emuControlCenter FAQ

[ECC]

the emuControlCenter FAQ
Here you will find anwers to questions, other people have already asked. Maybe these questions and answers will help you.

general/usage

• Is there an overview of all available keyboard shortcuts in emuControlCenter? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=9000
• Can i sort the whole rom list in listview-mode* by name? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=9060
• There are 4 graphic buttons below the navigation. How to use them? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=9061

configuration/options

• Is it possible to skip the extension warning popup? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=8839

configuration/emulator

• Is it possible to use more the one emulator for one platform? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=8841
• Is it possible to create per game ini setup for a game? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewto ... 339#p14339

meta/general

• Is it possible to copy metadata eg the developer from one rom to another rom? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=9047
• How can in only show the first disk of a game in the list? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=11338

meta/import/arcade

• Q: emuControlCenter has only one CRC32 for MAME/Arcade games. How can i create a list of them to e.g. create imagepacks? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewto ... 969#p12969

meta/import/romdb

• I try to import data from internet romdb, but it doesn´t import anything! Whats wrong? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=11628

meta/export

• Is it possible to export my metadata to an Excel file? (csv) http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=9046

images/imagepacks

• I want to create an own imagepack containing only a specific image type. Is this possible? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=8892
• How can i install a imagepack? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewtopic.php?p=8896
• Can i drag 'n' drop images from my webbrowser direct into the imageCenter image slots? http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewto ... =27&t=2086
• Q: How can i create Arcade imagepacks (e.g. for MAME, CPSx, Model2 aso?) http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewto ... 969#p12969

TODO:

• How can i upload images to image server?
• Why is the direct image download function not everytime working?

[ECC]

Category: configuration/options

Q: Is it possible to skip the extension warning popup?
By inserting new ROMs in the database there comes up every time and for every inserted file extension the remark that the file-extension is used by different other systems and if we want to insert these roms.

A: Yes, you can deactivate this!
You can activate the option "silent rom parsing" option in the configuration [Tab general]. By activating this option, these warnings are skipped.

[ECC]

Category: configuration/emulator

Q: Is it possible to use more the one emulator for one platform?
I´ve many roms using emulator A without a problem , but some roms is only runable in emulator B. Is it possible to start these games in emulator B

A: Yes, you can do this using GLOBAL, ALT1 and ALT2 aso.
You can assign emulators to the GLOBAL, ALT1 and ALT2 (alternate global slots) and then select emulator of your choice in the rom selection dropdown. (rightclick an rom and select start rom with...)

Special note: If you assign an emulator to an fileextension (in this example "gb", see screenshot), all roms with this fileextension "gb" are started in the for "gb" assigned emulator. The GLOBAL emulator is than not used direct!

TBD: Special note a new FAQ entry?

[ECC]

Category: images/imagepacks

Q: I want to create an own imagepack containing only a specific image type. Is this possible?
I want eg. only add the title screens to an imagepack to give this to other users. How to do this?

A: You cannot do this direct in emuControlCenter, but...
you can use the rar.exe (from winrar package) to do this trick for you. Copy the RAR packer (from winrar) 'rar.exe' to your emuControlCenter root folder and try this commandline, if you want all title images in one rar file:

rar.exe a -r [PLATFORM]_title_images.rar ecc-user\[PLATFORM]\images\*title*.*

Replace [PLATFORM] with the platform, you want to process (eg snes)
*title*.* search for all files matching this expression like ecc_snes_XXAACCAAXX_ingame_title.png

[ECC]

Category: images/imagepacks

Q: How can i install a imagepack?
I´ve downloaded an imagepack. No i have some problems making the images visible in emuContolCenter

A: Simple copy them in your ecc-user folder
The default location of your ecc-user folder is in the emuControlCenter installation folder. This folder contains folders for each platform supported by emuControlCenter. The images have to be copied into the images folder! If you added the images while emuControlCenter is running, you have to reload your image!

Thats how an emuControlCenter imagpack content should be looks like!

Code: Select all

ecc-user
    [PLATFORM]
        images

Thats how the ecc-user folder looks!

Code: Select all

ecc-user
    [PLATFORM]
        emus
        exports
        images
        roms

Hint: Sometimes the imagepacks also only contains the images folder - take a look to the package first! Otherwise the package is copied to the wrong location!

[ECC]

Category: general/usage

Q: Is there an overview of all available keyboard shortcuts in emuControlCenter?
The most tools have some shortcuts making the life easier. Have emuControlCenter also keyboard shortcuts, and where can i find an overview?

A: Yes, take a look at the shortcuts.txt
You´ll find this keyboard shortcut overview in your emuControlCenter folder. It is named shortcuts.txt and contains all available shortcuts! If you dont have an english keyboard, you can look at the key-translation. This is also at the end of the shortcuts.txt file.

