LEDBlinky Support

[Jason Carr]

Indeed. It's implemented and ready to go in the latest beta, and the official version should be out this coming week.

[Chest Rockwell]

Awesome.  Thanks much.

[arzoo]

Full support for LaunchBox will be included in the next LEDBlinky release. This will allow for additional options such as running animations for LaunchBox events (start, stop, list change, attract mode, game play, etc.), lighting the LaunchBox controls, and lighting the selected game controls for a few seconds while scrolling through the lists. I'm hoping to have the release ready in a week or so. I may need a couple people to do a some beta testing, if anyone is interested please let me know - thanks.

Also, just for clarification, the LEDBlinky/LaunchBox integration does not require any plugin.

[kmoney]

Sounds great @arzoo! I can be a beta tester if you need one, just let me know when ready.

[Jason Carr]

Thank you Arzoo! Count me in for the beta testing as well, of course.

[jking3]

@arzoo, count me in too. Happy to help!

 

Thanks.

 

J

[arzoo]

I may have the beta ready tonight, if not then later this week. @Jason Carr - I have your email . @kmoney and @jking3, msg me or send me an email so I have your address. Thanks all!

Edited September 11, 2016 by arzoo

[chadmoe1]

This is awesome news to hear!  When I started this thread nearly a year ago (wow did a year go fast), I wasn't sure what kind of response would given if the support for LEDBlinky wasn't available.  It has been reassuring to not only see others interested in the same features, but also to have @Jason Carr and others putting their support behind adding these features.  Needless to say, if I can help in Beta testing at all, please let me know!  I am excited to begin using the features!

[chito]

Ive just started a new Build and its exciting to see that the timing couldnt be better. I am a total noob with LedBlinky however, is there going to be some kind of guide on how to set this up in LaunchBox?

Also there was mention of setting this up for platforms other than mame, is that just as easy to do? 

[chito]

Im not sure how the following affects LaunchBox

from LedBlinky site:
 

Quote

The LEDBlinky plug-in should not be used in conjunction with any other MaLa, AtomicFE, or GameEx plug-in that controls the supported LED Controllers. If you have installed another LED plug-in, it should be disabled or removed from the \plugins folder. The LEDBlinky plug-in should not be used in conjunction with any native front-end feature that controls the supported LED Controllers. Please disable any MaLa, AtomicFE, or GameEx LED features.

 

Does the LedBlinky work via plugin in LaunchBox? cause its not mentioned on the LedBlinky site

[arzoo]

7 hours ago, chito said:

Im not sure how the following affects LaunchBox

from LedBlinky site:
 

Does the LedBlinky work via plugin in LaunchBox? cause its not mentioned on the LedBlinky site

No, LEDBlinky does not use any plugin for LaunchBox.

[arzoo]

8 hours ago, chito said:

Ive just started a new Build and its exciting to see that the timing couldnt be better. I am a total noob with LedBlinky however, is there going to be some kind of guide on how to set this up in LaunchBox?

Also there was mention of setting this up for platforms other than mame, is that just as easy to do? 

The LEDBlinky site has information on how to get up and running; http://ledblinky.net/Install.htm.

The site also has information on how to configure non-mame emulators using the LEDBlinky Controls Editor. I'll also mention that a user over on the byoac forums has created an app that will pre-load the LEDBlinky Controls Editor with 160 platforms; RocketBlinky

[dacountryguy]

My apologies if this is not the right place to post this but I am stumped. I have been waiting for LEDblinky to come along and was stoked to see it added in 6.9 but I can not for the life of me get it to work with launchbox or big box. I have mapped the controls and can test all the led's in the configure screen and they work perfect. I added in the links to the specified files in the mame config and launchbox tabs as per the instructions but when I launch either of the boxes nothing. I am sure it is just some minor oversight on my part but I am going crazy trying to get it to run.

Ledblinky version 6.3, MAME 0.175 (using mame64.exe) , LEDpac for led control, the control.ini file is from the ledblinky site, mame.xml was generated through the command prompt.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[arzoo]

10 hours ago, dacountryguy said:

My apologies if this is not the right place to post this but I am stumped. I have been waiting for LEDblinky to come along and was stoked to see it added in 6.9 but I can not for the life of me get it to work with launchbox or big box. I have mapped the controls and can test all the led's in the configure screen and they work perfect. I added in the links to the specified files in the mame config and launchbox tabs as per the instructions but when I launch either of the boxes nothing. I am sure it is just some minor oversight on my part but I am going crazy trying to get it to run.

