[new version freezing and will not leave default theme]

49 minutes ago, hyunchris said:

update: I copied the launchbox folder (containing 13.21) from my laptop and pasted it into the new PC. it worked perfectly until it tried to update to version 13.22 automatically. I cancelled the update and now launchbox no longer works again. I have a feeling maybe this is user error and maybe I set up something in 13.21 correctly and not in 13.22...however, maybe it could also be that the new PC runs win 10 and not win 11 like the laptop?

It's not a Windows 10 thing.  (if it were, I'd be in a world of hurt on all my PC's. )

If you're OK with 13.21, copy the files over again from the laptop.  Then navigate (on the PC) to /LaunchBox/Data/ and using any text editor, open Settings.xml and search for 

 <CheckForUpdates>true</CheckForUpdates>

Replace it with 

 <CheckForUpdates>false</CheckForUpdates>

Save and close, THEN start LaunchBox.

 

See if Big Box still has the same issues. 

[Multiple screen setup, main screen keeps changing]

1 hour ago, arcademode said:

After booting down my arcade cabinet for a couple of days, then booting it back up the main monitor will switch to one of the "third screen" monitors, instead of using my main monitor.  The main monitor selection is stable about 50% of the time, otherwise the third screen becomes the main monitor.  Is my main monitor going to sleep too fast?  Would that cause a divergent enumeration of the monitors in windows?  What else can I look at to avoid this hiccup? 

You mentioned third screen a couple times.  If you're using the ThirdScreen plugin, you might be best to post on its Support page.

ThirdScreen Plugin for Platform Video Marquees, 3+ Screen Support, and more - Third-Party Applications and Plugins (Released) - LaunchBox Community Forums

 

If I misunderstood, hopefully someone can help you here. 😊

 

[Critical Error Occurred]

1 hour ago, MattDog said:

I got Error code while trying to Initialize LaunchBox

The error indicates something is up with your license file. Email support@unbrokensoftware.com and they can sort it out for you.

[Super Model 3 not saving settings]

Are you properly exiting the test menu?  In your Supermodel emulators folder, there should be an NVRAM folder.  In that folder will be rom_name.nv files.  Is there an nv file for the ROM your creating/changing settings for?

You could try the pre-made nv files found here:

 

[Unable to search for some metadata]

They were both found here.  Make sure your Platform is set to Windows.  May also try to force update your local database.

Tools < Download < Force Update Games Database Metadata...

 

 

 

[How to choose the core during a Retroarch import process]

Ahh.  I don't know how to use RetroArch as a frontend.

[Question about when Bigbox starts]

1 hour ago, Moca said:

I'd like the Windows game platform to be displayed every time I enter Bigbox.

I think....

• Go to System Menu < Options < General < Remember Last Platform (enable this)
• Go back to your platforms view and select your Windows platform.
• Exit Big Box
• Restart Big Box
• (should start at the Windows platform)
• Go back and disable Remember Last Platform

[Launchbox dependency yellowlight]

28 minutes ago, MaineBear said:

In Launchbox I'm setting up Sega st-v with retroarch.  It's giving me a missing dependency message.  I have stvbio.zip in Kronos folder in system.  The dot is yellow and the rom won't start.

I'm not sure what I'm missing.

Thanks for the help.

The yellow light means the hash value of the file doesn't match what our records show it should be.  I believe if you mouse-over the yellow dot, it'll tell you that.

When you launch a game, it'll tell you it's "missing".  If you do it in LaunchBox there is a "stop reminding me" button you can check and then launch the game, and it won't bug you about it anymore.

But since the game won't launch (after bypassing that message), you most likely have the wrong, or a corrupt version of the BIOS file. So probably don't click the 'stop reminding me' button until that's resolved.

[How to choose the core during a Retroarch import process]

26 minutes ago, legolas119 said:

How i can manually add the game

Drag and drop the .zip file onto LaunchBox.  Or press Ctrl+N to add a new game.

[How to pass command to individual Mame game?]

9 minutes ago, colonelsnow said:

I am trying to use a trainer plugin for PacMan.  I can get it to work outside Launchbox with the command line: mame pacman -plugin pactrainer. I can't figure out how to set that up in Launchbox. 

Edit your PacMan game. Under Emulation, check the box Use Custom Command-line Parameters. in the space below it, add -plugin pactrainer.

This will actually send the command mame -plugin pactrainer pacman. But should work just the same. 

If you use the LaunchBox Pause Menu for Arcade, shame on you.  But if that's your thing, you'll need to add -keyboardprovider dinput -plugin pactrainer for it to work.

[How to choose the core during a Retroarch import process]

7 minutes ago, legolas119 said:

yes, it works! 

