MiSTer Favorites - Menu Shortcuts for Your Cores and Games

[wizzo]

Hey, having this same issue. (Thanks for the amazing script!) In the Neo Geo core, you don't select an individual file. You select a game by name. The romsets.xml file translates that into a folder name (e.g., <romset name="mslug" pcm="1" altname="Metal Slug: Super Vehicle-001" publisher="Nazca" year="1996"/> is the entry for Metal Slug in my file). So you are essentially selecting the folder, not a file, and that's what the .mgl file needs to point to -- the "mslug" folder, not any file within that folder.

I created and tested the following MGL file for Metal Slug, and it works correctly:

<mistergamedescription>
<rbf>_console/NeoGeo</rbf>
<file delay="1" type="f" index="1" path="mslug"/>
</mistergamedescription>

Hope that helps!

Thank you mate. I'm a bit busy with work lately but just letting you know I saw this and I'll put it on the list. neogeo has certainly been a tricky one to support, still figuring out how to go ahead with it.

[Sagat]

Hrmm, so i have a working pce shortcut, one for wonderswan, and 2 for ps1. All working, Snes (where i got 4) is not working though, for any of the four. Will try and see if i can see anything weird in the created favorites files. Maybe also a naming question? Altho i don't think i have any deviations...?

And for the record, starting the snes games the normal way does work. Tried to disable any vcrt or shadow masks, but no change in behaviour.

edit:
And the cause was obvious, somehow the LLAPI snes core was selected all good now! (will verify if i somehow made an error creating the favorites or something else is up, but most likely option one as all other fave's are working).

[wizzo]

Hi mate I'm not quite sure what you mean by "for any of the four". Does something special happen when you've got 4 favourites or do you just mean SNES is not working at all?

In any case can you please paste the contents here of the snes .mgl file that got created in the favourites folder on your SD. Thanks

Edit: just saw your edit. Glad it's working. I will investigate. That should definitely not happen!

[JAJT]

Is there any way of using your script (or any other method you know of?) to create a favorites folder WITHIN a core rather than at the top level mister menu?

For my own organization and display preferences, I'd love to only see favorites once I load the desired core.

Is that even possible?

[wizzo]

Is there any way of using your script (or any other method you know of?) to create a favorites folder WITHIN a core rather than at the top level mister menu?

For my own organization and display preferences, I'd love to only see favorites once I load the desired core.

Is that even possible?

I'm not sure it's possible. There's definitely no problem with the script itself to create symlinks in games folders but I tested this with the psx core and it seemed to not support launching symlinks directly for some reason.

I'll give it another try soon but I gave up last time after my little test. Not sure if others have had a different experience? It might work differently if the link is a hard link instead of symbolic, and it might be different per core. I believe the psx core mounts files while other cores load them into memory which might also affect it

[JAJT]

wizzo - I'm not sure if you knew this but I just figured this out from help with another thread.

The symbolic link needs to have the extension as part of the name.
Within /media/fat/games/NES I was creating links to files with names like "DuckTales" that was pointing to the "Ducktales.nes" file and it never showed up on the mister screen within the NES core. As soon as I named the link itself "DuckTales.nes", it worked and linked properly.

Personally I'd love to see this functionality in your script but if not, at least it's cool to know that it's possible to do it manually!

[wizzo]

Personally I'd love to see this functionality in your script but if not, at least it's cool to know that it's possible to do it manually!

That's great! I'll put it on the list and see if I can get to it soon. I'll have to check that difference with PSX and how the UI will work but shouldn't be too difficult. Thanks for testing

[thorr]

I haven't tried this yet. It looks awesome. Is it possible to use this with ao486 and selecting different hard drives, CD's and or floppies? I would like to be able to just launch specific PC games that have their own hard drive and maybe an associated CD ISO right from the MiSTer menu. I think I can handle mounting the CD from the hard drive, so really only selecting a single hard drive would be needed and the rest could be scripted on that hard drive if anything else is needed to be mounted. I have an arcade cabinet that I am almost done building and I have a few PC games I want to play on it and just have a limited list of games from arcades, consoles (and ao486) like what this MiSTer Favorites seems to do. Thanks!

[wizzo]

I haven't tried this yet. It looks awesome. Is it possible to use this with ao486 and selecting different hard drives, CD's and or floppies? I would like to be able to just launch specific PC games that have their own hard drive and maybe an associated CD ISO right from the MiSTer menu. I think I can handle mounting the CD from the hard drive, so really only selecting a single hard drive would be needed and the rest could be scripted on that hard drive if anything else is needed to be mounted. I have an arcade cabinet that I am almost done building and I have a few PC games I want to play on it and just have a limited list of games from arcades, consoles (and ao486) like what this MiSTer Favorites seems to do. Thanks!

