ARpiCADE_5 - for Pi4 or Pi5

[dee2eR]

Had the same thought yesterday. We're on the current version of Attract, unfortunately there's been changes in supporting libs since the older versions. Trying to build an older version again today but I'm chasing my tail... I may rebuild Attract 2.7 just to try it too... (it's possible the problem is build related rather than code, I guess).

It's been a while since the current Attract-Mode version came out, maybe there will be another soon. Of course, it's also possible I'm off track and Attract isn't the cause of the problem anyway... sporadic issues can be a bit of a nightmare to chase down.

EDIT: got some interesting results recompiling the current Attract-Mode 2.7.0. No idea what I did different to last time but the binary is 2.4meg, the previous one is 1.3... The issue persists but interestingly (when I launch attract from the command line) the error when MAME crashes is different: failed to get vendor id of joystick (js2) so it looks like the issue is related to the hotkeys system and prob not Attract-Mode.

Also I adjusted /usr/local/bin/hotkeys and changed the start sleep delay to 4 to match the stop... seems to have removed the need to reboot if the issue happens. Will keep testing to be sure.

EDIT 2: could someone who is comfy editing /usr/local/bin/hotkeys please try the edit above and report back, I think it's an improvement so far. As the issue is not consistant I could be wrong... don't want to make a waste of time update.

EDIT 3: every time MAME has returned to the menu without launching the game since I made the change (actually, since I rebooted after the change) above has been a rom issue (missing parent or old set and part of the rom.zip was missing). Doesn't mean it's fixed but it's looking good here at the moment. Well crap, it happened as soon as I posted this update... shoulda kept my mouth shut... BUT, on the plus side, controller orders were not broken so I didn't need to reboot to keep playing.

[dee2eR]

to completely remove the mouse cursor so you don't see it at all during start up (but it will be gone completely if you wanted it for some reason you will need to basically run this same command the other way round), run this command from the terminal:
sudo mv /usr/share/icons/PiXflat/cursors/left_ptr /usr/share/icons/PiXflat/cursors/left_ptr.bak

This will be the default in the next release if I don't find any reason for it not to be.

[FrizzleFried]

Also I adjusted /usr/local/bin/hotkeys and changed the start sleep delay to 4 to match the stop... seems to have removed the need to reboot if the issue happens. Will keep testing to be sure.

EDIT 2: could someone who is comfy editing /usr/local/bin/hotkeys please try the edit above and report back, I think it's an improvement so far. As the issue is not consistant I could be wrong... don't want to make a waste of time update.

I'll take a gander and see if it's obvious in there what the sleep delay setting is... and make the change.

[dee2eR]

yeah, I didn't make that very clear. It's just a line that reads:
sleep 6
change it to:
sleep 4

[FrizzleFried]

Done... will try to play a bit today. Will do so on the Horizontal cab too (which I got working last night BTW)...

[FrizzleFried]

Gotta go to work shortly... but I did have some time to play a few games... no crashes thus far.

What I will note:

(A) .272 seems to work a lot... but it's not speedier (likely marginally slower) than .251 as one would expect. The thing is... are there really any game improvements or additions that are playable between .251 and .272 that make it worthy to even bother with .272? The jury is still out on that. Thus far, I've not found that game...

(B) .172 for me... for whatever reason... doesn't like to work with many games... and way more than I want actually completely crash the system. I get a black screen I can not ESCAPE from... requiring power down. I am not sure if my .172 roms are the issue or the emulator. I admit that I am using the readily available .174 roms. May I suggest that we move up from .172 to .174 for a couple of reasons. One is that the roms are very available (MAME .174 is the "official" 2016 MAME Reference version). Two is that it uses the newer high score system... which means that it appears we could tie .174 in to the same high score tables that .251 and .272 use which would be cool (IMHO). Three is that maybe... just maybe... some of the roms not working in my .172 will work in .174? Maybe.

