Mac User Looking To Purchase A Gp2x

[kev187]

Hello

New member here. I am looking to purchase a GP2x. I sort of knew about it for a while, but not till recently I was aware of what the GP2x could really pull off?

I have an exstensive collection of Emulators & Roms on my mac runing OSX, I figure I am a good candidate to get a GP2x, load up the various emulators, load my exisitng rom collection, & ill be good to go correct? Is it that easy?

Can I pull off all of this since I am running a Mac with OSX? I have no access to a windows PC right now. I am very anxious to make the purchas & set up the unit. Any feedback from anyone?

 

[owkenobi]

Being more of a lurker, my word may not count for that much around here, but I'm Mac user and have had only one problem using the GP2x, and that was creating the cache files for the CPS2 emulator. I got around that by downloading a torrent of the CPS2 roms and caches.

Bascially, get an SD card reader, and I use FinderCleaner everytime I eject the SD card as OS X tends to leave .DS_Store files all over the place otherwise. Doesn't affect anything, I just don't like seeing those files in every folder on the GP2x.

LMK if you have any Mac questions. I'd be glad to help.

 

[Samba Pa Ti]

yeah its possible, just get a card reader then theres no problems with compatibility

 

[telegramguy]

I have an exstensive collection of Emulators & Roms on my mac runing OSX, I figure I am a good candidate to get a GP2x, load up the various emulators, load my exisitng rom collection, & ill be good to go correct? Is it that easy? Can I pull off all of this since I am running a Mac with OSX?

Yes, it is that easy. See my gp2x and mac getting along like pals!

 

[rokdcasbah]

so angus...not just ie, but ie for windows...i'm gonna tell on you. don't know who yet, probably woz.

 

[Tommy]

As a Mac user my one frustration is converting ROMs for Mame. I have to use my PC at work.

How do you Mac guys convert ROMs?


- Tommy

 

[TelcoLou]

.... do .torrents work on a Mac?

(seriously, I don't know ....)

 

[dockthepod]

.... do .torrents work on a Mac?

(seriously, I don't know ....)

Of course! Though I don't use my mac for torrents... being a laptop and all..

GP2X works great with my mac btw.

 

[kev187]

Thanks for all the help.

If I already have roms working on mac emulators, they do not need to be "converted" to work on the GP2x emulators correct?

Also, can the GP2x support 4GB SD cards?

I am going to get one here shortly!

 

[gnyffel]

As a Mac user my one frustration is converting ROMs for Mame. I have to use my PC at work.

How do you Mac guys convert ROMs?

- Tommy



While I've never used a Mac, I do use Linux, and under Linux I use Wine for all my Windows application needs. I've never used MAME, so I can't guarantee it'll work for the ROM converter, but usually small apps have no problem working, which would make things like the CPS2 cache creator easy to use through the Mac OSX Wine port (even though the binary is somewhat outdated, consider building from source - there's guides available).

http://darwine.sourceforge.net/download.php

EDIT:
Gwah, do I look stupid now. Just found out there's a NeoGeo rom dumper for UNIX-like systems. Comments in regard to MAME conversion still stand, though

 

[kev187]

I am still a little confused. What is the purpose of a Rom Converter? If I am using various emulators on my mac & my roommate is using them on windows emulators. If Mame Geomame, Snesx ect... emulators are working with my existing rom collection, do I need to convert those Roms to work on the GP2X?

 

[Alys]

I am still a little confused. What is the purpose of a Rom Converter? If I am using various emulators on my mac & my roommate is using them on windows emulators. If Mame Geomame, Snesx ect... emulators are working with my existing rom collection, do I need to convert those Roms to work on the GP2X?

I haven't really fooled with MAME, but I know that for Neo Geo and CPS2, you need to run certain utilities on the ROMs from Windows in order to get them to run properly (I think it was an issue with the 2X not having enough RAM to run some of the bigger games as they are? Forgive me if I'm wrong). In Neo's case, I'm pretty sure the newest version of the emulator does it automatically, so that ought not to be a problem. In CPS2's, though, I think the Windows utility is currently the only solution (well, that or downloading already modified ROMs like somebody else suggested).

For most stuff like SNES, Genesis, Gameboy and the like, though, it's enough to just chuck the ROMs on an SD Card as they are.

 

[kev187]

Hmmm... now I am a little concerned.

The main reason for getting the GP2X is my mame collection. I have a lot of other roms, but my mame collection is massive & was my main regard to grabbing up a GP2X. At this time, I have no access to a windows computer, but I do own two pre-intel macs.

Can a Mac user chime up on this topic? How can I get my mame roms (I have a ton of them)

Thanks again in advance!

Hmmm... now I am a little concerned.

The main reason for getting the GP2X is my mame collection. I have a lot of other roms, but my mame collection is massive & was my main regard to grabbing up a GP2X. At this time, I have no access to a windows computer, but I do own two pre-intel macs.

Can a Mac user chime up on this topic? How can I get my mame roms (I have a ton of them)

Thanks again in advance!

 

[eaterofdog]

I have a copy of VPC on my mac to run windows xp when I need to use a windows app. You could use it to convert the roms.

 

[kev187]

I have a copy of VPC on my mac to run windows xp when I need to use a windows app. You could use it to convert the roms.

O have used Virtual PC in the past, its slow? I have well over a GB of roms for MAME. I am not wanting to drop the cash on Virtual PC + a copy of windows along with the other cost of buying the GPX + some accessories. There has to be another solution?

 

[Orkie]

You could ask a friend with a Windows machine if you could convert all the ROMs you need to, or pick one up really cheaply off a car boot sale.

 

[owkenobi]

I use MAME, and I haven't had to convert any roms. I use the same ones I used w/ MacMame. I didn't mean to cause any confusion w/ the whole CPS2 cache thing; that is the ONLY emulator I've had any problems with as a Mac user. And again, a little torrenting and the problem was non-existent.

In short, get a GP2x!

 

[kev187]

So looks like without windows I am at a loss at this point. I am still confused why the roms need to be modified? What programs need to be used to convert the roms (I have a lot of them) Ill have to bring them to a friends house.. plus as long as I get new roms I am going to have to keep going over a friends house. The problem is my good friend who lets me use his PC is a pain about programs & wont even install flash on his machine to keep his drive clean.

I am going to have to keep looking into it, I am not adding another machine to my office, I just got rid of my extra PC as I could not keep it from crashing, gave it to a friend to part out.

I want this GP2x badly, I am going to have to figure out what to do with these mame roms, very confused why everything else will work on it. :-( grrrr

 

[ThorC]

I'm not a mac user or heavy MAME user (I only have a few roms, and I didn't need to convert them) so I suppose the only conversion is for the people with massive MAME romsets and want to turn their latest MAME set into a GP2X MAME set, so they can have all the supported games available to them on the go without having to manually go through and do it?

The wiki page mentions romset conversion from the current MAME romset down to the version on the GP2X, and gives a link to a Linux and OS X tool, AdvanceScan, which says it works on OS X.

Would that not be acceptable?

As I said, not a MAME or Mac user, so I'm only guessing here and going on what I have read, just trying to help

 

[TelcoLou]

Holy crap!

google + gp2x + torrents

:runs away cackling like a madman: