Riffman81

Can you give us a little more info? What theme was it? Post your GameEx log so we can take a look

IMGBurn is awesome, as nullPointer said. However, it doesn't properly create .cue files for PSX games unless your using the program to rip the disc yourself. Let me explain: If you've "acquired" a PSX image file and your .cue file has errors, it's better to go in and manually edit the .cue sheet rather than use IMGBurn to simply make a new one for you. IMGBurn won't detect the music track placement and you'll end up with .cue sheets with NO track listing, rendering your newly created .cue file useless. Using IMGBurn to rip the discs yourself, seems to work great, as I've done just about every PSX game I own using the program without any problems. Another program I use quite often is ISOBuster. Many PSX games are being ripped in .img format as well (.ccd/.img/.sub) With ISOBuster, you can open the .ccd file, and choose to extract raw disc image to iso. or .bin/cue format. I've done this with many PSX images I've acquired and found it to work perfectly. That's how I maintain a complete single .bin/.cue PSX set. Never convert a PSX disc to .iso, BIN/CUE is the way to go. Or just keep the disc in .img format, as that is supposed to be a 1:1 copy of the actual PSX game disc. My post above wasn't actually in reference to PSP but rather an earlier post about renaming PSX images. I've seen ppl go through the hassle so many times of renaming only to have a broken set because they didn't edit the .cue sheets, was simply trying to save someone all that trouble.

Update: Got GE up and running and I'm guessing I'm about a third of the way done getting things setup. At least the "Core" part is done with getting my GE settings the way I want. It really helped with time in having all my media/artwork and such backed up on an external drive. Now it's just a matter of copying things back over and to the correct folders. Aside from tying up a few loose ends, all is good to go. Figured while I'm at it, might as well bump up to Windows 8.1. Has anyone had any issues with shelling GE in 8.1? I asked the same thing over on the HyperSpin forums as well because I plan to bump that setup up as well. Thanks

Due to the size of my HTPC case, having a 2nd drive isn't an option for me, so I'll have to seek other alternatives. I think for now, an exact image backup is what I'm looking at until I can get another PC built and that's something I'm working on at the moment but probably won't get finished until after the holidays. Anyway, thanks guys for the feedback and options. It's now time to start setting up Game Ex again and get things back to order.... going to be a long weekend.

Ok, so the verdict is in. HDD is a total loss.... looks like I'm facing a rebuild. Not happy about this, but not much else can really be done now except to dive in. I'm still a little hazy on the whole EVO thing... should I wait for it's release or setup original GE again and migrate over to EVO once it's here? Adultery, I bought a 4TB red lable drive from WD. Any experience with those? I'm kind of strapped for money at the moment getting ready for the holidays and such, so what I'm really looking at here is something to buy me a little time until I can come up with a better rig.

Long story short, my HTPC Hard Drive took a crap on me and I lost EVERYTHING. Yes I know, it pays to have a backup, but I'm kind of a noob when it comes to disk cloning and not sure what program to use to get the results I want. Luckily, I still have my ROM collections backed up on an external drive along with all my videos and other media.So here's what I need to know. Fist off, is it worth putting the time into setting up the original GameEx all over again with EVO on the way if infact I can't restore my HDD? I know it'll basically be the same backend as GameEx Original, but I'd really hate to go through all the hassle of setting everything back up if in fact I have to do it all again with EVO. Second, I have bought a new 4TB drive to replace the drive that I believe to have failed. I'm taking my old 2TB drive to a computer store today to have diagnostics done to see what could be recovered if anything. If the drive could be restored to working order, could I clone the drive, and transfer that image to my new 4TB drive? If so, what programs do you guys recommend for this and what is the preferred method of doing something like this? Cloning or backup? What I really need to know here is once I have a image of my HDD, how do I get said image on my new drive and have it boot and work properly? Forgive me if this has been asked before, I didn't have much time to search the forums when I woke up this morning due to work. And waking up to a failed drive ruins anyone's day

