Setting up for Win7, LCD, and Nvidia Card??

[lettuce]

I have a laptop with a ATI card in...its running windows 7 though would the offical Groovymame build work with that?

[Calamity]

Yes, probably try with the laptop, you can even plug it to the TV and test, but testing on its screen will be enough.

For the HLSL thing, have you tested anything else or just mk? Try disabling the -changeres option in case it was enabled.

I'm seeing a problem in your system I had missed. Powerstrip seems unable to change the dotclock. If you see the logs, even if it tries different values, 148501 is always returned. That's the issue you're seeing.

PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,135617,512
PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,148501,512
PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,135642,512
PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,148501,512
PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,135667,512
PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,148501,512
PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,135692,512
PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,148501,512
PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,135717,512
PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0): 1920,88,44,148,1080,4,5,36,148501,512

I'm not sure why it happens. Powerstrip warns that some cards may only have a few stable dotclock values among certain ranges. You can test if you dare with Powerstrip itself, using the custom timings window to try to alter the default dotclock (pixel clock), check if you're able to change it to some of the values above, to see if it's an issue with the card or with GroovyMAME. If you get an out of sync screen, just press enter.

[lettuce]

OK, changeres was enabled i disabled it and HLSL still didnt work.

Regarding powerstrip, have gone into advanced timing options and have tried to change the Pixel Clock (its set at 148.500) ever time i try and change it to 135.617 for example i click on apply and it reverts back to 148.500, i cant even change the values with the up and down arrows! There isnt an option within Powerstrip that is locking this value.....i am only using the free version of powerstrip by the way

Have uploaded my mame.ini file (in txt format) to see if theres anything a miss there!

[Calamity]

Regarding powerstrip, have gone into advanced timing options and have tried to change the Pixel Clock (its set at 148.500) ever time i try and change it to 135.617 for example i click on apply and it reverts back to 148.500, i cant even change the values with the up and down arrows! There isnt an option within Powerstrip that is locking this value.....i am only using the free version of powerstrip by the way

Yes, that's what I thought, unfortunately your video card doesn't allow a good variety of dotclocks for that resolution.

You can try something... Use Arcade_OSD to find a native resolution that is "genuine". To do that, set the resolution to full screen. I'd start with 1024x768. If the numbers below [xres] [yres] are the ones supposed to be (1024 and 768 in this example) that's a valid mode, then set it as your desktop mode.

Then run groovymame with the same params.

[lettuce]

Im unable to get Arcade OSD to work in windows 7, i just get a black box where the window is supossed to for Arcade OSD and a constant egg timer for the mouse

[Calamity]

Im unable to get Arcade OSD to work in windows 7, i just get a black box where the window is supossed to for Arcade OSD and a constant egg timer for the mouse

Oh yes, I forgot that.

Well the idea is to run groovyMAME at a different resolution (what you wanted the other day), but in order to do that and still have PS options available you need to set your desktop at that resolution, say 1024x768, then run groovymame with the -ps -monitor lcd optios as always. If you're lucky then there will be more different dotclocks available around the 1024x768 resolution to play with.

[lettuce]

ok have change the res within powerstrip to 1024x768 then loaded mk in mame via

mame -ps -monitor lcd mk

but my lcd tv display a no singal message

do i need to edit anything in the mame.ini file as ive change the lcd res???

[lettuce]

Ok something really strange is happening now, i have set the res back to 1920x1080 and where before mk was running at 110% its running at 46% now!! i have even deleted the mame.ini file and run it with a default mame.ini and still running at 46%!!!!

EDIT: Ignore that, powerstrip set the lcd refresh rate to 24hz and not 60hz, doh!

[Calamity]

Make sure to use -video d3d.

So which resolution do you have your desktop set up now? Use the logs to check if the video mode is genuine (check the PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0) lines, if the resolution shown if the one you are using.

[lettuce]

everyone i seem to select gives me a no signal message

Do need to change the modeline line in the mame.ini file if im using different res to 1920x1080??

