JoeViking245

November 21, 2019

@slagfart Thanks for being my guinea pig. lol jk Looks like you found one (of possibly many) anomalies to MAME, it's Software Lists and how they deal with CD-ROMs and their hash files.

In MAME's collection of "Fujitsu FM Towns CD-ROMs" (at least according to their hash file), the set contains both CD-ROMs and floppy disks. That's why the popup, well... didn't popup. It saw some floppies in there and took them all to be floppies. So it didn't ask you about CD-ROMs. And to top that off (as I now look through it closer), the hash file doesn't have the full_name.ext like other hash files do for CD-ROM consoles. So using your example, all it has is disk name="abel" instead of something like disk name="abel.chd". I don't know if there's something special about FM Towns CD's or if that particular contributor decided since they're not all CD-ROMs, they'll just format the xml like non CD-ROM consoles. I really don't know.

I ran the Import for fmtowns_cd, got no popup regarding CD-ROMs, and it did seem to go fast. Though it didn't 'crash' when I clicked OK. Did you have to do something like Ctrl+Alt+Del to shut down LB then?

I did have a Windows Explorer window open looking at the Data\Platforms directory and indeed the xml was not there after import was [successfully] completed. Like you indicated. It did however show up inside in LB ui as a [new] Platform with 488 games. When I exited LB, the xml file then appeared in the Data\Platforms folder. So I'm guessing that's just how it works and I'm good with that.

When you went back into LB, was the FM Towns platform there? If not, go to Tools, Manage Platforms and see if it's in there and how many Associated Games are with it. Also I see you were looking at "Platform Category". Change that to "Platform". I think.

Don't think I can help too much with the anomaly as I can only work with what MAME gives me. But I would like to figure out the issue with the 'crash'.

November 19, 2019

I've never used demul and am not familiar with it. It just seems odd that Esc from the keyboard works but not via the controller.

Just looking, RA and Dolphin don't need scripts to close.

Look for a setting or command line parameter for demul for exiting with Esc. That's all I can think of.

November 19, 2019

@tallpr24 From your early posts (now that I've read them all), it sounds like closing the emulator was not an issue as you were able to hit Esc and it closed. The issue sounds to be with mapping your controller.

If pressing Esc closes it, don't mess with that part any more. Look into the controller mapping. As stated, LaunchBox and BigBox have separate places where you need to map to them.

November 19, 2019

Putting in the code where it was suggested, if you hit Escape on the keyboard, does it close?

November 17, 2019

Alternatively (again in regular MAME) you can copy the mame.ini file and paste it in MAME's ini sub-folder renaming it to "bios_file_name.ini". In your case it looks it would be "apple2ep.ini".

Now edit it and go to the section "CORE INPUT OPTIONS" and change the value of "ui_active" from 0 (zero) to 1 (one). Save and exit.

You'll get the same results as adding -ui_active to the command line [without having to add it].

November 17, 2019

Don't know about that but, for regular MAME, you can add to the command line

-ui_active

Then when the game starts, MAME will have already 'pressed Scrl_Lock' for you.

November 16, 2019

Not sure if you can assimilate this to RA MAME, but in regular MAME via the keyboard.

To switch to side "B"
   {Scrl Lock} (to switch between emulated keyboard)
   {Tab} (to show MAME's menu)
(select) File Manager
(select) flop1 {Enter}
(select) side B {Enter}
   {Esc} {Esc} {Enter}

November 15, 2019

Did you try copying the one (mame.ini) from your regular MAME folder?

November 13, 2019

Plan "B" can always be just run mame64.exe directly. Start (after opening it) by clicking "Available" on the left side of the screen. Then double click the system (assuming it shows). In this case It shows up [Apple //e (exnhanced)] because the 'apple2ee.zip' file is there.

The 1st error (screenshot) shows It's missing"'a2diskiing.zip"This next error shows "d2fdc.zip" is missing.Then of course, there could be both missing.As a wise man once said, "there's many ways to skin a cat."

(though I do like the info "-v" gives from the command prompt. Thanks @Headrush69!

November 13, 2019

Use the apple2ee.zip BIOS file.

November 13, 2019

Ya. That's as far as I attempted.

November 13, 2019

For RetroArch, no. Sorry. I've only used MAME (standalone) and it seems to load it fine.

November 13, 2019

In the examples you gave, the BIOS files apple2ee and apple2ep are clones of the BIOS file apple2e which are all for the Apple IIe system. Here's some good reading for you. https://wiki.mamedev.org/index.php/Driver:Apple_II

No. Do not rename the hash files! The different ones are kind of in the names. Cassettes. Clean Cracked (5.25") floppies. Miscellaneous (probably utilities and such). Original floppies. And of course, the apple2gs.xml file is for the Apple IIGS system.

