MiSTer FPGA Forum

I have this pack "@MiSTer Pack Add-on - NEOGEO 2020-05-12.zip" in game/neogeo

when i go to console/neo geo i can play neogeo games fine from that pack add-on
but when i go to Arcade/ and select a neo geo game from the list it takes me back to the main menu

I ran the update all script , non neo geo arcade games work fine
this shortcut works fine too #neogeo.mgl, is only the mra neogeo list in the arcade folder that dont work .before I was playing around with it trying to find a fix ,neo geo in arcade use to say no rbf file found , now they just take me back to the main menu

Do you have the zip file from BlackWine and installed it properly?
From what you say I don't think you have. I had a look at the pack you mentioned and the games are in the .neo format. I am not sure if it works when they are in this format. They work with the DarkSoft format. You also mentioned mra, where do they come from? You get the rbf not found because you need a special rbf in the _Arcade/cores folder. You also need to have symlinks from /games/mame to /games/NEOGEO and you need to make a special ROM neogeo.zip.
If what I say does not make any sense to you is because you do not have the zip from BlackWine.
I can help you, the only thing I do not know is if it works with the .neo roms but the DarkSoft pack is available at the same place you found your pack.
But I am curious about the mras you mentioned. What are they?

Neo format works with the NeoGeo Core. Indeed its the easiest format to use since each game is a single file and there is no dependancy on the XMl file.

The Neo Console core can play all the arcade games. There is no need to use Blackwine's pack unless you have a burning desire to see the games listed in the Aracade section

@FPGA64
I know that the neo files work with the official core as I have a few which are not in the DarkSoft set. My question was to know if it will work with the BlackWine core.
I also do not understand the aversion that some people have with the DarkSoft set. The xml is there and each game is in its own file.
I see the usefulness of the BlackWine core if you make an arcade cabinet just for arcades.
In my case I have the console core set to AES and use the arcade core for MVS: no need to change settings. I use it because it is there and if it was not there it would be no problem. As you say there is no real need for it if you don't have an arcade cabinet dedicated to arcades.

That sounds like you dont have the needed roms in the mame and or maybe the rbf file is missing in the arcade cores folder.

neogeo81 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 3:36 pm

That sounds like you dont have the needed roms in the mame and or maybe the rbf file is missing in the arcade cores folder.

It is a little more complicated than that.
Did you read this post?
viewtopic.php?p=71532#p71532

jca wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 7:59 am

Do you have the zip file from BlackWine and installed it properly?
From what you say I don't think you have. I had a look at the pack you mentioned and the games are in the .neo format. I am not sure if it works when they are in this format. They work with the DarkSoft format. You also mentioned mra, where do they come from? You get the rbf not found because you need a special rbf in the _Arcade/cores folder. You also need to have symlinks from /games/mame to /games/NEOGEO and you need to make a special ROM neogeo.zip.
If what I say does not make any sense to you is because you do not have the zip from BlackWine.
I can help you, the only thing I do not know is if it works with the .neo roms but the DarkSoft pack is available at the same place you found your pack.
But I am curious about the mras you menyioned. What are they?

In the arcade folder there are neo geo game files in .mra format

I installed coinop script in the past and then removed it so I don’t know which files are stock from update all and which are from coinop

FPGA64 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 11:13 am

Neo format works with the NeoGeo Core. Indeed its the easiest format to use since each game is a single file and there is no dependancy on the XMl file.

The Neo Console core can play all the arcade games. There is no need to use Blackwine's pack unless you have a burning desire to see the games listed in the Aracade section

How do link those .neo games from games/neogeo to the list of games in the arcade folder , or is that not possible ?
I did try dropping the dark soft rom set in the games/neogeo folder and the neo geo from arcade still wouldn’t play

I wonder where these come from as I do not see any mra in the pack you used.
Could you post one of them?

Blade Runner wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 4:38 pm

How do link those .neo games from games/neogeo to the list of games in the arcade folder , or is that not possible ?
I did try dropping the dark soft rom set in the games/neogeo folder and the neo geo from arcade still wouldn’t play

Wait a little bit and I will post what you have to do to use the BlackWine core but first:
Let see what are these mra you have.
Where is you games directory located (on the SD card)?
Do you know Linux?