Would using a HDMI cable have anything to the dotclock values being locked at all??

[lettuce]

This is the log file from screen res set to 1280x720 and gave me a no signal display on the LCD

[lettuce]

Think ive sorted it, by pressing F10 which according to mame is for throttle now the game is saying its running at 100%.

Do you have any experience with this throttle option in mame, and is it messing with any of the modified settings in groovymame??

[Calamity]

Do need to change the modeline line in the mame.ini file if im using different res to 1920x1080??

Only the height values, so last two values should be changed from 1080 to the height of the resolution you're using.

Would using a HDMI cable have anything to the dotclock values being locked at all??

To be honest I don't know... could be. I have no experience messing with modelines through HDMI, but it makes sense some restrictions might be applied. Currently I'm using VGA or DVI-I in all my screens.

This is the log file from screen res set to 1280x720 and gave me a no signal display on the LCD

You see, it's not accepting the dotclocks we are trying to set:

PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1280,110,40,220,720,5,5,20,67783,512
PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0): 1280,110,40,220,720,5,5,20,74251,512
PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1280,110,40,220,720,5,5,20,67808,512
PStrip: ps_get_monitor_timing(0): 1280,110,40,220,720,5,5,20,74251,512
PStrip: ps_set_monitor_timing(0): 1280,110,40,220,720,5,5,20,67833,512

... so the issue seems to affect other resolutions.

And this is the first part of the problem. The second part is to find out which vertical refresh ranges your TV admits and can faithfully reproduce.

Think ive sorted it, by pressing F10 which according to mame is for throttle now the game is saying its running at 100%.

Do you have any experience with this throttle option in mame, and is it messing with any of the modified settings in groovymame??

Yes, if you press enable throttle you'll get 100%, but that's cheating, what we try to do is to use our videocard's refresh as the throttling method.

[lettuce]

Ok, im tying to get groovymame running in my vertical bartop cab with an lcd screen. what modelinedo i need to put in the mame.ini file??  Here the log from monitor assistance prog...

Monitor
  Model name............... DELL 1905FP
  Manufacturer............. Dell
  Plug and Play ID......... DEL400C
  Serial number............ T61174BGAHQX
  Manufacture date......... 2004, ISO week 47
  Filter driver............ None
  -------------------------
  EDID revision............ 1.3
  Input signal type........ Analog 0.700,0.300 (1.0V p-p)
  Sync input support....... Separate, Composite, Sync-on-green
  Display type............. RGB color
  Screen size.............. 380 x 310 mm (19.3 in)
  Power management......... Standby, Suspend, Active off/sleep
  Extension blocs.......... None
  -------------------------
  DDC/CI................... Supported
  MCCS revison............. 1.0
  Display technology....... TFT
  Controller............... Not specified
  Firmware revision........ Not supported
  Active power on time..... Not supported
  Power consumption........ Not supported
  Current frequency........ 16711.68kHz, 0.00Hz

Color characteristics
  Default color space...... sRGB
  Display gamma............ 2.20
  Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.640 - Ry 0.330
  Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.300 - Gy 0.600
  Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.150 - By 0.060
  White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
  Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
  Horizontal scan range.... 30-81kHz
  Vertical scan range...... 56-76Hz
  Video bandwidth.......... 140MHz
  CVT standard............. Not supported
  GTF standard............. Not supported
  Additional descriptors... None
  Preferred timing......... Yes
  Native/preferred timing.. 1280x1024p at 60Hz (5:4)
    Modeline............... "1280x1024" 108.000 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync

Standard timings supported
     720 x  400p at  70Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  75Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  60Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  75Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  60Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  75Hz - VESA
    1280 x 1024p at  75Hz - VESA
    1152 x  864p at  75Hz - VESA STD
    1280 x 1024p at  60Hz - VESA STD

[Calamity]

You may try this one:

monitor_specs0            30000.00-81000.00,56.00-76.00,0.636,3.813,1.906,0.318,0.064,1.048,0,0,1024,1024


Remind to set: "monitor_orientation vertical" in mame.ini if your monitor is vertically mounted.

