MAME on 3DS... A Guide anyone?

[Angar]

Hi there good people!

I resort to coming and be a bother here on this matter, because I feel at the end of my rope here...
Even though I am what you'd call a "power/advanced-user" (well, usually) and what I'm trying to achieve doesn't seem like rocket science (on first glance anyways), which is why I'm so puzzled with the end results (none whatsoever!).

So yeah, I'm merely trying to install and use MAME on 3DS, nothing too far-fetched, is it?
Installing RetroArch itself was a breeze, and it's working fine with the few cores I've been throwing content at. But when it comes to MAME (whichever version), no can do!
And given the amount of tutorial videos one can find on YT about RetroArch generic install on 3DS, I'm really wondering why nothing relevant (that I could find with a "MAME 3DS" string search, that is) seem to exist for something a little bit more MAME specific. Also, I couldn't find a single proper guide across the net about this very topic either (this seems so unlikely to me that I'm still fairly certain I must be searching for it all wrong or sth...). Apart from a few forum posts here and there (which frequently contradict each others, or even state plainly false facts, like there's a MAME 2010 core for 3DS...), nothing methodic, precise and serious to answer what looks like legitimate and casual questions such as: what ROMSet version should one use with MAME 2000/2003/2003-plus cores respectively? WHERE to get it (Archive.org assumedly -- but an actual link pointing to it and thus confirming that ROMSet actually works would still be helpful).

So I come here bothering you all, more knowledgeable folks than I, with these questions. (Somehow I'm ready to bet I'm not the only one their answers would profit to many many more...)
Here is what I have and have tried so far:

- New 3DS XL, System v11.17.0-50E
- Hacked with Luma (latest version v13.3.3)
- RetroArch latest version (v1.21.0) - tried both the 3dsx (which is what I prefer to use) and CIA versions.
- Using ROM files from this exact non-merged set: "MAME_2003-Plus_Reference_Set_2018" (taken from that Archive site, the 32.3G one, not the one uploaded by GrazDamage, although they're supposed to be identical files I guess...)
- Upon loading a content (any game from above link gives the same result), the CIA RetroArch just closes itself and brings back the 3DS interface without any notice or anything...
(Note: The 3DSX version is currently dead until I restore a default config start file or remove the ROM it is currently automatically pointed to ; for now it crashes at startup...)


Now, does anyone have suggestions, advices, link(s), pointers, or generally any kind of info that could help me actually playing arcade games on the console (since apparently, it seems to be technically feasible, right?... )?
Whatever help will mean a lot! Thank you all in advance...
(Needless to say, feel free to ask any other relevant technical info I may have overlooked to give above).

 

[ber71]

This works for me:
Use the mame 2000 core and romset as they're better suited for low power devices.
Put all mame roms in a directory and create a playlist for them. That will take a few minutes.
Go to the configuration and set a default core (mame 2000) for the newly created list.
Open the list, select game, play. Not every game loads, but give it a try.

 

[Angar]

Thank you for taking the time to help man!
Unfortunately, your tip is a bit beside my point, since there obviously is something wrong with my MAME; to prove it, I tried following your instructions to the letter:

- used the 2000 core instead of the 2003+
- downloaded some roms on that Archive site from the correct romset for that core (0.37b5, full non-merged of course)
- put all these roms in a single folder
- created a playlist with them all
- did setmame 2000 as the default core for it

...and as you guessed, when I try to open the list, I get the exact same result than before, namely the RetroArch app closes itself abruptly and sends me back straight to the 3DS home screen.

All this with using the CIA install, which is automatic and hence I couldn't possibly have screwed up at any point, right? I even did use the automatic core downloader in RetroArch, so it grabbed and installed the right core for me! No possible screwup in sight.
So what is wrong here? Does anyone have a clue?...
This is so friggin' disappointing, as it really seems I did everything exactly as intended, and yet not a single rom will even launch.
Also, I can't figure why the 3DSX will crash the console whenever loading a ROM, while the CIA version will just close and bring back to the home screen...

 

[urherenow]

What game are you trying to play? Is it one that requires a CHD? Or a BIOS?

