Install advancescan with Homebrew, apk, MacPorts

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• advdiff
• advscan

Project history

The official history traces the tool back to MAMESCAN in 1998, when a new `listinfo` command was posted to the MAME list. The project became AdvanceSCAN in the 0.6 beta in May 2002, after a major revision, cleanup, C++ update, and addition of AdvanceDIFF and AdvanceZIP.

AdvanceSCAN 1.0 was released in May 2002. Early releases added Windows support, PNG and MNG compression helpers, garbage detection for zipped ROMs, XML input support, filters for working/preliminary/parent/clone ROM sets, CHD support, and safer handling of damaged ZIP/CHD files.

In 2003, recompression utilities were removed from AdvanceSCAN and moved into AdvanceCOMP, clarifying the split between ROM-set management and general-purpose recompression. Later releases focused on MAME metadata compatibility, CHD versions, XML handling, 64-bit support, and build modernization.

Adoption history

The provided package facts show AdvanceSCAN in Homebrew, Alpine, and MacPorts. That narrower distribution footprint matches its niche: it is not a general archive manager, but a specialist tool for emulator users maintaining ROM and sample collections.

Its official documentation is written for users with existing MAME-family workflows: generate an XML information file with `mame -listxml`, configure ROM directories in `advscan.rc`, then run `advscan` to fix or report on the collection.

How it is used

A typical workflow starts by creating `advscan.rc` in the current directory or passing another file with `--cfg`. The config names ROM, new ROM, unknown ROM, import, sample, and disk paths. The tool then reads emulator metadata from standard input, commonly from `mame -listxml`, and applies operations such as `advscan -R < info.xml` or report generation.

AdvanceSCAN is intentionally conservative about data loss. The docs say removed or overwritten ZIP contents are saved under unknown directories, damaged archives are renamed, and dry-run/report modes exist for checking actions before modifying a set.

Why package nerds care

AdvanceSCAN matters to package nerds because it represents an older, very Unixy style of emulator collection maintenance: one command, one text config file, metadata on stdin, and archive mutation controlled by explicit flags.

It is also historically interesting because it is the parent context for AdvanceCOMP. What began as ROM-set scanning and compression helpers later split into separate packages: AdvanceSCAN for correctness of ROM collections, AdvanceCOMP for byte-level recompression.

Timeline

• 1998: MAMESCAN 0.0 posted a new MAME listinfo command.
• 1999: MAMESCAN 0.1 marked the first version.
• 2002: AdvanceSCAN 0.6 beta renamed the project and added AdvanceDIFF and AdvanceZIP.
• 2002: AdvanceSCAN 1.0 became the first public release.
• 2003: AdvanceSCAN 1.5 removed recompression utilities into the AdvanceCOMP package.
• 2004: AdvanceSCAN added XML, filtering, CHD, and safer damaged archive handling.
• 2013: AdvanceSCAN 1.17 moved into a git repository.
• 2015: AdvanceSCAN 1.18 updated to a new autoconf/git format.

Related projects

• AdvanceMAME and AdvanceMESS are the emulator projects AdvanceSCAN was built to support.
• AdvanceCOMP split out of AdvanceSCAN to handle recompression utilities separately.
• MAME metadata output, especially `-listxml`, is central to how AdvanceSCAN identifies and repairs ROM sets.

Sources

• https://github.com/amadvance/advancescan#readme
• https://www.advancemame.it/doc-advscan
• https://www.advancemame.it/scan-history
• https://www.advancemame.it/scan-readme
• source_facts.package-manager