[Mame shutsdown...]

When I 1st read your original post, I thought you were saying you had all games working directly with MAME but none through LaunchBox.  Rereading it, it sounds like you have some MAME games able to launch correctly through LaunchBox.  If some work correctly when starting them through LaunchBox, they should all work correctly.  Especially if they're all working directly through MAME.

For the Pole Position Atari licensed versions, make sure you have all the Device files located in with your ROMs.  You'll need these as well as the Atari version(s) on the game ROM.

 

1 hour ago, rlithgow1 said:

Is there a way to default to only complete working games instead of the 1st in the list?

LaunchBox doesn't know if the games actually work on your setup or not. So it can't default anything for you in that regards.

 

With the clones imported as Additional Apps, you can edit the main game, go to the additional apps section and select which on you want to be the default game.

[Mame shutsdown...]

Can you edit (in LaunchBox) your MAME emulator and share a screenshot of the Details section?

[Mikrosha-86RK - command line]

Doesn't look like you loaded a cassette.  From the Command Prompt, you'd [probably] type 

mame.exe mikrosha -cass alambush

That would start MAME with the cassette for Alien Ambush.  Next, you'd need to "Load" the cassette [into memory].  Press Scroll-Lock to get out of the emulated keyboard, then press F2 to Load the cassette.  You should hear some nasty sounds (kind of like the old modems) and see a loading count-down (or count-up) timer.  Wait until that's done, and they game might then load.

I say 'probably', 'should' and 'might' because I haven't tested it.  But that's the general process for other cassette systems.

Note that Mikrosha and Radio-86RK are 2 separate systems, with the prior being a clone of the latter.

[Code to simply open windows explorer folder]

Add a new "game" and in the Launching section, set the Application Path to C:\Windows\explorer.exe and for Parameters, enter the path to the folder you want to open up to.  Depending on where you place this 'game', you may need to also go to the Emulation section and un-check Use an emulator....

[CoolCV]

I'm not familiar with that emulator (nor MALA or Mgalaxy), but looking at some comments from 2015, the only command line parameter it takes is the path to the ROM file.

Quote

it supports one single command-line argument: the ROM file path provided by Finder when launching directly the ROM.

Whether that's still true 8 years later, don't know.  Also, I've no idea what "Finder" is.  (Is that a MAC thing??)

 

That said, in LaunchBox, edit the emulator and make sure none of these boxes are checked.

 

And also     (unless your ROMs are zipped and they need to be extracted first.)

 

To verify that you even can run it from LaunchBox, open the Windows Command prompt window where the emulators' executable is located and try running it from there.

coolcv.exe "full\path\to\the\ROM\file.ext"

(changing the emulators actual executable name [if it's not that] and the actual path to the ROM.ext [with quotes])

If you can get it to run from the command prompt, you can get it to run in LaunchBox.

[CoinOP]

On 8/31/2023 at 7:45 AM, The Papaw said:

I downloaded v3.0 from the forums and get no working videos in the theme

I was having the same issue and followed @neil9000's advice from page one of this thread and that worked for me.

 

[Area 51 and other mame roms needing chds not working]

For Area51, you should have the main ROM file, area51.zip (which is about 622kb).  And then have a folder called area51.  This [sub]folder should then have a single file area51.chd (which is about 475MB).

[Possible to import a RPCS3 game but have it launch using a .ahk scrip?]

It seems like there should be an easier way, but you could create a new emulator and have it point to your script.  Then have those game use this new emulator.  LaunchBox will pass the "full/path/to/the/rom/file.ext" to your script.  Have your script do its pre-game Sinden thing (if any), then start the emulator with the appropriate parameters and "%1% " as the path to the ROM (or just the ROM filename, depending on your check boxes).  Then do the AHK voodoo to get past the calibration screens.

This way you keep the ROMs path (in LaunchBox) as it should be.  And if you need to change something later, you only have to change the emulator (or edit the script).

 

Alternately, you could add an additional app to these games.  Have the app point to the AHK script and check 'Launch Before Main Application'.  At the top of your script, add something along the lines of    Process, Wait, emulator.exe   to wait for the emulator to be running.  You might need to then add a   WinWaitActive ahk_exe emulator.exe to make sure it's the active window (and maybe a short sleep timer to make sure it's fully loaded?).  

