RIP-Felix

I have a unique (well, uncommon is more accurate) setup. I'm using a 32" LCD mounted in portrait (Vertically). It works great with 1941, it fills the screen. But the downside is that regular 4:3 Games have Black space above and below instead of left and right. This make using premade bezels hard. Some when cropped look ok, but I'm wondering how to edit my own PNGs and update the .LAY file as necessary. I starred with a homebrew bezel and modified the PNG to my needs. I opened the LAY file and found where the old PNG is displayed on the screen: I have made a Bezel, now how do I change the way MAME displays the PNG?I want to display the bezel 9:16, but it squeezes it to conform with a standard 4:3 aspect ratio.

Never mind, I figured it out. I would still like to remove the nag screen if anyone knows how to. However, I forgot to re-change the UI MAME controls back to the default joystick assignments of the tanksticks. They were still set to the old custom assignments I set before and had trouble with.

I'm trying to remove the following nag screen: I wouldn't mind moving the joystick except the X-arcade Tanksticks I'm using for my cabinet are not assigned the left and right arrows keys by default. So moving the joystick left and right does not work. I can reprogram the Tanksticks with custom profiles, but it doesn't always load the custom profile after a cold boot and will do so only after I press the load profile button on the back. I have to use a keyboard to bypass this screen and I would prefer it wasn't shown at all. I am using "mame64.exe [ROM] -skip_gameinfo -rompath "[ROMPATH]" command line in the GameEX wizard. I use two different version of mame (0.147 and 0.143b) then use the group emulator option the show them as one list. I thought the "-skip_gameinfo" command was supposed to do this, is it not working anymore? The last thing I might be willing to try is to recompile the ROM if it's not a difficult process, but would need to be steered in the right direction.

I am having the same problem on my cab (Win 7 64bit). See here:http://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/12777-gameex-on-startup-looses-focus-bug/ There was a suggestion to try the "disable desktop composition" option in the shortcut's compatibility settings, however that did not work for me. It just got put on the back burner with other projects and work. Tom said he did a lot of work on focus related issues in update 13.11. I didn't noticed the startup issue before that, but I had just moved a new rig into the cab and it was more likely a hardware/software ghost caused by my rig than an update bug. I'm interested to see if we can track down the culprit.

Sorry to bump, but I just resolved my own problem. The Auto hot key application I was running had a sleep time of 100ms from when the application loaded to when a key press is sent. I had to adjust that to 3000ms to get it to recognize the controller first, then enable the profile. I must have a different version of motioninjoy than when I originally wrote the script. It take longer now to recognize the controller. It's kind of a let down actually, now I have to wait 3 seconds for the script to finish as opposed to like 300ms before.

I recently installed Project 64 v2.1. There are many improvements I would like to take advantage of, however it will not remember my controller settings after exiting the program. I don't remember having this problem in v1.6. Basically I'm using a PS3 controller with the motioninjoy driver utility. I wrote a simple Auto hot key script to automate opening the application and enabling the controller profile. This script was exported to .exe and set to run before Project 64. In project 64 I have to go into the controller setup and select my controller from the drop down menu. This was automatically selected in v1.6. Does anyone know if there is an obscure setting somewhere to force the same controller port as the previous selection. Or an explanation why it worked fine before? There are other settings that don't appear to be saving also, like my video selections. Every time I onen a ROM it applies 4:3 aspect ratio when I selected stretch previously. EDIT: I just realized that they are saved for the game you are currently running. They are game specific, meaning I will have to change them in menu for every game. Unless you guys know of a way to apply them universally.

Well if you decide to upgrade there are affordable options to meet your needs. This Motherboard/CPU combo meets you requirement and is under $200: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C5UGLMO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1ZYDFHYFYWJB4 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0095VP8D4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER This is an AMD APU solution and considerably cheaper than the Intel options. You can save a little more on the CPU going down to the 5600K (3.6Ghz, 3.9Ghz turbo), that would bring it down to $170. You can always overclock to make up the difference between them. However you will need to scrap the supplied heatsink if you do, it's barley capable of handling the APU as is. If you really need an extra PCI slot and one less PCI e then this little adapter might make more motherboards compatable with your needs: http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Express-Adapter-Card-PEX1PCI1/dp/B0024CV3SA/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1369249787&sr=1-1&keywords=pci+e+to+pcie+adapter

I found the key needed. The L key on the keyboard will display the in game menu. It does allow you to resume the game, or exit, view other information about the game, and create a video of the game. I have noticed that it sometimes only displays black when resuming the game until tried again. I've only tried it in PCSX2 so far and it seems to work ok. So all I need now is to assign the PS button to L with Xpadder. I'll see if it will mess with my other emulators, such as ePSXe which I have a complicated setup for. If it works there it will work anywhere, maybe... Well it disrupts the screen behavior, goes black. That won't do. Oh well, I guess I'll have to find another use for the PS button. Any ideas?

