GroovyMAME + ArcadeVGA 5000

[barakawins]

I'm running a Neotec NT-S501 CGA monitor and just installed the latest GroovyMame. This is my first time usage. I need some help
with trying to set up. I get this message: "Switch Res: Could not find a video mode that meets your specs"

This is where I'm lost. I'm going to guess here that it is the monitor section of the ini file that needs some adjusting.
I currently have Monitor = generic_15 which is default . But, don't know where to go from here for proper setup. I'm posting my ini file here.
Hopefully someone could point me in the right direction so I don't get the "Switch Res: Could not find a video mode that meets your specs"
come up all the time. 

Code: [Select]

#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig                1
writeconfig               0

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath                   roms
hashpath                  hash
samplepath                samples
artpath                   artwork
ctrlrpath                 ctrlr
inipath                   .;ini
fontpath                  .
cheatpath                 cheat
crosshairpath             crosshair

#
# CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS
#
cfg_directory             cfg
nvram_directory           nvram
input_directory           inp
state_directory           sta
snapshot_directory        snap
diff_directory            diff
comment_directory         comments

#
# CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS
#
hiscore_directory         hi

#
# CORE STATE/PLAYBACK OPTIONS
#
state                     
autosave                  0
playback                 
record                   
mngwrite                 
aviwrite                 
wavwrite                 
snapname                  %g/%i
snapsize                  auto
snapview                  internal
snapbilinear              1
statename                 %g
burnin                    0

#
# CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
autoframeskip             0
frameskip                 0
seconds_to_run            0
throttle                  1
syncrefresh               0
sleep                     1
speed                     1.0
refreshspeed              0

#
# CORE ROTATION OPTIONS
#
rotate                    1
ror                       0
rol                       0
autoror                   0
autorol                   0
flipx                     0
flipy                     0

#
# CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS
#
artwork_crop              1
use_backdrops             0
use_overlays              0
use_bezels                0
use_cpanels               0
use_marquees              0

#
# CORE SCREEN OPTIONS
#
brightness                1.0
contrast                  1.0
gamma                     1.0
pause_brightness          0.65
effect                    none

#
# CORE VECTOR OPTIONS
#
antialias                 1
beam                      2.0
flicker                   0

#
# CORE SOUND OPTIONS
#
samplerate                48000
samples                   1
volume                    0

#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout              1
ctrlr                     
mouse                     0
joystick                  1
lightgun                  0
multikeyboard             0
multimouse                0
steadykey                 0
ui_active                 0
offscreen_reload          0
joystick_map              auto
joystick_deadzone         0.3
joystick_saturation       0.85
natural                   0
joystick_contradictory    0
coin_impulse              0

#
# CORE INPUT AUTOMATIC ENABLE OPTIONS
#
paddle_device             keyboard
adstick_device            keyboard
pedal_device              keyboard
dial_device               keyboard
trackball_device          keyboard
lightgun_device           keyboard
positional_device         keyboard
mouse_device              mouse

#
# CORE DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
update_in_pause           0
debugscript               

#
# CORE MISC OPTIONS
#
drc                       1
drc_use_c                 0
drc_log_uml               0
drc_log_native            0
bios                     
cheat                     0
skip_gameinfo             1
uifont                    default
ramsize                   
confirm_quit              0
ui_mouse                  0
autoboot_command         
autoboot_delay            2
autoboot_script           
http                      0
http_port                 8080
http_path                 web
console                   0

#
# CORE MKChamp OPTIONS
#
disable_hiscore_patch     0
disable_nagscreen_patch   1
disable_loading_patch     1

#
# CORE SWITCHRES OPTIONS
#
modeline_generation       1
monitor                   generic_15
orientation               horizontal
connector                 auto
interlace                 0
doublescan                1
cleanstretch              2
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
black_frame_insertion     0
modeline                  auto
ps_timing                 auto
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

#
# OSD DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
log                       0
verbose                   0
debug                     0
debugger                  auto
oslog                     0
watchdog                  0

#
# OSD PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
multithreading            0
numprocessors             auto
bench                     0

#
# OSD VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video                     auto
numscreens                1
window                    0
maximize                  1
keepaspect                0
unevenstretch             0
waitvsync                 0

