Bug Report: faulty graphics

**gwydion** · July 29, 2005

Hi everybody!

I am having trouble with the graphics of GameEx. Have a look:

Did anybody experience the same problems or does know how to fix this?

**gwydion** · July 29, 2005

Oh well, I forgot to give some OS information. It's a rather fresh Win XP Pro SP2 installation. The graphics board is a Matrox Millenium G400. Does GameEx use any advanced DirectX functions that this card may not support properly?

**Tom Speirs** · July 29, 2005

Oh well, I forgot to give some OS information. It's a rather fresh Win XP Pro SP2 installation. The graphics board is a Matrox Millenium G400. Does GameEx use any advanced DirectX functions that this card may not support properly?

It looks like GameEx isnt creating two of its fonts correctly. All I can think is this is due to lack of memory.

It just uses DirectDraw unless for Videos and DVD.

I've had it running fine on some really ancient video cards.

If the card is on board can you increase its memory?

You could ttry newer or alternate drivers for your video card.

You could also try running in 16 bit colour.

Also check you have the latest directx 9 version, and .net framework 1.1 SP1.

Cant think of much else for now.

Thanks,

Tom

**gwydion** · July 29, 2005

> If the card is on board can you increase its memory?

It's not onboard, the card has 32 megs of memory. Shouldn't it be enough for a simple frontend?

> You could ttry newer or alternate drivers for your video card.

I have the latest drivers installed and Matrox is usually known for their superior quality, so I don't think it's a driver issue.

> You could also try running in 16 bit colour.

I tried it, and after changing to 16bit it looks like this:

> Also check you have the latest directx 9 version, and .net framework 1.1 SP1.

I have DX9.0c and the .net framework from the link on your site.

**Tom Speirs** · July 29, 2005

> If the card is on board can you increase its memory?
It's not onboard, the card has 32 megs of memory. Shouldn't it be enough for a simple frontend?
> You could ttry newer or alternate drivers for your video card.
I have the latest drivers installed and Matrox is usually known for their superior quality, so I don't think it's a driver issue.
> You could also try running in 16 bit colour.
I tried it, and after changing to 16bit it looks like this:
> Also check you have the latest directx 9 version, and .net framework 1.1 SP1.
I have DX9.0c and the .net framework from the link on your site.

Now if you set the use 16-bit colour setting in GameEx itself, it should look correct.

Its not really a simple front end but yes, I have had GameEx running on an Intel 4MB onboard, BUT in 16 bit colour.

Cheers.

Tom

**gwydion** · July 29, 2005

> Now if you set the use 16-bit colour setting in GameEx itself, it should look correct.

Yes, now it looks ok. But I consider 16 bit somewhat suboptimal, since I also want to use the box for playing normal PC games, viewing images, etc.

> Its not really a simple front end but yes, I have had GameEx running on an Intel 4MB onboard,

> BUT in 16 bit colour.

Sorry, I didn't mean that GameEx itself is simple ;-)

I just meant that I don't understand why 32MB is not enough for the graphics.

**Smiff** · July 29, 2005

the G400 is getting really old, and poor driver support. i still have one, it was a great card, but with a Dx6 feature set and no more driver updates looking likely, its probably time to move on... even the cheapest new cards have far more features (although the TV out is still great on the Matrox )

**night** · July 29, 2005

if i run the emulator "gens" http://gens.consolemul.com leave it open and then run Game-Ex

then it does precise the same there dunno why dosent matter in my case becouse i dont have both open at the same time anyway

but it looks like yours screenshot idd so i think you have something running there does the same as "gens" does...

EDIT : after alittle futher test it looks like its only in "window mode" not in fullscreen it does it here

EDIT 2: i have a g-force the FX serie

**gwydion** · July 30, 2005

> the G400 is getting really old, and poor driver support.

No, it's definitely the opposite. The drivers are very stable. Who needs an update when there is nothing to fix? For those people who update the drivers for their brand-new but poorly conceived graphics board daily it may be unusual not to get an update for months ;-)

> i still have one, it was a great card, but

> with a Dx6 feature set and no more driver updates looking likely, its probably time to move on... > even the cheapest new cards have far more features (although the TV out is still great on the

> Matrox tongue.gif)

That's it. Tha Matrox G400 is great for any 2D graphics, e.g. Emulation, DVD. And there is currently no board on the market today that as an acceptable TV-out (i.e. RGB). Sorry, but the only way to connect a modern graphics board is DVI, since the D/A circuitry on these boards is so lousy (all money goes to the development of fancy new 3D features, Matrox is still an exception). And I can't afford a digital TV anywhere in the near future :-(

But my main question is still unanswered: Why does GameEx consume so much Video Memory?

