[RESOLVED] Problems with SSF and newest version of GameEx

[jombee]

Hi Everyone,

I've done my once a year update of GameEx on my Cab (I hate updating because new issues seem to always pop up), and SSF no longer works when run from GameEx. Everything worked fine with the year old version of GameEx that I was using previously. I've read through the other recent SSF thread, and that seemed to be Win10 related. I am using Windows 7 64 bit and Daemon tools lite, and the only change i've made to my Cab is updating GameEx. I run my games usinig .bat files, and everything still works perfectly outside of GameEx. Other emulators that also use Daemon tools lite also still run perfectly, this problem only occurs with SSF. When I run SSF inside GameEx, the game mounts in DTools fine, the emulator opens up, but then shuts down right away back to GameEx. SSF does not keep running in the background or crash, it just closes and goes back to GameEx. This is something new that just started happening after GameEx was updated. I have attached my ini and log files, if anyone can possibly help it would be very much appreciated!

GameEx.ini

log.txt

[Ginsonic]

Hi Jombee,

well, it seems to be a common problem.

According to your log you start the BAT file using "cmd.exe /c" where "/c" means "close after execution".

GameEx waits for the termination of the process it created, which in your case is the command line interpreter, which itself closes after execution, so that GameEx thinks, the game was shutdown properly.

But is the emu really closing ? That is unusual, normally it stays in background. Did you check the task manager ?

Try to start the BAT file directly without "cmd.exe /c" !

BTW: Why are there two "cmd.exe /c" in your start command ?

[jombee]

Hello Ginsonic, thanks for your reply!

Everything worked perfect with my previous version of GameEx (about one year old version). The only thing I have changed is updating GameEx. The .bat files still work perfectly outside of GameEx. The emulator definitely does not keep running in the background, it closes. I am not sure about the two "cmd.exe /c" in my start statement (I am at work now with no access to my Cab), but I know for sure everything worked perfectly fine in GameEx before the update.

[jombee]

Try to start the BAT file directly without "cmd.exe /c" !

BTW: Why are there two "cmd.exe /c" in your start command ?

Hello,

When I remove the "cmd.exe /c" SSF does not start

"cmd.exe /c" has always been there and it has always worked until GameEx was updated. I tried removing the cmd.exe and/or the /c and it still does not work

[Tom Speirs]

Its hard for me to troubleshoot but why not try the official GameEx way of launching games with SSF via the virtual drive options? I was going to reply to this topic and say maybe they were the issue as they were updated but your not using them so I can't be sure it is a GameEx issue.

I think GameEx may put the cmd.exe in the log file and can be ignored. Runitgame.bat contains what it actually runs.

[jombee]

Its hard for me to troubleshoot but why not try the official GameEx way of launching games with SSF via the virtual drive options? I was going to reply to this topic and say maybe they were the issue as they were updated but your not using them so I can't be sure it is a GameEx issue.

I think GameEx may put the cmd.exe in the log file and can be ignored. Runitgame.bat contains what it actually runs.

Hi Tom, thanks for the reply!

The thing is everything works perfectly outside of GameEx. Also, everything worked perfectly when run from GameEx from one year ago (version 14.2??). The ONLY thing that has changed was GameEx being updated to version 14.41, so it would seem to me to be a GameEx issue. I can certainly try the virtual drive route if that is my only choice, but I would prefer not to if I don't have to.

[Adultery]

Can you post your .bat file?

I use SSF and it works fine, so it must be something specific to your setup.

[Draco1962]

Might also be good to know what version of DTools you are running and if & when you upgraded to version 10 if this is what you have installed. If you recently upgraded to version 10 then you might be interested to know that there is apparently a bug when invoked via command line as noted here.

[jombee]

Thanks for your replies!

Here's a recap of whats going on:

1. All of the .bat files, (DTools mounting, SSF running) work perfectly outside of GameEx. (DTools Lite version 4.40.2.0131)

example of my .bat files:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\DAEMON Tools Lite\DTLite.exe" -mount 0,"C:\segasaturnISO\Iron Storm (U)\Iron Storm.cue"
"C:\SSF\SSF.exe"

2. I reinstalled GameEx version 13.08 and everything worked once again perfectly within Game Ex

3. I then updated GameEx to version 14.41 again and the following still happens:

Select a game, the .bat file runs, mounts the iso on DTools, SSF starts and shows for a second or two, then shuts down and returns to GameEx.

