RetroFE forums

General Category => General Discussion & Help => Topic started by: bodbod on May 17, 2017, 12:49:24 PM

Title: Tutorial section
Post by: bodbod on May 17, 2017, 12:49:24 PM: Hi,

Maybe a Tutorials section approved by the admin would be a good solution to skim the numerous information in the general/help section.
Once you believe the tutorial is accurate and relevant, you guys move it to the Tutorials section.
I believe, this would increase the value of the forum and the number of contributors on top of the wiki documentation.

cheers
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on May 17, 2017, 12:50:42 PM: Sure, I can set up a section for that. :)
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on September 27, 2017, 04:16:05 PM: Hi Pieter,
I'm quite new to RetroFe, but am absolutely struggling at setting up MAME/Fusion or just about any emulator to run.
I don't find the online guide particularly useful. What I'm after is almost an Idiot's guide to RetroFe.
While I'm here, does retroFe work with versions of MAME that are pre-0185?
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Agent47 on September 27, 2017, 04:47:49 PM: What are you having trouble with specifically? Are you having trouble with setting up a collection in RetroFE or are you just having issues actually running games from the frontend? If it's the latter the first step should be to ensure you're able to run games through the emulator directly outside of the frontend. Once you can do that it's just a matter of creating a launcher.conf for that emulator containing the proper exe location and command line args and setting the collection to use that emulator in its settings.conf and setting your rom path if you're not using the default location.

IIRC the MAME and Fusion launchers are included in the base RFE download so it shouldn't be an issue with the launchers assuming you set the path to the executables. Feel free to upload your log.txt also.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on September 27, 2017, 05:30:24 PM: thanks for getting back. I've managed to create collections no problems, but I cannot get emulators to launch.
They launch 100% every time outside of RFE, so I'm obviously doing something wrong.
I've attached my log file (it's probably a mess!)
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on September 27, 2017, 05:34:00 PM: I figure the wiki holds insufficient information? In general, Agent47 is correct, though we could probably do with a tutorial section containing some ready to use launchers. When it comes to MAME, please have a look at http://retrofe.nl/SMF/index.php?topic=211.0
MAME arcade is a rather special case when it comes to emulators, since it uses its own configuration file (mame.ini) that determines where the roms are located. Most other emulator setups can point directly towards the roms in the collections/<collection name>/roms directory.

Personally, I'm using MAME for almost everything. Once you've got MAME setup properly with the corresponding BIOS files for consoles, you can very easily set up a large set of collections. Should you have an EmuMovies account, feel free to have a look at their FTP as well; I've put a complete unzip/drag/drop setup for multiple systems there (without the ROMs of course).

As an example, I've included some of my launcher files. Perhaps it will help you get started.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on September 27, 2017, 05:37:10 PM: Quote from: RetroPrime on September 27, 2017, 05:30:24 PM
thanks for getting back. I've managed to create collections no problems, but I cannot get emulators to launch.
They launch 100% every time outside of RFE, so I'm obviously doing something wrong.
I've attached my log file (it's probably a mess!)

I don't see a launch attempt in that log file, though I do notice that your mame.conf contains a specific rom as argument rather than a generic referral using the RetroFE variables, and MAME arcade games should be launched with the machine name rather than a path to the rom file.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on September 27, 2017, 05:51:06 PM: Many thanks. I have an emu account, but I understood that you had to be a subscription member to use the ftp?
I'll have another tinker. I remember when mame was very basic and haven't dabbled in deep emulation in years, so this is all quite new. Thanks again...
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on September 27, 2017, 05:54:35 PM: That's correct; you need a subscription membership for the FTP, but if you intend to use any front-end with videos you'll probably need a subscription there anyway. MAME Arcade is about the only one I've found an alternative for EmuMovies so far.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on September 30, 2017, 01:52:54 AM: I still can't get anything to launch, even with the .conf files you provided.
I have mame64 vers 0.159 which loads games fine outside of FE as stated previously, but I can't get FE to recognise the launcher or games (please see attached my latest log.txt). Any help is most welcome.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Agent47 on September 30, 2017, 07:08:03 AM: Your log shows you're trying to launch a nes game using MAME which is fine except you mentioned you're using .159 which is your problem. MESS (which is what runs console/computer/non-arcade systems) didn't merge into MAME until .162 so your MAME version will only run arcade games.

