Author Topic: Default artwork when artwork is missing  (Read 3217 times)

slowsl

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Default artwork when artwork is missing
« on: October 01, 2020, 07:32:34 PM »
retropie with AM setup, Robospin-HD layout.

Hey guys, I'm embarrassed to even ask this... I knew at one time how to do it, but it's been several years since I have messed with this.  I can't seem to get a default artwork image to load when none are present for a particular rom.   I swear that it used to work, and now it does not.  For some reason if artwork is missing, it grabs a different, incorrect artwork.  For example, Alex Kidd shows the marquee for alien3, and alien syndrome for the wheel.  I double checked my artwork folders, the artwork is indeed missing, and not just incorrectly renamed, so not sure what is going on.  Where is the default artwork location and how do I check to see that the layout is directed to use the default artwork when none are present that match the rom?  I've researched for two days now and can't figure it out.  my artwork is located in my rom folder.  I've tried, for example, for the marquee, I've put my default image in the marquee folder, and have tried naming it "marquee.png", also tried "MAME (Libretro).png", and "Arcade.png".  I see in the layout folder for Robospin-HD, there is default artwork in the main folder, however it's not being used.  I hope this makes sense.

hermine.potter

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Re: Default artwork when artwork is missing
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2020, 11:01:32 PM »
the default image / "non-existing-artwork"-file needs the same name like display-name
name of display : SNES => default-image : SNES.png

Linux is case sensitive : your paths and folder-names are correct?

Isn't it, that there exist a hidden attract folder : /home/<username>/.attract
Are there any artwork files? Check your romlist too.
AM Version : 2.6.1
Input : Mad Catz Brawlstick; Mouse; Keyboard; Xbox360 Wireless
Cabinet : Yes
OS : Windows10 Pro
System : Dell Precision T3500 ; Intel X5650 ; 12GB RAM

slowsl

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Re: Default artwork when artwork is missing
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2020, 06:31:16 AM »
the default image / "non-existing-artwork"-file needs the same name like display-name
name of display : SNES => default-image : SNES.png

Linux is case sensitive : your paths and folder-names are correct?

Isn't it, that there exist a hidden attract folder : /home/<username>/.attract
Are there any artwork files? Check your romlist too.

What should I check with my romlist?

Thank you for responding.  I've already tried naming the files the same as the display, as well as the emulator, as well as "marquee.png" or "wheel.png", and placing it in the same directory as the wheel or marquee art is.  This did not do anything.  I've also made sure it was case sensitive.  I've also placed the files in the layout folder located in the .attract/ directory.  This directory has the default images already there by default, but again, for some reason, the display is not using them.  I know that the display is supposed to use them, because this is how I tested the hierarchy of the images.  I setup attract mode on my PC, added a few roms, but added only the wheel, snap, marquee .png's for 1943.  I pointed the emulator to the newly created artwork folders.  As expected, the marquee, snap, and wheel art work for 1943, and the default images are showing for the roms without artwork (static snap, no image available with a red circle & x through for the wheel, and a generic "mame" marquee.   I then added a unique .png to the marquee folder and named it "arcade" to match the display name, and the display then grabs that image as the default image, as it should.  I then deleted this file, went into the layout folder (c:/attract/layouts/robospin-hd), where the default art is located, and placed a unique image there and renamed it marquee.  The display now grabs that image when artwork does not exist, as it should.  So this all confirms that the hierarchy for art is as follows....

1943.png in the artwork folder, in my case, c:\attract\roms\marquee\  then if none matching the rom are found use...
arcade.png in the artwork folder, (arcade is the display name), in my case c:\attract\roms\marquee\  then if arcade.png is not found, use
marquee.png located in the layout folder, in my case c:\attract\layouts\robospin-hd\

So the question is, this works as it should on my PC, but my retropie it does not.  I'm using the exact same  layout between both the pc and retropie, same roms, same artwork directory location, and emulator artwork location is pointing to the correct folders.  I should also point out that on my retropie,  all of my layouts are doing this, none of them are using default images.  So this may suggest that the problem lies not in the layout itself, but somewhere else in attract mode, right?  But what file/code controls how the displays handle the images to use?


slowsl

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Re: Default artwork when artwork is missing
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2020, 06:48:52 AM »
A thought just came to me.  Could there be any possible chance that having my artwork folders as subdirectories in my roms folder is causing these problems?  Maybe I should try to move the artwork out of the roms folder to a different location and see if that helps.  It is working this way on my PC, but maybe on the retropie it's different?

sergiohyperspin

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Re: Default artwork when artwork is missing
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2020, 07:09:49 AM »
In my raspberry pi it works perfectly, with the artwork inside the roms folder. You should check the name of the display. In my pi the default for snes is >>>> Super Nintendo Entertainment System.png / mega drive is Sega Mega Drive.png, arcade is Arcade.png, exactly as it shows in the displays menu.

slowsl

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Re: Default artwork when artwork is missing
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2020, 07:52:00 AM »
In my raspberry pi it works perfectly, with the artwork inside the roms folder. You should check the name of the display. In my pi the default for snes is >>>> Super Nintendo Entertainment System.png / mega drive is Sega Mega Drive.png, arcade is Arcade.png, exactly as it shows in the displays menu.

I will double check when I get home.  I'm sure it was correct though, in the displays menu, it's "Arcade", so I made "Arcade.png", and put it in the artwork folder.  Even so, it should, as a last resort, pull the art files from the robospin-hd layout folder, as it does on my PC build.  Does anyone know what file contains the code which handles the image hierarchy?  I'm not sure if it matters, but I'm on Floobs image, which is really old at this point.  I feel like default images used to work, and at some point, now they don't, but maybe I just never paid much attention and maybe they never worked?  The only reason I'm critical now is that I'm on a mission to add missing marquee, snap and wheel art for all of my roms.  I have another SD card with the latest AM build from the experimental package, maybe I will see if it's working with that image.  If so, I'd still like to know where the code is located so maybe I can see if something is not correct or missing, as the floob's image has been setup perfectly and working really well other that this issue.

slowsl

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Re: Default artwork when artwork is missing
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2020, 11:51:22 AM »
Just an update if anyone else happens to have this problem.  Turns out all of the files & paths I had were correct, but still not working.  It seems to be some script in AM which handles the default artwork and locations.  I couldn't find it anywhere poking around various coding in AM, but I have no business doing so, so didn't spend much time looking.  At this point, I'm going to assume maybe my AM build was prior to this feature being added, as it is a pretty old build, although it was all updated recently, but still not working.  I have another SD card that I installed AM as an experimental package, copied over my roms & artwork and all is good.