You can still find it all on github under blackwine fork of the neogeo core.

https://github.com/blackwine/NeoGeo_MiSTer

You need the:
MRA files in the arcade folder
RBF core file in the arcade/core folder
Darksoft Roms zipped in games/mame folder

That is how i have it and it works fine.

jca wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 3:54 pm

neogeo81 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 3:36 pm

That sounds like you dont have the needed roms in the mame and or maybe the rbf file is missing in the arcade cores folder.

It is a little more complicated than that.
Did you read this post?
viewtopic.php?p=71532#p71532

No it's not. Read my last post here above this one.

What about neogeo.zip?
What about having the zips in games/NEOGEO and symlinks from games/mame to /games/NEOGEO in order not to waste space?
What about placing the mras in Arcade/NEO GEO for convenience?

Thanks for the Github link as his Patreon has an earlier version which is what I use.
Now I have to figure out what are the differences with the mras.
There is not much explanation but I see that he moved the mras from Arcade/NEO GEO to _Arcade and same for _alternatives in order for update all download it.
As this core is not official and is unlikely to become official it does not really matter. Update all will not download it.
I will post again when I figure out what is different between his Patreon and his Github

neogeo81 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 5:44 pm

You can still find it all on github under blackwine fork of the neogeo core.

https://github.com/blackwine/NeoGeo_MiSTer

You need the:
MRA files in the arcade folder
RBF core file in the arcade/core folder
Darksoft Roms zipped in games/mame folder

That is how i have it and it works fine.

All right thanks when I get home I’ll try this
So the rbf files are in that GitHub link?

The Darksoft files I got are not zipped there in a folder , do I need to zip each one ?
Darksoft Neo Geo 2020-05-12.7z

They need to be zipped.
You also need to make a neogeo.zip = uni-bios.rom + 000-lo.lo + sfix.sfix and place it in games/mame alongside with the zips.
You have to place Arcade-NeoGeo-MVS_20220218.rbf in _Arcade/cores. Remove Arcade- from the name.
I would create a _NEO GEO folder in the _Arcade folder and copy the mras there alongside the _alternatives folder.

jca wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 6:20 pm

What about neogeo.zip?
What about having the zips in games/NEOGEO and symlinks from games/mame to /games/NEOGEO in order not to waste space?
What about placing the mras in Arcade/NEO GEO for convenience?

Thanks for the Github link as his Patreon has an earlier version which is what I use.
Now I have to figure out what are the differences with the mras.
There is not much explanation but I see that he moved the mras from Arcade/NEO GEO to _Arcade and same for _alternatives in order for update all download it.
As this core is not official and is unlikely to become official it does not really matter. Update all will not download it.
I will post again when I figure out what is different between his Patreon and his Github

As i use the .neo format for the console core I can't use symlinks and just have double roms in the mame folder.

I understand. On my side I have the DarkSoft roms and neo roms for those which are not in the DarkSoft set. I still don't understand why many users prefer neo files. For me neo files have a little annoyance: in the OSD the name which is in the neo file is displayed and is not very descriptive. What I did is to zip them with a descriptive name for the zip. On the OSD the zip shows up as a directory and I have to go in that directory to load the rom. This is not very elegant. If you have a solution for this problem I would appreciate.

neogeo81 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 10:32 pm

jca wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 6:20 pm

What about neogeo.zip?
What about having the zips in games/NEOGEO and symlinks from games/mame to /games/NEOGEO in order not to waste space?
What about placing the mras in Arcade/NEO GEO for convenience?