I'm using an AMD A10-5800K APU (3.8Ghz, 4.2Ghz turbo quad core w/Radeon HD 7660D) in a mini ITX case. I was playing kingdom hearts today on 1920 x 1080 resolution with all the settings looking like a PS3 HD upscale and it was running smoothly. This is the only game I've tested though, maybe it just runs better than others. Temps were getting up to 45-50C. This APU is reasonably priced at $129 and FM2 motherboards are not bad at all. I was able to put this machine together for less than $300 after repurposing other computer hardware. The newer generations of processors have energy saving features that "throttle" or lower the multiplier automatically based on performance demands. That is what was happening before. To determine if your cpu would hit the 2.4Ghz under high load try Prime 95, it will torture test your cpu and make it hit as high as it will go for as long as you want it to. You will know right quick if you were underclocking. I've done a fair amount of overclocking. I would not worry about damaging the E6600 (it's a beast, at least it was), it should be able to hit 3.7 fairly easily based on what I've read. You will likely be limited by temperature before you get close to that unless you have a very capable heatsink. I highly recommend getting a nice $30-$60 universal heatsink. It will serve you well in future overclocking adventures my friend! I saw you hit 68C on your last overclock, that's too high for that CPU (see below). I would look for a setting in bios to set the cpu back to "automatic". That should restore defaults. THINGS TO KNOW:http://ark.intel.com/products/27250 OVERCLOCKING: SOFTWARE ***EDIT*** I went back and tried a disc (Gran Turismo 3) and it was very choppy, slow and audio was bad. I messed around with the settings and it got better but not really playable. I would recommend that you rip the image and try playing the ISO, bin, img, and etc. It may just be that simple. I'm ripping my copy now and I'll edit back if it helped...Yes, it did help greatly. I still had to reduce some settings, like resolution to native PS2, but it work much better = Playable. Good luck Han, and may the games be with you!

If you have the doh to go ssd, get off the fence. It's the single most dramatic performance boosting upgrade you can make. I prefer Intel for the premium NAND flash memory and 5 year warranty's. I highly recommend the 180GB intel 520. They are a little more expensive, but the reliability is unmatched. As far as GameEx is concerned. It loads quick (under 2 seconds for me) and I have no wait times for page transitions. I recommend SSD for boot drive/programs. Use big cheep spinner for data, artwork, roms, and etc. Warning: If you hate slow computers now, you will hate them even more once you go SSD. You have been warned.

I use the Motioninjoy software to utilize my PS3 controller for PC use (awesome BTW). However there is always the PS button that goes unassigned in the games. I was hoping I could use it to trigger GameEX to regain focus without exiting my game. I've seen this happen before where you can resume your game, navigate to another, just check the GameEx interface, or whatever. Basically I want GameEx to be like the PS3 home screen that comes up over the game, and back to the game when the PS button is pressed again. Can it be done? If not, feature request?

No I was using the same config. I had the auto hide turned on. I tried turning it off and it still gave up focus to gameex at the same point. Besides I don't want that thing visible all the time anyway. As for the space, it was just a typo. The config was parsed from the key builder. So when it pasted the [CONTROL, VK_V], it wasn't due to the space. Ok, I guess we are kind of stuck until that update then. Unless you can think of a way around it until then.

Have you modified your advanced config file to watch more processes? When I tried your exact settings, GameEx regained focus just after the open file window appears and SD attempts to input the ROMPATH\ROMFILE. I used this: It looked like it was about to work until GameEX regained focus. The window closed and the mouse move function made the options menu appear then gameex came into focus and interrupted the process. It appeared as if the open file process completed and moved on to the next part of the process where it would navigate to the switchdisc operation before gameex regained focus. But I have tried multiple times since and could not replicate this. GameEx comes back just as the openfile operation is typing in the romname. I was tinkering with the idea of using ctrl + V to paste the romname into the open dialog box. I thought I remembered you saying that SD copies your selection to the clipboard. If it does, apparently you can't use the control + v command to pass it into the box. When I tried it pasted "[CONTROL , VK_V]" instead. Afterward it kept that stuck in the clipboard, even after I tried to copy something else it would just keep pasting [CONTROL , VK_V]". Took a reboot to clear it. The select rom window is pointed at your roms directory anyway, and by default the cursor in the text box. So the only thing that needs to be done here is to paste the romname into the box and send RETURN. If there were a "paste romname" button in SD this would work great, would that be difficult to code?

