want/need) to first verify the emulator can start the game at the command line.  I also can see how the emulator starts up and can configure the actual emulator application itself with the options I want for it (ie: fullscreen, rotation stuff, key mappings, etc...) .   Once I get the emulator working how I want it to, then I add it into MameWah.


PS:  Once you get Mame working I would be surprised if you will "only" want to set up Mame .... since MameWah makes it so easy to switch between multiple emulators with ease....

[ppilot]

Mamewah works fine with Mame32

[unclet]

Learning something new every day ......

[arcade-mad]

Hello unclet thank you very much for the advise and instructions 

i will read it again a couple of times then give it all a go tonight.
thanks again ill let you know the outcome.

cheers 

[unclet]

No problem ... ask questions if you want.  Also, feel free to ask questions in the MameWorld forum.   They do a great job over there as well... 

For MameWah questions click on the "ArcadeOS & MameWah"  link.

http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/index.php

[arcade-mad]

Thanks again for the help unclet but im totally lost im no good at stuff like ini files and stuff 

my version of mame wah is 1.61 i cant fint the version you have.

would it be possible for you to maybe e mail me your version so all i have to do is add my roms ?

i know this is cheeky but otherwise im stumped with mamewah
nevermind though im happy to stick with mame32 it may not be pretty but its easy to use.

cheers

[unclet]

Yeah, v1.61 is different ...... trying to use v1.61 based on my descriptions is not going to work.

You can get Mamewah-v1.62b9 here (it is attached to Minwah's forum post):

http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=55579&page=4&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1&new=1138109288


.... then re-read what I wrote above since it should be very easy to get Mame going.  I am at work so I am not around any of my configuration files, but I am sure you will be able to get Mame working now since you will be using 1.62b9

Once you can understand what I wrote above using v1.62b9 then you will be able to add many other emulators to MameWah no problem.

PS: Remember ..... the MameWah layoutManager application is not included with the beta releases of Mamewah, so you can still use the one which you should have for v1.61.    Although, there is no need to have it to do anything I indicated above.   Only once you get an emulator working in MameWah would I recommend playing around with the layout Manager application.

Let me know how it goes .....


OH YEAH ..... I updated a couple things to my directions above, so make sure you re-look at it again so you do the right stuff..

[arcade-mad]

Hi unclet i followed your link but cant download mamwah as im waiting for an e mail from them with a password as i cant download anything until im a member 

so just waiting for my e mail then i can get on with it.
been over 24 hrs now and still no e mail from them 

[unclet]

PM me your email (if you want) and I will send you the file .....

[arcade-mad]

pm sent thanks.

[darthbane2k]

1) MameWah is a frontend and only interacts with command-line emulators, so since Mame32 is a GUI front-end which I believe does not allow itself to start a game via the command window prompt, then you must use the associated official command line version of Mame instead.   Go and download the mame.exe file related to the version you want to use.

Absolute nonsense. Although if you launch mame32.exe by itself you get a GUI/frontend, using the command line functions of mame32 to launch a rom etc work in EXACTLY the same way as command line mame.
It works perfectly fine with mamewah, how do I know? - I use mame32 myself.

[unclet]

darthbane2k:
Yes .... "ppilot" already corrected me on that, I just never updated my original post .... although I have done that now 


arcade-mad:
File sent .....

and .... ask as many questions as you will like and I (and BYOAC) will do our best at answering them.

[crisalan44]

Hello Arcade Mad
I use mamewah 1.61 with mame 32 it is a little hard to setupat first but once you do you will see how it all works and how easy it really is.  If you let me know I can start walking you through the setup process.  I use cpviewer with mine and also emumovies and screensavers and the works.  Would be glad to help.

[arcade-mad]

HI thanks for the file and advise unlet now i have a games list in mamewah but i cant start any game when i press the 1 key or any key a game wont start 
ive followed your tips to the letter now im stuck again.

heres my ini file if thats any help to you ?