#
# OSD PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS
#
screen                    auto
aspect                    auto
resolution                auto
view                      auto
screen0                   auto
aspect0                   auto
resolution0               auto
view0                     auto
screen1                   auto
aspect1                   auto
resolution1               auto
view1                     auto
screen2                   auto
aspect2                   auto
resolution2               auto
view2                     auto
screen3                   auto
aspect3                   auto
resolution3               auto
view3                     auto

#
# OSD FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
switchres                 1

#
# OSD SOUND OPTIONS
#
sound                     auto
audio_latency             2.0

#
# WINDOWS DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
debugger_font             "Lucida Console"
debugger_font_size        9

#
# WINDOWS PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
priority                  0
profile                   0

#
# WINDOWS VIDEO OPTIONS
#
prescale                  1
menu                      0

#
# DIRECTDRAW-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
#
hwstretch                 0

#
# DIRECT3D-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
#
filter                    0

#
# DIRECT3D POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
hlsl_enable               0
hlslpath                  hlsl
hlsl_prescale_x           0
hlsl_prescale_y           0
hlsl_preset               -1
hlsl_write               
hlsl_snap_width           2048
hlsl_snap_height          1536
shadow_mask_alpha         0.0
shadow_mask_texture       aperture.png
shadow_mask_x_count       320
shadow_mask_y_count       240
shadow_mask_usize         0.09375
shadow_mask_vsize         0.109375
curvature                 0.03
pincushion                0.03
scanline_alpha            1.0
scanline_size             1.0
scanline_height           1.0
scanline_bright_scale     1.0
scanline_bright_offset    0.0
scanline_jitter           0.0
defocus                   0.0,0.0
converge_x                0.3,0.0,-0.3
converge_y                0.0,0.3,-0.3
radial_converge_x         0.0,0.0,0.0
radial_converge_y         0.0,0.0,0.0
red_ratio                 1.0,0.0,0.0
grn_ratio                 0.0,1.0,0.0
blu_ratio                 0.0,0.0,1.0
saturation                1.4
offset                    0.0,0.0,0.0
scale                     0.95,0.95,0.95
power                     0.8,0.8,0.8
floor                     0.05,0.05,0.05
phosphor_life             0.4,0.4,0.4

#
# NTSC POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
yiq_enable                0
yiq_cc                    3.59754545
yiq_a                     0.5
yiq_b                     0.5
yiq_o                     1.570796325
yiq_p                     1.0
yiq_n                     1.0
yiq_y                     6.0
yiq_i                     1.2
yiq_q                     0.6
yiq_scan_time             52.6
yiq_phase_count           2

#
# VECTOR POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
vector_length_scale       0.8
vector_length_ratio       500.0

#
# BLOOM POST-PROCESSING OPTIONS
#
vector_bloom_scale        0.3
raster_bloom_scale        0.225
bloom_lvl0_weight         1.0
bloom_lvl1_weight         0.21
bloom_lvl2_weight         0.19
bloom_lvl3_weight         0.17
bloom_lvl4_weight         0.15
bloom_lvl5_weight         0.14
bloom_lvl6_weight         0.13
bloom_lvl7_weight         0.12
bloom_lvl8_weight         0.11
bloom_lvl9_weight         0.10
bloom_lvl10_weight        0.09

#
# FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
triplebuffer              0
full_screen_brightness    1.0
full_screen_contrast      1.0
full_screen_gamma         1.0

#
# INPUT DEVICE OPTIONS
#
dual_lightgun             0


[Calamity]

What video card/drivers are you using?

[barakawins]

I have the ArcadeVGA 5000 installed and using the Ultimarc Windows 7 drivers

[Calamity]

I have the ArcadeVGA 5000 installed and using the Ultimarc Windows 7 drivers

For the AVGA you need to set:

lock_system_modes         0
refresh_dont_care         1

[barakawins]

I changed both values and still get the same message.

[Calamity]

Post a log.

[barakawins]

Here's the log.

