MAME
MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. MAME can emulate thousands of games that
otherwise would have been lost in the ash-heaps of history.
See Also: FinalBurn-Neo, Neo Geo
There are a variety of arcade emulator versions available in RetroPie. There are significant
differences in performance, compatibility, and configuration between them. If you're getting started
with an arcade emulation project, begin by reading the Arcade page.
This page is a resource for additional details on RetroPie's MAME emulators including
configuration paths, controls, and the ROM sets which each emulator requires.
Emulator ROM Folder(s) Extension
mame4all-pi arcade or mame-mame4all .zip
lr-mame2000 arcade or mame-libretro .zip
lr-mame2003 arcade or mame-libretro .zip
lr-mame2003-plus arcade or mame-libretro .zip
Emulator ROM Folder(s) Extension
lr-mame2010 arcade or mame-libretro .zip
lr-mame2015 arcade or mame-libretro .zip .7z
lr-mame2016 arcade or mame-libretro .zip .7z
AdvanceMAME 0.94 arcade or mame-advmame .zip
AdvanceMAME 1.4 arcade or mame-advmame .zip
AdvanceMAME 3 arcade or mame-advmame .zip
MAME arcade or mame .zip .7z
lr-mame arcade or mame-libretro .zip .7z
MAME ROM paths
Three of the available MAME ROM paths in RetroPie are shared directories which are used by more
than one emulator: arcade , mame-libretro , mame-advmame . In order to successfully load zipped
ROM sets in these locations you must specify the arcade emulator version which matches your
ROMs.
To avoid having several menus for different arcade emulators, all arcade-based ROMs can be
placed in the arcade ROM folder, but you will have to specify which emulator each zipped ROM set
will use from the Runcommand Menu.
Emulators
mame4all-pi
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-mame4all
Binary /opt/retropie/emulators/mame4all
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-mame4all
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/mame4-all/samples/
MAME Version: 0.37b5 (July 2000)
Active Sets: 2241
BIOS: 1
CHDs: 0
Samples: 35
1126 Parent Roms
1025 Clones Roms
129 NeoGeo Roms (Parent+Clone)
MAME 0.37b5 DAT File: [Link]
MAME 0.37b5 XML File: mame4all-no-clones-no-neogeo Does not include clones or NeoGeo
romsets.
Controls
While in a game press Tab to open the menu to set up controls. The MAME4ALL configuration is
saved in:
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-mame4all/cfg/[Link]
Other files in the cfg directory are ROM specific configs.
Note: If configuration or other aspect of the configuration need resetting to defaults, remove the
[Link] or ROM specific .cfg file, and it will be re-created with default values next time
MAME4ALL is started or the ROM configuration modified.
lr-mame2000 (MAME 2000)
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-mame4all
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2000
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-mame4all/[Link]
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2000/samples/
MAME Version: 0.37b5 (July 2000)
Active Sets: 2241
BIOS: 1
CHDs: 0
Samples: 35
MAME 0.37b5 DAT File: [Link]
MAME 0.37b5 'Lite' DAT File: mame4all-no-clones-no-neogeo - Does not include clones or NeoGeo
romsets.
Controls
MAME 2000 uses RetroArch control configuration. Custom Retroarch controls can be added to the
[Link] file in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
lr-mame2003 (MAME 2003)
Please see MAME 2003 on RetroPie for information on how to configure specific features of this
emulator.
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2003/samples/
MAME Version: 0.78 (December 2003)
Active Sets: 4705
BIOS: 15
CHDs: 30
Samples: 56
MAME 0.78 XML DAT File: MAME [Link]
MAME 0.78u5 DAT File: mame2003-lr-working-no-clones - Working romsets only. Does not include
clones.
MAME 0.78u5 'Lite' DAT File: mame2003-lr-lite - Working romsets only. Does not include: clones,
NeoGeo, PlayChoice NES/multiplay, romsets with rotary/dial/trackball/light gun controls, or
romsets classified as casino/quiz/mahjong/fruit_machines/rhythm/mature.
Mame 2003 [Link] also contains data on games definitively known not to work, as well as
sorting data for mature games and other, less desirable, romsets.
Controls
MAME 2003-Plus uses both RetroArch control configuration and the MAME input configuration
menu (accessible by pressing Tab ). Custom Retroarch controls can be added to the
[Link] file in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
lr-mame2003-plus (MAME 2003-Plus)
MAME 2003-Plus (also referred to as MAME 2003+ and mame2003-plus) is a libretro arcade
system emulator core with an emphasis on high performance and broad compatibility with mobile
devices, single board computers, embedded systems, and similar platforms.
In order to take advantage of the performance and lower hardware requirements of an earlier
MAME architecture, MAME 2003-Plus began with the MAME 2003 codebase, which is itself derived
from xmame 0.78. Upon that base, MAME 2003-Plus contributors have back-ported support for
several hundred additional games as well as other functionality not originally present in MAME
0.78.
