Homebrew Wii RetroArch setup issues

[OleSchool]

So I decided after lurking forever to join in and ask a question. Anyway, on to the issue.

Ive been following a lot of Wii Homebrew and Retroarch tutorials and videos, but I'm still missing a piece to this whole puzzle. The reason I know that is because I've seen videos where certain games are played and forum posts where games are "claimed" to be played and they don't work on mine.

Here is the setup with all the little details:
1.) Wii 4.3U
2.) Homebrew Channel 1.1.2
3.) Retroarch 1.3.0 (I chose 1.3.0 because no recent tutorials or videos out for recent versions)
4.) Several major cores loaded into sd:/apps/retroarch-wii/<core_file.dol> (version information pulled from retroarch core page):

• 1.2.2 - MAME 2003 0.78
• 1.0.0.2 - MAME 2000 0.37 BETA 5
• 1.3.0 - FB Alpha v0.2.97.30
• 1.3.0 - FBA Cores CPS1 v0.2.97.28
• 1.3.0 - FBA Cores CPS2 v.0.2.97.28
• 1.3.0 - FBA Cores Neo v0.2.97.30

5) Retroarch setup loads properly with System BIOS dir, Core Dir and other folders seemingly working fine.
6.) Roms specific to each core above downloaded and put onto SD card under sd:/retroarch/roms/<core_name_here>/

So looks good right? Well, here's the problem. I'm getting the old roll the dice effect when I load a core, then load the content (game file). Some work, some don't (some error dump, some run with choppy audio and the game with a blue hue everywhere, and some gimme the black screen then kick me back to Home brew channel).

I know about the 23MB or so limitation, so these games are under that. But out of 20-30 games, only about 6-7 are working. I've also read up on this post, but didn't get any further even after using the same MAME core for the roms listed: here

So a few questions. Where should I start looking? Is this is a BIOS thing? (not sure how to get the version / info of BIOS files). Should I upgrade the MAME cores? Should I upgrade the Retroarch?

Sorry for the long post, I just really appreciate people who show that they've put in some homework and tried certain things before just asking for help.

Let me know if ya'll need more information to help me out, thanks!

OleSchool

 

[shatterhand]

Try 1.3.3 or 1.3.4. I think the menu layout is the same as 1.3.0 and those versions also support using a PS3 controller via usb which I use and it works great. Also, delete the folder labeled "retroarch" in the root of your sd card or hdd so that the files that were in there don't interfere with the new retroarch version you are trying. You want to do this anytime you use a different retroarch version so that a new, clean retroarch folder is created automatically in the root directory when you run retroarch again. Once you get used to using an earlier version of retroarch, it is pretty easy to adjust to any new menu layouts with future versions.

 

[soniccomcisbr]

And remember the romsets for MAME 2003 and Mame 037b11 for mame2000

 

[OleSchool]

@shatterhand I'm getting off work pretty late just seeing this. I'll give that a try later and update. Thanks for the tip about the retroarch folder. Outta curiosity, why 1.3.3 and 1.3.4 and not 1.4.0? Just wondering.

@soniccomcisbr I read your post pretty close, it was very helpful. Like many, I had no idea there were different Rom types. Question though, (probably a noob one) when I get roms I never see an option to download a particular type (example .37 vs .78). So how can I tell?

Thanks!

Oleschool

 

[shatterhand]

@shatterhand I'm getting off work pretty late just seeing this. I'll give that a try later and update. Thanks for the tip about the retroarch folder. Outta curiosity, why 1.3.3 and 1.3.4 and not 1.4.0? Just wondering.

@soniccomcisbr I read your post pretty close, it was very helpful. Like many, I had no idea there were different Rom types. Question though, (probably a noob one) when I get roms I never see an option to download a particular type (example .37 vs .78). So how can I tell?

Thanks!

Oleschool

I am currently testing out 1.4.1 and I am having issues saving configurations for each individual core. For me, 1.4.1 is only saving configurations for the last core I used, so if I used the nestopia core and then played the snes9x core, retroarch would use the nestopia settings for snes9x; even if I try to save a new new config for snes9x. 1.4.1 changes the way per core settings are saved and it just isn't working for me. There are some kinks to be worked out but I guess the Retroarch devs felt that the changes they made to the way per core settings are saved would make Retroarch more functional but that hasn't been my experience. I think these changes actually started with 1.3.6. I have been using 1.3.3 for a while and all my per core settings save automatically and I have not had any major issues with that version with the exception that Turbo-grafx CD games don't load but I don't know if they have fixed that in later versions.

