Rob V

Not sure if talk about this is ok here... if not, mods please close.

That said, I got a raspberry pi starter kit (canakit) for Xmas. I'm not totally sure what to do with it but I know I'd like to do a nice MAME setup. I assume I can.. bottom line is that I'm looking for resources to help me best understand the practical use of this device -- specifically for MAME.

Anybody have any links or hints?

Bandit03

I don't have mine set up with MAME, but this site (and forum) was a HUGE resource when I set mine up.

https://retropie.org.uk/

RichC2

Mame can be a little difficult due to revisions of the game sets, but yeah, RetropIe.

starman9000

Yeah, retropie is nice, as is recalbox.

I'm ready to step up to an actual cabinet build but am having a tough time deciding on the stick/buttons. Does anyone here have any experience for the various kits you can get from ebay/amazon?

Joeboo835

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-yo...sole-498561192

I'm doing the exact same thing, just haven't found time yet. Damn kids.

joeblow69

Yeah, when I set up my Raspberry Pi 2, the latest version of mame that ran on it well was only .37b5 (I think). Which is crazy old, and you miss out on a ton of games with that. Not sure if the Raspberry Pi 3 allows a newer version of that or not, but you will need to find a package of Mame roms that match that version exactly.

RichC2

They support a variety of sets now, but it's very dependent on the emulator itself. ie: mame4all uses .37b5, mame2003 uses 0.78, mame2010 uses 0.139, fbalpha uses 0.175, etc; but this is with retroPi 4.x

For a Pi 2 or Pi 3, they recommend either mame2003 (0.78) or final burn alpha (0.175)
For a Pi 1 or Pi Zero, they recommend mame4all (.37b5) or pifba (0.114)

joeblow69

Oh cool, I'll give mame2003 a shot, since it looks like that rom list is readily available.

bralph

It was pretty easy. I just wish the Atari 5200 stuff worked better. It's a pain to start a game, but that's the nature of the emulator not the Pi.

Rob V

So if you use mame2003 you must find roms of the 0.78 vintage? I have a collection of roms on DVDs... but I don't recall their vintage.

Kedrix

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

joeblow69

I believe that is correct. You can try to run with roms that don't match the version number of mame you are running, but you will run into a lot of non-working roms that way.

RichC2

There are applications that can check against DAT files as to which revision your grapes are from.

But yeah, MAME is the most confusing POS when it comes to that. I spent an hour upgrading mine to 0.175 without CHD.

Rob V

Sarcastic bastards!

Rob V

I got my Pi up and running MAME and NES last night. A couple of questions:

1. Have any of you hardwired or found a solution to turning on / off your Pi? You can power down your Pi via the menu choice... but you can't power back on unless you unplug then plug back in the power. That's a pain.

2. I used a PS3 and Xbox type controller (via USB) to play a game... I set up both but neither would allow me to add credits or start the game. I'm assuming this can be resolved when I build a full controller kit for the cabinet but must you use a keyboard ilo strictly the controller?

Thanks!

RichC2

1. Rasp Pi is just a projects board, which means unfortunately -- if you want an on/off switch you'll have to build one yourself, there are many tutorials out there.

2. You can map the coin/start buttons to the controller, plug in a keyboard and go to the Controls Definition Menu (for MAME) or just manually edit the joystick ini definitions (for other emulators). Example: skip to 1:00 mark

Rob V

Thanks Rich!

joeblow69

I use this to turn my Pi on and off. Works great:

https://smile.amazon.com/JBtek-Raspb...h+power+switch

Draven

Here's my MAME setup with a Pi.



Link

I actually just use a power cord with a switch on it to shut the whole thing off when I'm done. And I switched to PiPlay, which seemed to work a little better for my setup than Retropie. I do need to update it with a newer romset. I think I still have .37b5 but honestly, I can't remember.

Rob V

I just saw this on Amazon and bought it. I also stocked up on some DIY controller kits (Reyann).

Rob V

What advantages do you see with PiPlay over Retropie?

Breakfast with Girls

Be careful: this just cuts the power. It can result in data corruption if you don't shut down the computer properly first.

Draven

I was having some issues getting Retropie to work. Failed installs, not recognizing ROMs, things that had worked before that weren't working. Enough for me to try something else - PiPlay fired right up on the first try and has been more stable.

It might have been my issues but I was tired of messing with it so I gave the other a try and it worked great!

Since Pis don't actually have a power switch, unplugging them is about the only way to turn them off. I've never had any issues with this.

Drexl

What he means is that you're supposed to shut it down via software first (select "Shutdown System" from the menu). The red light will still be on, but the Pi will be functionally off. Only then should you press the switch to cut the power.

Rob V

Regarding trackballs... this one can be used, right? Just plug it in via USB and configure specific trackball games using it as the primary controller? There isn't anything special that needs to be done, is there?

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/i...37t090kq19q765