Please see the libretro MAME 2003-Plus core documentation for information on how to configure
specific features of this emulator.
Folder/File Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2003-plus
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2003-plus/samples/
MAME Version: 0.78-0.188 (MAME 0.78 as a baseline with other ROMs back-ported from later
MAME romsets)
Active Sets: 4850
BIOS: 15
CHDs: 30
Samples: 66 + 6 Optional "Soundtrack Samples"
MAME 2003-Plus DAT File: Github project page. An XML "DAT" file can be generated from the
emulator, directly from the MAME menu.
The MAME 2003-Plus [Link] also contains data on games definitively known not to work, as
well as sorting data for mature games or other, less desirable, romsets.
Controls
MAME 2003-Plus uses both RetroArch control configuration and the MAME input configuration
menu (accessible by pressing Tab ). Custom Retroarch controls can be added to the
[Link] file in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
Some notes about extra controls options and configuration available in MAME 2003-Plus:
MAME 2003-Plus can use different RetroPad layouts, chosen with the Device Type
configuration option in the Controls menu in RetroArch:
Classic Gamepad, based on mainline MAME's default Xbox 360 controller layout, likely to
suit DualShock or SNES-style gamepads.
Modern Fightstick, a fight stick and pad layout popularised by Street Fighter IV and
assumes an 8+ button controller.
6-Button, a layout intended for SNES-type RetroPad controls as well as 6-button arcade
panels arcade panels.
8-Button, a layout intended for an arcade panel (8 buttons)
MAME 2003-Plus maps the analog controls to joystick control by default, instead of the D-Pad.
This can be changed from the Core Options, switching the Control mapping option to digital.
MAME 2003-Plus disables the MAME menu by default (usually mapped to Tab ). It can be
enabled by changing the Input interface Core Option to simultaneous .
lr-mame2010 (MAME 2010)
Folder Location
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2010
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2010/samples
MAME Version: 0.139 (August 2010)
Active Sets: 8782
BIOS: 67
CHDs: 406
Samples: 70 (4 more samples are not in circulation)
MAME 0.139 DAT File: MAME [Link]
Controls
MAME 2010 uses RetroArch control configuration. Custom Retroarch controls can be added to the
[Link] file in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
DEFAULT PLAYER 1 AND 2 CONTROLS
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_START MAME: KEY_START
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_SELECT MAME: KEY_COIN
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_A MAME: KEY_BUTTON_1
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_B MAME: KEY_BUTTON_2
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_X MAME: KEY_BUTTON_3
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_Y MAME: KEY_BUTTON_4
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_L MAME: KEY_BUTTON_5
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_R MAME: KEY_BUTTON_6
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_L2 MAME: KEY_BUTTON_7
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_UP MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_U
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_DOWN MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_D
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_LEFT MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_L
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_RIGHT MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_R
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_R2 Turbo Button
DEFAULT PLAYER 3 AND 4 CONTROLS
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_START MAME: KEY_START
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_SELECT MAME: KEY_COIN
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_A MAME: KEY_BUTTON_1
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_B MAME: KEY_BUTTON_2
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_X MAME: KEY_BUTTON_3
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_UP MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_U
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_DOWN MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_D
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_LEFT MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_L
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_RIGHT MAME: KEY_JOYSTICK_R
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_R2 Turbo Button
NATIVE MAME UI CONTROLS
Note: these controls are only operational for Player 1
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_L3 Test/Service Mode
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_R3 Enter MAME UI
RETRO_DEVICE_ID_JOYPAD_A MAME: IPT_UI_SELECT (Make selections in the
MAME GUI)
lr-mame2015 (MAME 2015)
Note: This emulator is considered 'experimental' in RetroPie and has limited functionality. It
requires more processing power than earlier MAME versions and will not run as many games at full
speed on Raspberry Pi hardware.
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2015
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
Folder Location
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame2010/samples
MAME Version: 0.160
Active Sets: ??
BIOS: ??
CHDs: ??
Samples: ?? (4 more samples are not in circulation)
MAME 0.160 DAT File: ProgettoSnaps MAME .dat page
Controls
MAME 2015 uses RetroArch control configuration. Custom Retroarch controls can be added to the
[Link] file in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
lr-mame2016 (MAME 2016)
Note: This emulator is considered 'experimental' in RetroPie and has limited functionality. It
requires more processing power than earlier MAME versions and will not run as many games at full
speed on Raspberry Pi hardware.
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame2016
Folder Location
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
MAME Version: 0.174
Active Sets: ??
BIOS: ??
CHDs: ??
Samples: ?? (4 more samples are not in circulation)
MAME 0.174 DAT File: ProgettoSnaps MAME .dat page
Controls
MAME 2016 uses RetroArch control configuration. Custom Retroarch controls can be added to the
[Link] file in
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
AdvanceMAME 0.94
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-advmame
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/bin
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-advmame/samples
MAME Version: MAME 0.94 (March 2005)
Active Sets: 5563
BIOS: 25
CHDs: ?