 

[soniccomcisbr]

1.4.1 wii version is one of the worsts. I was playing with a Gamecube control and the menu is impossible to use, and, on nestopia, the game after sometime using it. I don't know if it's happens with other cores, I tested 3 times on nestopia and thats happened, so, I back to the older version.

@shatterhand I'm getting off work pretty late just seeing this. I'll give that a try later and update. Thanks for the tip about the retroarch folder. Outta curiosity, why 1.3.3 and 1.3.4 and not 1.4.0? Just wondering.

@soniccomcisbr I read your post pretty close, it was very helpful. Like many, I had no idea there were different Rom types. Question though, (probably a noob one) when I get roms I never see an option to download a particular type (example .37 vs .78). So how can I tell?

Thanks!

Oleschool

Normally the roms page must tell you what set it is

 

[shatterhand]

1.4.1 wii version is one of the worsts. I was playing with a Gamecube control and the menu is impossible to use, and, on nestopia, the game after sometime using it. I don't know if it's happens with other cores, I tested 3 times on nestopia and thats happened, so, I back to the older version.

Are you saying that games stop working in the Nestopia core after playing them for while? I have been using the Nestopia core with 1.4.1 and haven't had any issues. Granted, I am using a wiimote as my controller and not a gamecube controller. Something nice they added to the Nestopia core in 1.4.1 (may have been added in other versions after 1.3.4), is that you have the option to use a custom palette and the devs even included the ability to select FirebrandXs (FBX) latest NES palettes and the palette menu. FBX created the unsaturated v5/6 palettes and his newest palettes look identical to an NES running over composite as far as I can tell. He put a lot of work into his newest palettes and went to greater lengths to ensure they are more accurate.

 

[OleSchool]

Ahh, thanks for the heads up on 1.4.1.
I'm finally getting home so I'll give 1.3.3 a try and update results in the morning.

Hopefully some of these issues will be resolved.

 

[OleSchool]

Well what can I say, I couldn't wait so I gave 1.3.3 RetroArch a try.
So out of the 30 or so roms, I doubled the success rate which is great! So instead of 6 outta 30, I'm up to about 12 outta 30 now that work, the others still do not.

A couple questions.

One, is there a site where I can get roms that work for sure, or is this still an RA issue? The reason I ask is I went ahead and did some YouTubing and sure enough, one of the roms that I have that don't work is on there with RA 1.3.3. And it figures the video owner never posted a how to, it was more of a "hey check this rom out on my RetroArch on the Wii"... lol So I know it can work, but I guess 1.3.3 RA isn't the best? Either that or its a bad rom, or I'm launching it with the wrong core. It would be nice if RA told ya what the problem is instead of just always going to a black screen.

Second question. Is there a way to move the vertical and horizontal stretch/position? I've looked all over the video settings and cant find anything. I ask because, the roms that now work are all a bit to big for the screen (vertically). I changed the resolution to get it to fit, but I'd rather keep it at a particular resolution and just squeeze it down by about 10 pixels. The SDL MAME emulator for the Wii (the one by Toadking) had a vertical and horizontal scroll / squeeze option that was really nice, hoping that RA has the same somewhere. I just can't seem to find it.

Let me know what to do about the other 18 roms. My hunch is that I'm launching the wrong core for it, or that the rom is the wrong type. (I can't seem to find a site that says "these are fba cps1 roms"...but I'm old and blind so who knows, haha)

 

[InfiniteBlue]

Second question. Is there a way to move the vertical and horizontal stretch/position? I've looked all over the video settings and cant find anything. I ask because, the roms that now work are all a bit to big for the screen (vertically). I changed the resolution to get it to fit, but I'd rather keep it at a particular resolution and just squeeze it down by about 10 pixels. The SDL MAME emulator for the Wii (the one by Toadking) had a vertical and horizontal scroll / squeeze option that was really nice, hoping that RA has the same somewhere. I just can't seem to find it.

