Dan Q

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm willing to accept the 'resource' problem causes the delay in the music cutting out. If I stop the music manually, just before selecting a game, I don't get any problems. This would be because MAME isn't running yet, so everything runs smoothly. But I don't see how a resource problem would cause the controls to go haywire for a couple of seconds, just once during a game. (I've decided now that it's not buffering my commands, but is instead issuing a single random control change contrary to the direction that I may be moving at the time). It's as if someone takes over the controls for a couple of seconds and they over-rule anything you want to do. I'd love to upgrade the PC, but it's hard to justify spending money just to play 80's arcade games. The arcade cabinet seemed the perfect use for an old 'low-spec' machine. I'll just have to live with it until I 'acquire' a better machine. Thanks anyway.

Sorry, forgot to answer the second question. I use GameEx for MAME only. I have it running at pretty low settings, and I'm only running about 100 roms from the 70's and 80's (ie. nothing that's going to stretch the hardware).

09:07:45.2 11.12.2009: GameEx: Version 10.15: Starting Log 09:07:45.2 11.12.2009: Operating System Platform: Win32NT 09:07:45.2 11.12.2009: Operating System Name: Windows XP 09:07:45.2 11.12.2009: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600 09:07:45.3 11.12.2009: Checking for versions of .net Framework installed 09:07:45.3 11.12.2009: .net Framework 1.1 Installed 09:07:45.3 11.12.2009: .net Framework 2.0 Installed 09:07:45.3 11.12.2009: Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 1.60GHz, 511MB 09:07:45.4 11.12.2009: 1,6Ghz 09:07:45.4 11.12.2009: Running Randomize() 09:07:45.4 11.12.2009: Loading PlugIns 09:07:45.4 11.12.2009: Checking for applications to Launch On Startup 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Running Misc startup tasks 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Setting Menu types 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Opening Configuration File 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Getting Configuration Values 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Using Theme: Default - Dark Gloss 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: Default - Dark Gloss 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Launching HideOS.exe 09:07:45.5 11.12.2009: Initialising Video/MNG DLL's 09:07:45.6 11.12.2009: CPWizard enabled 09:07:45.6 11.12.2009: Launching CPWizard: "C:\Program Files\CPWizard\CPWizard.exe" -minimized 09:07:47.2 11.12.2009: GameEx will check for media insertion (may affect performance) 09:07:47.2 11.12.2009: Hiding Taskbar 09:07:47.4 11.12.2009: Is Media Center running? 09:07:47.4 11.12.2009: Checking/Creating LCD Registry values 09:07:47.4 11.12.2009: Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode 09:07:47.4 11.12.2009: Media Center Mode 2 09:07:47.5 11.12.2009: Snap Delay set to: 1 09:07:47.5 11.12.2009: Get other settings 09:07:47.6 11.12.2009: Desktop set to Hide ICONS and set Background to Black 09:07:47.6 11.12.2009: Start work for Form 09:07:47.6 11.12.2009: Getting Original Screen Size 09:07:47.6 11.12.2009: Opening Database Connection 09:07:56.2 11.12.2009: Initializing Component 09:07:56.4 11.12.2009: Retrieving resolution setting 09:07:56.6 11.12.2009: Initialising Windows Media Player Component 09:07:58.9 11.12.2009: MAME Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32 09:07:59.0 11.12.2009: MAME EXE file is: Mame32.exe 09:07:59.0 11.12.2009: ROM Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\roms 09:07:59.1 11.12.2009: Catver.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\catver.ini 09:07:59.1 11.12.2009: controls.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\data\controls.ini 09:07:59.1 11.12.2009: History.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\history.dat 09:07:59.1 11.12.2009: nplayers.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\nplayers.ini 09:07:59.1 11.12.2009: MAMEinfo.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\mameinfo.dat 09:07:59.2 11.12.2009: Loading Controls.ini map file 09:07:59.3 11.12.2009: Snap Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\snap 09:07:59.3 11.12.2009: AVI Snap Path: Not Found 09:07:59.3 11.12.2009: Flyer Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\flyers 09:07:59.3 11.12.2009: Cabinet Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\cabinets 09:07:59.4 11.12.2009: Title Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\titles 09:07:59.4 11.12.2009: PCB Path: Not Found 09:07:59.4 11.12.2009: Artwork Preview Path: Not Found 09:07:59.4 11.12.2009: Panel Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\cpanel 09:07:59.4 11.12.2009: Manual Path: Not Found 09:07:59.5 11.12.2009: Icon Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\icons 09:07:59.5 11.12.2009: Marquee Path is: C:\Emulators\Mame32\marquees 09:07:59.6 11.12.2009: Loading Custom Emulators 09:08:00.2 11.12.2009: Using Version 3 Themes Animations 09:08:00.2 11.12.2009: Using General Font: Trebuchet MS 