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JoeViking245

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Posts posted by JoeViking245

    Loading a 2600 Starpath game with MAME

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    36 minutes ago, MBGeek said:

    However you have shown me that this is WAY to big of a pain in the ass to make work LOL.

    As for being a PITA, not really.  I mean the information's there. Plus I gave you the answer. ;) 

    For MAME, the ROMs are best found getting a MAME fullset.  In MAME's softlist (software list) set, each system is in its own folder. e.g. a2600 and a2600_cass.   

    For most MAMEs softlist's, it's just a matter of giving it the softlist name (a2600) and the ROM name.  That is, you can get away without having to state the media (-cart).  In this case, you're loading a cartridge and a cassette. So the media is required.

    There's one (or more) threads on this site that go over most every softlist system and the command line parameters for using [standalone] MAME.  And I think you can use the .a26 files with MAME.

    Regardless of which route you decide to go, always glad to help. As are many others here on the Forums.  But the ol' adage is, if MAME can emulate it, use it.  That said, there are some cores in RetroArch that can emulate certain systems just-as-well.  Except Arcade.  (My opinion... do NOT use RetroArch for Arcade!)

     

    36 minutes ago, MBGeek said:

    Again please don't think I am unappreciative, I am OVERWHELMINGLY appreciative, but sometimes the correct answer is not the answer your looking for

    Again, glad to help!  And "the correct answer" gives you a 100% working system (Atari 2600 with a cassette to cartridge converter) for all 13 games that you'll never need to look up anything more for it.  Plus, you now have the knowledge to apply towards future systems. 😎

    Loading a 2600 Starpath game with MAME

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    1 hour ago, MBGeek said:

    From a command prompt, the error I get is

    What are you entering at the command prompt?  (it'd be helpful to know where you're starting from)

     

    1 hour ago, MBGeek said:

    Now I get that the games came on tape and there is certainly a switch that is needed

    For consoles, the hash files come in super handy.

    For example, you found that scharger.zip is in with /a2600/.  And looking at /hash/a2600.xml you'll find scharger shows the part name to be "cart". (which coincides with all ROMs in /a2600/)

    Now grab a cassette.  e.g. The Official Frogger (offifrog.zip). This is found in /a2600_cass/.   Since you found it in /a2600-cass/, you know that the media is a cassette ("cass").  But is also found in the xml file.

    Now that you know the system, the required media and the respective ROMs, put them altogether. 

    mame.exe a2600 -cart scharger -cass offifrog

     

    Now you can add to your collection and play all 13 (2 of which are only partially supported and there's 38 if you include clones) games. :) 

    Editing the Default theme via Visual Studio

    in Big Box Custom Themes

    Posted

    You won't be able to load the sln.  That's just how it is.  Even if you manually added references, some just will not load (e.g. BigBox.dll).  As in, they're not loadable references from "the outside".

    Also, the themes don't Build like you would an app. So, the ones you only need are what's in the declarations of the xaml.  What you really need is just a way to be able to preview the xaml.

    The only way I've found is to comment out the lines that are erroring and then [temporally] replace them with a place holder (like an <Image>).  Another option (say, if starting from scratch) is to work with a blank xaml and add your grids and stackpanels etc. to appear how you want them.  This way you get a visual of the layout.  Then fill in some elements (e.g. Image or TextBlock) to fine tune any alignments, margins etc.  Lastly, put in the 'proper' elements.

    Neither of which are ideal.

     

    I agree that at least having "dummy pack" of the un-referenceable dlls (made referenceable) could be useful.  These 'dummy dll's' could merely contain object placeholders, enough to not throw errors "for the average Joe" trying to view the xamls. 

    Big Box Crashing in Version 13.23? Here’s What You Need to Know

    in News and Updates

    Posted

    26 minutes ago, Blackstar00 said:

    Im using Launchbox (not Big Box) 13.23 and keeps randoming crashing.
    Usually after exiting a game, launchbox locks up, then crashes without any error.
    Music from game titles in launchbox breaks up and skips.