Thanks for the Github link as his Patreon has an earlier version which is what I use.
Now I have to figure out what are the differences with the mras.
There is not much explanation but I see that he moved the mras from Arcade/NEO GEO to _Arcade and same for _alternatives in order for update all download it.
As this core is not official and is unlikely to become official it does not really matter. Update all will not download it.
I will post again when I figure out what is different between his Patreon and his Github

As i use the .neo format for the console core I can't use symlinks and just have double roms in the mame folder.

thanks, guys i got it working, I found a darksoft neo geo rom set already zipped online

one last thing, any benefit to using resolution 720p over 1080p on hdtv ? which one is recommended ? i don't use shaders or scan lines

Blade Runner wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 2:38 am

one last thing, any benefit to using resolution 720p over 1080p on hdtv ? which one is recommended ? i don't use shaders or scan lines

It's generally best to use the native resolution of your display with MiSTer when possible, to avoid an extra scaling step that may degrade the image and add additional lag

Lightwave wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 5:41 am

Blade Runner wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 2:38 am

one last thing, any benefit to using resolution 720p over 1080p on hdtv ? which one is recommended ? i don't use shaders or scan lines

It's generally best to use the native resolution of your display with MiSTer when possible, to avoid an extra scaling step that may degrade the image and add additional lag

I have a 4K Samsung tv , I don’t think the mister can do 4K ? If I had a 1080p tv I would definitely choose that
What about 4K tv ?

Blade Runner wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 7:31 am

Lightwave wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 5:41 am

Blade Runner wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 2:38 am

one last thing, any benefit to using resolution 720p over 1080p on hdtv ? which one is recommended ? i don't use shaders or scan lines

It's generally best to use the native resolution of your display with MiSTer when possible, to avoid an extra scaling step that may degrade the image and add additional lag

I have a 4K Samsung tv , I don’t think the mister can do 4K ? If I had a 1080p tv I would definitely choose that
What about 4K tv ?

Yes, MiSTer won't do 4K resolution, so it gets a bit trickier in that case. 720 is generally a closer multiple of common earlier console resolutions, but it will come down to how your tv processes 720 vs 1080. It is also possible that feeding 1440 to your TVs scaler may be the best option, if your MiSTer can handle that resolution without any issues.

I started to check the mras from BlackWine Github: including the alternatives there are 246 of them
Next step is checking which roms I am missing. So far the only problems I found were missing symlinks as I previously used the files from his Patreon and are older. These games were not yet implemented. So (not very) far so good.

jca wrote: ↑Sun Apr 09, 2023 3:10 pm

I started to check the mras from BlackWine Github: including the alternatives there are 246 of them
Next step is checking which roms I am missing. So far the only problems I found were missing symlinks as I previously used the files from his Patreon and are older. These games were not yet implemented. So (not very) far so good.

Why so complicated? Do you really need amthose strange alt mras? Just get the complete darksoft romset. The roms are merged anyway.

I have the complete romset. The main problem is that I use symlinks games/mame -> games/NEOGEO and his Patreon did not support all the games supported in his Github. So far they are from the DarkSoft set.

Monday status:

Some mras use the "wrong" zip name.
This comes from the romsets.xml where some zips have alternatives names
<romset name="burningfh,brningfh"
It looks like the DarkSoft zips always use the second name may be to respect 8.3 names while the arcade mras always use the first name, may be by using an automated system.

I spoke too fast, before looking at the mra. The roms must be merged and I cannot find a DarkSoft pack with merged roms.

Some mras do not correspond to games from the DarkSoft set but are at the bottom of each section (32M, ...) of the romsets.xml file. If you copy only the DarkSoft roms to games/mame you will be missing some games.

When I am done with a few remaining problems I will post another status together with a zip which will have the mras with the "correct" zip names.
At this time I am giving up. I may revisit it if I find a merged pack.

I never hassled with xml or mra files. I got this pack:

MiSTer Pack Add-on - NEOGEO 2020-05-12.zip

It incudes all Neogeo games in .neo format. Which is originally for the NeoSD Flashcart, but works fine with the Mister core.

Retro-Nerd wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 4:01 am

I never hassled with xml or mra files. I got this pack:

MiSTer Pack Add-on - NEOGEO 2020-05-12.zip

It incudes all Neogeo games in .neo format. Which is originally for the NeoSD Flashcart, but works fine with the Mister core.

This is only for the Console AES core. We are talking about the Arcade core here.