The previous threads regarding GameEx, SSF and DTools all seemed to be regarding Windows 10, and I am using Windows 7 64bit

My version of DTools works perfectly within the newest version of GameEx (14.41) with my other emu's that use it (MagicEngine, etc), the only exception is SSF.

It would certainly seem that some way GameEx handles a process like this has changed somewhere between version 13.08 and 14.41.

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Draco1962]

What version number are you using of DTools?

[Adultery]

Well it's not GameEx, nothing has changed with the process launching or monitoring. Your bat file looks OK too.

My thought is that you didn't tell GameEx to watch for ssf.exe and it's closing after the bat file executes since it thinks that's the running process.

[jombee]

What version number are you using of DTools?

DTools Lite version 4.40.2.0131

Well it's not GameEx, nothing has changed with the process launching or monitoring. Your bat file looks OK too.

My thought is that you didn't tell GameEx to watch for ssf.exe and it's closing after the bat file executes since it thinks that's the running process.

I agree that this is what is now happening, but absolutely nothing has changed on my end except updating GameEx.

Everything worked in the older version of GameEx, and does not work only after updating.

It would seem that I need to add something new to "tell" GameEx to watch SSF.exe, and I do not know how to add that.

Can you advise?

Thanks!

[Adultery]

The answers you seek are in the Setup Wizard > Advance Emulator Setup > Advanced Config. Press the ... button and you can tell GameEx which process to watch.

http://www.gameex.com/setup-wizard-configuration-guide/#advancedemulatorsetup

[jombee]

The answers you seek are in the Setup Wizard > Advance Emulator Setup > Advanced Config. Press the ... button and you can tell GameEx which process to watch.

http://www.gameex.com/setup-wizard-configuration-guide/#advancedemulatorsetup

Hi,

I've done what you have suggested and it did not help.

Exactly the same thing still happens.

I've attached my config, log and advanced config files

Thanks!

GameEx.ini

Mapping Off Exit (Process Close).ini

log.txt

[anthologie]

Same problem for me, SSF stop working since the 14.41 update

[Draco1962]

Same problem for me, SSF stop working since the 14.41 update

Saying you have received the same error/issue without providing any information doesn't help us to help you.

Please provide your support files and other information (i.e. DTools version? Using Virtual Drive Loader plugin?, Version of SSF? Using a .bat file to launch?, etc). As we have seen, there have been several issues reported with this emulator, but nothing has changed within GameEx that should impact its functionality. Thank you.

[jombee]

Saying you have received the same error/issue without providing any information doesn't help us to help you.

Please provide your support files and other information (i.e. DTools version? Using Virtual Drive Loader plugin?, Version of SSF? Using a .bat file to launch?, etc). As we have seen, there have been several issues reported with this emulator, but nothing has changed within GameEx that should impact its functionality. Thank you.

I do not agree with your statement that "nothing has changed within GameEX"

Something has changed, maybe not intentional, maybe it's a new bug, I do not know.

The bottom line is with my setup (as detailed above) everything worked perfectly with SSF within GameEx with a previous version.

Then with absolutely no other changes, after updating to version 14.40 and then 14.41, SSF no longer works.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Draco1962]

Basing the statement on what was said by one of the authors in a prior post in this thread. Regardless, if someone is going to add to your thread that they have the same issue, we need them to also provide the support files and additional information.

Considering that Microsoft has pumped out a ton of updates since the last version, it is possible that there may be something in the OS that is conflicting with GameEx and how it interacts with SSF. If that is the case, stating that no changes have been made would be a valid response, and make troubleshooting more challenging.

[Adultery]

Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that it's only SSF that's seemingly affected? If there was a change in GameEx, how would it only affect one very specific (sketchy at best) emulator?

Regardless, I use SSF on my rig. I just tested DTools with it a couple days ago. And it works just fine for me. No issues at all. Opens and closes like I would expect it to. On the latest GameEx version (as always), latest version of DTools, with the Virtual Drive Loader plugin.

Are you all using a specific Windows version? Does everything work outside of GameEx? Are you using batch scripts? If so is it working with the batch script outside of GameEx? There's gotta be something else missing here.

