Sony KV-21FS140 + TC1600 + CRT_EMUdrv + GroovyUME

[Mahrio]

Hello everyone. First of all, thanks for this amazing community you guys have here. Just lurking in the forums, i got info to do my first cabinet (rotating)  .
After reading some posts, i choose the Sony Wega Trinitron KV-21FS140 and the transcoder TC1600 from Crescendo Systems (Thanks Kim Beumer).
 I was using a ArcadeVGA 3000 from Ultimarc (Thanks Andy), and everything was perfect when i was using the 17 inches monitor.
But when i plugged my TV, i didn't get the enough freedom to mess with resolutions. Today i got a ATI HD4870 512mb From Saphire, and after doing some tests without using the TV and the modified drivers, it was okay. I can play Street Fighter 4 flawless and faster than used to play. The main reason that i built this cabinet it was to play MAME games.

I just wanna ask some questions:
1) I am using Windows 7 x64 and Hyperspin. Should i go back to Windows XP 64 or there's a way to install the modified drivers (CRT_EMU) in windows 7?

2) What is the custom crt mode line that i can use with this tv? (http://www.docs.sony.com/release/KV21FA240_ES.pdf) (spanish specs Calamity ehehe). I know this TV can show PAL-M, PAL-N and NTSC modes so this must be a plus.

3) Calamity i know you are updating the Groovy suite to 148u5, and you are just testing before releasing it. Do you think we gonna loose DirectDraw in the next updates?

Thanks for this amazing software and i hope be playing soon with my cabinet.

Mahrio

EDIT: Okay i installed Win XP 64 and figured how to show some resolutions (lowest ones) in the TV. Not the perfect timing/geometry but its a start.

[Mahrio]

Just a update. I installed the driver and with the new updated VMMaker i did all the modes necessary.
Now i am using ArcadeOSD to fix the geometry and try to diminish the flickering on 640 x 480 (since some modern games i play in this resolution).

Maybe if find the right custom string to my TV maybe make my job easier. I am trying to learn about the variables in ArcadeOSD.

I will post some pictures soon.

[Mahrio]

Hello guys. After some tweaking, i achieved some good results, but not perfect tho.
Since i am using Hyperspin as a front-end, i need to use the magic resolution table, which gave me 42 resolutions with VMmaker.
The problem right now its, if i change in ume.ini my monitor to CUSTOM and put the same string that i use in VMMaker.ini some games flip off, while others look stunning.
I just need the right direction in how to use the OSD_Arcade to narrow my custom string to most perfect possible.

Here is  my VMMaker.ini

Code: [Select]

; VideoModeMaker - Options
; ------------------------
   
; 1. MAME
; -------

; Path for Mame executable, in case we want to extract xml information from it.

MameExe = "D:\Emuladores\UME\UME.exe"

; Path for Mame ini folder, in case we want to create an ini file for each game.
; Important: existing ini files will be overwritten.

IniPath = "D:\Emuladores\UME\ini"

; Mame options.

ListFromXML = 1 ; Processes Mame XML and get video mode list from it
GenerateXML = 0 ; Extracts XML from Mame (only needed once)
OnlyListMain = 0 ; Only list resolutions for games contained in MameMain.txt
GenerateInis = 0 ; Creates an ini file for each Mame game, in the IniPath folder
SDLMame = 0 ; Use SDLMame specific options

; Monitor orientation

MonitorHorizontal = 0 ; 0 = Rotating monitor: horizontal and vertical games at their native resolution
;     Suitable for users that physically rotate their CRTs
; 1 = Horizontal monitor: horizontal games run at their native resolution and
;     vertical games are rotated to fit in horizontal monitor

RotatingDesktop = 0 ; Specifies if both desktop and monitor are rotated

; Aspect ratio for vertical games on horizontal monitor
; 4:3 (keeps original aspect ratio)
; 3:3 (stretches to square format)
; 3:4 (stretches to full screen)
; h:v (custom aspect ratio)

VerticalAspect = "4:3"


; 2. MONITOR
; ----------

; Monitor Type. Valid types: D9800, D9400, D9200, EGA, VGA, MULTI, H9110, PAL, NTSC, GENERIC, CUSTOM

MonitorType = "CUSTOM"


