Gameex locking up

[Tempest]

I am running Windows XP pro, and I have my computer set to go into standby after 30 minutes using the power management options. When I move my mouse, the computer comes out of standby, but GX is frozen - nothing works, (keyboard, joystick,mouse). The only way I can regain control is to CTRL-ALT-DEL, and shut down GX manually (by the way, GX is using 95+ % of the CPU time as shown in the Task Manager)

The only topic I could find here in regards to computers freezing, was involving an Ultrastick, so I shut down GX, and let my computer go into standby, and it does not freeze up without GX running.

The only other thing that may be related - my computer will not go into standby when I choose it as a shutdown option (or through the GX standby option), I believe my external hard drive is stopping it. This may not be important, I just thought I'd mention it.

My Motto:

There is no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid people who ask questions!

[Nologic]

Well disconnect the external and find out if it is contributing to the problem at hand....unless thats going to cause GX to throw a bunch of errors...at which point you may want to make a backup of your "C:\Program Files\GameEx\CONFIG\GameEx.ini" file then manually delete values from it that would contrib to GX complaining about the missing drive.

That way we remove the external drive from the equation while still maintaining your default configuration information.

[bkenobi]

You know, if we didn't have to use power, we wouldn't have this problem. Stupid laws of physics and that damn power thing!

[Nologic]

lol

[Tempest]

Well disconnect the external and find out if it is contributing to the problem at hand....unless thats going to cause GX to throw a bunch of errors...at which point you may want to make a backup of your "C:\Program Files\GameEx\CONFIG\GameEx.ini" file then manually delete values from it that would contrib to GX complaining about the missing drive.

That way we remove the external drive from the equation while still maintaining your default configuration information.

That didn't help, I left it for 30 minutes and it still locks up.

I did try manually putting it into standby without the external HD, and it did go, so at least I was right about that part.

The GX log doesn't show any errors....

Any more ideas?

[Nologic]

Okay PM Tom about the Manual Standby issue...maybe he can resolve that...

Next restore your old settings if they where altered...then try disabling any Screensaver\Attract Mode stuff in GX...to see if it still locks up.

If it doesn't lock then check and see if you have a Windows Screensaver set to run...if so...disable the Windows Screensaver then re-enable the GX Screensaver\Attract Mode stuff...and test again.

If it did lock...then change your power saving settings to not turn stuff off or spin things down...basically keep things running as normal...then report back...

[Tempest]

Okay PM Tom about the Manual Standby issue...maybe he can resolve that...

Next restore your old settings if they where altered...then try disabling any Screensaver\Attract Mode stuff in GX...to see if it still locks up.

If it doesn't lock then check and see if you have a Windows Screensaver set to run...if so...disable the Windows Screensaver then re-enable the GX Screensaver\Attract Mode stuff...and test again.

If it did lock...then change your power saving settings to not turn stuff off or spin things down...basically keep things running as normal...then report back...

I left my external HD unhooked, and did every combination of having Windows screen saver on/off, GX screen saver/attract mode with varing results - none good.

Sometimes the computer wouldn't go into standby at all, sometimes it would but GX would lock up, and other times it would go into standby, and would come out of standby ok, but GX would be minimized. I could restore GX to full screen, and everthing would be ok, but not an ideal situation.

The one new thing I found is that with the Windows Screen saver disabled, my computer set to not go into standby,and the gameex screen saver set to turn off monitor, when I rolled the mouse to turn the monitor back on GX would be frozen. I wonder if this was the situation in the first place. Actually I believe it must have been, because the computer won't go into standby with my external HD attached.

[Nologic]

Okay go ahead and hook the EHDD back up....leave everything as you last stated...but this time around disable all emulation...Mame included...along with any PC games...see if it still locks up...probably will but covering this base as well.

Basically it all comes down to turning off section by section of GX till hopefully the problem gets narrowed down to something.

Actually fuck it...if you don't have a backup of your "C:\Program Files\GameEx\CONFIG\GameEx.ini" do so now...after doing so....go through it and turn everything off or down to its lowest value.

Heh I was going to suggest just nuking the file after backup...but GX doesn't seem to handle that very well from the testing I just did...so can't even start out fresh it seems.

However I think if you make a copy of gameex.default.ini then rename it to GameEx.ini it'll be a fresh start...but even then you'll want to go through and turn stuff off if possible.

[Tempest]

I'll give it a try tomorrow. But in the meantime, I want to make sure I understand the GX Screensaver.

In the screensaver box, you can select either "turn monitor off / use screensaver"

if "use screensaver" is selected then the attract mode is the screen saver. Is that right?

As you are beginning to learn, most of my problems come from missing something small (obvious)

At any rate, I will run GX through the wringer and see what squeezes out.

Thanks!

