Questions

[Aberto2k]

Hello,

I'm currently comparing ROM managers and frankly I haven't got a CLUE which to use.

Lets start by explaining what I want to do.

I just completed building my MAME bar-top cabinet (I call it MiniCade) and am using a 30GB drive - my problem is the complete MAME rom set is 22GB - toss in DAPHNE and the laser disk files (all legal) and I'm tapped out.

I need to know if RomCenter can help me clean up the MAME Roms by helping me identify and delete all unnecessary, non-working ROMS and help me remove those games I have ZERO interest in having like Mah-Jong and the numerous clones of classics. I need to save space.

My front-end (AtomicFE) does a good job filtering - but I need more than just filtering.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Be seeing you,

Aberto2k

[Wanderer]

Hello and welcome here.

I need to know if RomCenter can help me clean up the MAME Roms by helping me identify and delete all unnecessary, non-working ROMS

Of course it can. That's what it's designed for.

and help me remove those games I have ZERO interest in having like Mah-Jong and the numerous clones of classics.

It can but you have to manually delete the info about unwanted roms (i.e. clones) from the mame datafile and then create a database out of it. Then you can clear all unwanted roms. I don't know if there is a utility (or mame itself) that can create a datafile containing only master roms and not clones. If not, you will have to do it by hand.

[Aberto2k]

Thanks Wanderer. I don't mind deleting manually.

However I've hit a snag - I've installed RomCenter and now it gives me this error when I try to pull the DAT from my MAME0135b exe file:

"Unable to write to /romcenter/romcenter.ini"

Yet I can access the file and edit it manually without issue.

Any Ideas?

Aberto2k

[Wanderer]

Stating your OS and the location of Romcenter would probably help...

[Aberto2k]

Oops,

Yeah - keep forgetting people can't read my mind.

OS: WindowsXP
Location: C://programfiles/romcenter/
location of ini file: C://romcenter/

I'm using a VMware (I'm a MAC user) and my ROMs are on a portable 250GB drive (easier for updating the cabinet).

Hope that helps.

Aberto2k

[aberto2k]

Forgot to mention - my MAME0135b EXE file is on the portable drive too.

Aberto2k

[Wanderer]

Yeah - keep forgetting people can't read my mind.

Ooommmmmmmm, ooommmmmmmm, I'm guessing you're using Windows XP!

Location: C://programfiles/romcenter/
location of ini file: C://romcenter/

I'm also guessing you have installed RomCenter in C:\Program Files\romcenter. Inside that folder, there is a startup.ini file. In there, the location of your romcenter datafiles and config files should exist. From your descriptions, that INI should look like this:

Code: Select all

[startup]
RomCenterDatasFolder=C:\romcenter\

Can you verify that it is like this?

[Wanderer]

and help me remove those games I have ZERO interest in having like Mah-Jong and the numerous clones of classics.

It can but you have to manually delete the info about unwanted roms (i.e. clones) from the mame datafile and then create a database out of it. Then you can clear all unwanted roms. I don't know if there is a utility (or mame itself) that can create a datafile containing only master roms and not clones. If not, you will have to do it by hand.

Hmmm. In addition to my post above, try going to Preferences\Romsets and select "Keep only one game per set" to see what happens. I hadn't noticed that...