Microsoft

[Elfo]

Hey, I have a (I hope) simple issue that I'm sure simply boils down to my not undertanding something. I recently purchased one of those nifty HP MediaSmart Home Servers, because with all these games I was fast running out of space for anything else.

So, I attempted to set up the MAME paths so that I kept MAMEUI32 on my C drive, in the Program Files folder, and yet everything that actually takes up space is on the server. Here's a screenshot of what I mean:

And here's the log:

19:33:45.4  4/8/2008:  GameEx: Version 9.19: Starting Log
19:33:45.4  4/8/2008:  Operating System Platform: Win32NT
19:33:45.4  4/8/2008:  Operating System Name: Windows Vista
19:33:45.4  4/8/2008:  Operating System Version: 6.0.6001
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Vista Aero running
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Initializing Vista volume control
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Checking for versions of .net Framework installed
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  .net Framework 2.0 Installed
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz, 2045MB
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  2Ghz - 2 Cores or CPU's
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Running Randomize()
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Loading PlugIns
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Checking for applications to Launch On Startup
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Running Misc startup tasks
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Setting Menu types
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Opening Configuration File
19:33:45.5  4/8/2008:  Getting Configuration Values
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Using Theme: Custom
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Checking for alternate Image Directory for Theme: Custom
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Initialising Video/MNG DLL's
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Is Media Center running?
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Checking/Creating LCD Registry values
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Check Media Center Exit/Start Mode
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Media Center Mode 2
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Video previews on. Warning: Only recommended on modern systems
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Snap Delay set to: 2
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Get other settings
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Reading MAME hall of fame
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Set: Find emulator artwork on best match basis
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Start work for Form
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Getting Original Screen Size
19:33:45.6  4/8/2008:  Compacting Database
19:33:46.1  4/8/2008:  Opening Database Connection
19:33:46.1  4/8/2008:  Initializing Component
19:33:46.2  4/8/2008:  Retrieving resolution setting
19:33:46.2  4/8/2008:  Creating Radio Station Genres
19:33:46.3  4/8/2008:  Succesfully created station genres
19:33:46.3  4/8/2008:  Initialising Windows Media Player Component
19:33:46.4  4/8/2008:  MAME Path is: C:\Program Files\MameUI32
19:33:46.4  4/8/2008:  MAME EXE file is: MameUI32.exe
19:33:46.4  4/8/2008:  Cannot find the ROM path: 
19:33:46.4  4/8/2008:  Closing database connection
19:33:46.4  4/8/2008:  GameEx is exiting with errors
19:33:46.4  4/8/2008:  ERRORS DETECTED: EXITING

Now, I think what is going on is that GameEx doesn't like the path starting with a "//" instead of a disk, such as mounting a network drive. Or am I completely off base here?

EDIT: I forgot to mention that when starting MAMEUI32 directly, I'm able to play games without much of an issue. It runs slightly slower loading up the ROM, but that's to be expected.

[dwight]

This a SAMBA NAS drive? If so, just map a network drive to the SAMBA share and tick the box to remap on restart. Then in GameEX just use the network drive letter like a regular path instead of any // (or in windows it should be \\). Last time I used a SAMBA based NAS drive it was quick to write but really struggled to read directories/folders with lots of files in them - It was really really sllooooooowww.

Regards,

Dwight.

[Brian Hoffman]

  dwight said:

This a SAMBA NAS drive? If so, just map a network drive to the SAMBA share and tick the box to remap on restart. Then in GameEX just use the network drive letter like a regular path instead of any // (or in windows it should be \\). Last time I used a SAMBA based NAS drive it was quick to write but really struggled to read directories/folders with lots of files in them - It was really really sllooooooowww.

Regards,

Dwight.

Map the network share to a drive letter.