Your MAME version is extremely old so I would personally suggest trashing yours and downloading the latest version but keep in mind you will also need to get a rom set to match the newer version. Otherwise, assuming you have a 159 version of MESS you would just need to set your executable to that instead of MAME. Unrelated to this issue, I noticed you have a type in your TurboGrafx collection name.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on October 01, 2017, 12:35:08 AM: Finally getting there! Managed to load up mame 0162 and fire up some games. However, after exiting RFE and reloading it: mame only seems to recognise 1 rom out of a few hundred. Has anyone seen this type of behaviour before?
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on October 01, 2017, 08:35:06 AM: I've only seen such behavior if your rom set does not match your MAME version. I'd advice getting MAME 0.190 and the matching rom set.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on October 07, 2017, 12:14:38 AM: Thanks for all your help so far guys. Making progress through experimentation rather than just asking on the forum all the time.
Even managed to get Amstrad cpc to run through mame (happy days!)
However, if someone could point me to where (on emumovies for example) I can download the mame game title graphics and where to dump them, I'd be most grateful. I assumed it was the Mame title snap packs but this is not the case. I'm after the distinct font that each game has when cycling through a wheel in RFE.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on October 07, 2017, 12:17:10 AM: Here's an illustration of what I'm after: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7PBe16Nx4Y
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on October 07, 2017, 12:20:55 AM: Never mind: found it (game logo pack).
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on October 14, 2017, 04:32:01 PM: Hi all,
Is there a way to add intro music to RFE? I would love for an 80's theme to kick in during attract mode, after the RFE logo.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on October 14, 2017, 05:43:12 PM: Exactly in what order would you like these things to happen? I can imagine hearing that music and the video music at the same time may not give the best results.

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on October 15, 2017, 05:06:00 PM: Ideally, I wouldn't have any video music at all, just the 80's soundtrack. My current setting doesn't have any type of consistent 'video' music anyway, just whatever sound clips are playing for the game that is being demoed. Is it possible?
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on October 15, 2017, 05:33:01 PM: Not yet, but it's on the to-do list. I'd hoped to've gotten some programming help by now for these kinds of things.

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on October 15, 2017, 06:36:55 PM: No worries, now is as good a time as any to say that RFE is a brilliant FE. It's helping to make Christmas a little bit more special with the bartop project I'm currently working on. Well done to all involved, if I get around to it, I would love to contribute in the tiniest of ways by creating a tutorial based on my settings that could potentially help other newbies like myself.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on November 27, 2017, 06:24:08 PM: Back again (hopefully for the last time). I'm trying to launch genesis/nes/snes roms from RFE but using Mame.
I can fiddle and get mame to launch the various systems outside of RFE, but I don't get the same results from within.
Can anyone point me in the right direction, or does anyone have a similar config that allows them to use mame and launch multiple systems?
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on November 27, 2017, 06:37:01 PM: Quote from: RetroPrime on November 27, 2017, 06:24:08 PM
Back again (hopefully for the last time). I'm trying to launch genesis/nes/snes roms from RFE but using Mame.
I can fiddle and get mame to launch the various systems outside of RFE, but I don't get the same results from within.
Can anyone point me in the right direction, or does anyone have a similar config that allows them to use mame and launch multiple systems?
I use MAME for almost all systems. Can you post your log.txt file?

