[RESOLVED] Black screen on running GameEx

[Scott Petty]

I just downloaded and registered GameEx, installed it, setup Mame, ran it, and the screen goes black. I can get out by hitting ESC but otherwise nothing seems to be happening. I've attached my GameEx.ini file to this post.

I have Windows 7 64-bit, not running much else on the machine.

Thanks for any help that you can give me.

Scott

GameEx.ini

[nullPointer]

Hi Scott and Welcome to the GameEx Forums!

Sorry to hear about your issues. In this particular case it would also be helpful to take a look at your GameEx log (after having experienced this issue) in addition to the config that you already posted. Please refer to this thread for details on how to access your log.

Thanks Scott!

[Scott Petty]

Hi Scott and Welcome to the GameEx Forums!

Sorry to hear about your issues. In this particular case it would also be helpful to take a look at your GameEx log (after having experienced this issue) in addition to the config that you already posted. Please refer to this thread for details on how to access your log.

Thanks Scott!

Thanks for the quick help! I've attached my log.txt file...

Scott

log.txt

[Adultery]

I'm not sure what this is about...

17:43:01.8 9/25/2013: Available texture memory: -1306MB

I don't think I've ever seen a negative in this area before...

[Draco1962]

Not the first time. It is fairly common actually. I usually see it when someone is running a lower end mobo with embedded GPU or laptop.. From the other stats, it doesn't seem to be the case. I think we need a little more detail on the exact error - such as, when he hits ESC does it return to GameEx or desktop? Are codecs installed? Provide results from runitgame.bat?

[Scott Petty]

Not the first time. It is fairly common actually. I usually see it when someone is running a lower end mobo with embedded GPU or laptop.. From the other stats, it doesn't seem to be the case. I think we need a little more detail on the exact error - such as, when he hits ESC does it return to GameEx or desktop? Are codecs installed? Provide results from runitgame.bat?

I'm running an i7 950 on a Gigabyte X58A-UD3R mobo with Windows 7, 64-bit. When I ESC out of the black screen it returns me to the desktop. I haven't installed any codecs....

Thanks,

Scott

[nullPointer]

So I have a couple suggestions for you in order of precedence.

1. First and foremost I notice that you have MAME set up both as a regular emulator and through the MAME specific settings. Unless you have a pretty specific reason for doing so, you'll typically want to avoid that sort of setup. Ideally you just want to use MAME through the MAME specific features of GameEx. Having said that, it would be helpful to know which of the MAME setups are giving you problems (or both). As Draco pointed out posting the results of your runitgame.bat would be helpful for troubleshooting.
   
2. If this seems to be happening with both configurations of MAME, I would recommend taking a look at the details of this thread. Adultery solved a problem for a user experiencing a similar issue. Turns out the fix was to add a -video d3d to their command line in MAME,

Let us know how this is going for you!

[Adultery]

To be critical of the fix, the user actually had to use ddraw or gdi instead of d3d (which I believe is what mame uses by default).

[nullPointer]

Ah yes, turns out that was a reading comprehension fail on my part! Scott, here's the post Adultery is referring to that actually put the user in question back on the right track.

[ArcadeFan]

That does sound just like what happened to me. When I made the command line correction that Adultery suggested it fixed my black screen situation. Hope it works for you as well.

[Scott Petty]

Just to be clear - I never get to the point of running Mame. It's when I boot GameEx that it goes to a black screen. I never see any interface.... nada... and I have to hit ESC to get back to the desktop.

Is there a ste-by-step installation guide somewhere? I have all of the major systems setup and working with ROMs & images, I'm just wanting a nice software wrapper to present them to my family on the big screen.

Thanks,

Scott

[Adultery]

Hmm, that's odd. Do you have any video files in the directory of the theme you're using? Could you also please post your GameEx.ini for us to have a look at? Are your video card drivers up to date?

Your initial post made it sound as if it were a mame issue, so more documentation is going to be needed.

[nullPointer]

His GameEx.ini is in the first post (but naturally may not be reflective of up to the minute changes). Having said that, what happens if you set GameEx to run in a Window? In the Setup Wizard on the Display Settings screen, try changing the Window/Full Screen setting to Windowed. This isn't to suggest a permanent fix, but it may help to determine a root cause of the issue.

I also see that you're using the Default - Dark Gloss theme. Does this problem occur regardless of theme selection? What happens if you select Default - Media Center (for instance)?

[Scott Petty]

His GameEx.ini is in the first post (but naturally may not be reflective of up to the minute changes). Having said that, what happens if you set GameEx to run in a Window? In the Setup Wizard on the Display Settings screen, try changing the Window/Full Screen setting to Windowed. This isn't to suggest a permanent fix, but it may help to determine a root cause of the issue.

I also see that you're using the Default - Dark Gloss theme. Does this problem occur regardless of theme selection? What happens if you select Default - Media Center (for instance)?

Thanks...

I can run and see GameEx in a window, and changing the theme didn't make a difference - full screen is still black.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks again,

Scott

[Draco1962]

I recommend downloading and installing the latest version of GameEx. Please do so and post an updated log.txt. Thanks!

[Scott Petty]

Thanks all for the help. I was monitoring and doing most of my GameEx setup through a VNC connection (it's hard to read fonts on my TV screen). The screen was actually never blank on the TV, just on my VNC connected computer. I guess VNC wasn't properly polling the window.

So... in short... never a GameEx problem, it was all my ignorance.

Thanks for the wonderful support here...

Scott

[Draco1962]

Glad you got it sorted out! Will mark this as resolved.