No-Intro sets and GoodSets are as different as night and day. For starters, GoodSets often include EVERYTHING, bad ROM dumps, hacks, demos, betas, different regions, etc. No-Intro sets include most of these things as well, but eliminate all the "Garbage" (bad dumps, hacks, etc). Also, GoodSets, aren't exactly true to what was on the original cartridge when the game was dumped. Let's take a look at the SNES ROM set as an example. Most ROMs used in the SNES GoodSets are in .smc format, and have headers. [!] symbol indicates that the ROM image has no header, if memory serves me correctly. (Headers are information left over from the copying device used to copy/dump the ROM image). No-Intro SNES set are in .sfc format and use headerless ROM images. These are true to what was on the actual cart. (I believe this is true for most No-Intro sets except for the NES. NES ROM images require the iNES header if I'm not mistaken). No-Intro has become the most common naming convention. The No-Intro naming convention strives to stay true to what was actually on the game box when the game was released. I think you'd have better results using the No-Intro naming schema rather than GoodSets or TOSEC, but to each their own. One thing you wont find in No-Intro sets are translated games, as these are considered hacks. It's basically a matter of personal taste, none of the above information may be of any concern to you, but for others, it matters and it helps to understand the difference between the many different ROM sets floating around out there. I use No-Intro sets for ALL of my cartridge based systems, and although a game may not appear in my GameEx database, it will still show in GameEx and I still have a nice set of artwork, videos, etc. to accompany the title. As for ROM managers, you may have a terrible time using them with GoodSets if your trying to rename to a No-Intro set. The information I gave above about headered and Unheadered ROMs will certainly cause issues. You'll need to use a No-Intro .dat file to rename. If the checksum of your GoodSet ROM doesn't match whats in the No-Intro databsse, (and 9 times out of 10 it wont) than you'll have to manually rename that ROM. In the end, it's easier to "acquire" a complete No-Intro set to save yourself a lot of hassle. Just my 2cents

Any specific reason you wish to use HyperlLaunch with Game Ex? In short, yes, HyperLanuch (from what I understand) can be used with Game Ex, but I couldn't begin to tell you how to set it up as I have not attempted it before. I have HyperLaunch working beautify with HyperSpin, so I never saw a reason (or benefit) for using it with GE. Game EX works a lot differently than HyperSpin and has a nice setup wizard for getting things up and running (much like HyperLaunch does for HyperSpin).

For Wiimotes, I'd go for the Motion+ controllers as I believe certain Wii games like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword require them (Not totally sure on this). As for your other questions, there are some really good after market controllers out there that will do just fine and save you some cash on buying name brand controllers. The only reason I can see going with Nintendo branded controllers is for a truly authentic feel, but keep in mind you'll have to purchase the extra adapters to use these, or have them rewired with a USB connection as I've also seen being sold in various places, but you already know that For N64 emulation, I've found that using multiple emulators comes real close to getting perfect N64 emulation, some emulators work better than others and I use a combination of Project64 and 1964. For SNES I'd stay away from Zsnes, as it has sound issues and is more of a "hack job" than focusing on accurate emulation. I'd opt for Snes9x or Higan (Higan has perfect SNES emulation for every title) Snes9x is what I use the most, and it's really good as it's not fanatical about it's ROM images and supports both format ROM files, .sfc and .smc Higan is a bit more fanatical about the ROM format you use (only supporting un-headered .sfc ROMs) and I never really liked the way it handles ROM images, placing each ROM in it's own folder, etc. There are plenty of great NES emulators out there, so take your pick. I use Nestopia mostly, and have always had positive results.

To my understanding, Instant Sheller only works for XP, Vista, and 7. Tom or one of the other developers would have to confirm this as I was wondering the same thing the other day. I'm currently running Windows 7 x64 but have been considering doing an upgrade to 8.1.

I too hated saying goodbye to my old friend Windows XP (RIP). But I have to agree with Draco, I noticed a big performance improvement in the jump to the newer OS on an older machine. Especially in certain emulators like Dolphin and Project 64, and with the overall Windows experience in general. My cab is never connected to the internet, so I guess privacy isn't really a big concern for me at this point. Any tweaking or whatever is done by using external drives to add new things or what not. I think Win7 is a good choice, and things should run just fine. Good luck with the upgrade

