JoeViking245

Hmm.... based off the debug log, LaunchBox is looking for the game (rom) .hi file using a capital "T", but all the others in the log show lowercase. That's why I was assuming that hi2txt searches are case sensitive since it came back with "ERROR: No XML description found for ROM 'Timeplt'". My next (and probably last) guess is Edit your game in LaunchBox and see if the filename (rom_name) it's pointing to is capitalized.

Any chance you manipulating your timeplt.hi file? Though it found "Timeplt.hi", the hi2txt (I believe) needs to see "timeplt.hi". Try changing the capital "T" to a lower case "t" in your ../Documents/Mame/hi/ folder. I didn't test that particular one, but MAME should be saving the file in all lowercase.

The log file only references Hyper Sports. Nothing in there about Time Pilot.

...and as it turns out I thought wrong. ? So back to editing each game. Unless this [hack] works.!.!.!.!.!..... Create a "crosshair" folder directly under MAME. D:\Emulators\MAME\crosshair\ Place in there a empty "transparent" png image and name it "cross1.png". If you're setup for multiple players, copy it to "cross2.png", "cross3.png".... This at least seemed to make the 'default' crosshair invisible in Big Buck Hunter without going into the tab menu. (just remove ".txt" off the attached file) Not sure if this messes up other things [beyond all games will now have an invisible crosshair]. cross1.png.txt

See here: https://docs.mamedev.org/advanced/multiconfig.html Though it doesn't address the cfg files. So we'll use our noodles to make up some logic. The main purpose of the cfg file under ../ctrlr/ is to tell MAME what "mapdevice" to look for and use. And ya, basic mappings per your liking. So it kinda has to load when MAME loads. [otherwise you (possibly) wouldn't be able to use your controller to maneuver around its' UI] When a game-specific cfg file is created, it copies the default.cfg (and anything we added to that 'read-only' file) and then adds any subsequent game specific config changes you make, to it. So [in my mind] it stands to reason that if a game-specific cfg file exists, MAME has no need to look at the default.cfg. Thus won't. ..which brings us full-circle to

Curiosity got to me, and here's what I found... It is indeed in the cfg file for the game(s). For your cab that you want to have NO crosshairs shown in MAME, edit the "default.cfg", save and set it to read only. <?xml version="1.0"?> <!-- This file is autogenerated; comments and unknown tags will be stripped --> <mameconfig version="10"> <system name="default"> <crosshairs> <crosshair player="0" mode="0" /> </crosshairs> </system> </mameconfig> If by chance your "default.cfg" has other 'stuff' in there, leave that there and just add the 3 "crosshairs" lines right above "</system>" (2nd to last line), leaving the rest of the 'stuff' above that point. If you already have cfg files for each game(s) (which you may or may not), you can either edit each of those [ugh], or simply delete them. Now when you launch a game, MAME will read the default.cfg file (if a game specific one doesn't exist) and the crosshairs will be set to Off. ...I think...

If you start a game and do this [turn it off], exit the game... restart it and it stays off, MAME is saving 'that setting' somewhere. Given that, I'd think you'd be able to say, do that then look through your MAME folder(s) for the most recently change file. And would thing it'll be an ini or cfg file. But if to do this this [turn off the cross hairs] you have to go into the machines settings (vs MAME's setting) [many games it's by pressing F6 when the game is loading] then it probably saves it to the nvram file for the game. If that's the case, then you're back to 'going through every game'. Hopefully not. I've never even fathomed [nor looked at how to] turning off the crosshairs so have no idea of the process. When in-game, is it somewhere in MAME's tab menu?

It is possible. cdimono1 -cfg_directory cfg\cdi\tetris -cdrom cdimono1 is the softlist you're loading. The 'cfg\cdi' part is the folder your particular games' config files will be saved in. For example D:\Emulators\MAME\cfg\cdi\tetris\ The tetris folder will hold 2 files. And it's no coincidence that 'tetris' is the rom name for the game you're wanting to save a specific controller configuration for. In the other forum post, "bbcb" is a different soflist (Acorn BBC Micro Model B). And "abc" is the rom name used in the example. That's good. That will load 'that' controller configuration for all cdi games you load unless you add a game specific command line here

Because when you checked the box to "Use filename only without file extension or folder path" it's only adding "hotmario" to the default command line parameters for the particular Platform being launched in. Exact same way you do with Arcade roms. Looks to like you pressed {F7} to load a save state. Try {Shift}{F7}. (just like Arcade) That talks about doing it per game. If you only need to remap for cdi in general (as opposed to game specific).... Edit you MAME emulator and in the Associated Platforms tab ONLY, change the Default Command Line Parameter from "cdimono1 -cdrom" to cdimono1 -cfg_directory cfg\cdi -cdrom Save. Load a cdi game. Press {Tab} to bring up the MAME menu and set the controls as you normally would. Play the game. Exit the game. Note: That's for softlists. If you're having the issue in Arcade, see here

@stevaside The last picture you attached tells me your trying to put the 'cdimono1 -cdrom' command line parameter on the Default Command-Line Parameters: for the Emulator itself. This is not where it goes and make sense why you'd be getting that error. In the image above (several posts) under Step #3, note that, on the Details tab [under Edit Emulator], the Default Command-Line Parameters: is simply -keyboardprovider dinput No more. No less. On the next tab to the right, Associated Platforms is where you put the Default Command-Line Parameters for the Platform itself as shown in the image below step #4. Can you show us snap shots of your Details tab and your Associated Platforms for your MAME emulator?

