setting up mame in opensuse
 

I am trying to set up mame in opensuse 13.1 to run atari 2600 games. When I run mame I get 'no games found. Check the specified rom path' however I have it listed in mame.ini file.

Hi...

Just FYI, you didn't mention how you obtained the ROMs but more than likely, the games are copyrighted and downloading (or using them) them is illegal. Please see the information here. The only exceptions I know of are...

1. The owner of a game gives you permission
2. If you own a PCB (motherboard) of an arcade game, you are allowed to make a backup copy of a game ROM.
3. You can legally download and play the games here. :)

Regards...

I can't say I have ever done this myself (or tried to), but why don't you post a copy of the mame.ini file. As this way, you may get some better help (than what you have gotten so far).

I'm thinking it's ether a bug in the app (mame) your trying to use, or more likely than not, a configuration problem. But without being able to see your config, it's next to impossible to say exactly what is causing your problem.

This does not help the OP in anyway, if your worried about whether it's legal or not, why not hit the Report button?? Or even better, not reply in the first place? [rest of comments removed]

Hi...

The issue I brought up is an important one and perhaps the OP was not aware of it.

Regards...

Ardbark71 can relax as I do have physical roms. Now can we get on with some useful suggestions?

See ardvark, NOTHING to be worried about, and was the OP asking about legal issues, in the first place??? NO! They were NOT!

So, why not STICK to the question being asked? Nearly every-time you reply to someone your ether WRONG and/or you lead the poor OP on a wild goose chase, like here (just ONE example, out of MANY). If you cannot stick to what is being ASKED, then STOP replying to it! Particularly when, by your own admission, you are just trying convert as many as you can. And as TB0ne found, you quit Ubuntu forums, BECAUSE they banned religious signatures (which maybe Jeremy should do here, and I've got a good mind to suggest that to him, as well). This is a LINUX forum, about LINUX, and NOT CHRISTIANITY (or morally).

I did that before, like providing more info, as what you have provided so far, is not going to allow a lot of people to help you. Please provide more details of your configuration, games/ROM's you wish to install etc.

here is my default config:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- This file is autogenerated; comments and unknown tags will be stripped -->
<mameconfig version="10">
<system name="default" />
</mameconfig>

this is empty config:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- This file is autogenerated; comments and unknown tags will be stripped -->
<mameconfig version="10">
<system name="___empty" />
</mameconfig>

this is mame.ini (please note, my roms are only in $HOME/.mame/roms/)
#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig 1
writeconfig 0

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath $HOME/.mame/roms;/usr/share/mame/roms;/usr/share/mame/chds
hashpath hash
samplepath $HOME/.mame/samples;/usr/share/mame/samples
artpath $HOME/.mame/artwork;$HOME/.mame/effects;/usr/share/mame/artwork;/usr/share/mame/effects
ctrlrpath $HOME/.mame/ctrlr;/usr/share/mame/ctrlr
inipath $HOME/.mame/ini;/etc/mame
fontpath /usr/share/mame/fonts
cheatpath $HOME/.mame/cheats;/usr/share/mame/cheats
crosshairpath $HOME/.mame/crosshair;/usr/share/mame/crosshair

#
# CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS
#
cfg_directory $HOME/.mame/cfg
nvram_directory $HOME/.mame/nvram
input_directory $HOME/.mame/inp
state_directory $HOME/.mame/sta
snapshot_directory $HOME/.mame/snap
diff_directory $HOME/.mame/diff
comment_directory $HOME/.mame/comments

#
# CORE STATE/PLAYBACK OPTIONS
#
state
autosave 1
playback
record
mngwrite
aviwrite
wavwrite
snapname %g/%i
snapsize auto
snapview internal
snapbilinear 1
statename %g
burnin 0

#
# CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
autoframeskip 0
frameskip 0
seconds_to_run 0
throttle 1
sleep 1
speed 1.0
refreshspeed 0

#
# CORE ROTATION OPTIONS
#
rotate 1
ror 0
rol 0
autoror 0
autorol 0
flipx 0
flipy 0

#
# CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS
#
artwork_crop 0
use_backdrops 1
use_overlays 1
use_bezels 1
use_cpanels 1
use_marquees 1

