Adultery

Incidentally, how come I've never been able to find the emulator's foreground PNG you asked me to delete before? Here's a copy of exactly what is in my DATA folder, and I know at least one emulator has a foreground image (since I just tested it after trying to restore a DLL file that may or may not have been missing)... Maybe I'm getting closer to an answer here?

Well what the hell? :/ I give up on using a V4 theme with foreground images. I can't get it to work for me, and I've tried just about everything I can think of to try. Sad day in my house. I wonder what difference you and I have as far as Pac-Man goes? That's pretty unusual, provided you're using the same snaps I am and you didn't make your own...

Well attract mode is working now. I made some changes to ZiNc and forgot to run a list update. So far so good. Next step is to try and add a transparent png and see if I can get the foreground images to show up. I'll let you know. @Draco: Yeah, three passes later with Memtest and all was well. I think there's a deeper issue here, but I have yet to pinpoint it. As far as your gamercard goes, if you check out the gamercard thread you'll see that I too have similar problems. Glad to see it's not confined to my local machine... I'm gonna go run Asteroids and see if the picture shows up in my tag. Then we'll know that it's certain games as opposed to a random issue. .:EDIT:. What do ya know... Asteroids screen shot showed up. Draco, could you try and run Pac-Man and see if it doesn't show up for you? That's one game that never displays a screen shot for me. .:EDIT #2:. Damn, I thought I might really be on to something there. I also eliminated the video icon possibility... I thought maybe the problem was isolated to emulators that use zCarl's AVIs for icons. No dice. I can live without the foreground images though. However, that doesn't mean I intend to quit looking for a solution!

Okay... So I took out all the foreground images from the theme and the problem has gone away. I can see the background plain as day now. I wondered if the problem wasn't that GameEx was having a tough time pulling out absolute black from the overlays? If I change the images to transparent PNGs instead of black overlays, maybe it will work for me? I'll give it a try and see. I also am updating my MAME list to see if that brings my attract mode back. As always, I'll keep you posted on my situation. I have to get the kids from school first though.

