GroovyArcade live-CD 2020

[sean_sk]

it's:

G3258 (OC'd from 3.2 to 4.4)
ASrock Z97 Pro3
8GB 2400Mhz RAM

is your 100% speed constant? does it even fluctuate at all?  like briefly down to 94% and back up again?  what about the sound warbling?

have you made any changes at all to the mame.ini file, or are you using default install settings?

The speed is pretty much 100% with only occasional dips to 98%. That occurs maybe 2 or 3 times in 10 minutes of play and it doesn't seem to affect smoothness of play or audio.

I do change some settings in mame.ini:

frame_delay  7
priority 1
multithreading  1

The following two settings I use in Cave/vertical/interlaced game specific ini's as I prefer to have syncrefresh on and triplebuffer off for the majority of my horizontal, progressive resolution games.

syncrefresh 0
triplebuffer  1

[niall]

I lodged https://code.google.com/p/groovyarcade/issues/detail?id=9 a while back.

Anyone know where I can find the missing source to build GroovyArcade Live CD images?  Are there any docs?  Which Git repo is the correct one - there's at least 2 out there on various sites...

Cheers

[Calamity]

I lodged https://code.google.com/p/groovyarcade/issues/detail?id=9 a while back.

Anyone know where I can find the missing source to build GroovyArcade Live CD images?  Are there any docs?  Which Git repo is the correct one - there's at least 2 out there on various sites...

Cheers

Hi niall,

Sorry I missed your posts in the GroovyArcade site. Regarding the files to build the live images, these have never been in the repository. As far as I know Ves builds the live cd manually.

Anyway you may be interested in the "groovy" AUR packages recently built by Cools, which basically allow you to use the most up-to-date kernel, all with the required patches for 15 kHz/custom video.

[niall]

Regarding the files to build the live images, these have never been in the repository. As far as I know Ves builds the live cd manually.

Could we get the full source, build scripts etc.?  That would be ideal, and let others contribute to the project as we could replicate the full build environment, replicate issues and contribute fixes and updates more easily, help document it etc.

Anyway you may be interested in the "groovy" AUR packages recently built by Cools, which basically allow you to use the most up-to-date kernel, all with the required patches for 15 kHz/custom video.

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/groovyume/ ?  Any more detail or a link you can add?

[cools]

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?SeB=m&K=cools

All the source for the software + patches is either on this forum or in the ".diff" repository. There's nothing newer AFAIK. The nice bits that make GA hang together are in the ISO.

I'd be surprised if ves wasn't using https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Archiso, in which case there should be a build folder somewhere. Hugely impressed if he's doing it by hand though

[Calamity]

I'd be surprised if ves wasn't using https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Archiso, in which case there should be a build folder somewhere. Hugely impressed if he's doing it by hand though

Sure, I mean the changes to the build files are done by hand. Just to clarify, and as I've said several times before, I'd be as happy as everyone if the build files were in the repository

[jtslade]

Anyone know where that beta was for GA? It had exit confirmation and some other front ends? AM I just missing the link somewhere

[jtslade]

Anyone know where that beta was for GA? It had exit confirmation and some other front ends? AM I just missing the link somewhere

[MonkeyJug]

Anyone know where that beta was for GA? It had exit confirmation and some other front ends? AM I just missing the link somewhere

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0NB2HYUHHktUFZXTWJfbHpzUlE&usp=sharing

[Ansa89]

Communication for linux users: here you can find the 15KHz patches for linux 3.16.

[niall]

I'd be surprised if ves wasn't using https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Archiso, in which case there should be a build folder somewhere. Hugely impressed if he's doing it by hand though

Sure, I mean the changes to the build files are done by hand. Just to clarify, and as I've said several times before, I'd be as happy as everyone if the build files were in the repository

I've PM'd ves but he's not been online since July.  Anyone in regular contact with him?

[Calamity]

I've PM'd ves but he's not been online since July.  Anyone in regular contact with him?

I'll write him too. I know that during the summer season he's very busy with work.

