system build Q&A

[CharlesLam]

I used the configuration wizard to install the default directories for the emulators and the roms. for some unknown reason the X-arcade sticks are not working. The X-arcade sticks are pretty old and the connector from them to the computer is a ps/2 connector. on previous versions of gameex i never had to map keys.

Also the emulators are not launching correctly. its finding the roms and continually tries to download artwork from emumovies after i made an account. but when i select a rom and launch it, it fades out only to come back to the menu screen. this is happening with ALL roms. mame roms are also shown as their file names and not the correct title either.

I dont remember having all these problems before. I remember on the previous gameex it was 20x easier. it was like everything worked out of the box.

Also i have seen this screenshot on the main page. how do i set up gameex to show the lists in this fashion?

http://www.gameex.com/Portals/0/images//34.jpg

going through the list is really annoying with the joystick.

[CharlesLam]

anyone want to join the chat and help me figure out the configuration side of this?

[stigzler]

Also i have seen this screenshot on the main page. how do i set up gameex to show the lists in this fashion?

http://www.gameex.com/Portals/0/images//34.jpg

Can't help with the rest, but I wonder whether this bit is to do with theme views. Maybe search "Change View" with/without your theme name.

[CharlesLam]

thanks for the help.

just really getting frustrated with this software. i mean gameex has its wizard to install emulators into a default directory(C:\emulators). and wants to seperate the emu's default rom directory to another directory (C:\roms), im fine with this. what im not fine with is when it doesnt bloody WORK! >_< roms show up in gameex, yet refuse to play. yet launching the emulator seperately plays the roms just fine. i mean my setup is as simple as it gets and the wizard messed up the configuration or folder structure?

I'm going to try messing around with the gameex.ini file and fix what this turd wizard screwed up.

[tthurman]

Hey CharlesLam, I think what has occurred here is the overall topic of your thread was moved to the gamer rig sub-forum because it revolved around the cabinet which you had gave to your sister, and so it was a bit more fitting here than in the GameEX general forum.

During the exchange that has taken place here, the topic has transitioned to a more of a technical support thread. I would recommend you post your technical problems in the GameEX general forum, along with your a copy of your log.txt and gameex.ini file so the guys there can give you a hand. There's a great support group here, and I'm betting this is simply getting a little overlooked because of where it is located within the forum topics.

[DazzleHP]

Hey Charles, tthurman is correct - you should open a new thread in the GameEx General forum to get assistance with your issues.

I will however give you some quick pointers here but still make that new thread for any further correspondence.

Firstly, although GameEx will download emulators for you and create a default structure for them, your artwork and your roms, you still however need to set everything up in GameEx manually. You will need to go through each emulator in the Setup Wizard and configure the relevant paths, command lines etc. Also you are not bound by the directories that GE creates, you can have all your roms, emu's and artwork wherever you please, because you need to configure the paths in the Setup Wizard anyway

Secondly what i suspect is happening, is that you are only seeing the Demo roms. These are fake files for demonstrating how GameEx looks and functions when you have everything setup. They won't launch because they are not real roms - you'll need to obtain those yourself. GameEx has and will never come preloaded with any roms.

Lastly you will need to setup MAME in the dedicated MAME Settings section of the setup wizard to get the full experience of what GE can do with it. This will also fix your issue with the rom names being displayed.

Good luck! And remember to make that new thread while you're there be sure to attach a copy of your GameEx.ini and log.txt - instructions here

[Draco1962]

I took the liberty of moving these to the General forum.

To the OP - I understand you are frustrated, however, when new to a forum, it is best to learn the forum's structure and post appropriately in the correct area. Don't expect that the mods, admins, or anyone else that can possibly help you out of a bind have the time and patience to scan/read every thread in every category to find your issue.

Some of us respond as we can during breaks at work and focus on specific forum areas. If you post a plea for help in the wrong forum or within an existing thread that is about another topic, your issue will be overlooked!

Last, you are going to have to learn how to use this software. It is not that difficult but has its quirks just as any other. If you expect any frontend to work "automagically" out of the box and do it all for you, then you are in the wrong hobby. It isn't going to happen.

[stigzler]

It can be frustrating, Charles - I can totally understand that after many spitting feathers moments. However, the good news is that many before you have worked through these frustrations and found solutions - so you don't have to! There are lots of "per emulator" considerations to be made and to be honest, I would just use the "auto" setup part the Wizrd just to get rough values in the boxes and then fine tune from there.

Searching on your specific emulator + terms like "setup" or "command line" or "settings" should get you on your way with each. There is a need for one central place for regularly updated setup instructions and I believe a wiki has been started.

My advice:

1. Download emulator independently

2. Get emulator running with roms

3. GE Setup wizard > include emulator

4. Fine tune The GE emulator settings

5. Get GE + Emulator playing nicely together

Rinse and repeat for each emu. I really would only concentrate on one emu at a time.

So, specifically, which emus you struggling with? Maybe we can restore yer faith and energies in baring with GE!

Good luck, brother.

