CRTEmuDriver for Windows 7 test results

[DeLuSioNal29]

That makes sense.  I had forgotten to mention that I tried loading the latest CCCP codecs package ( http://www.cccp-project.net/ ) and it had no effect.  Then I read just now that they had removed the ffdshow codec as of 2012.

So I'll give it a shot and let you know how it goes.

D

[DeLuSioNal29]

Unfortunately installing the ffshow codecs didn't help.  I also tried installing VLC, then Shark007's codecs to no avail.

Edit:  Used some more Google-Fu and found this:
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1203700?tstart=0

It solved my issue.  You need top disable hardware acceleration for MP4s by using Youtube (it affects the MP4 settings globally).  Since the option to disable hardware acceleration is only available on Firefox when you right click the video, I needed to download it.  (It does not show this option for Internet Explorer or Chrome.)

No more green screen!  Since it's an Mp4 codec issue, it doesn't affect the hardware acceleration for the games (that I know of).  But I will need to do more testing.

D

[Calamity]

May you upload one of those mp4s somewhere so I can check here?

[DeLuSioNal29]

May you upload one of those mp4s somewhere so I can check here?

Give me a few minutes to dump it into my dropbox folder.  PM me your e-mail in the meantime.

Also, I failed to mention that the videos play black in windows now outside of the frontend but are fine in Hyperspin.  But again, they work fine in Hyperspin.

D

[androtaz08]

Hi Calamity love your work on xp, trying to upgrade to win 7. After getting the driver installed and running go maker I reboot and get stuck on the windows starting screen. I read that windows can be slow to boot after running vm maker so I left it over night and still in the morning I'm stuck on the screen. I tried going into safe mode and re running vm maker with the super res options but get the same thing.

[Calamity]

It solved my issue.  You need top disable hardware acceleration for MP4s by using Youtube (it affects the MP4 settings globally).  Since the option to disable hardware acceleration is only available on Firefox when you right click the video, I needed to download it.  (It does not show this option for Internet Explorer or Chrome.)

Hi DeLuSioNal29,

The purpose of using the Catalyst "reloaded" as a base for the Emudriver was to avoid the need of disabling hardware acceleration. Besides, the videos should be playing fine in WMP and VLC. May you check the driver version that's active in your system (in device manager, right click on the display adapter, you should see something like "Calamity" and 8.xx, the xx is the interesting bit), maybe it didn't get installed fine unless you uninstalled the previous one. I won't be able to test your videos until monday or tuesday. My understanding is that disabling hardware acceleration via Firefox only affects Flash based players. Hopefully some day Flash will disappear from the face of the Earth.

[Calamity]

Hi Calamity love your work on xp, trying to upgrade to win 7. After getting the driver installed and running go maker I reboot and get stuck on the windows starting screen. I read that windows can be slow to boot after running vm maker so I left it over night and still in the morning I'm stuck on the screen. I tried going into safe mode and re running vm maker with the super res options but get the same thing.

Hi androtaz08,

Did you follow these instructions: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,138903.msg1440986.html#msg1440986
You shoud get it working before trying to use VMMaker.

[androtaz08]

Ok I restored from last good setup and reinstalled the driver. Rebooted and every is fine. I haven't run vm makers and I have all the resolutions I need to run groovymame perfectly. However hyperspin will not launch. I have to play around more with the super resolutions as I understand they take the make of the magic ones.

[androtaz08]

got everything 100 % working now. only thing is after the bios screen and before start up say out of range on my d9800. small nitpick but this didn't happen on my old setup with xp. any ideas as to why?

[Calamity]

small nitpick but this didn't happen on my old setup with xp. any ideas as to why?

IIRC you need to run:

bcdedit /set bootux basic

This will make enable 640x480@60 (31kHz) during the boot logo, good enough for your D9800 or a standard arcade monitor with a J-PAC.

Keep in mind W7 still boots at 1024x768@60 (48kHz) and stays there for a couple of seconds before going into 640x480. This is specially troublesome if you're planning to set dual boot, because the W7 boot menu is hardcoded to 48 kHz. There's no way around that I know of, and this can actually kill your monitor. I only switch my monitor on after a few seconds when I know the Windows logo (the basic one) is already on screen.

[bulbousbeard]

A JPAC should protect against the 48khz signal, right?

I'd like to know if I'm blowing up my monitor.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I had the same issue when I switched to Windows 7.  But I have a multisync monitor (Betson) so I'm thinking it's OK?  I have an out of sync error message that pops up on the monitor.

I'll give that boot option a shot when I get home...

bulbousbeard, I've included my RegMdIns.txt and ReslList.txt files below as requested.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Calamity,

My version that's installed is 8.951.1.0 (see pic below)

DeLuSioNaL29

[Calamity]

Thanks DeLuSioNal29, that's the correct version indeed.

Your videos are playing fine here, but only with VLC. In WMP the video is black.

[cools]

small nitpick but this didn't happen on my old setup with xp. any ideas as to why?