    You might try updating to the latest beta release.

    Under Tools < Options < General < Updates, check Update to Beta Release.  Then select Menu < Help < Check for Updates...

    Missing Platform in the Game Database: Mega LD / Pioneer LaserActive

    in Contributions

    Posted

    1 hour ago, totoro said:

    I wanted to ask if there's any way to have this platform added to the database

    You can request adding a console not in the database on the Feedback site.  Requests posted here have the possibility of getting lost in space and time (unintentionally overlooked).  Requests added to Feedback get placed on "the list".

    Here's a direct link to the Database section of the feedback site.  Feedback - LaunchBox Games Database  

    filter all games by screen orientation: horizontal???

    in Playlists & Playlist Media

    Posted

    5 hours ago, launchretrogirl2562 said:

    it should be named horizont.ini 

    The file is just a MAME derived list of the machines (games) only (no configurations).  So can be named whatever_descriptive_name.ini.  This would get placed in /MAME/ini/folders/ then can be accessed in the MAME interface by selecting Custom Filter.

    Alternately, it can be used by something like the MAME (Custom) XML Importer plugin for importing just the games listed.

    Correction: can be used by something like the Create Playlists from MAME category ini files plugin for creating playlists from just the games listed.

    Or, one could just look through it to see all the ROM names for horizontally oriented machines.

    • Like 1

    Arrange game by Screen type?

    in Features

    Posted

    31 minutes ago, damageinc86 said:

    I can't get that website to export anything.  no pop-ups ever show up to save.  It just says "(# of games) games exported" and then goes back to the search page.  No idea where they were exported to lol.  

    Following the example steps above (changing Machine to Game), on the final click on Export, the site will gather the data then depending on your web browser, you will be asked to save the download or it will just start downloading.  The download is saved to wherever you save file downloads.  

    If you're still having issues, try a different browser.

    What does each folder/file do in the theme? Is there an instruction manual?

    in LaunchBox for Windows Custom Themes

    Posted

    LaunchBox themes are in /LaunchBox/LBThemes/ and Big Box themes are in /LaunchBox/Themes/.  

    Image and video placement in the respective themes are set in the xaml files located in the themes /Views/ folder.

    Though the themes for each interface are completely different, they will both utilize images and videos found in /LaunchBox/Images/ and /LaunchBox/Videos/.

    There's a pdf document in /LaunchBox/Themes/Documentation.pdf

    There's also documentation on this site: Big Box Theming - LaunchBox

    No Sound After Updating To MAME .28 (SOLVED)

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Glinako said:

    Sure thing, I changed the value of the virtual OSD to "override", I am not sure how it got changed but reverting back to the correct value fixed it. It is all covered in this doc from MAME Dev OSD audio support — MAME Documentation 0.280 documentation. 

    Thanks! Others coming across this issue will be appreciative.

    I know they had an audio issue about 2 revisions back. It changing was probably a left-over fragment of the issue and resolve.

    LaunchBox Ambient Music Player

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Volikhar said:

    That beta Update fixed the issue perfectly! Thanks JoeViking! Do you still want my logs from before or are they not needed now?

    Also do you still have your Kofi link! Il send you a Small thanks for your plugin and assistance!

    Whew! Glad it worked.  It appeared to be a simple oversight on my part, and thankfully that's all it was. A painless, non-drawn-out fix. :D  No further information (logs etc.) is needed.

    If you wish to share your appreciation, in the plugin Settings, you can click the Info iconimage.png.a798ce352cf51b29fbf1903648d6b551.png and then click the Viking Mickey image.png.09e9d2264bb5bbf95a095637cb521a49.png to navigate to my Ko-fi page. (He ain't there just for his good looks. ;))

    From the immortal words of Bartles & Jaymes, "Thank you for your support."

    • Game On 1

    Save State Error

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    23 minutes ago, spiritedusual said:

    This is still the case. How do I change the bigbox pause menu save state shortcut to match the name shortcut? if I have to change the mame shortcut what is bigbox looking for?

