Still struggling to get MAME ROMs working? Here is the answer, and it's simpler than you think.
Like many other poor souls not privy to MAME ROMs and emulators I struggled to get my ROMs to work. It seemed like every time someone tried to explain it on a forum or blog post I left feeling more confused or discouraged, so I put it off. It's one of the most confusing parts of RetroPie.
Finally I came across this helpful Reddit post that had a no bullshit answer and actual instructions of what to do and where to place the files.
EDIT: Here it is summarized below. For more details use the link to the post.
Find a 0.78 MAME romset.
Copy the roms you want over to the mame-libretro folder
Copy the bios files in the romset over to the /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2003 folder. Just copy them all if you're not sure what does what, doesn't take up a ton of space. Include the samples subfolder. Reboot Emulation Station and the roms will appear.
I was finally able to get Metal Slug working! Finally! FINALLY!!!
Why didn't the main GitHub Wiki have a simple example like this? It could have helped so many others that came before me. So, I updated the Wiki with some information that I think will really help others and would have helped me when I was struggling. I modified the table to remove the useless 'BIOS extension' column where each entry was '.zip' and added a paragraph with an example showing exactly what you need to do to get a MAME ROM working (along with a few other improvements).
TL;DR After struggling for weeks to get MAME ROMs to load correctly I finally stumbled upon a no bs answer here on Reddit and finally got my ROMs to work, which inspired me to update the official GitHub Wiki.
EDIT: Some simple, and great advice from comments below. 2 approaches: (1) To save yourself the headache of wondering whether you have the right files, try downloading the full romsets and throw those in the arcade directory. (2) Copy samples and BIOS into proper directories, then if filesnames have similar names such as game1a.zip, game1b.zip, etc. and make sure you keep these together.
EDIT 2: About the mysterious 'samples' directory, thx /u/wotan: There's a folder called samples in the romset that contains sound files for games. Just copy the entire thing over to /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2003/samples/
EDIT 3: It just dawned on me that a FAQ and TIPS sections on the GitHub Wiki MAME section would probably be really helpful. I will try to compile common questions and answers tonight as a start. More important: those with knowledge of these things should contribute to the Wiki so the RetroPie community needs it and can certainly benefit from it.
EDIT 4: Removed a link.
Yes! If you want done also your check/test.
For FBA the reason is described also in PR comment. From now, the only FBA Complete Collection v0.2.97.38 available on the Web merge clones into parents. So, instead of a splitted romset of 4771 roms, we have only 1454 roms.
For MAME, the only 0.78 full romset available is on TPB and it includes 4718 .zip file (about 15 BIOS file). But of course it contains also not working, majhong and other crap. I included all the file inside the database (like for FBA) - but not the BIOS - to respect the full romset (but, for personal use, I cleaned my romset at 1990 file :D).
I decided for mame2003 (mame 0.78) because is the only mame core that works on all the platform (also on Rpi). If it's not an issue for you, please add it to the origin master. The actual MAME.dat (without CRC) doesn't work (always empty playlist). So, why don't overwrite it?
In Retroarch I scanned both romset and I created the two playlists without issues (there are all the games inside and there aren't conflict from MAME and FBA .lpl).
Full MAME 0.134 set is now available. Every single rom has been uploaded separately so you can get the one you need or download the whole set. It's up to you. Below you'll find a plain text file with all the links. You can import it into your download manager or just pick single links. It's about 23253 MB of data so you may need a premium account for that. Three people who will email me now will get a 30 Days Premium Account.Download MAME 0.134 Full Romset from Rapidshare (link list):
Direct Download Link: mame-0.134.rar
All three Premium RS accounts are already gone.
- Download APK
Updated: May 26, 2019
You are about to download the MAME4droid (0.139u1) 1.13 apk file for Android 2.3 and up (Free App): The reloaded edition of the MAME Android Emulator. It could emulate over 8000 different romsets and autorotate with individual settings for portrait and landscape orientation ..
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Please note that the MAME4droid (0.139u1) apk file v1.13 is the free and original apk file obtained from the official Google Play server. It DOES NOT contain any mod, cheat, crack or unlimited gold patch. You could now read more about MAME4droid (0.139u1) app or choose a server to download it.
MAME4droid (0.139u1) version 1.13 Release Notes >
- 1.13 Android 8.0 & 64 bits support.
- 1.12 Fix Nougat & NVIDIA Shield 2017
- 1.11 Added general multi controller support.
- 1.10 Marshmallow support
- 1.9.4 Added Android TV support
- 1.9.0 Added mouse support(+trackballs like X-Arcade Tankstick) for Nvidia Shield devices (You have to enable on settings). New video sync and refresh speed options. Improved touch DPad.New touch Buttons.
APK File Size & Checksum >
Mame Roms 0.139
• APK File: com.seleuco.mame4droid-1.13-APK4Fun.com.apk
• Requires: Android 2.3 and up
• File Size: 59009662 bytes (56.28 MB)
• MD5: bbb427815076076ec917f241095e76ee
• SHA1: be7177e1c2dc04abecf24168f0e515e6f49166a1
• SHA256: a5ccaceea280eb927c63485be51f7661a4f535447aa0556b60146c2d3254fe59
Download MAME4droid (0.139u1) APK File 1.13 >
Choose server mirrors:
MAME4droid (0.139u1) v1.13 App Permissions >
• Read The Contents Of Your USB Storage
• Modify Or Delete The Contents Of Your USB Storage
• Full Network Access
• Control Vibration
Mame 0.139 Full Romset
More About MAME4droid (0.139u1) 1.13 apk >
MAME4droid (0.139u1) (com.seleuco.mame4droid) is a free and fun Arcade game published by Seleuco: MAME4droid (0.139u1) is developed by David Valdeita (Seleuco) as a port of the MAME 0.139 emulator by Nicola .. Read more >
After you get the MAME4droid (0.139u1) 1.13 apk file (com.seleuco.mame4droid-1.13-APK4Fun.com.apk), move it to your Android phone's SD card and then your file manager to browse, install & enjoy it.
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc. MAME4droid (0.139u1) is the trademark of the developer Seleuco. All apk files on APK4Fun are only for home or personal use.
Other apk files for MAME4droid (0.139u1) (Version History)
Mame 0.139
Need old versions of com.seleuco.mame4droid? Download the old apk files now:
- MAME4droid (0.139u1) 1.12 APK (Updated: January 22, 2017)
- MAME4droid (0.139u1) 1.11 APK (Updated: June 5, 2016)
- MAME4droid (0.139u1) 1.10 APK (Updated: October 26, 2015)
- MAME4droid (0.139u1) 1.9.6 APK (Updated: September 19, 2015)