[Anyone managed to emulate Philips P2000T?]

Here's what I found:  It'll play cassettes, but there is no softlist set for it.

 

But somewhere, somehow, it can work.  

 

[BezelLauncher v1.0-beta-1]

13 minutes ago, Deaks said:

I deleted everything and reinstalled set up and saved with (h) + (g) selected unfortunately no change it flashes up for a split second

For the Model 2 emulator, you need to turn off Auto Switch to Fullscreen.  

Open just the emulator and uncheck it. Then exit.

 

Or (if you dare [you'll get the same outcome]) edit EMULATOR.INI and change AutoFull to "AutoFull=0" (without quotes).

[Question about Mame Rom Location, and CHD locations.]

Glad it works now.  The -rompath parameter will override whatever is stored in mame.ini.  It's great for regular games (when you don't have the ROM path setup in MAME). But wreaks havoc for CHD's stored in a different location. As you discovered.

[Any method for copying genre metadata to a new library?]

If I'm reading that correctly, this may be what you're after.

 

[BezelLauncher v1.0-beta-1]

1 hour ago, Deaks said:

Sorry about that thanks again

No worries.  Go into Setup and check the boxes for (g) and (h) and see if that changes anything.  I know you said you tried all settings, but currently you don't those 'recommended' settings checked.  And be sure to click Save right after checking those 2 boxes.

[BezelLauncher v1.0-beta-1]

17 minutes ago, Deaks said:

Yes it shows up for a split second then disapears if i press Alt +Tab It shows up so it is running

im a NOOB so sorry if im not much help here is the log thank you

K. So everything's there, it just that [for some reason] the bezel is getting sent behind.  Pressing Alt+Tab brings it forward.  And then [question] the bezel is showing AND the emulator window is sized correctly (vs. the emulator is actually full screen [not resized a little smaller] behind the bezel and the bezel is covering up the sides)?

The log file you shared is actually the setup log (SetupLog 2023xxxxx.txt).  There're actually 2 types of log files in there.  log 2023-xxxxxx.txt and SetupLog 2023-xxxxxx.txt.  I was looking for the prior.

[BezelLauncher v1.0-beta-1]

1 hour ago, Deaks said:

I’ve got sega model 3 working ok but model 2 doesn’t show it flashes on for a second then disappears  I’ve tried all settings but with no luck any ideas?

thanks for your efforts it’s much appreciated 

To clarify, the bezel flashes for a second, then disappears?  And the emulator/game is still running fine?

I just tested with the 'recommended' settings (BezelLauncher parameters: g h) and had no issue.  Can you launch a Model 2 game, (wait for it) then exit game. Then share the most recent Log file.  (located in \Plugins\BezelLauncher\Logs\log 2023-xxxxxx.txt)

 

[Question about Mame Rom Location, and CHD locations.]

In LaunchBox, edit your MAME emulator.  In the Default Command-line Parameters, does it have -rompath %romlocation%?  If so, remove it.

If it doesn't have that, or removing it doesn't help, can you share a few screenshots?

 

Edit your MAME emulator.  Post a screenshot of:  The Details and the Associated Platforms sections.

Edit one of your chd games.  Post a screenshot of:  The Launching tab and the Emulation tab.

[Coleco Adam]

7 hours ago, Joe35car said:

Update: Got it working

Good to hear you got it working. 

Future readers searching the forum for "Coleco Adam" are going to want to know how you got it working.  I'm kind of curious too as I hate giving out ill-advice.    

[Coleco Adam]

Try taking everything off the command line except adam

[640x480 60hz install problem]

7 hours ago, pprior said:

No it's 100%

That was the only thing my limited knowledge on monitors could come up with.  

Hopefully someone else will chime in and be able help troubleshoot more.

[640x480 60hz install problem]

Do you have you Windows Scale set to something other than 100%

 

(if you have the image file saved, you can just drag it onto your reply.)  