Good luck!

[lettuce]

Cheers Calamity!

Any development on the problem with HLSL not working?

[Calamity]

Hi lettuce, have a look at these threads:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=113006.0

http://www.mameworld.info/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=264168&page=0&view=expanded&sb=5&o=&vc=1

I don't think it's the same issue but might point to some direction.

Do you remember, by any chance, which subversion of MameUI did you test (u1, u2, u5, etc.)? GroovyMAME is based on plain v0.143 with no update patch applied, so it should be tested against a regular plain v0.143 MAME. If this bug is MAME itself related, hopefully it we'll be fixed when we update the patches for v.0144.

[lettuce]

I will try your latest build on my laptop which has an ATI card to see if i get the same problem on an ATI based system. This is the info i got back from the moninfo program:

Monitor
  Manufacturer............. Samsung
  Plug and Play ID......... SEC5541
  Data string.............. 156AT05-T02
  Serial number............ n/a
  Manufacture date......... 2009, ISO week 0
  Filter driver............ None
  -------------------------
  EDID revision............ 1.3
  Input signal type........ Digital
  Color bit depth.......... Undefined
  Display type............. RGB color
  Screen size.............. 340 x 190 mm (15.3 in)
  Power management......... Not supported
  Extension blocs.......... None
  -------------------------
  DDC/CI................... Not supported

Color characteristics
  Default color space...... Non-sRGB
  Display gamma............ 2.20
  Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.620 - Ry 0.355
  Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.300 - Gy 0.580
  Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.150 - By 0.090
  White point (default).... Wx 0.313 - Wy 0.329
  Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
  Range limits............. Not available
  GTF standard............. Not supported
  Additional descriptors... None
  Preferred timing......... Yes
  Native/preferred timing.. 1366x768p at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline............... "1366x768" 72.330 1366 1414 1446 1526 768 770 775 790 -hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported

Report information
  Date generated........... 28/09/2011
  Software revision........ 2.60.0.964
  Data source.............. Real-time 0x0100
  Operating system......... 6.1.7600.2

Raw data
  00,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,00,4C,A3,41,55,00,00,00,00,00,13,01,03,80,22,13,78,0A,CE,85,9E,5B,4C,94,26,
  17,50,54,00,00,00,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,41,1C,56,A0,50,00,16,30,30,20,
  25,00,58,C1,10,00,00,19,00,00,00,0F,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,1E,--BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type--,02,74,00,00,00,00,FE,00,53,
  41,4D,53,55,4E,47,0A,20,20,20,20,20,00,00,00,FE,00,31,35,36,41,54,30,35,2D,54,30,32,0A,20,00,B8

What modeline do i need to add in the mame.ini file, what other options do i need to enable in the mame.ini for a laptop running win 7 with an ATI card?

[Calamity]

That monitor doesn't have frequency ranges information available, so let's try with these values:

monitor_specs0            31000.00-50000.00,50.00-70.00,0.636,3.813,1.906,0.318,0.064,1.048,0,0,768,768

As usual, use these options: -ps -monitor lcd -video d3d

Good luck!

[lettuce]

Cheers for that. I have tried it on my laptop now and still get the same problem with HLSL. I have uploaded a video of final fight (using FRAPS) to show the problem...



Any ideas??? Its as if the screen has just zoomed into 1 pixel of the screen as when i start to mojavascript:void(0);ve the character the screen changes colour or in this case pixel!

I have also downloaded standard mame 0.143, from mamedev.org/downloader.php?file=releases/mame0143b.exe if i enable HLSL then it works with standard mame, so must be a problem with grooyMAME??

[Calamity]

Hi lettuce,

Could you check this?

Do you remember, by any chance, which subversion of MameUI did you test (u1, u2, u5, etc.)? GroovyMAME is based on plain v0.143 with no update patch applied, so it should be tested against a regular plain v0.143 MAME. If this bug is MAME itself related, hopefully it we'll be fixed when we update the patches for v.0144.