I believe you need to set the Aspect Ratio Index to "Custom" and then set the "Custom Viewport" width and height. Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're trying to do.

 

[OleSchool]

@kiddydong Many thanks, that was it. It definitely looks better using that method because I can still keep the resolution to what I like.

One down. I'm still working on the rom issue. It may not be the rom or method I'm launching though. Reason I say that is I've been finding alot of folks are saying to put bios files in same directory as roms. RA has a "directory" setting for BIOS files though and I put them in there, sd:/retroarch/system.

That means there's a 4th possibility, that I have the incorrect (or not at all) bios files for the roms I'm trying to run.

Is there a good place to get those or is it probably not the issue at all? RA reboots to homebrew channel without an error message so not sure what issue it had, just guessing maybe bios files setup.

 

[soniccomcisbr]

Are you saying that games stop working in the Nestopia core after playing them for while? I have been using the Nestopia core with 1.4.1 and haven't had any issues. Granted, I am using a wiimote as my controller and not a gamecube controller. Something nice they added to the Nestopia core in 1.4.1 (may have been added in other versions after 1.3.4), is that you have the option to use a custom palette and the devs even included the ability to select FirebrandXs (FBX) latest NES palettes and the palette menu. FBX created the unsaturated v5/6 palettes and his newest palettes look identical to an NES running over composite as far as I can tell. He put a lot of work into his newest palettes and went to greater lengths to ensure they are more accurate.

I tried with 2 games and the results are the same. I can try the most recent versions to see if this still happening

 

[shatterhand]

I tried with 2 games and the results are the same. I can try the most recent versions to see if this still happening

I'm still not clear on what you are saying is happening when playing games with the nestopia core in 1.4.1.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

@kiddydong Many thanks, that was it. It definitely looks better using that method because I can still keep the resolution to what I like.

One down. I'm still working on the rom issue. It may not be the rom or method I'm launching though. Reason I say that is I've been finding alot of folks are saying to put bios files in same directory as roms. RA has a "directory" setting for BIOS files though and I put them in there, sd:/retroarch/system.

That means there's a 4th possibility, that I have the incorrect (or not at all) bios files for the roms I'm trying to run.

Is there a good place to get those or is it probably not the issue at all? RA reboots to homebrew channel without an error message so not sure what issue it had, just guessing maybe bios files setup.

For Neo-Geo, you can just put the bios file in the rom directory where you Neo-Geo roms are. Other than Neo-Geo, I don't think there are any bios files you need to play arcade games in Retroarch Wii. In my experience, putting bios files in the system directory didn't work. For Sega CD and Turbo-grafx CD, I have actually go to "load content" and load up the bios file for the system I am playing. Once the bios screen loads up, I then go to "load content" and select the .cue file for the game I want to run and it works. It sounds like all the games you are trying are arcade games and with arcade games in Retroarch Wii, I think it will be hit or miss. At least with Mame it will be. Almost all of the roms I have tried with the Final Burn Alpha cores work. We are not allowed to link to any rom sites in this forum but just Google the roms that you need (i.e. type mame .37b roms or mame .78 roms) and they should be easy to find. For the Mame cores, make sure you are using the correct rom versions for each core. For example, use .37b roms for the mame2000 core and .78 roms for the mame2003 core. Sometimes roms can be corrupt so if you download a rom that doesn't work from one site, just get a rom from another site and see if that works. Also, make sure you have the parent rom of the game in your rom directory. For example, with say X-Men arcade, the parent rom will be x-men 4 player (world) or something like that and the sub-roms will be x-men 2 player, x-men 6 player, etc. The parent rom will always be bigger in file size than the sub-roms.

 

[OleSchool]

