MAME not keeping aspect ratio on widescreen TV

[LucasBarton]

For my HTPC, I use a 51 inch widescreen TV. I like to play my games in the original aspect ratio. I don't like the way stretching makes the games look. I had Mame32 working perfectly and now all of a sudden, it streches the games to fill the whole screen. Before, it kept the aspect ratio perfectly so that there would be black bars on the sides but not anymore. I didn't change anything. So, I erased all the config files and it still did it. I then completely erased Mame32 and reinstalled it and it still does it. I made sure that "keep aspect ratio" is checked and everything. Any ideas why it's doing this and how to fix it? All my other emulators have no problems like this. Only MAME is doing this.

[Adultery]

Hey ya.

For me to get MAME to do what you don't want to do on my widescreen lcd, I had to add it to the command line of MAME. Maybe you have added it in there? Can I see your MAME command line arguments?

You can also pass the resolution you want it to use by typing -r WxH or make it do a clean stretch which keeps it from stretching from edge to edge by using this: -cs auto, which is what I use at home.

Or, to fill the screen completely, you can pass this argument: -hws to stretch it to full screen, or -nohws to NOT fill the screen and keep your original aspect ratio.

Hope that helps Lucas. Haven't seen ya in a while.

[LucasBarton]

Hey ya.

For me to get MAME to do what you don't want to do on my widescreen lcd, I had to add it to the command line of MAME. Maybe you have added it in there? Can I see your MAME command line arguments?

You can also pass the resolution you want it to use by typing -r WxH or make it do a clean stretch which keeps it from stretching from edge to edge by using this: -cs auto, which is what I use at home.

Or, to fill the screen completely, you can pass this argument: -hws to stretch it to full screen, or -nohws to NOT fill the screen and keep your original aspect ratio.

Hope that helps Lucas. Haven't seen ya in a while.

Um, I don't know much about all this command line stuff. I'm no computer wiz really. I use Mame32, so is what you're talking about only valid with the DOS or command line version of Mame? Sorry, this is why I end up coming here so often when I have a problem. You guys are geniuses when it comes to this stuff, lol.

[fRequEnCy]

Um, I don't know much about all this command line stuff. I'm no computer wiz really. I use Mame32, so is what you're talking about only valid with the DOS or command line version of Mame? Sorry, this is why I end up coming here so often when I have a problem. You guys are geniuses when it comes to this stuff, lol.

Switches are either ran from the command-line or from the mame.ini file. I personally use a mame.ini file to shorten my command-line and also it shows all the settings in it that can be changed to your liking. So either post your command-line and we'll help with your switches or post your mame.ini. If you don't have a mame.ini file and want one then you can create one by typing mame.exe -cc or in maybe your case mame32.exe -cc. I don't remember the exact name of the executable for Mame32 since I no longer use it.

[LucasBarton]

Here's my MAME ini file:

# <UNADORNED0> <NULL> (not set)

#

# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS

#

rompath roms

samplepath samples

artpath artwork

ctrlrpath ctrlr

inipath ini

fontpath .

#

# CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS

#

cfg_directory cfg

nvram_directory nvram

memcard_directory memcard

input_directory inp

state_directory sta

snapshot_directory snap

diff_directory diff

comment_directory comments

#

# CORE FILENAME OPTIONS

#

cheat_file cheat.dat

#

# CORE STATE/PLAYBACK OPTIONS

#

# state <NULL> (not set)

autosave 0

# playback <NULL> (not set)

# record <NULL> (not set)

# mngwrite <NULL> (not set)

# wavwrite <NULL> (not set)

#

# CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS

#

autoframeskip 0

frameskip 0

seconds_to_run 0

throttle 1

sleep 1

#

# CORE ROTATION OPTIONS

#

rotate 1

ror 0

rol 0

autoror 0

autorol 0

flipx 0

flipy 0

#

# CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS

#

artwork_crop 0

use_backdrops 0

use_overlays 0

use_bezels 0

#

# CORE SCREEN OPTIONS

#

brightness 1.0

contrast 1.0

gamma 1.0

pause_brightness 0.650000

#

# CORE VECTOR OPTIONS

#

antialias 1

beam 1.0

flicker 0

#

# CORE SOUND OPTIONS

#

sound 1

samplerate 48000

samples 1

volume 0

#

# CORE INPUT OPTIONS

#

ctrlr

#

# CORE DEBUGGING OPTIONS

#

log 0

verbose 0

#

# CORE MISC OPTIONS

#

bios none

cheat 1

skip_gameinfo 1

#

# DEBUGGING OPTIONS

#

oslog 0

#

# WINDOWS PERFORMANCE OPTIONS

#

priority 0

multithreading 0

#

# WINDOWS VIDEO OPTIONS

#

video d3d

numscreens 1

window 0

maximize 1

keepaspect 1

prescale 1

effect none

waitvsync 1

syncrefresh 1

#

# DIRECTDRAW-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

#

hwstretch 0

#

# DIRECT3D-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

#

d3dversion 9

filter 1

#

# PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS

#

aspect auto

resolution auto

screen0 auto

aspect0 auto

resolution0 auto

view0 auto

screen1 auto

aspect1 auto

resolution1 auto

view1 auto

screen2 auto

aspect2 auto

resolution2 auto

view2 auto

screen3 auto

aspect3 auto

resolution3 auto

view3 auto

#

# FULL SCREEN OPTIONS

#

triplebuffer 0

switchres 0

full_screen_brightness 1.0

full_screen_contrast 1.0

full_screen_gamma 1.0

#

# WINDOWS SOUND OPTIONS

#

audio_latency 1

#

# INPUT DEVICE OPTIONS

#

mouse 1

joystick 1

lightgun 0

dual_lightgun 0

offscreen_reload 0

steadykey 0

joy_deadzone 0.3

joy_saturation 0.85

digital none

#

# AUTOMATIC DEVICE SELECTION OPTIONS

#

paddle_device keyboard

adstick_device keyboard

pedal_device keyboard

dial_device joystick

trackball_device keyboard

lightgun_device keyboard

positional_device keyboard

[Brian Hoffman]

Mine is different, there is a part to read INI.

I attached it here.

mame.zip

[LucasBarton]

Mine is different, there is a part to read INI.

I attached it here.

That did the trick! Thanks guys!