HDD checked out just fine (I run tests when I monthly maintenance) and there were no errors in it that chkdsk could find. I also should mention that I do regular defrags in addition to monthly maintenance. The HDD is a 7200 so speed is fine, and since it's a SATA drive I don't expect there to be any problems with cables or anything. I just ran a RAM test after reading your post to be sure, and that checks out also (I just added new GreatSkill RAM with the most beautiful heat spreaders eight months ago). The main reason I went with a better power supply is because I have since added a WS HP monitor to my cabinet and I wanted to be sure that it was getting ample power. I was also hoping that would help with the random PJ64 crashes (which it didn't incidentally). I just inherited a Dell Optiplex GX240 P4 tower the other day and I intend to rebuild that and replace the one in the cab with it in hopes it will get rid of some of the problems with the AMD processor that's in there now (ie can't get SSF to even load), and it's a bit faster than my current setup (AMD Semperon). Maybe it's time to start in on the refurbishing and testing now, but that's not gonna be ready for some time since I'll need to invest in new RAM. .:EDIT #1:. Hmm... Upon further inspection of the LOG file, it seems GameEx is disabling my attract mode although it's enabled in the Advanced Config. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I'll post it here. Any further suggestions? 23:16:16.7 6/2/2010: GameEx: Version 10.92: Starting Log 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: Operating System Platform: Win32NT 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: Operating System Name: Windows XP 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: Checking for versions of .net Framework installed 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: .net Framework 1.1 Installed 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: .net Framework 2.0 Installed 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: .net Framework 3.0 Installed 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: .net Framework 3.5 Installed 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: AMD Sempron(tm) 3000+, 1023MB 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: 2Ghz 23:16:16.8 6/2/2010: Running Randomize() 23:16:17.2 6/2/2010: Loading PlugIns 23:16:17.3 6/2/2010: Checking for applications to Launch On Startup 23:16:17.3 6/2/2010: Running Misc startup tasks 23:16:17.3 6/2/2010: Setting Menu types 23:16:17.3 6/2/2010: Opening Configuration File 23:16:17.3 6/2/2010: Getting Configuration Values 23:16:17.4 6/2/2010: Using Theme: Default - BlueBox 23:16:17.4 6/2/2010: Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: Default - BlueBox 23:16:17.4 6/2/2010: Launching HideOS.exe 23:16:17.4 6/2/2010: Initialising Video/MNG DLL's 23:16:17.4 6/2/2010: GameEx will check for media insertion (may affect performance) 23:16:17.4 6/2/2010: Hiding Taskbar 23:16:17.5 6/2/2010: Is Media Center running? 23:16:17.5 6/2/2010: Checking/Creating LCD Registry values 23:16:17.7 6/2/2010: Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode 23:16:17.7 6/2/2010: Media Center Mode 2 23:16:17.7 6/2/2010: Video previews on. Warning: Only recommended on modern systems 23:16:17.8 6/2/2010: Custom Game Device Input enabled: Getting custom codes 23:16:18.1 6/2/2010: Snap Delay set to: 5 23:16:18.1 6/2/2010: Get other settings 23:16:18.1 6/2/2010: Desktop set to Hide ICONS and set Background to Black 23:16:18.2 6/2/2010: Set: Find emulator artwork on best match basis 23:16:18.2 6/2/2010: Start work for Form 23:16:18.2 6/2/2010: Getting Original Screen Size 23:16:18.2 6/2/2010: Opening Database Connection 23:16:20.0 6/2/2010: Initializing Component 23:16:20.7 6/2/2010: Retrieving resolution setting 23:16:20.7 6/2/2010: Initialising Windows Media Player Component 23:16:20.8 6/2/2010: MAME Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME 23:16:20.8 6/2/2010: Model 2 Path Path is: M:\Emulators\M2 23:16:20.8 6/2/2010: Model 2 EXE file is: emulator.exe 23:16:20.8 6/2/2010: Model 2 emulator with command line support detected 23:16:20.8 6/2/2010: Use Model 2 on. emulator.exe will launch Sega Model 2 games 23:16:20.8 6/2/2010: MAME EXE file is: mame.exe 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: ROM Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\roms 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: Catver.ini is located at: M:\Emulators\MAME\catver.ini 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: controls.ini is located at: M:\Emulators\MAME\controls.ini 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: History.dat is located at: M:\Emulators\MAME\history.dat 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: nplayers.ini is located at: M:\Emulators\MAME\nplayers.ini 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: command.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\command.dat 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: MAMEinfo.dat is located at: M:\Emulators\MAME\mameinfo.dat 23:16:20.9 6/2/2010: Loading Controls.ini map file 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Snap Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\HitF12 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: AVI Snap Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\videos 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Flyer Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\flyers 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Cabinet Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\cabinets 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Title Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\titles 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: PCB Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\pcb 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Artwork Preview Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\artworkgameex 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Panel Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\cpanel 