It's something in how you setup your games or MAME in LB then. Show a snapshot of Associated Platforms in Edit - Emulators - MAME for your Phillips CDi Platform. I've never seen LB show the error message "Error: Unknown Option" But..... coincidentally... MAME will show that exact same text if your Default Command Line Parameter is wrong. For example if you have cdimono1 -ccdrm you will get Error: unknown option: -ccdrm

I really have no idea why it works from the command line and not directly in MAME. Unless your testing using different installations of MAME (i.e. in different folders or different .exe's in the one folder like mame64.exe and mame64_backUp.exe or even worse, mameui.exe) and/or you have different copies of "hotel mario (1994)(philips)(eu).chd" (i.e. one variant in your ../roms folder and another in your ../software/cdi/hotmario folder). And/or maybe you actually do have 2 mame.ini files. (I bring this up again because that's the only way I was able to reproduce it working from the command line and not directly in MAME) As for having the 'incorrect checksum', that's probably an issue too. Hotel Mario (EU) has had the same checksum since ver 0.142. But that doesn't explain why it works from the command line and not directly in MAME. Unless there's something to be said from the 1st paragraph. Since you promise it works from the command line, it will work in LB. (As will ANY emulator or program.) 1) Make a copy of your mame.ini file and [re]name it cdimono1.ini Make sure the rompath is set to roms;software inside of it. 2) For the game, point to 'a file that doesn't exist'. But make sure you point to the correct MAME folder and then ../software/cdi/hotmario.zip (yes. a zip file that's not there) 3) Setup your MAME emulator to "Don't use quotes..." and "Use file name only..." (it should be by default) Also make sure you're pointing to the 'correct' mame64.exe. 4) Setup the Associated Platform with the Platform name EXACTLY as you have it called in LB and the Default Command-Line Parameter as "cdmono1 -cdrom". (Note "-cdrm" works as well.) 5) Be sure to SAVE all your changes and now launch Hotel Mario. 6) If this don't work, I really don't know what to tell you other than go back to page 1 of this thread and reread everything as I am pretty much out of subsequent suggestions.

You don't need to add anything to the rompath other than "software". MAME knows that cdi (cdimono1) is in the Software Lists and thus knows to look for a subfolder called "cdi". So to be clear, at the command prompt if you type "mame64 cdimono1 -cdrm hotmario", Hotel Mario will start up and you can play it? (completely close out the above) If you open [standalone] MAME, double click on "CD-i (Mono-I) (PAL)" do you see a list of 459 cdi 'games'? Then if you [scroll to and] double click on "Hotel Mario (Euro)" you say it won't start up and you can't play? What does the the error message say in the red box that pops up? Is that a LaunchBox error message or one from MAME? Is that all it says? Can you take a screen shot of it? It's odd that it works from the command line but not directly in MAME. That said, it's not even worth trying to get it to work in LB at this point. I did a little messing around and that's why I asked about possibly having 2 mame.ini files. It's also odd that if you got it to work from the command prompt and at least started the game before exiting, that it didn't create a cdmono1.ini file. Lastly (for now) does you inipath look like above? (starting with a .; [period semi-colon])

Do you have a "mame.ini" in your MAME root folder and in your ../MAME/ini/ folder? No? Good. Do you have a "cdimono1.ini" in your MAME root folder and/or in your ../MAME/ini/ folder? Hopefully just one in one or the other folders. What does the rompath for it look like? Does it look like the rompath line in your mame.ini?

MESS has been integrated into MAME for some time now but some users will still compile a 'dedicated' copy of MESS. But for the most part, MAME will do Arcade and well as Software Lists (softlists). To generate a copy of mame.ini (or mess.ini if you decide to use a MESS compiled version) for a new installation, open the emulator and double click Configure options double click Save Configuration double click Return to Previous Menu double click Exit Softlists are unique animal in MAME compared to any other emulator/roms that you'd typically setup. Some might say they're not for the timid. But really they're not that bad. It does have it's own particular idiosyncrasies. But there are many posts on the forums here covering the different consoles and computers MAME has available. Some info general and a lot specific. The main starting point is to make sure you have the same version of the executable as you do roms. (i.e. both ver 0.221)

