[RESOLVED] PinMAME altsound

[doogie2301]

I have the "Use PinMAME in Front End" option enabled, and normally there are no ROM sounds while browsing the tables, which is good.  However, on some tables I now have Sound Mode = 1 (PinMAME setting) to use alternate sounds, and on these tables the sounds do play while browsing in PinballX.  Is this a bug, or is there a way to disable the sounds when this mode is used?

Here is my PinballX.ini:

Spoiler

[Display]
Monitor=0
rotate=270
Windowed=False
WindowWidth=480
WindowHeight=720
WindowX=0
WindowY=65
PlayFieldBrightness=190
WheelTextColor=ffffffff
WheelTextOutlineColor=ff000000
InfoTextColor=ffffffff
InfoTextOutlineColor=ff000000
FilterTextColor=ffffffff
FilterTextOutlineColor=ff000000
MenuColor=ffffa500
FullScreenWindowed=False
WheelAutoCrop=True
[BackGlass]
monitor=1
x=0
y=0
width=1920
height=1080
UseB2S=True
[DMD]
Enabled=False
monitor=2
x=250
y=100
width=800
height=200
AutoPositionPinMAME=False
UsePinMAME=True
[FileSystem]
EnableFileMatching=True
[Interface]
DesktopModeEnabled=False
EnableAdditionalDetail=True
ShowSystem=True
ShowRatings=True
EnableDefaultFilters=False
[Audio]
StreamVolume=50
SampleVolume=50
PlaySoundInVideos=False
[Startup]
playsound=False
playvideo=True
StartWithWindows=Yes
[KeyCodes]
quit=69
left=160
right=161
select=49
rotate=82
pageleft=162
pageright=163
exitemulator=69
ingame=80
screenshot=70
screenshotbackglass=66
instructions=73
volumedown=109
volumeup=107
[JoyCodes]
quit=10
left=0
right=1
select=2
rotate=3
pageleft=4
pageright=5
exitemulator=6
ingame=13
instructions=14
[Text]
Line1=Free Play
Line2=Press Start
[FuturePinball]
Enabled=True
WorkingPath=C:\Future Pinball\BAM
TablePath=C:\Future Pinball\Tables
Executable=FPLoader.exe
Parameters=/STAYINRAM /open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]" /play /exit /arcaderender
LaunchBeforeEnabled=false
LaunchBeforeWorkingPath=
LaunchBeforeExecutable=
LaunchBeforeHideWindow=True
LaunchBeforeWaitForExit=True
LaunchAfterEnabled=False
LaunchAfterWorkingPath=
LaunchAfterExecutable=
LaunchAfterHideWindow=True
LaunchAfterWaitForExit=True
MouseClickFocus=True
FPRAMPath=C:\Future Pinball\fpram
[VisualPinball]
Enabled=True
WorkingPath=C:\VP9
TablePath=C:\VP9\Tables
Executable=VPinball992.exe
Parameters=/play -"[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]"
LaunchBeforeEnabled=False
LaunchBeforeWorkingPath=
LaunchBeforeExecutable=
LaunchBeforeHideWindow=False
LaunchBeforeWaitForExit=True
LaunchAfterEnabled=False
LaunchAfterWorkingPath=
LaunchAfterExecutable=
LaunchAfterHideWindow=False
LaunchAfterWaitForExit=True
[ExitScreen]
Enabled=True
EnableExit=True
EnableShutdown=True
[StartupProgram]
Enabled=false
WorkingPath=
Executable=notepad.exe
Paramaters=
HideWindow=true
WaitForExit=false
[ExitProgram]
Enabled=false
WorkingPath=
Executable=notepad.exe
Paramaters=
HideWindow=False
WaitForExit=
[AttractMode]
Enabled=True
Timer=1
ShowFor=15
MuteAudio=False
[RealDMD]
Color=ffff0000
EnableColor=True
[System_8]
Name=
WorkingPath=
Executable=
Parameters=
LaunchBeforeWorkingPath=
LaunchBeforeExecutable=
LaunchBeforeParameters=

 

 

[Draco1962]

Please provide copies of your pinballx.ini and log.txt files so we can review. Click on the PinballX How to ask for help link in my signature for instructions on where to find and how to submit them for us. Thanks!

[Carny_Priest]

I guess you are saying that the mute audio setting under the attract mode section is not working with altsound?

[doogie2301]

1 hour ago, Draco1962 said:

Please provide copies of your pinballx.ini and log.txt files so we can review. Click on the PinballX How to ask for help link in my signature for instructions on where to find and how to submit them for us. Thanks!

Thanks, I added the ini file.

 

50 minutes ago, Carny_Priest said:

I guess you are saying that the mute audio setting under the attract mode section is not working with altsound?

Note quite, I don't think that setting is related to the PinMAME sound.  I'm assuming there is something internally that is turning off the PinMAME sound while in use in PinballX front-end, which should be the desired behavior.  This doesn't appear to be happening when the table is using altsound.

[Draco1962]

You forgot the log.txt file.  Thanks. 