The script in its current state doesn't really support any computers because right now the UI only lets you choose 1 file and doesnt have the concept of multiple file slot options. I'm also not sure if mgl files can support more than one file to mount at a time too

In your case I'd actually suggest making the mgl file yourself. I can add ao486 to the script but it will only really work to create a shortcut that mounts 1 vhd on the first slot of the core (I suspect you don't have many vhds this needs to happen with) or mounts a cd with no vhd

Recently I rewrote most of the mgl documentation:

https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_M ... anced/mgl/

It should be easy enough for you to get at least part of the way to what you want. A shortcut to ao486 that mounts your base vhd. Check the bottom of the section with the big table of mgl arguments, there is a link to my own documentation of system settings. On that page is all the info you need to make an ao486 mgl

While you are at it. I'd also recommend trying to add a second file tag in the mgl with a cd image. I couldn't tell if it would work in the mister code but you never know

Let me know if any of that doesn't make sense!

[LamerDeluxe]

I have a Final Expansion (Alpha) cartridge for my VIC-20s. One thing with the VIC is that you have to select the right memory expansion banks per game, because video memory can get moved to another location.

The other thing is that cartridges can use two 8K banks that are mapped to different memory blocks. These are loaded as two files.

The way they solve this is by using a text script with simple commands that select the right memory blocks and then allow you to add multiple basic commands to load the cartridge images to the right locations and start the game with a sys command. Alternatively you can just load a regular game and add a standard run command.

I have no idea if something like that could be added to mgl files (has to be supported by cores obviously), but it makes my VIC-20 much more convenient to use than the MiSTer core.

My 'The VIC-20' uses save states to load games, which is also a really handy way to get around all the loading complications.

[wizzo]

I have a Final Expansion (Alpha) cartridge for my VIC-20s. One thing with the VIC is that you have to select the right memory expansion banks per game, because video memory can get moved to another location.

The other thing is that cartridges can use two 8K banks that are mapped to different memory blocks. These are loaded as two files.

The way they solve this is by using a text script with simple commands that select the right memory blocks and then allow you to add multiple basic commands to load the cartridge images to the right locations and start the game with a sys command. Alternatively you can just load a regular game and add a standard run command.

I have no idea if something like that could be added to mgl files (has to be supported by cores obviously), but it makes my VIC-20 much more convenient to use than the MiSTer core.

My 'The VIC-20' uses save states to load games, which is also a really handy way to get around all the loading complications.

That's really interesting. I think it's a good idea for the future. With the current state of mgl files you're right though this probably isn't possible

Something I've been working on in the background. In my mrext repo I've redone game indexing completely and a feature of it will be to, per core, bolt on custom logic for scanning launching games. The reason for this was the newest versions of the MegaAGS image ship with a list of games and a custom executable to launch them from linux. This would support that. It means stuff like SAM and my search script can launch amiga games directly

But that still doesn't help with mgl files! It reminds me of your VIC-20 setup though, so I reckon it's something to keep in mind

[LamerDeluxe]

I have a Final Expansion (Alpha) cartridge for my VIC-20s. One thing with the VIC is that you have to select the right memory expansion banks per game, because video memory can get moved to another location.

The other thing is that cartridges can use two 8K banks that are mapped to different memory blocks. These are loaded as two files.

The way they solve this is by using a text script with simple commands that select the right memory blocks and then allow you to add multiple basic commands to load the cartridge images to the right locations and start the game with a sys command. Alternatively you can just load a regular game and add a standard run command.

I have no idea if something like that could be added to mgl files (has to be supported by cores obviously), but it makes my VIC-20 much more convenient to use than the MiSTer core.

My 'The VIC-20' uses save states to load games, which is also a really handy way to get around all the loading complications.

That's really interesting. I think it's a good idea for the future. With the current state of mgl files you're right though this probably isn't possible

Something I've been working on in the background. In my mrext repo I've redone game indexing completely and a feature of it will be to, per core, bolt on custom logic for scanning launching games. The reason for this was the newest versions of the MegaAGS image ship with a list of games and a custom executable to launch them from linux. This would support that. It means stuff like SAM and my search script can launch amiga games directly

But that still doesn't help with mgl files! It reminds me of your VIC-20 setup though, so I reckon it's something to keep in mind

That does sound like something in a similar direction. It would be great if the computer cores would be supported at some point.

For a system like this to be possible you'd need to be able to set core menu options and then inject keyboard input (after some core boot delay) to enter the basic commands. Though, come to think of it, I'm not sure you can currently load files flexibly enough from VIC-20 basic to make this work. The Final Expansion cartridge uses an SD2IEC drive to achieve this.

I just read that the 486 core allows you to mount multiple files from an MGL file and then issue a reset, which could also be a step in the right direction.

[wizzo]

I just read that the 486 core allows you to mount multiple files from an MGL file and then issue a reset, which could also be a step in the right direction.