Code: [Select]

SwitchRes: v0.015e, Monitor: generic_15, Orientation: horizontal, Modeline generation: enabled
SwitchRes: Monitor range 15625.00-15750.00,49.50-65.00,2.000,4.700,8.000,0.064,0.192,1.024,0,0,192,288,448,576
SwitchRes: \\.\DISPLAY1: Ultimarc ArcadeVGA5000
SwitchRes: DeviceKey: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video\{F5C3B7CC-67AD-4CC9-99D1-683E9A5F0947}\0000
Switchres: Searching for custom video modes...
Switchres: [  1]  240x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  2]  256x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  3]  256x 256 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  4]  256x 264 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  5]  288x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  6]  296x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  7]  304x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  8]  320x 200 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [  9]  320x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 10]  320x 256 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 11]  336x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 12]  352x 256 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 13]  352x 288 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 14]  368x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 15]  384x 288 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 16]  392x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 17]  400x 256 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 18]  448x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 19]  512x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 20]  512x 288 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 21]  512x 448 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 22]  512x 512 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 23]  632x 264 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 24]  640x 240 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 25]  640x 288 @ 60* : system mode
Switchres: [ 26]  640x 480 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 27]  720x 480 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 28]  800x 600 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
Switchres: [ 29] 1024x 768 @ 60 : system mode
mode_locked
SwitchRes: Found 0 custom of 29 active video modes

SwitchRes: Entering switchres_modeline_setup
SwitchRes: v0.015e:[empty] Calculating best video mode for 640x480@61.000000 orientation: normal

SwitchRes: [ 240]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 256]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 256]x[ 256]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 256]x[ 264]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 288]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 296]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 304]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 320]x[ 200]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 320]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 320]x[ 256]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 336]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 352]x[ 256]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 352]x[ 288]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 368]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 384]x[ 288]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 392]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 400]x[ 256]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 448]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 512]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 512]x[ 288]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 512]x[ 448]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 512]x[ 512]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 632]x[ 264]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 640]x[ 240]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 640]x[ 288]_[60=60.0000Hz]
   rng(0):  out of range

SwitchRes: [ 640]x[ 480]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 720]x[ 480]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [ 800]x[ 600]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked

SwitchRes: [1024]x[ 768]_[60=60.0000Hz] - locked
SwitchRes: Setting option -noswitchres
Video: Monitor 00010001 = "\\.\DISPLAY1" (primary)
Direct3D: Using Direct3D 9
window_proc: WM_NCACTIVATE
blit_lock = TRUE
Direct3D: Configuring adapter #0 = Ultimarc ArcadeVGA5000
Direct3D: Using dynamic textures
Direct3D: YUV format = RGB
Direct3D: Max texture size = 16384x16384
Direct3D: Device created at 640x288
blit_unlock = TRUE
stream_buffer_size = 37888
DirectSound: Primary buffer: 48000 Hz, 16 bits, 2 channels
RawInput: APIs detected
Input: Adding Mouse #0: HID-compliant mouse
Input: Adding Gun #0: HID-compliant mouse
Input: Adding Kbd #0: Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Input: Adding Kbd #1: HID Keyboard Device
DirectInput: Using DirectInput 7
window_proc: WM_PAINT
blit_lock = FALSE
window_proc: WM_PAINT:END
Unable to load winpcap: 7e
Region ':user1' created
Starting No Driver Loaded ':'
  (missing dependencies; rescheduling)
Starting Video Screen ':screen'
Optional device 'finder_dummy_tag' not found
Starting No Driver Loaded ':'
window_proc: WM_NCACTIVATE
blit_lock = TRUE
window_proc: WM_DESTROY
blit_lock = TRUE

[Calamity]

Check your mame.ini again, you can't have changed lock_system_modes.

[barakawins]

This is what I have in there:

lock_system_modes         0
lock_unsupported_modes    1
refresh_dont_care         1

Do you think my ini may be corrupt? I renamed the ini file to mame.ini and it's in my mame folder

[barakawins]

There is one thing that troubles me. I've been having problems with 640 x 480 resolutions. The windows desktop doesn't look good and for me to
get a solid good resolution I have to be a 640 x 288. If you look at the log i posted, you'll see that

 SwitchRes: [ 640]x[ 288]_[60=60.0000Hz]    rng(0):  out of range

Why is that? Something here is going on I can't get past.

[barakawins]

Ok.. I figured out my issue. I created another ini file. Apparently I can't rename the ini to mame or it can't find it.
Got video now. The only thing I see so far is pacman sounds are lagging. Not sure why. Is there a fix for that?

[Calamity]

Enable multithreading.

