GameEx latest rev and Mame32 107u3 issues

[Deadly]

3 nights ago I fired up my cabinet, updated Mame32 from 107u2 to 107u3 ..... used clrmamepro, opened up mame32 and re-audited the roms. Then opened up GameEx which said it had an update so I let it work it's magic. After the update I invoked the update games list feature. I came back and it was sitting there waiting for me to play. I started a game and the screen went black for about 5 seconds and came right back to the play this game screen. I thought maybe the rom was messed up so I chose another game. Same thing. I tried at least 7 different games and none of them would start up.

I started the games out of Mame32 and they played just fine.

Assuming I had a botched upgrade I renamed the directory....downloaded the rev that came out yesterday and did a fresh install .... once again the screen goes black for about 5 seconds then throwing me back to the play this game screen.

I am unable to use GameEx and have no idea where or how to fix this?

I also noticed the ENTER key/button will periodically stop working in GameEx but using it outside of GameEx like in notepad it works fine. This started two revisions ago.

I use an IPAC4 with Media Center 2005

Thanks in advance.

[iano]

Hi. I could be way wrong on this (I'm only a newbie) but did Tom not say for this release that you'd have do a manual install. The auto-update won't work and that he'd fix it in another release ?

Cheers,

iano.

[Atari800]

Do the following

Start GAMEEX

Immediately choose a game and try to play it

(let it do the 5 second black screen thing)

Choose another game and try to play it

(let it do the 5 second black screen thing)

Quit out of GAMEEX

Now using Windows Explorer - go to the PROGRAM FILES\Gameex\log directory

Open up LOG.TXT and copy contents to this forum

*But the bottom of the file should show how MAME32 is being executed and maybe so errors of what happened

What happens if you go back to MAME32 107u2 or earlier?

[Tom Speirs]

Try this:,

after launching a failed mame game, exit GameEx. Got to C:\program files\gameex\data

Edit RunItGame.bat with notepad.

add a new line on the end, and put PAUSE

Save the file, now run it. As long as your running Vanilla MAME you should see the error from MAME.

[Adultery]

First things first - betas are a pain in the posterior.

Have you tried deleting the MAME32.ini file and creating a new one? I thought I read somewhere that MAME32 was having issues from .107 with the configuration saving for some reason or another.

Another thing you can try... Add these MAME command line options:

-video d3d -noswitchres

When I had my boot problems initially, I added these and now it works like a charm.

Hope that helps!

[Deadly]

Thanks for the help guys. I will try it when I get home tonight. But I do have to wonder why GameEx is angry but yet Mame32 runs ok? Hmmmmm I'll post the results tomorrow. Thanks again!

[wastedmind]

I have not had a problem at all with GameEx as a front end. I am experencing the same issue stated here. I Also did a fresh install of GameEx and the latest version of mame32 107u3.

All directories are correct in the GameEX config. Mame outside of GameEX works fine no problems.

I tried what tom said here and this is what it says

runitgame

@ECHO OFF

G:

CD "G:\Mame32"

Mame32.exe gallag -rompath "G:\Mame32\roms;G:\Mame32\CHD" -video d3d -noswitchres -nowindow -joy -artwork -artwork_directory artwork

H:\GameEx\LOG

14:59:12.1 8/17/2006: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx!

14:59:12.1 8/17/2006: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame

14:59:12.4 8/17/2006: Testing Main Loop Once: Main Loop ran successfully

14:59:21.3 8/17/2006: Running: cmd.exe /c G: G:\Mame32\Mame32.exe gallag -rompath G:\Mame32\roms;G:\Mame32\CHD -video d3d -noswitchres -nowindow -joy -artwork -artwork_directory artwork

14:59:35.2 8/17/2006: Exiting GameEx!