Well, if i would like to import all my Sega Genesis games, using a default core, is it possible to set by default a specific core for all genesis game? Or is it necessary to to the action described above for every game?

thanks

If you have games in a single platform that use different cores, you will need to add the Custom Command-line parameter to the ones not using the default core for that platform (as described above).  One-by-one.

Alternately, for the games using the non-default core, you can (after importing) add the Custom Command-line parameter to them all-at-once using this plugin:

 

[LaunchBox 13.23 - Beta Thread]

4 minutes ago, Undertherainbow said:

Hello.

Whats consensus on getting data back to LB after update?

I tried clean instal couple times, it boots completely empty no playlist/database , nothing. And says "Free version" even tho my license file is right there. And then when i close , copy my data back it wont start any more.

If you reinstalled LaunchBox, check your install location.  Make sure it's not something like D:\LaunchBox\LaunchBox\LaunchBox.exe

[House of the dead 2 error]

11 minutes ago, wolfenstein0099 said:

Thank you so much! Its working now. Your the only person that knew that. Thank you! 

Well.... I didn't before.  But with a little ingenuity, I know it now.   

[House of the dead 2 error]

37 minutes ago, wolfenstein0099 said:

They are in the same mame folder. I have demul pointing to the mame folder. All the other games work. 

from hod2bios.zip, copy epr-21330.ic27 into naomi.zip and it'll work.  

Not sure why Demul is looking in naomi.zip for that file. But doing the above works. At least in my test when launched directly from Demul. 

Even in 2018 (Demul's latest release), that file was never in there.  Though the compatibility list does indicate it takes a "Cust" (Custom?) BIOS.  Maybe the above 'fix' is what that means.

Of course, this will screw things up when you go to update your MAME ROM set.  The "fix" for the 'fix': Copy the modified naomi.zip into your /Demul/roms/ folder and then add that path to Roms and Bioses Path in Demul itself.

[House of the dead 2 error]

5 minutes ago, wolfenstein0099 said:

I downloaded the newest non merged rom set of mame. Followed the launchbox guide. All my namoi games seem to be working but house of the dead 2 with demul. Getting this error but everything else seems to boot. Any idea how to fix it? 

The 'missing' file can be found in hotd2.zip and hod2bios.zip.  Make sure Demul has access to hod2bios.zip (as in, make sure that file is in the same folder as hotd2.zip).

[jzIntvImGUI (Mattel Intellivision) + Launchbox]

2 minutes ago, 5thWolf said:

Oh man that's exactly what I have on my last attempt!
I just now tired, just incase, making the rom path be "..\emu\game.int" instead of "E:\emulators\emu\game.int".
But was same exact result.

To best help, you should tell us the actual paths you had in there.  I presume those are "example paths" and I'm surprised it let you [attempt to] launch the game using that relative path. It should have said [something like] "ROM file not found". 

Assuming the absolute path is E:\Emulators\emu\game.int, the relative path should be ..\Emulators\emu\game.int  (also assuming LaunchBox is in E:\LaunchBox\)

Can you share screenshots your version of the 3 I show above?

[jzIntvImGUI (Mattel Intellivision) + Launchbox]

1 hour ago, 5thWolf said:

With full path name I tried with and without quotes and still, command window just disappears immediately after I see it.

Edit emulator - NO boxes checked (except in Associated Platforms - Default Emulator). -f1 for fullscreen.

 

Edit game - point to the .int file

[Launchbox Question about Emulators/Directories]

1 hour ago, KevlarMike said:

what is the best way to setup my emulators for launchbox.

The "best way" is in the eye of the beholder. 

Since LaunchBox doesn't ever touch any emulator settings or configurations (beyond you asking LB to install or remove them), as long as it knows where the main executable is located [and it's told the proper command-line parameters to use], it should be fairly infallible.

It does offer the /Emulators/ subfolder.  Consider it an effort to "keep things together".  It can also aide in keeping your LaunchBox setup portable in that you only need to move that one folder (/LaunchBox/) when moving it to a new location.  Caveat: Not all emulators are innately portable. Most times this can be resolved by adding a file to the emulators main folder (e.g. an empty 'portable.txt' file).  Emulators that you allow LaunchBox to install for you will be made portable.

Similarly, ROM locations can be placed wherever you want them to be.  The /Games/ subfolder is a good location, but not a requirement.  However, do note that placing your ROMs in the respective Platforms' folder under Games has the benefit of, when you add more games to that folder, LaunchBox has the ability to automatically add them into you LaunchBox collection (platform and emulator pending).

 

2 hours ago, KevlarMike said:

I have my emulators added to lunchbox and lunchbox reading my game directories.

That, is the end goal. LB knowing where these are located.  

 

2 hours ago, KevlarMike said:

The problems I’ve had. 

