Library Style For ADF

[Loedown]

Greetings,
In light of my recent dealings with many multiple ADF files, I would really like a library feature, so that with a simple click of a mouse, within a directory menu, you could automaticaly start an ADF with one click, similar to Libraries in say Winamp.

Paul

[thomas]

http://www.amigaforever.com/tour/af_player.html

[Loedown]

http://www.amigaforever.com/tour/af_player.html

Greetings,

I can appreciate that, Thomas, but it's not incorporated in WinUAE, or is it?

Paul

[Toni Wilen]

Explain libraries. ("like program x does"-explanation goes to garbage can)

[Loedown]

Greetings,
I have about 1150 ADFs, unidentified, in a directory, that I have to go through one at a time, so it becomes a bit of an arduous task, clicking open disk image, then finding the one I want, then double clicking it, then starting WinUAE. What I wanted is a library style, where all, or some image files are displayed, that can be scrolled up and down, so that a single file can be simply clicked once, or just to hit enter to get it to load.

I am just using an Amiga 500 profile to load the discs, would be nice just to be able to select them, in a library style and either press start, or enter to get them running. Hopefuly that makes things clearer, I am not always the greatest explainer?

Paul

[DamienD]

Greetings,
I have about 1150 ADFs, unidentified, in a directory, that I have to go through one at a time, so it becomes a bit of an arduous task, clicking open disk image, then finding the one I want, then double clicking it, then starting WinUAE.
As mentioned already in your I Have A Ton Of Old Stuff To Upload (http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=42764) thread, what you should be doing is comparing these "unidentified" .ADFs that you have with the ones already in TOSEC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSEC). This will save you loads of time compared with how you're currently trying to achieve this i.e. manually and will also tell you if you have anything rare needed :agree

Afterwards you would just need to check the ones that aren't found, which probably won't be many...

To do this you will need the latest public TOSEC Amiga DAT files (found inside this pack (http://darkside.rommanager.com/files/tosec/TOSEC%20DATs%20(20070314).zip)) and ClrMAMEPro (http://www.clrmame.com/download.htm). If you're unsure of how to use ClrMAMEPro then I can try to dig out a quick and dirty guide that I wrote a while ago ;)

Edit: here (http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=458324&postcount=11) is the "quick and dirty" guide...

[Loedown]

Greetings,
This will seem like a rant, it's more a pet hate of mine.

I have downloaded all the bits and pieces, clrmamepro, followed the instructions written by Damien, which are while very good, here's what I don't understand or get;

Why do software program writers insist on making their software near impossible to get working, in this case, two windows, a source on one side, a set of comparison ROMs / Checksums / whatever on the other and a nice big button marked compare. I fiddled with the software and I cannot get it to identify what I have, even after converting the list to .dat?

In some ways I am a n00b, but in many ways I am not, this is the ultimate frustration for end users, if you write software, I implore you to write good software, make it user friendly, have good advanced options for the technicaly minded.

If anyone would like to guide me, really step by step through the maze of CLRMAMEPRO, so that I can just do a simple CRC32 / MD5 checksum test on the files that I have and for the files that I still have to encode, which is many, I would be very appreciative and I do take my hat off to Damien, he does a good job of explaining, but I still cannot make heads nor tails of CLRMAMEPRO, nor its real purpose. It seems to be a .DAT comparison, but I am damned if I know how to use it properly, even with the quick 'n' dirty info.

While I am venting on the topic of software writing, for those really technicaly Amiga minded people, some software I have tried to install on the Miggy installs really well, it's quite automated in its application, other packages come with a whole host of directories, like LIBS / DEVS etc., but they don't install the files they need directly into these directories, or give you the option to do so, why is that?

If anyone wants any help on PIC programming, please ask.

Paul

[TheCyberDruid]

I think you were almost there Paul :)

Click the Settings button, click Add..., then point to the directory where your files are stored, click OK and then click the "X" to close the Settings window.

With 'your files' Damien means the ADF files (sorry, but yes your wrp files have to be converted to check them against TOSEC :(). You have a point about ClrMamePro not being user friendly, but since there is no other program around that can do it, you would have to do it manually. This again includes converting your files to ADF (otherwise the CRC32 value won't match). Then pack the whole bunch of ADFs and look in the pack program for the CRC32 info column. Open the file with a text editor and search for the CRC32. This way will take a lot longer, so I hope you get ClrMamePro sorted :)

[Loedown]

I think you were almost there Paul :)



With 'your files' Damien means the ADF files (sorry, but yes your wrp files have to be converted to check them against TOSEC :(). You have a point about ClrMamePro not being user friendly, but since there is no other program around that can do it, you would have to do it manually. This again includes converting your files to ADF (otherwise the CRC32 value won't match). Then pack the whole bunch of ADFs and look in the pack program for the CRC32 info column. Open the file with a text editor and search for the CRC32. This way will take a lot longer, so I hope you get ClrMamePro sorted :)

The issue was, I converted my files to a .DAT file, figured that one out, but what I don't know is, how do I then check my files against all of the files from TOSEC, as there's Amiga Utils, Amiga Games, Amiga Public Domain etc. If the damned thing had left / right windows, it would far more sense. I don't know how to have CLRMAMEPRO read all of the .DAT files, it just seems to want to read from one at a time, without providing a clear-cut method of file compare. The obvious way to fix this issue is to have a total list from all of the various .DAT files and a simple program to check MD5 or CRC32 checksums Vs. the master list, if it finds a match, then it provides the name, forgive me if that seems unreasonable. I am certain that CLRMAMEPRO is a very good program, but sadly the front end interface sucks and sucks badly. If the person reading this is the person responsible for it, it's not an attack upon your name or character, but it is a genuine point of contention.