Click Tools> Map Network Drive

Put in full share name eg.. \\server\share

Then use the drive letter in gameex

[Elfo]

Thanks for the replies, but this is not a SAMBA NAS. It's a derivative product of Microsoft's Server 2003. I can map a specific folder to a drive letter, however the association does not always hold upon restarting, and I'm not sure why not. However, by preceding the folder with \\HPSERVER\ I can go directly there in Explorer; so this is the Microsoft way of doing things.

GameEx just seems to not like this format for the pathing, and I was wondering if there was a way I could get it to play nicely.

[bkenobi]

It looks like GameEx doesn't support UNC naming. If that's the case, you will have to map the drive to a drive letter. If it's not working, it might be because the server is set to a power saving mode where it takes too long to respond to GameEx and thus times out. In any case, this sounds like a network setup problem to me. That is the type of thing professionals take careers to master! However, there's no reason why it can't work for you, it just might take some ingenuity.

[Brian Hoffman]

  Elfo said:

Thanks for the replies, but this is not a SAMBA NAS. It's a derivative product of Microsoft's Server 2003. I can map a specific folder to a drive letter, however the association does not always hold upon restarting, and I'm not sure why not. However, by preceding the folder with \\HPSERVER\ I can go directly there in Explorer; so this is the Microsoft way of doing things.

GameEx just seems to not like this format for the pathing, and I was wondering if there was a way I could get it to play nicely.

If its running a server OS you can DCPROMO it and then add your pc (assuming its running xp pro) and join it to the domain.

Then Upon login your drives will always be there as your authenticating through the pc that hosts the shares.

In workgroup mode.. You will notice upon connecting to the share it MAY ask for a user name and password before it connects.

This is why upon reboots it loses the mapping.

I guess if you wanted to create the same account eg..username and pass on the server PC it wouldn't need seprate authentication. Then you can put a batch file in the startup to map the drive.

eg... net use x: \\computer name\share name

Where do I submit my bill?

[KriSX]

  Brian Hoffman said:

If its running a server OS you can DCPROMO it and then add your pc (assuming its running xp pro) and join it to the domain.

Then Upon login your drives will always be there as your authenticating through the pc that hosts the shares.

In workgroup mode.. You will notice upon connecting to the share it MAY ask for a user name and password before it connects.

This is why upon reboots it loses the mapping.

I guess if you wanted to create the same account eg..username and pass on the server PC it wouldn't need seprate authentication. Then you can put a batch file in the startup to map the drive.

eg... net use x: \\computer name\share name

Where do I submit my bill?

woah woah woah... do NOT do DCPROMO on one of these box's... they run Windows Home Server... which is a very very heavily modified version of windows 2003 server/small business server...

it is not a domain controller and it is not designed to be one... EVER... if you start doing stuff like that you WILL break it.

it is designed to run in workgroup mode and as long as you install the home server connector software on your pc/mame box/whatever... it will make sure your username and password match up between the server and the pc (not active directory... just normal Peer2Peer networking)...

i have a custom built WHS box and to get something like MAME/GameEx to pick up my roms you must map the drive letter like has been said... this will work fine. It is a little slow when updating the list for the first time, but loading games is pretty reasonable and you shouldn't have any problems. I have had issues with other emulators like zinc and model 2... but for mame and most others its no problems to have the roms stored on a server such as the HP server you have.

i hope you read this in time and don't go stuffing your server by trying to make it a domain controller!

in terms of keeping the mapped drive upon reboot... just make sure your username and passwords match the server and pc and select reconnect at login on the map network drive screen... simple

if you have any question please feel free to PM me... i like to think of myself as bit of a WHS expert as i build and sell them as part of my work

[Brian Hoffman]

Ooopppssss... I have no Ideas those run cheap os'es

I wonder why not have just got a raidweb box or somthin...

Oh well.. If its missing stuff hopefully it wont let you do a dcpromo.

but you never know

[bkenobi]

I wouldn't call it a cheap os. I would call it a specialized OS. Basically, MS stripped everything out of the Windows Server 2003 that a home user wouldn't want/need and added some cool features that require addins and/or heavy configuration to get going right. One nice thing is that it's supposed to be completely headless like a true server should be. I haven't purchased my WHS software yet, but I plan on getting it soon for my RAID server. It's currently running 32-bit XP, but I need to get it running a 64-bit OS so that I can address larger than 2TB (when I add the next drive to it).

