I could really use some help...

[SadLaunchboxUser]

So I'll skip through all the extra pleasantries just to get to the jist. (but with that said, thank you for considering helping me).

I have a 3 month old PC, I've been an IT professional for 42 years.  I know what I'm doing with everything except Autocad and Emulation.

I've been trying for 4 versions of Launchbox to get it to even LOAD and I keep coming up empty.

I load the installer (with and without admin), I let it install, I try 900 different versions of the dotnet core, I follow all the directions I can find in the forums and no matter what I do, BEST result I get is the little horizontal window telling me that Launchbox is loading (which it never does and vanishes after 10 seconds) or absolutely nothing happens AT ALL, which is where I'm at now.

With that said I AM running Windows 11 (which I've seen far too many people reference as being problematic), the thing nobody has delved into yet, is WHY some Windows 11 installs work.  Regardless, I don't want this to be the pit we fall into.  I keep seeing the posts saying that you will help us if we are willing to follow your directions, so that's what I'll do.

Again, all I'm trying to do is get Launchbox to even LOAD (or Bigbox, cause neither one loads).

If this is a royal pain in the you know what, I've got cash, I'll buy whatever the best license is.

Sorry, just frustrated after 3 months and I still can't get it operational.

:(

[Jason Carr]

@SadLaunchboxUser Are you using the latest version that just came out? Version 13.3?

We actually removed the need for a .NET Framework install with this version. We can definitely help you get up and running here. Sorry to hear about this. LaunchBox doesn't usually have these kinds of issues on Windows 11, so it's helpful to us to figure out what's causing it so that we know and can solve it for anyone else in this situation as well.

[C-Beats]

We just dropped 13.3 which moves to .NET 6.0 and is bundled with the runtime to eliminate several potential issues. I'd try to grab the latest version from the website and install that and then let us know if you have any issues and we can work with you to help get them resolved.

[SadLaunchboxUser]

Awaiting the download link as we speak....

I know I'm no expert on Launchbox, but moving away from that core thing sounds like a good idea.  I've NEVER seen anybody use it before (even though I'm sure someone is/was)

I'll post back my results!
Thx!

[SadLaunchboxUser]

So it loaded and I'm going through the import function....

MAME seems to be missing...

[Jason Carr]

3 minutes ago, SadLaunchboxUser said:

So it loaded and I'm going through the import function....

MAME seems to be missing...

Glad it's working for you. There are lots of options for MAME, so I'm not sure what you're referring to here. We'll need more details in order to be helpful.

[SadLaunchboxUser]

Sure, at one of the import screens it asks you what console you want to search for and MAME isn't there.

I assume MAME would be in alphabetical order, but as you can see it's not there.
And yes, I read through the entire list, just in case and it's not there.

And thank you so much for the help AND the new version! 

[C-Beats]

MAME is an emulator, not a platform. To scrape properly you want to select "Arcade" from the drop down.

[SadLaunchboxUser]

Ok, I just saw the option to install a full mame rom set.

But I don't have a full mame rom set, I have a whole bunch and can't seem to figure a way to scan for and install them all at once, only an option to add them 1 at a time.
Am I missing something?

[Lordmonkus]

If you don't have a full Mame set don't use the importer.

Import the games you do have like any other normal system.

I would advise though since you are new to emulation that you either source a full set from "the pleasuredome". Or you make sure your roms work with the version of Mame you have before importing. 

[SadLaunchboxUser]

Yeah, well, thanks to all for the help, but I'm throwing in the towel.  I can't get a single thing to import and BigBox doesn't load, so I guess I'm not supposed to be doing this.  Maybe I need to take up crocheting or knitting... 

Seriously though, in my mind (and I recognize I may be a party of 1), it shouldn't have to be this hard to do anything simple in 2023.

Nothing I do works, I've bought 3 different emulation boxes and they all came with pooched OS's that had to be fixed AND 95% of the roms didn't work.

Anyone have a sure thing? 

[Lordmonkus]

Buying emulation boxes is never a good idea, they are scams.

Mame can be one of the trickier emulators to get running because you really want to match the rom set and emulation versions to each other and you want to have a complete set if you are new to it.

 

[neil9000]

27 minutes ago, SadLaunchboxUser said:

Nothing I do works, I've bought 3 different emulation boxes and they all came with pooched OS's that had to be fixed AND 95% of the roms didn't work.

I mean thats kinda of expected when you are purchasing illegal products right? they will have issues as the person selling it doesnt care about the purchaser or international copywrite laws or any sort of warrenty or customer care.

[SadLaunchboxUser]

So after licking my wounds a bit last night, I decided to go another round with Launchbox.  And now it won't load in the same fashion as it did pre 13.3.

I already uninstalled and reinstalled (just in case) and i'm stuck AGAIN.

No Launchbox load, no Bigbox load.
PC is in the same state I left it in when I walked away from it yesterday.

Ideas?