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Manual Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\manuals 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Icon Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\mame32icons 23:16:21.0 6/2/2010: Marquee Path is: M:\Emulators\MAME\extras\marquees 23:16:21.1 6/2/2010: Loading Custom Emulators 23:16:21.1 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 1: SONY PlayStation 23:16:21.3 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 2: NINTENDO N64 23:16:21.3 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 3: NINTENDO SNES 23:16:21.4 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 4: NINTENDO NES 23:16:21.4 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 5: SEGA Genesis 23:16:21.5 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 6: SEGA CD 23:16:21.5 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 7: SEGA Master System 23:16:21.5 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 8: NEC TurboGrafx 16 23:16:21.6 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 9: ATARI 7800 23:16:21.6 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 10: ATARI 5200 23:16:21.6 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 11: ATARI 2600 23:16:21.7 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 12: COLECOVision 23:16:21.7 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 15: NINTENDO GameBoy Advance 23:16:21.7 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 16: NINTENDO GameBoy Color 23:16:21.7 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 17: SEGA GameGear 23:16:21.8 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 19: Windows PC Games 23:16:21.8 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 20: Windows PC Games 23:16:21.8 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 22: NEOGEO Pocket 23:16:21.8 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 23: ATARI Lynx 23:16:21.8 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 25: PINBALL Tables (Originals) 23:16:21.9 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator 26: PINBALL Tables 23:16:21.9 6/2/2010: Loading Emulator Group 1: WINDOWS PC Games 23:16:21.9 6/2/2010: Using Version 3 Themes Animations 23:16:21.9 6/2/2010: Using General Font: Arial Black 23:16:21.9 6/2/2010: Using Title Font: Trebuchet MS 23:16:22.0 6/2/2010: Initialising Direct3D 23:16:22.4 6/2/2010: Applying GameEx is Loading Image 23:16:22.7 6/2/2010: Setting Resolution to 1680x1050 32 bit color 23:16:22.7 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces 23:16:23.4 6/2/2010: Creating Primary Surface - Full Screen Mode 23:16:23.5 6/2/2010: Creating Back Buffer 23:16:23.9 6/2/2010: Version 2 Theme being used. Loading. 23:16:23.9 6/2/2010: Loading Button Data 23:16:23.9 6/2/2010: Loading Font Data 23:16:23.9 6/2/2010: Loading Layout Data 23:16:23.9 6/2/2010: Loading Taskbar Data 23:16:23.9 6/2/2010: Loading graphic Surfaces 23:16:23.9 6/2/2010: Display is running at: 1680x1050 16bit color, 60hz 23:16:24.0 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Flags 23:16:24.2 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Misc and Dialogs 23:16:24.6 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Volume 23:16:24.6 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Arrows 23:16:24.6 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces GameEXlogo Text 23:16:24.6 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Toolbar 23:16:24.8 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Backgrounds 23:16:24.8 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Toolbar Controls 23:16:24.9 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces GameEx Logo 23:16:24.9 6/2/2010: Creating Surface Unselected 23:16:24.9 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Snaps 23:16:24.9 6/2/2010: Creating Surfaces Menu and List Bars 23:16:25.6 6/2/2010: Creating Fonts 23:16:25.6 6/2/2010: Creating Game Font 23:16:26.0 6/2/2010: Creating Game Font Faded 23:16:26.2 6/2/2010: Creating Title Font 23:16:26.2 6/2/2010: Restoring Title Font From Cache 23:16:26.7 6/2/2010: Creating Font Black 23:16:26.8 6/2/2010: Creating Font Black Small 23:16:27.0 6/2/2010: Fonts Created Succesfully 23:16:27.0 6/2/2010: 0MB Video Memory Used 23:16:27.0 6/2/2010: Initialising Bass Audio Library 23:16:30.2 6/2/2010: Creating instance of global keyboard hook 23:16:33.8 6/2/2010: Attempting to load game list 23:16:33.8 6/2/2010: Starting GameExtender on: 192.168.1.8:5146 23:16:33.8 6/2/2010: Applying Language/Text 23:16:33.8 6/2/2010: Text/Language: Custom 23:16:33.9 6/2/2010: MAME CMD options: -nowindow -joy -video d3d -noka 23:16:33.9 6/2/2010: Loading last used Game List 23:16:34.9 6/2/2010: Creating DirectSound Device 23:16:35.0 6/2/2010: Trying: Primary Sound Driver 23:16:35.0 6/2/2010: Loading Sound Files 23:16:35.2 6/2/2010: DirectSound Device Created Successfully 23:16:35.2 6/2/2010: Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support 23:16:35.6 6/2/2010: Using Device Quad USB Force Feedback Joypad (MP-8800) 23:16:35.6 6/2/2010: Using Device Quad USB Force Feedback Joypad (MP-8800) 23:16:35.6 6/2/2010: Using Device Quad USB Force Feedback Joypad (MP-8800) 23:16:35.6 6/2/2010: Using Device Quad USB Force Feedback Joypad (MP-8800) 23:16:35.8 6/2/2010: Initializing MCE Remote 23:16:35.8 6/2/2010: Playing intro sound file 23:16:35.8 6/2/2010: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx! 23:16:35.8 6/2/2010: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame 23:16:37.9 6/2/2010: Testing Main Loop Once: Main Loop ran successfully 23:21:42.3 6/2/2010: Starting Attract Mode 23:21:42.3 6/2/2010: Reading MAME hall of fame 23:21:42.9 6/2/2010: Disabling Attract Mode 00:11:22.6 6/3/2010: Exiting GameEx! 00:11:22.7 6/3/2010: Saving Settings 00:11:24.3 6/3/2010: Disposing Plugins 00:11:24.4 6/3/2010: Closing database connection 00:11:24.4 6/3/2010: Checking for applications to Launch On Exit I can also see that GameEx is detecting my theme as a Version 2 theme instead of a version 3 theme. Wonder if that has anything to do with my overlay issues?