#
# CORE SCREEN OPTIONS
#
brightness 1.0
contrast 1.0
gamma 1.0
pause_brightness 0.65
effect none

#
# CORE VECTOR OPTIONS
#
antialias 1
beam 1.0
flicker 0

#
# CORE SOUND OPTIONS
#
samplerate 48000
samples 1
volume 0

#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout 1
ctrlr
mouse 1
joystick 1
lightgun 0
multikeyboard 0
multimouse 0
steadykey 0
ui_active 0
offscreen_reload 0
joystick_map auto
joystick_deadzone 0.3
joystick_saturation 0.85
natural 0
joystick_contradictory 0
coin_impulse 0

#
# CORE INPUT AUTOMATIC ENABLE OPTIONS
#
paddle_device keyboard
adstick_device keyboard
pedal_device keyboard
dial_device keyboard
trackball_device keyboard
lightgun_device keyboard
positional_device keyboard
mouse_device mouse

#
# CORE DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
verbose 0
log 0
oslog 0
debug 0
update_in_pause 0
debugscript

#
# CORE MISC OPTIONS
#
drc 1
drc_use_c 0
drc_log_uml 0
drc_log_native 0
bios
cheat 0
skip_gameinfo 0
uifont default
ramsize
confirm_quit 0
ui_mouse 0
autoboot_command
autoboot_delay 2
autoboot_script
http 0
http_port 8080
http_path web
console 0

#
# OSD FONT OPTIONS
#
uifontprovider auto

#
# OSD DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
debugger auto
watchdog 0

#
# OSD PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
multithreading 0
numprocessors auto
bench 0

#
# OSD VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video opengl
numscreens 1
window 0
maximize 1
keepaspect 1
unevenstretch 1
waitvsync 0
syncrefresh 0

#
# OSD PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS
#
screen auto
aspect auto
resolution auto
view auto
screen0 auto
aspect0 auto
resolution0 auto
view0 auto
screen1 auto
aspect1 auto
resolution1 auto
view1 auto
screen2 auto
aspect2 auto
resolution2 auto
view2 auto
screen3 auto
aspect3 auto
resolution3 auto
view3 auto

#
# OSD FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
switchres 0

#
# OSD SOUND OPTIONS
#
sound auto
audio_latency 2

#
# OSD VIDEO OPTIONS
#
filter 1
prescale 1

#
# OpenGL-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
#
gl_forcepow2texture 0
gl_notexturerect 0
gl_vbo 1
gl_pbo 1
gl_glsl 0
gl_glsl_filter 1
glsl_shader_mame0 none
glsl_shader_mame1 none
glsl_shader_mame2 none
glsl_shader_mame3 none
glsl_shader_mame4 none
glsl_shader_mame5 none
glsl_shader_mame6 none
glsl_shader_mame7 none
glsl_shader_mame8 none
glsl_shader_mame9 none
glsl_shader_screen0 none
glsl_shader_screen1 none
glsl_shader_screen2 none
glsl_shader_screen3 none
glsl_shader_screen4 none
glsl_shader_screen5 none
glsl_shader_screen6 none
glsl_shader_screen7 none
glsl_shader_screen8 none
glsl_shader_screen9 none

#
# SDL PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
sdlvideofps 0

#
# SDL VIDEO OPTIONS
#
centerh 1
centerv 1
scalemode none

#
# SDL FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
useallheads 0

#
# SDL KEYBOARD MAPPING
#
keymap 0
keymap_file keymap.dat
uimodekey SCRLOCK

#
# SDL JOYSTICK MAPPING
#
joy_idx1 auto
joy_idx2 auto
joy_idx3 auto
joy_idx4 auto
joy_idx5 auto
joy_idx6 auto
joy_idx7 auto
joy_idx8 auto
sixaxis 0

#
# SDL MOUSE MAPPING
#
mouse_index1 auto
mouse_index2 auto
mouse_index3 auto
mouse_index4 auto
mouse_index5 auto
mouse_index6 auto
mouse_index7 auto
mouse_index8 auto

#
# SDL KEYBOARD MAPPING
#
keyb_idx1 auto
keyb_idx2 auto
keyb_idx3 auto
keyb_idx4 auto
keyb_idx5 auto
keyb_idx6 auto
keyb_idx7 auto
keyb_idx8 auto

#
# SDL LOWLEVEL DRIVER OPTIONS
#
videodriver auto
renderdriver auto
audiodriver auto
gl_lib auto

Out of curiosity, what is the path to your ROM files exactly? Are you running mame as the same user you're logged in as (not logging in and SUDO'ing?), and what are the permissions on the mame rom path? You may want to edit your rompath in the .ini file to ONLY contain one directory, owned by you with 755 permissions, and see if it works then. Also, check the permissions on the files themselves.