09:08:00.2 11.12.2009: Using Title Font: Trebuchet MS 09:08:00.3 11.12.2009: Initialising DirectDraw 09:08:02.0 11.12.2009: Creating DirectDraw Device 09:08:02.0 11.12.2009: Using Device: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 09:08:23.7 11.12.2009: 62mb video memory available 09:08:50.7 11.12.2009: Setting Resolution to 800x600 32 bit color 09:08:50.7 11.12.2009: Creating DirectDraw Surfaces 09:08:50.7 11.12.2009: Creating Primary Surface - Full Screen Mode 09:08:50.8 11.12.2009: Creating Back Buffer 09:08:50.9 11.12.2009: Loading graphic Surfaces 09:08:51.0 11.12.2009: Display is running at: 800x600 16bit color, 60hz 09:08:51.1 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Flags 09:08:51.3 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Misc and Dialogs 09:08:51.4 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Volume 09:08:51.5 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Arrows 09:08:51.5 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces GameEXlogo Text 09:08:51.5 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Toolbar 09:08:51.6 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Backgrounds 09:08:52.0 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Toolbar Controls 09:08:52.0 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces GameEx Logo 09:08:52.1 11.12.2009: Creating Surface Unselected 09:08:52.1 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Home & Exit 09:08:52.2 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Snaps 09:08:52.2 11.12.2009: Creating Surfaces Menu and List Bars 09:08:52.5 11.12.2009: Creating Fonts 09:08:52.5 11.12.2009: Creating Game Font 09:08:53.1 11.12.2009: Creating Game Font Faded 09:08:53.2 11.12.2009: Creating Title Font 09:08:53.4 11.12.2009: Restoring Title Font From Cache 09:08:54.4 11.12.2009: Creating Font Black 09:08:54.7 11.12.2009: Creating Font Black Small 09:08:55.2 11.12.2009: Fonts Created Succesfully 09:08:55.2 11.12.2009: 48mb video memory left available 09:08:55.2 11.12.2009: Creating instance of global keyboard hook 09:09:23.6 11.12.2009: Attempting to load game list 09:09:24.5 11.12.2009: Text/Language: English 09:09:24.5 11.12.2009: Applying Language/Text 09:09:24.7 11.12.2009: Initialising Bass Audio Library 09:09:25.1 11.12.2009: MAME CMD options: -nowindow -joy -skip_gameinfo 09:09:25.1 11.12.2009: Loading last used Game List 09:09:25.5 11.12.2009: Setting Music Volume 09:09:25.6 11.12.2009: Loading music 09:09:30.6 11.12.2009: Creating DirectSound Device 09:09:30.6 11.12.2009: Trying: Primary Sound Driver 09:09:30.6 11.12.2009: Loading Sound Files 09:09:30.8 11.12.2009: DirectSound Device Created Successfully 09:09:30.8 11.12.2009: Creating ICONS 09:09:30.9 11.12.2009: Recreating ICONS 09:09:31.3 11.12.2009: Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support 09:09:31.3 11.12.2009: Unable to create a joystick device 09:09:31.4 11.12.2009: Initializing MCE Remote 09:09:31.4 11.12.2009: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx! 09:09:31.5 11.12.2009: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame 09:09:32.8 11.12.2009: Testing Main Loop Once: Main Loop ran successfully 09:09:46.3 11.12.2009: Running: cmd.exe /c C: C:\Emulators\Mame32\Mame32.exe rainbow -rompath C:\Emulators\Mame32\roms -nowindow -joy -skip_gameinfo 09:09:47.2 11.12.2009: Launching CPWizard: "C:\Program Files\CPWizard\CPWizard.exe" -emu mame -game rainbow -timeout 9000 09:33:06.3 11.12.2009: Exiting GameEx! 09:33:06.3 11.12.2009: Saving Settings 09:33:08.4 11.12.2009: Disposing Plugins 09:33:08.5 11.12.2009: Closing database connection 09:33:08.5 11.12.2009: Checking for applications to Launch On Exit This is the log from today. I played a game of Rainbow Islands. The game took just over 20 minutes and during the game the joystick locked up... for 3 seconds... and it only happened once.

Hi, I've been using GameEx for about a year, on my (MAME) arcade cabinet. Everything works great, but I have two annoying bugs. 1. Every so often (maybe once an hour), and regardless of the game being played, the joystick stops responding for approx 3 seconds. It's so regular, that I expect it to happen at least once or twice whenever I'm playing. I thought it must be something running in the background (in Windows), so I disabled every Windows process and service, except the ones you aren't allowed to, but that didn't fix it. It's not a connection problem, because I've re-wired the thing three times with three different joysticks with the same result each time. When the joystick springs back into life, it then issues all the commands that were buffered during that 3 second pause. In most games this isn't a huge problem, but means certain death in the likes of Pac-man or Defender. Any suggestions? 2. The second thing involves the jukebox. After selecting a game, the music should fade out as the game initialises. However, sometimes the music can take 10 to 15 seconds to fade out... and if you start playing the game before the music has stopped, the screen can go black and you have to exit back to the game menu and select the game again. Anyone else had this problem? Grateful for any advice... thanks.