[Calamity]

I see...

Try disabling the "modeline" option in mame.ini to see if it works then.

[lettuce]

Ok have set the modeline back to auto, and now when running GroovyMAME with HLSL enable i get this result......



The video doesnt show it very well but there is also this massive scanline effect on the black screen at the start of the video!

[lettuce]

Any ideas on this Calamity? Its like its zoomed right into a cluster of pixels in the top left on the screen, as was using final fight in the example above and there is a blue sky on the top left of the screen as soon as you start a game which must be what the blue is on the video i posted. But why is it magnifying right into the screen

[Calamity]

Hi lettuce, sorry I've been out for some days.

This is the sort of bugs I hate as are so difficult to trace, in order to make sure it's related to the last patches I introduced we should test it against the regular version of groovymame here:

http://mario.groovy.org/GroovyMame/0143/

(the one that didn't work for you because of the too many modes bug but that might work on your laptop instead and provide us a solid evidence.)

In fact, HLSL works perfect for me here (well, if you leave aside it's running at 17% of the original speed   ) and I'm using XP 32 and ATI HD 4350. See my screenshot, command line and logs:

groovymame32_0143.013c_test ffight -video d3d -monitor lcd -ps -v -md 4 >ffight.txt



However, I find HLSL somewhat buggy (as for plain v0.143), sometimes it shows the RGB grid, sometimes not...

[lettuce]

Ok i have tried groovymame32_0143.013 on my laptop, i have copied over the mame.ini file from my groovymame32_0143.013c test folder and removed the magic resolution line and Pstrip line form the ini file (as these werent implemented in groovymame32_0143.013). When loading  mame all i get now is just a black screen, i can hear the gaem running when i insert a credit and start a game etc!!

So Calamity your saying that you can run 'groovymame32_0143.013c test' with HLSL enable and it displays a picture?? If so it has to be Windows & releated??, as i cant get it to work with an ATI (laptop) or Nvidia card (PC) bith running windows 7 64

[Calamity]

So Calamity your saying that you can run 'groovymame32_0143.013c test' with HLSL enable and it displays a picture?? If so it has to be Windows & releated??, as i cant get it to work with an ATI (laptop) or Nvidia card (PC) bith running windows 7 64

Yes it displays a picture, I haven't seen issues so far. I'll test it on a Win7 laptop tomorrow.

I wouldn't say it's W7 related, otherwise it shouldn't would when you use regular MAME. There's definitely something in GroovyMAME patches that makes it HLSL fail, but only in W7 systems it seems.

Don't know if I already suggested that, but try disabling multithreading just in case.

[Calamity]

Yeah I'm seeing the issue here in a Win7 + HD 5470 laptop.

And it seems related to what's posted here.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=113903.msg1218169#msg1218169

Please check if the "shadow_mask_texture" value inside the individual game setup files in hlsl folder gets corrupted when using groovymame. That bug is in MAME side, not ours, however they seem to have fixed that in the binary currently available on their web, so we'll need to see what they did in order to fix that in next release (it will be fixed anyway when we update to v0.144)

[lettuce]

Ive tried disabling multithreading but didnt have an effect!

So if we recomplied a 0.143u5 (as u6 is said to be broken) of groovymame, do you think that HLSL would then work?

[Calamity]

Not fully sure if it's the same issue, but here:

http://www.mametesters.org/view.php?id=4397

They recommend to delete hlslini %g in mame.ini for fixing that.

[lettuce]

"shadow_mask_texture" value inside the individual game HLSL.ini file didnt have a value at all next to it. Also i couldnt hlslini %g in the mame.ini file.

Any idea when version 0.144 is due out??

[lettuce]

Calamity, any chance you can look at the Throttle option in you next update?. Even if i enable throttle in the mame.ini it isnt enabled when i start mame, i have to enable it manual by pressing F10.