If I could chime in here for a second I also wanted to add that if you edit any CD image file name that has a .cue file (Sony Playstation for example) You'll have to edit the .cue file internally as well using notepad. Set your .cue files to open with notepad, then you'll be able to see the text contained in the .cue file. So if your Gran Turismo .cue file looks like this: FILE "Gran Turismo (U).bin" BINARY TRACK 01 MODE2/2352 INDEX 01 00:00:00 and your change your ROM name to this: Gran Turismo (USA) Then your .cue file should be editied to match the new ROM name like so... FILE "Gran Turismo (USA).bin" BINARY TRACK 01 MODE2/2352 INDEX 01 00:00:00 All of my PSX images are in .bin\.cue format, and I had to manually edit these things and it took a long time to do a complete set Simply renaming your ROM names will cause problems as the .cue files contain info/data on the music tracks in your PSX images. The music will be "choppy" or won't play at all if these aren't edited correctly. Once you made an edit to the .cue file, simply save and exit. Good luck!

If I'm not mistaken, HyperLaunch can do this with HyperSpin... not sure how it all works being that I haven't updated my HS setup in a few years... too much work Would be interesting to have GameEx be able to do this, and allow custom menus, and such for those custom game lists. All the Mega Man games in one spot with custom themes and such.... very nice. Maybe Evolution?

What version of Nestopia are you running? I've had this problem before as well and I had to start creating a backup of my Nestopia config so I didn't have to reconfigure the controls each time if by chance Nestopia didn't store the info in the config file. Also, not that it matters much, but what gamepad are you using? Are you plugging into the same USB port each time or using a different port? Not sure if using different ports matter much, but I do recall reading something awhile back where Nestopia required the controller to be plugged into the same USB port each time once configured... I believe that was an older version of Nestopia though. I still have this problem from time to time and never could figure out why.

Congrats!

Yeah, mom was a fighter, and stubborn as hell! I think that's one of the reasons she lasted as long as she did. I just got married on the 14th of June, my wife and I had originally planned our wedding for next spring, but my mother getting ill motivated us to push it forward... however, she still didn't make it. I know she was there in spirit and for that alone, I can be somewhat at peace. Knowing she isn't suffering anymore is a huge help in dealing with this loss. My mother also bought my first NES in Christmas of '89. I'll never forget it! Had it not been for her, I may not have ever been "in love" with gaming the way that I am today. Some of my fondest memories come from my NES/SNES days, and believe it or not, I still have that old NES and it still works... eh, kind of... needs a leaf blower to get it going, lol I hope your doing better Aaron, take it a day at a time... that's how I'm able to deal. Thanks for the condolences, thoughts and prayers. Also, thanks to the rest of you as well. Remember to take time out and tell someone you love them... you just never know guys. I expected my mother to at least have a few more months left... I was in shock when I got the call... I really wanted just one more hour with her, still had lots to say.

So sorry for your loss Aaron. I know your pain as my mother just passed away on June 1st. One of the reasons I myself have not been as active lately. She had a massive heart attack and complications from diabetes. She lost her foot a few years ago, and then her leg was amputated in efforts to save her life. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family my friend. Hang in there.

I think I only need the Games For Windows theme and I'll have a complete set of themes for my setup, then comes the task of adding the systems I don't currently have, most of which you've done themes for already

I've used them with standalone versions of bSNES. I use Snes9X as my emulator of choice running through Game Ex, so I haven't messed around with Retroarch

I use the Tomee SNES USB controller(s). They were cheap on eBay and seem to work well. Very easy to configure. I also use an actual SNES controller with a SNES to USB adapter, and those can also be found on eBay or Amazon and I believe Gamestop carries those as well. There is also a guy who modifies real SNES controllers to USB and sells them on ebay, so that may be an option as well. It's really just a matter of preference I suppose, but the Tommee controllers feel an look like the real thing, however I've heard people complain about them not being durable... but I haven't had any issues with the two I have.

Congrats Krak!! Well deserved!

Thanks Tom!

Glad you got it sorted out This hobby takes a bit of elbow grease from time to time but the end result is usually worth the effort.

Yeah, this is a known issue with GameEx as I've had this problem with other themes in the past. As Draco mentioned, I've made several attempts and threads at finding exactly what causes it but with no luck I'm afraid. For me, it doesn't happen everytime, just in rare instances... and in some cases, GameEx will actually close with an error report requiring me to restart GE again.

As far as I know, this is a known issue within GameEx itself. I've had this problem with other themes and have made a few threads about it with no real answer as to why it happens. It doesn't happen every time, just in rare instances.