Gameex doesn't play my ROMS

[mailmarshall]

Hi

I have GAMEEX running on my DELL GX150(192mg RAM, 20GB HD, 1GHz, runnign XP) with a Samsung 940B LCD screen and have managed to set up GAMEEX using the BASIC setup.

I can see my games in the list (only have a few ROMS at this stage) but everytime I want to play a game (e.g Raiden) the screen goes blank and then an hour glass appears and returns me back to GAMEEX details for the game?

I have checked that the path for mame.exe is correct e.g c:\emulation\mame\mame32.exe

Tried using a normal CRT screen but same problem.. Can someone advise what could be the issue here or is there a log file I could check?

This GAMEEX looks liek the real deal but I can't get it to go

[Canti]

Sounds like a problem with the emulator?

When it returns to GameEx, it means the emulator application has ended usually.

[Tempest]

Sounds like a problem with the emulator?

When it returns to GameEx, it means the emulator application has ended usually.

Just to elaborate, before you try to set up an emulator in Gameex, you need to have it working on it's own (without Gameex running).

All Gameex does (That's kind of funny, "All Gameex does") is launch programs, so you need to make sure they run without Gameex first. If you need help with a specific emulator, we will try to help with that too...

I'm assuming you are trying to setup Mame, but you didn't really say...

Gameex doesn't work well with older versions of Mame, so update to a recent version (currently mame 0.125), and make sure you can run Raiden in mame first.

[mailmarshall]

Firstly thanks to everyone for replying.

I have fixed the problem by doign the following:

a. I had downloaded MAME32.EXE using the GAMEEX setup. It appears that my PC did not like the dowloaded version of MAME32 that was installed becuase whenever I tried to run the file on its on, it would come up with my old mate DR WATSON and the usual 'Do you want to send this to Microsoft?' dialog box.

Anyway i downloaded another version of the MAME32.exe (0.81) and made sure that I could actually launch it, which I could thankfully.

b. Next problem now appears - Gameex doesn't create the list of ROMs I have. So to fix this I pointed Gameex back to the MAME32.exe which did not function. The ROM list gets generated and then I repoint GAMEEX back to the working MAME32.EXE..

Hmmm all a bit fluffying aroudn but I am glad to get it going.

I am now trying to set GAMEEX up so that when I boot my PC it automatically goes into GAMEEX.

Anyone got any tips for me on how to do this?

[bkenobi]

The reason the game list didn't generate correctly is that you are using a REALLy old version of MAME. Things changed at some point in the way that MAME outputs it's list. I don't think GameEx supports the old system anymore. As a result, you need to have a more modern version of MAME installed. The problem is that if your rom doesn't work with the current version of MAME, but it does with the old version, you may not get the list to generate as you want if you have "validate roms" and "only working" turned on in the filters. One way to get this to work is to set up the current version of MAME in the regular MAME settings for GameEx, turn off "validate roms" and "only working", and set up your older version of MAME in the AdvanceMAME setup. It's a little extra work, but it will work!

[mailmarshall]

Thanks I will try this and post back my results.

I am currently setting up my BYO Ultimarc joystick and buttons.

Will setup the autoboot in GAMEEX once this is completed and all going well make a donation.. Great s/w so far just a bit of a mission to set it up (for me anyway).

[mailmarshall]

bkenobi: thanks for the advice. Worked exactly as you said...I know have a proper list generated by the latest MAME32 but the games actually runs with the old MAME32.

Also downloaded that SHELLER from the GAMEX website and installed it. Works well but a bit of a mission to get back, if you want to UNDO. I tried pressing the XP key (on the keyboard) but no START menu came up. In teh end had to CTL+ALT+DEL and tabbed to New task and executed Sheller again.

Is there an easier way?

[bkenobi]

That's pretty much the easiest way to do it that I'm aware of. I don't really think it's that complicated though. If you are changing the way your cab boots, you need a keyboard and mouse anyway, so having to pull it out for that doesn't bother me at all.

[Tempest]

Firstly thanks to everyone for replying.

Anyway i downloaded another version of the MAME32.exe (0.81) and made sure that I could actually launch it, which I could thankfully.