[barakawins]

Multi threading worked!!! Pacman sounds fixed. Last think I have to fix are the vector games like asteroids. They come out really fuzzy. Hard to see.
Anyone have a good fix for this?

[Calamity]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,121372.msg1287430.html#msg1287430

In vector.ini *only* put the options you need to modify. DO NOT copy the whole mame.ini file as vector.ini or it won't work fine.

[barakawins]

The other question I have is how to change some screen resolutions.. Many games look beautiful and I have to thank you for the support.
I remember in advancemame there was an option to correct video within the game. Is there a way to do something similar to that so other resolutions
would be accepted?  If not, what's the best way to correct the video? Some are off center and some are skewed.

also, is there a way to force the aspect ratio on the main groovymame menu to show in 640 x 288?

[Calamity]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,140463.msg1455040.html#msg1455040

also, is there a way to force the aspect ratio on the main groovymame menu to show in 640 x 288?

Not sure what you mean.

[barakawins]

The main screen that shows the game list, it appears to be shown in 640 x 480. Is there any way to make it show in 640 x 288?
At 640 x 480 the screen shakes so I'm trying to change the resolution of this screen.

[Calamity]

It's not possible without affecting the actual games. Don't use that ui, use a proper frontend.

[barakawins]

Many games run well without issues. I have a question about power strip. I'm not understanding the benefit if this program and how it will work with
groovymame. There is a powerstrip option in the ini file so I changed it from 0 to 1. But how do you actually configure power strip to work and straighten
out all the bent videos. For example, a game called 005 is a vertical game. It's not centered and the top is bent. Many games of this resolution look
the same way. Any way to correct this?

[barakawins]

Ok.. Got pretty far today configuring groovy mame. I'm running windows 7, ArcadeVGA 5000 with ulimarc drivers and Groovymame 157.
My monitor is a NT-S501 CGA monitor (Came from Arcade Legends). Thanks to Calamity, I got the program to up and run. The horizontal games look
gorgeous and stretch pretty well. The issue is mostly with Vector games and vertical games. (Pacman, ms. pac, etc.. all display well).
Journey and many others don't display in the center and the upper video seems to be skewed.

Now, since my monitor is a standard resolution CGA, it won't display 640 x 480 correctly. I brought the resolution down to 640 x 288 and this fixes it.
Obviously 640 x 480 natural resolution games won't work either since my monitor can't handle it.

What I need to know is how can I get the resolutions corrected to display properly? Is there a program which will allow me to make adjustments while I'm in
the screen? Previously, advance mame would allow you to press tab and adjust video one at a time until the proper resolution was found. You could save
the resolution for that game as well as globally for all games with the same resolution. Hope someone can help.

[adder]

im not sure of how to use powerstrip with groovymame (i used to use powerstrip but actually stopped using it as i no longer needed it when using crt emudriver/groovymame)... but regarding your bent video at the top of the screen, i used to also have that problem when trying to run vertical games on a horizontal screen (so eg. trying to fit 256 lines vertically on the horizontal mounted screen). to solve this problem i used higher scan rates.
so in your mame.ini, instead of using monitor generic_15, use monitor arcade_15 .. or, if your monitor can handle it, use monitor arcade_15ex (but for this last option you should check first to see if your monitor can handle very high scan rates, it should say so in the manual/specs. using very high scan rates on monitors not designed for that, can damage them)

[barakawins]

Hmmmm. I'm curious.. Calamity, can it be that the windows 7 drivers that Ultimarc provides aren't good enough for Groovy mame?
Should I uninstall Andy's drivers and use the Emudrivers? Maybe this is why the vertical games don't center and are skewed at
the top. Also, I'm running windows 7 32 bit. Seems like the emudrivers are for windows 7 64 bit.

[barakawins]

I'm messing with the main screen resolution in the GroovyMame game menu. My screen appears to be a little jittery.
I'm using an arcade monitor with the following resolution:

// Generic 15.7 kHz
   generic_15
   
      crt_range0  15625-15750, 49.50-65.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.192, 1.024, 0, 0, 192, 288, 448, 576

If I choose Monitor-Custom and key in the entire line and omit the last set of digits (576) I get a box stating that it can't pass the resolutions.
If I keep hitting the ok box, it then gets me to the main menu which comes up PERFECT and full screen. Calamity do you know what the resolution is when
it passes onto the menu? Or, should I say, do you know what video options come up if they can't be passed? I mean the screen is perfect. I just keep getting
the diaglogue  box.

