To sort and update your games, you would need a software, a dat file and for some consoles a header file.
This step is not to be neglected because the roms have updates by some groups that allow to improve the roms by removing bugs present on the rom or to better run it on emulator.
These updates are not frequent but are nevertheless essential for their good functioning on emulator and is essential in Netplay.
You have several softwares to sort and update your roms.
For beginners, it is recommended to use Romulus which is easier to use.
A dat file is a reference file to catalog games per system (console). This file can have the extension .dat or .xml.
With this file, vous can verify with the corresponding softwares if your dump of a rom or iso is correct.
About arcade, you can download these files on these sites:
/recalbox/share/arcade/advancemame/advancemame.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/atomiswave.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/fbneo.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/mame.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/mame2000.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/mame2003-plus.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/mame2003.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/mame2010.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/mame2015.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/supermodel/supermodel.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/naomi.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/naomigd.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/naomi2.dat./recalbox/share/arcade/libretro/fbneo-non-arcade/FinalBurn Neo (ClrMame Pro XML, Neogeo only).dat.For consoles, handhelds and computers, you can download these files on these sites:
The two following sources are listed only for culture:
Be sure to take the dat file corresponding to the rom group you have chosen !
For some consoles, you will need a header file in addition to the dat file.
Here is the list of consoles concerned:
Here is an international example:
Some Retroachievements trophies need the USA rom to validate the retroachievements and some games exist only in Japanese version.
You can find more information here.
Depending on the region, the games can have more or less obvious differences. Moreover, some games exist only in Japanese version.
Here are some examples of these differences:
To know what the codes and tags in the roms correspond to (only for the cartridge and floppy roms), you will find more information here.