Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- mame_listxml [2022/11/20 07:46] – johnsanc
+++ mame_listxml [2022/11/20 11:16] – johnsanc
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== How to create MAME sets with RomVault ======
-|**ⓘ NOTE:** \\ This page is currently undergoing a content refresh.|
 RomVault will allow you to build, repair, or upgrade a MAME collection in a few easy steps:
@@ Line 8: / Line 6: @@
   - Add MAME DATs
   - Configure directory settings
-  - Scan and fix your ROM sets
+  - Scan your ROM sets
+  - Fix your ROM sets
+  - Keep your ROM sets up-to-date
+\\
 ===== Set up RomVault for the first time =====
 If you do not have RomVault installed yet, then the first step is to set it up and assign your DatRoot, RomRoot, and ToSort directories. Review the wiki page for [[install_and_setup|Windows]] or [[linux_setup|Linux]] setup instructions to get started.
-|**ⓘ NOTE:** \\ chdman.exe is required to decompress and verify the contents of MAME V5 CHD files. chdman.exe should be placed in the same directory as the RomVault application. This is optional, but recommended. |
+\\
 ===== Add MAME Arcade DATs =====
@@ Line 24: / Line 25: @@
   - Expand the **Emulators** group
   - Select **MAME** if you want DATs for the latest stable build or **MAME-Daily** for the latest development build
-  - Decide which MAME Arcade DATs you want to use for ROMs and CHDs. For this guide we will use **MAME ROMs (listxml)** since it provides flexibility to change merge settings and allows ROMs and CHDs to be stored together which is the prevailing MAME recommendation. Refer to the table below for additional information and use cases for each DAT.
+  - Decide which MAME Arcade DATs you want to use for ROMs and CHDs. For this guide we will use **MAME ROMs (listxml)** since it provides flexibility to change merge settings and allows ROMs and CHDs to be stored together which is the prevailing MAME recommendation. Refer to the table below for additional information and use cases for each DAT. <WRAP tablewidth 800px>
-  - Select the checkbox in the row for the **MAME ROMs (listxml)** DAT
-  - Click the **Add Selected** button
-  - Choose a location in your DatRoot to store the DAT. You can use DatVault's default directories or choose your own.
-  - Review the DAT path in the preview box, and once it looks good click the **OK** button
-  - The DAT should download and the row will be highlighted green. If you deselected the automatic download option when choosing a DAT location, then click the **Update Selected** button to download.
-  - Close the DatVault window and RomVault will automatically refresh your DATs
 ^ DAT                     ^ ROMs  ^ CHDs  ^ Description                                                                                                                                                                                                    ^
 | MAME CHDs (merged)      |       |  X    | Contains only CHDs in merged format. Use if you prefer to keep CHDs in a separate directory from ROMs.                                                                                                         |
@@ Line 39: / Line 32: @@
 | MAME ROMs (non-merged)  |  X    |       | Contains only ROMs in non-merged format                                                                                                                                                                        |
 | MAME ROMs (split)       |  X    |       | Contains only ROMs in split format                                                                                                                                                                             |
+</WRAP>
+  - Select the checkbox in the row for the **MAME ROMs (listxml)** DAT
+  - Click the **Add Selected** button \\ <WRAP>
+{{:screens:mame:mame-datvault-download.png?nolink&800:|}}
+</WRAP>
+  - Choose a location in your DatRoot to store the DAT. You can use DatVault's default directories or choose your own.
+  - Review the DAT path in the preview box, and once it looks good click the **OK** button \\ <WRAP>
+{{:screens:mame:mame-datvault-add.png?nolink&500:|}}
+</WRAP>
+  - The DAT should download and the row will be highlighted green. If you deselected the automatic download option when choosing a DAT location, then click the **Update Selected** button to download.
+  - Close the DatVault window and RomVault will automatically refresh your DATs
+\\
 ===== Configure directory settings =====
@@ Line 57: / Line 61: @@
     * Header Type: **Optional** (Not relevant for MAME, so just leave this as Optional)
   - Click the **Apply** button to save the rule
-  - Close the directory rule window and the DAT will be reprocessed automatically
+  - Close the directory rule window and the DAT will be reprocessed automatically <WRAP>
+{{:screens:mame:mame-dirsetting.png?nolink&750:|}}
+</WRAP>
-===== Scan and fix your ROM sets =====
-It is possible with RomVault to validate any of the three main ways to collect MAME ROM sets using the XML output from MAME itself. This also includes the validation of CHD files.
-(I've worked hard with RomVault and the source of the DATs for the Pleasuredome MAME sets to check that these sets are fully compatible with each other.)
-The three ways to collect MAME sets are:
-  * Merged
-  * Non-Merged
-  * Split
-To validate these sets: First you need the XML file from the version of MAME you are wanting to collect. The XML can be generated from the MAME executable. This can also be downloaded from [[https://www.mamedev.org/release.html|MAME's main download page]]
-You can extract the XML directly from MAME like this (don't use powershell, use cmd.exe):
-{{ :extractxml.png |Extract XML}}
-You should then put this file into the DatRoot directory structure where you are collecting the MAME set. This example covers creating the MAME merged set.