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on November 28, 2017, 07:02:04 PM: Sure, log.txt attached
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Agent47 on November 28, 2017, 08:19:34 PM: You're trying to use the same command line for your NES roms as arcade games, which isn't correct. For any non arcade systems you need to specify the machine/system and since you're not using the software lists you also need to specify the media type in the command line. Create a new launcher for nes and use the following arguments:

nes -cart %ITEM_FILEPATH%
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on November 29, 2017, 09:23:07 AM: Thanks for replying, however I have that argument for NES already. My NES conf file is as follows:

executable = ..\emulators\MAME\mame0162b_64bit\mame64.exe
arguments = nes -cart "%ITEM_FILEPATH%"
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on November 29, 2017, 11:41:28 AM: Quote from: RetroPrime on November 29, 2017, 09:23:07 AM
Thanks for replying, however I have that argument for NES already. My NES conf file is as follows:

executable = ..\emulators\MAME\mame0162b_64bit\mame64.exe
arguments = nes -cart "%ITEM_FILEPATH%"
Maybe so, but your NES settings.conf sets your launcher to mame.conf...

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on November 29, 2017, 04:16:15 PM: ok. are you able to tell me how my nes settings conf should look?
also, should nes roms sit in the mame/roms folder, or can they sit in a seperate nes/roms folder? I know mame is picky about the location of roms.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on November 29, 2017, 04:33:55 PM: If I'm right, there's currently a line in your Nintendo Entertainment System settings.conf file reading:
launcher = mame
replace it with:
launcher = Nintendo Entertainment System
That should do the trick. :)
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on November 29, 2017, 04:37:31 PM: Quote from: RetroPrime on November 29, 2017, 04:16:15 PM
also, should nes roms sit in the mame/roms folder, or can they sit in a seperate nes/roms folder? I know mame is picky about the location of roms.

Assuming you're not using software lists, you can just put the roms in collections\Nintendo Entertainment System\roms
MAME will grab its paths from the mame.ini file, but since you use a direct ROM call it will grab that file from the indicated path in stead. It will still grab the nes BIOS from its default path though, but I assume you've put that rom (nes.zip) somewhere in the MAME rom path already.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on November 29, 2017, 05:12:12 PM: Thanks, funnily enough I figured out that I was referencing mame instead of 'Nintendo Entertainment System'. I have the nintendo super system bios stored in the mame/roms directory, but still having no joy.
RFE can see the roms for the respective systems, but refuses to launch... Guessing something still wrong with launcher file syntax :(
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on November 29, 2017, 06:07:04 PM: Upload a new log.txt file?

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on November 29, 2017, 06:57:52 PM: log attached.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Agent47 on November 29, 2017, 07:44:47 PM: Your log shows the same problem as before. You're using the generic MAME launcher rather than the tg16 one with the correct parameters.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on November 29, 2017, 07:59:08 PM: Agent47 is correct. Your TurboGrafx settings.conf also uses the line
launcher = mame
It's the same problem as your NES collection had.

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 01, 2017, 01:09:58 PM: Thanks both. The difference-maker also seemed to be the absence of 'inverted commas', but my snes and amstrad collections are still not working. I shall have another tinker...
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 01, 2017, 01:19:33 PM: As always: please post your log file where you fail to load one of those games. I'll happily take a look. :) I've got both SNES and Amstrad working via MAME, so we should be able to figure this one out.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 01, 2017, 06:18:09 PM: please find log attached. Thanks 8)
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 01, 2017, 06:36:19 PM: Your launcher is set to Amstrad CPC 6128, but that launcher does not appear to exist.

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 01, 2017, 07:41:34 PM: I have a launcher CONF file called "Amstrad CPC 6128" with the following arguments:

= cpc6128 -cart "ITEM_FILEPATH%"
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Agent47 on December 01, 2017, 08:11:58 PM: The launcher file exists, but according to the log the executable isn't defined in it properly (or at all). The %ITEM_FILEPATH% variable in the arguments you posted is missing the leading % as well.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 01, 2017, 08:19:53 PM: Quote from: RetroPrime on December 01, 2017, 07:41:34 PM
I have a launcher CONF file called "Amstrad CPC 6128" with the following arguments:

= cpc6128 -cart "ITEM_FILEPATH%"
Maybe I'm missing it while reading on my phone, but I don't see the Amstrad CPC 6128.conf being loaded. I see an Amstrad GX4000...