[KriSX]

  bkenobi said:

I wouldn't call it a cheap os. I would call it a specialized OS. Basically, MS stripped everything out of the Windows Server 2003 that a home user wouldn't want/need and added some cool features that require addins and/or heavy configuration to get going right. One nice thing is that it's supposed to be completely headless like a true server should be. I haven't purchased my WHS software yet, but I plan on getting it soon for my RAID server. It's currently running 32-bit XP, but I need to get it running a 64-bit OS so that I can address larger than 2TB (when I add the next drive to it).

you do realise that WHS isn't meant to be used with RAID... and it is 32bit only i currently have about 2.2tb in my WHS box... combination of sata and ide drives... not in any kind of raid...

the way it works is that it creates a storage pool... so all your drives are seen as 1... its great... a lil slow at times... but great

[bkenobi]

I read it ran a 64-bit file system. Is that incorrect? I'm mainly concerned about being able to access more than 2TB on a single share, so this is critical. I know how the system is intended to be setup (with the multiple various sized drives all being lumped together), but I've read nothing saying that it can't accept hardware RAID setups.

Crap, I actually found out today that I should be getting it next week.

[KriSX]

  bkenobi said:

I read it ran a 64-bit file system. Is that incorrect? I'm mainly concerned about being able to access more than 2TB on a single share, so this is critical. I know how the system is intended to be setup (with the multiple various sized drives all being lumped together), but I've read nothing saying that it can't accept hardware RAID setups.

Crap, I actually found out today that I should be getting it next week.

i think it can handle raid... but it isn't recommended/advisable

never heard anything about a 64bit file system? its just NTFS that is organised/controlled with software called the Drive Extender (DE)

also the way it shows the drive to you is based on your first/main drive...

so for example.. the main drive in my server is 400gb... 20gb is used for the OS... the rest is storage... when i access my shares... i only see what space is available on the rest of that main drive and when i transfer data over to it the DE sends the data to the free space on the other drives in the pool... hope that makes sence

so although i have over 2tb available to me... i only ever see it as 3xxGB (can't remember the exact number) from my desktop and other pc's... you have to login via the connector software to see how much space your storage pool has

[bkenobi]

That sucks, I guess I'll have to go with 64-bit XP Pro or Vista then...

Actually, what OS would you choose to run for a headless file server (WinXP Pro 64, Vista 64, SBS, etc)? I need a 64-bit file system to address the larger share sizes, but other than that, I don't have any hard core requirements (it's a dedicated file server). I would prefer a non server grade OS since it seems like it would be way overkill and the price might be rather restrictive. I looked into the Linux variants, but they don't seem to solve anything the MS OSes solve other than being free.

[Elfo]

Thank you for all of the responses.

I've set up the same username and password on the computer and the server since day one, because WHS insists on it to play nicely, so I'm still not sure why it's losing the mapping. In terms of getting WHS instead of one of the other options, it's simply because I wanted an easy way to set up sharing over the internet also, as opposed to just on my local network. Eventually I'll move onto something a bit more complicated, but this is fine for an introduction.

Word on the street is that the next iteration of WHS will be 64-bit, which is why the HP boxes use a 64 bit chip, however there is nothing definitive that I've seen, just the usual myths and rumours.

For this issue, I guess I'll keep futzing with the mapping and see if I can get it to work the way it's supposed to.

[bkenobi]

I suppose I could use the 3Ware auto-carving feature to cut the RAID into multiple 2 TB Arrays and then let WHS recombine them. That seems like a really messy way to do things though, so I'm thinking I'll just get a copy of 64-bit XP.

[KriSX]

  bkenobi said:

That sucks, I guess I'll have to go with 64-bit XP Pro or Vista then...

