[Wintermute0110]

@ Wintermute: Was playing around with cemu.

I see...

The LNK files do not work like link files in Unix. Yeah, probably they won't work in your case.

The ROM scanner cleans the ROM file name from tags (For example, "Mario Bros. (Europe) (Rev 1)" becomes "Mario Bros.") and use that for scraping. When you are scanning ROMs for the first time the ROM filename is the only source of information available. The artwork scraper also uses the ROM filename to search for artwork. And yes, the ROM scanner does not ask for a search string. However, when you are editing a ROM you can enter a search string.

In your case, I would follow the next strategy:

1) Scan you ROMs. In the settings, set "Metadata scan policy" to "None", "Asset scan policy" to "Local images".

2) After the scan you will get garbage as names (the filenames), no metadata and no artwork.

3) Now go to "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROM List", "Export ROMs metadata to NFO files".

4) The previous steps will create an empty NFO file for every ROM/ISO image you have, and the contents of the NFO files are empty. Edit the NFO files one by one, and add the correct name title for each ROM.

5) Go to "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROM List", "Clear ROMs from launcher".

6) Go to addon settings, change "Metadata scan policy" from "None" to "NFO Files".

7) Rescan you ROMs. They will have correct ROM name now. Artwork will be garbage because the ROM scanner scraper always uses the ROM name, not the ROM title.

8) You can no go ROM by ROM, context menu "Edit ROM", "Edit Assets/Artwork". Because now the ROMs have the correct name the artwork scraper will work.

9) Repeat 8) for the metadata. Since the ROM name is now OK the metadata scrapers should work OK now.

Maybe one optimization I can do is to change the behaviour of the ROM scanner artwork scraper, so it can use the ROM title/name instead of a cleaned version of the ROM filename.

Also, if you wish I can add an option so the ROM scanner will ask for a search string for every ROM. I never though on that because I was assuming the typical AEL user will use (A) No-Intro/TOSEC/Goodset ROM sets or (B) MAME. In case of (A) the ROM filename has the correct ROM name and in (B) the scrapers are clever enough to treat MAME as a special case.

OK, tell me what you think... or even if you have a better idea I can implement.

[rik81]

Hello, and thanks for everything.

then, I have followed your instructions.
I logged in with putty, joined by username and password.
I do the command: nano /etc/asound.conf
You compile the file with:
pcm.dsp {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "dmix"
}

I press ctrl + x to save

When do confirm with Y, I get the following error:

[Error writing /etc/asound.conf: Read-only file system]
...

Don't desperate. If you have never used Linux before you already had done a great job!

OK, your problem is related to LibreELEC particularities. When you use Putty to connect via SSH you use user "root", right? If so, the problem may be that that LibreELEC filesystem is read-only. In this case, you have to create a per-user configuration: /etc/asound.conf is the system wide configuration file, but also every user can have its own configuration file.

Your problem is very LibreELEC specific, so I suggest you go to the LibreELEC forum and ask there.

Also, I will add the option to suspend sound in Kodi in AEL, but I don't guarantee you 100% that it will work. Proper solution for you is to enable concurrency in your sound card by configuring ALSA to do so.

I did all the tests I've found.

I tried to mount the partition in rewritable mode:

with this command

mount -o remount, rw /

then to create the file with

# Nano /etc/asound.conf

but when I save ... usually system error in read only.

then I tried to create a user file

  /storage/.config/asound.conf

despite the success writing, does not appear in the audio selection of dmix kodi.

as if he did nothing.

I do not know what to do

I await your updates addons .. hoping that your changes are encouraging for me.

for now everything is useless for me ... I think even happen to others in this issue ... I hope you can solve.

thank you and I await your news

[beisat]

@ Wintermute: Was playing around with cemu.

I see...

The LNK files do not work like link files in Unix. Yeah, probably they won't work in your case.

The ROM scanner cleans the ROM file name from tags (For example, "Mario Bros. (Europe) (Rev 1)" becomes "Mario Bros.") and use that for scraping. When you are scanning ROMs for the first time the ROM filename is the only source of information available. The artwork scraper also uses the ROM filename to search for artwork. And yes, the ROM scanner does not ask for a search string. However, when you are editing a ROM you can enter a search string.

In your case, I would follow the next strategy:

1) Scan you ROMs. In the settings, set "Metadata scan policy" to "None", "Asset scan policy" to "Local images".

2) After the scan you will get garbage as names (the filenames), no metadata and no artwork.

3) Now go to "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROM List", "Export ROMs metadata to NFO files".

4) The previous steps will create an empty NFO file for every ROM/ISO image you have, and the contents of the NFO files are empty. Edit the NFO files one by one, and add the correct name title for each ROM.

5) Go to "Edit Launcher", "Manage ROM List", "Clear ROMs from launcher".

6) Go to addon settings, change "Metadata scan policy" from "None" to "NFO Files".

7) Rescan you ROMs. They will have correct ROM name now. Artwork will be garbage because the ROM scanner scraper always uses the ROM name, not the ROM title.

8) You can no go ROM by ROM, context menu "Edit ROM", "Edit Assets/Artwork". Because now the ROMs have the correct name the artwork scraper will work.

9) Repeat 8) for the metadata. Since the ROM name is now OK the metadata scrapers should work OK now.

Maybe one optimization I can do is to change the behaviour of the ROM scanner artwork scraper, so it can use the ROM title/name instead of a cleaned version of the ROM filename.

Also, if you wish I can add an option so the ROM scanner will ask for a search string for every ROM. I never though on that because I was assuming the typical AEL user will use (A) No-Intro/TOSEC/Goodset ROM sets or (B) MAME. In case of (A) the ROM filename has the correct ROM name and in (B) the scrapers are clever enough to treat MAME as a special case.

OK, tell me what you think... or even if you have a better idea I can implement.

Hi Wintermute

Thanks for your help. No need to implement features just for me, I was just trying to make you aware and thought maybe I overlooked something I use AEL (and AL) for all kind of things on my media pc, launching pc games etc. I wouldn't be surprised if lots of other people do that to and are a bit confused about the emulator part in AEL ( i was when I first read about it).

Anyway I thought the best solution for above problem would be to add .lnk files to the folders with the roms and name the .lnk correctly, and have the launcher scan for .lnk files -> All the scrapper work. Then I would use following parameters for the launcher : "%rompath%\realfile.xyz". The luck is here, that the garbage filename is always the same for every rom.

This would work I think, BUT I cannot pass a xyz file / string unless i have also added xyz as a file to the launcher, in which case it scans/scraps the garbage xyz files again too. Without it, it just passes some random path, really weird.

Best regards

[Wintermute0110]

Thanks for your help. No need to implement features just for me, I was just trying to make you aware and thought maybe I overlooked something I use AEL (and AL) for all kind of things on my media pc, launching pc games etc. I wouldn't be surprised if lots of other people do that to and are a bit confused about the emulator part in AEL ( i was when I first read about it).

Well... AEL is currently in development and it is offered as a beta so people can try it and suggest new features. Actually, in the ROM scanner the artwork scanner not using the scraped ROM name is a bug... and I'm thinking in a good way to fix it.

Yeah, AEL is a general launcher plugin for Kodi with some features tailored for emulators. However, as a general launcher you can use to launch any program. I choose Advanced Emulator Launcher because I need a new name to differentiate from precursor AL and also to note that most of the new features are tailored to emulators. People always use software in a way the coder never imagined, I can tell you

Anyway I thought the best solution for above problem would be to add .lnk files to the folders with the roms and name the .lnk correctly, and have the launcher scan for .lnk files -> All the scrapper work. Then I would use following parameters for the launcher : "%rompath%\realfile.xyz". The luck is here, that the garbage filename is always the same for every rom.

This would work I think, BUT I cannot pass a xyz file / string unless i have also added xyz as a file to the launcher, in which case it scans/scraps the garbage xyz files again too. Without it, it just passes some random path, really weird.

Best regards

I still think is is better for AEL to create the empty NFO files for you, then you edit the NFO files and rescan. I think that's easier than what you propose but of course you as the user do as you wish and what you think is better for your setup.

Also, what do you mean by random path? There should be no randomness in AEL! Remember you can set AEL debug log in plugin settings "Advanced" tab and have a look to a lot of information and see what is going on. Keep in mind that AEL has become a somewhat complicated piece of software and that there could be still some bugs to be fixed!

[foleyjo]

The ROM scanner cleans the ROM file name from tags (For example, "Mario Bros. (Europe) (Rev 1)" becomes "Mario Bros.") and use that for scraping. When you are scanning ROMs for the first time the ROM filename is the only source of information available. The artwork scraper also uses the ROM filename to search for artwork. And yes, the ROM scanner does not ask for a search string. However, when you are editing a ROM you can enter a search string.

Hi,

A lot of the artwork/video files I find for manual scraping also have tags but they don't always match the rom file tags. Can the artwork/video tags be ignore too?

[Wintermute0110]

The ROM scanner cleans the ROM file name from tags (For example, "Mario Bros. (Europe) (Rev 1)" becomes "Mario Bros.") and use that for scraping. When you are scanning ROMs for the first time the ROM filename is the only source of information available. The artwork scraper also uses the ROM filename to search for artwork. And yes, the ROM scanner does not ask for a search string. However, when you are editing a ROM you can enter a search string.

Hi,

A lot of the artwork/video files I find for manual scraping also have tags but they don't always match the rom file tags. Can the artwork/video tags be ignore too?

Can you describe a concrete example so I can reproduce the issue and fix it?

[RazorFR]

Features that would be nice to have. More on the cosmetic / seemless experience side and with no idea if it is doable or not

- Hide mame console (not a big deal but there is no way that I know to hide it in mame.ini and we do get a quick glimpse of it when opening / closing mame)
- Nice, unified, joystick compliant way to close Games + emulators, with a confirmation warning. Not that it is not somehow doable with some of them, it is just not consistant across them. Like retroarch brings up menu with L3+R3 and then enable closing, Mame allow to map a button like L3 to quit and can warn you before closing. nulldc and dolphin or PCSX2, I don't think they enable anything.like that.
Mame quit seems the most logical/user friendly. One button press + confirmation
- Ability to add genre and plot to collections

Now 2nd is something that may not be easy at all to implement.

[foleyjo]

The ROM scanner cleans the ROM file name from tags (For example, "Mario Bros. (Europe) (Rev 1)" becomes "Mario Bros.") and use that for scraping. When you are scanning ROMs for the first time the ROM filename is the only source of information available. The artwork scraper also uses the ROM filename to search for artwork. And yes, the ROM scanner does not ask for a search string. However, when you are editing a ROM you can enter a search string.

Hi,

A lot of the artwork/video files I find for manual scraping also have tags but they don't always match the rom file tags. Can the artwork/video tags be ignore too?

Can you describe a concrete example so I can reproduce the issue and fix it?

So for example the game file may be Super Mario (Europe) but the art file Super Mario(USA) . So the game is trimmed down to Super Mario but the art file is still Super Mario(USA) and there for a match isn't found.

Admittedly the latest version may already solve this as I've already renamed the files on the games that I've added so far but it took ages.

[IzeDJ]

I have written a (bad) python script to convert the LaunchBox xml database files to Advanced Emulator Launcher json database format.

It's not nice but it works (surprisingly)

http://pastebin.com/K3KWdx8s

You need the untangle script in your python path for it to work (pip install untangle)

How to use:
1. Edit the settings
2. Run it
3. Replace your rom json files in %AppData%\Roaming\Kodi\userdata\addon_data\plugin.program.advanced.emulator.launcher\db_ROMs with the newly generated files
4. ?!?!
5. profit


This works with the latest LaunchBox version, older versions are not supported cause the xml format is different.
Right now it only imports the first front boxart, the first fanart and generates a link to the trailer in mp4 format because that's my setup

EDIT:
I'm stupid and posted the wrong script... copy it to your launchbox\data folder to make it work

[Wintermute0110]

ah, that's great. I will wait for the next update then
I have one issue though: I get this error whenever I press to play a title: launching app not found lnk_launcher_app

what exactly is the problem?

This issue should be fixed in the last AEL commit. Also, when creating the LNK ROM launcher all the parameters are set correctly (for example, arguments is set to the correct value '%rom%' automatically).

