U2Edge

When I'm in the GameEx configuration program (post-installation), everything is smooth sailing until right before it asks me if I want to allow DVD playback in GameEx...then it sits there for a bit and gives me an error. Error codes below. I have DVD playback capability otherwise on my machine, so I'm not sure why it is giving GameEx fits. I'm on a Sony VAIO Windows MCE computer. 3.0 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, running the latest version of the software. See the end of this message for details on invoking just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box. ************** Exception Text ************** System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. at DvdCore.DvdEngineClass.GetVideoSPDecoderCount() at SetupWizard.XmlSection.GetDVDCodecs() at SetupWizard.XmlSection.ShowSettings(Int32 top) at SetupWizard.XmlSectionArray.ShowSection() at SetupWizard.XmlSectionArray.GoToNextSection() at SetupWizard.frmMain.btnNext_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam) ************** Loaded Assemblies ************** mscorlib Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/microsoft.net/framework/v1.1.4322/mscorlib.dll ---------------------------------------- SetupWizard Assembly Version: 1.0.2490.17870 Win32 Version: 1.0.2490.17870 CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/GameEx/SetupWizard.exe ---------------------------------------- System.Windows.Forms Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.windows.forms/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.windows.forms.dll ---------------------------------------- System Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Drawing Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.drawing/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/system.drawing.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Xml Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.2032 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/system.xml/1.0.5000.0__b77a5c561934e089/system.xml.dll ---------------------------------------- Accessibility Assembly Version: 1.0.5000.0 Win32 Version: 1.1.4322.573 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/accessibility/1.0.5000.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/accessibility.dll ---------------------------------------- Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0 Win32 Version: 5.04.00.2904 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/microsoft.directx.directinput/1.0.2902.0__31bf3856ad364e35/microsoft.directx.directinput.dll ---------------------------------------- Microsoft.DirectX Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0 Win32 Version: 5.04.00.2904 CodeBase: file:///c:/windows/assembly/gac/microsoft.directx/1.0.2902.0__31bf3856ad364e35/microsoft.directx.dll ---------------------------------------- Interop.DvdCore Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0 CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/GameEx/Interop.DvdCore.DLL ---------------------------------------- ************** JIT Debugging ************** To enable just in time (JIT) debugging, the config file for this application or machine (machine.config) must have the jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section. The application must also be compiled with debugging enabled. For example: <configuration> <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" /> </configuration> When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the machine rather than being handled by this dialog.

Oh, that's coming this week. I've got it narrowed down to one of three arcade cabs. Does a 34" arcade monitor suffice? As far as other people using real arcade monitors, there are arcade cabinets with dual monitors...X-Men being one of them.

I noticed the audio was glitchy (skips and/or lags occasionally) when bezels were turned on in 1945XX (or whatever it is called). Ran it without bezels turned on and it ran great. I still think there might be something to this......

That actually helps a bit. Few questions, though -- do you have pictures of it? I probably don't want to go the lightgun/trackball/spinner route as there are very few games that use them and even fewer that I would ever play. If I just wanted to add a pair of controllers and/or some buttons, is it best to start from scratch or work off the current setup? I want to keep everything looking clean and unfortunately, I'm not greating with "building" stuff. I think a simple four-player with six-buttons each config is what my baseline is (bare minum three buttons each -- I think only MK games are ones that use more than three....)

I just got some more info on it, since I didn't remember how many buttons it had...it has two per controller. So to play NBA Jam or most recent games, I'd need to upgrade the CP. So here's my options... 1) Showcase cab (currently Virtua Tennis), 2-player, 2-buttons, PCB pulled, local - $600 2) NFL Blitz full arcade cabinet including MK and NBA Jam PCB (as well as I-PAC or something like it to connect PC to Jamma -AND- built-in jumper to run arcade monitor at 15KHz), 2-player, 3-buttons (so technically MK doesn't even fully work), local - $400 to $500 3) NBA Jam cab w/4-players, 3-buttons, 2-hour drive each way - $400 4) My woodworking father-in-law builds a cabinet from scratch and brings it from Iowa (lord knows how much time and money) Which would you buy/do? I've wanted four players, but I rarely have 4 people over. It would be nice to have 4 players to prepare for "worst-case scenario", so option 3 is the best. But that's a 4-hour round trip in a fricking U-Haul (between gas, mileage, time and hoping it doesn't break in the trip back, that sucks). The showcase cab is a steal, but I'd have to do a CP upgrade right off the bat to play pretty much anything (including my favorite game, NBA Jam). The NFL Blitz cab comes with some goodies and I could play 90% of games without a CP upgrade, but... What would you get? Mind you, I want to try to keep it simple. I've never tore into CP's and am not familiar with re-wiring, etc. So for time, cost and convenience purposes, I want to keep it reasonably simple. How hard would it be to convert for a guy like me? How much are we looking at? What would you do? A lot of questions, I know. Just want to make sure I'm making the right decision before I pull the trigger. Please list, in order, your preferences.