It does work! I finally tried it

Code: Select all

<mistergamedescription>
    <rbf>_Computer/ao486</rbf>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="2" path="IDE 0-0 BOOT-DOS98.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="3" path="IDE 0-1 Top 300 DOS Games.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="4" path="cd/JazzCD/jazzjac.iso"/>
</mistergamedescription>

It doesn't *run*. I'm guessing flynn's image isn't set up to auto launch something if a disc is mounted. But I can see all 3 files are loaded successfully in the OSD.

Code: Select all

<mistergamedescription>
    <rbf>_Computer/ao486</rbf>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="2" path="IDE 0-0 BOOT-DOS98.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="3" path="IDE 0-1 Top 300 DOS Games.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="4" path="cd/JazzCD/jazzjac.iso"/>
    <reset delay="2"/>
</mistergamedescription>

You can try with a reset too. But I found the behaviour is no different. Besides it, you know, resetting the core after 2 seconds.

So that's pretty good news. From a programming perspective, I'm not sure the best way to incorporate this into the script. It still needs some thought. I guess there would need to be specific exceptions looking for certain packs

[LamerDeluxe]

I just read that the 486 core allows you to mount multiple files from an MGL file and then issue a reset, which could also be a step in the right direction.

It does work! I finally tried it

Code: Select all

<mistergamedescription>
    <rbf>_Computer/ao486</rbf>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="2" path="IDE 0-0 BOOT-DOS98.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="3" path="IDE 0-1 Top 300 DOS Games.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="4" path="cd/JazzCD/jazzjac.iso"/>
</mistergamedescription>

It doesn't *run*. I'm guessing flynn's image isn't set up to auto launch something if a disc is mounted. But I can see all 3 files are loaded successfully in the OSD.

Code: Select all

<mistergamedescription>
    <rbf>_Computer/ao486</rbf>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="2" path="IDE 0-0 BOOT-DOS98.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="3" path="IDE 0-1 Top 300 DOS Games.vhd"/>
    <file delay="1" type="s" index="4" path="cd/JazzCD/jazzjac.iso"/>
    <reset delay="2"/>
</mistergamedescription>

You can try with a reset too. But I found the behaviour is no different. Besides it, you know, resetting the core after 2 seconds.

So that's pretty good news. From a programming perspective, I'm not sure the best way to incorporate this into the script. It still needs some thought. I guess there would need to be specific exceptions looking for certain packs

That is really cool and already partly similar to what my Final Expansion does. I think it should be possible to implement something similar in the VIC-20 core to correctly load its cartridge images.
Atari 8-bit machines also take some extra effort to properly load games.

[thorr]

Thank you for the additional information. I made great progress this weekend on the arcade cabinet and it is ready to be painted. I still have other work to do with all the electronics and control panels, etc. Once it is all done and ready to be used, I will revisit this and see if I can figure out how to get it working with ao486 (and everything else that it already supports). Thanks for all of your efforts!

[holaplaneta]

Unfortunately the result is the same, tha script just briefly flashes on the screen. Thank you for your effort to help me

Can confirm same behavior on a CRT with fb terminal enabled.

[Tacoguy125]

Wizzo - Just wanted to follow up on my earlier post. I ended up just swapping to to a different set of neo geo roms and it worked with out issue. I used a set with .neo extensions vs the set that requires xml files and are in their own folders. Thanks for this script. Nice work.

[wizzo]

Can confirm same behavior on a CRT with fb terminal enabled.

Sorry but I can't be much help here because I don't own a CRT. I hope someone else can chime in. Do other script with a gui like update_all work for you?

Wizzo - Just wanted to follow up on my earlier post. I ended up just swapping to to a different set of neo geo roms and it worked with out issue. I used a set with .neo extensions vs the set that requires xml files and are in their own folders. Thanks for this script. Nice work.

That's great to hear! Eventually I will add support for that other pack but for now yeah its complex to add support to the current script and hard to justify when it's so easy to just grab a different pack

[Malor]

BTW, I'd complained early on that this wasn't working for me on my NAS share; it would load the correct core, but not launch the correct game. You nudged me on reddit that you thought you'd fixed it, and I thought I'd report back that it does indeed work now. I have no idea what you did, but it's fixed.

[netbeui]

Hi wizzo, I love this script, thanks for creating it, it's super useful! I noticed something weird.. I added a shortcut to the arcade version of Gyruss and it named it as "Konami - Gyruss", if I rename it using the favorites script to something else e.g. "Gyruss Test" it properly renames it but when I go back and rename it back to just Gyruss it goes back to "Konami - Gyruss" in the MiSTer menu. I found a workaround by renaming it to Gyruss followed by a space but figured I'd let you know in case the script is doing something similar for other shortcuts. Thanks again for this script!

