Add trackball virtual system?

[rastaman1201]

Hi,
I built a 2 player arcade with a trackball. Cant find a virtual system for all trackball games only. Does something like this exist or do I need to make one? If I need to make one...do you know where the files are located for me to add a trackball category?

Thanks

[rastaman1201]

Could I add a "trackball" folder to the roms folder with the games and later create a gamelist in recalbox and then also add a "trackball" folder to the themes folder with the artwork would that do it?

Am I barking up the right tree...?

[rastaman1201]

Or....can I create a "trackball" virtual system by adding a auto-trackball folder in the themes folder and then add the artwork and create a system.xml file for the folder? The next question is how to create a gamelist to connect games in mame and fbneo..?

[rastaman1201]

Figured it out (much praise to @Nanaki)
Recalbox wiki guide: https://wiki.recalbox.com/en/advanced-usage/systems-display#add-a-custom-system

1. Use your PC with PuTTY installed to SSH over your network into Recalbox while its up and running. (if you dont know how to use commands in the prompt window follow this easy guide, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVquJh3DXUA)

2. Use PuTTY command prompt to get to /recalbox/share_init/system/.emulationstation/
   where the systemlist.xml is located. Copy that file to /recalbox/share/system/.emulationstation/ .

3. I would then recommend using Linux Mint to access the file system.(You can do it many other ways) Go to /recalbox/share/system/.emulationstation/ where systemlist.xml is located. ( you will need to make sure and show hidden files and probably open it as root folder by right clicking in the folder. Make a backup of the file in the same location.

4. Follow these instructions from Recalbox Wiki

Add a custom system

You must NOT MODIFY the original systemlist.xml file (which is in the share_init directory). If there are any problems with the changes you make later, this file is the only source to make Recalbox work properly.

This manipulation does not add a new emulator to Recalbox but adds a new system entry to the selection menu.

It is possible to combine the modification of the system order with the addition of one or more custom systems.

As with changing the system order, adding a custom system must be done only from the systemlist.xml file in the following directory /recalbox/share/system/.emulationstation/systemlist.xml.

Originally, this file does not exist. You must either copy the original file or create a new file. Once the new file is created, it is now possible to add a new system to it.

If, in the new file, a system is incorrectly filled in, priority is given to the original file. For the new file, all the input keys are mandatory. So, to create a new system, the easiest way is to start from an existing system (and corresponding to the roms you want to include) and to modify only what is strictly necessary:

"fullname" : Allows to give the name of the new system.
"path" : Allows to indicate the directory containing the roms of the new system.
"theme" : Allows you to indicate which theme to use. It is necessary, beforehand, to create this new theme (logo, background, ...)
All the other entries must not be modified.

Here is an example of an addition for a system based on the SNES to include only translated roms:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<systemList>
<system uuid="21b8873a-a93e-409c-ad0c-8bb6d682bef8" name="snes" fullname="Super Nintendo Fan Trad" platform="snes">
<descriptor path="%ROOT%/snestrad" theme="snestrad" extensions=".smc .sfc .mgd .zip .7z" icon="$0"/>
<scraper screenscraper=""/>
<properties type="console" pad="mandatory" keyboard="no" mouse="optional" lightgun="optional" releasedate="1990-11" retroachievements="1"/>
<emulatorList>
<emulator name="libretro">
<core>snes9x2005</core>
<core>snes9x2010</core>
<core>snes9x2002</core>
</emulator>
</emulatorList>
</system>
</systemList>

5. Add a file to the Themes folder and name it the same as the system. Copy over the _inc file and system.xml file from another theme folder. Add your own artwork to the _inc file labeled the same way.

6. Add a file to the roms folder with the same name as your system. Be sure to add the image folder and media folders as well with the corresponding artwork labeled exactly the same as the rom file.

7. Fire up Recalbox and scrape your system and it will also make a gamelist.

Should be good to go.

[rastaman1201]

@rastaman1201

One more thing to add about editing the systemlist.xml in /recalbox/share/system/.emulationstation/, if you just want to add additional system(s) you don't need any of the other system information in the file, just the new system(s) info you want to add. For example I added a new system for all the trackball games on my arcade, I kept the mame systemlist information in the file and deleted the rest of the info in the file, I then edited the mame system info by changing the fullname, path, and theme. I also changed a few characters in the uuid number/letter chain to make it unique. I'm pretty sure this is also a necessary thing you need to do.