[Calamity]

Interesting:

http://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=95766#Post95766

[tombo]

Hi all

I’ve been running DOS MAME on a PentiumPro based arcade cabinet (15 kHz arcade monitor, vertical orientation, original controls through J-PAC) for over ten years. A few days ago I finally completed my new setup, containing an AMD 785G board (with integrated HD4200 video) and running Groovy Arcade Linux from the Live-CD 2013-02-24 installed to disk. My own tweaking and fiddling (thanks to GASETUP!!!) got me to 98% perfection, however I have two remaining issues that I have researched extensively but did not find any solution yet:

Issue 1: Sudden slowdown from 100% to 16-18% after leaving a game idle for 2 – 3 hours

Just like lettuce and Calamity, I also consistently encounter the sudden and severe slowdown of any game in GroovyMAME, once left alone in attract mode for 2 – 3 hours. It behaves EXACTLY as described (see quote below) and I am desperately seeking for a config to get rid of that. I find this particularly annoying during house partys where the machine is running attract mode in the background and once guests get interested to play I’ll have to intervene and ESC back to AdvMenu and ENTER back into the game. Needless to say I disabled any power savings related bios stuff and even put sleep 0 in mame.ini, all to no avail.

Issue 2: Games like Satans Hollow and Spy Hunter dynamically pick an interlaced modeline (jittery) instead of a progressive 15 kHz modeline

Since I do not find any explicit custom modelines in mame.ini, I assume they are all created dynamically for me according to my monitor category (number 16 for Arcade 15 kHz in GASETUP), which is good and works beautifully for most games I have tested so far. However games like Satans Hollow and Spy Hunter pick an interlaced mode that looks jittery on my arcade monitor. Is there an easy way (e.g. “disable interlaced”) to make mame pick a progressive mode instead? I would prefer that over having to find and insert another explicit modeline for these games. I am good with GASETUP and editing of any files in MC, but for using a linux console I’d need step by step instructions.

Cheers!

I have also notice the game GunForce only appears to be running @97-98% speed!. I also left the game in attract mode for about 2 hours and when i came back i noticed the game was running really slowly, when i press F11 it was only running at 16% speed?

And ideas on either of these issues?

I've tested gunforce here and it runs 100% perfectly fine, but... when I left it alone for two hours I've came back and it was running at 12% speed! So yes, this is a confirmed problem, I don't know if it affects all games or just some. I remember one user already reported this for some games.

[cools]

Put interlace 0 in your mame.ini

[tombo]

Thanks, I've tried that before and the frame is rolling fast, losing vsync, way out of range for the monitor vfreq-poti. I also tried doublescan 0 but that gave the same result.
The game's resolution is given at 512 x 480 (w x h), maybe not meant for my arcade 15 std resolution?

[tombo]

Hi all

I am still looking for a fix regarding the slowdown problem, that has first been encountered by lettuce and Calamity last year:

Issue 1: Sudden slowdown from 100% to 16-18% after leaving a game idle for 2 – 3 hours

Since there are at least 3 people with different setups encountering the same bug, I assume it must be the OS or GroovyMAME, at least I can state that any game I tried so far will slow down after about 2 hours. ESC back into AdvMENU and re-ENTER into game will fix the speed back to normal (100%) for another 2 hours till it slows down again... any clues? (see more details three posts above)

Regards, Tombo


Quote from: lettuce on March 31, 2013, 05:28:16 pm

I have also notice the game GunForce only appears to be running @97-98% speed!. I also left the game in attract mode for about 2 hours and when i came back i noticed the game was running really slowly, when i press F11 it was only running at 16% speed?

And ideas on either of these issues?


Quote from: Calamity on April 01, 2013, 10:05:29 am

I've tested gunforce here and it runs 100% perfectly fine, but... when I left it alone for two hours I've came back and it was running at 12% speed! So yes, this is a confirmed problem, I don't know if it affects all games or just some. I remember one user already reported this for some games.

[Ansa89]

Communication for linux users: here you can find the 15KHz patches for linux 3.17.

[lettuce]

Has there been a more recent GA Live-CD complied than the one in the OP as thats over a year old now?

[NightSprinter]

Hmm, seems building fails for version 1.7.3 of the ATI driver, and the newest one is 1.6.5.  What changes are there that would warrant updating the patches?

[Calamity]

Hmm, seems building fails for version 1.7.3 of the ATI driver, and the newest one is 1.6.5.  What changes are there that would warrant updating the patches?

Have you seen Cools' AUR packages? Maybe some more up-to-date drivers there.

Anyway there's a recent beta version of GA here: https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B0NB2HYUHHktUFZXTWJfbHpzUlE
Only problem is GM runs at 50% with sdl2 in that iso, this problem is fixed in my current build here, it will be in the final 155 patch.

[cools]

I know the kernel is out of date but the others should be fine as there are no updated patches.

[NightSprinter]

So would there be no issues applying the ATI 1.7.3 patch to the newer 1.7.5 drivers?  I can double-check everything via  USB-livr, if I can get it to work..  I need to get something far larger than 16GB for a thumbdrive..

[cools]

No, what I mean is that the packages aren't updated because the available patches are old.

[Doozer]

Anyway there's a recent beta version of GA here: https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B0NB2HYUHHktUFZXTWJfbHpzUlE
Only problem is GM runs at 50% with sdl2 in that iso, this problem is fixed in my current build here, it will be in the final 155 patch.

Hi Calamity,

I am doing some tests with respect to the SDL2 usage and resulting effects compared to SDL. I am using your last 155 build and builds patched with the file released for 155. Main goal is to evaluate the Xinput latency gain/loss.

At the moment I am stuck with some odd effects. For example, the moonwalker game screen aspect shows stretched picture truncated on the right side. This is not visible under SDL build. I still have to compile a stock ume and check the origin of the problem. Another look-up direction could be linked to the ume.ini parameters like syncrefresh and waitvsync. At the moment I use waitvsync=1 and syncrefresh=0 with all builds.

Have you ever heard about picture deformation linked to the SDL2 library?

Cheers

[Doozer]

OK, switchres patch combined with SDL2 corrupts the rendering.  I played with waitvsync and syncrefresh parameters but they do not seem to be involved here. Any idea where to look at?

Switchres outputs are correct.

Build SDL working

Code: [Select]

SwitchRes: [mwalk] (1) horizontal (320x224@57.23)->(320x224@57.23)

SwitchRes: [mwalk] (1) horizontal (256x224@57.23)->(256x224@57.23)

SwitchRes: [mwalk] (1) horizontal (320x224@57.23)->(320x224@57.23)

Calamity version or SDL2 build, picture is stretched

Code: [Select]

SwitchRes: [mwalk] (1) horizontal (320x224@57.23)->(320x224@57.23)
0: WiiMote0
1: WiiMote1

SwitchRes: [mwalk] (1) horizontal (256x224@57.23)->(256x224@57.23)

SwitchRes: [mwalk] (1) horizontal (320x224@57.23)->(320x224@57.23)


[Calamity]

The mwalk game is trying to switch resolutions. Unfortunately SDL2 does not allow to switch resolutions while in fullscreen mode. Check these links:

http://forums.libsdl.org/viewtopic.php?t=10372&sid=3ff22f5cb9d3192b6227ee40a34f1352
https://bugzilla.libsdl.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1742
https://bugzilla.libsdl.org/attachment.cgi?id=1239&action=diff

Toggling windowed mode for an instant might work, I'll need to test this workaround, because the possibility of patching SDL is not very appealing.

[Doozer]

Incredible, it is terrible to read that. thank you for the links. I understand the complexity for you to get it right if you target to fix this in mame. to my understanding this would not give a good result and might give strange things for the rare game changing the resolution in-game.

Nevertheless, a patch exists and to me would bring the easiest fix at the cost of a compilation of the SDL library. Indeed, it is not an elegant solution but sounds to me more appropriate with respect to the context.

[niall]

If only we had the full source for GroovyArcade live-CD 

[cools]

The only bits that aren't available as source packages are the configuration scripts, which you could pull from the CD if you wanted.

Being able to build a newer Live CD wouldn't help.

[niall]

Ok but having it all in a GitHub repo for everyone to just use, with instructions on building new images etc. would be really nice!

[zebidia]

Hi all. i'm in need of a little assistance/advice getting the GroovyArcade Live CD working on my system. Here's what I've done so far:

1. Installed a modified bios in my ATI HD4600 using ATIFlash and Atom-15, as per Calamity's instructions. Ran the test utility 'z' from a DOS boot pen drive, and all seemed to be well with the modified BIOS.

2. Downloaded the latest 64-bit GroovyArcade ISO from the link at the start of this thread, and burned a CD from It.

3. Built a VGA to SCART cable using a wiring diagram found elswehere in this forum, then plugged the SCART connector into my SCART to component transcoder. I then connected the component output from the transcoder into the component inputs on my freebie 20" Sony Trinitron.

4. I booted the PC using the GroovyArcade, and the menu that asks which video connection type to use successfully shows up on screen, but no matter which option I choose (I've tried both DVI-1 and VGA-1, with appropriate adapters), I get a series of loading messages, culminating with the following:

"Waiting 30 seconds for device /dev/disk/by-disk/GROOVY ..."

The timeout period expires and I'm left with a shell prompt.

Does anyone have any ideas how to get past this issue? Have I done something wrong in the above steps? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Edit: typos and grammar.
Edit 2: typo typos. Boy, I hate typing on a tablet.

