MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Re: [help] CHDs folder location

> hi all,
> I have my ROMs in d:\mame_roms and my CHDs in d:\mame_roms\CHD
> Some of my CHD files are all in the same folder, not in "gamename" sub-folders.
> rompath=d:\mame_roms;d:\mame_roms\CHD
> In previous builds, MAME would load CHD files in d:\mame_roms\CHD\", with v0.237 it
> complains that the CHD file is not found, but I have it.
> When moving the CHD file into "d:\mame_roms\CHD\gamename\" folder, MAME loads the
> game.
>
> Is this a new rule for CHDs location ? They must be in "\gamename\" or
> "\parent_gamename\" folder ?
>
> For years my frontend Emu Loader supported CHD files to be in any of the folders you
> set in mame.ini "rompath", and MAME would load it without any issues.
> This is not a complaint, and I can update my frontend accordingly.
> I'm just curious to why this was changed.
>
> Thanks for listening.

This behavior you are describing has been in effect for over 16 months now, since MAME 0.221, where CHDs are required to sit in a folder named after the shortname of the machine in question. Loose CHD file identity and loading is no longer done at top level.

From this commit:
https://github.com/mamedev/mame/commit/cf078d736add075a78f488a3ec50c567d1a8fc29

Mentioned in the whatsnew and announcement for MAME 0.221:
https://www.mamedev.org/?p=482