Keep in mind W7 still boots at 1024x768@60 (48kHz) and stays there for a couple of seconds before going into 640x480. This is specially troublesome if you're planning to set dual boot, because the W7 boot menu is hardcoded to 48 kHz. There's no way around that I know of, and this can actually kill your monitor. I only switch my monitor on after a few seconds when I know the Windows logo (the basic one) is already on screen.

I thought "No GUI boot" got rid of the boot logo?

[cools]

These drivers don't work with an X600 do they? :facepalm:

[Calamity]

I thought "No GUI boot" got rid of the boot logo?

Yeah but it makes things worse because the black screen is actually 1024x768 for the whole boot process: http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26482
Besides, I found that you can't enable a second monitor if you hide the boot logo... funny.

These drivers don't work with an X600 do they? :facepalm:

Only DX10 cards are supported

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/graphics/display/20091028221422_ATI_Limits_Official_Windows_7_Support_to_DirectX_10_Graphics_Cards.html

[DeLuSioNal29]

Your videos are playing fine here, but only with VLC. In WMP the video is black.

Was this before or after you disabled Flash hardware acceleration in Firefox on Youtube?  I'll try installing VLC again to see if it clears the problem.

Also, did you have a look at Hyperspin's video playout?  I can throw a basic version in my test Dropbox folder which should play a video in the menu, regardless if you have any emulators set up or not.  You just need to toss it on your C: drive for the file associations to work.

DeLuSioNaL29

[DeLuSioNal29]

I'll give that boot option a shot when I get home...

I tried the msconfig "base video" option for 640x480 and it didn't make any difference for my multisync monitor [it just changed my desktop from 800x600 (my maximum res for my Betson monitor) to 640x480].  The boot up still remained out of sync.  But I'm pretty sure I'm safe as my monitor displays "out of sync" instead of the unsupported res which may damage the monitor).

D

[Calamity]

I tried the msconfig "base video" option for 640x480 and it didn't make any difference for my multisync monitor [it just changed my desktop from 800x600 (my maximum res for my Betson monitor) to 640x480].  The boot up still remained out of sync.  But I'm pretty sure I'm safe as my monitor displays "out of sync" instead of the unsupported res which may damage the monitor).

Do it from command line, forget about the msconfig option, use an elevated command prompt.
(I did this last year and I had forgotten the details)

[Calamity]

Was this before or after you disabled Flash hardware acceleration in Firefox on Youtube?  I'll try installing VLC again to see if it clears the problem.

I didn't touch hardware acceleration either in Fireforx or Youtube. Don't have this box connected to the internet to check youtube anyway.

Also, did you have a look at Hyperspin's video playout?

Don't have HS either. Pass me those files so I can check offline, thanks.

[cools]

Hmm, well I've pulled the 4350 out of another box (the PCB colour matches the motherboard in the new machine, which is nice) so that'll be fine for Win 7. That 1024x768 bootup shouldn't bother my monitor either, it's direct VGA in and it filters out signals it doesn't like.

XP would be fine bar the messing I need to do for the SSD to be treated nicely. But 7 boots in seconds so I'd rather stick with it.

Even if it does drive me nuts without a mouse - keyboard navigation on 7 is far more frustrating than XP.

[cools]

I want to thank all the beta testers for their reports. I think it's time to release the beta version so more people can test it, and in the meantime I'll be finishing the new version of VMMaker.

MSVCR100.dll missing error. Stock 64bit Win7 Home Premium SP1-U, no updates (machine has no internet connection).

[cools]

4.- CRT Emudriver for W7 doesn't boot in 15 kHz automatically after restart.

Mine did. I suspect it's because I had base video/no gui boot enabled permanently before installing the driver. I've subsequently unticked base video as it was reverting to 320x240 every reboot, rather than the selected in ArcadeOSD 640x480i.

[cools]

Success.

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SP1-U, no updates. HD 4350. No GUI Boot and Base Video ticked in MSCONFIG
Installed the CRT_Emudriver beta drivers as admin. MSVCR100.DLL error. Asks to enable test mode, tick yes. Rebooted.
Came up in 320x240 15khz.
Selected 640x480i in ArcadeOSD.
Unticked base video.
Rebooted.
Run GroovyMAME as Admin, all working perfectly.

Modeswitching is fast after the initial MAME load time (first run after boot).

Not touched any INI files except for VMMaker.ini. VMMaker is saying no compatible driver found (monitor is connected to \\.\DISPLAY1 according to the debug log) so it does nothing, but the modes built into the driver are all appearing in ArcadeOSD quite happily and GM is picking the right ones.

The driver version is 8.951.1.0, Calamity signed.

[Sledge]

I'm still on the old drivers...
Disabled hardware acceleration through firefox, and videos show fine in HS..
Not sure if i need to install the new drivers or not lol?

[Calamity]

Hi cools,

I think the MSVCR100.DLL error happens because I packed the wrong version of dpinst.exe, I need to check. You simply need to install the visual c++ redistributable package to hide this error but this didn't happen with the previous drivers.

Regarding VMMaker, make sure to run it with ADMIN RIGHTS (it does work).

