Artwork, metadata and ScreenScraper

EmulationStation gamelists

Degauss reads gamelist.xml from the same folder as the games. Paths inside it are relative to that folder. Normal browsing is read-only.

Only <path> is required. A useful entry can add a display name and picture:

<gameList>
  <game>
    <path>./Boulder Dash.d64</path>
    <name>Boulder Dash</name>
    <screenshot>./media/screenshot/Boulder Dash.png</screenshot>
  </game>
</gameList>

Degauss reads <image>, <screenshot> and <thumbnail>, in that order of preference. It also reads description, publisher, developer, release date, players, language and genre when present.

MiSTer Game Artwork Databases

Automatic is the default when no source has been saved. A gamelist.xml in any system library root keeps the whole system on Gamelist. Otherwise Degauss uses a valid installed artwork pack from SD, then USB0 through USB7.

1. Install a database through Update All → Settings → Extra Content → Game Artwork DBs.
2. Highlight a supported system, or browse inside it, and press X.
3. Open Library → Game Data Source and choose Artwork Pack.
4. Confirm the detected docs location. Choose the intended installation if more than one is present.

Degauss reads the selected database in place. It does not download, update, repair, change the style of or uninstall artwork databases. Selecting a pack does not edit or remove an existing gamelist or its media. Choose Gamelist to restore that source immediately.

Artwork Pack and Gamelist are exclusive sources for a system. Missing pack fields remain empty rather than being filled from a gamelist or ScreenScraper. A missing or damaged selected database is reported instead of silently using stale or fallback data.

Scrape with ScreenScraper

A free ScreenScraper account is required. Use Y Menu → Options → Library → Scrape All Systems for the card, or X Actions → Library for Scrape This System, Scrape This Folder or Scrape This Game. The master Favourites shelf is not a scrape target.

Images and Metadata cannot both be Off when a scrape starts. If the chosen picture exists and every enabled metadata field is populated, Degauss skips the game before making a request.

Matching and manual search

Ordinary ROM files up to 64 MiB are matched by CRC32, MD5 and SHA-1. Larger files, archives, .mgl, .mra and other wrappers use an exact normalised-title search.

For one game, ambiguous or missing exact matches open a candidate list with artwork previews. Press A to confirm, X to edit the search title, or B to leave the game untouched. Search Manually starts directly with the editable title search.

Folder, system and all-system jobs do not stop for a match choice. Missing and ambiguous matches are counted and skipped, while remaining games continue.

Progress, backups and saved login

The progress dashboard reports written, unchanged, unresolved and failed counts and remains cancellable. After results are saved, Degauss refreshes each affected system’s complete list. No helper or background service remains after Degauss exits.

Downloaded pictures go under media/screenscraper/ beside the gamelist. Before changing an existing gamelist, Degauss writes one timestamped gamelist.xml.degauss-scraper-*.bak copy. Malformed or ambiguous gamelists are reported and left byte-for-byte unchanged.

The account password is stored as plain text in screenscraper.toml because FAT and exFAT cards do not provide private Unix file permissions. Degauss asks before saving it, masks it on screen, excludes it from logs and process arguments, and provides Clear saved login.