14:59:35.2 8/17/2006: Saving Settings

14:59:37.8 8/17/2006: Checking for applications to Launch On Exit

14:59:37.8 8/17/2006: Media Center was not open when starting GameEx, so not launching

Any help on this issue would be helpful. I tested the other emulator such as daphne, future pinball visual pinball all seem to work fine. I have a feeling it is a mame32 issue.

I back mame up to the last release 107u2. All works fine again.

Anybody wanting to use 107u3 at this time is a no go.

[Will]

Personally, I don't see the point of using the u updates. They are admittedly betas and often break things or are broken themselves. If the current stable release works fine, then why worry about updating every week with each new version?!? Especially, if you are using other programs (GameEx) that depend on Mame working correctly, it can make it even touchier. I guess I can see it for this release since it has a completely new rendering engine, and there could be some quick fixes after the stable release....

[Tom Speirs]

Why are you all using Beta versions? Was there some major breakthrough in u3 or something?

Its sound like it might be some kind of bug in MAME, but you didnt say what happened when you ran runitgame.bat?

If it dont run, either its a bug in MAME, or they removed one of the command line options above or something.

[NIVO]

its a bug in mame32 107u3. try grabbing the new mame32 107u4, it is out as of now Mame32 107u4

also note you must disable LED option. "This went out the door before I noticed Aaron had ripped out the switch for LED to keyboard since I never use it.

Disable it in the controllers tab to play games."

[Deadly]

It is not a bug between u3 and u4 even tho I'm certain u4 has bugs as well that I am unaware of. What DID fix the problem was selecting the option to NOT use bezel artwork for vertical games in GameEx config. This is verified to happen with the latest GameEx AND latest Mame32 107.u4.

The question being asked of "Why we insist on using beta's needs to be answered and maybe even debated??!!!

If someone can tell me how I can download the pleasuredome updates, use clrmame without having the latest exe to create the dat then by all means I'll listen. I have tried using the dat they supply and it seems to not work with Mame32qa ya know?!

Anotehr thing is with all the MAJOR changes going on with Mame it is inevidable that GameEx will be broken in some way shape or fashion and this just might be an easier way of Tom getting prepped to deal with it...I dunno.

It must be frustrating for Mr. Speirs ..... you have my sympathy but until someone can tell me how to update my roms without a current DAT then I will continue to use the latest release.

[Will]

  Deadly said:

It is not a bug between u3 and u4 even tho I'm certain u4 has bugs as well that I am unaware of. What DID fix the problem was selecting the option to NOT use bezel artwork for vertical games in GameEx config. This is verified to happen with the latest GameEx AND latest Mame32 107.u4.

The question being asked of "Why we insist on using beta's needs to be answered and maybe even debated??!!!

If someone can tell me how I can download the pleasuredome updates, use clrmame without having the latest exe to create the dat then by all means I'll listen. I have tried using the dat they supply and it seems to not work with Mame32qa ya know?!

Anotehr thing is with all the MAJOR changes going on with Mame it is inevidable that GameEx will be broken in some way shape or fashion and this just might be an easier way of Tom getting prepped to deal with it...I dunno.

It must be frustrating for Mr. Speirs ..... you have my sympathy but until someone can tell me how to update my roms without a current DAT then I will continue to use the latest release.

Well that's a good point...SOME people should be using the betas to ferret out bugs and help with development. But it surely doesn't seem like it's Tom's job to fix a situation where one of the mame devs forgot to build the latest compile correctly and people are out there trying to use it. The whole point of having .107 (without the u specifying an update) is that it signifies a build where they are mostly sure it is as bug free as possible. There still may be some bugs, but it should be mostly stable. The updates are admittedly not checked for errors like the stable builds are. Their intent is to build in a new feature or change for the dev community to try, then report back so another update can be created. When they feel that they have added (fixed) a number of features, they issue a stable release with a new release number. If you aren't helping with development, I don't see a reason to use updates.

For anyone out there trying to manage the latest rom sets, which often are based on updates, there's nothing wrong with using the lastest mame beta to track roms and using a stable one to play. You can keep multiple mame binaries around for generating dats without affecting the build you use to play.