UPDATE: I 'fixed' this problem by simply skipping the use of a GroovyArcade DVD, and making a bootable USB pendrive using the GA ISO . I used a Windows utility called 'Rufus' to make the bootable pendrive... easy-peasy.

[Calamity]

UPDATE: I 'fixed' this problem by simply skipping the use of a GroovyArcade DVD, and making a bootable USB pendrive using the GA ISO . I used a Windows utility called 'Rufus' to make the bootable pendrive... easy-peasy.

Thanks for the update. I was about to answer mentioning a possible issue with the CD drive, anyway...

[zebidia]

UPDATE: I 'fixed' this problem by simply skipping the use of a GroovyArcade DVD, and making a bootable USB pendrive using the GA ISO . I used a Windows utility called 'Rufus' to make the bootable pendrive... easy-peasy.

Thanks for the update. I was about to answer mentioning a possible issue with the CD drive, anyway...

Thanks, Calamity.

From what I gathered by googling the specific error, it appears that the disk I burned from the GroovyArcade ISO is not given the proper volume name 'GROOVY', hence the error during init. When I created the bootable thumbdrive, I made sure I named it GROOVY, but whether or not that was important/necessary, I don't know; the thumbdrive just worked, so I didn't bother going back to see if improperly naming it would break it. ☺

Now on to other issues, like absolutely none of my ROMs being recognized by advmenu. When time permits, I will try the direct groovymame.exe approach to see if I can get any useful information.

[zebidia]

Hmm, seems building fails for version 1.7.3 of the ATI driver, and the newest one is 1.6.5.  What changes are there that would warrant updating the patches?

Have you seen Cools' AUR packages? Maybe some more up-to-date drivers there.

Anyway there's a recent beta version of GA here: https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B0NB2HYUHHktUFZXTWJfbHpzUlE
Only problem is GM runs at 50% with sdl2 in that iso, this problem is fixed in my current build here, it will be in the final 155 patch.

Hi Calamity,

Is this 155 patch available somewhere, and if so, what do I apply this patch against?  I just installed cool's ISO today, and while it fixed a number of issues I was having with the ISO in your OP (most notably, sound), my MAME games run between 100% and 50%, switching between the two percentages every 10 seconds or so. I'm hoping your patch resolves this.

[Ansa89]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135823.msg1404224.html#msg1404224

[zebidia]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135823.msg1404224.html#msg1404224

Thanks, Ansa89. Unless I'm misreading the instructions in that post, it looks like the 155 patch is only for Windows installations, in spite of the fact that much further into the thread there is mention of feature changes for both Windows and Linux. Can someone explain how I would apply this patch to a GroovyArcade linux install, and what GA ISO to use as a base before the patch? Apologies if I'm missing something, but I am as new as new can be to MAME game.

[Ansa89]

The groovymame patch works for both windows and linux.
To apply the patch you need mame source code (you can download it from mame official website), the MKChamp's high-score patch, the "patch" utility and a build environment (needed to build mame itself).
If you never compiled a program, you should better search on google for some tutorials/how-to.


From the post linked above:

Compiling notes (v0.155)

Apply patches in this order:

1) hi_155_2.diff (Download)
2) 0155_groovymame_015c.diff (GroovyMAME/UME download site)

Code: [Select]

c:\mame_source>patch -p0 -E <hi_155_2.diff
c:\mame_source>patch -p0 -E <0155_groovymame_015c.diff
c:\mame_source>make


[zebidia]

The groovymame patch works for both windows and linux.
To apply the patch you need mame source code (you can download it from mame official website), the MKChamp's high-score patch, the "patch" utility and a build environment (needed to build mame itself).
If you never compiled a program, you should better search on google for some tutorials/how-to.


From the post linked above:

Compiling notes (v0.155)

Apply patches in this order:

1) hi_155_2.diff (Download)
2) 0155_groovymame_015c.diff (GroovyMAME/UME download site)

Code: [Select]

c:\mame_source>patch -p0 -E <hi_155_2.diff
c:\mame_source>patch -p0 -E <0155_groovymame_015c.diff
c:\mame_source>make


Ya, I saw that and noticed the "c:\" and thus assumed Windows only. Presumably I have to figure out how to do the equivalent in Linux, yes?

[Ansa89]

Instructions for linux:

Code: [Select]

cd path/to/mame/sources
patch --binary -p0 -E -i path/to/hi_155_2.txt
patch --binary -p0 -E -i path/to/0155_groovymame_015c.diff
make