Tsik

Okay, I just thought that even if you've already solved the problem, it's more likely that someone else will stumble upon this thread in the future, so I'd better post the basic configuration of ePSXe and how to use the emulator from version 2.0.18 onwards via LaunhBox, now that it supports CHD among other features. (The instructions below are tested on a Windows 10 x64 system, although the emulator is still in x32 bit.) We start in "standalone mode" emulator and then apply it to LaunhBox. 1st. Download the latest ePSXe emulator and get the Playstation BIOS files (legally!!). Unzip the contents of ePSXe_XXX.zip to a folder of your choice (preferably in ..\LaunchBox\Emulators\ePSXe). Place the BIOS files in the BIOS folder inside ..\ePSXe\bios and double-click on ePSXe.exe. From the main menu, go to File>Run ISO and select the directory where you have your games, whether in .iso or .chd format, it doesn't matter, because the emulator in this state excludes the file types .BIN, .CUE, .ISO, .CHD, .IMG, .CCD, .MDS, .PBP and .ECM. That's it, now your game should start in a window. If you want full screen, select it from the Configuration>Video>Full Screen Mode menu and make sure you have selected the correct desktop resolution of your monitor. LaunchBox Integration: At this point I'm assuming you've already imported your game files into LaunchBox and probably on a platform named something like "Sony Playstation". Now go to Tools>Emulator Manager and click on the Add... button. In the Emulator Name field type "ePSXe" and LauncBox will autofill the rest for you. Now, here is where some might get confused, until this version of LauncBox(13.25) and the ePSXe2018 some command line arguments (as @JoeViking245 said earlier) have changed, so in the Default Command Line Parameters field you should type -nogui -slowboot -loadiso even if the games are in .CHD format. (NO need for "%romfile%" as at the first screenshot at all) Then go to the Connected Platforms tab type in the platform for your games, e.g. "Sony Playstation" and check the Default Emulator checkbox next to it. Click OK and... That's it, End and have a good game... P.S. I haven't messed with anything other than the above settings and arguments, so I don't know anything more so far. If you need more information about plugins, settings or anything else, visit https://www.epsxe.com/help.php or read the epsxe.chm file that comes with the ePSXe download. P.S._2 Even in the epsxe.chm file (ePSXe2018 version), some of the command line arguments are outdated (it reads ePSXe 1.2.0), so keep that in mind.

Hey Mandarynek have you solved your issue with ePSXe till now? I gave it a try and it is pretty straight forward using it with CHDs. If you still need help, I'll be happy to... Cheers! 🙂

In my personal opinion its totally up to you! Clear Logos or Arcade Cabinets or even Marquee images work fine. At the end of the day its about whats fits your liking and the best part is that you can change anything at anytime so you can experiment. 😄

Hello and welcome to the forum, this is a combination (I would say) of what type of media is downloaded and the image priority that is set under the Tools>options>Media>XXXXX Priorities If lets say there is a box-front image being downloaded and a box-3d at the same time in the priorities section you decide which image to show as the most important. If on the other hand there is no Box-front or Box-3D image (in some situations) and you did not set up any other image type than these two then nothing will show up. PS. Have you tried to reload the image cache (F5)?

Hi, Probably RetroArch is set as the default emulator for the platform where your Playstation games are, so just got to the Associated Platforms Tab on the left under the Details tab and check the box under Default Emulator for that specific platform. (There is a chance that LaunchBox will ask you for a confirmation about changing your default emulator for that platform just click yes.)

That's a nice statement and I have to admit that I personally would find this feature useful for that reason. I don't use BigBox much and now that I think about it maybe that's one reason I don't.

Hi, may I ask what this "nested platform" feature will provide more/better than the already existing "Platform Category" which does not? 🙂 You know, just asking...

The simplest way for the lay file should be like this: (assuming your numbers and pngs are there and correct) <!-- asteroid.lay --> <mamelayout version="2"> <!-- Elements sector --> <element name="Bezel"> <image file="bezel.png"/> </element> <element name="Overlay"> <image file="Overlay.png"/> </element> <!-- View sector --> <!-- View 1 --> <view name="Bezel"> <screen index="0"> <bounds x="360" y="96" width="1208" height="890"/> </screen> <element ref="Overlay" blend="add"><!-- This should make the Background blend with the graphics--> <bounds x="173" y="48" width="1574" height="984"/> </element> <element ref="Bezel"> <bounds x="0" y="0" width="1920" height="1080"/> </element> </view> </mamelayout> you should try and implement the above code to your artwork This is how my artwork\asteriods.zip is

Hello there, its probably some image that the lay file does not find so it represent it with diagonal lines. In situations like this do the following... Go to the directory where your Mame.exe is and in the explorer path type cmd and press enter then in the command window type mame.exe This will start MAME with a console window open in which when you run the game in question it will tell you whats exactly is wrong.. Something like the below pic. PS. I hope you are using windows and let MAME run in window mode using Alt+Enter so you can see the console. Edit: Look inside your artwork folder inside that asteroid.zip for that .lay file and change that <backdrop element=xxx.png> and <bezel element=xxx.xxx> in your lay file because these are deprecated tags (It seems you have an old artwork file), they should be written as <element ref=xxx.xxx> Hope that helps! 😅

