Telling GroovyMAME not to tweak existing modelines

[mazinger-z]

Is there a command line switch that I can use to tell GM to use the existing modelines as they are, and not to generate them (I would use it just for a few games)?
I don't know my monitor's specs, so instead of using VMMaker, i kept the default modelines installed with the modified driver and manually adjusted them with ArcadeOSD. They all display correctly now, even those with 288 lines.
I set Hantarex H9110 as GroovyMAME monitor, and this works nicely most of the time, but sometimes the generated modelines are out of the specs of my monitor. Currently, I'm using individual .ini files with "monitor generic" or "monitor cga" etc. in them to deal with this.
A better solution would be to actually detect the monitor's specs, by means of experimentation and calculations, but I wouldn't know how.
I know I could use one of the generic specs and let VMMaker create the modelines, but when I tried that, many games wouldn't show correctly (i.e. Mortal Kombat was missing the lower part).

Thanks.

PS: Here's my config

OS: Win XP Pro 32 bit
Video Card: ATi Radeon 9200 AGP
Frontend: Mamewah
Monitor: 25 inches Selti with chassis # 22.0244.2 (Very similar to the VP series monitors, but older. Can't find any information about it on the 'net)

[Ansa89]

You can create a specific game ini (one for every game need it) into GM "ini" directory with this code:

Code: [Select]

cleanstretch 1
switchres 0Or specifying the resolution to be used:

Code: [Select]

resolution 512x480@57.41
WARNING: the previous resolution is only an example, you need to specify your own correct resolution.

[Calamity]

Is there a command line switch that I can use to tell GM to use the existing modelines as they are, and not to generate them (I would use it just for a few games)?

The option you need is -modeline 0 and use .inis for each game, but unfortunately it won't work, it makes GM crash since I included the magic resolution patch, that's something I need to fix.

According to your description, it should be really easy to guess your monitor specs. Probably you're getting some out of sync modes because the H9110 is set up to reach 16.7 kHz. Just lower that value a little bit and everything should be fine:

monitor_specs0 15625-16200, 49.50-65.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 288, 448

(just add that line to mame.ini)

What kind of adjustments did you need to do with Arcade_OSD?
Once you've centered your modes, just write down the timing values prompted by Arcade_OSD, as those are the ones you need to use to build your custom monitor_specs line (in case the above one didn't work).

[mazinger-z]

Thanks a lot, I'll try adding that line.

Here's an example of a mode that I adjusted (it had vertical waves):

Edit: I'm not sure about the original mode's values, the ones you have after a fresh install, that is, before running VMMaker. I'm deleting the settings I wrote because they were probably the result of a previous VMMaker execution.

Adjusted
240x240 60p (15.657 KHz)
H resolution: 240 px
H retrace start: 264 px
H retrace end: 288 px
H total: 336 px
V resolution: 240 ln
V retrace start: 242 ln
v retrace end: 245 ln
V total: 261 ln

[mazinger-z]

Just installed the driver anew on another HD.

Here's the old mode, which is wavy on my monitor:

240x240 60p (15.660 KHz)
H resolution: 240 px
H retrace start: 256 px
H retrace end: 280 px
H total: 320 px
V resolution: 240 ln
V retrace start: 242 ln
v retrace end: 245 ln
V total: 261 ln

[Calamity]

Well, the interesting values are shown in the geometry menus (the ones in miliseconds and microseconds). There's a dotclock value that's necessary too for those modelines to be complete. Anyway I'll have a look...

EDIT: Your monitor seems to require a long horizontal sync pulse. Try using this line:

monitor_specs0 15625-16200, 49.50-65.00, 2.000, 4.900, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 288, 448

[mazinger-z]

Thank you very much. Just for confirmation, I wrote all the values down. Here they are:

Old mode (didn't work, vertical waves on screen):

Code: [Select]

[Xres] [Yres] [V (Hz)] [H(kHz)]
  240    240   60.000   15.660
Lock vfreq      [ yes]
DotClock        [ 5.01 MHz(5011235)]
H resolution    [ 240 px][   47.89 us]
H retrace Start [ 256 px][   51.09 us]
H retrace End   [ 280 px][   55.87 us]
H total         [ 320 px][   63.86 us]
V resolution    [ 240 ln][15325.56 us]
V retrace Start [ 242 ln][15453.28 us]
V retrace End   [ 245 ln][15644.85 us]
V total         [ 261 ln][16666.55 us]
interlaced      [  no]

Horizontal geometry

H center        [5/7]
H active        [  30 ch][   47.89 us]
H front porch   [   2 ch][    3.19 us]
H sync pulse    [   3 ch][    4.79 us]
H back porch    [   5 ch][    7.98 us]
H blanking      [  10 ch][   15.96 us]
H total         [  40 ch][   63.86 us]

Vertical geometry

V center        [16/18]
V active        [ 240 ln][15325.56 us]
V front porch   [   2 ln][  127.71 us]
V sync pulse    [   3 ln][  191.57 us]
V back porch    [  16 ln][ 1021.70 us]
V blanking      [  21 ln][ 1340.99 us]
V total         [ 261 ln][16666.55 us]
New mode:

Code: [Select]

[Xres] [Yres] [V (Hz)] [H(kHz)]
  240    240   59.990   15.657
Lock vfreq      [ yes]
DotClock        [ 5.26 MHz(5260894)]
H resolution    [ 240 px][   45.62 us]
H retrace Start [ 264 px][   50.18 us]
H retrace End   [ 288 px][   54.74 us]
H total         [ 336 px][   63.87 us]
V resolution    [ 240 ln][15328.19 us]
V retrace Start [ 242 ln][15455.93 us]
V retrace End   [ 245 ln][15647.53 us]
V total         [ 261 ln][16669.41 us]
interlaced      [  no]

Horizontal geometry

H center        [6/9]
H active        [  30 ch][   45.62 us]
H front porch   [   3 ch][    4.56 us]
H sync pulse    [   3 ch][    4.56 us]
H back porch    [   6 ch][    9.12 us]
H blanking      [  12 ch][   18.25 us]
H total         [  42 ch][   63.87 us]

Vertical geometry

V center        [16/18]
V active        [ 240 ln][15328.19 us]
V front porch   [   2 ln][  127.73 us]
V sync pulse    [   3 ln][  191.60 us]
V back porch    [  16 ln][ 1021.88 us]
V blanking      [  21 ln][ 1341.22 us]
V total         [ 261 ln][16669.41 us]

[Calamity]

Thanks, that must have been a lot of work.

Well it seems I was wrong and your monitor prefers a sync pulse of 4.56 instead of 4.79 and a front porch of the same size. So the line should be something like this:

monitor_specs0 15625-16200, 49.50-65.00, 4.560, 4.560, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 288, 448

Anyway, try carefully tweaking the H-phase potenciometer of your monitor, just in case, as 4.79 shouldn't be a problem at all.

[mazinger-z]

Thanks, that must have been a lot of work.

Thank you, of course!