UbuntuMAME - Initial Configuration and Testing

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Contents 1 AdvanceMAME Initial Configuration and Testing 2 AdvanceMENU Initial Configuration and Testing 3 Video Configuration 4 Next Step 5 Other Steps

[edit] AdvanceMAME Initial Configuration and Testing

AdvanceMAME stores all of its settings in a local file called advmame.rc. This file is located in a hidden folder inside of the users home folder. The file advmame.rc is not installed by default. In fact it only appears after a user has run the program at least once or initialized the programs defaults.

Initialise the default AdvanceMAME configuration file (this only needs to be done once):

 mame@mame-machine:~$ advmame --default

Check that executable is installed, on the command line path and confirms the default application paths are set:

 mame@mame-machine:~$ advmame --version

We need to now copy a known good game rom into the ~/.advance/roms folder. Gridlee is a free non-commercial rom that is free to both legally download and play. Other legal and free game roms can be found on the MAME-compatible ROM Images site.

Check that AdvanceMAME can initialize the sound card, graphics card and that the game roms can be read by trying a known game.:

 mame@mame-machine:~$ advmame gridlee

• Note that there are two default rom paths for AdvanceMAME. The first is a global path that is accessible by all users of a particular computer. The global path is /usr/share/advance/roms - The second path is considered to be a local path or in laymans terms a path that is just for one user. The local path is ~/.advance/rom (make sure that the user in the path is set to the name of the current user. In our case the user is mame so the path would be /home/mame/.advance/rom)

Provided this works, we are ready to move on.

Settings such as the video clock ranges can be changed after initial configuration. Modelines on the other hand are tailored to suit a particular type of monitor and will need to be regenerated if you wish to switch between the modes supported for different monitor types edit ~/.advance/advmame.rc. and add the following line:

   device_video_clock 10-120 / 30.5-59.5 / 55.5-112.5

To set autodetect of video interface and fullscreen mode edit ~/.advance/advmame.rc. and add the following lines:

   device_video auto
   device_video_output fullscreen

[edit] AdvanceMENU Initial Configuration and Testing

Initialise the default AdvanceMenu configuration file (this only needs to be done once):

mame@mame-machine:~$ advmenu --default

Check that executable is installed, on the command line path and confirms the default application paths are set:

mame@mame-machine:~$ advmenu --version

Add the following settings to ~/.advance/advmenu.rc

   device_video_clock 10-120 / 30.5-59.5 / 55.5-112.5

Set autodetect of video interface and fullscreen in ~/.advance/advmenu.rc

   device_video auto
   device_video_output fullscreen
   device_video_overlay_size 1024

Check that AdvanceMENU can initialize the graphics card and that the roms can be found:

 mame@mame-machine:~$ advmenu

You should be able to switch between groups of roms via F2 and start a game by pressing enter on a selected game. If this works correctly we are nearly ready to go.

[edit] Video Configuration

If your monitor is anything like mine, something like 90% of the video modes will look like crap. On the plus side, AdvanceMAME has included a tool to fix that.

Fire up advv:

 mame@mame-machine:~$ advv

From this machine, you will need to test and tweak each of the modes. This will take a while - really. But it is worth it. Test each, use the interactive keys (help on screen) to tweak it just so. Make sure the entire image is on the screen, fills the screen, is as centered as possible, etc. If it doesn't work at all, ESC will drop back to the list. Mark the working settings with the space key, and at the end, use F2 to save them to AdvanceMAME's configuration file, and exit

Next, we need to do it again. On the up side, we can be more judicious this time. Fire up advv again with:

 mame@mame-machine:~$ advv -advmenuv

For this step, you really only need a perfectly working 1024x768, but adding a 800x600 and 640x480 is a good idea as well.

[edit] Next Step

UbuntuMAME - Fine Tune Advance Configurations

[edit] Other Steps

   1.)  UbuntuMAME - Overview
   2.)  UbuntuMAME - Base System Install
   3.)  UbuntuMAME - Video Drivers
   4.)  UbuntuMAME - Clean-Up and Networking
   5.)  UbuntuMAME - Build and Install
   6.)  UbuntuMAME - Initial Configuration and Testing
   7.)  UbuntuMAME - Fine Tune Advance Configurations
   8.)  UbuntuMAME - Auto-Login and Auto-Start
   9.)  UbuntuMAME - Adding NES and Atari2600
   10.) UbuntuMAME - Adding a Light Gun
   11.) UbubtuMAME - Adding a Jukebox System
   12.) UbubtuMAME - Support Files for MAME - MESS