The rudeness comes from your tone in re-stating what was already made clear.
If you believe that “the only thing that has been made clear” is that I was using the wrong ROMset, then you didn’t read the entire thread before posting. I had already made clear that I am in the process of acquiring the appropriate ROMset before your first post.
Maybe you shouldn’t talk about rudeness when you come reporting issues without following the guidelines from our documentation.
And no, there is nothing inappropriate in posts telling you should read the documentation before reporting issues and/or explaining in details why your romset won’t load, so stop flagging them.
I’ll close. Reopening at the condition it stops being meaninglessly heated.
Acceptable, and I will admit that I did not respond properly to the perceived rudeness myself. I apologize for this.
Since I am still awaiting the download of the ROMs to be complete(it’s moving faster but I’m suddenly having problems with my Torrent client that are slowing it), it will be a while before I have any updates to post, but it is best to keep the thread open until we know if the “apparent” problem is the actual problem.
A friend of mine was able to direct me to a non-merged ROMset from a “trustworthy” source, which will be done sooner, so I can test a merged and non-merged ROMset.
(I put the “trustworthy” in quotes because while I can trust the source not to put any malware on my PC I can’t automatically trust the set to be properly updated since the source isn’t exactly a place dedicated to game preservation, or even gaming content primarily)
You should be able to test the non-merged set if some files (and not the whole torrent) are complete.
The point of that set is that each file/game has all the required files it needs to run (bios included) and doesn’t depend on separate files in the folder. You could also pick and choose only the roms you want. So if a file is complete, you can copy it in your roms folder and test it.
Also, what do you mean by “properly updated”? You aren’t sure its a 0.244 set? Because that would defeat the purpose of downloading it. If its an old set it will be a crapshoot if a game works or not.
Call me excessive in my thoroughness if you wish, but all things considered since I need to update the whole set anyway I might as well grab the whole thing regardless.
Nonetheless, earlier on I DID copy over and test Gorf alone, and got the same result as what brought this thread about to begin with. But I wanted to make sure I cover EVERYTHING before I posted so I have as much information to provide as possible.
The non-merged set is being transferred over to my arcade PC as I type this. Once finished I will check things more thoroughly, and let you know what came up.
The merged set is still transferring - I solved the issues that had cropped up with my Torrent client(a background update to Malwarebytes caused it to start blocking the program), so I’ve only got the source transfer rates to worry about.
My concern is that it CLAIMS to be a 244 set, but the source is not a place dedicated to accurate preservation of…anything, let alone video games in particular, so I have no way of knowing if it’s an accurate pack of ROMs, or just an old one relabeled, or an attempt to update an older pack that was done incorrectly.
You can always validate your set using a DAT from the latest MAME and ClrMamePro or similar.
The non-merged set SEEMS to be working - I’ve had a few CPS2 games, specifically Marvel vs Capcom, Super Street Fighter II(though NOT Super Street Fighter II TURBO, oddly), and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike, crash Retroarch on loading, with no log file being left behind.
Aside from that every game I knew to be having an issue, like Gorf, Bloody Roar, and Vampire Savior, are now functioning as they should be. I’m also having a minor button mapping issue, but I should be able to work it out on my own. The mystery is now limited to these crashes.
I should probably wait until we figure this out before I start trimming the ROMs down to just what I want.
EDIT: Oops - forgot SF3 Third Strike is CPS-3, not 2. Still, the crashes occur in the same way.
Uninstalled/reinstalled Retroarch to cover all bases. Crashing of aforementioned games has ceased. Glitch during installation?
Who knows. When you deleted the Retroarch folder, a bunch of files that are related to Mame functionality were deleted and fresh ones were created. Such as:
The core file. Make sure you have the updated current mame core. Delete any other older mame core version to ensure they are not automatically used.
The mame.opt file. Thats the core options configuration file, in the config/mame folder. Maybe you changed something there while troubleshooting and needed its default value.
The main Retroarch.cfg file in the root/main folder. Same as above.
The nvram/ini files of the games. Whenever you run a game, these files are created in the nvram and ini folders, in system/mame. Maybe you already had these from your previous attempts and were corrupted or wrong.
The mame default.cfg in saves/mame/cfg folder. This is where the native mame settings are saved via the TAB menu. It shouldn’t cause crashes but you got a fresh one regardless so who knows.
Now, normally, when a cretain game loads but another crashes, it shouldn’t be a mame.opt or retroarch.cfg setting issue. Otherwise no game would load.
When individual games don’t load its usually a rom/core version mismatch. Or a corrupted rom. Or a game override setting you made, which means a certain game is using different retroarch or mame core settings. Rarely, it could be the game specific nvram or ini file.
Well, thanks for the help. I’ll of course be back if anything else comes up. I have to head in to work soon, so I can’t start trimming out the games I don’t want until tomorrow, but if everything is still working afterwards I’ll let you know so that we can close the door on this matter. (and go back to the thread I had already opened about control mapping matters to inquire about something new that is semi-related to what came up there - had to put that on hold to address this matter)
Do your games work in Retroarch on its own ?
If no then your roms are not compatible with the Mame core you are using.
If yes then you have something setup incorrectly in Launchbox and we would need some screenshots to help find the issue. We would need screenshots of your Edit Emulator screen for the Retroarch emulator entry and the Associated Platforms tab of the same window.
I have initiated the process of acquiring the FULL 244 ROMset. I will not remove anything, and I will put it in the MAME folder(instead of the Arcade folder I’ve been using) so any other settings relating to the previous folder arrangement will not interfere.
Parent CPS-3 romsets changed multiple times over the years due to more recent version of their pcb being discovered and dumped. Since MAME “install” their CD (chd) to their simms (nvram) at first boot, it’s indeed entirely possible for some mismatch between both to cause some kind of issue.
Completely forgot about this thread until I got notifications for new postings on it. Oops. 
Anyhow, I am all set and running. I curated a set of my preferred games out of a non-merged ROMset that lives in my Arcade folder, and also imported a full merged set into the MAME folder to access other stuff I learn about. The full non-merged archive lives on my main PC so I can add to the curated collection as I am reminded of games I forgot about/discover great games I never knew about.
Everything seems to be working fine save for Nintendo Vs system games, which just get stuck on the boot screen. (not that those are a big deal when I have NES on my system!)
I should probably wait until we figure this out before I start trimming the ROMs down to just what I want.. .
Everything’s been figured out as much as it can be for the purposes of this topic. Non-merged ROMset: Trim down as you see fit. Merged ROMset: Keep it all. Everything else is making sure you have the right set for the right version of MAME and figuring out the settings. I’m sure if I dig deep enough I’ll find why the Nintendo Vs system ROMs get stuck, I just haven’t prioritized finding out since I have the NES versions of all those games set to go as well.