 

[Angar]

What game are you trying to play? Is it one that requires a CHD? Or a BIOS?

Nope, no CHDs, nor samples... And BIOS is irrelevant since I'm using full non-merged ROMs (ie. including any bios file required within each zipped file).

Besides, I assume any game requiring either would result in an error message, not in the whole console system crashing, or the app plainly shutting down straight without warning, right?

 

[ber71]

Have you dumped your sound dsp firmware?
Do other cores like gambatte, quicknes or snes9x run at all? With sound?

 

[urherenow]

Nope, no CHDs, nor samples... And BIOS is irrelevant since I'm using full non-merged ROMs (ie. including any bios file required within each zipped file).

Besides, I assume any game requiring either would result in an error message, not in the whole console system crashing, or the app plainly shutting down straight without warning, right?

Not necessarily. Using mame on iOS always crashes the app, when you aren’t using the correct version of a .chd. Took me a few Googles to figure out how to convert them between versions ( which amounts to converting to raw, then back to chd, using the appropriate version of chdman). Running out of ram will do it as well, so start simple with the likes of rastan or pacman and such.

 

[Angar]

Have you dumped your sound dsp firmware?
Do other cores like gambatte, quicknes or snes9x run at all? With sound?

Yup, DSP dumped (a long time ago, back in 2018, I believe). As I said, I consider myself a somewhat advanced user and this is the 1st time I encounter such a "brick wall" issue.
I use my New3DS as an emulation center of sorts, ie. I've installed about all the emulators available at some point, never encountered a real issue before, not anything I couldn't figure out on my own and fix anyway. All my emu run fine and do the job I ask of them. This is absolutely puzzling to me.
Hence my coming here for some enlightened help...

Not necessarily. Using mame on iOS always crashes the app, when you aren’t using the correct version of a .chd. Took me a few Googles to figure out how to convert them between versions ( which amounts to converting to raw, then back to chd, using the appropriate version of chdman). Running out of ram will do it as well, so start simple with the likes of rastan or pacman and such.

I understand your point. But like I said, I've tried several ROMs, none requiring CHDs (1942 and the like, you know, old 80s stuff), so yeah I've started simple. Plus, my CIA install doesn't crash: it merely closes itself without warning upon loading ANY ROM. What can possibly go wrong here?

 

[urherenow]

you can run mame 2000 roms if you're on an original 3ds. you have to use the specific mame 2000 romset called mame 0.37b5

if you're on a new 3ds you can run mame 2010 cia which supports more games and uses the mame 0.139 romset.

Found the above on reddit. Haven't touched my 3ds in a long while.

My google-fu is failing me with finding a mame cia file. But if you use it through retroarch, the instructions of where to put things is here: https://docs.libretro.com/library/mame_2010/

 

[ber71]

In that context, cia means retroarch core, because they're cia files, in fact. Well, there're 3dsx variants too, which are more prone to crashes.

I guess that the best approach to get a standalone mame build would be porting this mame 0.72 release from the switch to the 3ds,
https://github.com/lantus/mame-nx/

Another option could be fbneo, instead of mame. There is a wip 3ds port by cpasjuste but it seems stalled.

 

[Velvis70]

I am running into the same issue. New 3DS XL and any MAME rom I try dumps back to the main 3DS screen. I am also just trying to run some 80s classics like Pacman. Nothing seems to work and like the OP said there is no info on the web about it.

It would be great if someone could figure out what the issue is.

 

[championgamer]

Yup, DSP dumped (a long time ago, back in 2018, I believe). As I said, I consider myself a somewhat advanced user and this is the 1st time I encounter such a "brick wall" issue.
I use my New3DS as an emulation center of sorts, ie. I've installed about all the emulators available at some point, never encountered a real issue before, not anything I couldn't figure out on my own and fix anyway. All my emu run fine and do the job I ask of them. This is absolutely puzzling to me.
Hence my coming here for some enlightened help...

I understand your point. But like I said, I've tried several ROMs, none requiring CHDs (1942 and the like, you know, old 80s stuff), so yeah I've started simple. Plus, my CIA install doesn't crash: it merely closes itself without warning upon loading ANY ROM. What can possibly go wrong here?

You found a solution?