[doogie2301]

 

1 hour ago, Draco1962 said:

You forgot the log.txt file.  Thanks. 

sure, here you go:

Spoiler

15:45:06.1  5/9/2016:  PinballX - Version 2.16
15:45:06.3  5/9/2016:  Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (15.9GB)
15:45:06.3  5/9/2016:  Loading Settings
15:45:06.3  5/9/2016:  Initialize Component
15:45:06.4  5/9/2016:  Initialize Display
15:45:07.5  5/9/2016:  Start with windows is set so waiting 5 seconds. Boot Time = 5/9/2016 3:44:46 PM
15:45:16.4  5/9/2016:  Loading PlugIns
15:45:16.7  5/9/2016:  Created DirectX BackGlass Window
15:45:16.9  5/9/2016:  Hiding Cursor
15:45:16.9  5/9/2016:  Hiding Taskbar
15:45:17.0  5/9/2016:  Real DMD Intialized
15:45:17.0  5/9/2016:  CPU:  Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4170 CPU @ 3.70GHz
15:45:17.0  5/9/2016:  GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
15:45:17.0  5/9/2016:  Displays: 2
15:45:17.0  5/9/2016:  Load Game List
15:45:17.0  5/9/2016:  Loading Database: Future Pinball
15:45:17.1  5/9/2016:  Loading Database: Visual Pinball
15:45:17.3  5/9/2016:  Finding and matching artwork and videos
15:45:18.9  5/9/2016:  Loading Game Statistics and Scores
15:45:18.9  5/9/2016:  Main display running full screen windowed.
15:45:18.9  5/9/2016:  Loading Surfaces
15:45:19.1  5/9/2016:  Finished Loading Surfaces
15:45:19.1  5/9/2016:  Initialize Audio
15:45:19.3  5/9/2016:  Set Keyboard Controls
15:45:19.3  5/9/2016:  Initialize Joystick
15:45:19.4  5/9/2016:  1 Joystick Attached
15:45:19.4  5/9/2016:  Load Startup Video: C:\PinballX\Media\Startup Videos\pinball-sesame-st-cab-edit.mp4
15:45:19.6  5/9/2016:  Started
15:45:35.5  5/9/2016:  Exiting
15:45:35.6  5/9/2016:  Showing Taskbar
15:45:35.6  5/9/2016:  Unhiding Mouse Cursor
15:45:35.6  5/9/2016:  Disposing Plugins
15:45:35.6  5/9/2016:  Saving Settings
15:45:35.6  5/9/2016:  Bye
 

 

[doogie2301]

OK so here are some things I've discovered:

1) When "Use PinMAME in Front End" is enabled and you browse to a table with a ROM specified in the front-end, PinballX changes the "Use Sound" setting in the registry for the ROM to 0, and I'm assuming it sets it back to 1 when launching the table or browsing to a different one.

2) When you choose Shutdown from the PinballX menu, the "Use Sound" registry setting is not being set back to 1 for the table that was last displayed, and the next time you launch the table the sound will be disabled.  I believe this is a bug in PinballX, should I create a separate topic to discuss this?

3) In PinMAME, when you set the "Sound Mode" to 1 to use alternate sounds, it does not respect the "Use Sound" setting, and will always play the sounds.  So this explains why the sounds are playing in PinballX when altsounds are used.  I'm not sure if this is a bug in PinMAME or if it's by design.  Would it make sense for PinballX to also change this setting to 0 when browsing tables, or should we bring this up with the PinMAME developers?

 

I attached an image of the PinMAME settings dialog that shows the "Use Sound" and "Sound Mode" for anyone that doesn't know what I'm referring to.

 

[Draco1962]

If the issue is only with PinMAME, I say take it up with their devs. The purpose of PinballX is primarily to be the frontend that pulls all of these disjointed and disimilar systems together in a unified whole. When you start coding the frontend to fix or workaround another program's bugs, you rish breaking something if it is ever fixed.

[Carny_Priest]

My take is that VPM functions as expected outside of PinballX, so I'm not sure what PinMAMEdev would fix here. This sounds like similar issues I was having when the feature was added way back when. If vPinMAMELauncher is the app that supports this feature, it does appear to be accessing the registry. Nice that the option is there, but I wound up just using videos. PinballX no longer needs to access the VPinMAME registry and you don't have to sit through the rom's boot screens while you are in attract mode.  

[doogie2301]

45 minutes ago, Draco1962 said:

If the issue is only with PinMAME, I say take it up with their devs. The purpose of PinballX is primarily to be the frontend that pulls all of these disjointed and disimilar systems together in a unified whole. When you start coding the frontend to fix or workaround another program's bugs, you rish breaking something if it is ever fixed.

OK then for #3 I will take it up with PinMAME to begin with, and determine if that was the intended behavior.

What about for #2?  What is the procedure for officially reporting this as a bug in PinballX?

[doogie2301]

29 minutes ago, Carny_Priest said:

My take is that VPM functions as expected outside of PinballX, so I'm not sure what PinMAMEdev would fix here. This sounds like similar issues I was having when the feature was added way back when. If vPinMAMELauncher is the app that supports this feature, it does appear to be accessing the registry. Nice that the option is there, but I wound up just using videos. PinballX no longer needs to access the VPinMAME registry and you don't have to sit through the rom's boot screens while you are in attract mode.  

I'm not so sure that it does function as expected.  As an end user, I would expect if "Use Sound" is disabled, there should be no sound, regardless of the type of sounds that are configured.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with vPinMAMELauncher, is that what PinballX uses to display the PinMAME DMD?  Anyway, I do like this feature because I don't have to worry about recording or downloading videos, it will show the current high scores, and it just looks really good on a real color DMD.  I don't mind the second or two for the ROM to boot up.

[Carny_Priest]

What I am saying is that VPM is working as expected, and I don't think that it needs to be modified to work with PinballX. I agree with you that if this is still happening that it is a long-standing bug. The altsound/PinSound Studio options are beta features of VPM that were added fairly recently. In any case, I do agree that if PinballX is going into the registry and turning off sound on-demand for attract mode then it should turn off all sound. The altsound/Pinsound Studio options are totally separate audio output systems within VPM. It requires changing a different key in the registry. I think the author monitors this forum. Let's see if tspiers will see this and respond.    

[doogie2301]

Update: The bug in VPM is being corrected, and I created a separate thread regarding the Shutdown bug in PinballX, so this thread can be closed.

[Draco1962]

Thanks for reporting back!