[Visual Pinball X – Top Scores (hiscore) Viewer]

On 8/14/2023 at 12:43 AM, carter8189 said:

would be great if the score he reaches would be registred with a different nick, instead the same ID (editing manually ini file after every play crearly is not passable)

When you edit the ini file (pinemhi.ini), if you ONLY need to change the "name" (and not the "code" also), here's an AutoHotkey script you can set as an Additional App that will let you change the "name" before launching the table.  If you have to change the "code" also, this won't work.  The only [other] caveat is that you need to turn off the Game Startup Screens.  Otherwise, the popup this script produces is behind the startup screen.

 

To make this work, create 2 files, add an Additional App and turn off the Startup Screens.  Easy peasy.

Create a new text file and paste the code below into it.  Change the 1st 2 lines to point to your PINemHi folder.  Save and close.  Rename the file to whatever you want and change the file extension to ".ahk".  i.e. ChangeUser.ahk  (make sure it doesn't get saved as ChangeUser.ahk.txt)

Next, in your PINemHi folder (same place as your pinemhi.ini file), create another new text file called "user" (user.txt).  In this file, list the different users' names you want to select from.  One name per line.

In LaunchBox, edit one of your tables and add a new Additional Application.  Give it a name.  Browse to the path \LaunchBox\ThirdParty\AutoHotkey\ and select the file AutoHotkey.exe.  For the Command Line Parameters, put, in "quotes", the full path to the .ahk file you created earlier.  Check Automatically Run Before... AND Wait For Exit.  Click OK to save.

 

The script will read your pinemhi.ini for the current "name" and set that as the default name in the combo box.  It also reads the user.txt file and adds those names to the box.  Clicking Select will change the name value in pinemhi.ini to the name you have selected.

 

The script:

iniOne = D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\VPXhiScores\PINemHi\pinemhi.ini
iniTwo =  D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\VPXhiScores\PINemHi\users.txt

if not FileExist(iniOne)
{
   MsgBox, pinemhi.ini does not exist in this folder
   ExitApp
}
if not FileExist(iniTwo)
{
   MsgBox, users.txt does not exist in this folder
   ExitApp
}

IniRead, currName, %iniOne%, user, name

Loop, Read,  %iniTwo%
   usersNames = %usersNames%|%A_LoopReadLine%
usersNames = %usersNames%|%currName%||

Gui, Add, ComboBox, W180 vmyCombo, % SubStr(usersNames, 2)
Gui, Add, Button, y6 x200 gChangeUser, Select
Gui, Add, Button, y+75  gCancel, Cancel

Gui, Show,W250 h149, Select user
WinWaitClose, Select user
ExitApp

ChangeUser:
GuiControlGet, newName,,myCombo
IniWrite, %newName%, %iniOne%, user, name 
MsgBox,,Change Complete, User name has been changed to:`r`r`t%newName%

Cancel:
ExitApp

 

[Closing exe when Game Closes]

1 hour ago, Kmetz7547 said:

I attempted to make a bat file and put that in the additional apps section as well while ticking to start when game closes, but it dont work. It closes it when the game boots.

That info helps.  What's happening is:  Your Additional App that's set to load Sinden Before the game launches, works.  Then, "the game" launches.  In this case, "the game" (as LaunchBox sees it) is the batch file.  The batch file starts the game. Its job is done, so it exits/closes.  LaunchBox sees that "the game" (the batch file that it launched) has exited, so in its eyes the game has exited.  So it then runs the other Additional App (close Sinden).  Just as it was instructed to do.

So, keep your both original Additional Apps as they were.  Then, to keep your batch file ("the game") 'alive' while the game is running, add "" /w to your line of code in the games' batch file.

Start "" /w Singe.exe -k -z -w -d Maddog_HD/Index -v Maddog_HD/Video/maddog.mp4 Maddog_HD/Script/maddog.singe

Now, LaunchBox will see "the game" as still running until you close Singe.

 

Now that it (hopefully) works as you intended, you may notice that the Command Prompt window (the batch file window we told to wait around) is up and showing.  It may be behind the actual game, and you may not see it.  Or it may stick out like a sore thumb.

The fix:  Create a shortcut to that batch file (right click it and select Create Shortcut).  Now right click the shortcut and select Properties.  Change Run to Minimized.  Click OK.  And finally, edit the game in LaunchBox and in the Launching section, point to the new shortcut.