Well, when you navigate to "options -> GDRom -> swap discs", it will go back to the Dreamcast home screen. You can press play to restart the game or check you memory card data, and etc. From here If you do the same as before it should ask you to insert a disc. However, when and how you do it seems to make a difference whether it will work or not. It works when parsed by switchdisk but not reliably by mouse or keyboard. I don't know exactly why, but timing seems to be important to make it work. # buggy. This will let you get to the "insert disc" dialog in the emulator. However, you have to wait until the game has fully loaded and is running its intro video. I tested on RE: Code Veronica. Interesting note: If you run switchdisc again after the insert disc dialog is running it will reload the game. Something interesting is hapining here I just don't know if it's useful.

Ok, guys I'm back and ready to kick the ninja gremlin's butt. So, I moved my old rig to the arcade cabinet, a nice step up for it. As for my main rig, I decided to build an APU based (A10-5800K) Mini ITX with UEFI. I moved everything over on a fresh install of windows 7 and got things working just like before. This is now my main HTPC rig, nice and compact, and looks good in the entertainment center. The reason I mention this is because now the issue with the mouse functions in the configurator have disappeared! Although I'm a little perturbed we could not sort it out for the other rig, I'm glad it went away for the HTPC; it's the intended rig for switchdisk anyway. I'll post my config after I set up NullDC correctly. There is an issue with the change disk operation. It fails before the change is attempted. I'm not sure what is happening but I tried to manually navigate to the change disk operation in nullDC r50. The screen goes to the home dreamcast screen where you would see your memory cards. Then the program becomes unresponsive and crashes. This occurs whether I use switchdisk or manually navigate to the built in operation. What is that about? EDIT: I have installed r136 since and the crash does not occur but the disc swap operation does not occur either. The screen just sits on the dreamcast home screen. Actually if you navigate to the disc swap function again the dreamcast asks you to insert a disc. I don't know what to do after that screen is up. I tried to load an image but it just sits there waiting for me to insert a disc. Update on the job search: I have been working hourly to keep my foot in the door since the lay off in march. However most of that hourly work will evaporate on me this summer and practically completely by fall. The major opportunity I thought might be a possibility turned out to be just beyond my reach. I hate how a piece of paper mean everything, even trumping experience in the exact job for which you are applying. Stupid world we live in. So I'm going back to school this fall to finish my degree and hopefully that will increase my opportunities.

Thanks guys, I downloaded project 64 v2.1. It has an "Aspect Display" function in the graphics config to handle how the game is displayed (eg. automatic (default, works great), stretch (what I don't want with a vertical screen) force 4:3, force 16:9). I went ahead and left it on automatic and set my full screen resolution to the resolution windows is set at. Worked like a charm! Thanks guys, please feel free to mark this topic [Resolved].

Sorry about not getting back right away, I was pretty busy yesterday. I have the latest updates from GameEx.Thanks Tom for your diligence and work ethic, it makes me confident I made the right choice in front ends. I think that GameEx runs first, before anything else, like wifi, catalyst control center, etc. And when one of them tried to laod as gameex was loading, I couldent tell which program it was, there musthave been a message box or something that stole focus from gameex. I tried as twotone8 suggested and checked "disable desktop composition" in the compatability settings and that does indeed work. EDIT: actually it is still occurring after cold boot, when I was testing to see if it worked I just restarted and it worked then, but it has since happened again after a cold startup. Any other ideas? Tom: I don't know if you can block all windows messages from displaying over the top of gameex, at least during the loading process, it might prevent this from occuring. Of course windows would still need to be able to display a "program is not responding" error message if necessary and you would still need to be able to use the Ctrl + Alt + Delete command in case of a fatel error. Just some thoughts.Thanks again guys.

I have a Gamex shortcut in my startup folder. When windows starts up gamex looses focus before it has a chance to load and the desktop displays. I don't know why this happens, if it is related to other programs loading at startup or what, but I tried delaying the start of as many non essential programs as I could and that didn't work. one problem is that the mouse gets reset back to the center position everytime gameex refreshes ~ every second. the only thing that makes it stop is alt + enter to cause gameex to go windowed, finish loading, then the mouse will return to normal function. This could be particullarly annoying if you don't know to pres alt + enter, and try ctr + alt+ delete. It can be done if you know the keyboard coomands but with the mouse cursor reseting to the middle every second you don't have much time to select gameex and click end task. I don't know if this is an issue with PS/2 mouse/usb mouse as i'm using a x-arcade tanksticks trackball for mouse function. Bug? Any ideas?