    Dang, this was from almost a year ago.  (Have to try to remember) ;) 

    I'm not sure if the save state defaults (F6 etc.) have changed in MAME since then or not.  But the 3 [possible] states at least are still the same.  The save state actions are set in LaunchBox when you edit the MAME emulator.  Big Box adheres to whatever those settings are.

    Honestly, I'm not familiar with what state options are available in the Pause Menu because, to me, using them (and pausing for that matter) for Arcade games is borderline sacrilegious.  So have never really bothered looked.

     

    LaunchBox Ambient Music Player

    in Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released)

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Volikhar said:

    despite the toggle being set to stop the music when lb is not in focus, it plays continually, in games, in and out of focus.

    Is this contrary to what your screenshot is showing? If so, I'll see if I can do some investigating.   Oops. Never mind.

    In the meantime, can you share the log files (located in the \LBambient\Logs\ folder)?  Best to start setup, set the toggle to Not Play, get something playing, start a game, play for a minute or so (music still playing?), exit the game then share the most recent log file.

    Also, what emulator is this happening with?  Steam games? Windows games? A platform using RetroArch?  Arcade/MAME?

     

    Oh, and this is the support page for the plugin (which there's a link to this page from the Info window [clicking the i in the lower right corner of the plugin settings window]), so it's a perfect place. :) 

    Unable to play Addams family VPX in BB

    in Emulation

    Posted

    35 minutes ago, mattlord09 said:

    For me to be able to play from BB i need to click on mouse, GAME OVER appears, then pinball can be played.

    I had this happen the other day when I was updating JP Salis's tables. It did that on some tables, but not all.  The next day, it didn't happen anymore.  

    Theory: Try "turning it off and back on". (The computer, that is. ;))

    MAME black screen on game launches then resets back to main screen. Have tried but stuck

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, OneooneO said:

    What am I missing so i can problem solve the rest myself and not have to bug you ?

    Read the output on the screen? ;) 

    When you ran Check ROM(s), it showed you in red that some files are missing from within the zip(s) and what their names are.

    This is most likely due to a mismatched ROM set and MAME executable.

    Case-in-point:  Your Robocop ROM is for version 0.130 (or older).  The Winning Run ROM is for version 0.201 (or older).  (Don't ask how I found that out because it's a PITA. lol)

     

    Solution: Get a ROM set that matches you MAME executable version (e.g. both are for version 0.251).  (That, I can not help you with)

    Alternately, remove the game(s) from LaunchBox that won't play because of a mismatched set. (But that's no fun.)

     

    Reading the onscreen output:  (e.g. Winning Run)

    In the upper right, you'll see that a Device file is required for this game.  When running Check ROM(s), you'll see in the output 

    Checking Device file...
    sys2mcpu.bin CRC is good

    But right above that, under Checking ROM file... was nvram is missing from the ROM winrun.zip.

    • Like 1

    MAME black screen on game launches then resets back to main screen. Have tried but stuck

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, OneooneO said:

    Here is the report on the first time. 

    Edit your MAME emulator in LaunchBox.  In the Default Command-line Parameters, add -rompath %romlocation%.  It should end up looking like: 

    -keyboardprovider dinput -rompath %romlocation%

    Unless you only have one emulator setup for Arcade (e.g. RetroArch doesn't have the Associated Platform Arcade), you may want to go to the Associated Platforms section and check the box for Default Emulator.

     

    Click OK to save and close.  Try playing the game(s) again.

    MAME black screen on game launches then resets back to main screen. Have tried but stuck

    in Troubleshooting

    Posted

    Ahh, yeah.  It's not set up for MAME64.  It looks specifically for mame.exe. Per the description:

    • Requires the games emulator to be mame.exe

    You might could try renaming (temporally) your mame64.exe to mame.exe, then edit the emulator in LB changing the app path to mame.exe.  Then run the plugin.

    I never tested it with MAME64, but it may still work (with the renaming) as it is a derivative of MAME.

    • Thanks 1
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