Big Box isn't regaining Window Focus after game exit

[wallmachine]

On 1/22/2018 at 6:54 PM, damageinc86 said:

There's another thread about focus, but taskbar related.  I don't know what to do about this, but I've had focus problems since day one.  Except mine is always the taskbar showing up and staying visible even when I do click back into big box. 

did you ever work this out?

 

On 5/6/2019 at 2:24 PM, kaichou said:

OK, finally had time to come back to this.  This didn't seem the fix the focus issue.  I exit any Gamecube/Dolphin game, and it doesn't return focus to BigBox.   I'll keep searching google, but if you have any other ideas...

This might be the same losing focus issue I'm experiencing.
 

On 4/24/2019 at 8:56 PM, jayjay said:

RegainFocus.zip 2.48 kB · 5 downloads

Download this.

Right click on the zip file, properties and choose "Unblock".

Put the dll in plugins folder.

put .ahk in autohotkey directory.

Start a game in LB/BB.

Exit the game.

If you get a message box pop up that says "Hello".

Replace the .ahk with this one.

RegainFocus.ahk 391 B · 4 downloads

I think the issue is, the original .ahk had "Launchbox" but should be "LaunchBox"

This worked to not bring the taskbar up however I still have to physically click somewhere in BigBox. I'm using GameLoader ALL RH at the moment.

The following option fixed BigBox taskbar pop-up but its not available in newer versions so now BigBox taskbar pops up and also other emulators (I just dealt with but now I'm using others more so its annoying)

Edited May 8, 2019 by wallmachine

[jayjay]

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
#WinActivateForce
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
;Sleep, 2000
WinActivate, LaunchBox
ExitApp

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
#WinActivateForce
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
;Sleep, 2000
WinActivate, LaunchBox
PostMessage, 0x112, 0xF030,,, LaunchBox
ExitApp

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
#WinActivateForce
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
;Sleep, 2000
WinActivate, LaunchBox
WinMaximize, LaunchBox
ExitApp

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.
#WinActivateForce
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
;Sleep, 2000
WinRestore, LaunchBox
ExitApp

Try some of these. You might want to try mixing up the window commands. Other than that im out of idea's.

Edited May 7, 2019 by jayjay

[wallmachine]

@jayjay thanks for the suggestions but non helped my case.

Edited May 8, 2019 by wallmachine

[Juzzotec]

20 hours ago, wallmachine said:

The following option fixed BigBox taskbar pop-up but its not available in newer versions so now BigBox taskbar pops up and also other emulators (I just dealt with but now I'm using others more so its annoying)

Is there a reason to use the latest release? I dont know why this option was removed, we need it back.

I would revert back to the last version before it was removed.

[wallmachine]

4 minutes ago, Juzzotec said:

Is there a reason to use the latest release? I dont know why this option was removed, we need it back.

I would revert back to the last version before it was removed.

Yeah I tried reverting but none of the downloads on the first page work... emucr some files it seems like people have played with and added different virus on some releases that I've grabbed. (not the normal virus it gets prompted for)

Edited May 8, 2019 by wallmachine

[Azalis]

I had this problem and managed to find a fix that works for me, at least for Retroarch.  In the manage emulators option under tools select edit under Retroarch and select the Game Startup Screen tab and check the box "Hide all windows that are not in exclusive fullscreen mode" Hope this helps someone.

[Visivopro]

On 5/10/2019 at 6:23 AM, Azalis said:

I had this problem and managed to find a fix that works for me, at least for Retroarch.  In the manage emulators option under tools select edit under Retroarch and select the Game Startup Screen tab and check the box "Hide all windows that are not in exclusive fullscreen mode" Hope this helps someone.

Just want to say thank you! This solution worked for me when I was having focus issues with Supermodel 3.

[DrGrizzPHD]

I know this is an old thread, but I had the same issue with the Microsoft Store version of Killer Instinct.  I happen to own Minecraft for Windows 10 as well and it has the same problem on my setup.  I have spent a few days searching around the forums and none of the previous solutions worked.  The "regainfocus" plugin from jayjay seemed promising, but it didn't work either for some reason.  Possibly the dll file in the plugin isn't detecting when the UWP app is closed.

