Jason Carr

Beta 10 is out now guys with some fixes for some minor bugs from the automatic error reports. The other thing I changed was I changed the method of downloading images and media slightly to download them to a temporary folder and then move them, in an effort to get rid of rare errors that pop up while trying to use LaunchBox during an operation like metadata updates. I'm hoping this will be a good release candidate and we can release the official version either later tonight or tomorrow morning.

@zeus128 To be honest I'm having trouble understanding all that. It would be best to post individual feature requests using Issues/Requests in the header.

The one issue that we have been seeing (several users have reported it now) is that apparently sometimes nVidia graphics card drivers get corrupted and then nothing that uses DirectX will work (including Big Box or games). It should be able to be fixed by just reinstalling nVidia drivers though. I just upgraded myself and haven't experienced any issues (outside of a dreadfully long install time).

@mmsiphone @mazjohn Thank you so much for figuring that out. I'm willing to bet that's probably the same issue that you're running into @blackstar1, but it's hard to say for sure. But we'll be sure to tell people to reinstall their nVidia drivers if more people run into this.

@Maddoc1007 @LukeArio I can confirm that I am seeing both issues myself as well. Hopefully I can manage to get them fixed tomorrow; it looks like the release will end up coming out on Wednesday. @Maddoc1007 That CoverFlow bug has been a problem since the beginning and has to do with files that are in use, proving to be a nasty one to solve. Anyways, beta 9 is out with the following: - Improvement: Big Box CoverFlow performance has been marginally improved; also, for lower end machines such as the GPD Win, the reflections are what cause performance issues and can now be turned off under Big Box > Options > Images > CoverFlow Reflection Opacity. Set the opacity to 0% to drastically improve performance. - Improvement: Hide Taskbar is no longer the default for Big Box since it seems to cause some rare issues on some systems, specifically when coming back to Big Box from a game (thanks to Charco for figuring this out) - Fixed: When selecting a platform, platform category, or playlist in the sidebar in LaunchBox and no previous image type had been selected for that item, LaunchBox was not using the default image type but rather it was using the image type that was used for the previous selection - Fixed: Playlists were not looking at additional apps when populating the games in the lists - Fixed: When creating automatic arcade playlists, some non-arcade games were ending up in the list Anything you guys can do to test the above would be appreciated.

Thank you all very much. I have all translations updated for the next beta, which should be out shortly. I expect the release to be out either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thank you @Thatman84. @SentaiBrad, I think the issue is that somehow the emulator is not getting attached when searching for and adding new ROMs.

@spektor56 Thank you so much for demonstrating that. That's been available for ages but of course I haven't ever demoed it or provided any proper support for it. I'm hoping to add an easy way to get at the data from a plugin like that in the future.

@ETAPRIME can probably help chime in here. But generally, all that is needed for LaunchBox in particular is the latest version of the .NET framework and DirectX.

In that case, let's hope it's not a mainstream issue on Tuesday, but it doesn't sound like it is. Probably still a driver or operating system bug. Historically, when LaunchBox or Big Box refuses to start at all it's typically a problem with DirectX or .NET.

@blackstar1 Unfortunately it sounds like you've probably run into a driver instability issue or a bug with the beta version of Windows 10. I would make sure you report it to Microsoft, but there might not be much you can do until Microsoft fixes it. I don't have any immediate ideas other than attempting to reinstall DirectX. Generally, when using the fast track Windows 10 updates, you're going to run into more bugs, so I wouldn't recommend doing so unless you're willing to fight with them a bit, and sadly it sounds like you found one. I would try downgrading to the official version again for now to see if it fixes the issue. I'm pretty sure that's possible but honestly I haven't done it myself, so you'll probably have to do a bit of Googling. Very sorry I can't be more help with this.

@danwelsh Sorry for the trouble there.

Wow, sorry for the super late response @phaeren12. But yes, it is possible to pay with Visa gift cards that act as prepaid credit cards.

Beta 8 is out now guys with basically just two fixes: - Fixed: Playlists in Big Box were not switching image types correctly - Fixed: Controller automation was occasionally causing issues with Big Box when closing out of certain emulators Thanks all.

Thank you guys. @MajKSA, we do still have some other release notes to translate since this will be our first time. Can you translate the below? Welcome to LaunchBox RELEASEVERSION! Here are the biggest changes for this release: See the changelog under the Help menu for more. If you appreciate LaunchBox, please Like us on Facebook and help us spread the word! THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL BETA RELEASE. Please do not distribute this version of LaunchBox, as it is not an official release and could be broken. See the changelog under the Help menu for further details on the changes for this release. Please report all issues that you run into using the Report Issue option under the Help menu. Thanks for using LaunchBox! To get started, you can: Install or Import MS-DOS games Import your games from Steam Import your ROM collection See what LaunchBox can do View the changelog under the Help menu for details on the latest version. Support LaunchBox!

Thank you @cammelspit. We should put in tickets for #1 and #3; I won't be able to tackle those before the 7.9 release. #2 should already be addressed with beta 7; let me know if you're still seeing performance issues switching between platform categories and platforms. I'll try and get to #4 before the 7.9 release.

The new beta will be out later today and then you can update to the beta to help test, if you would. Just go to Tools > Options > Updates > Update to Beta Releases in LaunchBox.

I have this fixed for the next beta guys. Image types weren't switching properly when using playlists in Big Box. They should switch properly with the Switch Image Type shortcuts in the next beta.

That makes sense @CriticalCid, we'll add that to the list. I really need to get back to your list of wants/needs for custom themes.

Awesome, @Grila. Sounds like a great situation, and your work is so much appreciated. Not to mention you're one of those people who's super talented and yet humble, and constantly helping other people...it shows.

Yeah, that would be really nice, agreed. I did try that a while back and ran into issues with it. But maybe I can come back to that here at some point.

Seriously, I so wish I could hire @CriticalCid and @Grila both to work on themes full time; that would be amazing. I gotta stop hiring people though or we're gonna hire the entire community and there'll be no users left lol. We're up to six of us now. But if ever we get to a financial state where we can support it, that's not a bad idea.

Alright guys, I believe I have the controller issue figured out. It's not specific to Windows 7 or any particular controller; it's just a timing issue and it happens so rarely for me that I had just never seen it before. I'm hoping that it's fixed for the next beta. Thanks for helping me troubleshoot through it all.

That goes for you too @CriticalCid. You guys are both royalty. Just thought of something; it actually might be dependent on the language you use in LaunchBox/Big Box. I hadn't thought of that. So, hmm. Not sure if there's any good way to force it, though...but that would mean that it is indeed ignoring your system settings and just using whatever the defaults are for the active language in LaunchBox.

@bundangdon They should automatically populate in your collection once you remove any existing platform category clear logo images. LaunchBox will add them if you don't have any other images, basically. So delete any platform category images that you currently have, then go into Big Box and clear the platform wheel cache. That should do it.