heretic

How would I do this ? I want to have my computer boot directly to a program called Zenpoint MediaCenter. From there I am able to add external programs like GameEx and Windows Explorer. But I need the touchscreen to work on booting.

my ELO touchscreen will not function (the touch part) after instantsheller, so I don't have a mouse function unless I plug in a USB mouse. Any advice how to rectify this ?

I installed instantsheller which worked good except that I still wanted to be able to access windows if I had to. I couldn't undo the install and eventually had to reformat (which wasn't too bad because it's a small partition). Is it possible to access windows desktop after instantsheller ?

My OCD is taking control and I "need" to be current. I'm deciding to start retroactively backfilling my Romsets. So far I'm to 0.128 (from 136) and when I finally get this done I'll run clrmame and see where I misssed some files. Just to clarify for others that are in my same situation: I've missed so many advances in the past 4 years I'm "backfilling" my roms from present backwards. eventually I have duplicate Roms and I choose the latest date ofthe files as a reference (this may be wrong and clrmame should rectify).

Thanks guys. I think I get it and I don't want to cross lines (delete or edit this if I do). I've read for hours to get back up on how to do this. Ideally I only want to play the games I'm used to playing (say, the Top 100 or so). There is just the option now of high score maintanance etc. I guess I just get the latest version of mame and .dat file and the roms that I have may or may not be updated to latest version with clrmame. If I want more roms (newer ones that have been released since 0.114) or if they need to be updated I'll have to get more. It's probably easier to pick and choose the one's I specifically want than a huge new whole set.

I haven't been using the arcade for quite some time. My Mame Rom Set is 0.114. I see it is now up to 0.136. I have clrmame and have watched how to update sets but I'm unsure what files / steps are required to get to the latest version. Do I have to find several intermediate update sets ? Thanks for any help.

Move this to feature requests if it should go there. I see some requests for a search function, but in the meantime is it possible to hotkey an on screen keyboard. This way I can do without a keyboard altogether; hit a hotkey, on screen keyboard pops up and you can jump to first MAME title beginning with that letter or first song on jukebox etc.

Thanks bkenobi, that will save me a few hours in not having yet another quixotic quest.

This probably isn't a GameEx issue but someone will probably know the answer. I have my Minipac configured with 2 8-way joysticks. When playing a one-player-at-a-time game, when it's Player 2's turn they have to use Player 1's joystick. But when you play a two-players-at-once game that joystick (#2) works. I have the joystick mapped in MAME to joystick 2 for Player 2. What am I missing? Or is this just a MAME feature that can't be changed?

Finally ID tagged all of my music and built my CP. I did a quick search for this and noticed someone writing a script for something similar, but is there a method of scrolling through all of the MAME games quickly by using the spinner?

As for Heretic's ID3 tagging: Have you tried using Media Monkey? It's free and it was a god send to tag my 180 gigs of mp3's for Media Center and GameEx. The learning curve seems steep at first but it's easy once you get your hands dirty. This program, "Media Monkey" is great for my ID3 tagging. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'll look into it. Thanks.

WooHoo it works. Soul Calibur works after installing ffddshow. Thanks a million.