; Monitor CUSTOM. These values will be used if MonitorType = "PAL"
;
; monitor_specs0-6  HfreqMin-HfreqMax, VfreqMin,VfreqMax, HFrontPorch, HSyncPulse, HBackPorch, VfrontPorch, VSyncPulse, VBackPorch, HSyncPol, VSyncPol, ActiveLinesLimit, VirtualLinesLimit
;
; * HfreqMin-HfreqMax: Minimum and maximum horizontal frequency, in Hz. Defines the range of horizontal frequencies the monitor is capable to sync.
; The higher the horizontal frequency, the higher the vertical resolution available for the same vertical refresh.
; The higher the horizontal frequency, the higher the vertical refresh available for the same vertical resolution.
; The higher the horizontal frequency, the lower the horizontal amplitude of active video (narrower picture).
;
; * VFreqMin-VfreqMax: Minimum and maximum vertical frequency, in Hz, Defines the range of vertical frequencies the monitor is capable to sync.
;
; * HFrontPorch, HSyncPulse, HBackPorch: Horizontal timing and geometry, values in µs
;
; * VfrontPorch, VSyncPulse, VBackPorch: Vertical timing and geometry, values in ms
;
; * HSyncPol,VSyncPol: sync polarities, 0 = negative, 1 = positive.
;
; * ActiveLinesLimit: Vertical resolutions until ActiveLinesLimit value included, are generated as progressive, regardless the possibility
;                           of obtaining the required vertical refresh value.
;
; * VirtualLinesLimit: Vertical resolutions above ActiveLinesLimit and below VirtualLinesLimit are virtualized, that is, an interlaced resolution
;                            bigger that the native one is generated, with the right refresh, and "hardware stretch" is applied.
;                            Vertical resolutions above VirtulaLinesLimit are generated as interlaced, without any stretching.

monitor_specs0    15116-16291, 49.50-65.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 288, 448


; Tolerance for horizontal frequency, in kHz, enables extending the range defined by [ HfreqMin, HfreqMax ]
; The resulting allowed frequency range will be [ HfreqMin - HfreqTolerance, HfreqMax + HfreqTolerance ]

HfreqTolerance = 0.010


; 3. MODELINE GENERATOR
; ---------------------

; Total number of modelines to generate. Here are the recommended values for each driver version:
; CRT_Emudriver, based on Catalyst 6.5: 160 modes (accepts up to 200, but above 160 HyperSpin will refuse to load)
; CRT_Emudriver, based on Catalyst 9.3: 120 modes (accepts some more but above 120 you can get some blue screens)
; Regular Catalyst                    : 60 modes (won't accept any more)

TotalModes = 120

; If enabled, only creates modes with 32 bits per pixel color depth

Only32BPPModes = 0

; Method for mode table generation. If Mame xml is processed, that will create a lot of different video modes, so the mode table
; will be optimized keeping the most relevant ones, and dropping the rest, to keep below the TotalModes value.
;
; 0 = Static table: modelines are generated keeping their original vertical refresh. This method is intended to be used in
;     combination with ini files for each game.
;
; 1 = Dynamic table: a table of dummy modes is created using xres and yres values while ignoring vfreq. This method is intended
;     to be used in combination with Switchres or Groovymame. No ini files are required using this method (you should disable the
;     GenerateInis option).
;
; 2 = Magic table: a table of 'magic resolutions' is created, by ignoring xres and vfreq and just keeping yres. This method greatly reduces
;     the total number of modes in the list. It's only supported by GroovyMAME, and is intended as a workaround for the Hyperspin issue.

ModeTableMethod_Custom = 0
ModeTableMethod_XML = 2
; Minimum resolution values (these will be used instead of lower values)

XresMin_XML = 184
YresMin_XML = 192
YresRound_XML = 4

XresMin_Custom = 240
YresMin_Custom = 160
YresRound_Custom = 0

; Minimum dotclock value allowed by the video card, in MHz (i.e. DotClockMin = 7.010)

DotClockMin = 0

; Number of iterations used by the mode generator [0,5]. The higher the number of iterations, the bigger the accuracy of the vertical
; refreshed obtained, normally at the cost of increasing the horizontal frequency strictly required.

Iterations = 1

; Specifies if the refresh label is multiplied by 10 before rounding (experimental).

VFreqLabelx10 = 0

; 4. DRIVER
; ---------

; Path for the driver folder

DriverPath = ".\Driver\"

; If UpdateRegistry is enabled, UpdateDriver will only work if the driver version found in DriverPath matches the one installed
; in the system.