Using No GUI Boot caused problems for me with not being able to add a secondary monitor, this is a bug with ATI drivers I guess. Anyway using two monitors in W7 is not a real possibility in W7 with these drivers because things turn really slow, but just commenting this so you don't go crazy.

It's a shame that flash doesn't work without disabling hardware acceleration as it was the reason I built this new package. I wonder if ripping off the basic driver files is the cause of this and I really need to use the whole "reloaded" package to fix this.

[cools]

I think the MSVCR100.DLL error happens because I packed the wrong version of dpinst.exe, I need to check. You simply need to install the visual c++ redistributable package to hide this error but this didn't happen with the previous drivers.

2010 version, yeah? http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=26999 Prefer not to but no doubt I'll need it for something else so I'll give that a go.

Regarding VMMaker, make sure to run it with ADMIN RIGHTS (it does work).

I did. Right click run as admin, and later with UAC off. It runs but says driver not found. Will try once I've fixed the MSVCR100.DLL

Using No GUI Boot caused problems for me with not being able to add a secondary monitor, this is a bug with ATI drivers I guess. Anyway using two monitors in W7 is not a real possibility in W7 with these drivers because things turn really slow, but just commenting this so you don't go crazy.

Not something I'm worried about, cab only has one screen

[cools]

Nope, installing the Visual C++ redist fixes the setup error but VMMaker still doesn't work (as admin)

[Calamity]

Nope, installing the Visual C++ redist fixes the setup error but VMMaker still doesn't work (as admin)

What VMMaker are you running? Only the one provided with the package should be used with W7. It has worked for everyone indeed
 

[cools]

Yes, that one.

It's in C:\CRT_Emudriver

It runs fine, just says it can't find a compatible driver and that the registry won't be updated.

Unless that error is a lie? Hangon, I've noticed some weirdness where I've had to reinstall the driver again a couple of times - perhaps it's doing what it should but not telling me. I'll check.

[cools]

Right, okay.

VMMaker clears all the custom modes from the registry, but doesn't repopulate it. It generates all of its working files okay (I modified the "desktop" one to 800x480 @ 30 and that appears in the other text files).

However, if I set "Any_Catalyst" to 1 in VMMAKER.INI that does the trick and allows VMMaker to work normally.

[Calamity]

Sorry cools, you're totally right. I must have forgotten to add the new signature (8.951.1.0) to VMMaker. In the meantime using "AnyCatalyst" is the way to go.

[cools]

No problem I'm pleased with how well it works, the slow mode switching I was concerned about doesn't appear to be an issue whatsoever - there's a short freeze when starting GM (or anything that has to access the resolutions) for the first time after boot, but once done it's fine.

[Calamity]

Regarding the green screen issue, I've done further research and the "reloaded" driver actually fixes the issue, but unfortunately as soon as I patch the driver to add the "emudriver" features the issue reappears (probably for a completely different reason):

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4835350#post4835350

The problematic feature here is DXVA. This is the hardware accelerated video support, used by Flash & HS to display mp4 encoded videos. The workaround by now is to force Flash not to use hardware acceleration as explained in previous posts (via Firefox).

[cools]

Having problems making super resolutions.

VMMaker appears to make them (they appear in the modeline file etc) but the only custom resolution available after rebooting is the 640x480 desktop one.

Just me?

[Calamity]

Having problems making super resolutions.

VMMaker appears to make them (they appear in the modeline file etc) but the only custom resolution available after rebooting is the 640x480 desktop one.

Just me?

This is odd. Does it only happen with super resolutions? Is VMMaker able to install any other resolutions at all?

[cools]

Yeah, it's fine with everything else, it even generates its own super wide resolutions when processing the MAME XML. If they didnt appear in the results text files I'd think it was my mistake. I'll do some more digging soon.

It'd really help me if vmmaker and groovy presets and syntax were synchronised though, I know that 31k with fake scanlines is A weird setup but it's far more authentic on the monitor I'm using than its 15k.

[Calamity]

You can test this:

- Download Winmodelines (http://www.geocities.ws/podernixie/htpc/modeline-en.html), and make sure the modelines are present.
- Make sure the modes are not being hidden by Windows. In ArcadeOSD, disable the "Lock unsupported modes" option.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I tried the msconfig "base video" option for 640x480 and it didn't make any difference for my multisync monitor [it just changed my desktop from 800x600 (my maximum res for my Betson monitor) to 640x480].  The boot up still remained out of sync.  But I'm pretty sure I'm safe as my monitor displays "out of sync" instead of the unsupported res which may damage the monitor).

Do it from command line, forget about the msconfig option, use an elevated command prompt.
(I did this last year and I had forgotten the details)

OK, I figured I'd provide some more info here as well.  With the default startup (haven't done it from the command line yet or msconfig) My CRT monitor displays:  Out of Sync HF 38-40kHz, VF 47-160Hz  48.3  60Hz.

Will this command line function correct this problem?  Do you have the exact syntax that I could try from my CMD prompt?

Thanks in advance!

DeLuSioNaL29