Samples: ?
AdvanceMAME 0.94 DAT File: advmame-0.94-RetroPie-260.7z
Controls
While in a game, press Tab to open the menu and set up controls. AdvanceMAME configuration
for controls is stored in /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/[Link] . Changes to
specific games result in .rc file entries with a prefix for the ROM (i.e.
bwidow/input_map[p1_doubleleft_up] keyboard[0,up] for the bwidow game).
Note: The .rc file can also be edited manually, with a text editor. Any config can be made ROM-
specific using a romname/ prefix which is handy for overriding a setting for a specific ROM or class
of ROMs, such as vertical/ . However, a single mistake in the .rc file will stop AdvanceMAME
from launching. It is always best to make a backup of the configuration file before manual edits.
AdvanceMAME 1.4
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-advmame
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/bin
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-advmame/samples
MAME Version: MAME 0.106 (May 2006)
Active Sets: 6166
BIOS: 26
CHDs: 86
Samples: 64 (3 more samples are not in circulation)
AdvanceMAME 1.4 DAT File: advmame12-106.7z
Controls
While in a game press Tab to open the menu to set up controls. AdvanceMAME configuration for
controls is stored in /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/[Link] . Changes to specific
games result in .rc file entries with a prefix for the ROM (i.e.
bwidow/input_map[p1_doubleleft_up] keyboard[0,up] )
Note: The .rc file can also be edited manually. Any config can be made ROM-specific using a
romname/ prefix which is handy for overriding a setting for a specific ROM or class of ROMs, such
as vertical/ . However, a single mistake in the .rc file will stop AdvanceMAME from launching.
It is always best to make a backup of the configuration file before manual edits.
AdvanceMAME 3
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-advmame
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/emulators/advmame/bin
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-advmame/samples
MAME Version: MAME 0.106 (May 2006)
Active Sets: 6166
BIOS: 26
CHDs: 86
Samples: 64 (3 more samples are not in circulation)
AdvanceMAME 3 DAT File: same as AdvanceMAME 1.4, see above.
Controls
While in a game, press Tab to open the menu and set up the controls. AdvanceMAME
configuration for controls is stored in /opt/retropie/configs/mame-advmame/[Link] .
Changes to specific games result in .rc file entries with a prefix for the ROM (i.e.
bwidow/input_map[p1_doubleleft_up] keyboard[0,up] )
Note: The .rc file can be edited manually. Any config can be made ROM-specific using a romname/
prefix, which is handy for overriding a setting for a specific ROM or class of ROMs, such as
vertical/ . However, a single mistake in the .rc file will stop AdvanceMAME from launching. It is
always best to make a backup of the [Link] file before manual edits.
MAME
Note: This emulator is considered 'experimental' in RetroPie. It requires more processing power
than earlier MAME versions and will not run as many games at full speed on Raspberry Pi
hardware.
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/arcade
Binary /opt/retropie/emulators/mame/bin
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/mame
BIOS /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/samples
MAME Version: MAME has monthly versioned releases, there is no single version. Version 0.221
was released for May 2020, 0.222 for June 2020, etc.
Installing from binary will probably get a version that's a little behind the current MAME, installing
from source will always get the latest monthly release.
NOTE: installing from source requires a lot of RAM and CPU power, on Pi3 and lower end systems
could take more than one day - use the binary release when available, instead of installing from
source.
MAME Dat Files: ProgettoSnaps MAME .dat page has versions for each MAME release.
Active Sets: ???
Controls
While in a game, press Tab to open the MAME menu, then choose the Input configuration. MAME
controls configuration is saved in /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/cfg :
default/general input configuration file is [Link]
per-game configurations are saved in <romname>.cfg
lr-mame
Note: This emulator is considered 'experimental' in RetroPie. It requires more processing power
than earlier MAME versions and will not run as many games at full speed on Raspberry Pi
hardware.
Folder Location
Roms /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame
/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame-libretro
Binary /opt/retropie/libretrocores/lr-mame
Configuration /opt/retropie/configs/arcade
BIOS /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/mame
Samples /home/pi/RetroPie/roms/mame/samples
MAME Version: Similar to MAME, lr-mame follows the monthtly MAME releases, so there is no
single version. Installing from binary will probably get a version that's a little behind the current
MAME, but the upstream Libretro repository tries to keep up with MAME's monthly releases, so
installing from source
NOTE: installing from source requires a lot of RAM and CPU power, on Pi3 and lower end systems
could take more than a day. Use the binary release when available.
MAME Dat Files: ProgettoSnaps MAME .dat page has versions for each MAME release.
Active Sets: ???
Controls
lr-mame uses the RetroArch control configuration.
/opt/retropie/configs/mame-libretro/[Link]
/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/[Link]