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Agent47 on December 02, 2017, 07:03:00 AM: Quote from: Pieter Hulshoff on December 01, 2017, 08:19:53 PM
Maybe I'm missing it while reading on my phone, but I don't see the Amstrad CPC 6128.conf being loaded. I see an Amstrad GX4000...

Whoops, you're correct. I was reading the log quickly on my way out the door and mistook it parsing the launcher assignment in the settings.conf as finding the launcher file itself.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 02, 2017, 01:39:05 PM: Thanks. I've checked my amstrad cpc6128.conf against others and the executable matches. Still not working. snes and master system also not working. Any suggestions are welcome. Even better, is if someone has working .conf files for those 3 systems that they could provide as a reference.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Agent47 on December 02, 2017, 02:17:42 PM: Where do you have your cpc6128 launcher file? Like Pieter said, that launcher isn't listed in your log meaning RetroFE can't find it. Regarding snes, you're not using the correct system name in your arguments for that launcher. You're using "nss" when you should be using "snes" instead. Your master system launcher looks correct though.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 02, 2017, 03:24:20 PM: My 6128 launcher conf is located with all the other .conf files within the launchers.windows folder.
Also I tried changing the system name to 'snes' and the screen blinked for a split second then returned to RFE. This is the same thing that happens with master system. There is nothing in the log.txt to indicate an error of any kind.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 02, 2017, 05:29:36 PM: Quote from: RetroPrime on December 02, 2017, 03:24:20 PM
My 6128 launcher conf is located with all the other .conf files within the launchers.windows folder.
Also I tried changing the system name to 'snes' and the screen blinked for a split second then returned to RFE. This is the same thing that happens with master system. There is nothing in the log.txt to indicate an error of any kind.
Just post it; I'll have a look.
Does it launch from the commandline? Do you have the required BIOS roms installed?

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 03, 2017, 06:07:22 PM: I have the nss (nintendo super system) bios in the main mame/roms directory.
when running mame/snes from command line it loads up, but I don't actually know how to load a rom. So when exiting, I get the following:
m50458-001sp ROM NEEDS REDUMP
m50458_char.bin ROM NEEDS REDUMP
WARNING: the machine might not run correctly.

Also have the master system bios in the main mame/roms directory.
when running mame/sms from the command line, I get nothing but the following error:
mpr-12808.ic2 NOT FOUND (tried in sms sms)
FATALERROR: Required files are missing, the machine cannot be run.

log file attached.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 03, 2017, 08:42:04 PM: Quote from: RetroPrime on December 03, 2017, 06:07:22 PM
I have the nss (nintendo super system) bios in the main mame/roms directory.
when running mame/snes from command line it loads up, but I don't actually know how to load a rom. So when exiting, I get the following:
m50458-001sp ROM NEEDS REDUMP
m50458_char.bin ROM NEEDS REDUMP
WARNING: the machine might not run correctly.

Also have the master system bios in the main mame/roms directory.
when running mame/sms from the command line, I get nothing but the following error:
mpr-12808.ic2 NOT FOUND (tried in sms sms)
FATALERROR: Required files are missing, the machine cannot be run.

log file attached.
6128 conf is still not loaded. If it's right there in your launchers.windows directory, then please send me a copy so I can try to figure out why it isn't loading.

The nss message is a simple warning from the MAME team that the dump needs to be updated sometime. Why do you use nss to launch those games if I may ask?

For the sms, please check sms.zip if the mentioned file is actually there. Perhaps you need an updated romfile there?

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 04, 2017, 08:50:07 PM: I understood nss to be correct. Perhaps I've misinterpreted along the way.
I've attached the latest log, 6128.conf and sms/snes just in case you spot something.
Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 05, 2017, 12:28:00 AM: Quote from: RetroPrime on December 04, 2017, 08:50:07 PM
I understood nss to be correct. Perhaps I've misinterpreted along the way.
I've attached the latest log, 6128.conf and sms/snes just in case you spot something.
Thanks in advance.
Ok, but what am I looking at? What is/isn't working that shouldn't/should be working? Did you test this from the command line, and did MAME 0.162 that you seem to be using already have MESS included?