UpdateRegistry = 1 ; Specifies if the video card registry section will be updated with the new video modes
; (will only work in combination with CRT_EMUDriver).

UpdateDriver = 0 ; Specifies if the driver files in DriverPath will be updated with the new video modes, for
; future installations.

AnyCatalyst = 0 ; Allows modelines to be installed for any Catalyst version. This option is experimental and
; known to produce some problems.

And my Switchres section in UME.ini:

Code: [Select]

#
# CORE SWITCHRES OPTIONS
#
modeline                  1
monitor                   generic_15
orientation               rotate
connector                 auto
interlace                 1
doublescan                1
cleanstretch              0
changeres                 1
powerstrip                0
lock_system_modes         1
lock_unsupported_modes    1
refresh_dont_care         0
dotclock_min              0
sync_refresh_tolerance    2.0
frame_delay               0
lcd_range                 auto
crt_range0                auto
crt_range1                auto
crt_range2                auto
crt_range3                auto
crt_range4                auto
crt_range5                auto
crt_range6                auto
crt_range7                auto
crt_range8                auto
crt_range9                auto
And here are some pictures of my control panel (gonna be part of my cabinet that i am working right now) and my tv with some games, already using GroovyMame. Notice in the last shot, my screen has a little black border in the right corner, cutting off the image, and i cannot adjust this using the service menu.
If any you guys can point me the right direction i'll be appreciated. (Ah and sorry my broken english). 

Thanks.

Mahrio

[Calamity]

Hi Mahrio,

Try increasing the horizontal front porch a little bit. Just edit this line in ume.ini (no need to run vmmaker again):

crt_range0    15116-16291, 49.50-65.00, 4.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 192, 288, 400, 576

Also, set monitor custom

Nice picture, btw.

[Mahrio]

Thanks for your answer Calamity.

Shouldn't I set this in the VMMaker.ini to redo my video modes? I am saying this because some of my pictures (the last three) aren´t running GroovyUME.
These pictures were taken when i was playing Street Fighter IV in windows 640 x 480@60hz.
And if i set this just inside ume.ini gonna affect just the games i played inside UME right?

I am using a Nikon D3100 to take those pictures 

Mahrio

[Calamity]

Sure, if you want to change the geometry for non-MAME games, you need to use vmmaker:

monitor_specs0    15116-16291, 49.50-65.00, 4.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 288, 448

[Mahrio]

w00t Calamity! Thanks a lot.
I tweaked a little with those timings you gave and i found one that worked for almost game that i tested. The only one that didn't work it was asteroids (going to fix it changing resolutions in the ini directory).
Do you remind any problematic games that i should test?

For users of KV-21FS140, just put this string in mame.ini\ume.ini and it'll be near perfect.

Code: [Select]

crt_range0                15936-16291, 49.50-65.00, 3.700, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 192, 288, 400, 576
BTW did you test the hiscore patch for the Groovymame 148u5?
It doesn't seem to be working. If i put a mame148u4 (the old that i was using, with hiscore patch enabled) and execute in the same directory of the GroovyUME it recognizes the old hi-scores that i have in the folder \HI. 
The 1st picture its with GroovyMAME and the 2nd its with the old one (look the geometry difference).

Check it out!

[Mahrio]

Anyone having problem with games which isn't not loading the old saved hiscores?
Using the old executable inside the same directory fix the problem.

GroovyMAME 148u5:


MAME 148u4:


Any ideas? Thanks.

[Calamity]

You have to place the hiscore.dat file *inside* the .\hi folder. This is specific to GroovyMAME.

[Mahrio]

Thanks Calamity it fixed my hiscores. I am just finishing my cabinet build, i hope in some weeks have it ready.
On other post, you said that maybe you could release a CRT_Emu drivers modified for Windows 7.

Are you close to achieve that?

BTW, thanks for all your hard work to help the arcade community. GroovyMAME its a MUST HAVE for people who like me are using TVs or CRT Monitors.

[Calamity]

Are you close to achieve that?

Yes, they'll be released as soon as I have some time to finish the last details. However, I'll still use XP for all my machines. Some stuff just won't work on Windows 7, namely magic resolutions (bad news for HS lovers). GroovyMAME is fully functional anyway, using "traditional" dynamic modelines.