Boxart not showing after "manual" scraping and other "manual" scraping problems

nanupitakgap7

I decided to do a "manual" scraping (making and/or editing gamelist.xml, uploading own boxart, etc.) because some of the games and/or systems cannot be scraped with either scraper options available. ("No info available" bla bla)

For this process, I connected my Batocera laptop to the same network as my PC and then exited out of Emulation Station via SSH. Using Dreamcast as an example, I made my own gamelist.xml file, placed all of my boxarts in a folder, and then transferred these to the laptop. (It's in /share/roms/dreamcast/)

After everything is complete, I entered Emulation Station, went to option to Update Gamelist, then I checked Dreamcast. All the metadata are there, but the images/boxarts don't appear. I double-checked the image path in both Edit Metadata and in its gamelist.xml, made sure that all the image files are in restarted the system but it's still not there.

I also went to the trouble of transferring the gamelist and the images from a flash drive by accessing the laptop's filesystem and, unfortunately, that didn't help. In fact, it turned out much worse as not every game was "scraped". Again, using Dreamcast as an example, some games don't have images but have metadata, some have it the other way around, and some have nothing at all!

So there. I tried anything and everything but I guess it wasn't enough. Help is always appreciated. Thanks!

Ruodokas

If everything else fails, use ultimate xml scraper (https://github.com/Universal-Rom-Tools/Universal-XML-Scraper/releases), it has built-in support for scraping game data in recalbox format (batocera forefather). I used that one and it just works beautifully (only when scraping multidisc (PSX) games, you might limit the file extensions to playlist file alone, to keep a single entry in playlist)

nanupitakgap7

Ruodokas Hmmm, I actually thought of that but I wasn't sure if it'll connect over network/SSH. Oh well, I might as well try. Thanks!

EDIT (after an hour): I tried UXS as you suggested and, unfortunately, it crashed. Is it because I set the path over network instead of on a local drive, as it was intended to be? Also, I'm wondering if my slow internet connection (around 3-5 Mbps; I live in the Philippines hence the speed) has to do with it?

jasonhurd

Are your ROMs in a folder by any chance? I noticed that you will not get a image for folders even if there is only one game in the folder.

nanupitakgap7

Ruodokas Hmmm, so I need to change my host name to a name other than "Recalbox"?

jasonhurd Do you mean if my ROMs are in its respective folders?

Ruodokas

it works both thru network and as local drive (I have mainly used it as local usb drive here) ; if using thru LAN (192.168.* address space) host name may need to be changed for scraper config.

Ruodokas

Not at all, you can keep the hostname in scraper as it is if you haven't touched it. Just use launch wizard in configuration menu if you want to recheck settings, its self-explanatory guided wizard there. Just need to select system (retropie/recalbox) and gamelist layout type as well as how the drive is connected to computer. (as you are running on laptop, and presumably the games are in internal drive, you would be using the raspberry icon as to tell the program to use network connections; local area network not internet connection, so you will need a router with/without wifi connectivity)

nanupitakgap7

Ruodokas Ohhh. So instead of the PC icon, I have to choose the RPi icon if asked where my ROMs are, right? I see. I'll try that.

jasonhurd

Sorry for not being more clear. I mean in a sub folder within the "console" folder. Such as /share/roms/dreamcast/game1/game1.iso

I noticed that the scaper still worked but I had to actually enter in the game1 sub folder to see the image scraped for game1.iso.

It may not be your issue but it is something to watch out for.

nanupitakgap7

jasonhurd No problem. Well, I had some games for Dreamcast that are in a sub folder because they are multi disc games (Shenmue and Grandia II). Anyway, thanks for the input! I'll keep that in mind.

Ruodokas

nanupitakgap7
Exactly although on initial connection attempt it may fail, as it will be trying to connect to retropie host, just change the host name accordingly in settings and it will work. (recalbox is the default host name)

nanupitakgap7

Ruodokas From my understanding, I have to change host name from Recalbox to Retropie? And by settings, you mean the one on my laptop?

Ruodokas

nanupitakgap7 You change the hostname what ever is set on the computer, or just use the ip address directly.

nanupitakgap7

Ruodokas Scraping images using Universal XML Scraper didn't work for me. Sure it generated a gamelist and a "downloaded_images" folder, but the scraped images and even metadata still doesn't show. Even weirder, when I view my games, they're in detailed view even though there's no image and metadata. Tried updating my game lists and restarting my system, nothing.

Ruodokas

nanupitakgap7 Not a theme error by any chance then? I got the 'Comic Book' theme from retropie, and it works as intended with the gamelists, all images and text is showing. I have not tested with other themes, so you're problem might be here.

nanupitakgap7

Ruodokas Nah, I believe it's not a theme error. I tried both the standard Recalbox and the Tronkyfran themes and got the same result.

(Or maybe because my internet connection sucks? I mean, the scraper is getting its source from the internet, right?)

Ruodokas

Scraper only gets data once from internet, when using the actual games, they should be loaded locally already.