[krick]

The main screen that shows the game list, it appears to be shown in 640 x 480. Is there any way to make it show in 640 x 288?
At 640 x 480 the screen shakes so I'm trying to change the resolution of this screen.

I'm not 100% sure, and I'm unable to test at the moment, but I think that the menu runs at whatever the Windows desktop is set at.  So try setting your Windows desktop to 640x288.

If that works, you'll probably have issues with the font looking really bad.  If that's the case, try the mame.ini uifont change I mentioned here...
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135823.msg1421145.html#msg1421145

I'm not sure if that trick still works, that was many versions ago and things may have changed in MAME.

[Calamity]

If you break the crt_range line, then Switchres (the modeline engine) can't start and GM defaults to the desktop resolution, whatever it is. This completely defeats the purpose of GM.

Don't fight interlaced modes, all novices do this for some reason. Interlaced modes are what they are.

As I said, you can't force a different resolution in MAME's internal ui without affecting all games. Leave it alone and get a proper frontend to launch your games (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,143410.0.html).

[Calamity]

Hmmmm. I'm curious.. Calamity, can it be that the windows 7 drivers that Ultimarc provides aren't good enough for Groovy mame?
Should I uninstall Andy's drivers and use the Emudrivers? Maybe this is why the vertical games don't center and are skewed at
the top. Also, I'm running windows 7 32 bit. Seems like the emudrivers are for windows 7 64 bit.

You can't install CRT Emudriver with your ArcadeVGA. However, you can install Powerstrip and setup GroovyMAME to interface with it in order to enable custom timings, in a similar fashion of what you'd get with CRT Emudriver. The options involved are -pstrip (this enables the use of Powerstrip) and optionally -ps_timing (more info  here).

Check these posts too:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,140141.msg1450312.html#msg1450312
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135278.msg1396037.html#msg1396037
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,140463.msg1455040.html#msg1455040

[krick]

There is one thing that troubles me. I've been having problems with 640 x 480 resolutions. The windows desktop doesn't look good and for me to
get a solid good resolution I have to be a 640 x 288.

Are you using the ArcadeVGA drivers that came with your card, or are you using the ones from the Ultimarc website?

I was using an ArcadeVGA 3000 a while back, and I discovered a bug in the shipped drivers that made 640x480 interlaced look really bad and extra jittery.  Andy released updated drivers on his website that fixed it.  I know you have a newer card, but it might be worth a look...
http://www.ultimarc.com/avgadrivers.html

[barakawins]

Yeah.. I tried the driver's off of Ultimarc's site. I think I'm having an issue with video limitation on this CGA monitor. All standard resolution monitors cannot
display 640 x 480. Many of the old school games call for this. The highest resolution I can display is 640 x 288. I'm using hyperspin as my front end
and groovy mame works very well with it aside from the vertical games. All the pacman's work great. But, for some reason I'm just not getting the vertical showing up right. Every other emulator aside from Mame and Daphne don't seem to work well. All others are perfect. I have 20 emulators set up that can
take the 640 x 288 resolution.

Next step will be to use power strip to come up with a custom resolution for my monitor and finally power strip. If this doesn't work I may have to go back to
Mameuifx and run avres again and play with some of the resolutions.

[Calamity]

Hi barakawins,

I hope you don't mind I merged your three topics and added a more descriptive name so it's easier for me and others to follow. Some stuff:

- All "CGA" (15 kHz) monitors *can* display 640x480. It's only that an interlaced mode needs to be used for this.
- Interlace is what causes the flicker. There is nothing that can be done to fix it.
- In some monitors, the flicker is worse than in others, that's all.
- Interlaced modes are used by GroovyMAME when the user wants to display more progressive lines than allowed by the monitor. This is the typical case when running vertical games on horizontal monitor.
- If you want to disable interlaced modes in GroovyMAME, you can do it by disabling the "interlace" option (quite simple).
- 256p & 264p ArcadeVGA modes are defined in a way that causes issues on the top of the picture when used in 15 kHz monitors. Check the first link I posted above.
- You can fix this and other geometry issues by using Powerstrip. But don't expect a plug and play experience, you'll need to get your feets in the mud of CRT timings to succeed.