(C) From my observations... we've maxed out what the Pi5 can do and I am not sure if going forward with newer versions of MAME is going to benefit. If anything... offering a solid version that fits BETWEEN .172 (hopefully .174 soon) and .251 would be potentially more beneficial. .174 is from 2016... .251 is from 2023 I believe... maybe a version from around 2000 would actually be beneficial to have for a game or more? MAME .223 might be a good option. I found this tidbit online about MAME .223: "Unless you're using a super high-speed computer to drive it, v0.223 is the last MAME version that really works well with classic games. After that the analog audio emulation that they've put in MAME slows everything down way too much. I'm fine using the old solution of sound samples until PC hardware catches up. I compiled SDLMAME myself to get rid of the nag screens, but that's purely optional." ... and it's from August, 2020 which puts it right in the middle of the two versions. THAT SAID... will it benefit us? Not sure... and currently the system is quite workable between the versions... this is just a "wish list" so take it as such...

[cool_factor]

@FrizzleFried

sent you a DM for 172 ROMs.

[mappy24]

It is the year 2048 on the boot screen of Mr Driller... I think I overslept last night.

@mappy24 The three Mr Driller games work in 274 for me here. Do other games work in 274 for you? Maybe something went wrong in the updating process. It may be worth recopying the roms onto the SD card from your PC too.

Thanks, got it working, re-applied the update and manuall edited the Arcade.txt file.

[dee2eR]

Gotta go to work shortly... but I did have some time to play a few games... no crashes thus far.

What I will note:

(A) .272 seems to work a lot... but it's not speedier (likely marginally slower) than .251 as one would expect. The thing is... are there really any game improvements or additions that are playable between .251 and .272 that make it worthy to even bother with .272? The jury is still out on that. Thus far, I've not found that game...

(B) .172 for me... for whatever reason... doesn't like to work with many games... and way more than I want actually completely crash the system. I get a black screen I can not ESCAPE from... requiring power down. I am not sure if my .172 roms are the issue or the emulator. I admit that I am using the readily available .174 roms. May I suggest that we move up from .172 to .174 for a couple of reasons. One is that the roms are very available (MAME .174 is the "official" 2016 MAME Reference version). Two is that it uses the newer high score system... which means that it appears we could tie .174 in to the same high score tables that .251 and .272 use which would be cool (IMHO). Three is that maybe... just maybe... some of the roms not working in my .172 will work in .174? Maybe.

(C) From my observations... we've maxed out what the Pi5 can do and I am not sure if going forward with newer versions of MAME is going to benefit. If anything... offering a solid version that fits BETWEEN .172 (hopefully .174 soon) and .251 would be potentially more beneficial. .174 is from 2016... .251 is from 2023 I believe... maybe a version from around 2000 would actually be beneficial to have for a game or more? MAME .223 might be a good option. I found this tidbit online about MAME .223: "Unless you're using a super high-speed computer to drive it, v0.223 is the last MAME version that really works well with classic games. After that the analog audio emulation that they've put in MAME slows everything down way too much. I'm fine using the old solution of sound samples until PC hardware catches up. I compiled SDLMAME myself to get rid of the nag screens, but that's purely optional." ... and it's from August, 2020 which puts it right in the middle of the two versions. THAT SAID... will it benefit us? Not sure... and currently the system is quite workable between the versions... this is just a "wish list" so take it as such...

A. three Mr Driller games. Also Outfoxies seems to have issues with the startup routine on other MAME versions but runs good in 269 or 274. I generally think an emulator is worth having if it runs at least 1 game well that doesn't run elsewhere, so if we never find another game it runs well it would still stay. Theoretically we'd be best off testing 274 then 251 then 172 etc. just incase there's accuracy improvements in the newer MAME - that said I'm in no rush to move things from 251 without reason at the moment - there's only so much I can test...

