MiSTer FPGA Forum

I'm looking into setting up the arcade cores but the more I read the more intimidating it becomes. I've seen mention of an update script that does it all for you by Retrodriven but the github page the link is for no longer exists. Is there an alternative "simple" method to get it all setup?

(I know nothing about Mame etc and split/merged/etc roms - it's all a foreign language to me)

I just run the main update script from MiSTer and then the MAME Getter script. I don't remember if it's already in MiSTer scripts by default or if it needs to be installed separately.

Tbh, arcade games are not my priority so not sure how exact this is, maybe somebody has a better suggestion, but it seems most of the cores are there and running ok. I did not bother with HB MAME though, but there is HB MAME getter script too.

I had already run the main update script. I will now get the mame getter script. Thanks for your help.

This is what I use and what is the most popular one at the moment, as far as I know:
https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer

The update_all script took over from what Retrodriven used to do.

Would be nice if the update_all script included the ability to update wallpapers like retrodriven did.. anyone know of any alternatives to that?

ericgus09 wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 2:37 am Would be nice if the update_all script included the ability to update wallpapers like retrodriven did.. anyone know of any alternatives to that?

Agreed, I'm missing that as well.

ericgus09 wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 2:37 am Would be nice if the update_all script included the ability to update wallpapers like retrodriven did.. anyone know of any alternatives to that?

Google the images you like up, load them up to the MiSTer.
Do we really need a script for Wallpaper?

darksakul wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 2:02 pm

ericgus09 wrote: ↑Wed May 12, 2021 2:37 am Would be nice if the update_all script included the ability to update wallpapers like retrodriven did.. anyone know of any alternatives to that?

Google the images you like up, load them up to the MiSTer.
Do we really need a script for Wallpaper?

No but it certainly was a quality of life kind of thing with its ease and being built in .. IDK one could argue the same for about any part of the update process if you pushed the argument.

Fuzzball wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 9:44 am (I know nothing about Mame etc and split/merged/etc roms - it's all a foreign language to me)

This is really simple.

Split means that every variant of every game has all ROMs in a single zip. Since many variants share common ROMs, this is typically a waste of space, both storage and download bandwidth.

Merged means that all variants of a certain game are contained within a single ZIP, and all common ROMs are included as a single file within it. This saves space because it avoids many duplicated files, but has the side effect that the ZIP file name does not match the name of the variant being played.

pgimeno wrote: ↑Thu May 13, 2021 1:35 pm

Fuzzball wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 9:44 am (I know nothing about Mame etc and split/merged/etc roms - it's all a foreign language to me)

This is really simple.

Split means that every variant of every game has all ROMs in a single zip. Since many variants share common ROMs, this is typically a waste of space, both storage and download bandwidth.

Merged means that all variants of a certain game are contained within a single ZIP, and all common ROMs are included as a single file within it. This saves space because it avoids many duplicated files, but has the side effect that the ZIP file name does not match the name of the variant being played.

Split doesn't duplicate across zips. That would be 'non-merged'.
Let's say good_game requires these roms: rom_1, rom_2, rom_3
There is also a clone, boring_game that requires rom_1, rom_2, rom_3_v2, rom_4

In a split set
good_game.zip: rom_1, rom_2, rom_3
boring_game.zip: rom_3_v2, rom_4

In a merged set:
good_game.zip: rom_1, rom_2, rom_3, rom_3_v2, rom_4
(It would also contain all other roms for every other clone of good_game.zip)

In a non-merged set:
good_game.zip: rom_1, rom_2, rom_3
boring_game.zip rom_1, rom_2, rom_3_v2, rom_4


You're more likely to stumble across split romsets if you search for rom names on the internet. The mister update_all uses a script that pulls merged romsets from archive.org. I'm not sure I've ever seen a non-merged set 'in the wild' but I'm sure they exist somewhere.

Split and merged take up about the same amount of space, but split will be slightly bigger due to more zip file overhead (but probably only noticable in large collections)

Split is probably more annoying for most users because they inevitably download a clone without knowing it requires the parent. Then mame complains about missing roms and the user complains about mame.

I use non-merged sets. It's good if you only include specific roms on a device.