TBH, some emulators and MAME have never displayed a snap for me (with the exception of that one time Galaga '88 worked). I just tried SMB 3 and it didn't work, but for some reason Donkey Kong on Colecovision showed up just fine. Some NES games appear to display while other's don't, even though I have a full set of images for nearly every emulator. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. I also noticed that Secret of Evermore SNES worked, and when I played Pac-Man on MAME, it still displayed the image from when I played it on NES just before that. *shrugs* .:EDIT:. See? Tetris shows up, but SMB 3 still doesn't. Fricking crazy. My setup is really starting to drive me nuts... It's like nothing works for me!

I personally prefer the uptime stat over the number of active systems... If it makes any difference.

No, but I will try that right now. I did in fact delete the cached PNG files in the data folder though. I'll do it again and try the reboot and post my results. .:EDIT #1:. Deleted cache-.png files and rebooted without success. I'm actually gonna delete the DATA folder and reinstall GameEx and try again. .:EDIT #2:. Deleted the whole DATA folder, rebooted, reinstalled GameEx, rebooted again, and tried again, still not working. .:EDIT #3:. For whatever reason, the attract mode only seems to kick in if I'm on the main menu. If it's on any other screen it will just sit there on that screen. Man, I am really having some fun issues here... Maybe I'm jinxed, or GameEx is just sick of being on my dedicated cabinet. .:EDIT #4:. Scratch that, attract mode only kicks in if I don't touch anything. If I play a game and go back to the main screen, it just sits there and does nothing. If I move the cursor at all, same result. Why oh why have you forsaken me GameEx? *LOL*

Still not working for me. Where can I find the cache that needs to possibly be deleted? .:EDIT #1:. And also, for me anyways the foreground is the only thing that shows. I can't see my preview snaps or the video AVI snaps either. I tried clearing the cache and no luck. .:EDIT #2:. All my foreground and background images are displaying correctly for MAME though. Puzzling.

Hmm... This is curious... I'm using Greatflash's BlueBox theme. When I load up an emulator that has more than one layer, like NES for example, I can see the top layer of images but the background turns black. I'll screen cap it and post it here to help you understand what I mean. Hold on while I log in through the cab. Here's what I mean: And here's a cap of the screen when it doesn't have a second layer: .:EDIT:. Looks like the same problem as the Maximus Arcade theme has, because I launched a game and saw the complete background for a split second, and this time I could only see the bottom layer instead of only the top layer. Like the whole page was there but most of the content faded out and only the blue background remained. How weird is that?

Yeah, but that's nothing an AutoIT script can't fix.

^^ What he said... And I hate trying to re-learn what I already knew (damn C# !!!)

So you're not seeing the aforementioned full screen problems?

Bring 'em on bud! I utilized this forum after I first found GameEx, and the people here were invaluable to my setup, not to mention patient with my million and one questions. Someone somewhere has been there and done that, and nearly all of us are willing to help out if you hit a snag, no matter how obscure the emulator or crazy the question sounds. Welcome to GameEx, and we'll help you get the most out of this already awesome program.

Thanks for the quick response HK! I actually did a chkdsk /f immediately afterwards, so that ruled that out. I should also note that I only have one account on the cabinet, and it's set to bypass the welcome/login screen (I built my own PC so there's no recovery partition on it or hidden administrator account, or guest account for that matter). The dead monitor thing could very well have been a video card issue, because heavy games like that have crashed my monitor before (but the JIT debugger wouldn't have come up for me if that was the case, the monitor would have just went into sleep mode... I've had similar problems with some process heavy N64 games so I'm all too familiar with the way it acts leading up to a video card crash). Since I changed the power supply to a beefier one, I haven't really seen it do that at all, even with the game that killed it every time (N64's Ogre Battle). I will search more extensively for bad clusters in the HDD, since I really have no other leads at this point. It will drive me nuts until I figure this thing out... It's just hard to swallow that I installed the new BETA and all these problems just kind of hit me. I did have a file I thought might be involved somehow on the root of the HDD left over from a ZiNc wrapper I installed and removed at least a year ago (pr1data.8k which I think was for Tekken's MAME set), but I deleted it promptly after the first crash occurred. Ahh well... It's time to do some backing up I suppose.

