Scripts to compile and install MAME in Linux Debian/Ubuntu distributions in a way as easy as possible.
The default configuration assumes that the UNIX user running MAME is named kodi and hence the home directory is /home/kodi/. The default paths can be edited in the file configuration.sh to suit your needs. If you do so, remember to change all directory names from /home/kodi/ to /home/$USERNAME/ through this guide. For the time being do not use spaces in the directory names.
# File /home/kodi/mame-install/configuration.sh
MAME_GIT_TAG=mame0228
MAME_SOURCE_DIR=/home/kodi/mame-source/
MAME_INSTALL_DIR=/home/kodi/mame-bin/
MAME_BIN_DIR=/home/kodi/bin/
MAME_CONFIG_DIR=/home/kodi/.mame/
MAME_SOURCE_DIR is the directory where the MAME source code will be cloned from Github. MAME_INSTALL_DIR is the directory where the MAME runtime files will be installed. MAME_BIN_DIR is the directory to place the MAME executable. Finally, MAME_CONFIG_DIR is the directory to store the MAME configuration. Do not change MAME_CONFIG_DIR unless you know what you are doing. Once compiled and installed, the MAME executable will be located in /home/kodi/bin/mame64.
The shipped mame.ini and ui.ini assume you use the following paths. If you want to change the defaults paths remember to edit these configuration files.
/home/kodi/MAME-ROMs Directory for MAME ROMs
/home/kodi/MAME-CHDs Directory for MAME CHDs
/home/kodi/MAME-SL-ROMs Directory for Software List ROMs
/home/kodi/MAME-SL-CHDs Directory for Software List ROMs
/home/kodi/MAME-assets Directory for MAME assets (snaps, titles, etc.)
/home/kodi/MAME-DATs Directory for MAME DAT and INI files
/home/kodi/MAME-samples Directory for sample ZIP files.
If you don't have git installed then execute as root user:
# apt-get install git
To clone this repository:
$ cd /home/kodi/
$ git clone https://github.com/Wintermute0110/MAME-Install.git
The MAME compilation tools will be cloned into the directory /home/kodi/MAME-Install/. To update the MAME compilation tools execute git pull.
As the kodi user clone the MAME source code. This will take a while:
$ cd /home/kodi/
$ git clone https://github.com/mamedev/mame.git mame-source
Alternatively, you may clone the MAME source code like this:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./clone-mame.sh
If you want to compile a particular version of MAME first have a look at the tags in the repository:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./display-mame-source-git-tags.sh
mame0121
...
mame0206
mame0228
Each tag corresponds to a released version of MAME. Now, edit configuration.sh and change the MAME_GIT_TAG:
MAME_GIT_TAG=mame0228
If you want to compile to most up-to-date development version use the tag master. Now, set the MAME source code to the tag configured:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./set-mame-source-version.sh
At any moment you can check the status of the MAME source code with:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./display-mame-source-status.sh
Current directory /home/kodi/mame-install
MAME source directory /home/kodi/mame-source/
HEAD detached at mame0228
nothing to commit, working tree clean
In this example git is telling that the MAME source code is set to tag mame0228. The MAME source code is now ready for compilation.
First you need to install the build dependencies required to compile MAME. As user root execute:
# cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
# ./setup-build-deps.sh
Before compilation, you may want to verify if the MAME source is set to the version you want:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./display-mame-source-status.sh
Current directory /home/kodi/MAME-Install
HEAD detached at mame0228
nothing to commit, working tree clean
In this example, the MAME source code is set to version 0.228. Now it's time to compile MAME. This will take a while, at least 1 hour on a fast computer and up to several hours in low-end devices such as a Raspberry Pi. The compilation will use all the available CPU cores on your machine:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./compile-mame-regenie.sh
Finally, to install the MAME executable and the MAME runtime files execute:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./install-mame.sh
This script will create a default configuration files in $MAME_CONFIG_DIR/mame.ini and $MAME_CONFIG_DIR/ui.ini. If you change the default paths in configuration.sh do not forget to edit mame.ini and ui.ini to reflect those changes, otherwise MAME won't work.
First update the MAME source code:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./update-mame-source-code.sh
If you wish to set a specific version have a look at the tags with display-mame-source-git-tags.sh, then edit configuration.sh to the tag you wish to compile. Finally, compile MAME and install:
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ ./set-mame-source-version.sh
$ ./display-mame-source-version.sh
$ ./compile-mame-regenie.sh
$ ./install-mame.sh
If you experience any kind of problem with MAME, for example MAME freezes when loading ROMs at the beginning, the reason could be that the shipped configuration files mame.ini and ui.ini are old (or new if you are compiling an old version or MAME). Follow these steps to update the configuration files:
Step 1 Delete the installed configuration files.
$ rm /home/kodi/.mame/mame.ini
$ rm /home/kodi/.mame/ui.ini
Step 2 Create new configuration files /home/kodi/.mame/mame.ini and /home/kodi/.mame/ui.ini for the current version of MAME.
$ mame64 -createconfig
Step 3 Customize the configuration files mame.ini and ui.ini to set the directories for your ROMs, etc. You can see the changes of the shipped configuration files with respect to the original files using the following commands.
$ cd /home/kodi/MAME-Install/
$ diff -u --color mame.ini.vanilla mame.ini
$ diff -u --color ui.ini.vanilla ui.ini
If you want to make these changes permanent then copy your customized files to directory /home/kodi/mame-install. Otherwise mame.ini and ui.ini in /home/kodi/.mame/ will be overwritten every time you execute install-mame.sh.