Windows 7 + GroovyMAME + Soft15khz?? + Powerstrip???

[C4N3]

Hi,
I've got a Windows 7 x64 build, with 8gb of ram and a AMD A6-3500 APU with 6530 HD on chip graphics. I see that there are not Calamity ATI drivers for Windows 7, what should I use? Soft15KHZ? Do I also need Powerstrip?? I will be connecting to a 25in Arcade monitor using a JPAC. Thanks!

[Calamity]

Hi C4N3,

If you're planning to use an arcade monitor, I'm afraid you've chosen the wrong hardware and software:

- Windows 7 is designed for flat screens, CRT support is seriously handicapped. Not only OS & driver designers didn't care much about CRT support: they actually seem to *hate* this technology.

- AFAIK, no one has managed to output 15 kHz from a HD 6xxx generation card (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=117118.0) This includes Soft-15Khz (I haven't tested with Powerstrip).

So my advice is to get a HD 4xxx generation card and a CRT friendly OS, like Win XP-64 (or Linux).

[C4N3]

It sounds like I screwed myself. I'm going to have to bang my head against the wall until I figure something out. If I do I will post on here to let you guys know what I did. Thanks!

[captainvark0]

The Ultimarc VGA card runs on windows, thats an option?

[krick]

An ArcadeVGA 3000 will work, but there's still some limitations imposed by Windows 7...

Important note about Windows 7
There is currently a known issue with Windows 7 switching between resolutions, which is caused by a bug in Windows 7 / DirectX.
If the desktop is running at an interlaced resolution (eg 640 x 480 on a standard-res monitor), When any game which uses a non-interlaced res is started (which is pretty much any Mame game), an error resuts "Unable to initialize directdraw".
Note this only happens if the desktop is running at an interlaced res, which is the case when using a standard res monitor (not a multi-frequency monitor).
There is a workaround for this: Run the desktop at a non-interlaced res such as 640 x 288. This might mean using a front end which has a 640 x 288 mode such as Mamewah.
The resolution can be switched using the Quickres icon.
There are also 3 useful utilities which can be downloaded here. These are simple programs which change to the specified res. So, you can configure a front end to run 640x288.exe to change to this resolution before starting the game. Once this has happened, Mame will then be able to invoke the correct resolution for the game.
Note to Mame devs: This issue does not arise if D3D is selected. But owing to not being able to disable stretching in D3D in Mame this results in a poor quality picture.

I'm not sure what to make about the last sentence though.  Is Andy saying that the entire Windows 7 resolution switching issue goes away if you used D3D in MAME?  If that's the case, GroovyMAME can do "cleanstretch" in D3D mode.

I have an ArcadeVGA 3000, but it's not currently installed in my MAME cabinet so I can't test this myself.

[Calamity]

I'm not sure what to make about the last sentence though.  Is Andy saying that the entire Windows 7 resolution switching issue goes away if you used D3D in MAME?  If that's the case, GroovyMAME can do "cleanstretch" in D3D mode.

Yes, GroovyMAME & cleanstretch + D3D + ArcadeVGA 3000 + W7 should have no issues.

DirectDraw seems unusable after XP.

[captainvark0]

Ahh,

It seems im having a mare due to W& now.

Bought an Arcade VGA3000 and a mame64 bit on w764bit.

Been a huge pain in the butt, but seems to be working except that when i want to play Street fighter 2, or mortal kombat for example the window is tiny and i can hardly see anything!!

Tried to change the mame.ini file as per the ultimarc site, but when i change the switchres value mame says directdraw failed to initialize?

I hate my arcade machine!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

Cap

[Calamity]

Hi captainvark0,

To avoid the directdraw issue switch to -video d3d, combined with a MAME build with the -cleanstretch patch, like CabMAME or GroovyMAME.

[krick]

Are you using GroovyMAME?

You should back up your old mame.ini file and create a fresh one by running...

groovymame.exe -cc


For Windows 7 with GroovyMAME, you should set the video to D3D in mame.ini