The easiest way would be to have downloaded a MAME Software List CHD's set which will have the folder structure already in place. Next method is to open the ../MAME/hash/cdi.xml file. Then search for the game(s) in there."software name" is the 'short_name' or Folder name you want to use. "description" is the proper Title for the game. "disk name" is file_name (minus .chd) in which the rom file should be named. Or... if "you know a guy" you could ask him to make a text file that lists the short_name and file_name (minus .chd) that you could reference. cdi_Names.txt There's probably somewhere on that internet thing that with some searching you may be able to find them also. If you are able to do the "easiest way", there's a MAME Software List Importer plugin in the downloads section that can import these into LB/BB for you. But it might be an all or nothing type thing. (Like the MAME Arcade Full Importer built in to LB). That is, if you only have 25 of the 625 entries in cdi, it'll "import" 625 'games'. But you can then 'scan for deleted roms' in LB and it will remove those 600 'missing' games from your Platform.

You don't need to (and shouldn't) unzip any of the MAME (MESS) bios, device or rom zipped files. You probably have an older version of cdimono1.zip and a newer version of MESS. Or you have an incomplete cdimono1 bios set. cdimono1.zip should have 5 files in it. If there's only 3, it's incomplete and will never work. The 3 yours does have are cdi200.rom, cdi220.rom and cdi220b.rom. If it has 5 files and the other 2 are cdi.bin and slave.bin, you need to have a MESS no newer than 0.221. This is why it's important to match the version of your romset (any and all zip files) with the version of your executable. Be it mame64.exe or mess64.exe. Oh, and since the error is only showing those 2 missing files, your paths are fine.

Touchmote.exe is compiled as Admin according to the GitHub page. AHK can't close programs with higher privilege's than itself. With your compiled script that uses WinClose.....touchmote.exe, try setting the exe to run as Admin. Here some reading for ya (if you're so inclined). https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=60460 https://github.com/simphax/Touchmote/ https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=5262

...some more thoughts... https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/WinClose.htm

Can you close it from task manager? Try AHK Window Spy and see if you can see something there.

This was kind of mentioned previously, but MAME Software Lists [roms] (vs MAME Arcade Machines [roms] vs PS2 [roms]...etc...) are a unique animal. As you know, MAME uses a shot-name naming convention. i.e. Asteroids is asteroid.zip. Here's why you put them into their own folders... The Arcade Machine rom (file) is named asteroid.zip. The Atari 2600 rom is named asteroid.zip. The ZX Spectrum Cassette rom is names asteroid.zip. See a pattern here? So I suppose you think of the different Consoles (along with Acrade) that MAME can emulate as different 'Platforms'. Which I imagine is how you'd load them into LB.

[alternate method] Open Windows explorer and navigate to the folder that has you "mame64.exe" file (red underline). Click once on the address bar (red dot) and type "cmd" (no quotes) and hit Enter. (Make sure "cmd" is the only thing on the line before hitting Enter)This will open the Command Prompt at the correct location to now enter the command: "Mame64.exe -v cdimono1 hotmario" and press Enter. (again, no quotes)

Maybe add another short Sleep after the RunWait line. Check task manager and see if touchmote.exe is launching a sub process (or something along those lines). Is MAME opening a command prompt window when you run this? [Actually ya, it probably is] Not sure if this'd help with the quitting issue, but it's probably better anyway. RunWait, %comspec% /c "D:\Emulators\MAME\mame64.exe -keyboardprovider dinput %1%",,Hide Did you clear out the Running AutoHotkey script tab? Could it still be running from the above issue? It will attempt to run it only as many times as you tell it to. If you can't find out where/why it's trying to run it twice (which you really should pin point that issue), you could get real crazy and replace that 1st line with something like if !WinExist("ahk_exe touchmote.exe") { Run, "D:\Utils\TouchMote\touchmote.exe" } If all else fails, there's still plan "C". But seriously, there no reason the above shouldn't work.

%1% is a Parameter (or Variable) passed to the executable. In this case it's the rom_file_name (samsho). If you think of it as executing your compiled script from the command prompt, you'd type D:\> MameWithTouchMote.exe samsho "samsho" is the 1st (only) Parameter and the executable program stores that (reusable) Variable as %1% If say you had D:\> MameWithTouchMote.exe samsho astdelux Your compiled script could be like Run, "D:\Utils\TouchMote\touchmote.exe" RunWait, "D:\Emulators\MAME\mame64.exe -keyboardprovider dinput %2%" ;run Asteroids Deluxe RunWait, "D:\Emulators\MAME\mame64.exe -keyboardprovider dinput %1%" ;run Samurai Shodown RunWait, "D:\Emulators\MAME\mame64.exe -keyboardprovider dinput %2%" ;run Asteroids Deluxe WinClose, ahk_exe touchmote.exe Variable. Reusable. Usable in any order. [Of course LB is not going to be passing multiple games to your executable. ]