bkenobi

I got this working last night wigth explorer still as the shell. Do you know if I can still login remotely (terminal services) if I use GameEx as the shell? If so, then I can get rid of explorer once and for all (well, except for maintenance). Actually, I got everything working, but then I messed up my network card in the process, so I'll have to fix that soon...

My guess is that you didn't install the new .NET 2.0 stuff. There was some version break point (I think v7.5) that Tom implemented the new system.

I'm guessing that most people don't keep old version and they are not available for download (as far as I know). I keep them just in case, but as of yet haven't needed them!

So you are suggesting that I enable "Exit GameEx" and "Shutdown Computer" in GameEx. Then, if I exit, it doesn't shutdown and run the script...probably a good idea. I'll have to make sure it works with WinLirc, but this looks really promising. Thanks! Still doesn't answer the question about the state, but it might solve the problem causing the incorrect state so I guess this is really better anyway.

Try dissabling anything that's in the startup menu (move them to another directory) to see if it keeps happening. If that fixes it, then you have something starting up and stealing focus and you'll have to figure out how to fix that. If that doesn't fix it, there is probably something going on in GameEx.

No, I use explorer as the shell since I don't think I can do a remote login with GameEx as the shell (I could be wrong though). Also, when I start up and shut down, I need WinLirc to fire commands to turn on and off the TV. I don't know if that can be done without explorer. Anyway, the reason I can't just exit GameEx normally is that it launches my script to turn off the TV and shutdown the pc. I have to abnormally kill GameEx so that it doesn't process that "run on exit" script.

X-Arcade uses a keyboard emulator, right? I have been wondering lately what kind of trigger GameEx uses to detect key presses. If you press a key on the keyboard, there is a raw key that can be detected, but I don't know if it is detecting a DirectX "virtual key press" of some kind or perhaps another method. My primary interest is in making my GP-Wiz32 able to have both P1 and P2 control the interface. I have used JoyToKey with no success, AutoHotKey with somewhat limited success, etc... Anyway, I'll be trying XPadder tonight, so perhaps this will resolve the issue. Either way, it might help you if we knew what it was looking for.

tsk...tsk...tsk...

Awesome! Did you get a chance to play with it yet? I've been thinking of switching over from JoyToKey to XPadder and now that CLI is supported, it's actually an option...

DP...

If you copy the whole gameex dir in program files, then reinstall over top, I know that will work. But, you will probably be working with more data than you really need to. I think you could just save the gameex.ini file in the config dir and be ok. In your MAME directory, you have a cfg dir. This is where all of your individual game configurations (key maps, etc.) are stored. You will have one file for each rom that you modified the config for. There may be more you want to save, but that's the main thing that takes time to set up.

There was a version cutoff that you had to manually update I think. As I recall, it was around version 7.50. The big reason was an update to a newer .NET framework I think. As I understand, it should auto update after you get past that breakpoint.

So when I start my cab, GameEx starts up in full screen mode (the only mode I have ever used). If I want to go back to windows, I use a ctl-alt-del to bring up the screen where you can choose to logoff, shutdown, task manager, etc. I pick task manager so that I can kill GameEx (quiting normally will launch the "run on exit" batch file which turns off the TV and shuts down the computer). When task manager comes up, GameEx goes to minimized (I can still hear arcade ambiance, so it's still down there running correctly). Anyway, If I then kill GameEx and do whatever it is I needed to do (change configurations in GameEx or whatever), sometimes (I haven't really paid attention to whether it's every time or every xx times, etc) GameEx starts up minimized. I can alt-tab back in or just pick it with the mouse, so it seems to just be starting up minimized. I was just thinking if there was an easy command line argument I could pass to make sure it was launched in full screen, this could be avoided. I suppose it would be more helpful if I could narrow down what was causing the problem (probably on my end ), but I was just too lazy up until now

Just a quick background. My cabinet uses a TV, so when I turn it on, I have it send remote codes via WinLIRC. I have it shut off the same way. To accomplish this, I use a batch file set to run with the after start and before quit commands in GameEx. Okay, so here's my question. When I need to shut down GameEx, I have to kill it ungracefully via task manager. When I launch task manager, I use ctl-alt-del which minimizes GameEx. The next time I start up GameEx, it seems to start up minimized. I know this is true for starting up during the same Windows session, and I am pretty sure this is the case with a new session as well (restart, then launch GameEx). I guess my question is, is there a command line option to force starting GameEx in fullscreen?

I'll take a look. Any ideas on the gamepad axis centering? Thanks!

The tank stick and the other prebuilt CP's all (as far as I know) use keyboard emulation to work. So, as long as the programs you are trying to use accept keyboard input (they all do), then it should work just fine! The question you are actually trying to ask is if it will work out of the box with no work on your end The answer to that is maybe. If there is a "tank stick" controller file for the program you are trying to use, then you can just select it. I don't think GameEx has a tank stick controller file ready to select out of the box, but, since the tank stick is just a dual controller with a trackball mounted in the center, you should be able to use that one and configure the trackball separately. That goes for any program, not just GameEx. There was a thread a while back about XArcade sticks in general, but I didn't keep up with it, so you might want to search the forum for it.

Yeah, I don't know what the buttons are by default (I think they can be changed), but you can exit by holding down a combination of gamepad keys for a couple seconds. I want to say it's a direction + buttons 4, 5, and 6. It should be in the documentation and I know it's been covered in the forum.

I have just finished building my new driving cabinet and am in the process of setting up the software. It's an old Championship Sprint cabinet, so it has a pair of 360° steering wheels (mouse hack), a pair of analog pedals (Dual Strike hack), and two CP and 2 coin buttons (Dual Strike buttons 1-4). I am having a little problem setting up the pedals to keep from auto scrolling the list (a joystick centering issue), but that's not my question. How do you set up a spinner or 360° steering wheel so that rotating the wheel (moving the mouse x- or y-axis) moves the selection up or down in the list? If one wheel was mapped to the scroll wheel, I could use it to move the list up and down, but it doesn't select games. I know there are people out there with spinners using GameEx, so perhaps one of you could suggest a solution. Oh, and if someone with a Dual Strike pedal setup has any advice on getting the axis setup correctly, PLEASE don't hesitate from chiming in! THANKS ALL!

Before you get too far into it, check to make sure the buttons themselves aren't sticking. I have leaf switches on my new cab and one of the buttons likes to stick in the up position. Perhaps you have the opposite problem?

Oh Well never mind then...

I will give it a try.

I don't know anything about DL2 or GEX, but from your description, it sounds like GEX launches as a front end or setup utility and then launches DL2. If so, is it possible that GEX closes when DL2 starts? In that case, I would guess that when GameEx sees GEX close, it figures that the application is done and regains control. If this situation is what's going on, then a GEX launching script might be useful (something in AutoIt or AutoHotKey would probably be easiest since it needs to search for a process ending).

I was not in the room when the error happened, but from all reports, my sister in laws hammered the quit button and things crashed. When I got in the room, there was a black screen (HideOS) with GameEx in the background. I was unable to alt-tab back into it and eventually killed it with ctl-alt-del. Unfortunately, I did not think to grab the log, but I'm pretty sure I suffered this error with v8.07 (I think).

The only way I know of adding stuff to the menu is to add emulators or applications. It's not quick or easy, but it is effective.

There is another way that might work although it is a bit more complicated. If you can't get "roms in folders" to work (if it's still available), you could link multiple emulators together. There is a way to set up 3 copies of the winuae with the correct folder set up for each. Then, link them together and they will show all of the games under a single displayed emulator. This is a bit of a cluge, but it should work.