That's a lot of corruption going on.  

My 1st thought would be to check your drive.  Make sure it's healthy and error free.

Placing the emulators within the LaunchBox folder structure won't alleviate any corruption.

 

2 hours ago, KevlarMike said:

i’ve had lunchbox not launch on two different occasions because of corruption.

A potentially faulty drive aside, this is typically caused by not properly shutting down LaunchBox.  Note, when you close LaunchBox (e.g. click the X in the upper right corner), the UI will close virtually immediately.  However, it will still run in the background shortly while saving data.  If you turn your PC off immediately after exiting LaunchBox, or worse, turn your PC off without exiting LaunchBox, the data will not get saved.  Potentially causing you LaunchBox issues.

[1st time using launchBox, MAME will not run, only show contents of zip files.]

3 hours ago, tk007b said:

Looks like my original question is still unanswered but by pulling in a whole romset, LaunchBox seems to have installed the right version of MAME and got them working, as a workaround.  I will post up the solution if I ever find out, how to just get a few roms working without the massive import. 

You could try this and see if it sheds any light...

 

[Error on loading Launchbox]

1 hour ago, Tibbs68 said:

hi, I've reviewed the directory isn't locked on all of the plugin folders and I still receive the error report. Any other suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

Give this a read. Hopefully something in there will resolve the issue.

Plugin Access Denied Error - LaunchBox

[Platform Icons are not displayed]

6 hours ago, Kedog said:

I have it in the correct folder, but it just isn't showing up in LB.

The default location change in version 13.21 with the advent of Media Packs.  You can find more information about them here:

LaunchBox Media Pack Feature – Version 13.21 - LaunchBox

[Bulk change game Titles to Alternate Names (by Region)]

1 hour ago, Rinusch said:

Hi! Thanks for your efforts!!

However, I have an issue with it, which is that it doesn't auto rename corresponding media files too. When I manually set an alternate name for a game, Launchbox automatically renames my media files along with it. The result is that after the rename action, LB can't find the associated media files anymore!

The intent of the plugin is to bulk change game titles to that of a different Region.  The issue with renaming the media is, say you went from NA to JP, your JP titles will be displaying the [e.g.] NA Box-Front. Assuming one's available, [I would think] you'd want to have the actual JP Box-Front displayed.

This was, to a degree, thought about. And for the above reasoning, it was quickly forgotten about.  Well, ignored.

 

If there's a common scenario (vs. something niche) I'm missing where this would be viable without causing other issues (e.g. image location based on Region [and rename AND having to move them, then having an NA image in a JP folder...]), please let me know.  State your case.  Give an example or 2 of use-case.   

 

Behind the scenes, there's also some logistics of image file locations and folder placement.  Relocating the images from one region folder and then move them to the new regions folder? Keep them in that folder and hope LB still looks there [now, with the new filename].  Not sure. TBH, sound like a pain.   

[Custom Badges]

6 hours ago, Cineaste said:

I accidentally deleted my badges when I purged the plugin folder.

Decided to recompile but they no longer show in LB? I've tried renaming and using different IDs to no avail. The plugin badge option appears in LB but the image file isn't visible (using custom field entries as an example). 

Can I clean the cache somehow? 

With the advent of the new Media Packs introduced in v13.21, the embedded image in [new] Custom Badges are not getting extracted.

Manually adding the image file you used into the Nostalgic Platform Badges folder and naming it after the plugins’ Unique Id will allow the badge to show.

There is a Bug Report submitted (is not publicly visible yet), so the developers are aware.

[MAME History.xml Viewer]

23 hours ago, Doodah said:

That is so kind of you to get back to me, and so quickly! I was hoping to mimic Mame a bit more and just have that info available on-screen to scroll through when the game comes up

You're welcome. 😎 Yeah, for something like that (see it for each game, on-the-fly), you're probably stuck with MAME or one of it's derivatives (i.e. MAMEui). 

If you're super ambitious, you might be able to create a Theme, that calls a plugin (similar to, but not this one) to grab the history info, and then squeeze that into the panel on the right side of the screen.  But that'd be kind of a pain. But I'm sure it could be done.

But you know, eventually will have to play these games too.  

[MAME History.xml Viewer]

2 hours ago, Doodah said:

This is cool. Well done. I was hoping to find a frontend that showed history info per game for MAME. They don't seem to exist. Is one possible?

Thanks.  To answer your question, you could try the frontend called LaunchBox and then install this plugin to get what you're after.

But you may want to install a different plugin instead (see below) that give s you 3 viewers in one.  It lets you view game specific commands from MAME's command.dat, the specific games history using MAMEs History.xml (just like this plugin) and/or initialization procedures of games emulated by MAME that require some setup which reads from MAMEs gameinit.dll.