MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Re: Sonic & Knuckles

> I tested and yes it works properly using the software list method but not with the
> -cart method… which doesn't make sence I guess.
>
> The problem with the software list method is it can't be used with most front-end and
> games launcher like Kodi or Attract Mode.

mame64 genesis -cart1 sk -cart2 ""

is the software list method

It only stops being software list once you specify "sk.zip" "sonicknuckles.zip" or similar, which becomes 'loose file loading' and is not recommended at all.

It makes perfect sense, the Software List tells MAME how to load things, what was inside the cartridges, what extra connectors the cartridges had etc. MAME doesn't resort to guessing all these things (only some limited guessing of backup RAM) so without the Software List *it doesn't even know this is a special cartridge that requires special handling, not just mirroring the ROM across space*

The problem is with the frontends you talk about, not MAME, if the frontends only work with loose file loading then a LOT of things won't work. Kodi is very much not designed for use with MAME, so no surprises there.

As I said, I think MAME should disable this loading option for cartridge based systems with Software Lists, unless you explicitly turn it on, which should trigger a warning, because so many people seem to be doing things the wrong way.