-{{ :dirsetup1.png |Mame Merge}}
-Next head over to RomVault UI and scan in this DAT by clicking on Update DATs. This will load this XML file but we are not quite done with the required setup.
-So now select and then right click on the MAME (Merge) (or whichever directory you just stored the XML file in) row in the tree, and click on 'Set Dir Settings' in the popup menu.
-{{ :configmenu.png |Set Dir Settings}}
-The 'Set ROM Directories' dialog window will be displayed. In here there are two settings to change:
-  * Merge Type: Set to 'Merge'
-  * ROM/CHD Filter: Set to 'ROMs Only'
-Click 'Apply' to complete this settings change.
-{{ :directorysettings1.png |Set Merge Type}}
+\\
+===== Scan your ROM sets =====
-If you fix your MAME set using these settings you will have a Pleasuredome torrent compatible Merged ROM set.
+Now that you have your MAME DAT setup correctly, its time to scan and fix your MAME sets.
-You can also set the Merge Type to either Non-Merged or Split, to match the other two types of full MAME torrents published on Pleasuredome.
+  - Select **MAME** in the tree
+  - Select your **ToSort** directory in the tree to consider additional files for fixing MAME sets. For example, you could place a pack of MAME update ROMs in your ToSort directory
+  - Click the **Scan ROMs** button. RomVault will decompress and hash all archives to ensure they are good and match the DAT contents. This may take awhile, but initial hashing is a one-time process. RomVault remembers file modified timestamps and skips over any files that have not been modified. This means future scans will be very fast. \\ <WRAP>
+{{:screens:mame:mame-scan.png?nolink&800:|}}
+</WRAP>
-{{ :allmamesets.png |All Merge Types}}
-It is also possible to validate the MAME CHD set using this same method. Start by copying the mame.xml output into the required DatRoot directory:
+<WRAP round info>chdman.exe is required to decompress and verify the contents of MAME V5 CHD files. chdman.exe should be placed in the same directory as the RomVault application. If chdman.exe is not present, then only the hashes from the CHD header are used to verify. Using chdman.exe is optional, but recommended.</WRAP>
-{{ :dirsetup2.png |XML in CHD}}
-Then set the two directory settings to 'Merge' and 'CHDs Only' as show in this image:
+\\
+===== Fix your ROM sets =====
-{{ :directorysettings2.png |Set CHDs Only}}
+After the scanning process is complete, its time to fix your MAME ROM sets.
-Click apply to confirm this change and then scan & fix your CHDs. (Yes, this will take a very long time if its the first time you are scanning your CHDs)
+  - Click the **Find Fixes** button. RomVault will compare the information in the DAT with the files you have scanned. Only directories that are selected in the tree are considered in this process.
+  - Review the fixes RomVault determined are necessary. Refer to the [[color_key|color key]] to learn more about each ROM status and fix action. \\ <WRAP>
+{{:screens:mame:mame-find-fixes.png?nolink&800:|}}
+</WRAP>
+  - Click the **Fix ROMs** button. RomVault will start performing fixes by moving files, repacking archives, and removing unnecessary files.
+  - When the process is complete, click the **Close** button in the status log window. \\ <WRAP>
+{{:screens:mame:mame-fix-roms.png?nolink&800:|}}
+</WRAP>
-{{ :fullset.png |Scanning CHD's}}
+Congratulations! You should now have a clean MAME Arcade set that matches the DAT.
-Following this process will give you correctly matching sets to any of these main DAT sets and torrents from Pleasuredome:
+<WRAP round info>RomVault's fixing process does NOT delete any files. All unnecessary files are moved to your primary ToSort directory. You can keep these files in case they are needed for fixing other sets. Alternately, if you choose to delete the unneeded files manually, be sure to rescan your ToSort directory so RomVault knows what files you actually have.</WRAP>
-{{ :pddatsets.png |All PD DATs}}
-Note: The Pleasuredome CHDs torrent is only available in Merged format. The DATs for the ROMs and CHDs provided on Pleasuredome are also separated which means you would need to store ROMs and CHDs in separate directories. However you may want your CHDs to reside in your "Roms" MAME folder since that is a fairly common way to store CHDs for compatibility.
+\\
+===== Keep your ROM sets up-to-date =====
-If you use a MAME listxml file, the information for ROMs and CHDs is present in a single XML file. This means that if you choose to collect both ROMs and CHDs for the Merged MAME set you can use that single XML for both. To do this you would simply set your directory settings to:
+Chances are you will periodically update your MAME ROM set whenever there is a new version available. You can do this in a few simple steps:
-  * Merge Type: Set to 'Merge'
+  - Open DATVault and click **Update Selected** to download the new MAME DAT
-  * ROM/CHD Filter: Set to 'ROMs and CHDs'
+  - Close DATVault and the DAT will automatically be updated and processed
+  - Add an update pack of ROMs and CHDs to your ToSort directory
+  - Select only the ToSort directory in the tree. Since our old MAME set is already scanned there is no reason to scan it again.
+  - Click the **Scan ROMs** button and the new files in your ToSort directory will be hashed
+  - When scanning is complete, keep the ToSort directory selected, and also select the MAME directory
+  - Click the **Find Fixes** button
+  - After fixes are found and reviewed, click the **Fix ROMs** button
+That's it! You just successfully upgraded your MAME ROM set.