### mame.ini (mamewah v1.62) ###

emulator_title                            mame

### List Generation Settings ###
rom_path                                  C:\mame\mame32\roms
rom_extension                             zip
dat_file                                  auto:[emuexepath]\[emuexename].dat
nms_file                                  auto:[emuexepath]\[emuexename].nms
catver_ini_file                           auto:[emuexepath]\catver.ini
list_generation_method                    rom_folder

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             
emulator_commandline                      C:\mame\mame32\mame.exe "[rompath]\[name].[romext]"{nodosbox}{nosafelaunch}
post_emulator_app_commandlines           
general_app_commandlines                 

### Artwork Locations ###
artwork_image_paths                       auto:[emuexepath]\snap;[emuexepath]\titles;[emuexepath]\marquee;[emuexepath]\control;[emuexepath]\cabinet;[emuexepath]\flyers;[emuexepath]\boxart;[emuexepath]\cart;[emuexepath]\art9;[emuexepath]\art10
movie_preview_path                        auto:[emuexepath]\previews
movie_artwork_no                          1

### Screen-Saver Settings ###
enable_music_in_screensaver               1
select_random_game                        0
saver_type                                gamelist_slideshow
movie_path                               
movie_fullscreen                          1
quit_delay                                0
saver_commandline                         

### Additional Settings ###
music_path                               
lcd_display_file_path                     

### Settings used by MAMEWAH ###
current_list                              0

[arcade-mad]

Thanks for the offer chrisalan44 any help you can give me on this would be a help also.

[unclet]

When the game does not styart, do you get a black screen
or are you still in the MameWah menu gamelist display?

If you are still in the MameWah menu, then the command you are using
to start Mame is not correct.   I thought Mame32 was started by using
a "Mame32.exe" not by using a "Mame.exe"

If you are getting a black screen, then most likely the game is started,
however, it is "behind" the MameWah screen.   If this occurs, then
try different combinations of the {nodosbox}/{dosbox} and
{nosafelaunch}/{safelaunch} settings.....

Let me know how it goes ....

[arcade-mad]

At last just changed mame.exe to mame32.exe and games load up 

Fantastic thanks a lot unclet 

cheers

Is there any way i can just get mamewah to display the games in my favorites folder insted of displaying all 5000 odd games in the roms folder if there is that would be the icing on my mamewah cake. 

[unclet]

1) Go into "...\MameWah\Configs\"
2) Make a copy of "mame-0.ini" and name it "mame-1.ini"
3) Edit "mame-1.ini" and rename the "list_title" to "Favorites" (or anything you want to call it)
4) Start MameWah
5) Select a game you wish to mark as your "favorite"
6) Press "2" to bring up Options menu
7) Select "Game List Options"
7) Select "Add Game to List"
8 ) Select "Favorites"

(this adds the game to your Favorites list)

9) Press "2" to bring up Options menu once again
10) Choose "Select Games List"
11) Choose "Favorites" (or whatever name you select for your list_title)

(this will display only the games listed in your Favorites game list)


** You can add as many "<emuname>-#.ini" files as you want
(example: Dad's favorites, Children games, Shooters, Driving Games, etc..)
Also, in Mame only (?) I believe there is away to use an already created
Mame DAT file to allow MameWah to split up the Driving Games, Shooters,
etc.... into separate lists (although this is a question for someone else  )


I added a "mame-2.ini" file and set my list_title to "No Clones" and did the following:

a) Started MameWah
b) pressed "2" to get to the options menu
c) Chose "Select Game List"
d) Chose "No Clones"
e) Press "2" to get the options menu once again
f) Chose "Game List Options"
g) Chose "Generate Filtered List"
h) now set the "Display Clones" to "NO" by toggling through choices by pressing "1"
i) Press "2" to backout and save settings

(this should produce a complete Mame game list without listing all the clones)



Also, adding other emulators to MameWah should now be very easy.  Here is
what you need to do to add another emulator:

1) Under the "...\MameWah\Config\" folder add a new folder called "(emuname)"
2) In the "(emuname)" folder, create an "(emuname).INI" file (ie: main emulator file) (I copied it from mame.ini)
3) In the "(emuname)" folder, create an "(emuname)-0.INI" file (ie: must exist and list_title must be "All Games") (I copied from Mame-0.ini)
4) If you want other specific game lists for this specific emulator then you can add other
   " (emuname)-#INI" files and edit the list_title appropriately.
5) Start MameWah
6) Press "2" to get the options menu
7) Now you can choose "Select Platforms" and see all your emulators in thereto select from ....