For Neo-Geo, you can just put the bios file in the rom directory where you Neo-Geo roms are. Other than Neo-Geo, I don't think there are any bios files you need to play arcade games in Retroarch Wii. In my experience, putting bios files in the system directory didn't work. For Sega CD and Turbo-grafx CD, I have actually go to "load content" and load up the bios file for the system I am playing. Once the bios screen loads up, I then go to "load content" and select the .cue file for the game I want to run and it works. It sounds like all the games you are trying are arcade games and with arcade games in Retroarch Wii, I think it will be hit or miss. At least with Mame it will be. Almost all of the roms I have tried with the Final Burn Alpha cores work. We are not allowed to link to any rom sites in this forum but just Google the roms that you need (i.e. type mame .37b roms or mame .78 roms) and they should be easy to find. For the Mame cores, make sure you are using the correct rom versions for each core. For example, use .37b roms for the mame2000 core and .78 roms for the mame2003 core. Sometimes roms can be corrupt so if you download a rom that doesn't work from one site, just get a rom from another site and see if that works. Also, make sure you have the parent rom of the game in your rom directory. For example, with say X-Men arcade, the parent rom will be x-men 4 player (world) or something like that and the sub-roms will be x-men 2 player, x-men 6 player, etc. The parent rom will always be bigger in file size than the sub-roms.

@shatterhand I really appreciate the breakdown, there's some really good info in that reply. Didn't know that about the CD games, I always like knowing stuff that might help, but you are right, I'm only interested in arcades right now. Mostly because I have pretty much all the original consoles, so I play on them mostly, but for arcades, there's really no "arcade" console, haha, thus I get the emulators for arcade games. Well, on to my reply which I know will be lengthy, sorry but I'm a details kinda guy, haha.

I did try with the neogeo.zip in the same directory as the local Neo Geo roms (as well as in the sd:/retroarch/systems/ folder just to be sure), but still no-go unfortunately. But you did catch my attention with this statement:

Almost all of the roms I have tried with the Final Burn Alpha cores work.

So when you say "FBA cores", I wasn't sure which one, so I tried these "FBA" cores on several roms (none worked on CPS1 roms, maybe incorrect rom?):

• FBA (fb_alpha_libretro_wii.dol)
• FBA Neo (fb_alpha_neo_libretro_wii.dol)
• FBA CPS1 (fb_alpha_cps1_libretro_wii.dol)
• FBA CPS2 (fb_alpha_cps2_libretro_wii.dol)

Problem was I noticed that the roms I downloaded were on sites that said "FB Alpha roms v0.2.97.39". But the 1.3.3 version of RA that I have loads the cores and says "v0.2.97.30". So is that why they didn't work? The other issue is that I couldn't find any sites with "FB Alpha roms v0.2.97.30", which means either I'm just out of luck on RA 1.3.3 and have to hope one of the newer versions of RA has an FBA v0.2.97.39 core. Any thoughts on that would help a lot.

I also need help understanding this statement a bit more:

Google the roms that you need (i.e. type mame .37b roms or mame .78 roms) and they should be easy to find. For the Mame cores, make sure you are using the correct rom versions for each core. For example, use .37b roms for the mame2000 core and .78 roms for the mame2003 core.

The first part I get, but you mentioned "mame2000" and "mame2003" core. Was that just an example, cause my 1.3.3 RA doesn't have mame2000(.37b) or mame2003(.78) cores. I'm starting to think you got a different RA version than mine, hehe, or you have those 2 cores and added them somehow, so any light you can shed on that would really help.

@soniccomcisbr Based on what shatterhand was saying, I'd be really interested to know what your RA / folder / core setup is on the link I put in my OP. The roms you screenshot under CPS1, CPS2, etc. I'm not able to run at all, so curious what version of RA, core, etc you ran and any other tid bits to get that replicated would be great, thanks!

For now, I'll keep trying different sites to see if its the roms and stay on RA 1.3.3, pending y'alls recommendation to upgrade to RA 1.3.4 or whichever I need.
The two I'm working on right now are Super Dodge Ball (sdodgeb.zip) and Samurai Showdown V. I believe they are both FBA roms, but SS5 is also a NeoGeo rom, so lil tricky.

 

[shatterhand]

@shatterhand I really appreciate the breakdown, there's some really good info in that reply. Didn't know that about the CD games, I always like knowing stuff that might help, but you are right, I'm only interested in arcades right now. Mostly because I have pretty much all the original consoles, so I play on them mostly, but for arcades, there's really no "arcade" console, haha, thus I get the emulators for arcade games. Well, on to my reply which I know will be lengthy, sorry but I'm a details kinda guy, haha.

