problem with mame resolutions when using 640x288

[seven5]

Hey guys, i got my cab set up last night finally and had been using 640x480 for Windows and MA. I dealt with the flickr for the time being as I got my favorite games set up and ready to play with the correct resolutions.

I got most of my games set and then finally realized that i needed to be in 640x288 to get rid of the interlacing. So I kept windows in 640x480 (so i could actually work in it) and set MA to bet 640x288 with the Change Monitor Resolution option set.

MA looked great, but when I launched games in mame, their resolutions were all wrong. They were super skinny. When launched from windows they looked normal. So I unchecked Change Monitor Resolution in MA and now mame games launch fine, but now MA's UI is all jacked up.

It seems that MA is enforcing some kind of resolution when its launching mame, which i'm not sure why. I expected that I was launching in the native resolutions. Also, i'm not even sure what the Change Monitor Resolution option actually does. It's not very clear in the docs either.

So does anyone know how I can get a flicker free MA running without messing up my beautiful mame resolutions? What am I missing here?

Thanks!

[nuzzosono]

I did this:

- set mame to 640x288 but do not check Change Monitor Resolution.

- set windows resolution, right click on the desktop, to 640x288.

Bye Bye

[seven5]

but then every game is presented with that resolution. I want the games in their native resolution.

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

Drop an ATI card in your system and use this:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=110905.0

It's magic.

[seven5]

I've read the bullet points on GroovyMame plenty, and see its capabilities, but would you mind giving a pitch for it from a current users perspective? What exactly does it provide that gets you so excited?

Thanks!

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

I've run it on both a standard arcade monitor and a 31khz arcade monitor. Paired with the modified ATI drivers, I have over 100 resolutions available for it to pick from. That means that almost every game is rendered pixel perfect on my screen. In the case of my 31kHz arcade monitor the games are scaled exactly 2X in either direction, which is still visually pixel perfect.

The really killer feature though is the dynamic refreshrate modification. On ATI drivers it rewrites the registry before launching the game to run it at it's native refresh rate. This eliminates essentially all visual tearing and sound stuttering that results from games not running at the speed they are suppose to (ie: it won't fix problems where the emulation isn't perfect yet).

[seven5]

wow, that does sound nice. I def have a couple games i deal with audio problems, its frustrating but usable. I'm currently using soft15khz. The only refresh rates i see available to me (when adjusting games under mame32ui) is 60 or auto. Kinda sucks.

I'm OOOOK on resolutions, but i def am screwed for pacman, frogger, and other verticles. I can't get 288x240 for some reason. My monitor scrambles. I know this is more about my video card though. I also have to pick other resolutions that dont' match 1:1, but i thought this meant i was still 1:1, and it wasnt' stretching. This is the kind of stuff i've been confused about.

The other problem i SORT of deal with is that since my monitor is analog, some resolutions just aren't centered, etc. It'd take me messing with pots for EVERY config, which i'm just not going to do. Does having perfect resolutions help with this problem?

I'm currently running an onboard nvidia geforce 6150 via the chipset. It's a mini pc (asus pundit p1-ah) with just PCI slots available for expansion

So with GroovyMame, I'd be able to have a TON more resolutions and refresh rates available? Is there NO way to run it on anything but an ATI card?

[newmanfamilyvlogs]

The tool VMMaker that comes with the drivers is designed to generate modelines which keep the image centered on the screen across various resolutions so you don't have to fiddle with pots every time. This program can generate generic modelines that could be made to work with Soft15kHz as the 'user' setting.

The primary modification that Calamity has made to the ati drivers is to allow it to go over the 30 mode limit originally coded in the driver.

At the moment I don't know what the plans are for nvidia support. It's been brought up a few times. Go join the discussion in that thread.

As for only having a PCI slot, you could always get a pci video card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131325

[equlizer]

will this work with a mobility 6310?