Script to shut down Drive when launching Launchbox/Big Box, and then restart Drive when closed?

[cscottbrown]

Hi there! I have recently moved my Launchbox files into Google Drive. My goal is to be able to use the same install of Launchbox on both my laptop and desktop. The problem I'm facing is that Launchbox runs very slowly with this method. I've concluded that at least part of the problem is that Google Drive for Desktop is constantly uploading/downloading files as changes happen in LB/BB. My proposed solution would be to shut down the Google Drive for Desktop app whenever I launch LB/BB. Then, when I'm done playing, I exit LB/BB, and Google Drive for Desktop starts up again. It then syncs all the files it needs to after I'm playing rather than while I'm playing.

I have looked around for a script like this, but can't find anything that does precisely what I'm looking for. Has anyone else done this? What are the best methods? Any help you can give would be much appreciated!

[Jayinem]

I don't have an answer to your question but it sounds like something you're the first to ever try to do. Why not just copy the files from laptop to desktop or vice versa if there's any changes? You can use free program like send anywhere install it on both computers and you can drag and drop files between computers. I'm impressed you ever got it working through Google Drive but I doubt it'll ever be fast.

Another idea you could use something like Parsec or TeamViewer and stream one computer's screen to the other. I do this with a gaming computer in my bedroom to play games in the living room. Parsec will even let you use a controller for the PC you're trying to stream to the one you're on.

Edited November 20 by Jayinem

[cscottbrown]

I am definitely not the first person to try to do this. Lots of people run their LB/BB installs from a cloud drive folder, as I've found them in forums and on Reddit while searching for the best ways to do this. The only thing I haven't found is how to do this startup/shutdown thing. To be clear, I can just manually turn off Google Drive for Desktop, and then things work OK. I am simply trying to avoid needing to do that manually, as I am confident I will forget.

Also, I appreciate your advice on Parsec and TeamViewer. I tried this method once with Moonlight. However, when I'm traveling, Wi-Fi is rarely stable enough for streaming like this, so I gave up on that.

Also also, just to be clear, I will be running LB/BB and my emulators/ROMs locally. It's just that everything I have is in Drive, so it syncs to the cloud. The advantages here are:

1. I only need to maintain one instance of LB
2. When I stop playing a game on my laptop, I can pick up right where I left off on my desktop, or vice versa
3. If something were to go wrong with one or both of my systems, my LB setup would be unaffected

Anyway, I'll keep hunting for a solution to this and keep an eye here in case anyone has any advice!

[JoeViking245]

10 hours ago, cscottbrown said:

Anyway, I'll keep hunting for a solution to this and keep an eye here in case anyone has any advice!

If, when you disable G-Drive syncing and you're happy with how LaunchBox/BigBox performs via G-Drive (which I guess at this point is actually running from your local G-Drive folder), then...

 

A variation of a Google search result looks like this:

• This link mentions "googledrivesync.exe" which is now "GoogleDriveFS.exe" (at least on my PC).
• It seems there's no command-line parameters you can pass to the executable to turn G-Drive syncing on/off.  So you have to "kill" the process.
• From the Windows Command Prompt, to kill G-Drive altogether, you can run

taskkill /IM GoogleDriveFS.exe /F

Then to restart it, double click "GoogleDriveFS.exe".  Mine's located in "C:\Program Files\Google\Drive File Stream\100.0.2.0\"

 

LaunchBox/BigBox has a Startup Applications feature that can load an application when one or the other or both (or neither?) are started. (Which could be a batch file containing the above command.)

But there are no (immediately accessible) means to launch an app when either close.  "Immediately accessible" meaning, you could create a plugin that captures the System Event LaunchBoxShutdownBeginning and/or BigBoxShutdownBeginning and then (re)start the process "GoogleDriveFS.exe".

