[RESOLVED] Trouble with manual viewer

[Gildahl]

I just purchased GameEx and can't seem to view manuals. Each time I select "Manual" from the menu, a progress bar is displayed for a few seconds, then I am returned to the menu. I have double-checked my directories and have tried both pdfs and text files for my manuals. The pdf manuals are good since they can be seen in Adobe Acrobat without issue. I have tried manuals from independent sources, and simply can't get anything to display.

The log produces this error. This is produced even when the manual is a txt file. Any ideas?

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: Exception viewing creating PNGs from PDFs

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: Error in the application.

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: at Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D.Texture..ctor(Device device, Int32 width, Int32 height, Int32 numLevels, Usage usage, Format format, Pool pool)

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: at ᜘.ᜂ()

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: at ᜘.ᜀ(Bitmap& A_0, Device& A_1)

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: at ᜘..ctor(Bitmap A_0, ᜋ A_1, ᜎ A_2)

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: at a.ᜀ(String A_0)

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: at a.ᜅ(String A_0)

11:48:43.5 11/24/2011: at a.ᜂ(String A_0)

[Draco1962]

First, we need a copy of your gameex.ini and a full copy (immediately post error) of your log file please. A little information regarding your hardware may also help. You may wish to reinstall the latest GPU drivers and possibly reinstall the latest version of DirectX available for your OS.

[Gildahl]

First, we need a copy of your gameex.ini and a full copy (immediately post error) of your log file please. A little information regarding your hardware may also help. You may wish to reinstall the latest GPU drivers and possibly reinstall the latest version of DirectX available for your OS.

Attached is my gameex.ini (changed to gameex.txt since forum uploader wouldn't permit an ini file extension) and log file. The log file (beginning at 11:43:51) shows three attempts to view a manual. One was a text file and two pdfs for two different games (one MAME and one ColecoVision). I am running GameEx on a Dell laptop with Windows XP Pro, 2GB RAM, 2Gz processor, X300 graphics. I have the latest GPU driver (the last one released before support for the X300 lapsed). I just went ahead and downloaded the most recent DirectX 9c from Microsoft. Other than this problem, GameEx seems to be working well.

Thanks for your help.

log.txt

GameEx.txt

[Adultery]

Did you install the Manual Viewer when you installed GameEx? It doesn't use Acrobat, it uses Ghost Script. There is a specific installer for this in the GameEx OL.

[Gildahl]

Did you install the Manual Viewer when you installed GameEx? It doesn't use Acrobat, it uses Ghost Script. There is a specific installer for this in the GameEx OL.

No, I never installed a Manual Viewer. Where is it? What is the GameEx "OL".

[Draco1962]

You will need to download GameEx again and, while installing, make sure you select the manual viewer.

[Adultery]

GameEx "OL" = GameEx Offline Installer.

[Gildahl]

You will need to download GameEx again and, while installing, make sure you select the manual viewer.

Just tried that. I'm pretty sure I had selected that option the first time, but I just ran the installer again to be sure, and this does not fix the problem.

[Draco1962]

At the risk of seeming repetitive, would you mind providing a copy of your Gameex.ini and log.txt files again so that we have the most recent since the off-line install? Thanks!

[Gildahl]

At the risk of seeming repetitive, would you mind providing a copy of your Gameex.ini and log.txt files again so that we have the most recent since the off-line install? Thanks!

Here you go.

log.txt

GameEx.txt

[Draco1962]

Assuming you are storing your manuals at D:\GameEx\DEMO\MAME\manual I do not see anything else that should prohibit you from viewing. I am curious as to why you have GameEx installed on your D: drive and not sure that directly this is an issue. I would check to make sure that you have full rights to the GameEx path on that drive as it may be trying to write the file and is being prohibited. I find that having GameEx installed to the root of my C: drive is preferable.

[Gildahl]

Assuming you are storing your manuals at D:\GameEx\DEMO\MAME\manual I do not see anything else that should prohibit you from viewing. I am curious as to why you have GameEx installed on your D: drive and not sure that directly this is an issue. I would check to make sure that you have full rights to the GameEx path on that drive as it may be trying to write the file and is being prohibited. I find that having GameEx installed to the root of my C: drive is preferable.

Yes, that is where my manuals are (for the moment). I can assure you I have full access rights to everything on D:. I have no issues viewing any of my other assets (snaps, avi's, etc.). I would also think it rather peculiar that installing on the D: drive would be an issue (I keep all emulator software and data on a drive separate from the system for independent backup).

