Installing/Running MAME principles

[Spyhunter]

I have read many docs on installing MAME but wondered if anyone could explain the general principle of installing MAME and other programs to my PS3 Linux box.

I am in the Windows installation mode of thinking and need someone to reprogram my brain process when thinking about this.

What I mean is idiots terms such as you have to install Repo first, then protectbase... etc etc

Can anyone please help a budding linux beginner!!!

[ppietro]

I have read many docs on installing MAME but wondered if anyone could explain the general principle of installing MAME and other programs to my PS3 Linux box.

I am in the Windows installation mode of thinking and need someone to reprogram my brain process when thinking about this.

What I mean is idiots terms such as you have to install Repo first, then protectbase... etc etc

Can anyone please help a budding linux beginner!!!

I can help with this. I won't be describing MAME per se - just installation in general.

So - originally in Unix - programs were distributed as source code. You would download the text-base source code and compile it into binary code that could then run on your computer. This made sense, since Unix was generally used on University mainframes with radically different processor architectures. Distributing binary code that only ran on your mainframe didn't make much sense.

When Linux came out, it primarily ran on Intel processors on IBM PC compatible hardware. Suddenly, the idea of a binary installer became much more appealing - especially when it simplified the installation of Linux.

Three major distributions of Linux were developed - each of which came up with an installer solution. These are Debian, Slackware & Red Hat.

Red Hat solved the installer issue with a technology called RPM. Initially, this stood for Red Hat Package Manager, and it was loosely based on the Solaris Package manager concept. RPMs are kind of like Windows MSIs - they put binary files in pre-determined locations, and register the files in a database so they can be uninstalled.

Linux, however, is much more "ala carte" than Windows. So - RPMs also include dependency checks. This means that if certain prior RPMs aren't installed, the one you're trying to install will quit. After a while, users found themselves chasing down RPMs every time they wanted to install the simplest program. This became fondly known as "dependency hell".

So - Yellow Dog invented a technology called YUM. This stands for YellowDog Updater Modified. What YUM did is parse libraries of RPMs on servers and organize and automate installs of this software. We call these libraries "repositories" or "repos" for short.

With YUM, you can see all of the RPMs on a repo, and install them at will. YUM automates the downloading of the RPMs from the repo, as well as any required dependencies that aren't already installed on your machine. It then correctly installs the programs by calling RPM for you.

This is very similar in concept to Debian's Apt-Get or, not so similarly, to BSD Unix's Ports system which automatically downloads and builds applications from on-line source code archives.

Fedora/Red Hat based Linuxes have a rule about only including software in their repos that is open source, does not have copyright limitations (like MP3), and does not forbid commercial use. This is why the default set of YDL programs in Add/Remove Software seems rather limited. It's Red Hat/Fedora/YDL tribal knowledge that you must add extra repos like Livna, Dribble, Fedora Extras, etc. to make your system truly usable.

You might notice that I've intentionally left Gentoo Linux out of this discussion. Gentoo has a philosophy that the only way to truly run software is to compile it directly on your machine - much like the original Unix distributions. They use a system called Portage to automate this - similar to BSD Unix's Ports system.

So - in summary. RPMs are like Windows MSIs. YUM would be like an automatic software install library of MSIs - which doesn't really exist in Windows.

Finally - we get to yum-protectbase or protectbase for short.

Red Hat Linux comes in two flavors. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (aka RHEL) and Fedora. I discuss the reasons why the split exists here:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=3684&p=16307#p16307

Basically - RHEL runs about 3 versions behind Fedora. If you enable a Fedora repo on a RHEL system, and try to install software via YUM, it will update too many base RHEL libraries, and most likely render your system unusable. There's just too much of a difference between these Linux distibutions.

Normally, this isn't a problem for RHEL because it's "closed loop". Most RHEL installations are in large companies with tightly controlled repos. They use the Red Hat subscription repos plus some of their own. An individual user normally doesn't have root access on these installations, and can't edit these repos - so bad stuff doesn't happen.

RHEL costs money, but since the source code is GPL, they have to make it freely available, and you're allowed to compile it and give it away. The CentOS Linux distribution does exactly that - removing the Red Hat name and logos. Since CentOS is used by real people, they ran into this "library trashing" right away - and invented yum-protectbase to, well, protect the key CentOS libraries.

Since YDL is now based on CentOS, it's imperative that if you decide to use repos from other Linuxes, to install yum-protectbase so that your key system files are protected.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

Cheers,
Paul

[Spyhunter]

thanks, that helps a lot.

now how to install mame LOL

[Spyhunter]

right i actually installed some more repos and MAME was listed.
Installed MAME, Frodo and Stella and worked well.

(Note: I tried to manually install from download following the instructions online but I got Error 127?)

Although can't find how to run MAME anywhere? it's not on the Games Menu?

Where do the installation end up please? I also need to know this for the editing of the config files on the emulators as I want to keep the roms on an external hdd if possible.

Thanks.

[ppietro]

I did a quick search of our forum with:
mame + configuration + setup

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2082&p=7807&hilit=mame+configuration+setup#p7807

Cheers,
Paul

[Spyhunter]

got it working, thanks.

just a few issues with the roms - some work, some don't - even though all work with MAME PC.

Also, I can not save roms or files to the normal MAME area (/etc/MAME) - states I do not have permission - how can i do this or change this permission permanently please.

[ppietro]

Also, I can not save roms or files to the normal MAME area (/etc/MAME) - states I do not have permission - how can i do this or change this permission permanently please.

Normally, you'd just use the su command in a terminal window to become root user, then move ( man mv ) the files there as root user. This is done so that more than one user can access the files - /etc is read by all, modified by root only.

Otherwise - man chmod should help you.

Cheers,
Paul

[Spyhunter]

is there a way to give myself the permission all the time for modify the mame foldess though - i dont like copying via terminal but understand if this is the 'Linux' way!!

[ppietro]

is there a way to give myself the permission all the time for modify the mame foldess though - i dont like copying via terminal but understand if this is the 'Linux' way!!

Otherwise - man chmod should help you.

Cheers,
Paul