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Since this post, there have been others where the majority of the issue stems from poorly made, old video files. Tests you may want to run on your video files include: Removing any flv files - test Remove all your videos - test Reintroduce videos per platform - test and repeat You'll want to test inbetween each step, running attract mode, using the default Big Box theme. It's not ideal, but it's hard to find those problematic video files when you are dealing with thousands of them.

No eta unfortunately. There are some more bandaid fixes in the current beta branch. One of the main issues is their api timing out after you started the download process. In the meantime a few suggestions: Import your games first without downloading any media, then you can use something like the audit tool to select a chunk of games and run the download tool, reducing the likelyhood of you being timed-out. Use their sync utility. Take the downloaded images and place them into the correct LaunchBox folder (eg. Box front images would go into LaunchBox\Images\[platform name]\Box - Front\ Download from the LaunchBox Games DB (the first media option in the wizard)

Hi @oakwellusa. While I never tried to emulate that system, I did find an old thread that led to this video. Not sure if it's still relavent.

Cool idea. We have talked about it. I'd be curious to know if there's a database that exists that shows same game, different platform. Does anyone know of one? I'm also curious where people believe the line should be drawn. Does it need to be the exact same game, but on different systems. Do you include remakes, reimaginings, remasters, compilations, unofficial ports. Curious as to what people's thoughts are here.

While I don't have all the answers, I can provide some feedback here. LaunchBox cannot use the same process as their sync tool. EmuMovies provides their API, which you are finding is no longer sufficient. We are doing our best to bandaid the api to continue to function until the EmuMovies team releases their new API for us to integrate. You should note that images downloaded from the sync tool will work in LaunchBox, you will just need to manually place them in the appropriate image folder. Internet speeds are unfortunately not the only factor when downloading thousands of files, but for your use case of just using LaunchBox games database on one image type, we definitely want to see improvements in the speed. I can definitely say not everyone is experiencing the same slowdowns when downloading from the LaunchBox Games Database. Some general tips: Try to import games first without downloading any media. Then run the media downloader on hundreds of games and see if you are still getting slowdowns. Some others may have some other tips as well.

Hi @aceituning. Sounds like you did your research, but just to reiterate, the issue with exFAT is from its limitations for not being able to support symlink functionality, which is required for most themes to function. Best case scenario is for you to get off of exFAT, which you mentioned is not currently an option for you. A workaround would be for you to copy the contents of the themes you want to use into the "LaunchBox\Core\Themes" folder, and mark the folder as Read Only. This would mean you would have to go through the manual process whenever a theme updates. It's definitely strange to see it work when you launchBig Box.exe directly, I would definitely take that as a win.

If someone still had the older theme files you could use them, as long as you note that all platform view colors are broken in that version. I've ported the theme over to the COMMUNITY Theme Creator, which is currently in beta. That version will eventually replace this one. So if you, or others, have time to test the colors, I can make any adjustments before the release.

Since this version is a complete rewrite, with a different codebase, I'm just looking for confirmation that nothing looks out of place. Thanks for your reports. @soqueroeu I'll have the video stretching fixed. This version will eventually be replacing the current Colorful theme, as that one uses unoptimized code with a legacy plugin.

Potentially a theme related XAML code error from your hybrid theme.

Hi @Kimjongilist. Do you remember what you were doing when you ran into this error?

You don't have to separate by country, you can leave it in the root image folder (eg. Images\Box - Front).

Hi @TheRiceKing. Emumovies uses ROM file names for their naming convention. LaunchBox can read images that are named after the ROM file, even though it's not the default. You would simply copy the downloaded images from their sync tool to the appropriate LaunchBox image folder.

Hi @rom116. Sounds like you have a unique issue that's not related to this thread, What the process you are seeing is trying to do is download any new metadata from the LaunchBox GamesDB, which is then saved in a file called Metadata.xml, located in the LaunchBox\Metadata folder. It may be possible that the file is somehow locked by another process, stopping LaunchBox from updating the file and therefore making LaunchBox hang. Make sure LaunchBox isn't trying to be sync'd by a cloud storage program (like dropbox). These programs will lock files that LaunchBox needs to write to.

Hi @thewhite. The short answer is yes. You'll also find your answer here in this thread:

Hi @Soulchip. You are right, LaunchBox is definitely not suited for a 640x480 screen. I'll mention it to the guys and see what the process would be to support a screen that tiny.

Sounds like you may have figured out your issue. To confirm, turn off Goodsync and see if you are getting the same errors as before. If it is goodsync causing your issues, you could try and optimize your process. Some ideas could be to make Goodsync stop syncing certain folders, or making it only sync at certain times. You'll have to figure out how flexible goodsync is. You definitely don't want to have 2 different programs trying to access the same files at the same time. This could potentially lead to more than just theme loading errors, but missing or corrupt LaunchBox data.

Yeah, like what @neil9000 is saying, it looks like it's a simple fix for you. Remember that LaunchBox will only associate images and videos if the name matches either: The Name of the game in LaunchBox (eg. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.mp4) The name of the ROM file you are launching (Found in the Launching tab in the Edit Game window)

Hi @Hi-Res. Are you able to post a screenshot of your file explorer with the location and file name of the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs video snap, along with the Game edit window from LaunchBox?

Hi @Jdzspace. Usually when you see this error, it's because 2 different games on steam utilize the same key (eg. like a demo of a game vs the actual game). At the moment, it looks like you figured out a good workaround. Another one is to drag and drop your game shortcuts or game exe's directly into LaunchBox.

Hi @gpani82. This usually means that something is interfering with the shutdown process of LaunchBox. A few common reason why this would happen: You have LaunchBox in a location where it's being sync'd to the cloud (like DropBox) and the cloud software is locking your files while LaunchBox is trying to save on exit. Something is force shutting down the LaunchBox process while it's trying to finish its exit saving process. A permission issue stopping LaunchBox from being able to access the necessary files while saving on exit. A hard drive beginning to fail that stops the required write to happen.

Hi @kal9000. The error message does seem to indicate that the symlinks are failing to connect. A few thoughts: Make sure you aren't running LaunchBox or Big Box as an admin. Make sure you don't have any kind of permission issue that could cause LaunchBox to not be able to load those files (like having a syncing program like DropBox locking the files down while Big Box is trying to use them). A potential workaround could be for you to make a copy of the city hunter and place it into your LaunchBox\Core\Themes folder. Then right click the folder, go into properties and make it read-only.

Hi @razormania, I'm not too familiar with the Atari Fight Stick. Do you know how WIndows sees it? As a controller or as a keyboard? If it's a controller and the buttons are being registered by Windows, are you having trouble then mapping those buttons to a hotkey in Big Box?

The results are now live in the OP. Thank you everyone for participating.