[Tempest]

Okay go ahead and hook the EHDD back up....leave everything as you last stated...but this time around disable all emulation...Mame included...along with any PC games...see if it still locks up...probably will but covering this base as well.

Basically it all comes down to turning off section by section of GX till hopefully the problem gets narrowed down to something.

Actually fuck it...if you don't have a backup of your "C:\Program Files\GameEx\CONFIG\GameEx.ini" do so now...after doing so....go through it and turn everything off or down to its lowest value.

Heh I was going to suggest just nuking the file after backup...but GX doesn't seem to handle that very well from the testing I just did...so can't even start out fresh it seems.

However I think if you make a copy of gameex.default.ini then rename it to GameEx.ini it'll be a fresh start...but even then you'll want to go through and turn stuff off if possible.

OK..... I've been playing with this for awhile...

I have the GX screensaver set to "turn off Monitor"

Windows screensaver off

Power management OFF.

I have disabled every possible thing I could find. GX runs, but the only thing I can do is "Exit Gameex"

GX shuts off the monitor (I have the timer set for 1 minute), and when I use the mouse to turn the monitor back on, GX is locked up and can only be stopped from the task manager. When I look in the task manager under th e applications tab, it shows GameEx|start..||64/60| (Idon't know if this means anything, I'm just throwing it out there

17:08:39.0 1/29/2008: GameEx: Version 9.08: Starting Log

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Operating System Platform: Win32NT

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Operating System Name: Windows XP

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Operating System Version: 5.1.2600

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Checking for versions of .net Framework installed

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: .net Framework 2.0 Installed

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Intel® Celeron® CPU 2.40GHz, 1022MB

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: 2.39Ghz

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Running Randomize()

17:08:39.1 1/29/2008: Loading PlugIns

17:08:40.0 1/29/2008: Checking for applications to Launch On Startup

17:08:40.1 1/29/2008: Running Misc startup tasks

17:08:40.1 1/29/2008: Setting Menu types

17:08:40.1 1/29/2008: Opening Configuration File

17:08:40.1 1/29/2008: Getting Configuration Values

17:08:40.3 1/29/2008: Using Theme: Default - BlueEx - Arcade800x600

17:08:40.3 1/29/2008: Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: Default - BlueEx - Arcade800x600

17:08:40.5 1/29/2008: Launching HideOS.exe

17:08:40.5 1/29/2008: Initialising Video/MNG DLL's

17:08:40.5 1/29/2008: Arcade Mode is on

17:08:40.6 1/29/2008: Hiding Taskbar

17:08:40.8 1/29/2008: Is Media Center running?

17:08:40.8 1/29/2008: Checking/Creating LCD Registry values

17:08:40.8 1/29/2008: Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode

17:08:40.8 1/29/2008: Media Center Mode 0

17:08:41.7 1/29/2008: Snap Delay set to: 2

17:08:41.7 1/29/2008: Get other settings

17:08:42.1 1/29/2008: Reading MAME hall of fame

17:08:42.4 1/29/2008: Start work for Form

17:08:42.4 1/29/2008: Getting Original Screen Size

17:08:42.4 1/29/2008: Opening Database Connection

17:08:42.7 1/29/2008: Initializing Component

17:08:42.8 1/29/2008: Retrieving resolution setting

17:08:43.0 1/29/2008: Creating Radio Station Genres

17:08:43.1 1/29/2008: Succesfully created station genres

17:08:43.5 1/29/2008: Loading Controls.ini map file

17:08:43.6 1/29/2008: Loading Custom Emulators

17:08:44.5 1/29/2008: Using 2D Animations

17:08:44.5 1/29/2008: Using General Font: Trebuchet MS

17:08:44.5 1/29/2008: Using Title Font: Joystix

17:08:44.5 1/29/2008: Initialising DirectDraw

17:08:44.6 1/29/2008: Creating DirectDraw Device

17:08:44.6 1/29/2008: Using Device: Primary Display Driver

17:08:44.8 1/29/2008: 47mb video memory available

17:08:44.9 1/29/2008: Setting Resolution to 800x600 16 bit color

17:08:44.9 1/29/2008: Creating DirectDraw Surfaces

17:08:44.9 1/29/2008: Creating Primary Surface - Full Screen Mode

17:08:45.0 1/29/2008: Creating Back Buffer

17:08:45.0 1/29/2008: Loading graphic Surfaces

17:08:45.0 1/29/2008: Display is running at: 800x600 16bit color, 70hz

17:08:45.1 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Misc and Dialogs

17:08:45.1 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Volume

17:08:45.2 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Arrows

17:08:45.2 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces GameEXlogo Text