**gwydion** · July 30, 2005

> but it looks like yours screenshot idd so i think you have something running there does the

> same as "gens" does...

I know that there can occur certain problems while running two programs at the same time. Maybe one runs in another colour depth than the other?

But in my case there is only GameEx running, and its usually running in full-screen mode. I used the window mode only for screengrabbing.

**Tom Speirs** · July 30, 2005

But my main question is still unanswered: Why does GameEx consume so much Video Memory?

I am not so sure it does. I have had 32-bit colour on a PCI Nvidia 16MB TNT 2.

I am guesing its some kind of incompatiblity.

Id like to see your log. Also are you running the latest version of GameEx. There were fixes for older Gfx cards.

**gwydion** · July 31, 2005

> I am not so sure it does. I have had 32-bit colour on a PCI Nvidia 16MB > TNT 2.

This is strange.

> I am guesing its some kind of incompatiblity.

The only things I can think of are the many dualhead options. It tried to play with these settings, but without any success up to now.

> Id like to see your log. Also are you running the latest version of GameEx.

> There were fixes for older Gfx cards.

I updated to 4.71, doesn't help.

One more thing: at startup, everything was fine. I started the first game, and the description screen (game name, year, etc.) had errors shortly before the game started. After exiting the game, it looked like on the first image I posted.

Here's the log:

13:27:51.1 31.07.2005: GameEx: Version 4.71: Starting Log

13:27:51.1 31.07.2005: Operating System Platform: Win32NT

13:27:51.1 31.07.2005: Operating System Name: Windows XP

13:27:51.1 31.07.2005: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600

13:27:51.1 31.07.2005: Running Randomize()

13:27:51.1 31.07.2005: Running Misc startup tasks

13:27:51.1 31.07.2005: Hiding Cursor

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Setting Menu types

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Opening Configuration File

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Getting Configuration Values

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Using Theme: Default - Default

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: Default - Default

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Text/Language: English

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Applying Language/Text

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Creating Scancodes.txt (List of DirectInput scan codes)

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Snap Delay set to: 1

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Is Media Center running?

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Media Center Mode 2

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Checking for applications to Launch On Startup

13:27:51.2 31.07.2005: Get other settings

13:27:51.3 31.07.2005: Launching HideOS.exe

13:27:52.3 31.07.2005: Hiding Taskbar

13:27:52.3 31.07.2005: Start work for Form

13:27:52.3 31.07.2005: Getting Original Screen Size

13:27:52.3 31.07.2005: Loading ICON

13:27:52.3 31.07.2005: Initializing Component

13:27:52.3 31.07.2005: Initialising Bass Audio Library

13:27:52.6 31.07.2005: Loading default loading screen

13:27:52.6 31.07.2005: Using General Font: Trebuchet MS

13:27:52.6 31.07.2005: Using Title Font: Trebuchet MS

13:27:52.6 31.07.2005: Initialising DirectDraw

13:27:52.6 31.07.2005: Applying GameEx is Loading Image

13:27:52.8 31.07.2005: Creating DirectDraw Device

13:27:52.8 31.07.2005: Setting Resolution to 640x480 32 bit color

13:27:53.9 31.07.2005: Creating DirectDraw Surfaces

13:27:53.9 31.07.2005: Creating Primary Surface - Full Screen Mode

13:27:53.9 31.07.2005: Creating Back Buffer

13:27:53.9 31.07.2005: Loading graphic surfaces

13:27:54.0 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Misc and Dialogs

13:27:54.0 31.07.2005: Creating Surface Volume

13:27:54.0 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Arrows

13:27:54.0 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces GameEXlogo Text

13:27:54.0 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Toolbar

13:27:54.0 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Backgrounds

13:27:54.4 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Toolbar Controls

13:27:54.4 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces GameEx Logo

13:27:54.4 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Home & Exit

13:27:54.4 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Snaps

13:27:54.4 31.07.2005: Creating Surfaces Menu and List Bars

13:27:54.4 31.07.2005: Creating Fonts

13:27:54.4 31.07.2005: Creating Menu Font

13:27:54.6 31.07.2005: Creating Game Font

13:27:54.7 31.07.2005: Creating Game Font Faded

13:27:54.8 31.07.2005: Creating Title Font

13:27:55.1 31.07.2005: Initialising Windows Media Player Component

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: MAME Path is: E:\emulators\MAME