Just remember to execute all emulators in a command window first before adding them to MameWah
so you can determine whether the emulator starts and acts like it should and all emulator settings
are like you want them first.

Let me know how it goes ....

[arcade-mad]

I already have a favourites list in my mame32 folder
C:\mame\mame32\folders\favourites

is there anyway to make mamewah use this then i wouldnt have to go through all the roms again adding them to a favourites list when ive already done it once in mame ?

Also could you tell me how to mame mamewah display the game name correctly insted of listing games as the rom name.
e.g insted of listing bubble bobble its calling it bubblbobr etc
hope you understand what i mean.

thanks

[unclet]

1) I doubt there is a way to instruct MameWah to get a favorite's list
from Mame32 since I believe MameWah is a free standing application
which is not linked/associated with any specific emulator.   Might need
to ask this in the MameWah forum (or wait to see if anyone else
chimes in on this post) to see if it can be done .... but I do know that
I have no idea how to do it.

I simply went through my favorite games in Mame32 and added them
individually in MameWah ..... took me about 15 minutes to add them all in ....
no big deal for me.

2) I "think" you might be able to create a DAT file which will list all the
specific stuff about each of your Mame games (including a nice "name"
for each game), then instruct MameWah to use this DAT file to generate
a game list (rather than instruct MameWah to generate a game list
using the ROM folder).

Try this ... no promises:

1) Go into you mame (not Mamewah) install directory (ie: where mame.exe is).

2) Perform the following command to create a DAT file for your mame games.
Note: This will create the "myMameDATfile.dat" file in your mame install
directory.  Just keep the file there...

    mame.exe -listxml|xml2info > myMameDATfile.dat

3) Now ...  edit your "...\MameWah\Config\Mame\mame.ini" file to point to the
DAT file you just create and instruct MameWah to use this DAT file when generating
a game list by the following:

    dat_file                               replace with mame directory path\myMameDATfile.dat

   list_generation_method      dat_file


see if that works .... if not, then you might need to ask this question in the MameWah
forums or wait for someone else to chime in here .....  although I think it should work

[arcade-mad]

Hi
ive been looking on the forum (for around 3 hrs now  ) about mamewah naming the roms insted of the proper game name quite a few people have had this problem  and found that if you alter you config ini to this
list_generation_method                    rom_folder_vs_listxml
mamewah should generate a list using proper game names but its not working for me.

think im gunna stick with mame32 as its much easier to use even if its not as nice to look at because my head is gunna explode 

[unclet]

Aww.... you have come this far ..... the only emulator I generated a DAT file for was
Mame ..... so this should be a one time thing .... try what I am suggesting since my
Mame game names are normal names rather than the rom file names ....

Give it a try .... you are so close ......

I am not sure whether going to MameWah for one emulator is worth it, however, since
I have kids who like a lot of video games, I needed a nice way to switch between
each of my 30+ emulators ....  MameWah works great for this ...

[arcade-mad]

Hi unclet i dont understand when you say create a dat file in mame ??

please could you clear this up.
ill try again in the morning im going out to get drunk now as my head is a conker 

[unclet]

Ok, I forgot you were using Mame32 ..... I do not think the Mame32.exe allows
you to create a DAT file ... only the official "mame.exe" does.  Anyway, download
the official mame application which coincides with the version of Mame32 you
are using and unpack it into a dummy directory (lets call it C:\TmpMame\)

1) Open a command window (Start/Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt), then
change directories to go into your "TmpMame" install directory (ie: cd c:\TmpMame).

2) Execute the following command to create a DAT file:

    mame -listxml|xml2info > myDatfile.dat

3) Move the "myDatfile.dat" file out of the "TmpMame" directory and into some other
location (lets say you put it in your Mame32 install directory (ie: C:\Mame32\myDatfile.dat")

4) You can now delete the TmpMame directory and everything in it since this was
used just to create DAT file.

5) Now ...  edit your "...\MameWah\Config\Mame\mame.ini" file to point to the
DAT file you just created and instruct MameWah to use this DAT file when generating
a game list.  You do this by making the following two changes:

    dat_file                               C:\Mame32\myDatfile.dat

    list_generation_method      dat_file


6) Save the changes to the mame.ini file

7) Start MameWah and see if the game list looks any better.