Another interesting and completely off topic point, Netgear's SC101T doesn't like some Amiga file names, or maybe it's Smartsync Pro V3, I plan to resolve the issue by Winraring the whole archive.

Thanks,

Paul

[TheCyberDruid]

You don't have to make a dat file from your files and compare that. I would just run the different TOSEC dat files against the dir with your files and sort out those which are recognised. Still will take some time and it would be better if there was a 'master' dat, so you can check all dats at once.

[Loedown]

You don't have to make a dat file from your files and compare that. I would just run the different TOSEC dat files against the dir with your files and sort out those which are recognised. Still will take some time and it would be better if there was a 'master' dat, so you can check all dats at once.

That is ridiculous!

Why hasn't someone made a program to even be a bolt on for CLRMAMEPRO?

A database, even an Excel template, I could do the programming, but who still uses QBASIC, or 6502 Assembler? Then I smile, writing this in an Amiga forum full of people who surely use C64 emulators too :)

Ultimately can someone make a file which will allow you to select several directories and just make one dirty great big .DAT file, it cannot be that hard, with output for Excel, or whatever, using multiple columns, as Excel has a page limit of 16384 cells / column, if I recall correctly.

Maybe a way of using Beyond Compare, which will do a CRC32, or MD5?

I don't know, I missed the boat, my programming is all based on older stuff.

I will consider things further, maybe working out a front end for .DAT files.

Life could always be easier,

Paul

[TheCyberDruid]

Well there was one program (TIM), but that's another story. Guess because Dat checking is not an everyday business there is no simple solution, but then again guess so far the people have coped with it. If I were you I would not reinvent the wheel just for your disks, but instead send them over to [idoru] or bippym to check. Or just upload the whole lot and forget about the TOSEC mumbo jumbo :D

[killergorilla]

Clrmamepro isn't the most intuitive of programs :)

But, it's a necessary evil sometimes!

[bippym]

unpack the adf's and then 7zip or Rar them (Select solid files) and then I can do the check for you and make you a datfile for you to then scan your own and seperate the recognised from the non recognised :D

[Loedown]

unpack the adf's and then 7zip or Rar them (Select solid files) and then I can do the check for you and make you a datfile for you to then scan your own and seperate the recognised from the non recognised :D

I appreciate the offer, but what will happen when I scan my friend's disks, then my disks and I suspect I still have an additional CD with even more .adf files?

I will consider this problem and think of a workaround, even if I do the programming in QBASIC, the program will be slow, but I can assure you it will be easy to use, rock solid and there's ways of making the search functions quick. The alternative is to write to the original coder of Cprmamepro, but from what I read, he seems quite busy himself, it does look very half arsed.

Then after I have finished, if anyone is proficient in C, which I am certain many of you are and if they can be bothered, convert my file to C, or rewrite it completely.

I had a look at TIM, functional and easier to use, but it seems that's only half finished too sadly.

Regards,

Paul

[Toni Wilen]

I don't really see what this has to do with winuae or libraries :)

[bippym]

I don't really see what this has to do with winuae or libraries :)

Moved to tosec ;)

ClrMamepro is all you need. Get the datfiles you need and just scan.. The adf's will be renamed and moved and you'll then be left with unrecognised stuff!

I don't see the point in re-inventing the wheel!

[cosmicfrog]

I don't see the point in re-inventing the wheel!

I do if its rounder, smoother and better :crazy

[bippym]

Loedown if you go on IRC sometime one of us will guide you through using Clrmamepro to rename and move your adf's.

I'm out for a few hours, but should be about later

[DamienD]

@Loedown; ok, I don't mind doing the following to try and make the process easier for you and others:

... Write more detailed instructions.
... Combining all the latest public Amiga TOSEC DAT files (ADF based only) into one large DAT file.

Give me a few hours ;)

[mai]

@Loedown; ok, I don't mind doing the following to try and make the process easier for you and others:

... Write more detailed instructions.
... Combining all the latest public Amiga TOSEC DAT files (ADF based only) into one large DAT file.

Give me a few hours ;)

great idea:great

[DamienD]

@Loedown; see this (http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=42963) thread.

Hopefully it makes sense and helps to simplify the process a bit ;)

[paranoid]

I'm late to this party, but figured I'd chime in.. Ever since clrmamepro utterly destroyed my MAME collection (quite awhile ago, and surely my error since so many use it with success) I've used Romcenter instead. It has always worked great for me anyway.

[DamienD]

I'm really surprised by this paranoid. I've used virtually all renaming tools available over the years and despite the initial hurdles / learning curve nothing comes close to ClrMAMEPro in terms of options and reliability. RomCenter is absolute shite in comparison and so gave up on that years ago :agree

I've been using ClrMAMEPro since early versions of MAME32 and also with many other arcade / console systems / roms and it's never screwed up any of my collections ;)

[paranoid]

Yeah. Oh, I know clrmamepro is generally considered the be-all end-all for dats. And I'm sure I either missed it, or there's an option by now, but at the time, I just needed to rename some things and just a portion of my collection remained -- the things removed were totally removed. Not in the recycle bin, not in a temp dir, totally gone.

I went to Romcenter, found that I can have useless or not needed files just moved to a temp dir, and it renamed/fixed/etc my collection and haven't looked back. Moving files and not deleting them I find is useful in case of accidents like clrmamepro did, way back when and I can review just what I'm about to blow away.

[DamienD]

the things removed were totally removed. Not in the recycle bin, not in a temp dir, totally gone.
Hmmm, the files were probably in the %ClrMAMEPro%\backup folder ;)