I am not a mame developer and everyone is free to do what they want, that's just what I feel. I just know that when I started with mame I was not aware of what the updates were and that they weren't intended for me. Of course I could be wrong.

[Deadly]

  Will said:

Well that's a good point...SOME people should be using the betas to ferret out bugs and help with development. But it surely doesn't seem like it's Tom's job to fix a situation where one of the mame devs forgot to build the latest compile correctly and people are out there trying to use it. The whole point of having .107 (without the u specifying an update) is that it signifies a build where they are mostly sure it is as bug free as possible. There still may be some bugs, but it should be mostly stable. The updates are admittedly not checked for errors like the stable builds are. Their intent is to build in a new feature or change for the dev community to try, then report back so another update can be created. When they feel that they have added (fixed) a number of features, they issue a stable release with a new release number. If you aren't helping with development, I don't see a reason to use updates.

For anyone out there trying to manage the latest rom sets, which often are based on updates, there's nothing wrong with using the lastest mame beta to track roms and using a stable one to play. You can keep multiple mame binaries around for generating dats without affecting the build you use to play.

I am not a mame developer and everyone is free to do what they want, that's just what I feel. I just know that when I started with mame I was not aware of what the updates were and that they weren't intended for me. Of course I could be wrong.

I guess I never really gave much thought about using the binaries to create the dat while keeping the "stable" mame version in use. But wouldn't it be true to say that if you are not using the current/latest mame32.exe then Mame32 would not see any NEW games that were available right? I'm no Mame expert but I do believe this would be correct.

As far as Tom and what his "supposive" responsibilities are..... I guess if he decided to say screw all of this and quit he has every right to do so. But I would believe since he is not only a developer he has a true love for the arcade side also.

Mame is undergoing so many changes right now do to the fact there are so many games that cannot be correctly rendered via hardware...thus the reason they are changing the engine would be "my guess." I'm all for it!

I've seen so boards and projects shut down due to no one willing to donate but more importantly, the site becomes a griping ground and I definently don't want this to happen here.

I personally love GameEx and say, "Thank you for a great program Tom."

[Tom Speirs]

  Deadly said:

I guess I never really gave much thought about using the binaries to create the dat while keeping the "stable" mame version in use. But wouldn't it be true to say that if you are not using the current/latest mame32.exe then Mame32 would not see any NEW games that were available right? I'm no Mame expert but I do believe this would be correct.

As far as Tom and what his "supposive" responsibilities are..... I guess if he decided to say screw all of this and quit he has every right to do so. But I would believe since he is not only a developer he has a true love for the arcade side also.

Mame is undergoing so many changes right now do to the fact there are so many games that cannot be correctly rendered via hardware...thus the reason they are changing the engine would be "my guess." I'm all for it!

I've seen so boards and projects shut down due to no one willing to donate but more importantly, the site becomes a griping ground and I definently don't want this to happen here.

I personally love GameEx and say, "Thank you for a great program Tom."

Hey, no deffinitly did not want to cause any problems, maybe the tone came across in my message. I just got a little frustrated perhaps because this was a MAME issue rather than GameEx issue, and I have so much else going on trying to earn ends meat. I do deffinitly like to get a heads up on issues with new MAME releases, but mainly only when its going to be helpful to the project and its not just a support request.

Anyway, deffinitly no problems as far as I am concerned. This is always supposed to be about fun, for me and for you folks. I dont want to put you folks off posting anything. Its probably my fault, I should have just kept out of the thread. I always have that option

Anyway have fun.

[Will]

Most of the updates don't usually add too many games. Some of the updates are a few megs, so I guess the 3500 supported are enough to keep me busy until the official updates. Everyone is free to do what they want--I was merely saying that I think the updates are more trouble to keep up with than the very small additions they offer, since they often break functionality. Hence the usage of "beta".