I'll have a look at why 6128 isn't being loaded though.

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Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Thunderman on December 05, 2017, 06:59:36 PM: ive done some tutorials in the tutorial section for fba and daphne give me little bit here ill setup snes and then make one for that for you to follow.

can you post your settings.conf from collections/Super Nintendo Entertainment System/ ?

Edit: WOW I cant get mame64 to run a super nintendo game to save my a$$ im going to make tutorial for retroarch instead.

almost there got it working just need to figure out the command to make it launch full screen and will be done
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Thunderman on December 06, 2017, 05:43:24 AM: ok finished tutorial for SNES its in the tutorial section.
http://retrofe.nl/SMF/index.php?topic=254.0 (http://retrofe.nl/SMF/index.php?topic=254.0)
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 06, 2017, 07:58:57 AM: Quote from: RetroPrime on December 04, 2017, 08:50:07 PM
I understood nss to be correct. Perhaps I've misinterpreted along the way.
I've attached the latest log, 6128.conf and sms/snes just in case you spot something.
Thanks in advance.

Ok, I admit that this is pretty pathetic, and something I need to have a closer look at, but apparently Windows filename case insensitivity doesn't transfer to all instances. Your file is using the .CONF extension, and RetroFE only checks for .conf. Simply renaming the file (may need to be done in 2 steps, since Windows is picky: rename to 6127.conf, and then to 6128.conf will do the trick) should allow RetroFE to load it. I'll see if I can fix that in a future release.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 06, 2017, 08:02:00 AM: Your other launchers appear to work correctly; which ones aren't starting the game?
I'd advice to try launching them from the command line to make sure that you have all the required files available. My guess is that the BIOS files may not be in your MAME rom path, but if you can post the command line output I can have a closer look.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 06, 2017, 11:09:32 AM: Quote from: Pieter Hulshoff on December 06, 2017, 07:58:57 AM
Quote from: RetroPrime on December 04, 2017, 08:50:07 PM
I understood nss to be correct. Perhaps I've misinterpreted along the way.
I've attached the latest log, 6128.conf and sms/snes just in case you spot something.
Thanks in advance.

Ok, I admit that this is pretty pathetic, and something I need to have a closer look at, but apparently Windows filename case insensitivity doesn't transfer to all instances. Your file is using the .CONF extension, and RetroFE only checks for .conf. Simply renaming the file (may need to be done in 2 steps, since Windows is picky: rename to 6127.conf, and then to 6128.conf will do the trick) should allow RetroFE to load it. I'll see if I can fix that in a future release.

I've got a fix for this bug in bit bucket; it should be included in release 0.8.14.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 10, 2017, 07:45:50 PM: Thanks for suggestions with file renaming but the 6128 launcher is having none of it. The launchers that aren't working are the ones that I posted .conf files for: SMS, SNES and 6128. Even downloaded the missing rom for snes - still no joy.
I'll try to unpick these, figure them out for myself and see how it goes. Just thought it could save time if someone had working .conf launcher files they could share, but no worries.
Once cracked - I will post my findings, should anyone else find them useful for troubleshooting.
Thanks again folks.
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 10, 2017, 08:11:04 PM: I'm still quite convinced it's a ROM issue; your launcher files for sms and snes looked just fine (I'm not familiar with 6128 to be honest). Have you tried running the launch command (can be found in the log file) from your emulator's directory to see what the output is? MAME should tell you exactly what you're missing. Could you by chance post your mame.ini file (from the MAME directory) as well?
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: RetroPrime on December 24, 2017, 10:58:42 AM: Hi again - through much fudging and fiddling I've now managed to get the cpc6128 collection to run in the desired way. Probably in the new year I'll post a little tutorial should anyone wish to take a look. You were correct about snes & sms being rom/bios issues. I had the incorrect versions. All working wonderfully now. Thanks to everyone for their contributions.
Have a great Christmas and Happy New Year!
Title: Re: Tutorial section
Post by: Pieter Hulshoff on December 24, 2017, 11:01:31 AM: Same to you, and enjoy your setup. :)