B. honestly I'm not likely to replace 172, partly because it's been in use since ARpiCADE 3 so anyone updating their hardware may already have some roms for it. Mainly because it is the sweetspot. 174 is included in the form of lr-MAME2016 but it's not as fast as 172 (that's why I backported the couple of CAVE games that weren't in 172 previously). Another argument for 174 is it is the same romset as FBA, for what that's worth. There were romset changes between 172 and 174, most notably in my mind CPS2 QSound stuff, so moreso than most close together MAME versions there are rom differences.

C. I could add 223 (assuming I can compile it) but I don't really see the point. The more accurate sound system in newer MAME seems to run just fine on Pi5. I suspect the claim of 'super high-speed computer' was probably largely hyperbole. I guess it's possible some extra optional MAMEs would help on Pi4... not real sure though. Honestly, I need a break from comiling for a least a few days... the last week compiling various MAME versions was frustrating as hell.

[FrizzleFried]

Not sure why... but I just can't get .172 to play many games. It will play a few... but it crashes more than not for me. I get kicked back to the menu sometimes... and sometimes I get a black screen where it locks me up. I just tried 6 games... 1 worked... 3 kicked me back to menu and 2 black screened.

Die Hard (the Sega one) ... black screen
Sega Golden Axe (the newer one) ... black screen
Gigawing ... kicked me back to menu
One of the Street Fighters (I think it was an Alpha)... kicked me back to menu
Original Street Fighter ... worked

Can't recall the others. I moved from the 7zip .172 roms Ive had for a long time to the zipped .174 roms I recently downloaded in order to rectify this issue... it did not. I moved back to the 7zip .172 roms today. What is very odd is that games that worked and I played in .172 with the very same .172 roms using the Pi3 are not working with the Pi5...

CPS2 games... as you can see in this partial rom list from my Pi3:

1944;1944: The Loop Master (USA 000620);mame172;;2000;Eighting / Raizing (Capcom license);;;;;;;;;;
avspu;Alien vs. Predator (USA 940520);mame172;;1994;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;
armwaru;Armored Warriors (USA 941024);mame172;;1994;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;
batcir;Battle Circuit (Euro 970319);mame172;;1997;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;
bionicc1;Bionic Commando (US set 1);mame172;;1987;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;
blktiger;Black Tiger;mame172;;1987;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;
bbros;Buster Bros. (USA);mame172;;1989;Mitchell (Capcom license);;;;;;;;;;
dinou;Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (USA 930201);mame172;;1993;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;
csclub1;Capcom Sports Club (Euro 970722);mame172;;1997;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;
captcommu;Captain Commando (USA 910928);mame172;;1991;Capcom;;;;;;;;;;

They are all using mame172. They worked fine with the Pi3... It doesn't seem that ANY CPS2 games are working in MAME172 with the Pi5.

Could it be that the BIOSES that I have are compatible with the newer versions only? Does CPS2 require a BIOS and if so does anyone have a 172 compatible set of BIOSES they could link?

EDIT: I just read that CPS2 games do not require a BIOS. Any good reason why the very same ROMS that work with the Pi3 using .172 do not work with the Pi5 using .172?? FWIW... I want to say they are working fine using .172 on my Pi4 4-Player cabinet (looking at the romlist right now... yup... I can confirm that my Pi4 cabinet uses MAME .172 for CPS2 games)... and neither the Pi3 or Pi4 ever crashed to black screen requiring a power down using .172...

Have I managed to somehow corrupt my .172? It's been experiencing this behavior (however) since the initial install for my vertical version...

EDIT #2: Been playing with it more. Finding most games to work like they did... just no CPS2... no CPS3... and oddly some different (thus far only Sega systems) crash things. I just find it strange being I know for a fact I've been using 172 for CPS/CPS3 with the Pi3... but yeah, I think the way to do it is to trickle down from .272. If it works good... great... if it needs help... try .251... then .172 if necessary (and even AdvMAME for the couple that need it).