I just want to add, that it is ok to use an older version of mame, but I don't believe that CPWizard, or LED/LCD plugin will work properly. It's no big deal, but keep it in mind, and if you have problems with Mame in the future, make sure and say what version you are using.

[mailmarshall]

Tempest: Sorry for my ignorance as I am very new to MAME, btut what would I need CPWizard or the LED/LCD plugin for? I tried Googling it and got more confused!!

Some of the things I am interested in knowing is:

- can I have a little picture of the game title appear in Gameex as I scroll down the ROM list (beside the name of the ROM)?

- Can I actually change the list so that it just shows small pictures of the game titles and when I move the joystick it goes to the next picture (rather than presenting a list of games)?

- Where can I get the latest version of MAME32 as the auto d/l version causes problems. I have a sneaky feelinf there might be a bug in it

Would say the above are nice to haves really... I am just happy the thing works at the moment. Trying to build my BYO X-Arcade joystick at present and hoping I wont have any issues gettting that to work with Gameex.

[bkenobi]

CPWizard is a program written by HeadKaze that allows you to create a representation of your control panel and display the functions for each game on it prior to playing or during game play. It can do TONS more stuff, but that's the core of it IMO. There are other control panel viewers out there, but HK's is really generations ahead of the others. He had help from at least one of the developers of another CP Viewer, so fortunately he didn't have to start from scratch.

LED/LCD plugin is a plugin for GameEx written by HeadKaze that allows you to run LED buttons and LCD text screens to display cool stuff (flashing buttons, light only usable buttons, show combos, etc., etc., etc.). If you don't have either LED buttons or an LCD text display, don't worry about it for now.

Both of these programs are available here and have their own support threads on the forum.

[mailmarshall]

Intrestingly I think the version of Gameex I am using displays what the buttons do when it waits for the MAME to load, so I don't think I would gain anything..

Would you be able to answer my questions:

- can I have a little picture of the game title appear in Gameex (cover art) as I scroll down the ROM list (beside the name of the ROM)?

- Can I actually change the list so that it just shows small pictures of the game titles (cover art) ONLY and when I move the joystick it goes to the next picture (rather than presenting a list of games)?

- Where can I get the latest version of MAME32 as the auto d/l version causes problems.

[Tempest]

Intrestingly I think the version of Gameex I am using displays what the buttons do when it waits for the MAME to load, so I don't think I would gain anything..

Would you be able to answer my questions:

- can I have a little picture of the game title appear in Gameex (cover art) as I scroll down the ROM list (beside the name of the ROM)?

- Can I actually change the list so that it just shows small pictures of the game titles (cover art) ONLY and when I move the joystick it goes to the next picture (rather than presenting a list of games)?

- Where can I get the latest version of MAME32 as the auto d/l version causes problems.

As Gameex is today, you can not scroll through a list of pictures the way you want it to in the first two questions that you ask. Gameex will display a snap, or video of the current game in the list if you have the artwork. There is a "feature request" thread, and I believe what you want has been requested already, but if it has not, feel free to add a request for this feature.

You can download the latest version of Mame here: http://mamedev.org/release.html you probably want one of the Official Windows Binary Releases, which one depends on the system you have.

If you prefer mame with a GUI: http://mameui.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ You do not need a GUI with Gameex, but some people use it anyway.

I don't know how new you are to Mame, but keep in mind that for the best results, your roms should match your version of Mame. If you use a program like ClearMamePro (CMP), it will "build" whatever roms it can from the available roms that you have. There is a guide for CMP, and lots of other things, here: http://www.mameworld.net/easyemu/

You may find RomCenter: http://www.romcenter.com/ (an alternative to CMP) easier to use, but Most people would say that CMP is the best.

BTW: We wil not tell you where to get roms...please do not ask! Almost anything else is open for discussion!

Oh yeah... yes Gameex does display a control panel, but the CPWizard allows you to "build" a panel that looks the same as yours, and has many improvements over the built in CPviewer. I know you have alot to do to get going, but keep it in mind, and check it out when you have time! Gameex has recently added "built-in" support for CPWizard, I haven't tried the latest version...that's my project for today!

[mailmarshall]

Thanks for the response.

I will stick to what I have working at the mo - as a start anyway!!!!