CLRMame is used to:
1. Determine what ROM files your MAME emulator requires to run a game it knows about.
2. Rebuild ROM sets based on the ROM sets you have, and the information determined in step 1.
It cannot fix your ROM sets using magic. If your ROM set does not have the appropriate files for the MAME emulator you are using, it cannot correct this.
How to use it:
You need to set up a profile first.
It consist of providing a emulator .exe
Then you need to Scan that emulator.
This takes the emulator and creates a database of the roms and files the emulator knows about.
You need to choose the type of roms sets you are looking for. It will need to match the setting you choose when you rebuild .
Rom Set Types:
Merged – all Parents and clones will be in a single zip file. Clones will be in subfolders in the zip file.
Non-Merged – all Parents and clones will be in their own files.
Split – all Parents and clones will be in their own zip files. The parent ‘should’ have the base romset, the clones will have just what they need thier zip files, but still need access to the core rom files.
The Rebuilder goes though all rom files that you have pointed to, and ‘tries’ to rebuild new sets based on the emulator database you scanned / built in your profile.
Note that this does not mean you now have a working set.
You may still be missing files as they were never in your original rom set.
CLRMame can only build rom sets from files you have provided. If they are not compatible with your emulator(s) or they are incomplete, CLRMame cannot fix this issue.
CLRMame: https://mamedev.emulab.it/clrmamepro
MAME Emulators past and present: https://www.mamedev.org/oldrel.html
Rant ON:
I think when someone asks in a group ‘to filter out roms that are not playable’, that ‘includes’ roms that exist, but are incomplete. I know this is possible as I have a 10+ year old windows/mame interface that shows whether the rom is complete or not. In that interface if it says the rom is complete. It runs 100%. Crazy, huh? No guessing. I find it incredible that the mame landscape finds this so hard to accomplish. For many, there is no reason to display (or keep) roms that are incomplete. Yet I do not believe there are tools to accomplish this feat? Why did clrmame not have an option (that I can find) that will rescann the rebuilt roms and give an option to delete or move the incomplete ones? It seems a no brainer. Maybe this is a case of, ‘we have always done it this way’?