Actually, what OS would you choose to run for a headless file server (WinXP Pro 64, Vista 64, SBS, etc)? I need a 64-bit file system to address the larger share sizes, but other than that, I don't have any hard core requirements (it's a dedicated file server). I would prefer a non server grade OS since it seems like it would be way overkill and the price might be rather restrictive. I looked into the Linux variants, but they don't seem to solve anything the MS OSes solve other than being free.

well for what you need i guess just go for anything 64bit if that is what you're after...

SBS isn't 64bit (yet... the new version due out later this year is... but if you only need a file server.. this is major overkill)

so yeah if you don't want a server grade OS... i would personally go for Vista 64... xp 64 is horrible and if you have other vista systems file transfer speeds are much nicer as the newer tcp/ip stack can transfer files quicker (vista to vista only... or server 2008... same thing)

is server 2008 out of the price range?

i would suggest linux... but i've never really had a good experience with RAID and linux... so unless you know that your raid card will work properly.. don't bother

  Elfo said:

Thank you for all of the responses.

I've set up the same username and password on the computer and the server since day one, because WHS insists on it to play nicely, so I'm still not sure why it's losing the mapping. In terms of getting WHS instead of one of the other options, it's simply because I wanted an easy way to set up sharing over the internet also, as opposed to just on my local network. Eventually I'll move onto something a bit more complicated, but this is fine for an introduction.

Word on the street is that the next iteration of WHS will be 64-bit, which is why the HP boxes use a 64 bit chip, however there is nothing definitive that I've seen, just the usual myths and rumours.

For this issue, I guess I'll keep futzing with the mapping and see if I can get it to work the way it's supposed to.

you do have a couple of options... if it isn't saving your mapping (which it should as long as you ticked the correct box) then you can create a simple batch file and have it run at startup (either by chucking it in your startup folder in the start menu or by going into the advanced user settings and setting it as your login script)...

in case you don't know what to put in the batch file... this will do the trick...

net use x: \\servername\sharename

x: being whatever drive letter you want

servername being the server name

sharename being whatever your share is called

hope this helps

[bkenobi]

I've messed with Linux a bit over the years, but when I tried to set up a server, it didn't play nice. I settled for 32-bit XP Pro since that's what I normally run, but I know there's a file system limitation I eventually need to work around. I've heard that there are some serious restrictions on the usefulness of 64-bit XP, but that's primarily in the realm of gaming AFAIK. I don't run Vista on any other machine, so I was thinking of keeping everything common, although the thought of using this as a test platform had crossed my mind (since the file system is the same and the RAID isn't the OS drive). I may opt for Vista now that I think more about it.

[Tom Speirs]

Just to go back on topic, what you need to do is use "net use" with the username and password options. Assuming Windows home server is not so stripped down that it wont allow that. You save this as a .bat file and have gameex run it at startup.

Something like this

net use k: \\server\c$ password /user:username

The other option is to set up a user on the server with the same username and password as you use on your desktop, then it will keep t he mapping that way. If you dont have a password on your desktop that wont work.

[KriSX]

  TSpeirs said:

Just to go back on topic, what you need to do is use "net use" with the username and password options. Assuming Windows home server is not so stripped down that it wont allow that. You save this as a .bat file and have gameex run it at startup.

Something like this

net use k: \\server\c$ password /user:username

The other option is to set up a user on the server with the same username and password as you use on your desktop, then it will keep t he mapping that way. If you dont have a password on your desktop that wont work.

lol... i said that in my last post

def don't use c$ and you should need to specify password or username... as long as they are the same on the server and the desktop it will work without

[Elfo]

Thank you guys for all of your help, I now have a mapped drive that actually stays from reboots!

However, GameEx still whines that it is an "invalid ROM path". Any suggestions?

[headkaze]

You don't actually need to go to the command prompt, you can open Windows Explorer and select Tools->Map Network Drive.