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: MAME EXE file is: mamepp.exe

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: ROM Path is: E:\roms\mame

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: Catver.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\catver.ini

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: controls.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\data\controls.ini

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: History.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\history.dat

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: nplayers.ini is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\nplayers.ini

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: MAMEinfo.dat is located at: C:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\mameinfo.dat

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: Loading Controls.ini map file

13:27:55.2 31.07.2005: Loading Custom Emulators

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Snap Path is: E:\images\mame\snap

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: AVI Snap Path: Not Found

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Flyer Path: Not Found

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Cabinet Path: Not Found

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Title Path: Not Found

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Panel Path: Not Found

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Icon Path: Not Found

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Marquee Path: Not Found

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: MAME CMD options: -skip_disclaimer -skip_gameinfo -triplebuffer -nowindow -joy

13:27:55.5 31.07.2005: Attempting to load game list

13:27:55.7 31.07.2005: Running: mamepp.exe -help

13:27:55.7 31.07.2005: Running: E: E:\emulators\MAME\mamepp.exe -help > E:\emulators\MAME\help.txt

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: Now Outputing mamepp.exe - Help

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: --BEGIN--

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: M.A.M.E. v0.98 (Jul 10 2005) - Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: MAME is an emulator: it reproduces, more or less faithfully, the behaviour of

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: several arcade machines. But hardware is useless without software, so an image

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: of the ROMs which run on that hardware is required. Such ROMs, like any other

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: commercial software, are copyrighted material and it is therefore illegal to

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: use them if you don't own the original arcade machine. Needless to say, ROMs

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: are not distributed together with MAME. Distribution of MAME together with ROM

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: images is a violation of copyright law and should be promptly reported to the

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: authors so that appropriate legal action can be taken.

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: Usage: MAME gamename [options]

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: MAME -list for a brief list of supported games

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: MAME -listfull for a full list of supported games

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: MAME -showusage for a brief list of options

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: MAME -showconfig for a list of configuration options

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: MAME -createconfig to create a mame.ini

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: For usage instructions, please consult the file windows.txt

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: --END--

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005:

13:27:56.6 31.07.2005: Loading last used Game List

13:27:56.7 31.07.2005: Creating DirectSound Device

13:27:56.7 31.07.2005: Trying: Primary Sound Driver

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: Loading Sound Files

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: DirectSound Device Created Successfully

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: Unable to create a joystick device

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: Playing intro sound file

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: Initializing MCE Remote

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx!

13:27:56.8 31.07.2005: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame

13:27:57.1 31.07.2005: Testing Main Loop Once: Main Loop ran successfully

13:28:16.3 31.07.2005: Running: cmd.exe /c E: E:\emulators\MAME\mamepp.exe 1941 -rompath E:\roms\mame -skip_disclaimer -skip_gameinfo -triplebuffer -nowindow -joy

13:29:07.0 31.07.2005: Exiting GameEx!

13:29:07.0 31.07.2005: Saving Settings

13:29:07.0 31.07.2005: Writing Game List to disk

13:29:10.7 31.07.2005: Checking for applications to Launch On Exit

**gwydion** · August 1, 2005

> Id like to see your log.

Can you spot anything unusual in the log?

**Tom Speirs** · August 2, 2005

> Id like to see your log.
Can you spot anything unusual in the log?

No sorry. I am out of ideas. GameEx obviously does not like your GFX card for some reason. I guess your stuck with 16-bit colour

BTW: You only need to tell GameEx to run in 16 bit colour, you dont need to set windows to run in 16-bit.

**gwydion** · August 2, 2005

No sorry. I am out of ideas. GameEx obviously does not like your GFX card for some reason. I guess your stuck with 16-bit colour
BTW: You only need to tell GameEx to run in 16 bit colour, you dont need to set windows to run in 16-bit.
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, then I have to live with 16-bit colours. GameEx is still too good not to be used at all And if only GameEx needs to be run in 16-bit mode it shouldn't make a difference anyway.

Thanks for your time!

Bug Report: faulty graphics

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