When I googled around I only found people tying to get rid of the borders related to PAL roms. I'm using a vertically mounted Screen and want to make project 64 fullscreen without streaching the aspect ratio. So it should have a black border at the top and bottom of the screen with just the game displaying in the middle with original aspect ratio, filling the screen from left to right. MAME does this automatically, which I love. I'm just wondering if it can be done in project 64, or if I'm stuck with the default windows border. I'm open to other solutions as well, such as making the desktop backgroung black and removing windows borders, so long as it can be run as a command in GameEx before the game loads and return to normal afterwards. Any ideas?

Ok, I just ran M.A.M.E. 0.147. It seems to run fine. It might be useful to add I'm running win 7 x64. I decided to take a closer look at the mame file and there was a folder named "26" in it...weird. It contained a clean install of mame 147. I deleted it and reinstalled mame 147 over the old file path. It asked me the same questions as the problem I've been experiencing. I chose to replace all the old files, it finished extracting, and we'll see if it fixes the problem... Yep that did fix it. Sorry it took awhile to confirm. Feel free to mark this topic resolved.

I'm not sure what is actually happening here. After a while with GameEX running untouched a windows error message informs me that a destination folder already contains the processed file "...M.A.M.E\Emulator\0.147\ctrlr\hotrod.cfg". Then asks me to replace the file or cancel. It will then extract itself if I choose replace. However, this just reoccurs every time a certain period of time elapses. I assumed this was the attract video that plays after a while like a screen saver. However I don't know why anything would be self extracting to the MAME folder. Maybe someone already knows what this issue is and how to resolve it.

I just wanted to say hey and give a little update. The person who exercised her right to bump my position was just a few years from retiring and probably needs the full social security benifits. I'm young and it would be easier for me to find work than her, given unfortunately abundant age discrimination. She was offered a full time position, but chose my half time job. I guess it would be the lesser of two evils to bump the person who stands to loose the least. Frankly, I would be angry if they were laying me off to raid my pathetic 10,000 per year just to ease their "fiscal responsibility". If they did that I would be glad to go, abandon ship while it's still afloat! I took this job to gain experience, build a social network (the old school way), and to keep my foot in the door. Actually this situation sounds like it will lead to a better opportunity. I have two options on the table and both of them pay much better. The change will be difficult but I think this will be the next logical step in my career. I still have a few suprises left in my bag of tricks... tenacity is the better part of stubbornness. Don't count Felix out just yet!

Sorry, to tripple post. However I just got "bumped" from my position at work by another employee who was laid off. So she gets my job and I get laid off! I am working on my resume, exit considerations, etc. So basicly I will not be able to contribute much to the project for a while. Thanks, I'll drop in from time to time as I get a chance.

I have been also using this advanced config for nullDC: I added Switchdisc to the aditional processes to watch but that doesn't seen to make a difference. Just when Switchdisc completes the switchdisc operation sequence and nulldc reloads the next disc, GameEX regains focus.

See now, that was funny . I'll have a look at that modified configurator later, hopefully it sheds some light in that dark crag our new ninja gremlin is hiding! Man thoes things reproduce like crazy...better give that samurai new orders emperor nullPointer. I'll edit back this evening. EDIT: Ok, strange. Now I can't use any of the mouse functions, well in the GUI. First the clicks worked, but not the mouse move. Now none of the mouse functions work. I replaced the configurator with the modified one and it crashed just like before, no error. I then removed it and replaced it with the old one, and it doesn't recognise the mouse clicks either. Now that could mean that the modified one is still affecting it somehow, or more likly that the mouse clicks initially worked when I was messing around and then stopped due to the same issue that caused the mouse move never to. You could make a check sequence for the configurer or any other SD operation that requires a minimum .NET build. See here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315291 If the host machine does not have the required registry keys then have SD throw an exception, "Switch Disk requires .NET version 4.0. Please download .NET 4.0 or above to use this program". Or you could deploy SD with the framework:http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6hbb4k3e.aspx Not sure about the usage rights and agreements though. Here is a pic of my registry if it helps. You'll notice there is 3.0 and 4.0 but not 3.5. You mentioned earlier that your test machines have 3.5 installed. I'm woundering if that contained something critical and if I can still download 3.5 even though I have 4.0: