UI generates game .ini files with invalid paths

[Typraeurion]

MAME version

0.273

System information

Fedora 40, Linux 6.12.8-100.fc40.x86_64

INI configuration details

#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig                1
writeconfig               0

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
homepath                  .
rompath                   /usr/share/mame/bioses;/usr/share/mame/roms;/usr/share/mame/chds
hashpath                  /usr/share/mame/hash
samplepath                /usr/share/mame/samples
artpath                   /usr/share/mame/artwork;/usr/share/mame/effects
ctrlrpath                 /usr/share/mame/ctrlr
inipath                   $HOME/.mame/ini;/etc/mame
fontpath                  /usr/share/mame/fonts
cheatpath                 /usr/share/mame/cheat
crosshairpath             /usr/share/mame/crosshair
pluginspath               /usr/share/mame/plugins
languagepath              /usr/share/mame/language
swpath                    software

#
# CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS
#
cfg_directory             $HOME/.mame/cfg
nvram_directory           $HOME/.mame/nvram
input_directory           $HOME/.mame/inp
state_directory           $HOME/.mame/sta
snapshot_directory        $HOME/.mame/snap
diff_directory            $HOME/.mame/diff
comment_directory         $HOME/.mame/comments
share_directory           share

#
# CORE STATE/PLAYBACK OPTIONS
#
state                     
autosave                  1
rewind                    0
rewind_capacity           100
playback                  
record                    
exit_after_playback       0
mngwrite                  
aviwrite                  
wavwrite                  
snapname                  %g/%i
snapsize                  auto
snapview                  auto
snapbilinear              1
statename                 %g
burnin                    0

#
# CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
autoframeskip             0
frameskip                 0
seconds_to_run            0
throttle                  1
sleep                     1
speed                     1.0
refreshspeed              0
lowlatency                1

#
# CORE RENDER OPTIONS
#
keepaspect                1
unevenstretch             1
unevenstretchx            0
unevenstretchy            0
autostretchxy             0
intoverscan               0
intscalex                 0
intscaley                 0

#
# CORE ROTATION OPTIONS
#
rotate                    1
ror                       0
rol                       0
autoror                   0
autorol                   0
flipx                     0
flipy                     0

#
# CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS
#
artwork_crop              0
fallback_artwork          
override_artwork          

#
# CORE SCREEN OPTIONS
#
brightness                1.0
contrast                  1.0
gamma                     1.0
pause_brightness          0.65
effect                    none

#
# CORE VECTOR OPTIONS
#
beam_width_min            1.0
beam_width_max            1.0
beam_dot_size             1.0
beam_intensity_weight     0
flicker                   0

#
# CORE SOUND OPTIONS
#
samplerate                48000
samples                   1
volume                    0
compressor                1
speaker_report            0

#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout              1
ctrlr                     
mouse                     0
joystick                  1
lightgun                  0
multikeyboard             0
multimouse                0
steadykey                 0
ui_active                 0
offscreen_reload          0
joystick_map              auto
joystick_deadzone         0.15
joystick_saturation       0.85
joystick_threshold        0.3
natural                   0
joystick_contradictory    0
coin_impulse              0

#
# CORE INPUT AUTOMATIC ENABLE OPTIONS
#
paddle_device             keyboard
adstick_device            keyboard
pedal_device              keyboard
dial_device               keyboard
trackball_device          keyboard
lightgun_device           keyboard
positional_device         keyboard
mouse_device              mouse

#
# CORE DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
verbose                   0
log                       0
oslog                     0
debug                     0
update_in_pause           0
debugscript               
debuglog                  0

#
# CORE COMM OPTIONS
#
comm_localhost            0.0.0.0
comm_localport            15112
comm_remotehost           127.0.0.1
comm_remoteport           15112
comm_framesync            0

#
# CORE MISC OPTIONS
#
drc                       1
drc_use_c                 0
drc_log_uml               0
drc_log_native            0
bios                      
cheat                     0
skip_gameinfo             1
uifont                    "DomCasual BT|Regular"
ui                        cabinet
ramsize                   
confirm_quit              0
ui_mouse                  1
language                  
nvram_save                1

#
# SCRIPTING OPTIONS
#
autoboot_command          
autoboot_delay            0
autoboot_script           
console                   0
plugins                   1
plugin                    
noplugin                  

#
# HTTP SERVER OPTIONS
#
http                      0
http_port                 8080
http_root                 web

#
# OSD INPUT MAPPING OPTIONS
#
uimodekey                 auto
controller_map            none
background_input          0

#
# OSD FONT OPTIONS
#
uifontprovider            auto

#
# OSD OUTPUT OPTIONS
#
output                    auto

#
# OSD INPUT OPTIONS
#
keyboardprovider          auto
mouseprovider             auto
lightgunprovider          auto
joystickprovider          auto

#
# OSD DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
debugger                  auto
debugger_host             localhost
debugger_port             23946
debugger_font             auto
debugger_font_size        0
watchdog                  0

#
# OSD PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
numprocessors             auto
bench                     0

#
# OSD VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video                     auto
numscreens                1
window                    1
maximize                  1
waitvsync                 0
syncrefresh               0
monitorprovider           auto

#
# OSD PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS
#
screen                    auto
aspect                    auto
resolution                auto
view                      auto
screen0                   auto
aspect0                   auto
resolution0               auto
view0                     auto
screen1                   auto
aspect1                   auto
resolution1               auto
view1                     auto
screen2                   auto
aspect2                   auto
resolution2               auto
view2                     auto
screen3                   auto
aspect3                   auto
resolution3               auto
view3                     auto

#
# OSD FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
switchres                 0

#
# OSD ACCELERATED VIDEO OPTIONS
#
filter                    1
prescale                  2

#
# OpenGL-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
#
gl_forcepow2texture       0
gl_notexturerect          0
gl_vbo                    1
gl_pbo                    1
gl_glsl                   0
gl_glsl_filter            1
glsl_shader_mame0         none
glsl_shader_mame1         none
glsl_shader_mame2         none
glsl_shader_mame3         none
glsl_shader_mame4         none
glsl_shader_mame5         none
glsl_shader_mame6         none
glsl_shader_mame7         none
glsl_shader_mame8         none
glsl_shader_mame9         none
glsl_shader_screen0       none
glsl_shader_screen1       none
glsl_shader_screen2       none
glsl_shader_screen3       none
glsl_shader_screen4       none
glsl_shader_screen5       none
glsl_shader_screen6       none
glsl_shader_screen7       none
glsl_shader_screen8       none
glsl_shader_screen9       none

#
# OSD SOUND OPTIONS
#
sound                     auto
audio_latency             2

#
# PORTAUDIO OPTIONS
#
pa_api                    none
pa_device                 none
pa_latency                0

#
# OSD MIDI OPTIONS
#
midiprovider              auto

#
# OSD EMULATED NETWORKING OPTIONS
#
networkprovider           auto

#
# BGFX POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
bgfx_path                 /usr/share/mame/bgfx
bgfx_backend              auto
bgfx_debug                0
bgfx_screen_chains        
bgfx_shadow_mask          slot-mask.png
bgfx_lut                  lut-default.png
bgfx_avi_name             auto

#
# SDL PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
sdlvideofps               0

#
# SDL VIDEO OPTIONS
#
centerh                   1
centerv                   1
scalemode                 none

#
# SDL FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
useallheads               0
attach_window             

#
# SDL KEYBOARD MAPPING
#
keymap                    0
keymap_file               keymap.dat

#
# SDL INPUT OPTIONS
#
enable_touch              0
sixaxis                   0
dual_lightgun             0

#
# SDL LIGHTGUN MAPPING
#
lightgun_index1           auto
lightgun_index2           auto
lightgun_index3           auto
lightgun_index4           auto
lightgun_index5           auto
lightgun_index6           auto
lightgun_index7           auto
lightgun_index8           auto

#
# SDL LOW-LEVEL DRIVER OPTIONS
#
videodriver               auto
renderdriver              auto
audiodriver               auto
gl_lib                    auto

Emulated system/software

N/A

Incorrect behaviour

After modifying the System Settings for a game (which was previously able to run) and then saving it, attempting to run the game again causes mame to terminate with
Fatal error: Required files are missing, the machine cannot be run.
following a list of all of the game files. The newly-generated game.ini file contains overrides for everything in mame.ini, not just the settings that were changed. Critically, all of the paths (such as rompath) are changed from absolute locations to relative locations. For example:

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
homepath                  .
rompath                   roms
hashpath                  hash
samplepath                samples
artpath                   artwork
ctrlrpath                 ctrlr
inipath                   .;ini;ini/presets
fontpath                  .
cheatpath                 cheat
crosshairpath             crosshair
pluginspath               plugins
languagepath              language
swpath                    software

(Compare to the paths in the main mame.ini file posted above.) In addition, it seems some other UI options that had been customized are reverted to their default settings in this game.ini file.

Expected behaviour

mame should only write configuration settings that were changed into the game.ini file, or at least store the same configuration values used in the general settings when they haven’t been overridden for the game.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install a fresh copy of mame. (I used the RPM package provided by Fedora — dnf install mame)
2. Download the required ROMs for one or more games (it shouldn’t matter which ones) and move them into the default ROM directory: /usr/share/mame/roms
3. Run mame from a terminal
4. Select “General Settings”
5. Verify the folder locations are correct; (optionally) tweak the UI settings as desired. (Suggestion: change the UI font.)
6. “Save Settings” to generate a personal mame.ini file in ~/.mame/ini/.
7. Select a game and run it to verify it loads.
8. Exit back to the UI
9. Select “System Settings”
10. Modify one or more of the game options; for example, change the trackball or paddle device assignment from keyboard to mouse.
11. “Save System Settings”
12. Try to run the game again. Note the fatal error message in the terminal.
13. Go into the game’s .ini file and compare it to mame.ini. (Besides the paths, if you had changed the UI font in step 5 see that in game.ini it is reverted back to “default”.)

Additional details

No response