November 13, 2019

Try adding these device files to your ..\apple2 folder.

a2diskiing.zip and d2fdc.7z

November 10, 2019

Thanks @DOS76! It's been a fun project, for sure.

The 'inside' zip file will stay as is. Nothing is needing to be done with it.

November 10, 2019

MAME Hi-Score Display - A plugin for BigBox

View File

MAME Hi-Score Display - A plugin for BigBox

Use this plugin to view a games high scores from BigBox’s Game Menu.

Features

Creates a menu item called “View Hi-Scores” that allows you to display high scores for most games in your Arcade platform directly in BigBox.

What's needed

~~(3) files that are included in the downloaded zip file (the plugin)~~
Version 3.0 - One file that is included in the downloaded zip file (the plugin)
2 lines of text added to the "TextGamesView.xaml" file for your current BigBox Theme
MAME configured to save high scores
Saved high score files (These are automatically generated by MAME once it’s configured to save them in the "hi" and/or “nvram” subfolders of your MAME emulator)

What it won't do

Show high scores for games using emulators other than MAME.
Show high scores for games in LaunchBox.
MAME is not built to save high scores the same way (or at all) for all arcade machines, so not all games are supported by this plugin

Contributors
@jayjay – The one who came up with the idea and did all the hard stuff.
@JoeViking245 – The one who helped with all the easy stuff.
@fromlostdays – The one who made these instructions easier to follow.

A HUGE Special Thanks goes to GreatStone’s utility “hi2txt”. This utility converts MAME’s high score files into a readable format which ultimately makes this plugin possible!!
http://greatstone.free.fr/hi2txt/index.html

Installation and setup instructions:

Step 1: Installing the Plugin
~~Step 2: Editing your BigBox Theme to add support for the Plugin~~
Step 3: Making sure MAME is set up to save high scores

Installing the Plugin:

Download the plugin, Mame_Hi_Scores (v5.0.0).7z from the LaunchBox download section
(If not using 7zip) After you’ve downloaded the zip file, be sure to unblock it in Windows by right clicking it, selecting Properties, and clicking Unblock
Open the zip file and extract/copy the "Hi_Scores" folder into ..\LaunchBox\Plugins
- i.e. D:\LaunchBox\Plugins\Hi_Scores\Mame_Hi_Scores.dll

~~Editing Your BigBox Theme to add support for the Plugin:~~

As of version 5.0.0, this step is no longer required.

If you are updating from a version PRIOR to v5.0.0, you will need to UNDO THE CHANGES made to your TextGamesView.xaml file!!!

(just delete the 2 lines that were added, and save.)

Spoiler

~~You just need to add two lines of text, each in a specific place, in one of the theme’s .xaml files so that your theme can display the Hi -Scores. This should work for all themes.~~

~~Go to the "Views" folder of the theme you are using and find the file "TextGamesView.xaml".~~
- ~~e.g. D:\LaunchBox\Themes\my_current_theme\Views\TextGamesView.xaml~~
Right click on "TextGamesView.xaml" and select Edit

~~Insert the following line after the last existing "xmlns" entry located near the top of the file:~~

xmlns:hsc="clr-namespace:Mame_Hi_Scores;assembly=Mame_Hi_Scores"

~~It will look similar to this:~~

~~Now scroll all the way down to the bottom of the document.~~
~~Insert the following line* just above the text "</Canvas>":~~

<hsc:Hi_Scores Height="{Binding Source={x:Static SystemParameters.PrimaryScreenHeight}}" Width="{Binding Source={x:Static SystemParameters.PrimaryScreenWidth}}" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center"/>

*NOTE: The word “canvas” may show up multiple times in the document. You’re looking for the last instance of it, at the very bottom of the text just above </UserControl>. Also note that the indentation of the line doesn’t matter. The above is one single line of text, so be sure and copy and paste the entire line. Depending on your text editor, it may ‘wrap around’ and look like two lines, which is not a problem.

~~It will look similar to this:~~

~~Save and close TextGamesView.xaml .~~

Setting up MAME to save high scores:

Using a recent official MAME release –

Spoiler
- By default, plugins are enabled in MAME. You can verify yours by looking at the “mame.ini” file located in the root MAME install folder.
- Open “mame.ini” and scroll down to (or press Ctrl + F and search for) “Scripting Options”. “plugins” should be set to 1. If it’s 0 (zero), change it to 1.
- Next, open “plugin.ini” also located in MAME’s root directory and change “hiscore” to 1.