 

You could still eliminate the Additional Apps altogether by adding their code before and after, respectively, to the line shown above. Similarly (or [almost] exactly) to my previous post.  Then you'd just have "the game's" batch file.  You'd still want to do the shortcut thing mentioned.

[Closing exe when Game Closes]

I've never personally worked with either of those, but looking at the Sinden Wiki page for Singe 2, under "If you're using a frontend like LaunchBox", they mention creating a batch file to launch the games.

As an option....

Their example batch file shows using "Singe-v2.00-Windows-x86_64.exe" and a bunch of parameters that point to the game to load.  Their example for Mad Dog McCree looks like:

Singe-v2.00-Windows-x86_64.exe -k -w -z -d data -v Maddog_McCree_Singe_2\Video\maddog.mp4 Maddog_McCree_Singe_2\Script\maddogiDsinge

If you were to have a batch file to load the game (as shown above), you could combine your Additional apps into it.  Something along the lines of:

Start "" "D:\path\to\sinden\Load Sinden software.exe" -whatEverRequiredParameter
start "" /w "Singe-v2.00-Windows-x86_64.exe" -k -w -z -d data -v Maddog_McCree_Singe_2\Video\maddog.mp4 Maddog_McCree_Singe_2\Script\maddogiDsinge
whatEverCommandUsedToExitSinden.exe

The /w will wait until Singe----.exe exits before executing the next line (close the lightgun software).

 

But you mentioned your launching a game.exe.  Is the exe the actual game? Or is it, itself a launcher of sorts.  That is, you launch game.exe and that in turn starts Singe--.exe to load the game.

If that's the case, you might need to get a little more creative and possibly use an AHK script to look for the games window (that eventually get loaded) and wait for that window to close. Then close the Sinden software.

If that's not the case, on your 'close Sinden' additional app, make sure you have 'run after main app' checked.

[Bulk additional app causing MAME to not close on ESC]

3 hours ago, fishy1988 said:

Can someone please point me in the right direction so MAME closes as well with this arrangement

Assuming you use this script only for MAME and you're talking stand-alone MAME (vs Retroarch MAME core) and that it does indeed work to set and reset the COM ports, respectively, have the script also close MAME after resetting the COM ports.

Run, %COMSPEC% /C echo M3.1 > COM3
Run, %COMSPEC% /C echo M3.1 > COM4
Escape::
    Run,%COMSPEC% /C echo M3.0 > COM3
    Run,%COMSPEC% /C echo M3.0 > COM4
    WinClose, ahk_exe mame.exe
    ExitApp
return

 

[Visual Pinball X – Top Scores (hiscore) Viewer]

4 hours ago, carter8189 said:

regarding my question about not saving my personal best, i found what the problem was: killing at the same time vpx and pinemhi_rom_monitor, so the second had no time to create/copy/update the personal score txt file; i simply modify the exit script with a sleep of 5 seconds beetween vpx exit and rom_monitor closing.

Ah, ok.  The PINemHi Leaderboard high scores.  Nice fix.  Sounds a lot easier than going to the Tools menu and manually turning the monitor off there.   

 

4 hours ago, carter8189 said:

give the opportunity to save personal score with a specific name (o initial), at least locally, i mean: if a friend comes to my house and we chase for the best scores, would be great if the score he reaches would be registred with a different nick, instead the same ID (editing manually ini file after every play crearly is not passable).

I haven't done much with PINemHi beyond testing while writing the plugin 2 years ago.. are you able to change the "name" and still use the same "code" [in pinemhi.ini]?  Or does the friend need to have their own code as well?

Also, when you do change the name (and code?) in the ini file, do you need to stop and restart the pinemhi_rom_monitor?  Or does it seem to read the ini file each time when saving to TOP10_xxxx files?

If it needs to be changed before launching a table, you could create an AHK script (or batch file or PowerShell script) and set that as an Additional App to Run Before the game (table) launches and have it Wait For Exit.  The script would show a popup and have you select a player (or add a new player) and then write that players nickname ("name") to the ini file.  (Replacing the previous "name").  Ya, involves a little setup work, but once setup, it's easy-going from there.  What I'm getting at is that 'it is possible'.   This also assumes you can modify the ini file on-the-fly without having to stop/restart the rom_monitor.  Actually, the script could do that too.