LaunchBox 14.0.1 Beta Thread

[MysterNybble]

Hello everyone!

Our very first (ever?) 3-digit release deserves its own beta.

tl;dr: 14.0 was a great success, a few issues snuck in, this is a beta for a hotfix for many of them, please include logs and details when reporting issues, try to focus on the bugs listed below, and save general feedback, unrelated issues, or ideas for the next full release or use our feedback/bug report system.

It is intentionally bug-fix only as a tidying up of some of the issues that have been reported and discovered since 14.0 was released (just a week ago as of this post, whew!). It spans a variety of areas across both LaunchBox and Big Box. We are hoping for a short beta cycle for this hotfix so we can get these fixes out to the masses.

IMPORTANT! Please remember to include the following when providing your testing feedback:

• The program you are referring to that you have tested: LaunchBox or Big Box
• Your hardware specs and OS
• What you were doing in the app and how you were doing it
• Which theme you used
• The input you were using during your testing: controller, keyboard, or mouse
• List all community plugins that you have installed
• If you experience any crashes (LaunchBox or Big Box crashes to your desktop), we'll need the whole crash report, which includes Windows event logs (a lot of times it's multiple logs related to the same crash) and the mini memory dump that is stored in your Logs folder. The dumps may be large and include private data, so reach out if you want to share privately
• Your LaunchBox and/or Big Box debug logs

Your feedback will be especially valuable if you were experiencing the issue in 14.0 and confirm you are no longer seeing it in this beta, so please let us know what you see.

Here's what we could use your help testing:

Beta 1

• Storefront games: Repeatedly launch and exit storefront games from Big Box and LaunchBox, confirming the frontend returns without freezing or leaving the startup screen behind.
• Controller reliability: Rapidly tap and hold controls, reconnect controllers, and navigate Big Box Options, confirming there are no crashes, missed presses, repeated movement, or double activations. Please test both DirectInput and XInput devices if possible.
• Startup and pause screens: Repeatedly launch and exit games and open and close the pause screen, confirming each overlay disappears and keyboard and mouse input return normally.
• Big Box hybrid and 3D views: Change sorts, filters, searches, platforms, and categories, confirming the wheel, selected game, details, models, and game count remain synchronized.
• Big Box wall views and Jump To: Try a search with no matches and a descending Title sort, confirming the no-games message appears and Jump To lands on the correct game.
• Legacy theme videos: Browse games with videos using Old Default (Legacy) or other older themes, confirming the correct Game Details video loads and follows your video priorities.
• Startup with pending media: Restart LaunchBox with media work queued and change the Default Image Group, confirming startup no longer sticks at "Initializing process" and unavailable choices safely fall back to Boxes.
• Flip Box: Flip a box in the default Image Grid, then scroll, resize, or refresh images, confirming it flips correctly and does not unexpectedly return to the front.
• Add/Edit Application window: Open the window for applications, versions, documents, and links, confirming every option is visible or reachable by scrolling on smaller or scaled displays.
• Last Modified dates: Note a game's Last Modified value and select it while details load, confirming that viewing the game no longer changes the date.
• RetroAchievements: Check a recognized game with no published achievements, confirming it is no longer incorrectly marked as Mastered.
• TeknoParrot media: Download EmuMovies media for a dedicated TeknoParrot platform, confirming it now uses the Arcade_PC catalog without affecting regular Arcade or MAME platforms.

Full Changelog:

Beta 1

• Fixed: A deadlock that could freeze LaunchBox and exhaust threads after launching and closing several storefront games
• Fixed: DirectInput polling and maintenance races that could cause native crashes, missed short inputs, or repeated held inputs during Big Box Options navigation
• Fixed: A pause-screen activation race that could leave LaunchBox or Big Box unresponsive to keyboard and mouse input
• Fixed: An unexpected error window could appear behind the startup or pause screen when a fade did not finish in time, leaving LaunchBox and Big Box looking frozen
• Fixed: A startup state mismatch that could leave LaunchBox stuck at "Initializing process" when pending media work could not start; invalid saved image groups now fall back to Boxes
• Fixed: Legacy Game Details videos failed to load in Old Default (Legacy) and matching legacy LaunchBox themes
• Fixed: Big Box hybrid game wheel repopulation issues that could leave stale, mismatched, or blank 3D model slots after sorting, filtering, or switching platforms
• Fixed: Big Box wall searches and filters with no matches left an empty view without the no-games placeholder
• Fixed: The Big Box A-Z index jumped to the wrong location when Title sorting was descending; those sorts now use the Jump To list
• Fixed: The Add/Edit Application window did not always grow enough to show all options; constrained screens now provide scrolling
• Fixed: Selecting a game updated its Last Modified date while recalculating derived media or achievement metadata
• Fixed: Games with no achievements available on RetroAchievements could be incorrectly marked as Mastered because of invalid completion progress
• Fixed: Flip Box did not work in the default fast Image Grid and could revert to front artwork during scrolling or image refreshes
• Fixed: Dedicated TeknoParrot platforms used the general Arcade catalog instead of EmuMovies' Arcade_PC catalog for media downloads

Thanks for all of the help and detailed reports. We absolutely appreciate you and the help you provide in improving each release!

[Jabb3rJaw]

Only had a chance to test real quick so far. The first time I exited a PC game there was no notification the game was ending so I thought that was removed and the game exited clean. The next few pc games I exited all through the game itself showed the game closing screen so maybe the first was a fluke. I’ll try and run my cabinet tomorrow for any crashes. The wheel feels really smooth just the start up seems a little laggy and I noticed it on 14 as well.  The start up video is a tad laggy at first and my led blinky lights that change color are a bit laggy during this time but only during startup. LED blinky also now starts before the start up video begins to play. I’m running an i7 137k and Nvidia 3080 with 32 gb of ram.