This behavior typically means that the MAME ROM is missing files that it needs to run. You could find out exactly which files are missing by launching from the command line, or you could try a different version of the non-working ROM (we recommend trying this before doing the command line thing).
If you'd like to try the command line test, follow these steps:
- on your keyboard press the WINDOWS LOGO button + R at the same time. This will open the "RUN" prompt
- type "cmd" (no quotes) into the run prompt & press enter
- you'll see the black command line window. Type:
cd C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\polycade\emulators\mame
Make sure to replace [YOUR USERNAME] with whatever your windows username is. You can check this by looking in the C:\Users folder. Once you have your username and the above command filled out, press ENTER
- Type:
mame.exe -rp C:\Users\[YOUR USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\polycade\emulators\mame [NAME OF THE ROM FILE]
Be sure to replace the [NAME OF THE ROM FILE] with the name of the file you're trying to run, without the .zip. Hence, if you were trying to run Asteroids, whos rom file is labelled asteroid1.zip, you would replace [NAME OF THE ROM FILE] with asteroid1. When you've got your command, press ENTER. You should see the file attempt to run, and if it fails, you'll see something like:
ww15.pal16l8.ic24.jed.bin NOT FOUND (tried in elevator elevator)
Fatal error: Required files are missing, the machine cannot be run.