I did try with the neogeo.zip in the same directory as the local Neo Geo roms (as well as in the sd:/retroarch/systems/ folder just to be sure), but still no-go unfortunately. But you did catch my attention with this statement:


So when you say "FBA cores", I wasn't sure which one, so I tried these "FBA" cores on several roms (none worked on CPS1 roms, maybe incorrect rom?):

• FBA (fb_alpha_libretro_wii.dol)
• FBA Neo (fb_alpha_neo_libretro_wii.dol)
• FBA CPS1 (fb_alpha_cps1_libretro_wii.dol)
• FBA CPS2 (fb_alpha_cps2_libretro_wii.dol)

Problem was I noticed that the roms I downloaded were on sites that said "FB Alpha roms v0.2.97.39". But the 1.3.3 version of RA that I have loads the cores and says "v0.2.97.30". So is that why they didn't work? The other issue is that I couldn't find any sites with "FB Alpha roms v0.2.97.30", which means either I'm just out of luck on RA 1.3.3 and have to hope one of the newer versions of RA has an FBA v0.2.97.39 core. Any thoughts on that would help a lot.

I also need help understanding this statement a bit more:


The first part I get, but you mentioned "mame2000" and "mame2003" core. Was that just an example, cause my 1.3.3 RA doesn't have mame2000(.37b) or mame2003(.78) cores. I'm starting to think you got a different RA version than mine, hehe, or you have those 2 cores and added them somehow, so any light you can shed on that would really help.

@soniccomcisbr Based on what shatterhand was saying, I'd be really interested to know what your RA / folder / core setup is on the link I put in my OP. The roms you screenshot under CPS1, CPS2, etc. I'm not able to run at all, so curious what version of RA, core, etc you ran and any other tid bits to get that replicated would be great, thanks!

For now, I'll keep trying different sites to see if its the roms and stay on RA 1.3.3, pending y'alls recommendation to upgrade to RA 1.3.4 or whichever I need.
The two I'm working on right now are Super Dodge Ball (sdodgeb.zip) and Samurai Showdown V. I believe they are both FBA roms, but SS5 is also a NeoGeo rom, so lil tricky.

I only mentioned the mame2000 and mame2003 cores because you put them in your original post. I'm not near my Wii right now but I think that 1.3.3 does have just one mame core (is it called mame2010 or something like that on yours?). Anyways, I think for 1.3.3, you need .78 roms but honestly, for many arcade games, the mame roms on most rom sites should work with 1.3.3. With many arcade games, especially Konami games like X-men, I find that mame roms for newer versions of mame are backwards compatible. As far as Final Burn Alpha, as far as I can remember, many websites just have Final Burn Alpha roms and they aren't for any specific versions. I don't think Final Burn Alpha is as particular as mame about having the right rom version. Here is a Final Burn Alpha compatibility list for Wii: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...8BP3eTKf8VUNH8oPVhQ-iy0_c/edit#gid=1316430765. Some games don't work because the Wii does not have enough ram to load the game and this compatibility list shows you which games. Samurai Showdown V is one of those games. Samurai Showdown IV works though. Super Dodge Ball does work according to the compatibility list.

When you load games, are you selecting the correct cores. For example, when you load CPS1 roms, are you loading the FBA CPS1 core for CPS1 roms, etc? If any of your neo-geo games are working when you select the FBA neo-geo core then your neo-geo bios is fine. If the one you have doesn't work then just get another one from a different rom site and put it in the rom directory with your neo-geo roms. Make sure all of your roms, at least for arcade, are in .zip format. If the roms you get don't work then just keep getting roms from different sites until you find one where the roms do work. Occassionally you might download a rom and the file will be corrupt but just try a different site. I will note again to make sure you download the parent rom of the game and not just the sub rom. Most of the time, if an FBA rom doesn't work for me, it is because I was trying to load some versions of a sub-rom (i.e. european, asian, 2-player versions, etc.). Some roms versions just don't work but as long as you select the parent rom it should work. Often times the parent rom is the (world) version.

If you keep having problems with this it might just be easier for you to connect your desktop or laptop to your TV and run retroarch from your PC. The game compatibility for the PC version will be much better, you can output a higher resolution and controller compatibility will be much better. The user interface for the most recent PC versions is also much better. However, you shouldn't be having too much problem with the FBA cores in Retroarch Wii once you get everything set up correctly. You can download rom sets for final burn alpha. Just google something like "FBA cps1 rom set", "FBA cps2 rom set", etc.