[netbeui]

Hi wizzo, I love this script, thanks for creating it, it's super useful! I noticed something weird.. I added a shortcut to the arcade version of Gyruss and it named it as "Konami - Gyruss", if I rename it using the favorites script to something else e.g. "Gyruss Test" it properly renames it but when I go back and rename it back to just Gyruss it goes back to "Konami - Gyruss" in the MiSTer menu. I found a workaround by renaming it to Gyruss followed by a space but figured I'd let you know in case the script is doing something similar for other shortcuts. Thanks again for this script!

Update: the culprit was that pesky names.txt file.. I turned it off in the update_all settings and everything is back to normal. My core names aren't as beautiful but I can live with that. I considered changing the Gyruss entry in the names.txt file but soon realized there's quite a few other cores that have been renamed in a similar way, e.g. Taito - Arkanoid, Konami - Mikie, Universal - Lady Bug, Nintendo - Donkey Kong, etc..

[Lightwave]

Update: the culprit was that pesky names.txt file.. I turned it off in the update_all settings and everything is back to normal. My core names aren't as beautiful but I can live with that. I considered changing the Gyruss entry in the names.txt file but soon realized there's quite a few other cores that have been renamed in a similar way, e.g. Taito - Arkanoid, Konami - Mikie, Universal - Lady Bug, Nintendo - Donkey Kong, etc..

There's no reason you can't maintain your own custom names.txt... that's what it's there for.

I've been using names.txt manually since before it was added to the update all script, so I've never bothered enabling the automatic one. I prefer my own customizations over someone else's idea of what the core names should be.

[netbeui]

Update: the culprit was that pesky names.txt file.. I turned it off in the update_all settings and everything is back to normal. My core names aren't as beautiful but I can live with that. I considered changing the Gyruss entry in the names.txt file but soon realized there's quite a few other cores that have been renamed in a similar way, e.g. Taito - Arkanoid, Konami - Mikie, Universal - Lady Bug, Nintendo - Donkey Kong, etc..

There's no reason you can't maintain your own custom names.txt... that's what it's there for.

I've been using names.txt manually since before it was added to the update all script, so I've never bothered enabling the automatic one. I prefer my own customizations over someone else's idea of what the core names should be.

Good to know - thanks Lightwave! I assumed if I made a change to the file it would get overwritten next time I run update_all. I’ll leave the setting off and manage my own names.txt file

[Escape-To-88]

This may have been answered but can this favourite individual console roms or is it just the central cores? Cheers

[Jimiga]

Hi! Script looks great and I'd love to try it. However, when I run the .sh file throught the Mister Scripts menu, I find it just bounces me back to the main menu without running.

I've tried both a wired and wireless connection, run update-all etc, nothing seems to fix this though. Any idea how I might debug? I'd be very grateful for input!

Thanks in advace for your help.

[wizzo]

This may have been answered but can this favourite individual console roms or is it just the central cores? Cheers

Yes to both!

Hi! Script looks great and I'd love to try it. However, when I run the .sh file throught the Mister Scripts menu, I find it just bounces me back to the main menu without running.

I've tried both a wired and wireless connection, run update-all etc, nothing seems to fix this though. Any idea how I might debug? I'd be very grateful for input!

Thanks in advace for your help.

Hmm I haven't heard of this happening before. Your network method shouldn't have anything to do with it. I will try later on to update all and make sure it still runs for me too. I'm not able to access to files you linked

Are you able to launch the official ini_settings script? That script uses the exact same way to display menus on screen as the favourites script

Another thing you could try is to SSH into your mister with something like putty and then run favorites.sh from the command line there. See if it's the same results or shows an error

[Jimiga]

Thanks for your help here, revisiting this!

Interestingly, I can't run ini_settings.sh without the following error being returned (attached image showing ssh attempt to run the ini_settings.sh script)

When I try to run favorites.sh, I get the same result - a brief pause, then I'm just returned to the command line prompt. No error message - it's just as though nothing runs.

Strange - I've spoken to friends and others on forums who are running it well but I'm at a bit of a loss to know what I'm doing wrong!

Appreciate your help, thanks and best wishes!

[Jimiga]

Not sure if it's useful info, but I'm running a USB SSD drive with my game roms, and I run my scripts etc from the SD card with my mister install.

[wizzo]

Not sure if it's useful info, but I'm running a USB SSD drive with my game roms, and I run my scripts etc from the SD card with my mister install.

What happens when you tun the favorites script over ssh? Same behaviour?

And this should be the default setting, but maybe you can double check in your mister.ini file that the fb_terminal setting is set to 1

That's even more unusual that ini_settings won't load over ssh. How about gamesmenu script? Or search script if you have it. These all use the same method of showing a GUI.

[Jimiga]

I've just tried copying the script across again. For some reason my old file was 33k and the new one is 512, so there's a difference - but I now see an actual error when I run it - screenshot attached.

Thanks!