I've used the latest version of the image, on a Pi2. The only thing I've added or changed is to expand the filesystem and copy a small subset of the 0.143 romset to ~/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro/. I have verified that the files (all zips) are all named properly. When I build the romlist, either via the gui or the command line, the list that is generated looks like this:
airbustr;airbustr;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
airduel;airduel;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
airwolf;airwolf;MAME (Libretro);;1987;Kyugo of America, Inc;Shooter;1;;;;;;;;;
ajax;ajax;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
alexkidd;alexkidd;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
aliens;aliens;MAME (Libretro);;1990;Konami;Action;2;;;;;;;;;
aliensyn;aliensyn;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
alleymas;alleymas;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
alpine;alpine;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
altbeast;altbeast;MAME (Libretro);;;;;;;;;;;;;;
So the titles are all identical to the rom/file name, and only a handful of them have years/manufacturer/category. Any idea what's going on?
If I understand correctly, by default the build-romlist job should be matching the names of the roms against the mame executable's own output of the compatible roms' metadata, but with the runcommand.sh abstraction and such, I'm having a little trouble tracing the path of how that all works.