[Gildahl]

Yes, that is where my manuals are (for the moment). I can assure you I have full access rights to everything on D:. I have no issues viewing any of my other assets (snaps, avi's, etc.). I would also think it rather peculiar that installing on the D: drive would be an issue (I keep all emulator software and data on a drive separate from the system for independent backup).

How does GameEx launch gs? Using the commandline below, I can at least confirm that gs works on my machine and can view files on the GameEx path.

"c:\Program Files\gs\gs\bin\gswin32c" "D:\GameEx\DEMO\MAME\manual\1942.pdf"

[Gildahl]

Just to add a few more clues...

1. I uninstalled GameEx from D: and re-installed to the default (C:\GameEx). I was careful to ensure that the manual viewer was selected during install, and even watched the progress bar as it showed it being installed. Unfortunately, there is no change. Manual viewer still does not work. The log shows the same kind of error sequence.

2. If I look in the GameEx\DATA folder, I do see a bunch of temp files created (tmppdf-1.png, tmppdf-2.png, etc.), which when viewed, are the pages of the pdf I am trying to view. So evidently GameEx is finding and processing the manual, but is just unable to display it for some reason.

Any further assistance would be greatly appreciated since this is a feature that I would really like to use.

Dave

[Tom Speirs]

Please replace GameEx.exe with the attached and then repeat and post the log.

Thanks.

Tom

GameEx.zip

[Gildahl]

Ok, I've run using the GameEx.exe you posted. Here's the log.

You will see two incidents of the error in the log, one at 17:17:33 and another at 17:17:57. The first occured as I tried to view the manual for the game 1942. Interestingly, the second one (at 17:17:57) was generated when attempting to use the "More.." option. When I choose "More..", it also displays a progress bar briefly (just like trying to view a manual), then just returns to the main menu. So I guess I have a problem with the "More.." option too.

[Adultery]

You didn't post the log.

[Gildahl]

Oops.

I had to regenerate. Errors are now at 17:39:50 and 17:40:15.

log.txt

[Gildahl]

Ok, I figured out what the problem is; though I am not liking the solution so much. It is a resolution problem. I have my Display settings in GameEx set to "GameEx won't change resolution". Under this setting, GameEx runs at my display's native resolution of 1680x1050 and looks great, but it cannot display manuals. If I change this setting to "Set resolution to below" and indicate a "traditional" resolution such as 800x600, 1280x1024, etc., GameEx runs in that resolution instead. Unfortunately, on my LCD display GameEx looks quite poor at these non-native resolutions, but manuals are now displayed correctly.

Since this is not actually the monitor that I will using on the arcade machine I'm building, I'll have to experiment with actual one to see what happens (that one will be a 1920x1200 monitor with a 4:3 bezel).

[Draco1962]

I run at a 1680x1050 resolution on my system currently and do not have this problem. What kind of video card are you using and do you have the latest video driver installed? If you have the latest, you might consider reinstalling it. Also curious about your arcade machine - why 4:3 when it is capable of 16:10 or 16:9?

[Adultery]

I run at this resolution also with no problem viewing manuals...

[Gildahl]

I run at a 1680x1050 resolution on my system currently and do not have this problem. What kind of video card are you using and do you have the latest video driver installed? If you have the latest, you might consider reinstalling it. Also curious about your arcade machine - why 4:3 when it is capable of 16:10 or 16:9?

It's an X300 Mobility Radeon. It is no longer actively supported by ATI/AMD, but I have the last released driver. I assume you are running GameEx at the native resolution (i.e. "GameEx won't change resolution" setting)? This is the only app that I've had an issue with--and all other features of GameEx work fine, so I'd be surprised if its a pure driver issue.

Regarding the bezel, the machine is for classic games, hence a classic aspect ratio. The bezel can be changed though if I ever decide otherwise.

[Tom Speirs]

the issue is because the textures (surfaces) are too big to be supported by your video card. Ill look at making a workaround for this.

[Gildahl]

the issue is because the textures (surfaces) are too big to be supported by your video card. Ill look at making a workaround for this.

That would be great!

[Draco1962]

It's an X300 Mobility Radeon. It is no longer actively supported by ATI/AMD, but I have the last released driver. I assume you are running GameEx at the native resolution (i.e. "GameEx won't change resolution" setting)? This is the only app that I've had an issue with--and all other features of GameEx work fine, so I'd be surprised if its a pure driver issue.

Regarding the bezel, the machine is for classic games, hence a classic aspect ratio. The bezel can be changed though if I ever decide otherwise.

Gotcha, that makes sense. I have GameEx set to run at my set resolution regardless of the theme res. From what tTom just posted, appears the GPU is the issue, not the driver. So in the right ballpark, just the wrong bullpen!