 

Alternately, you could create/use a batch file that handles the whole kit-and-caboodle.  Something like this (edit accordingly)

taskkill /F /IM GoogleDriveFS.exe
timeout 5
start /w "" "D:\LaunchBox\Core\LaunchBox.exe"
start "" "C:\Program Files\Google\Drive File Stream\100.0.2.0\GoogleDriveFS.exe"

Do This:

1. Verify YOUR Google Drive executable is indeed "GoogleDriveFS.exe"
2. Change the path to YOUR LaunchBox location
3. DO point to the /LaunchBox/Core subfolder
4. Change LaunchBox.exe to BigBox.exe if that is your preference
5. Verify that is the path to YOUR "GoogleDriveFS.exe"

If all's good/tested/working, make for a 'prettier' presentation...

1. Create a shortcut to the batch file
2. Right-click the shortcut and select Properties
3. Change Run from Normal Window to Minimized
4. Click OK to save and close.

Use the shortcut to start the "whole kit-and-caboodle".  The above makes it so the Command Prompt window does not appear.

[cscottbrown]

Thank you SO much for this assistance! This appears to be exactly what I need. I know how to make the .BAT file and make sure the directories are accurate, but I'll need to do some Googling on how to add the file to Launchbox's startup feature. I'm assuming that involves putting something into an AHK script or something along those lines. I'll work on this later and let you know how things fare!

[JoeViking245]

5 minutes ago, cscottbrown said:

how to add the file to Launchbox's startup feature.

No need to.  Just create the batch file and use it to start LaunchBox.  It'll do it all for you. A one-shop-stop, as it were. 

(You could even to change the icon for the shortcut to use the one in LaunchBox.exe.  )

[cscottbrown]

Ooooohhh, I see what you're going for! So start this .BAT instead of LB.exe or BB.exe, and then it all happens. This might work! OK, let me try this a bit after work, and I'll post back here if I have any issues. Thanks!

[JoeViking245]

7 minutes ago, cscottbrown said:

This might work!

Fear not. If you can get the paths and executables, it will. 😎  (I actually tested this one before posting. Something I'm trying to get better at actually doing. lol) 

[cscottbrown]

OK, so I have good news and bad news. The good news is that your script worked! I needed to adjust the file paths and there was a missing (") at the end of the LaunchBox path, but it did work like a charm!

The BAD news is that this doesn't solve my problem. Without Google Drive for Desktop running, the virtual drive the app creates stops functioning. In other words, as soon as the app is gone, Launchbox crashes, as the files it is looking for are no longer there (even though they are there, just not where LB thinks they should be, because Google Drive works off an ever-changing cache file).

In other words, I'm going to need to figure out another way of doing this. I have read that using symlinks might make things better, because LB will be looking for file paths that are always "there" (even though they just point to the relative paths created by Drive). I am determined to make this work, so I'll keep experimenting!

Since you did solve this for me, marking this thread as solved.

[JoeViking245]

1 hour ago, cscottbrown said:

there was a missing (")

Aw snap!  That what happens when I try to clean up my working code. 😊  I'll fix that post for future readers.

 

Glad it all worked as intended.  Sorry the outcome wasn't as hoped.

 

1 hour ago, cscottbrown said:

I am determined to make this work, so I'll keep experimenting!

👍 👍

[skizzosjt]

2 hours ago, cscottbrown said:

The BAD news is that this doesn't solve my problem. Without Google Drive for Desktop running, the virtual drive the app creates stops functioning. In other words, as soon as the app is gone, Launchbox crashes, as the files it is looking for are no longer there (even though they are there, just not where LB thinks they should be, because Google Drive works off an ever-changing cache file).

In other words, I'm going to need to figure out another way of doing this. I have read that using symlinks might make things better, because LB will be looking for file paths that are always "there" (even though they just point to the relative paths created by Drive). I am determined to make this work, so I'll keep experimenting!

 

i'm sitting here wondering why a virtualized disk is even being talked about. this is not how I would imagine these services to operate. mind blown 💥

I would bet the problem is using anything virtualized. you wouldn't have that specific issue if you are were launching files from a real local directory. with that said you should try changing your Google Drive for Desktop settings to have files stored locally too using mirrored setting. surprised this wouldn't be the default. frontend needs access to these files even if you're not online

your posts give me the impression you're running the frontend from the cloud? if this is the case, it offers an explanation. makes total sense why LB immediately crashes if the service is shutdown. it's no different than ripping a SATA disk out of your PC case, if said program was on that disk it's going to crash.