Downloading multiple files at once?

[That Don Guy]

The only two ways that I seem to be able to download MAME ROMs are (a) a 50+ GB "everything at once file", and (b) clicking on one title at a time.

Is there a way to click on multiple titles at once (for example, all of the titles beginning with "A"), then press some magic button to download all of them one after the other?

Why, yes, I did pretty much describe FTP, didn't I? I noticed some older threads that mentioned an FTP server; is that still around?

[Warrior]

Ya could always torrent it from the official unofficial source.

If you wanna know where il tell ya via a PM.

They are always up to date FYI, soon as a new MAME ver is out they have the romset/CHDs updated.

[deadlegion]

Use a download manager and queue everything you want.

Edit:
I think the 161 CHD set on the main site has a torrent (it's like 300GB or something) but I dunno about the rom set (50GB or so).

Edit 2:
Think I might move this thread because it's more about downloading from the main site...not about emulation issues.

[That Don Guy]

Use a download manager and queue everything you want.

How do I do that here without having to go to each ROM's page separately?

For example, if I go to the "#" page, my download manager will list the links for the games that don't begin with letters (e.g. 10-Yard Fight; 1942) - but those are links to the games' ROM pages, and not to the ROMs themselves.

[deadlegion]

You want everything but you don't want a single download link for the set?

Torrents.

[Warrior]

What DL said, either a torrent or something like I have here for the FBA romset.

Speaking of which I need to update.

[deadlegion]

If you have EP premium you can download several links simultaneously from the main site but I think there's still a limit. Without limits the servers would get raped. Constantly.
But like I said I think there's a torrent for the 161 CHD set at least, because it's just so HUEG.

[Warrior]

There are 2 MAME rom sets,

Torrent zip and Torrent 7zip

tzip is over 50 GB, t7zip is around 32 GB.

Each rom is separate in the tzip set, the t7zip set each clone rom is merged with the parent rom archive so thats a tad confusing but it reads/runs exactly as it normally should.

tzip set is easier to update/downgrade, t7zip takes way longer because of the compression method.

[deadlegion]

There are 2 MAME rom sets,

Torrent zip and Torrent 7zip

tzip is over 50 GB, t7zip is around 32 GB.

Each rom is separate in the tzip set, the t7zip set each clone rom is merged with the parent rom archive so thats a tad confusing but it reads/runs exactly as it normally should.

tzip set is easier to update/downgrade, t7zip takes way longer because of the compression method.

Using 7zip ultra compression I guess?

[Warrior]

Using 7zip ultra compression I guess?

Its whatever t7zip uses, its a fork of 7z to give matching hashes for torrent sets so people don't have to redownload a entire set just to seed.

same for tzip.

[That Don Guy]

Thanks for the advice, but I underestimated my download speed (I thought I "only" had a 6M; turns out it's more like 15), so I just downloaded the full file.

The main reasons I wanted to be able to do it "piece by piece" were, (a) my computer has been acting flaky for the past few months and freezes without warning, and I didn't want to be 99% of the way through a download when it happened (and I'm not 100% confident in my download manager's ability to resume a stopped download if it was stopped by the equivalent of my computer's plug being pulled out), and (b) I wanted to be able to skip the larger games I wasn't interested in.

[Warrior]

Real annoying part with MAME is the tons of useless data on slot/fruit machines and games that will never be playable that are just too graphical.

Good thing the high end arcade games are mainly CHDs.