what setting did i mess up?

[scurvy]

i changed something by accident, when i launch gameex i see a black screen, i can hear sounds, then when i click it minimizies back to windows, and i have to click it in the task bar to restore it and use it like normal.. what setting is this? need to get it back to normal

[Mick]

i changed something by accident, when i launch gameex i see a black screen, i can hear sounds, then when i click it minimizies back to windows, and i have to click it in the task bar to restore it and use it like normal.. what setting is this? need to get it back to normal

Hi there,

I receive the same problem - although I'm not sure if I changed anything that would effect it. I reinstalled v7.65 and this works fine for me, but if I install v7.99 or 8.00, it starts up minimised also. I'm running fullscreen on my cab - and have used instantsheller to boot up with no desktop. Don't know if this would be causing any issues or not. Other than that, everything else works fantastic.

[Adultery]

When I had this issue, it was because Norton was launching to ask permission to allow GameEx to access the internet. I set the permissions permanently (Always Allow GameEx.exe, GameExtender.exe and AutoUpdate.exe) and never encountered this problem again.

Perhaps this is your problem as well?

[Mick]

Thanks Adultery,

I'm on a standalone cab with XP - No Desktop, no network/internet, no started tasks (except for the Nvidia Cpanel etc which I also disabled to see if that was the problem) and Windows firewall disabled. However, I also found out that changing the compatibility settings for GameEx to Windows 2000 seemed to fix the problem also (strange). However we had a blackout while I was messing around with it and now my machine blue screens every time I boot (even in Safe Mode), so it looks like I'll have to repair/possibly reinstall before I can test that theory again .....

[scurvy]

it actually seemed to have fixed itself. no idea what caused it.

[Mick]

Me too - but I had to reinstall XP

[bkenobi]

I have had this same problem periodically, but I don't know what is currently causing it. Sometimes when I start the machine up, it will launch into GameEx no problem. Other times, it will start GameEx and within a couple of seconds drop to windows with GameEx minimized. There is no error, just shows the desktop for some reason.

The only thing I can think is that something else is stealing the focus for some reason. But, this is a dedicated cab with no other programs running. So, it must be either JoyToKey starting up too slow, or my script that calls WinLIRC that is finishing up slow... I wish it was more consistent.

[snoogans460]

I just recently did a search and found this topic already posted, so I've decided to bring this issue up once again, hoping someone might respond.

Anyhow, I've been running GameEx in my MAME Cab for a month or two - and everything was going great. However, I've begun having some problems as of late. Whenever Game EX starts, it automatically minimizes itself into the lower taskbar and displays the Desktop instead. HUH?! The program itself doesn't crash completely, as I can hear music and sound coming from GameEX. Whenever I try to maximize the window back to normal (if it lets me), the program just re-minimizes itself.

Has anyone else encountered this problem - and if so, is there a sure-fire solution to keep this from happening? I tried tinkering around with my Norton firewall (with no luck), so there must be some kinda background program conflicting with my set-up. If anyone could please help, it would be much appreciated. I really don't wanna' go back to MAME32's no frills front-end.

[bkenobi]

Try dissabling anything that's in the startup menu (move them to another directory) to see if it keeps happening. If that fixes it, then you have something starting up and stealing focus and you'll have to figure out how to fix that. If that doesn't fix it, there is probably something going on in GameEx.

[snoogans460]

Try dissabling anything that's in the startup menu (move them to another directory) to see if it keeps happening. If that fixes it, then you have something starting up and stealing focus and you'll have to figure out how to fix that. If that doesn't fix it, there is probably something going on in GameEx.

Thanks for your help. I kinda' feared it would be something pertaining to these start-up programs.

Anyhow, I just went through the list of apps and various programs that boot with my PC, only to find its not essentially worth my time. The overall list is rather extensive, so pin-pointing the exact problem is going to be head-ache inducing. Plus, it's probably not worth compromising the livelihood of my computer over such a trivial (yet important) matter.

Since there's no error of any sort in GameEx's log report, it'll be hours of trial and error trying to rectify this issue. The last thing I need is to shut-off an important program that my PC depends on. My only other option is to completely re-install GameEx from scratch, and see if the problem persists. It's funny, because this issue only happens with GameEx - so my conclusion is to begin there.

If all else fails, I plan on reinstalling my entire OS soon, so we'll ultimately see what unfolds.

Thanks again for your help.

[snoogans460]

Well, after uninstalling and then reinstalling GameEx, the problem continues to persist. Unfortunately, I no longer have the patience for this program, and trying to find out the exact culprit of my woes will probably take forever. It's a shame too, because I really enjoyed GameEx for the time it actually worked properly.

The interface and overall intuitive set-up was second to none, but if this program is affected by glitches (whether it's because of my PC or not), then it's rendered worthless. This thing crashes everytime and encounters an error of some sort. Just my luck I tell ya. Oh well, I suppose it's time to find another front-end. Thanks for the good times.

[bkenobi]

I have a simple suggestion that might help. I just changed how I startup my cabinet and am now using an AutoHotKey script. I use a TV as my display and use WinLIRC to turn it on. I decided I didn't want to see windows and so the TV needs to turn on AFTER GameEx is going. I ended up writing a really simple script that starts GameEx and WinLIRC. It waits until it sees the GameEx window and then sends the keys to WinLIRC to power on the TV and switch to Video-1. Here's the improtant part: it then switches focus to GameEx. The result is that my cabinet turns the TV on when GameEx is ready and makes sure it's maximized.

Anyway, it's like a 8 line script using the standard AHK functions, but if anyone is interested, I could post the code (I'm at work now).

[snoogans460]

Well guys, it's me again. I've decided to bump this thread once again because I believe the problem has been found. After taking a breather this past week, I decided to come back to GameEx with a fresh start and re-installed the program with default options. Anyhow, my assessment is as follows... I've come to the conclusion that GameEx has conflicting issues when trying to read the path to Video Snaps (otherwise known as short .AVI Clips that run instead of stills). For some odd reason, these movie snaps cause GameEx to minimize itself - well, at least in my case. I'm not certain I can speak for everyone, but my advice is to heed warning if you choose to use these vids. If anything changes, I'll definitely keep this community informed.