German keyboard key name translation:
ADD == Einfg
REM == Entf
CTRL == Strg

[ECC]

Category: meta/export

Q: Is it possible to export my metadata to an Excel file? (csv)
I want to change metadata in Excel, because there i can get an better overview of the data.

A: Not direct, but you can ...
... easily create an csv from the eccDat dat file. In the next steps you will see, how to do this.

1. Export you metadata to an eccDat datfile.

2. Create an comma seperated value file (csv) for excel import
A) Open the eccDat file in an texteditor and remove the red-hilighted parts.
B) After this, save the datfile as export.csv and import it in excel. The line seperator is ";"

3. Import the data again to emuControlCenter
A) If all changes in excel are done add the red-hilighted parts again to the edited csv file using your texteditor and rename the edited file to export.eccDat
B) Import this export.eccDat file to emuControlCenter using the import option.

Remove this red hilighted part!

[ECC]
DAT-TYPE= eccMediaDat
DAT-VERSION= 0.96
GENERATOR= emuControlCenter (romdb)
ECC-VERSION= v0.6.1(beta)
[ECC_DAT]
ECCIDENT= all
TYPE= complete
ESEARCH= NO
DATE= 20070527 1115
[ECC_DAT_CREDITS]
AUTHOR= emuControlCenter romdb
WEBSITE= ...
EMAIL= ...
COMMENT= Have fun!
[ECC_MEDIA]

Save this green hilighted part as export.csv

eccident;name;extension;crc32;running;bugs;trainer;intro;usermod;freeware;multiplayer;netplay;year;usk;category;languages;creator;hardware;doublettes;info;info_id;publisher;storage;#
32x;36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples;;6EF99202;;;;;;;;;1994;;58;;Flash Point Productions;;;;;Sega;1;#
32x;Aferburner Complete;;204044C4;;;;;;;;;1994;;29;;Sega;;;;;Sega;1;#
...
32x;Mortal Kombat II;;211085CE;;;;;;;;;1994;;12;;Acclaim / Probe;;;;;;;#

[ECC]

Category: meta/general

Q: Is it possible to copy metadata eg the developer from one rom to another rom?
Often roms have equal meta data but different names. There are only small differences, but the most data like the developer, year aso are equal. Is there a simple way to copy data to an other rom metadata?

A: Yes, it is possible with the emuControlCenter compare/merge function
There are two ways to compare or merge data between 2 roms.

1. You can use drag-n-drop in the mainlist.
This is the best practice, if both roms are visible in the current list
Simple select an rom with the left mouse button and drag and drop this entry over the entry, you wanna compare or merge. A new popup will be opened containing the differences.

2. Use the rom context menu
This is usefull if you want compare games not on the same page or of an different platform.
A - Select the first game, click right mouse for context menu and select "Compare - select left side"
B - Select the destination game and again open the context menu. This time select "Compare to ROMNAME"

How to use the compare window?
On the left you see the data of the first selected rom (Source), on the right the second selected (Destination). Red hilighted data is different between both versions. You can use the arrows to copy data between these roms!

[ECC]

Category: general/usage

Q: Can i sort the whole rom list in listview-mode* by name?
If i select the main list headers to sort, only the content of the current page is sorted.

Q: Yes you can do this.
There are 2 ways.

1. Use the sort buttons in the search area.
This is the prefered way to sort by name.
These will order direct in the database. You can only order by names with this buttons by now.

2. Configure emuControlCenter, that you can see all roms in ListView (100000 per page).
Note: This could be totaly slow! :yawn:
You can setup this in the configuration window -> general -> list view options.
Than you can use also the mainlist table headers to order by name, year, developer aso. This is sort isnt done by the database, so you have to make sure, that you have all data on one page.

ListView mode: In this mode, you have no preview images, but have an better overview of the roms. It looks like an Excel sheet The screenshot show you, how to activate this mode!

[ECC]

Category: general/usage

Q: There are 4 graphic buttons below the navigation. How to use them?
I really dont know, what these buttons do.

A: These buttons are common used options for direct access.
Here is an description of these buttons. (See screenshot)

A Toggle romlist mode
This button toggles the mode of the main Romlist, you´ll see in the center of the emuControlCenter. There are two modes.
1. Detail mode showing screenshot previews for each rom.
2. List mode showing more informations in an sortable list. No screenshot previews here!

B Show/Hide empty platforms
This is usefull, if you only have roms for e.g. 10 platforms. If you activate this this button, all platforms without roms are hidden. This makes navigation easy.
Note: You have to deactivate this option, if you want add an platform you´ve never added roms before. Otherwise you can´t see this platform in the navigation and so you cant select them to add roms!