 

[soniccomcisbr]

@shatterhand I just tried the most recent nightlie and my gamecube joystick are not working on menus. I even tried to deleted all retroarch cfg files, but this problem persists, so I back to 1.3.6

 

[OleSchool]

@scatterhand mame2003, ahh yeah my OP, lol forgot, but makes sense.

You definitely gave me a lot to chew on, this is really good stuff.

I was looking at the FBA spreadsheet, pretty interesting. They did show SS5 as too big, but just FYI, I did find Super Dodge ball on that list as working (line 2206 or so) so that's good news for me.

It seems based on what you're saying and what I'm seeing for errors is that the issue really is that I'm getting bad roms (since I'm launching right core for right rom). Still no NeoGeo (7 roms) so probably bios.

I'll try that google search and get the FBA cps1 rom sets and launch them using the fba_cps1_libretro.dol ( think that's the correct name) core.

Side note,didn't see the mame2010 core listed in RA 1.3.3

Yeah PC is the best, but since I have a Wii, figured use it, plus more portable. Plus I have 4 buddies with Wii's who are also waiting for me to figure it out cause they want to do it too. Not to mention I have tons of Wii games so easier for one system, but thanks for the idea.

So tonight, google, and try again! I'll update results of course.

 

[OleSchool]

@scatterhand

So got the results in.

I did the search as you suggested, and downloaded the set and put them in a folder named CPS1 (sd:/retroarch/roms/CPS1) so I'd remember which core to launch. In this case the fb_alpha_cps1_libretro_wii.dol file. Also, for all those reading, the original problem was that I had the wrong rom types, and I needed the specific, in this case FBA CPS1 rom types for that core / emulator. I say that because out of the list, I'm happy to say that 90% - 95% worked, very cool ! So for the ones that did not work, I'll take your advice and check other sites to try and get a working rom.

So I went do some repeats of searching and downloadding, so I started at the top of the spreadsheet. But there are some things on the spreadsheet though that I'd need a little help on. For example, the last column says platform, and so CAPCOM CPS1 rom set was an easy search (thanks to your google lesson, haha), easy download, etc. But some of the platforms I was not able to search for or find any rom sets, here are some examples:

• CAPCOM
• Misc (PRE 90)
• Misc (POST 90)
• NEOGEO
• SETA
• Technos

Example for my Super Dodge Ball (NEOGEO platform), I basically googled for "FBA NEOGEO rom set", and got nada. My mistake btw, you did say Super Dodge Ball was listed as working, I read it that you had said the opposite, oops. But I wanted to get that romset and try Super Dodge Ball. So is that the right search? I went on a limb and just searched for "Neo Geo rom sets", which came up with all kinds of hits. But none of them mentioned Final Burn Alpha, and I wasn't sure where to get the right BIOS for that rom set anyway. Any help you can give on that would be great help.

Other than that, I'm on a good path just not sure how to find the ones that weren't popping in google. I'll continue to load / test replacement roms for the few that didn't work in CPS1, and get CPS2 rom sets downloaded and going until I hear back from anyone, thanks again!

 

[OleSchool]

Update for anyone following or reading this in the future.

I was able to get the Neo Geo games loaded and working finally. Couple things that I did:

• Google for "Neo Geo Bios" and found some sites and tried a couple until one worked
• BIOS (still in .zip format) definitely does go in the rom directory
• Roms for the Wii's RetroArch 1.3.3 that I have run the same roms as those for the Neo Geo. I basically googled "Neo Geo rom sets"

Viola, got all the Samurai Showdowns working, (SS5 is too big, oh well). Working on the Super Dodge Ball.

Thanks again for the help, I think this post is closed! I pretty much have a working method just gotta apply it to each rom set that I'm gonna use.


Side note, I did notice a bug when I loaded the MAME2000(.37b) Core in RA 1.3.3 (not sure if the bug exists in any other RA version).
Anytime I load that core, it overwrites the sd:/retroarch/retroarch.cfg file.
So when you switch to another core, you suddenly can't move off the top "Start Core" option in the main RA menu. As soon as you move down it says "No information is available".
From what I can tell, the bug basically is causing that core to write to the file putting in random values for buttons and pad directions, making it impossible to switch cores, load content, etc. because your buttons aren't set right. Interesting bug, took me about 2-3 hours to figure out the cause. Here are the work arounds..