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has tried it... Once it gets good I'd love to add this to my setup if it's better than the other VB emulator out there... I didn't care much for that one.

And by the way... The pull-down menu he's referring to is in the Advanced Setup (Start->All Programs->GameEx->Advanced Setup) menu. I had my system set up long before the Setup Wizard came into the game (which you are using by the pic you attached) so I'm not sure but I don't think that it operates in the same way. Of course I've been known to be wrong a time or twenty (especially lately) so someone jump in and correct me if I'm wrong on this one. PS: Even us seasoned GameEx users are noobs since Tom cranks out updates and new features quicker than my dog tries to attack the UPS truck, so never feel ashamed to ask questions. We were all in that position one time! Especially since there are so many things you can do! Welcome to the GameEx community, and remember you can count on us. This support system may be the best anywhere. You'll be a pro in no time.

Ironically, after GameEx crashed on me for some unknown reason (the JIT debugger window came up when MAME launched NBA Hangtime which always ran albeit choppy and slow due to my slow machine in my cabinet), it crashed my entire computer. When I rebooted, for some reason my desktop looked exactly like it does when you boot Windows XP for the first time... All my desktop icons were gone, my shortcut menu icons disappeared, and even the little "Take a tour of Windows XP" balloon popped up in my taskbar. Ironically, all my programs were still installed and seem to run just fine, except uTorrent which I had to go and find in the Program Files folder. Crazy huh? Hell, even the wallpaper reverted back to the factory wallpaper and the screen saver switched to the stupid default XP one (I disable my screen saver so that was also freakishly unusual)!!! To twist the lime a little further, it still worked exactly as it should, and my desktop resolution on my WS HP LCD monitor didn't change at all. Nor did my power save settings, and no issues with lost drivers. GameEx ran like new right off the bat without a need to reinstall anything. I did however install a new firewall so I can keep a close eye on it just in case. I'm downloading the newest beta right now, and hopefully that was just a freak occurrence. All my years of computer IT work and such, I can honestly say I've never seen anything like this happen before. I actually own my own small repair business, so my computer *should* be locked down and protected like a virtual Fort Knox, so it couldn't have been due to intrusion or anything of that nature. GameEx seemed to be randomly crashing before that too, but since it happened it seems to be running like a top. The way GameEx was crashing leading up to this also puzzled me, because my computer would still run but not output any kind of visuals, like the monitor was turned off and I could still hear it running. Who knows. PS: I would have saved and posted the log file, but the only thing I noticed was that it spit out the usual array error I see whenever GameEx crashes (which in itself is rare).

Ohhh that tag is super sexy! Excellent choice of a user to beta the tag on too I must say! I'm super excited about where this may lead. I see so much potential in this gamer tag it's not even funny. We ought to have a spot where the user can add their own "greeting", sort of like the way GameEx Live! displays your chosen words under the version number. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see what the next step is!

OMG!!!! This is a HUGE deal in my opinion! First my CycloDS gets a makeover, and now GameEx moves to D3D! Fierce!!! Thanks Tom! Downloading now!!!

I thought that was all theme-specific... And if I'm not mistaken, you can change the preview size on each emulator's page. Maybe that's not accurate... I know that GameEx will do an auto-resize to fit the assigned space.

I've tried Daemon's Tools, UltraISO, and GameEx's internal Virtual Drive. All to no avail. Is this an EXE that you can click on and it loads the GUI, or is it strictly command-line driven?

I try to run the SSF.EXE and it does... Nothing. Never had an issue like this before with any emulator. I know my command line arguments are accurate... It just won't do anything at all.

I have a full Saturn collection actually, and SSF will not even run on my machine. I guess it's time to start building a better PC for the cab... That thing only has 1 GB of RAM and Windows XP on it. Maybe I should just get with the program, eh? How is Yubase as far as resources go? Would I have better luck trying to run that you think?

It does actually support CDZ from the command line (I run it from GameEx that way already). If you would add that to your script, I would thank you. If you're up for a suggestion, you could add the box art to the page with the disc selection on it... The user can put the boxart in the CD folder and you could ask AutoIt to look for and display it when the menu comes up. Cool, no? The CDZ thing is all that's holding me back from using this great app... I hate having like 16 Final Fantasy games when it could be way more simplified.