The only reason i want this option is because with it enabled mortal kombat runs at 100% and not the 110% it was running at before as we talked about

[Calamity]

Calamity, any chance you can look at the Throttle option in you next update?. Even if i enable throttle in the mame.ini it isnt enabled when i start mame, i have to enable it manual by pressing F10.

The only reason i want this option is because with it enabled mortal kombat runs at 100% and not the 110% it was running at before as we talked about

Hi lettuce,

That's because you have -syncrefresh enabled. Your screen's refresh is fixed at 60 Hz and mk runs natively at 54 Hz, thus you're forcing it to run faster.
Disable -syncrefresh and enable -triplebuffer instead, that will keep the game at 100% while avoiding tearing.

In GroovyMAME, the -throttle option is managed internally depending on the sync options you use, syncrefresh turns throttle off indeed, that's one of the main differences with MAME and what actually keeps everything smooth 

[lettuce]

Cheers for the info Calamity, ill disable stncrefresh and enable Tripplebuffer. Any chance you can do a 64 bit update to 0.143u8??...as alot of CAVE games have now been added in this update!

[lettuce]

I have noticed now i have disabled 'syncrefesh' and enabled 'tripplebuffer' on games that have some veritcal scrolling on (MK on credit screen, or Gaia Crusaders on high score screen) the scrolling is a bit choppy and not smooth anymore. Is there a way around this at all? Only thing with re-enabling 'syncrefresh' and disabling 'tripplebuffer' is some games run too fast, but pressing F10 (throttling) locks the game at 100% speed, but for some reason if i enable throttling in the mame.ini file it doesnt enabling it in a game i always have to press F10 to enable it.

Calamity is there anything that in enabling throttling will take away from the main goal of what groovymame is trying to achieve, i know using a LCD display is already limiting groovymame but any adverse effect using throttling would have?

Also i notice im getting a SwitchRes error on exit mame...

SwitchRes: Failed opening of System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video\(DEB039CC-B7044FS3-B43E-9DD4432FA2E9)\0000 registery entry error 5

[Calamity]

I have noticed now i have disabled 'syncrefesh' and enabled 'tripplebuffer' on games that have some veritcal scrolling on (MK on credit screen, or Gaia Crusaders on high score screen) the scrolling is a bit choppy and not smooth anymore. Is there a way around this at all?

I'm afraid not.

Only thing with re-enabling 'syncrefresh' and disabling 'tripplebuffer' is some games run too fast, but pressing F10 (throttling) locks the game at 100% speed, but for some reason if i enable throttling in the mame.ini file it doesnt enabling it in a game i always have to press F10 to enable it.

Calamity is there anything that in enabling throttling will take away from the main goal of what groovymame is trying to achieve, i know using a LCD display is already limiting groovymame but any adverse effect using throttling would have?

You're attempting the squaring of the circle.

You have to face the fact that the only possible way to have a game running at 100% with smooth scrolling is to get the videocard refresh at the same rate.

Usual MAME's CPU based throttling method ruins any attempt of smooth scrolling because it overlaps the videocard's refresh even if you enable syncrefresh or triplebuffer. That's why GroovyMAME needs to disable 'throttle' internally (regardless your ini setup) in order to achieve smooth scrolling.

GroovyMAME's triplebuffer achieves the same that you get when pressing F10, but much better because the emulation doesn't suffer from any lag. You remove tearing, but at the cost of producing choppy scroll.

So believe me, unless you get your videocard/screen refresh at the proper rate, that's the best you can get.

[lettuce]

Ok thanks for the info Calamity.

Any ideas on the SwitchRes error im seeing?

[Calamity]

Any ideas on the SwitchRes error im seeing?

That's the W7 registry issue, it's always been there, needs to be fixed at some point.

[lettuce]

Just got a new LCD TV, what modeline should i use for this new TV, moninfo file attached

[Calamity]

According to that info it would be something like this:

monitor_specs0   15000.00-75000.00,23.00-76.00,0.636,3.813,1.906,0.318,0.064,1.048,0,0,1080,1080