I reformatted my main hard drive reinstalled Windows XP Pro, directX 9, .net 3.0, left off my ATI video driver (just in case) and reinstalled GameEx. Started off with Soul Calibur theme and when I went to update list, program stopped responding. Log is below. I switched to default theme and tried to update list and it worked. Played game through default theme and they worked. Switched theme back to Soul Calibur and game list was there. Went to play a game....stall...not responding. So it appears that the theme is the culprit. But it works great in a different computer. One thing I notice is when I updated a list on the 2nd computer the animation for Soul Calibur ran in the background. Not on the first. I'm wondering if it's tha ATI card (9800 Pro). Both computers are P4 2.0gHz. Computer that works uses Nvidia GeForce. Here's log (I've got GameEx.exe.mdmp and appcompat.txt files too if that helps) 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: GameEx: Version 8.85: Starting Log 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: Operating System Platform: Win32NT 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: Operating System Name: Windows XP 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: Checking for versions of .net Framework installed 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: .net Framework 2.0 Installed 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.00GHz, 1023MB 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: 2Ghz 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: Running Randomize() 13:29:52.4 9/9/2007: Loading PlugIns 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Checking for applications to Launch On Startup 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Running Misc startup tasks 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Setting Menu types 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Opening Configuration File 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Getting Configuration Values 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Using Theme: Default - Soul Calibur 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: Default - Soul Calibur 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Launching HideOS.exe 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Initialising Video/MNG DLL's 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Hiding Taskbar 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Is Media Center running? 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Checking/Creating LCD Registry values 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode 13:29:52.5 9/9/2007: Media Center Mode 2 13:29:52.6 9/9/2007: Video previews on. Warning: Only recommended on modern systems 13:29:52.6 9/9/2007: Snap Delay set to: 2 13:29:52.6 9/9/2007: Get other settings 13:29:52.6 9/9/2007: Set: Find emulator artwork on best match basis 13:29:52.6 9/9/2007: Start work for Form 13:29:52.6 9/9/2007: Getting Original Screen Size 13:29:52.6 9/9/2007: Opening Database Connection 13:29:52.9 9/9/2007: Initializing Component 13:29:53.0 9/9/2007: Retrieving resolution setting 13:29:53.0 9/9/2007: Initialising Windows Media Player Component 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: MAME Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: MAME EXE file is: Mame32.exe 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: ROM Path is: D:\roms 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: Catver.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\catver.ini 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: controls.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\data\controls.ini 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: History.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\history.dat 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: nplayers.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\nplayers.ini 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: MAMEinfo.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\mameinfo.dat 13:29:53.3 9/9/2007: Loading Controls.ini map file 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Snap Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\snap 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: AVI Snap Path: Not Found 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Flyer Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\flyers 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Cabinet Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\cabinets 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Title Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\titles 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: PCB Path: Not Found 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Artwork Preview Path: Not Found 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Panel Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\cpanel 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Manual Path: Not Found 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Icon Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\icons 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Marquee Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\marquees 13:29:53.4 9/9/2007: Loading Custom Emulators 13:29:53.7 9/9/2007: Using 2D Animations 13:29:53.7 9/9/2007: Using General Font: HandelGothic BT 13:29:53.7 9/9/2007: Using Title Font: HandelGothic BT 13:29:53.7 9/9/2007: Attempting to load game list 13:29:54.2 9/9/2007: Initialising DirectDraw 13:29:54.3 9/9/2007: Creating DirectDraw Device 13:29:54.3 9/9/2007: Using Device: RADEON 9800 PRO (Microsoft Corporation) 13:29:54.8 9/9/2007: 121mb video memory available 13:29:54.8 9/9/2007: Setting Resolution to 640x480 32 bit color 13:29:55.7 9/9/2007: Creating DirectDraw Surfaces 13:29:55.7 9/9/2007: Creating Primary Surface - Full Screen Mode 13:29:55.7 9/9/2007: Creating Back Buffer 13:29:55.8 9/9/2007: Loading graphic Surfaces 13:29:55.9 9/9/2007: Display is running at: 640x480 32bit color, 75hz 13:29:55.9 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Misc and Dialogs 13:29:56.2 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Volume 13:29:56.3 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Arrows 13:29:56.3 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces GameEXlogo Text 13:29:56.3 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Toolbar 13:29:56.4 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Backgrounds 13:29:58.9 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Toolbar Controls 13:29:58.9 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces GameEx Logo 13:29:58.9 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Home & Exit 13:29:59.0 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Snaps 13:29:59.0 9/9/2007: Creating Surfaces Menu and List Bars 13:29:59.1 9/9/2007: Creating Fonts 13:29:59.1 9/9/2007: Creating Menu Font 13:30:00.7 9/9/2007: Creating Game Font 13:30:01.4 9/9/2007: Creating Font Black 13:30:01.6 9/9/2007: Creating Font Black Small 13:30:01.8 9/9/2007: Creating Game Font Faded 13:30:02.9 9/9/2007: Creating Title Font 13:30:09.4 9/9/2007: Fonts Created Succesfully 13:30:09.4 9/9/2007: 91mb video memory left available 13:30:09.4 9/9/2007: Creating instance of global keyboard hook 13:30:32.8 9/9/2007: Text/Language: English 13:30:32.8 9/9/2007: Applying Language/Text 13:30:32.8 9/9/2007: Initialising Bass Audio Library 13:30:33.0 9/9/2007: MAME CMD options: -triplebuffer -nowindow -joy 13:30:33.0 9/9/2007: Loading last used Game List 13:30:33.0 9/9/2007: Setting Music Volume 13:30:33.0 9/9/2007: Creating DirectSound Device 13:30:33.1 9/9/2007: Trying: Primary Sound Driver 13:30:33.1 9/9/2007: Loading Sound Files 13:30:33.3 9/9/2007: DirectSound Device Created Successfully 13:30:33.3 9/9/2007: Creating ICONS 13:30:33.3 9/9/2007: Recreating ICONS 13:30:33.9 9/9/2007: Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support 13:30:34.0 9/9/2007: Unable to create a joystick device 13:30:34.0 9/9/2007: Playing intro sound file 13:30:34.0 9/9/2007: Initializing MCE Remote 13:30:34.0 9/9/2007: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx! 13:30:34.0 9/9/2007: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame 13:30:34.6 9/9/2007: Testing Main Loop Once: Main Loop ran successfully

