[RESOLVED] Backglasses not displaying when 'Use DirectB2S in Front End' is set to 'No' and PBX is not starting

[pcraenme]

Hi,

I just started using PinballX and am having an issue with backglasses displaying in PBX and PBX not starting with certain setting.

When I have the 'Use DirectB2S in Front End' setting set to 'No', I have no backglasses displaying. I also need to start PinballX as an Adminstrator when this setting is on 'No', otherwise I get a black screen after the PinballX startup splashscreen and have to logoff the user in Windows to get control back. When I have the 'Use DirectB2S in Front End' setting set to 'Yes', the backglasses (not the DirectB2S ones, but the 'normal' ones setup in the PinballX database) are displaying, and I also don't need to start PinballX as an Administrator.
I could leave the setting is set to 'Yes' (which does not make sense, but ok), but then I cannot use PDM to assign the backglasses to the tables. I have attached the logfiles of having the setting on 'No' and 'Yes'.

Thanks,

Patrick

log-DirectB2S-Yes.txt log-DirectB2S-No.txt log-DirectB2S-No-Admin.txt

PinballX.ini

[Mike_da_Spike]

Hello Patrick,

Welcome! We appreciate you contacting us.

Could you please provide your pinballx.ini file? Additionally, we would be grateful if you could include a log file captured when you launch PinballX and then press the exit button on your game controller. This will help us determine if PinballX is registering the exit command.

Furthermore, to clarify a few points: do you experience video playback when "use direct b2s in front end" is enabled, and does disabling it lead to a crash? Could you also confirm if 'B2SBackglassServerEXE.exe' is present in your PinballX directory (if so, try to remove it and rerun)?

Regarding your exit button, we recommend configuring this specifically within PBX rather than VPX. Are you currently running VPX as an administrator? You might consider reducing your User Account Control settings and then attempting to run VPX. Please note that if VPX is not executed with administrative privileges, you will not receive a UAC prompt.

[Mike_da_Spike]

@Draco1962 Can you split this thread for the 2 different issues ? thanks buddy !

[Draco1962]

5 hours ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

@Draco1962 Can you split this thread for the 2 different issues ? thanks buddy !

Since the OP is all-in-one, I will leave as-is. Too many forum gymnastics to get it right.

@pcraenmeonce these issues are resolved, should any other issues arise, please open a new thread with the details,and include new copies of your pinballx.ini and log.txt files. Thanks!

[pcraenme]

@Mike_da_Spike, @Draco1962, Thanks for your responses. I will change this thread and split it up in two threads. Ok?

[Mike_da_Spike]

1 hour ago, pcraenme said:

@Mike_da_Spike, @Draco1962, Thanks for your responses. I will change this thread and split it up in two threads. Ok?

Just continue on this for the b2s issue and copy the other to a new thread. 

[Draco1962]

4 hours ago, pcraenme said:

@Mike_da_Spike, @Draco1962, Thanks for your responses. I will change this thread and split it up in two threads. Ok?

That will work! Thanks!

[pcraenme]

Topic has been split up and updated. Also added my PinballX.ini file.

[pcraenme]

On 3/21/2026 at 7:15 PM, Mike_da_Spike said:

Furthermore, to clarify a few points: do you experience video playback when "use direct b2s in front end" is enabled, and does disabling it lead to a crash? Could you also confirm if 'B2SBackglassServerEXE.exe' is present in your PinballX directory (if so, try to remove it and rerun)?

Videos are playing fine when setting is on 'Yes'. When I set it to 'No', I have to start PBX as an Administrator and then it starts, but without backglasses displaying. When I do not run it as an Administrator, PBX does not crash, screen stays black after PBX startup splashscreen.

B2SBackglassServerEXE.exe is not in my PinballX directory.

Some more info.,. I am still using NVIDIA driver 560.94, which is quite old, but very stable for all my games and VR using Virtual Desktop on my RTX 4080.

[Draco1962]

3 hours ago, pcraenme said:

Topic has been split up and updated. Also added my PinballX.ini file.

Also need the log.txt file for each issue as it occurs. Thanks!

[Mike_da_Spike]

6 hours ago, Draco1962 said:

Also need the log.txt file for each issue as it occurs. Thanks!

It's in the first post Draco  . 

@Tom SpeirsI don’t understand the behavior for pcraenme. He said that when setting ‘Use DirectB2S in Front End’ to ‘no,’ PinballX hangs and he has to log off or kill PBX.
When he runs it as administrator, it works fine but doesn’t show the media.
When set to ‘yes,’ it shows media files instead of the DirectB2S files and runs without admin priviliges.
The only difference in the logging, aside from the admin, is that I see 'Main display running full screen windowed.' displayed when using Direct B2S.
I tried to reproduce it, but on my setup, setting it to ‘yes’ shows B2S files and setting it to ‘no’ shows media.
Any thoughts on this?

