Arcade controller not functioning in game

[nc4nik8ing]

New to this, so sorry if in wrong category or if it has been answered. I recently purchased a MAME cabinet. Decent deal for a full size arcade done pretty well. It has worked fine for the most part. Trackball is not great, seems the a button sometimes will trigger the b button as well. So that sucks in shooting games with bombs like raiden or 1942. But Having a lot of fun,....... until recently. It worked fine on the weekend, but came in today on tuesday and the joystick and buttons function normal for the in Game Ex menus but once a game is launched they work no more. None of them do, like once it game its disconnected almost. I know nothing about it the programming etc. As far as I know, no has touched it or messed with anything. Although something is wrong, I dont know what the REAL case is. Any help would be a godsend, I am total newb about any of this stuff. Know a little about emulators and computers but not great at it. Any ideas? The control pad definitely works, just not inside the emulator/games. thanks

[Draco1962]

Hi - I moved your post from the GameEx Evolution General forum to the GameEx General forum.

You may want to provide us with copies of your gameex.ini and log.txt files. Click on the GameEx How to ask for help link in my signature for instructions on where to find and how to submit for review.

[tthurman]

It may also help to know some basic info about the controller.  Does it use a iPAC, dissected keyboard......basically, how is it sending keystrokes to the computer.

For example there is an option to enable slik stik,support, and other input options that have a direct effect on how GameEx works in regards to controllers.

[nc4nik8ing]

 @tthurmanI have no info on the controller. It is built like an upright arcade. It looks like someone soldered and wired alot of stuff to make it. its laid out a tad odd, but it does function. Just at the moment not in game. Im pretty sure its all buttons made for arcades just used as an usb interface if that makes sense, im actually clueless. but its real buttons and joysticks you can buy online not a keyboard. Ad far as any inputs I have not clue. It ran fine and then just stopped to my knowledge. Not saying someone coulnt have tampered with it while I was away. The start button is used as left click and the trackball works as a mouse. @Draco1962 I will try to figure that out when back at work on friday. But I think I will need to get a key board at least. The trackball works as a mouse, and the start button works as a left click, but thats really the extent of it. So I guess I need to copy those file onto a usb drive and bring them home to send them out. It is not hooked up to any type of ethernet or wifi at the time. Dont think its capable of wifi actually. BUt I have no clue of using a what I think is a wondows 8 pc. thanks guys!

[tthurman]

As a super simple thing to try, I would suggest a cold boot, and/or select a restore point prior to the issue occurring.

[nc4nik8ing]

@tthurman again i woudlnt even know what that is. I tried a system restore on the pc, but nothing bettered.

[RedDog]

nc4nik8ing,

Go into the Windows Control Panel and then Devices and Printer. If some of the devices have names, look them up. You may be able to figure out what is there.

Also, if you could post your Gemex.ini and Log.txt file, that usually has some info on the PC setup.

Otherwise, you may want to contact the person you bought it from to get some background. Many people who get into this hobby love to talk about their builds. The seller might be happy to give you some info on the setup.

[tthurman]

4 hours ago, nc4nik8ing said:

again i woudlnt even know what that is.

You don't know what a cold boot is?

As Draco and RedDog have mentioned, you need to provide the support files, or else we are all just guessing.

[RedDog]

19 hours ago, nc4nik8ing said:

@tthurman again i woudlnt even know what that is. I tried a system restore on the pc, but nothing bettered.

Come on now. Google never hurt anyone...I think...
https://www.google.com/search?q=cold+boot&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

[nc4nik8ing]

Ok, I have cold booted before then yes. Just didn't know the actual term for it. It has a remote controlled power adapter that I can just turn off. It stays off when not in use. I am going to hook up a keyboard and try to get the files to you guys to help out thanks to all of you so far!!!! @RedDog and @tthurman

[nc4nik8ing]

@RedDog In devices and printers there is Gamestation and something called HAPP UGCI usb fighting game frame v.2.03 

[nc4nik8ing]

@RedDog In devices and printers there is Gamestation and something called HAPP UGCI usb fighting game frame v.2.03  Guess these are the files

gameexini.txt

logtxt.txt

[nc4nik8ing]

@tthurman @RedDog i uploaded the files you asked for? Did that not help at all?

[tthurman]

 

 

Quote

EnableSlikStik=False

 

 If you have an ipac controller you should launch the configuration wizard and change this to "True", additionally for Slik-Stick (which uses an ipac) you need to toggle the Keyboard DirectInput setting to True as well.  Regardless, your issue seems to be revolving around input related problems, so I'd recommend concentrating on the input settings.

Quote

VerifyRoms=True

Unrelated, but on a side note I would also recommending at least to change this to False, followed by launching GameEx, entering MAME and updating.

Unless I'm totally missing something; which is entirely possible. nothing else is jumping out at me.  Unfortunately, this isn't a very forgiving hobby, and you haven't exactly provided us with much in the way of tools to assist you.  You could open it up, look inside and post what you see, or possibly take some pictures to share with us etc., but you seem apprehensive to so.  Outside of the suggestions above, which I mentioned early on in this thread, I don't know what else to tell you, as you don't appear to have even tried those suggestions based on the ini you have provided.

If you have any long term interest in this hobby, you'll be best served by taking this opportunity to dive in, and learn what makes it all tick. 

 

 

[RedDog]

Files will always help in some way. We all have 'stuff' gong on beyond GameEx, so things sometimes slip out of sight on the forums. It is the holiday season after all.     If you don't see a reply to a problem within a week or ten days, it's ok to give it a nudge like you did.

I have not been able to find anything about the Gamestation hardware, so I have no clue what that is. Unless someone else knows what that is, we may have to assume it is working properly. I did find some references to the happ controls, but could not match up the info you provided with exact hardware. The ones I did find were control boards for arcade controls. I am not familiar with happ boards, but it sounds similar to the ipac board I have in my custom control panel.

This feels like a situation where the mapping has been lost outside GameEx.

The first thing I would do is to try and test your controls outside GameEx and Mame.

My ipac came with optional software that let me make changes to how the controls were mapped (if I wanted to). You should see if you have something like that on your machine. If there is one, that software may have an option to test the controls themselves and if something feels off, to remap to what you expect.

In Windows 7, you can check game controls. I assume Windows 8 has something similar. In the control panel, right click on the hardware (HAPP UGCI usb fighting game frame v.2.03 in your case) and select Game Controller Settings. A list of controllers will be shown. Select the one you think is correct and click Properties. The next dialogue will a Test tab where you can move joysticks and press buttons and see if they respond. You can also determine what numbers are assigned to your buttons as you press them. Do keep in mind that it is possible that you have software on your rig that remaps the joystick and buttons to keyboard keys.

The other possibility is that Mame somehow lost some of the control mapping. You can run a game outside GameEx and test/configure the controls there. However, if there is happ software, I would look at that before looking at Mame. Also, if you are unsure of how to run mame outside GameEx or how to test/configure the control mapping, let us know. We can point you in the right direction.

Keep in mind that the way your setup probably works is that your happ controls will be mapped in a particular configuration. Then, for those controls to work within GameEx, they need to be mapped properly within GameEx (which most likely is already the case). Then, for those controls to work in Mame, then need to be properly mapped in Mame as well. The GameEx mapping should not affect the Mame mapping.

One word of caution as you look over things. For the controls to work nicey nicey with each program, they all need to be mapped consistently. Before making changes, I suggest looking over all of the software options first. Once you have a little bit of an idea of a fix, make one small change and test it. That way you can change it back if it is not right; or if it looks good, change another small thing. IT can be very frustrating to make all sorts of changes, realize that it did not work, and then forget what you changed in the first place - making the problem even bigger...take baby steps.

 

Lastly, since you are not familiar with how your machine is set up, it can make troubleshooting very difficult for us. The more assumptions we make, the more likely we miss something important. Regardless of what we do here, I suggest you reach out to the seller, explain the problem, and ask for some help. Where we may spin our wheels going in all sorts of directions, they may be able to offer a specific strategy on what to look at. Worse case, they may have some documentation, websites, etc that can provide you or us with helpful info.

Oh yeah...Happy New Year.