I need a license. I've seen GameEx mentioned a few times at BYOAC forum but it has never received as much attention as MALA and MameWah so I just passed it by. I've played with MALA of and on for the past month but it's just not working for me for what I want. I need a MAME FE with the option of a Jukebox (preferably built in) and a slide show for pictures. Most programs don't allow for the lower resolutions that I require for a TV monitor. The option of having further emulation programs is really appealing, but for the time being, building a cabinet and figuring out software, woodworking, electrical, etc it gets overwhelming; the option of further emulators can wait until this is sorted out. The minute I downloaded GameEx I realized this is what I want. I've got a big problem with my 1800+ music albums that require proper ID tags but it's worth it to fix them all to get this to work the way I want. For the time being I like the Soul Calibur theme but eventually I'll make my own. Having the option of weather and a dvd player makes it more appealing. The LED-Wiz plug-in is a bonus because this is another option I'm looking into. So is the contest to suck up on the software or the forum ? Ok the forum; nice to see a forum for support on software where the owner constantly has a hands on approach to help with all of the issues with the product and constantly wants to improve it. I've only posted about 3 times and have had responses to questions within hours. I find I'm on the computer for hours reading every topic I can to get my arcade up and running the exact way I see it and this forum has the answers. Like a previous member stated, I check my email and then this site. Nice to see a cooperative atmosphere as well. I don't pay for software very often but this one is worth it.

I just put GameEx on another computer and works great. I'll post logs in a bit but I think I'll reformat and reinstall everything on my dedicated machine. Doesn't hurt to clean house.

Put only 6 roms in "roms" folder. Start GameEx. No Roms Found. Update list. 5 seconds in stops responding. I can post error message from windows if that helps. BTW Windows XP Pro, Pentium 4, ATI 9800 Pro graphics.

program keeps"not responding". Uninstalled and reinstalled several times with same results. I'm going to try just putting a few roms in and see what happens.

How long should it take to update a game list? Presently, I'm using mame32 and have a full set of roms and CHDs at 0.114. I've let it go for an hour and it still says "Wait". I also have AdvanceMame but find that if I turn that option on GameEx goes directly to Multimedia and you don't have the option of seeing games.

I just downloaded GameEx and love the interface for what I need. It's definitely a keeper. BTW my control panel stuff should be here in a few days so that's pending. I was sorting all of my music using SK Jukebox but the resolution is terrible at 640X480. I'm using a 27" TV with component for the monitor. So I'm trying to use the Jukebox in GameEx. I never really used Media Player before as a primary mp3 player. It lloks like the software sorts music by using the MP3 ID tags. Since I made most of my MP3s by copying CDs they have no tags. I have all of my music sorted in a master "Music" directory like this ACDC (1986) - Back In Black \ 01 - Hells Bells \ 02 - Shoot To Thrill \ 03 - Back In Black ACDC (1987) - For Those About To Rock We Salute You \ 01 - xxx \ 02 - xxx etc. This way the music would come up chronologically by author and alphabetically. Unless I have actually played the music with Media Player, GameEx doesn't recognize the songs. Is there a method to avoid using ID tags to sort the music and only sort by albums according to the directories I have created. Or am I going to have to go through every song (I have 1800 albums) and edit the tags?