The workaround I came up with is to create an ahk script that captures the ID of the active window and then waits for it to close.  Once the game/window is closed, it will run the ahk commands from jayjay's plugin to Activate Launchbox/BigBox.  Below is the script that I cobbled together:

Sleep, 3000 ; Wait three seconds for the game to launch
MouseMove, 1920, 500 ; move the mouse to the middle of the screen instead of the corner to prevent the title/start bar from appearing
Sleep, 10000 ; wait 10 seconds for good measure to make sure the game is loaded and is the active window, this could probably be reduced
WinGet, active_id, ID, A ; get the ID of the active window
WinWaitClose, ahk_id %active_id% ; wait for the active window to close
Sleep, 500 ; wait half a second, this might not be needed either
if WinExist("LaunchBox Game Startup")
{
	WinActivate
	WinWaitClose, LaunchBox Game Startup
}

if WinExist("LaunchBox")
{
	WinActivate
}

if WinExist("LaunchBox Big Box")
{
	WinActivate
}

ExitApp

So below are the full steps that I took to fix my focus issue with Killer Instinct and Minecraft for Windows 10:

1. Download and install the full version of AutoHotkey, which has the functionality to compile an ahk script into an exe

2. Save the above script commands as a new ".ahk" file

3. Right-click on the file and select Compile Script, which will output a ".exe" file with the same filename

4. In Launchbox, edit the Windows Store/UWP game that has this issue and navigate to "Additional Apps"

5. Select "New Application", give it a name and browse to the ".exe" file created in step 3.

6. Check the "Automatically Run Before Main Application" box and hit OK

 

Since it took me a couple days to find a fix, I wanted to post this just in case it helps someone in the future.

[Humps123]

On 7/9/2020 at 8:32 PM, DrGrizzPHD said:

I know this is an old thread, but I had the same issue with the Microsoft Store version of Killer Instinct.  I happen to own Minecraft for Windows 10 as well and it has the same problem on my setup.  I have spent a few days searching around the forums and none of the previous solutions worked.  The "regainfocus" plugin from jayjay seemed promising, but it didn't work either for some reason.  Possibly the dll file in the plugin isn't detecting when the UWP app is closed.

The workaround I came up with is to create an ahk script that captures the ID of the active window and then waits for it to close.  Once the game/window is closed, it will run the ahk commands from jayjay's plugin to Activate Launchbox/BigBox.  Below is the script that I cobbled together:

Sleep, 3000 ; Wait three seconds for the game to launch
MouseMove, 1920, 500 ; move the mouse to the middle of the screen instead of the corner to prevent the title/start bar from appearing
Sleep, 10000 ; wait 10 seconds for good measure to make sure the game is loaded and is the active window, this could probably be reduced
WinGet, active_id, ID, A ; get the ID of the active window
WinWaitClose, ahk_id %active_id% ; wait for the active window to close
Sleep, 500 ; wait half a second, this might not be needed either
if WinExist("LaunchBox Game Startup")
{
	WinActivate
	WinWaitClose, LaunchBox Game Startup
}

if WinExist("LaunchBox")
{
	WinActivate
}

if WinExist("LaunchBox Big Box")
{
	WinActivate
}

ExitApp

So below are the full steps that I took to fix my focus issue with Killer Instinct and Minecraft for Windows 10:

1. Download and install the full version of AutoHotkey, which has the functionality to compile an ahk script into an exe

2. Save the above script commands as a new ".ahk" file

3. Right-click on the file and select Compile Script, which will output a ".exe" file with the same filename

4. In Launchbox, edit the Windows Store/UWP game that has this issue and navigate to "Additional Apps"

5. Select "New Application", give it a name and browse to the ".exe" file created in step 3.

6. Check the "Automatically Run Before Main Application" box and hit OK

 

Since it took me a couple days to find a fix, I wanted to post this just in case it helps someone in the future.

This worked, thank you !!!

[lajaro]

Another bump after a long hiatus, as I Just came across this post after identifying what might be the same in 12.7.  Am I to understand there's no solution out of the box (pun intended)?

Hoping to get this working in a headless environment (i.e. only interface is the joystick).

[Aiwer]

I have the same problem, when exit game Bigbox is freezes, and I have to mouse click or alt-tab to get it to work again, version 12.9

[KyuArchive]

On 3/14/2022 at 7:59 PM, Aiwer said:

I have the same problem, when exit game Bigbox is freezes, and I have to mouse click or alt-tab to get it to work again, version 12.9

I too am having this problem now, but only with Windows\MS-DOS games.  Console games don't cause BigBox to do this.

[Aiwer]

HI @KyuArchive

In my case the problem is related with JoyTokey that for some reason get focus when exit games, I kill it with AHK script and I reduced the times that it happen, but not avoid completly

 

[ChickenGeorge]

On 5/10/2019 at 5:23 AM, Azalis said:

I had this problem and managed to find a fix that works for me, at least for Retroarch.  In the manage emulators option under tools select edit under Retroarch and select the Game Startup Screen tab and check the box "Hide all windows that are not in exclusive fullscreen mode" Hope this helps someone.

Would this work for teknoparrot? I launch the games and most are not native 1920x1080. I tried to mess with voodoo? I think its called it didn’t work for a lot of games for forcing a resolution changed. When I exit teknkparrot games Bigbox is now on my screen 2 marquee and can not be focused or maximized from task bar. Have to grab a mouse and physically drag it back to monitor 1 .