I am pretty sure this should work ......

[arcade-mad]

Hi ive followed everything to the letter even deleted mamewah and started again. But still have games listed as rom names not game names.

heres my ini file

### mame.ini (mamewah v1.62) ###

emulator_title                            mame

### List Generation Settings ###
rom_path                                  C:\mame\mame32\roms
rom_extension                             zip
dat_file                                  C:\mame\Mame32\myDatfile.dat
nms_file                                  auto:[emuexepath]\[emuexename].nms
catver_ini_file                           auto:[emuexepath]\catver.ini
list_generation_method                    dat_file

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             
emulator_commandline                      C:\mame\mame32\mame32.exe "[rompath]\[name].[romext]"{nodosbox}{nosafelaunch}
post_emulator_app_commandlines           
general_app_commandlines                 

### Artwork Locations ###
artwork_image_paths                       auto:[emuexepath]\snap;[emuexepath]\titles;[emuexepath]\marquee;[emuexepath]\control;[emuexepath]\cabinet;[emuexepath]\flyers;[emuexepath]\boxart;[emuexepath]\cart;[emuexepath]\art9;[emuexepath]\art10
movie_preview_path                        auto:[emuexepath]\previews
movie_artwork_no                          1

### Screen-Saver Settings ###
enable_music_in_screensaver               1
select_random_game                        0
saver_type                                gamelist_slideshow
movie_path                               
movie_fullscreen                          1
quit_delay                                0
saver_commandline                         

### Additional Settings ###
music_path                               
lcd_display_file_path                     

### Settings used by MAMEWAH ###
current_list                              0

i dont know what could be wrong ? is it because im using mame 32 instead of command line mame.

Thanks for the help and patience but i think im a lost cause..........

[unclet]

As long as the DAT file was created successfully with "Mame" (not with "Mame32") and the
file has valid data descriptions inside of it for all Rom games, then I am not sure what
else to try.   

I would recommend starting a new thread here or in the MameWah forum asking
the experts how to do this.   It should not be hard (I just do not remember exactly),
since most people do not use the rom name game listing for Mame.

[arcade-mad]

Thanks again uncle T for the help and advise on mamewah.

ive used the search facility on this forum and have noticed that a lot of people have the same problem as me with the naming of games on there lists.

maybe in a future version of mamewah this will be sorted out.
i have managed to get games running and im in the middle of making my fav's list again as long as there is a screen shot of the game the rom name in the game listing isnt realy a big problem for me.
But its just a little niggle thats done my head in.

Maybe ill try an older version of mame32 im currently using .95
and try different list generation commands as ive read it all changed after version .85 of mame ?? Or maybe try the command line mame if i can get my head round that.

ill persivere with it though and see how i go

thanks again.

[unclet]

Yes, I guess the important question would be ...... what version of Mame32 are you using?

You need to use the same version of "Mame" (which coincides with your version of Mame32)
to generate the DAT file ..... although if you are using an older version of Mame32 then
perhaps the DAT file content stuff changed.

[arcade-mad]

hhhmmmmmmm the version of mame32 is .98 that im using i just downloaded the current version of mame and created a dat file as i couldnt find version .98 of mame.

will this be the reason why creating a dat file didnt work.

[unclet]

Yes, I would think this "could" be a problem ......

Download this mame-v0.98 by following these steps, then try to generate
the DAT file and see what happens.


1) Goto www.mame.net
2) Once the site opens, then replace the "www.mame.net" in the address
search bar with http://www.mame.net/zips/mame098b.zip and then press ENTER.

This should bring up a download box to allow you to save mame-v0.98

Note: For some reason, you must go to the www.mame.net site first.  Trying to get
the file directly does not work for me.

[arcade-mad]

Thanks unclet i will try that.
i downloaded and tried M.A.L.A  today it worked great and automaticaly set up a xml file in my mame folder to use as a game list.
all games in the list are listed as proper names not rom names.
i like the look of M.A.L.A so far so will have a mess around with that.

As for mamewah i will try what you suggested and let you know the result.

Thanks again for all your help 

[unclet]

No problem .... glad you found something which worked .....