Mame.exe can't launch certain ROMs outside Mame32

[jlfreund]

I'm having problems running a few ROM's outside Mame32.  From Mame32, all my ROMs launch just fine.

But if I try mame.exe from the command line, or preferrably, launching from MameWah, about 10% of my ROM's don't launch, giving a file not found error.

For example, asteroid1 complains 136002-125.d7 not found.  I checked and none of my asteroi*.zip archives have that file in them, however it evidently isn't a problem when launching from Mame32.  Other games that give similar errors are Millipede and Tempest, though Asteroids Deluxe, and Centipede both work fine.

I am pretty sure all the paths are configured correctly.  In MameWah, it can find 90% of the games, and when running mame.exe from the cmd line, it seems to find the zip files, it just complains about a missing piece inside the zip.

Could it be there is some meta file (like an xml or dat file) that is correct for just Mame32, but either not found or out of sync for MameWah?

Jason

[Havok]

Are you certain you are running the same exact version of Mame as compared to Mame32 ? The roms have to match the version of Mame\Mame32.

I would verify your version of Mame command line, and check your Roms with a rom manager, like Clrmamepro...

[jlfreund]

My mame command line is 109b, and the roms came from a 108 set.  The mame32 is 106. 

Do roms change from one Mame release to the next?  In Maws, it says there was a change to asteroid in 108u5, but I don't see how that could be related to a file not found error.

[Havok]

Unfortunately, they do change. Grab the 108 version of Mame, and it should work fine. You can get it here:

http://www.mame.net/zips/mame0108b.exe

The 109 version you are running is expecting that change, and the Roms you have don't have it.

[jlfreund]

Thanks -- I'll try that out.  BTW, what's a reason that a ROM could change from one Mame release to the next?  I would have assumed that once a set exists, any improvements to the emulation would be in code, not in the ROM?

Jason

[Havok]

Haha - don't say that too loud... Some of the guys here will go after you for that one. I agree, however there are a lot of valid points on why a ROM changes over the different revisions: a new, better dump is done, samples are added\removed, etc. Needless to say, it's best to grab a matching version of ROMS and Mame and standardize on that.

Personally, I don't change unless they add some new games\features. I think I'm going to upgrade once 111 comes out - the guitar hero and fishing games are a fresh new addition...

[u_rebelscum]

I would have assumed that once a set exists, any improvements to the emulation would be in code, not in the ROM?

I think you said it right without knowing it; ROM vs set. 

A ROM in mame isn't changed unless it's found to be a bad dump. 
But what us users see is a set of ROMs grouped in a zip file, often incorrectly called "a ROM" instead of "set of ROMs".

The sets can change for many valid reasons:  Incomplete dumps, mixed and matched dumps, dumped from mixed and matched or hacked PCBs, a new parent/clone found, ect.  And what once was thought to be "complete" or "perfect" sets can be found to not be so later, such as when a better quality PCB is found or emulation is improved so much that the stuff (missing/bad ROM/PROM) that didn't effect play does now. 

But like Havok said, you don't need to keep up with the new mame versions unless there's a new feature, fix, or game, or you want to help with the code.