I use UltraMon to help configure my dual monitor setup -- it has an option to "mirror" from monitor 1 to monitor 2. I even built a script/batch file combo so that GameEx would fire off the batch file and script to turn the mirroring on/off when it launches/exits....but it doesn't like "mirroring" -- the batch file runs like it is supposed to, but the second monitor never draws out. If I move my mouse around it will "paint" screen 1 over to screen 2....but it just looks rediculous. It only likes true "cloning" which I have to set using NVidia controls...and not only is NVidia desktop wizard a major resource hog, you get a ton of flickering and stuff when it does a true clone.

I'm using 7.01...and my music is all on my D:\MP3s folder -- but there are subfolders within that...I don't think it goes any farther than another level (two at most). I'll have to check my settings as far as filetag/music directory. EDIT: I was using Windows Media Player Library...switched to filetags...let it build the cache. Restarted the program and jukebox came up immediately. Thanks!!

Sorry to put a cabinet question here....but BYOAC's forum isn't working -- can't log in -- and I need to make a decision soon. I found a used showcase cabinet for $600. Great shape with the 33" (?) monitor and everything. He's gonna pull the game card from it since it's rare, supposedly worth about $1K for the card alone. The cabinet looked to be in great shape and it had the nice stereo mounted speakers. It's got a two-player control panel (not sure how many buttons each had -- it is currently a Virtua Tennis game, so that might help). How hard would this be to convert to a MAME cabinet? Just get an I-PAC (or a J-PAC -- not quite sure on the difference). Cost-wise and time-wise, how long would it take to convert assuming I have the computer I need to power it? What is a must-have on the computer to do the conversion? How hard would it be to upgrade the CP to four-player controllers and what would that cost (that'd be for down the road). Thanks for all of your thoughts -- I was going to build a custom NBA Jam-spec'ed cabinet custom built around a pair of 2-player x-arcades, but I thought for the size of the monitor and having this stuff already built, it might not be a bad route. Buy or don't buy? I can do basic wiring, but no soldering....and I'm pretty smart with electronics. What is all involved? Thanks for all of your help -- you guys are life-savers.

Loving everything about GameEx (even though I'd still love dual monitor support), but I've noticed jukebox takes forever to load. I put the stopwatch on it....78 seconds -- whether I've made changes to the collection or not. I have a few thousand songs (6,423 to be exact), but I thought I read that it shouldn't have to re-read all the data unless you've made changes to the collection. I have a Sony VAIO P4 3.0GHz 2GB RAM, plenty of free hard drive space, etc. Sound card drivers are all up to date and everything else runs quickly and smoothly. Thoughts? Or am I just expecting too much with a playlist that big?

The most played feature seems to work for me.

I already have my video card set to stretch across both desktops...so technically, my resolution is 2560 x 1024. I tried forcing GameEx to run at that resolution and it didn't work -- it just ran on one monitor. I also tried just letting it run normal, and it didn't work, either. There is an option to "clone" monitor 1 to monitor 2, but since I don't usually operate in that mode for normal work, etc., I have to enable my Nvidia desktop wizard (which does crazy stuff to my computer and hogs major resources) just to clone 'em. I would think for people who want the true arcade feel but still use their computer for other work, they wouldn't want to run a setting everytime they went in and out. For those with a dedicated cab and dual monitor setup, setting the monitors to show the same output might be the solution. MAME doesn't seem to bog and runs the same FPS when running on both monitors, is it because it just uses minimal resources where I don't notice a difference?

It's funny that you mention that. I just put it in the request for new features list. Maybe if enough people put it in, we'll get it.

Yeah, if you set MAME to run on both monitors, you'll never see GameExtender -- you'll see whatever MAME is running. If you set GameEx to run GameExtender on the secondary monitor and have MAME set to run on just the primary, it should work just fine.

Ironically, I realized that after I posted the .ini file.

Well here's my "cabinet" or lack thereof. I have a second 2-player X-arcade stick on the way, so I'll have four-player capability. I'm HUGE into NBA Jam and a lot of 4-player games, so that's almost essential to have it (even though we don't usually have four people in the house -- but it'd be great for parties, etc.). I'm pondering building a cabinet, but I want to use the infrastructure I have (2 2-player X-Arcade sticks, my Sony VAIO P4 multimedia workhorse with Windows MCE, etc.). I've even got a remote to control GameEx when I don't want to use the joystick as well as a wireless mouse tucked away on the top right swinging shelf. I don't have the need for spinners or trackballs or lightguns or anything overly fancy. Do you think it'd be pretty easy to build a 4-player cabinet ("easy" as in time, cost, etc.). If I already have all I need (pretty much), it should be simple and cheap to build, I'm hoping. I was thinking all I would need is the wood, get it cut and painted and maybe put a lit marquee on it. I'd build a box to house both of the 2-player x-arcades, so there wouldn't be any crazy wiring or jamma cards, etc. I don't even need a coin box (unless that is crazily simple to wire into my system). I use this computer for work a lot and I don't want to shell out cash for another one just to play MAME games. I like the idea of dual monitors for arcade as well. Your thoughts? Have you seen specs for a four-play x-arcade cabinet? I'm open for thoughts, suggestions, etc....to cab or not to cab? And if so, how.....