[Wintermute0110]

Thanks so much! I just cleanly installed 0.9.6 from zip.

I just created a LNK launcher (pointing to the Windows directory with working Windows shortcuts to all my steam games). I also pointed the LNK launcher to an empty Artwork directory (for it to download scraped fanart for all my games).

However, when I "Search ROMs in Launcher" via context menu (after creating my LNK launcher correctly), AEL, says "Launcher KSON not found. Add ROMs to Launcher".

Is there a step I'm missing? I did notice there's an update available for download for 0.9.6. However, I'm not sure if that would fix the issue I'm having ...or, maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Thanks again for your help,
MKANET

Currently there are no significant updates over 0.9.6 in Github. I did some work to test a new offline scraper based on Launchbox database and a couple of fixes but nothing more. 0.9.6 should be fine for you.

Tomorrow I will post a step by step tutorial about LNK launchers.

OK, here we go. Follow these steps to create the LNK launcher:

1) Create two directories

Code:

C:\AEL-ROMs\LNK --> Place the LNK files here
C:\AEL-assets\LNK --> This will be the AEL asset/artwork directory for the LNK launcher

This directory layout will be convenient if you later decide to create more launchers. Always place your ROMs in a directory inside C:\AEL-ROMs\ and your assets in a directory with same name inside C:\AEL-assets\. As you add more launchers it is important to be organised

2) Test the LNK files by clicking on one of them. The application pointed by the LNK file should launch after the double click.

3) In AEL root window open the context menu, select "Add New Launcher". If you see the dialog "Choose Launcher category" select "Create launcher in addon root".

4) In "Create New Launcher" dialog select "LNK Launcher (Windows only)".

5) In "Select the LNKs path" browse to the directory C:\AEL-ROMs\LNK inside the directory press "OK". Note that you won't see any LNK file inside the directory and that's the expected behavior.

6) Write down the Title of the launcher in "Set the title of the launcher" window.

7) In "Select the platform" dialog choose "Microsoft Windows" or "Unknown". The platform is used only by the scrapers.

8) In "Select asset/artwork directory" browse to C:\AEL-assets\LNK and once you are inside the directory click "OK".

9) Your launcher will be created now. Note that now your launcher is empty of LNK/ROM files and hence if you enter the launcher AEL will notify "Launcher XML/JSON not found. Add ROMs to launcher". Also, note that AEL creates the following directories automatically to store assets

Code:

C:\AEL-assets\LNK\banners\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\boxback\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\boxfront\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\cartridges\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\clearlogos\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\fanarts\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\flyers\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\manuals\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\maps\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\snaps\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\titles\
C:\AEL-assets\LNK\trailers\

10) Select the new LNK launcher, bring the context menu up, and click on "Add ROMs". Then, select "Scan for New ROMs". After the scanning is finished AEL will report "Added nn ROMs to launcher"

11) Now your launcher is populated with your LNK files and you can launch any of them!

Note that the current version in Github has a bug due to some function renaming and the ROM scanner will crash. 0.9.6 doesn't have this bug and should work OK.

12) In case of trouble (for example, your launcher is empty after the scanner) then open the launcher context menu, select "View Launcher", then "View Launcher scanner report". You should see something like this

Code:

*** Starting ROM scanner ... ***
  Launcher name "LNK test launcher"
  launcher ID   "6e8b34f612cf45d233318634338a731a"
  ROM path      "E:\AEL-stuff\AEL-ROMs\lnk-files\"
  ROM ext       "lnk"
  Platform      "Microsoft Windows"
Loading launcher ROMs ...
  0 ROMs currently in database
Removing dead ROMs ...
Scanning files ...
  Directory E:\AEL-stuff\AEL-ROMs\lnk-files\
  Found 2 files
Processing files ...
>>> E:\AEL-stuff\AEL-ROMs\lnk-files\mame64.lnk
  Expected 'lnk' extension detected
  ROM does not belong to a multidisc set.
  File not in launcher ROM list. Processing it ...
********** ROM scanner finished **********
Removed dead ROMs      0
Files checked          2
New added ROMs         2
No No-Intro/Redump DAT configured. Do not audit ROMs.
*** END of the ROM scanner report ***

Make sure all parameters, especially the ROM path, are correct. Edit them using the launcher context menu if necessary and then repeat the ROM scanning again.

13) If you remove or add LNK files to the "C:\AEL-ROMs\LNK" directory then execute the ROM scanner again to bring your launcher up to date. The ROM scanner first removes dead ROMs (LNK files that cannot be found because they were deleted) and then scans for new LNK files added.

I hope this helps.