[CharlesLam]

*update* after much frustration and procrastination i have been able to get this build functioning.

things i have noted

Gens+, nestopia, snes9x did not work for me no matter what i did. its unsettling i had the same symptom with all 3 of those even after configuring them seperately outside of gameex. i dont know what tweaking is involved to get them working with gameex, but its not worth my time to worry about it or troubleshoot it any further. i simply replaced with surreal, fusion, virtuanes, and zsnes and i was back up and running. its kind of ironic, on my windows xp build these 3 were the only ones i could get running the way i wanted them to. now on windows 7 and updated emulators+gameex I cant even get them to function.

one thing that i found frustrating was something noted by another person on this forum over fusion. the -scd tag is added in the field for 32x games which causes them not to run and automatically loads the segacd screen...if i wanted to load a segacd i would configure a segacd emulator *not* a sega 32x emulator...this is something on gameex not the individual emulators.

another thing i noted was the x-arcade sticks no likey no keyboard attached on windows 7. i have been able to get it to work on windows xp without the keyboard added but x-arcade states it should not be functioning at all without one. to clarify i have a generation 1 x-arcade tankstick. regardless i will have to change the flippers to save state/load state buttons.

[Adultery]

For the issue work the -scd switch,.fusion didn't ned to know what machine it should be running these days. The included config will be fixed.

As for your other issues with a couple emulators you mentioned, I had no problem in the xp to 7 conversion using nestopia and SNES9x (although I don't use the later anymore), so I don't know what to tell you other than I know it works. Did you try turning on debugging?

[nullPointer]

FWIW, the ultimate test of "working outside of GameEx" is to actually get an emulator working from the command line outside of GameEx. Launching the emulator using its GUI is fine and dandy, but naturally will not be the way that GameEx is going to operate. This can occasionally be a tricky process, but if you have a working command line outside of GameEx, it is usually fairly simple to translate your working command into GameEx.

Adultery's suggestion to turn on debugging will provide some great information insofar as ironing out any rough patches with running commands run from GameEx.

[CharlesLam]

As for debugging those emulators, i have already uninstalled them and removed them from the list. If you really want me to install them again just so you can make a better product i can give it another go, its just extra work i wasnt planning on. just let me know.

i forgot to mention one other problem i ran into. fceultra would work fine in a windowed mode, but when put in full screen it would invert the colors. I dont believe its a problem with the integrated video as it has been stress tested multiple times already with PC-Check 7.06.

[nullPointer]

As for debugging those emulators, i have already uninstalled them and removed them from the list. If you really want me to install them again just so you can make a better product i can give it another go, its just extra work i wasnt planning on. just let me know.

Nope, no worries man. The debugging feature is mainly intended to help the user determine the issue with problematic emulators. In almost every case the problem is with the way the emulator is configured in GameEx, or with the users system itself. Naturally different OS and hardware combinations will have the potential to cause erratic behavior. For just about any command line operable emulator you can think of, I'd be willing to bet that someone has it working flawlessly through GameEx. What I'm saying is that in my time troubleshooting GameEx I would say 9 times out of 10 the problem is on the host system rather than with GameEx (particularly where we're talking about multiple commonly used emulators)

i forgot to mention one other problem i ran into. fceultra would work fine in a windowed mode, but when put in full screen it would invert the colors. I dont believe its a problem with the integrated video as it has been stress tested multiple times already with PC-Check 7.06.

Please try starting FCE Ultra using Run Last Game to see if the problem persists (i.e. you'll need to run a game in GameEx through FCE Ultra first before doing the following):

Start > All Programs > GameEx > Utilities > Run Last Game

Also isn't FCEUX the preferred version of FCE Ultra at this point (I honestly don't know)?

[Draco1962]

Also, we need for you to submit a copy of your log.txt and gameex.ini files to assist you. Please refer to this link for additional information.

[CharlesLam]

i meant fceux. not fce ultra. didnt know there was a difference until i had to look it up. and yes the problem did persist when running the last game option. virtuanes seems to work a ton better. So no lost blood. I now seem to remember the troubles i had configuring gameex the 1st and 2nd time around. its funny how human nature will do that to you. at first i didnt remember all the troubleshooting and tinkering i had to do to get it to work...until i had to go do it this time around.

now i am onto another conundrum. i have all the emulators working consistently and game ex simplified and working to my style. the only problem im running into now is the game artwork downloader is downloading images, but is not showing up. not going to lie kinda confused as to why its not working. as of right now i see all the NES pictures downloaded, and the way i have it set up is to show a screenshot to correspond with the game. but nothing is showing up, like its in the wrong folder or something. i will troubleshoot some more tonight.

*edit* i will also note that mame had the artwork downloaded successfully but the other emulators did not.

[CharlesLam]

*update* finished figuring out the artwork downloader. for some reason the default values from the downloader use underscores (eg sega_genisis) but the default paths dont have the underscore, and so i have had to manually link them to get them to show up. at first i thought it wasnt downloading correctly, but it seems that is not the case.

at this point in time i think it is good enough to finish up and ship out.

thanks for all the help.