Scraping, Arch R

Download cover art, screenshots, logos, and metadata for your games directly in archr-launcher

Scraping turns a list of filenames into a complete library with box art, screenshots, logos, synopses, release years, developer names, and ratings. archr-launcher includes a built-in ScreenScraper client that runs directly on the handheld in the background.

Scraping screen in archr-launcher

Scraping needs a ScreenScraper developer key built into the launcher; a build without it says on this page that collecting art is unavailable.

Setting Up ScreenScraper

archr-launcher downloads artwork and metadata from ScreenScraper. A free account on their website authenticates the requests, and the launcher shows how many threads the account is allowed. Access still depends on ScreenScraper's quotas and on the service being up.

Connect the handheld to Wi-Fi

Open Settings › Network › Wi-Fi, turn Wi-Fi on, and connect to your wireless network.

Open the scraper

Open Settings › Games and, under Other, Scrape artwork.

Select Account (Sign in ›) and press A. Type your ScreenScraper user and then your password with the on-screen keyboard. The launcher checks the account before showing it on the row (user and number of threads).

Choose systems and media

Systems: All, or a single system, with ← / →.
Media (Choose ›): check which kinds to download: Cover (2D box), 3D box, Mix, Gameplay screen, Title screen, Logo, Preview video (about 2 MB per game) and Manual (PDF, when there is one). The default is cover, gameplay screen and logo. For texts only, uncheck every media type and also turn off Only games missing artwork. The resume history can still skip games that finished in an earlier run.
Only games missing artwork: on by default. It downloads the selected media a game is missing, so a game that already has a cover can still get a missing logo or video.

Start scraping

Select Start scraping and press A. The Last collection card on the right shows the progress (X of Y games, how many got art and how many did not). You can leave the page and keep using the launcher while it runs; the same row turns into Cancel while a scrape is running.

Scraping a Single Game Again

If a game is missing cover art or you replaced its ROM file and want to refresh only that title:

Highlight the game on the Games screen and press Y.
Select Details to open the Game Details screen.
Move the selection to Scrape again at the bottom right and press A.

The launcher asks ScreenScraper about that one game and replaces what an earlier scrape wrote for it. The button needs a signed-in ScreenScraper account.

Where the Files Land

Media go to a media folder in each system's folder, next to gamelist.xml, on the card that holds the ROM:

/storage/roms/<system>/media/images/        covers (2D box)
/storage/roms/<system>/media/box3d/         3D boxes
/storage/roms/<system>/media/mix/           mixes
/storage/roms/<system>/media/screenshots/   gameplay screens
/storage/roms/<system>/media/titlescreens/  title screens
/storage/roms/<system>/media/wheel/         logos
/storage/roms/<system>/media/videos/        preview videos
/storage/roms/<system>/media/manuals/       manuals
/storage/roms/<system>/gamelist.xml         titles, descriptions, ratings, dates

Editing `gamelist.xml` Directly

gamelist.xml is plain XML, so you can edit titles, descriptions, or image paths in bulk from a computer over SSH or Samba. Stop the launcher service before editing so your changes are not overwritten:

systemctl stop archr-launcher-session
# edit /storage/roms/<system>/gamelist.xml
systemctl start archr-launcher-session

Back Up Before a Large Run

Before running a full-library scrape with Only games missing artwork turned off, you can back up your existing gamelist.xml:

ssh root@archr.local
cd /storage/roms/snes
cp gamelist.xml gamelist.backup.xml

Settings › Storage › Back up includes selected settings and themes, emulator saves (including those stored next to the ROMs) and /storage/roms/savestates/ by default. ROMs and gamelist.xml files are left out. The ZIP stays on the card in /storage/roms/backup. Before reflashing, copy the ROM folders, saves, settings and the backup archive to another device.

Scraping

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