List of changes to MAME core

[Robert]

There's been a couple of requests for a list of changes to the MAME core that enable MAMEUI etc to run. Also, I had never kept a list and it's got me into trouble when things stop working. So here they are. Line numbers are approximate.

NES

src/devices/bus/nes/nes_ines.hxx

line 587: If an unsupported ines mapper was found, MAME would abort. This is changed to give a message and not crash.

line 687: If an unknown pcb is found, print a message and continue.

line 1258: same

src/devices/bus/nes/nes_slot.cpp

line 823: return blank if invalid, instead of crashing

src/devices/bus/nes/nes_unif.hxx

line 184: if unknown UNIF board encountered, MAME will crash. We show an error and continue.

[Robert]

FLOPPY SOUNDS

src/devices/imagedev/floppy.cpp

line 215: default floppy sounds to on, unless a driver specifies it should be off (none do)

line 275: same

[Robert]

OPTIONS

src/frontend/mame/mameopts.h

line 62: added an extra method to allow different processing for parents vs clones. This is to prevent clones inheriting the parent's saved slots and software and sometimes crashing as a result.

src/frontend/mame/mameopts.cpp

lines 101-105: check to see if it's a parent or a clone

lines 217-247: the code of the new method

src/lib/util/options.h

line 193: another pointer for parents (is it a left-over?)

[Robert]

SNES

src/mame/drivers/snes.cpp

line 1186: if a snes cart required the bsmempak or the strom to be loaded, it would crash. Modified so that won't happen.

 

src/device/bus/snes/snes_slot.h

line 266: allow smc as a valid extension (same as sfc)

src/device/bus/snes/snes_slot.cpp

line 266: if a cart couldn't be loaded, say so instead of silently failing.

[Robert]

A2600

2022-04-27 removed this hack.

[Robert]

UNSUPPORTED SWLIST ITEMS

src/emu/diimage.cpp

line 642,644: modified the messages so they don't show in MESSUI/MAMEUI. Need to find out if this can be reversed.

[Robert]

CDROM HANDLING

src/lib/util/cdrom.cpp

line 2316-2320, 2444: if your cue sheet contains unsupported sounds, such as MP3, MAME will reject the CD with "unspecified error". MESSUI/MAMEUI will instead play the disk, but without sound. The remainder of the items in the cue sheet will not be processed.

[Robert]

MOUSE CAPTURE

src/osd/windows/window.cpp

line 668: MAME can grab your mouse and not let it stray outside the window. The pointer might disappear as well. This is not how a well-behaved windows program should work. The line has been commented out. If you want to keep the mouse in the game, run full-screen instead of in a window.

[Robert]

LUA STARTUP

src/frontend/mame/luaengine.cpp

line 462, 540, 922, 927, 933: If LUA is unable to initialise itself, MAME will crash. This has been changed so that LUA will be disabled and the emulator will run without it.

[Robert]

PLUGINS

src/frontend/mame/mame.cpp

line 174,184,195: If there's a problem with a plugin, MAME will crash. This has been changed so you get a console message and things continue without it instead.

src/frontend/mame/pluginopts.cpp

line 77,83: don't crash if bad plugin.

[Robert]

DEBUGGER

src/emu/debug/dvmemory.cpp

line 340,397: in the ascii part of the memory view, bit 7 will be stripped, so you can read text that has bit 7 on, instead of getting greek or whatever.

[Robert]

DEFAULT OPTIONS

src/osd/windows/winmain.cpp

line 174: MESS/MESSUI only - enable NewUI by default. (The white menubar that shows when a game is running).

line 292-335: new main function for winui, it become necessary several years ago after a pointless refactor.

src/osd/windows/winmain.h

line 273: link to new main function

src/osd/module/lib/osdobj_common.cpp

line 59: default to window instead of full-screen

line 97: turn bilinear filter off by default.

src/emu/emuopts.cpp

line 35: MESS/MESSUI/MAMEUI - the writeconfig option is turned on default. This means whenever you run a game, a new inifile will be created. You can turn it off in mame.ini . Having it on is handy for MESS (imagine having to completely rebuild a pc every time you wanted to use it), but not useful for arcade. You can make arcade.ini with one line: writeconfig 0

line 701: if option not found (can occur with BML3 with 1802 slot), MAME will blow up. This is changed to handle it gracefully.

src/lib/util/options.cpp

line 284: crash if attempt to set an invalid option. This has been commented out, need to find out if needed.

[Robert]

BIOS ERROR

(Updated 2022-04-24)

src/emu/romload.cpp

lines 370, 375, 392: stops the menu from complaining about invalid bios

src\frontend\mame\ui\selmenu.cpp

lines 634-638: gets rid of the bogus 'files are missing' after running a neogeo game.

 

[Robert]

MANDATORY IMAGES, NewUI MOUSE

src/frontend/mame/ui/ui.cpp

line 562: if the system requires software before it will start (nes for example), you get the filemanager. This line has been commented out, allowing you to start the system without software, and you can load it later if you want.

line 677: fix when the mouse pointer should show. If NewUI is on, then the mouse pointer is always there.

[Robert]

CATEGORIES IN MAME MENU

2022-04-20: this issue has been resolved