I like very much how Lakka is done. It is true that it needs some learning time, but when you do your homework and learn how to use it and configure it, you will be very happy with the result.
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It seems not many UXperts are well-versed in low-level languages. I think if RA were written in HTML5/CSS/JS, weâd have a lot more UI/UX contributors. As it is, weâve gotten some really good suggestions and concept renders, etc., but itâs difficult to make those into reality. A lot of them also leverage databases in ways that donât jive with our database implementation for things like metadata and game suggestion.
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Hi @Stratos,
the RetroArch database is searching for the filename and the checksum of the games as well IIRC.
If you go to Information - Database Manager you find all the names and checksums necessary.
As for Atari 2600 Retroarch uses the data from No-Intro
and for PSX Redump > Trurip > TOSEC
The checksum is checked against
Atari 2600 = the *.a26 file inside the zip or 7z
PSX = the first *.bin track
If the name matches the database, thumbnails can be downloaded, if the name is different, no thumbnail
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Wait, are playlists considered an advanced feature? Are people just using the file-browser every time to play? Coming from RetroPie, I thought the intent was that youâd have all your ROMs in playlists, one per-console.
Imho, the bigger frustration is that files that match the supported filetypes and are in a folder named for the console but donât perfectly match an entry in the Database arenât added to a playlist. Like if I have a zip in my SNES folder called âFF5â, alongside a zillion other SNES games⌠I donât expect the database to know that means Final Fantasy 5, but I do expect it to appear in my SNES playlist. Thatâs the reason I ended up rolling my own playlist-maker - just those missing files.
That and filename matching is hard because of the habit of rippers of (bolting) (ON) (So many) [parentheticals]_and_sometimes_naming_with_underscores-DC-ECHELON (DISC 1 of 4) (USA) [!].
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I was a bit of ironic 
I meant it in comparison with standalone emulators that havenât those feature.
Out of curiosity, can you elaborate this a bit, so maybe i can help:
[EDIT] Nevermind, i understand now
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Sorry, edited my post above. Missing files because the playlist-builder simply ignores unrecognized files instead of adding them with a âI think this is a PSX game but thatâs all I gotâ.
Usually if the checksum matches, the filename can be whatever you like.
You can name FFV Rainbow_Unicorn.zip/sfc and it get added to the SNES playlist as Final Fantasy V (Japan).
This will not work with romhacks, but only with games matching the no-intro/redump/etc⌠checksums.
But AFAIK there is now a manual scan option for this kind of things. (and most[all?] snes cores support soft-patching)
But i am curious about your script.
I use a custom tool for mame roms, as they are a pita to add to a playlist.
If you search for âPlaylist Buddyâ here in the forum you will find it
I remember the old times
..................
...............: STANDARD CODES ::...............
: :\
: [a] Alternate [p] Pirate :\
: [b] Bad Dump [t] Trained :\
: [f] Fixed [T-] OldTranslation :\
: [T+] NewerTranslation :\
: [h] Hack (-) Unknown Year :\
: [o] Overdump [!] Verified Good Dump :\
: (M#) Multilanguage (# of Languages) :\
: (###) Checksum (??k) ROM Size :\
: ZZZ_ Unclassified (Unl) Unlicensed :\
:...............................................:\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
âŚand this are only 14 of 173 lines of code explanation 
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You shouldnât compare RetroArch with Standalone emulators. Since a few years many frontends came to light: RetroPie, RecalBox and so on. These software packages offer a better on boarding experience. Standalone emulators will never be used if there are better alternatives. If RA offers the easy first steps with the deep advanced configuration after that, then the other projects would disappear in the shadow of Lakka.
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Sure, someone just needs to do it. Find a good place for it, add some formatting and maybe a few lines for context and throw it in a PR 
Because itâs not meant to be used only for bios placement.The Dolphin core stores there the system folder from the standalone emulator. PPSSPP does something similar. And mame uses it too for storing some things. Thatâs why itâs called âsystemâ and not âbiosâ. It is a more general concept.
Retroarch is a powerful emulator but requires some learning before you can use all of its potential, like evrything on this world.
Greetings.
My favorite thing about Lakka/Retroarch is how customizable it is. Unfortunately, customization usually comes with a less user-friendly platform. I do agree, however, that a good amount of the options and interface could be cleaned up. Hopefully theyâre addressing that with 3.0.
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So for example, Super Nintendo roms in SMC format will never work?
You can have your roms zipped/7zipped or not, doesnât matter. *.sfc or *.smc should work fine.
For this i made the example of the Atari *.a26 file inside a *.zip file.
Because the database is scanning the rom file not the .zip/.7z
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I add SMC files inside the folder, just as the SFC, they donât appear on the list, with the SFC there are no problems. The A26 files for Atari are not recognized either.
I want to thank you for your help and patience, really apreciatted.
No problem
Do you have a crc checking utility installed?
I checked with Adventure (USA).a26 and there was no problem, so maybe you have not âno-introâ verified roms. Further i think âno-introâ is using only the *.sfc version of SNES roms, so your checksum may be wrong as well.
$ crc32 Adventure\ \(USA\).a26
a6db4b3a
Final Fantasy II (USA) (Rev 1).sfc https://datomatic.no-intro.org/?page=show_record&s=49&n=0795
The only possibility is adding your games manually to a playlist or searching/dumping correct roms.
I have default Lakka, no idea of that crc cheking utility thing. Is possible to edit the checksum in order to make it able to see the smc and a26 files?
Checksum is a calculated value that is used to determine the integrity of data. Checksum serves as a unique identifier for the data (a file, a text string, or a hexadecimal string). If the data changes then so does the checksum value. This makes it easy to verify the integrity of the data.
So no, this canât be changed.
If you are on Windows, you can use the 7z GUI for checking crc32 values.
You have to pack your rom (zip, 7z, rar, doesnât matter) and in the archive-view of the GUI you will see the crc-sum of the rom
[on LINUX you have all the shiny command line tools for this ]
So Iâm stuck to search SFC extension roms. Thanks for the help.
From experience it is probably a header on your *.smc roms. To remove the header you can try NSRT 3.4 (you find it on romhacking.net)