Work around with backup the retroarch.cfg:

• Pull SD card out
• Copy over a previous / working / backup (which I had) of the retroarch file
• Copy it back over the corrupted one.

Work around with no backup of the retroarch.cfg:

• Pull out your SD card
• Backup the sd:/retroarch directory to your computer
• Get rid of the corrupted sd:/retroarch/retroarch.cfg file that you backed up so it don't get copied over again
• Delete the sd:/retroarch/ directory on your SD card
• Pop sd card back into Wii, and startup Retroarch (now it will recreate your retroarch directory with new retroarch.cfg file )
• Take SD card back to computer and copy over all your contents, replacing everything (except the retroarch.cfg file cause you deleted that from your backup).

 

[shatterhand]

Update for anyone following or reading this in the future.

I was able to get the Neo Geo games loaded and working finally. Couple things that I did:

• Google for "Neo Geo Bios" and found some sites and tried a couple until one worked
• BIOS (still in .zip format) definitely does go in the rom directory
• Roms for the Wii's RetroArch 1.3.3 that I have run the same roms as those for the Neo Geo. I basically googled "Neo Geo rom sets"

Viola, got all the Samurai Showdowns working, (SS5 is too big, oh well). Working on the Super Dodge Ball.

Thanks again for the help, I think this post is closed! I pretty much have a working method just gotta apply it to each rom set that I'm gonna use.


Side note, I did notice a bug when I loaded the MAME2000(.37b) Core in RA 1.3.3 (not sure if the bug exists in any other RA version).
Anytime I load that core, it overwrites the sd:/retroarch/retroarch.cfg file.
So when you switch to another core, you suddenly can't move off the top "Start Core" option in the main RA menu. As soon as you move down it says "No information is available".
From what I can tell, the bug basically is causing that core to write to the file putting in random values for buttons and pad directions, making it impossible to switch cores, load content, etc. because your buttons aren't set right. Interesting bug, took me about 2-3 hours to figure out the cause. Here are the work arounds..


Work around with backup the retroarch.cfg:

• Pull SD card out
• Copy over a previous / working / backup (which I had) of the retroarch file
• Copy it back over the corrupted one.

Work around with no backup of the retroarch.cfg:

• Pull out your SD card
• Backup the sd:/retroarch directory to your computer
• Get rid of the corrupted sd:/retroarch/retroarch.cfg file that you backed up so it don't get copied over again
• Delete the sd:/retroarch/ directory on your SD card
• Pop sd card back into Wii, and startup Retroarch (now it will recreate your retroarch directory with new retroarch.cfg file )
• Take SD card back to computer and copy over all your contents, replacing everything (except the retroarch.cfg file cause you deleted that from your backup).

Glad to see you got it working. You don't necessarily have to download a whole rom set if you don't want to. In the case of Mame, you are much better off downloading individual roms. The exceptions being that you can easily download a CPS2 rom set and Neo-Geo rom set for FBA. If you want CPS2 and Neo-Geo rom sets for Mame, they will have to be Mame specific roms. You are not likely to find rom sets by specific developers or for specific years. Neo-Geo roms don't have to be specifically for Final Burn Alpha. In my experience, any Neo-Geo rom should work with Retroarch Wii. When you visit rom sites, you will see that neo-geo roms will be in both the Mame section and in their own neo-geo section. Roms from either location is fine for FBA but if you are using Mame, you want to get the Mame versions of the Neo-Geo roms. The same is true for CPS1 and CPS2 roms.

If Mame in Retroarch 1.3.3 is giving you issues then just use another version of Retroarch. Try 1.3.4 or any version before 1.3.3. Version 1.0.0.2 is pretty stable and I have used it for Mame before. I do recommend FBA over Mame, though, if it supports a game you want to play because it just runs better than Mame on Wii. Any time you use a different version, if you are using the same SD card, backup your Retroarch folder for that version somewhere else and then delete that folder from your SD card so the new version of Retroarch that you are using can create a clean Retroarch folder that won't give you any issues.

Hint: One place that is good for a CPS2 and Neo-Geo rom sets has the word "paradise" in the title and starts with an "E". For any rom that you are looking for, you shouldn't have to go beyond the first page of the Google search results.