If you have an older release of MAME, you may need to do the following steps instead.

Spoiler

Go to this website: http://www.mameworld.info/highscore/download.htm and download a copy of the file hiscore.dat that corresponds to your version of MAME.
The file (hiscoredat.zip) will need to be unzipped. Place the file hiscore.dat in your MAME/Plugins folder
Open up your MAME.ini file in a text editor. In newer versions, this file will be in the same directory as the MAME.exe
Press Ctrl + F and search for “Scripting Options”
Next to the word Plugins, type “1” no quotes
Next to the word Plugin, type “hiscore” no quotes

It will look like this:

Congrats! You’re all setup! Now that you’ve setup the plugin, why not give it a try?

How to use:

Start BigBox
Go into the "Arcade" Platform
Select a game
Near the bottom of the Menu (if the selected game has a high score file saved) you'll see "View Local Hi-Scores"
Select "View Local Hi-Scores" to see your high scores for that game!

To close the Hi-Scores window (options): (new v5.0.0)

Press the button (or button combo) you have mapped to Close Active Window
Press Enter (keyboard)
Press Escape (keyboard)
Click the X in the upper right corner (mouse)

Submitter

JoeViking245
Submitted

11/10/2019
Category

Third-party Apps and Plugins

November 8, 2019

Just type it in. Hit Tab, and provide the other information.

November 8, 2019

You can also hit Windows key + Shift + S to bring up Snip & Sketch all-ready to grab a capture. It is definitely a nice feature!

November 6, 2019

Check the default command line parameter for you MAME 32 emulator and see if removing it (probably "-keyboardprovider dinput") fixes the issue.

November 6, 2019

I'm glad it's all working! And thanks for getting back. It definitely helps!

I totally spaced on the need for fm7 right before the media type (-cass, -flop1.... ). Sorry about that. The cass1 comes straight from the hash file. Though now looking at the fm7 hash file, one spot shows 'cass1' and another shows 'cass'. Though MAME hasn't tested multi-image games for FM-7, I know some consoles need 'cass1', 'cass2' to load the different images. I'll take a closer look. But for now since cass1 works, maybe best for me to leave well enough alone. lol

That tid bit about only needing to bulk edit the command lines for one of the sets is big forehead slap on my part. Again, sorry about that. ? Good call.

November 5, 2019

A good example of a console that takes two or more command line arguments is the Atari 2600 cassettes where you need to load scharger AND the cassette (rom).

a2600 -cart1 scharger -cass

But that's not what you were really asking about.

The emulators are set up based on the Platform(s) you want to use them for in regards to the command line needed. So "Fujitsu FM 7" Platform (at least if used in MAME) is going to be -cart or -cass. There really isn't an innate way for LaunchBox to tell MAME "if it's a t77, use -cass. Otherwise use -flop1."

That being said, you can creatively make it work [to have both in one Platform]. There may be an easier or better way, but this is my shoot-from-the-hip thought.

Import fm7_cass as normal. (well, via this plugin) Then install yet another plugin called Bulk Custom Command-Line Editor. Select all games, run the plugin and enter

-cass

and click Finish.

Now go back to the Software List Importer plugin and import fm7_disk into the same Platform you used above. When that's done, [in LaunchBox] click "ARRANGE BY" and select "Date Added"Select the "newest" added games, run the other plugin and this time use

-flop1

These custom command lines will take precedence over MAME's Associated Platforms command line parameters that were automatically entered in when importing both console sets. But to keep things clean, you can go into Manage Emulators, select MAME, Associated Platforms and delete the 2 for Fujitsu FM 7.

I haven't tried this, so if you could, please let us (the Forum) know if it works. And if it doesn't, we'll find another way. ?

November 5, 2019

Try this. I didn't fully test it, but seems like it should work.

$^!B::
if WinExist("ahk_exe BigBox.exe")
   {
      WinActivate
      return
   }
Run "F:\LaunchBox\BigBox.exe"
return

November 4, 2019

Well then, I'm stumped too. It's weird it's just that one rom and not others too. Especially with the fresh install of everything.

November 3, 2019

Did your clean install of MAME include making sure there was no cfg or nvram file for this one mysteriously unnamed rom before starting MAME again and opening the game?

November 2, 2019

Nothing to feel stupid about. An easy misunderstanding. Glad it it's working now!

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MAME Hi-Score Display - A plugin for BigBox

MAME Hi-Score Display - A plugin for BigBox

Installation and setup instructions:

How to use: