Home Page Forums MAME MAME Can't Change Hashpath

Hello, I have a problem with MESS. I am trying to change the location and/or name of the hash folder, but when I do so and adjust the MESS.INI file accordingly it does not run.

Example:

mess nes mario

"mario" approximately matches the following
supported software items (best match first):
...

So I thought: hey perhaps it is not reading the MESS.INI file for the just hashpath, because changing the rompath works fine. However, when I change the hashpath in the INI, but use the default folder name and location it will also give an error:

"nes:mario:cart" approximately matches the following
supported software items (best match first):

FATALERROR: Device NES Cartridge Slot load (nes:mario:cart) failed: File not found


I just tested it in 0.149b, and it works fine there. Is this a (known) bug?

I can circumvent it by using the -hashpath commandline argument.

works here in the latest svn. I changed mess.ini to point to a new hash1 path and it loads just fine.

also, I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean by "However, when I change the hashpath in the INI, but use the default folder name and location it will also give an error:"

can you post the exact command line options you use and the content of your mess.ini (the "CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS" part is enough)?


p.s. also any reason why you try to launch "nes:mario:cart" instead of the more standard "mario" or "nes:mario"? it has no effect on the loading procedure, but you made me curious

> also, I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean by...

I should have left that part out as it only made it more unclear. I intentionally used a wrong hashpath to verify if MESS reads the INI. Ignore it

> can you post the exact command line options you use and the
> content of your mess.ini (the "CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS" part
> is enough)?

Sure! Here are the steps I take to try get it to run.

1) I install the binary from the official MAME page.
2) I change the name of the hash folder to hash2.
3) I open a command prompt in WinXP and go to the directory which contains MESS.EXE
4) I create a MESS.INI by typing: mess -cc
5) I edit the MESS.INI file to point the hashpath towards hash2:

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath roms
hashpath hash2
samplepath samples
artpath artwork
ctrlrpath ctrlr
inipath .;ini
fontpath .
cheatpath cheat
crosshairpath crosshair

6) I place a working rom (EG: mario.zip) in the roms or roms/nes folder.
7) I type the following command: mess nes mario

I was mistaken, 0.149b is giving me the same error. So this is probably on my end then, but what is it.

does it work if you specify the -cart switch
i.e. "mess nes -cart mario" ?

Yes.

OK, so it means that the shortcut-launch-trick-to-skip-media somehow ignores the hashpath option, for whatever reason
it's code that I never understood unfortunately, so the best suggestion I can give you until Micko finds a fix is to always specify the media switch (e.g. -cart or -flop1 or -flop2 or -cdrm), which is at least shorter than specifying the hashpath

in the end, it's just 4/5 chars more to type and you gain full control about which version of the game you launch for home computers that have the same game in multiple media (e.g. both floppy and tape)

I will open a MT report later so that the problem is not completely forgot...

thanks for reporting this problem!

My pleasure. Thanks for the help!

Perhaps it's only in the 32-bit (compiled) version, which might explain why not everybody is experiencing this problem.

I always thought that this was standard since the cart device got slotified. Didn't think it was to do with my hashpath being set to both "hash" and my SVN folder. It's present in both the win32 and 64 versions.

the main point is that you shall always specify the media switch. it cost you 20 secs (30 if you type slowly) but it's definitely more robust