17:08:45.2 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Toolbar

17:08:45.2 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Backgrounds

17:08:45.2 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Toolbar Controls

17:08:45.3 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces GameEx Logo

17:08:45.3 1/29/2008: Creating Surface Unselected

17:08:45.3 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Home & Exit

17:08:45.3 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Snaps

17:08:45.3 1/29/2008: Creating Surfaces Menu and List Bars

17:08:45.5 1/29/2008: Creating Fonts

17:08:45.5 1/29/2008: Creating Menu Font

17:08:45.5 1/29/2008: Restoring Menu Font From Cache

17:08:45.6 1/29/2008: Creating Game Font

17:08:46.1 1/29/2008: Creating Font Black

17:08:46.3 1/29/2008: Creating Font Black Small

17:08:46.4 1/29/2008: Creating Game Font Faded

17:08:47.5 1/29/2008: Creating Title Font

17:08:47.5 1/29/2008: Restoring Title Font From Cache

17:08:47.6 1/29/2008: Fonts Created Succesfully

17:08:47.6 1/29/2008: 31mb video memory left available

17:08:47.7 1/29/2008: Creating instance of global keyboard hook

17:08:48.0 1/29/2008: Starting GameExtender Publisher

17:08:48.2 1/29/2008: Text/Language: English

17:08:48.2 1/29/2008: Applying Language/Text

17:08:48.4 1/29/2008: Initialising Bass Audio Library

17:08:49.0 1/29/2008: MAME CMD options: -nowindow

17:08:49.0 1/29/2008: Loading last used Game List

17:08:49.0 1/29/2008: Loading Start Page

17:08:49.3 1/29/2008: Setting Music Volume

17:08:49.3 1/29/2008: Sound Disabled

17:08:49.3 1/29/2008: Initialising DirectInput for Gamepad support

17:08:49.3 1/29/2008: Looking for Device: Ultimarc Ultra-Stik Player 1

17:08:49.4 1/29/2008: Device Created

17:08:49.5 1/29/2008: Initializing MCE Remote

17:08:49.5 1/29/2008: Initialization OK! Starting GameEx!

17:08:49.5 1/29/2008: Testing Main Loop Once: Processing Frame

17:08:50.8 1/29/2008: Testing Main Loop Once: Main Loop ran successfully

Here is my config: I'm almost positive that any one can use this, its pretty much blank.

GameEx.zip

What else do you suggest?

[Brian Hoffman]

Does ALT+TAB bring it back into focus?

[Tempest]

Does ALT+TAB bring it back into focus?

The first time I tried it, I guess I didn't know what to expect, because something flashed across the screen, and then locked up so I had to shut GX down in the task manager. The second time, I held down the Tab key, and had a menu? of three options... something like hideos,gammex,??? (I'm afraid I'm a victim of alzheimer's - honest, I used to be pretty sharp) at any rate, I don't know which option I chose (it seems like all three if that's possible), but now Ctrl - Tab doesn't do anything.

I know it hard to help me troubleshoot when I'm brain dead.....

However, all suggestions are appreciated....Thanks!

[iano]

The first time I tried it, I guess I didn't know what to expect, because something flashed across the screen, and then locked up so I had to shut GX down in the task manager. The second time, I held down the Tab key, and had a menu? of three options... something like hideos,gammex,??? (I'm afraid I'm a victim of alzheimer's - honest, I used to be pretty sharp) at any rate, I don't know which option I chose (it seems like all three if that's possible), but now Ctrl - Tab doesn't do anything.

I know it hard to help me troubleshoot when I'm brain dead.....

However, all suggestions are appreciated....Thanks!

What graphics card are you using (just curious) ?

[Brian Hoffman]

I have a feeling gameex isnt locking up.. Its just not coming back into focus after standby. Thats why I suggested ALT+TAB as it does bring up the menu of running programs.. Have you tried selecting gameex from the ALT tabbed menu then pressing ALT+ENTER? BTW: CTRL+TAB does nothing

[Nologic]

(I'm afraid I'm a victim of alzheimer's - honest, I used to be pretty sharp)

There is no alzheimers here...ether you have blond moments...or you suffer from C.R.S. (Can't Remember Shit)...I sadly suffer from both.

[Brian Hoffman]

There is no alzheimers here...ether you have blond moments...or you suffer from C.R.S. (Can't Remember Shit)...I sadly suffer from both.

C.R.S That explains it. I never knew they had a diagnosis for my problem.. I wonder if they will perscribe medical marijuana for it

Tho I doubt that will cure my memory loss.. Damn it all

[Tempest]

Iano - I am using intel on-board graphics.

Brian- I meant to say Alt-Tab

I just tried it again, with pretty much the same results. I held down Alt, Pressed Tab to get the menu, and selected gamex and pressed enter, and the screen goes black. So then I used the task manager to shut down GX. When I tried the whole process over again(starting up GX, waiting for the monitor to go off), it was the same as before, and Alt-Tab didn't do anything. (I guess I was paying attention before.)

The only thing I have to add is that in the task manager (after I used Alt-Tab) GX is shown as "not responding", and it takes awhile for the task manager to shut it down. Previously (without Alt-Tab) GX would shut down from the task manager quickly (as I would expect a running program to do).

Nologic - My wife is blonde, and although I may understand what you are saying, around here we call it "Alzheimers". However I think that CRS will do as well!

[Nologic]

Brian -

Sorry but studies thus far have shown that using M.M. in conjunction with C.R.S. only leads to greater......ahh something.....

tempest69 -

Well I am blonde and it doesn't bother me a bit to hear the phrase...tho typically its being applied to my woman...and well she's asian...so if she ever does turn blonde something really really wrong happened at the hair salon.

[Tempest]

Brian -

Sorry but studies thus far have shown that using M.M. in conjunction with C.R.S. only leads to greater......ahh something.....

tempest69 -

Well I am blonde and it doesn't bother me a bit to hear the phrase...tho typically its being applied to my woman...and well she's asian...so if she ever does turn blonde something really really wrong happened at the hair salon.

Well, at least we got that worked out! Now, about GX.....

I tried Alt-Tab again this morning just to make sure...When I selected GX from the menu nothing happens.

when I select Hide OS, then the screen goes blank, with me having to use the task manager to shut down GX from a "program not responding" state.

Any more Ideas?

Did anyone try my config?

I think I have a bug-e computer (it can't be me!)

Is it time for me to talk to Tom? (possibly report this as a bug?)

[headkaze]

Have you tried turning off GameExtender?

[Tempest]

Have you tried turning off GameExtender?

I believe so....I don't know if you read my post #10 above? I'm not giving you any S#$t, I just type really slow!

I have my Gameex.config pared down to where the only option I have is to exit Gameex.

I hope that someone else will try the config.... although I'm not sure why, it will probably work on any computer but mine

If somebody has a stripped down config for me to try I will be more than willing.

Thanks again for helping, I do appreciate it!

[Nologic]

Okay tried the config and can confirm the lockup...I'll see about altering my default config to match some of your settings to see if mine will also lockup.

==================

Okay first testing differing to my original config...seems your theme pref stayed from some odd reason...but whats actually insane is that your theme pick...started doing an LSD type breathing deal...no it wasn't a flash back...not sure what the hell...oh didn't turn off the monitor like it was suppose to...have to dig around and find out what I set wrong there...very very frigging nutty.

==================

Okay turning Attract Mode Timer to Off prevents the Screensaver Mode from doing its thing, in our case turning off the monitor...this is clearly a bug....with it enabled will turn off the monitor but will lock the application.

So tempest you have indeed found a bug...report it to Tom...now I need to figure whats up with this LSD shit.

==================

Okay setting the skin again from the theme picker solved the problem...still not sure why things got all funky, when just swapping INI's....

[Brian Hoffman]

Okay tried the config and can confirm the lockup...I'll see about altering my default config to match some of your settings to see if mine will also lockup.

==================

Okay first testing differing to my original config...seems your theme pref stayed from some odd reason...but whats actually insane is that your theme pick...started doing an LSD type breathing deal...no it wasn't a flash back...not sure what the hell...oh didn't turn off the monitor like it was suppose to...have to dig around and find out what I set wrong there...very very frigging nutty.

==================

Okay turning Attract Mode Timer to Off prevents the Screensaver Mode from doing its thing, in our case turning off the monitor...this is clearly a bug....with it enabled will turn off the monitor but will lock the application.

So tempest you have indeed found a bug...report it to Tom...now I need to figure whats up with this LSD shit.

==================

Okay setting the skin again from the theme picker solved the problem...still not sure why things got all funky, when just swapping INI's....

NoLogic,

The LCD breathing thing could be ANIBAK=True in the theme INI Id change it to false. This make the backround animated which causes the breathing effect.

[Tempest]

Okay tried the config and can confirm the lockup...I'll see about altering my default config to match some of your settings to see if mine will also lockup.

==================

Okay first testing differing to my original config...seems your theme pref stayed from some odd reason...but whats actually insane is that your theme pick...started doing an LSD type breathing deal...no it wasn't a flash back...not sure what the hell...oh didn't turn off the monitor like it was suppose to...have to dig around and find out what I set wrong there...very very frigging nutty.

==================

Okay turning Attract Mode Timer to Off prevents the Screensaver Mode from doing its thing, in our case turning off the monitor...this is clearly a bug....with it enabled will turn off the monitor but will lock the application.

So tempest you have indeed found a bug...report it to Tom...now I need to figure whats up with this LSD shit.

==================

Okay setting the skin again from the theme picker solved the problem...still not sure why things got all funky, when just swapping INI's....

Woo Hoo! I'm not crazy! I'm not! I'm not! (Running around room arms flailing, and drool running down face)

[Nologic]

LOL, well be sure to contact Tom about it...its your find...so you should get the credit for finding it.