[Wintermute0110]

Hello, and thanks for everything.

then, I have followed your instructions.
I logged in with putty, joined by username and password.
I do the command: nano /etc/asound.conf
You compile the file with:
pcm.dsp {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "dmix"
}
...

I have implemented the Suspend Kodi Audio feature. Please do the following:

1) Go to addon Settings, "Advanced" tab, select "Suspend/Resume Kodi audio engine"

2) Try your launcher.

3) If it fails, go to addons Settings, "Advanced" tab, try to increase the "Delay (ms)"

Report if it works now.

EDIT: to install the AEL development version, go to Github and follow the instructions there.

[Wintermute0110]

- Hide mame console (not a big deal but there is no way that I know to hide it in mame.ini and we do get a quick glimpse of it when opening / closing mame)

What you mean by MAME console?

- Nice, unified, joystick compliant way to close Games + emulators, with a confirmation warning. Not that it is not somehow doable with some of them, it is just not consistant across them. Like retroarch brings up menu with L3+R3 and then enable closing, Mame allow to map a button like L3 to quit and can warn you before closing. nulldc and dolphin or PCSX2, I don't think they enable anything.like that.
Mame quit seems the most logical/user friendly. One button press + confirmation

That is something unrelated to AEL. I like to classify the emulators/apps in 2 categories: "Media center friendly" and "Media center NOT friendly". A media center friendly app/emulator is one which allows to map one key of your joystick to quit the emulator and return to Kodi. Media friendly emulators include MAME, Mednafen and Retroarch (which should cover 99% of the emulation needs for most users). Unfortunately, there are many media center unfriendly emus. Best thing you can do is to go to the emulator forum and ask the feature to remap emulator actions to be binded to joystick/keyboard buttons. It's something easy to code.

- Ability to add genre and plot to collections

Will add metadata to collections in 0.9.5.

[Wintermute0110]

So for example the game file may be Super Mario (Europe) but the art file Super Mario(USA) . So the game is trimmed down to Super Mario but the art file is still Super Mario(USA) and there for a match isn't found.

Admittedly the latest version may already solve this as I've already renamed the files on the games that I've added so far but it took ages.

OK, I understand what you mean now...

In order to do what you want, you need an external tool like NARS (NARS Advanced ROM Sorting). NARS originally started as a ROM filtering program to keep the number of ROMs in launchers to a minimum. For example, you had a No-Intro SNES collection with about 3,000 ROMs. NARS is able to filter unwanted games (duplicates, clones, japanese ROMs, etc.) so your launcher will have what is named a "One game, one ROM" list. When I was using Advanced Launcher, it was very important to have the total number of ROMs in all launchers as low of possible. Otherwise, AL turned slower and slower the more the ROMs in your launchers. AEL has removed this limitation and now you can have as many launchers as you want with as many ROMs as you want, and still AEL will be fast. NARS ability to filer No-Intro ROMs is now kind of obsolete...

However, NARS still is useful because it can do "Artwork substitution". For example, suppose you download a SNES Boxfront collection from Hyperspin forum. This collection will have the Boxfronts for the Hyperspin oficial list, which typically contains the USA ROMs plus a few European/Japanese ROMs. NARS is capable of automatically renaming your partial artwork collection to match all ROMs in a parent/clone list.

Currently NARS is the process of being refactored to be able to handle all the artwork AEL/AML support... before it only worked with thumbs/fanarts. Stay tuned if you want to try it.

[foleyjo]

Thanks for that. I'll checkout Nars.

[xphilipp]

Hello,

First, I would like to warmly thank Wintermute for this plugin that seems the be the only launcher available for the recent builds of Kodi.

I'm not an "emulator" kind of user, but I needed a plugin to launch external programs (mainly to change on the fly the audio/video seetings of my windows HTPC).I created all my launchers in the addon root, and then I removed the default "emulator" category to make things cleaner.

But removing all the categories causes a bug when I want to create a new launcher: 'Category ID not found. Report this bug.'

So, I report this bug

Note: As a workaround, I commented out the first lines in "command_add_new_launcher()" of main.py, and forced the launcher_categoryID to VCATEGORY_ADDONROOT_ID.


regards.