Hey @AstroBob the fact that you being able to track down a machine that does experience the problem is good news and thanks a lot for the update.🙂 Below I provide the information you asked form 1 of the 2 machines I own : 1. Desktop PC Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3220 CPU @ 3.30GHz, RAM 4,00 GB SSD Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500G Intel(R) HD Graphics (32 MB) Windows 10 (x64) 2. I tried launching BigBox with every-single-way there is (from LaunchBox, from cmd, from BigBox.exe (double click) but usually from a batch (.bat) file. 3. All the above tested also with a fresh install with no custom plugins installed with just a video in the appropriate folder and the appropriate settings only for that reason. 4. I use only one video in .mp4 format (link) but edit it (with CupCut) to just 20sec. Also i tried other irrelevant video files in other formats such as .wmv, .mpeg, .m4v, 3gp, .avi). 5. File location bellow: 5. Lastly i've being using both FFMPEG and Windows Media Player with the K-Lite basic codec pack installed and updated. as provided by the LaunchBox installer. Oh and of course the latest LauncBox version 13.24 As a final thing that just right now came to my mind to point out is that I also have VLC media player (v3.0.21) installed on the system but not as a default app. Merry Christmas to everyone, developers, community members and a massive thank you. 🎄

Ok that's "one step" good news that this behavior isn't just happening only to me, appending the fact that as you found its not a memory/performance issue then perhaps is something blocking/conflicting the video playback like a startup app or a windows service that before it starts the playback works. Or some-kind of a bug in the LaunchBox/BigBox code that is relative to that. I really don't know what else could be wrong because it seems that this does not affect everyone (even in a fresh/new LaunchBox build).

@Electroball Thank you for the time you spend for testing this. This shows that it is indeed not a performance issue on our end (your PCs are beasts compared to mine). One question if you mind though, have you ever tried instead of restarting BigBox restart the PC itself and start BigBox as sooner as you can after logging in to desktop? That way only the startup video plays every time for me but only once every restart... 😞 just like @Bockz69's posted above. Again thanks for sharing your find. 👍

@Bockz69 Thanks for sharing your find, this might help... May I ask about your PC specs? (If you wish to share of course 🙂)

Older versions of LaunchBox before 13.21 use the VLC media player for video playback but from that version onwards it uses either Windows Media Player (Legacy) or FFMPEG (see the full article here). So it is more likely that version 11.9 will work. Also I want to point out that by saying "putting a BigBox shortcut (BigBox.lnk) in windows Startup folder I literally mean to put it in "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" and NOT to start BigBox as shell bypassing windows from the (BigBox options) because it needs WMP to play the video (I think 🤔). This way we achieve to start BigBox right after Windows starts in case some other startup app is conflicting with the video playback or the system's memory is at low usage at that point. Cheers! 🙂

Ok, good to know. 😉 Guess all we can do then is wait...

Welcome to the BBNPSVA (BigBox Not Play Startup Videos Anymore) club...😅😐 I also have an old PC, tried everything you mensioned and as you guess "I've hit a wall". I tryied to open a thread about the problem here but I got basically nothing... I was starting to think that the only solution is to upgrade my rig due to its low performance but it seems now that a lot of users have the same issue as you can see here. The "correct way" as far as I know is as you said is by adding a startup folder to the videos folder and putting one or more [video_name].mp4 file/s in. as @AstroBob also said here. Can you please out of curiosity try and put a BigBox shortcut in the windows startup folder like I discribe in the first link and restart the pc... I know that it is not a solution but for me it was the only way to make the video start every single time. I would like to know if this works also for others or it is just me, Just a start for trying to pinpoint where the issue lies. Thanks.

Hi there, I am having the same problem (from 13.20 I think and on) and if I may suggest something that I've tried here, its not a solution to the problem but perhaps it helps a bit to pinpoint where the issue comes from (LaunchBox\PC performance\setup). Just try and put a BigBox shortcut into "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp" or per user "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" and restart the PC. BigBox should auto-start right after Windows login. In my case this is the only way I've got BigBox startup video to show up every-single-time! That said I assume perhaps (and I hope not) the issue at least on my end lies on my PC performance [i5-6500 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 8,00 GB RAM and an AMD Radeon (TM) R7 370 Series (2 GB)]. Perhaps the developers read this and tell us their opinion. @AstroBob Thanks in advance.

So, after much fiddling around it seems that the problem was not some kind of setting or arrangement nor anything to do with codecs. I finally reach to the conclusion that the problem is some kind of memory/performance issue. Not trying to say that is LaunchBox is "heavy" as a software because I said before that both my PCs are old enough to give reasons for those type of problems from now on... guess things are evolving 😥 The only way I manage to make the startup video play every single time is by starting it as soon as windows starts and immediately after logging in. Or by putting a BigBox shortcut into the windows startup folder. Well is this some kind of solution? ...No, but I know at least that the software is working as intended, and perhaps in the future something will change regarding the software's performance but until then is more likely that I 'm going to need new PCs! 😁 So I'm marking this as a solution for anyone who might be reading this in the future. Thanks 🙂

Ok, baby steps with this one,👶 I manage to make the BigBox logo to show up by removing the video folder entirely and let it create an new empty one. It looks like if there is a startup folder with a video inside, the logo won't show even if it is enabled in the BigBox options. If the startup folder is empty the logo will show up. But the main problem still remains (no video playback during startup) with slash logo set to off... Every other video (Platform or Game) show up nicely. I even try and reinstall DirectX. 🤔