Ledblinky version 6.3, MAME 0.175 (using mame64.exe) , LEDpac for led control, the control.ini file is from the ledblinky site, mame.xml was generated through the command prompt.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Please turn on the LEDBlinky Debug Log option (Misc Options tab), Run LaunchBox and a game or two, then email me the debug.ZIP file and I'll take a look.

[dacountryguy]

Alright rookie mistake to the extreme. Found out my issue. While I set up LEDBlinky proper I never clicked run LEDblinky in the options for launchbox. Anyone having a brain fart like me that is the easy fix.

[johnstewart]

Moved post to Troubleshooting forum:

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by johnstewart

[chadmoe1]

@Jason Carr and @arzoo (and others involved in the process) -- I've finally begun implementing LEDBlinky into Launchbox, and all of your work is much appreciated!  I have button lights that are emulator specific, and it adds to the entire display of my arcade.  Thanks again!

I am having one challenge (that maybe has an obvious answer) that has manifested.  I separate out Capcom Play System arcade games from my other arcade games.  Both use MAME 0177 to run, and games run without issue.  LEDBlinky, however, doesn't recognize the Capcom Play System games as arcade.  When I look in the Controller Editor and import new games, CPS shows up as a separate emulator even though it is actually run through MAME.  I suspect that the commands Launchbox sends during start/stop for CPS (or any nonarcade game) doesn't contain MAME.  I can't find any fields to edit that would enable me to change this.  Any suggestions?  I'd love to keep CPS and non CPS games separate in my Launchbox window.  Thanks!

[arzoo]

1 hour ago, chadmoe1 said:

@Jason Carr and @arzoo (and others involved in the process) -- I've finally begun implementing LEDBlinky into Launchbox, and all of your work is much appreciated!  I have button lights that are emulator specific, and it adds to the entire display of my arcade.  Thanks again!

I am having one challenge (that maybe has an obvious answer) that has manifested.  I separate out Capcom Play System arcade games from my other arcade games.  Both use MAME 0177 to run, and games run without issue.  LEDBlinky, however, doesn't recognize the Capcom Play System games as arcade.  When I look in the Controller Editor and import new games, CPS shows up as a separate emulator even though it is actually run through MAME.  I suspect that the commands Launchbox sends during start/stop for CPS (or any nonarcade game) doesn't contain MAME.  I can't find any fields to edit that would enable me to change this.  Any suggestions?  I'd love to keep CPS and non CPS games separate in my Launchbox window.  Thanks!

LaunchBox need to include 'mame' somewhere in the name of the emulator (the value passed to LEDBlinky). If it's not possible to alter the LaunchBox configuration then this might have to be an enhancement added (to LauchBox) - a way to designate an emulator as MAME.

[Fursphere]

Is there a way to see what Launch Box is passing to LEDBlinky?    Hyperspin had this running log file...  it would just dump every command that the front end was doing into a text log file during a session.  Really helpful when troubleshooting stuff (both game launching and LEDBlinky support.  I even went as far to hook up a second monitor at times and use Baretail (https://www.baremetalsoft.com/baretail/) to monitor the log file live when I was troubleshooting why one thing or another wasn't working.  

I haven't found an equivalent in LaunchBox/BigBox yet.

[arzoo]

11 minutes ago, Fursphere said:

Is there a way to see what Launch Box is passing to LEDBlinky?    Hyperspin had this running log file...  it would just dump every command that the front end was doing into a text log file during a session.  Really helpful when troubleshooting stuff (both game launching and LEDBlinky support.  I even went as far to hook up a second monitor at times and use Baretail (https://www.baremetalsoft.com/baretail/) to monitor the log file live when I was troubleshooting why one thing or another wasn't working.  

I haven't found an equivalent in LaunchBox/BigBox yet.

LEDBlinky has an extensive debug log (enabled from the Misc Options tab). Search the log for "Event Received". Specifically you want the events with "9" as the first parameter in the message. 9 is the GameSelected command and LaunchBox will pass the rom/game and emulator. For example:

Received Event - Queue:[1] Msg:[9~avsp~MAME].