C Show/Hide duplicate roms
This button hides all roms for a platform having one ore more totaly equal (by cecksum) roms. This option will let 1 rom visible, all duplicate roms are hidden.
Note: You can also remove duplicate roms from database using the option topmenu roms -> remove duplicate roms from db

D Hide this images in romlist detail view
If this mode is activated, emuControlCenter dont try to read the files from your harddisk. This should be faster sometimes.... but you dont see the great screenshots of the games

[ECC]

Category: meta/general

Q: How can in only show the first disk of a game in the list?
I want have more overview in the lists and dont want to see all the disk_2, disk_3 aso. entries. Can i hide these records?

A: Yes, you can do this

A1: Add the media type settings to the metadata of your game. Dont forget to add this information also to the other disks of the game. To make this easier, you can use the Compare/Merge function of emuControlCenter (http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewto ... 9047#p9047)

A2: You can now hide all other disks than by using the button hilighted on this screenshot!

[ECC]

Category: meta/import/romdb

Q: I try to import data from internet romdb, but it doesn´t import anything! Whats wrong?

A: There are three possible answers :-)

For each case, [Image I3] is shown!

A1: The romdb is updated 1 time each day at 01:00 in the moring. Between 00:00 and 01:00, there is no romdb datfile for download available. Thats because we dont have an server with cronjob and a friend do this via cronjob from an external server.

A2: You have blocked the transfer in your firewall. Because emuControlCenter is written in php, php command line ask for access to the internet. If you block this, you can´t download a romdb datfile!

A3: The romdb is broken or not available. If you think, this could be the problem, please add a bugreport to the bugreport section http://ecc.phoenixinteractive.nl/viewforum.php?f=27

[Phoenix]

Category: images/imagepacks

Q: Can i drag 'n' drop images from my webbrowser direct into the imageCenter image slots?
Webbrowsers do support drag 'n' drop functions, but some copy only the link-name

A: Yes, but not all browsers support drag 'n' drop the same way
You may have tried it, but not all browsers handle drag 'n' drop the same, some only copy the link to the image, instead of the image itself, here is a little overview:

Internet Explorer <5 [UNKNOWN]
Internet Explorer 6 [WORKS EVERYTIME]
Internet Explorer 7 [WORKS EVERYTIME]
Firefox 1.5 [UNKNOWN]
Firefox 2 [ONLY WORK SOMETIME, NOT OFTEN!]
Firefox 3 [NOT WORKING!]
Opera [NOT WORKING!]

[ECC]

Category: meta/import/

Q: emuControlCenter has only one CRC32 for MAME/Arcade games. How can i create a list of them to e.g. create imagepacks?

A: You can activate logging and use the ecc-user-logs/dat_import_cm_mame.txt file

You can uses this for all Arcade platforms (see below!):
MAME
Capcom CPS1
Capcom CPS2
Capcom CPS3
Laserdisk Daphne
Sega Model 2
SNK NEO GEO
ZINC

Howto:
1. First activate logging in the configuration popup (see screenshot 1)
2. Add some mame games, if you dont have done this already.
3. Import CtrlMame datfile - this will add all found checksums to an logfile automaticly (see screenshot 2)
4. Open the log file "ecc-user-logs/dat_import_cm_mame.txt" (see screenshot 3)
- This contains all mergedEccCrc32

Content of dat_import_cm_mame.txt
mergedEccCrc32;
name;
sourcefile;
cloneof;
romof;
description;
manufacturer;
year;
filesize;
type;

Example:
1F5F8E5F;
puckmanf;
pacman.c;
puckman;
puckman;
PuckMan (Japan set 1 with speedup hack);
Namco;
1980;
;
game;

[Phoenix]

Hi All,

I am putting these FAQ's inside the documentation, is a very time consuming job, but i am at 50%, so i hope it will be ready this week

[ECC]

Category: configuration/options

Q: Is it possible to create per game ini setup for a game?
I have many games using a special configuration (more ram, other screenmode aso.). How can i configure this in emuControlCenter?

A: Yes, it is possible using a per game config via emulator-template.ini
The emulator config system is usable like in gamebase. You have to create an template with the most used values for all games, than create a eccScript to use these.
This is only working, if you´ve have an eccscript for an emulator. The eccscript have to be altered to handle the settings in your ini.

See the screenshots:

1. Open your meta edit popup.
You will see "No eccScript found" if there is no eccScript activated.

2. Open your emulator configuration.
Select or create an eccScript.

3. Take a look at the meta edit popup again.
Now you will see the text "missing eccscript emulator template"

4. Create an eccscript emulator template
Go to your ecc-script/platform/ folder and create an emulatorname-template.ini

You can add entries in the style
key1=value1
key2=value2
key3=value4
(You take a look at the ecc-script/amiga/winuae-template.ini as an example!)

3. Take a look at the meta edit popup again.
Now you can see the content of the emulatorname-template.ini