NAME

ckmame — verify MAME ROM sets

SYNOPSIS

ckmame

[-bcdFfhjKkLlSsuVvwX] [-D dbfile] [-e dir] [-O dbfile] [-R dir] [-T file] [--autofixdat] [--cleanup-extra] [--correct] [--db dbfile] [--delete-duplicate] [--delete-found] [--delete-long] [--delete-unknown] [--fix] [--fixdat file] [--games-from file] [--help] [--ignore-extra] [--ignore-unknown] [--integrity] [--keep-duplicate] [--keep-found] [--move-long] [--move-unknown] [--nobroken] [--nofixable] [--nonogooddumps] [--nosuperfluous] [--nowarnings] [--old-db dbfile] [--rom-dir dir] [--roms-unzipped] [--samples] [--search dir] [--superfluous] [--verbose] [--version] [game ...]

DESCRIPTION

ckmame is a program to check ROM sets for MAME, the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (see http://www.mame.net/), or other emulators that provide ROM set information in a compatible way (e.g., Raine, Impact, or other emulators). This is the same format as clrmamepro dat files. ckmame tells you which ROM files are missing or have a wrong checksum, can delete unknown and unused files from the ROM sets, and rename or move files. MAME is an emulator for numerous arcade machines (video games, ranging from the 1970s to today). Since MAME is emulating the games, it uses the original images from the arcade machines' original ROM chips. MAME's internal database contains extensive information on the ROMs, including the sizes and checksums of the used ROMs. Since some arcade games are variants of others and share some of the same ROMs, there are also internal dependencies between these so called clones. To save space, ROMs can be archived in zip files and dynamically unzipped by MAME when you play a game. ckmame does only support ROM sets stored as zip files. ckmame tries to create a “split ROM set” from your current collection. This means that all files needed by the parent are kept in the parent's zip file, and only the files needed by the clone (or child) that are different from the parent's are kept in the child's zip file. For identifying the ROMs ckmame uses the sizes and checksums; names are only used for verification, since the MAME team often renames ROMs. While ckmame uses MAME's ROM database, it must be converted into a more efficient format before use. See mkmamedb(1) for details. By default, ckmame will check the games named on the command line, or all games if none are given. Shell wildcards are allowed. You can use command line options to select which type of errors to report.

OPTIONS

Supported options:

 

 

--autofixdat

Like --fixdat, but automatically generates the output file name from the datfile's name and version number: “fix_$SYSTEM ($VERSION).dat”.

 

 

-b, --nobroken

Don't report unfixable errors. See also -f and -w.

 

 

--cleanup-extra

Remove files already in ROM set from extra directories.

 

 

-c, --correct

Report correct sets. Normally they are not mentioned.

 

 

-D dbfile, --db dbfile

Use dbfile as database file.

 

 

-d, --nonogooddumps

Don't report ROMs with no known good dumps.

 

 

--delete-duplicate

Delete files present in old ROM database (default). See also --keep-duplicate.

 

 

-e dir, --search dir

Look for missing files in directory dir and its subdirectories. Recommended for use with update sets. See also -j.

 

 

-F, --fix

Fix ROM sets; do as much as possible, such as renaming and moving files.

 

 

-f, --nofixable

Don't report fixable errors. See also -b and -w.

 

 

--fixdat name

Create a clrmamepro-style “fixdat” file, i.e. an XML file containing only the files missing in the ROM set compared to the database used.

 

 

-h, --help

Display a short help message.

 

 

--ignore-unknown

Ignore unknown files when fixing. They will still be reported.

 

 

-i, --integrity

Check integrity of zip archives and disk images by computing checksums and comparing them with the internally saved ones.

 

 

-j, --delete-found

When using -e, delete files that are copied to the ROM set. See also --keep-found.

 

 

--keep-duplicate

Keep files present in old ROM database. See also --delete-duplicate.

 

 

--keep-found

When using -e, do not remove files that are copied to the ROM set (default). See also -j.

 

 

-K, --move-unknown

Move unknown files when fixing (default). They are moved into a zip file with the same name under roms/garbage. See also -k.

 

 

-k, --delete-unknown

Delete unknown files when fixing. See also -K.

 

 

-L, --move-long

Move too long files when fixing (default). See also -K and -l.

 

 

-l, --delete-long

Delete long files when fixing. See also -L.

 

 

-O dbfile, --old-db dbfile

Assume that files listed in dbfile exist elsewhere.

 

 

-R dir, --rom-dir dir

Look for roms in dir. Default is “roms”.

 

 

-S, --samples

Check samples instead of ROMs.

 

 

--superfluous

Only check for superfluous files in ROM sets.

 

 

-s, --nosuperfluous

Don't report superfluous (unneeded) files.

 

 

-T file, --games-from file

Read list of games to check from file.

 

 

-u, --roms-unzipped

ROMs are files on the disk. Each game is represented by a directory instead of a ZIP archive.

 

 

-V, --version

Display program name and version number.

 

 

-v, --verbose

Print fixes made. Only useful with -F.

 

 

-w, --nowarnings

Print only unfixable error, like missing or completely incorrect ROMs. See also -b and -f.

 

 

-X, --ignore-extra

Do not mention extra files that are in the ROMs or samples dirs respectively. Most of the time these are ROM sets whose names have changed. Additionally, ckmame creates a roms/garbage directory (see also -K), which you will also be warned about.

ENVIRONMENT

 

 

MAMEDB

Location for the database file. Can be overridden with the -D option. Defaults to “mame.db”.

 

 

MAMEDB_OLD

Location for the database file of files that exist elsewhere. Can be overridden with the -O option. Defaults to “old.db”.

FILES

Unknown files are moved to the sub-directory unknown. Files that will be needed by other games in the ROM set are moved to the needed directory. In unzipped mode (-u), ckmame creates .ckmame.db files in the rom directory as well as the directories given with -e. These files are databases containing file names, sizes, and their hashes. The database information used when the file hasn't changed since the last run (i.e. same size and modification time).

EXAMPLES

Print a report about the current state of your ROM sets in the roms subdir of the current dir: Fix all sets and only report unfixable errors, omitting those ROMs where no good dump exists: Fix all sets using the files found in updatedir, removing files from there that are copied to the ROM set:

DIAGNOSTICS

Most messages should be straightforward. Two need special explanations: If a file is marked as “broken”, it means that the computed checksum is not the same as the checksum stored in the zip archive, usually because there has been a decompression error. If a ROM or disk is marked with “checksum mismatch”, the primary checksum matches, but one of the other checksums does not. The primary checksum for ROMs is CRC32, for disks MD5.

SEE ALSO

dumpgame(1), mkmamedb(1)

AUTHORS

ckmame was written by Dieter Baron ⟨dillo@nih.at⟩ and Thomas Klausner ⟨tk@giga.or.at⟩.