[Tom Speirs]

honestly, its a bit of a useless and redundant feature in my opinion. Why not just create videos?

Wait, not starting when set to 'no'? that is strange or is use pinmame set too?

Why are you messing with admin/no admin? Thats not a thing in 2026 as far as i know.

[pcraenme]

I normally never use admin, but when the Use DirectB2S setting is on No, PBX does not start when not using admin. But, since I have to have Use DirectB2S on Yes to have the backglasses display in PBX, I can start PBX normally without admin.

[Tom Speirs]

No worries.

Again, its not a great feature anyway and i rarely test it. Most folks use videos.

However you are saying things are not working when the setting is disabled which is odd. So i am a bit stumped right now, sorry. Does PinballX work at all for you, even with a new install? Maybe try a fresh install but do a backup first.

[pcraenme]

Yes, PXB works. I just did a fresh install last week, because somehow PBX was showing all the tables I had in my VPX Tables directory, and I only had 4 tables setup yet in the PBX database. A did a fresh install of PBX and PDM, and at least that issue got fixed. But the other issues remained.

[scutters]

@pcraenme Is this a test setup before moving to cab build or are you just playing on desktop?

If you're a desktop user you might be better off enabling 'desktop mode' in Pinball general settings. That would remove the backglass window. I note from the vpx keys config screenshot in your other thread you B2S/backglass disabled in vpx, so the settings / screen setup you currently have seem inconsistent.

(i'm not sure how this relates to this issue, but more information on setup you're trying to create could help)

[pcraenme]

@Draco1962Why was this updated to RESOLVED? I said PBX works, but not without this issue. Maybe you misunderstood my post? Thanks.

[pcraenme]

3 hours ago, scutters said:

@pcraenme Is this a test setup before moving to cab build or are you just playing on desktop?

If you're a desktop user you might be better off enabling 'desktop mode' in Pinball general settings. That would remove the backglass window. I note from the vpx keys config screenshot in your other thread you B2S/backglass disabled in vpx, so the settings / screen setup you currently have seem inconsistent.

(i'm not sure how this relates to this issue, but more information on setup you're trying to create could help)

It’s not a test setup. I am just starting to use PBX, because I hear so many good things about it from @Mike_da_Spike and wanted to give it a go. I am playing on desktop (3440x1140) and VR (Quest 3 using VDj.

Desktop Mode is already enabled in PBX.

Maybe there is some confusion about what I mean by backglass, but on the left top op my screen in PBX a backglass is displaying when I have the Use DirectB2S option set to yes, but… I don’t use any directb2s files on my vpx setup. When Use DirectB2S option set to No, nothing is displayed anymore on the top left of my screen.

[Draco1962]

My bad. This is the problem when there's multiple issues and conversations regarding. 😵‍💫

[pcraenme]

No problem @Draco1962, I should have made several threads from the start, so that’s my bad.😵‍💫 Sorry about that. I tried to split them up as logically as possible yesterday. 

[scutters]

21 hours ago, pcraenme said:

Desktop Mode is already enabled in PBX.

Yes, my bad. And yes, i forgot a backglass screen is displayed for desktop mode as well.

I think the videos play if useB2S is set to on if B2S server isn't found or there is no B2S (you may have installed B2S to it's own folder rather than the old default of the visual pinball\tables folder).

Not sure why you have issues with UseB2S set to off though. If you rename your PinballX\Media\Visual Pinball\Backglass Videos folder to something else as a test does the default Pinballx backglass video play at all?

 

[pcraenme]

@scutters Renaming Backglass directories showed the default Pinballx backglass video for all tables.

But... I found the fix! After changing 'Full Screen Windowed' to 'Yes', the Backglass videos or images were displaying with 'Use DirectB2S in Front End' setting set to 'No'. And... it is also starting now without having to use Administrator.

Problem solved! Thanks everyone!

[Draco1962]

NOW is it OK to close the thread? 🤣

[pcraenme]

And... it stopped working again. Now suddenly when I start a table from PinballX, the table loads, I hear the rom sound, but I don't see the table. The Loading Screen of PinballX is displaying. Even an alt-tab to the Visual Pinball Player window does not work.

Why is something that was working a few hours ago, suddenly not working anymore? I am about to give up...

[Draco1962]

Let's get an updated pinballx.ini and log.txt file from when it occurred. Thanks.