[jombee]

Am I the only one who thinks it's weird that it's only SSF that's seemingly affected? If there was a change in GameEx, how would it only affect one very specific (sketchy at best) emulator?

Regardless, I use SSF on my rig. I just tested DTools with it a couple days ago. And it works just fine for me. No issues at all. Opens and closes like I would expect it to. On the latest GameEx version (as always), latest version of DTools, with the Virtual Drive Loader plugin.

Are you all using a specific Windows version? Does everything work outside of GameEx? Are you using batch scripts? If so is it working with the batch script outside of GameEx? There's gotta be something else missing here.

I am using windows 7 64 bit fully patched up to date, and I have confirmed (as listed below) that this is not a Windows issue

Everything works perfectly outside of GameEx.

Everything works perfectly inside of GameEx using an older version of GameEx.

I am using .bat files, and they work perfectly outside of GameEx

Only SSF seems to be effected. All other emulators seem to work fine.

I have attached my .ini and log.txt files from GameEx when reverted back to version 13.08, and everything is working perfectly

You can see my SSF not working files for version 14.41 for comparison in my post above.

No other changes where made except updating GameEX to the current version

To be positive of this, I have just now reverted GameEx back again, tested and SSF worked perfectly (see attached files to this post). I then updated GameEx again to version 14.41 and SSF no longer works (see files in post above).

To me, this clearly shows that something has changed with GameEx.

Thanks!

GameEx13.08.ini

log13.08.txt

[Adultery]

Do ya have any other emulators that run off of a batch script that can be tried? I'm still leaning towards the batch script launching talking the focus off the emulator.

[anthologie]

My log and ini as you want

I m using Win 7 Pro, Demon Tool Lite and SSF 12 Beta R4

I change nothing in my computeur, only update GameEx 14.40 to 14.41

Thx in advance

GameEx.ini

log.txt

[Draco1962]

My log and ini as you want

I m using Win 7 Pro, Demon Tool Lite and SSF 12 Beta R4

I change nothing in my computeur, only update GameEx 14.40 to 14.41

Thx in advance

What version of DTLite? Also, can you provide the log.txt file from right after trying to load SSF? The log you provided shows the last emulator opened was Yabause. Thanks.

[jombee]

Do ya have any other emulators that run off of a batch script that can be tried? I'm still leaning towards the batch script launching talking the focus off the emulator.

I truly appreciate your help Adultry, but it almost seems like we are trying to prove that GameEx is not the problem, when by process of elimination it would seem obvious that some change within GameEx is causing this problem with SSF.

My config for SSF has worked for many years and many versions of GameEx

Everything works perfectly outside of GameEx

Everything works perfectly with an older version of GameEx

When absolutely no other change other than updating GameEx is done, SSF no longer works.

The batch file still lanches the emulator, and the emulator actually opens up, then after a second or two, GameEx closes it down for no apparent reason.

All of my other emulators still seem to work fine, but none of them use a batch files

If someone would be able to provide me with previous versions of GameEx (or let me know where they can be downloaded), I would be happy to go back version by version to find out exactly which release this problem started with if that would help.

Thanks again for all of your attention to this issue!

[Adultery]

All that really says to me is it probably is the batch file. It's really the only thing you all have in common. You can prove or disprove it easily.

1. Mount an image outside of GameEx

2. Change the exe for the emulator to SSF.exe instead in the setup wizard

3. See if GameEx runs SSF now

I'm not saying something didn't change somewhere, but it could really be anything, even a Windows update or something.

If it does turn out to be related to the batch file, there are much cleaner and easier ways to do what you're trying to do that don't involve using a batch file. Not that I have anything against batch files, I just don't feel like they're the best solution.

If my theory holds true I would be more than happy to walk you through how to set up SSF with a plug-in to load images in Daemon Tools instead. Trust me, once you do it that way, you'll wonder why you ever used a batch file in the first place.

That is of course unless your batch file is doing something other than mounting the image... Add if that's the case, there's a plug-in for launching things with, before, and after the emulator loads that also work much more seamlessly than the integrated options do because they specifically handle things outside of GameEx, which effectively avoid the process monitoring and removes the dependency on the front-end.

If you don't want to do that, I probably won't be of much help.