[barakawins]

There is one winning option. I'm not sure if groovymame can incorporate this or not. Years ago I used advancemame. This was a perfect
solution for standard resolution monitors. Automatic video generation picked by the user. I'll give you an example... If you were in the game such as
donkey kong, you were able to click on tab which pulls up the menu. Instead of only having two options to pick from for video, a drop down list of available
resolutions came up. You would arrow down through the resolutions until you found the one that automatically expanded the screen to your liking. You then
had an option to keep this screen size resolution for "this game only" or for all games with that same resolution. As soon as you hit save, the configuration was
saved and no hassles. As you played games in mame, if they were not properly shown, you would go down the list one by one until you found the resolution
you were happy with. You could also add your own resolutions to the list manually.

Somehow if this was incorporated into groovymame it would totally set new boundaries! I hope this can happen. I really don't want to remove hyperspin
as my front end. All emulators function 100% with little effort aside from Mame and Daphne which also takes 640 x 480 as the lowest resolution. I think I can
get around that somehow.  Thanks and I hope you can consider somehow adapting the advmame resolution fix. No need for power strip or hours of configuration.

[krick]

I really don't want to remove hyperspin
as my front end. All emulators function 100% with little effort aside from Mame and Daphne which also takes 640 x 480 as the lowest resolution. I think I can
get around that somehow.

I don't understand what you mean by "takes 640 x 480 as the lowest resolution".  Are you saying that when you launch MAME games from Hyperspin, they don't run at the correct resolution, but instead run at 640 x 480 interlaced?

[barakawins]

I think I have interlaced checked. I'll remove interlaced option from the mame.ini and see if this fixes some of my graphics

[barakawins]

Ok.. I removed interlaced which straightened out my groovymame screen. No more jitters. Same issues with the games though. The vertical ones especially.
All skewed. Gonna tinker with this more tonight. I may try running avres to see if this does anything.

[Calamity]

Hi barakawins,

I can feel your pain and understand your missing of the good old way of doing things but all I can say is please take the time you need to understand the logic behind GroovyMAME's mode picking because it really pays, hopefully some other users will confirm this.

You can still force things the way you like by using the "resolution" option in game specific inis (it's only the empty driver that creates the internal ui that can't be addressed by an ini!), although I strongly recommend not doing this as a general rule.

Although a drop down list of resolutions could be implemented, it is not as easy as it seems. One key aspect you need to bear in mind is that this is not (only) a matter of choosing resolutions, but resolutions + refresh rates. And in this specific aspect you're badly limited by the ArcadeVGA read-only modes. Adding Powerstrip can overcome this limitation, and turn your setup in a really flexible one worth of use with GroovyMAME, although this is not the easiest path to take (it's actually easier with CRT Emudriver and a supported card).

[Calamity]

Ok.. I removed interlaced which straightened out my groovymame screen. No more jitters. Same issues with the games though. The vertical ones especially.
All skewed. Gonna tinker with this more tonight. I may try running avres to see if this does anything.

Don't run AVres with GM, make sure you don't have old inis in the ini folder created by AVres, they will mess things up. The issues you're seeing with your games are because the vertical resolutions built in the AVGA are not properly defined, as explained in the link I posted above.

[barakawins]

Got it... Thanks for the explanation Calamity. I'm wondering though.. Is it possible to work in the resolutions to groovymame?
I know what you mean about refresh rates, etc.. But I have to tell you.. Advancemame worked pretty darn well adjusting the
screen to one's liking. I remember once you were in the menu after hitting tab and then going into video, you only needed to hit the (period) key each time to change the video mode till you got one that worked. It would auto save and you are done. This same
mode worked for all games. Not just one. With powerstrip I think you have to go into each and every game and set it. Advmame's
video option eliminated that. For instance... If you sent donkey kong to a certain resolution, you had the option to change that
resolution for all games. So DK jr, DK 3 all were set the same way. It's really versatile. There was a way to add custom resolutions
in admame as well. If you could incorporate changing within the actual game it would be insane and would help out all folks with
standard resolution monitors.

[Calamity]

Got it... Thanks for the explanation Calamity. I'm wondering though.. Is it possible to work in the resolutions to groovymame?

Not only you can work with the resolutions but you can play with any aspect of the video timing for groups of vertical resolutions (the ones that really matter). What it is not implemented is assigning resolutions to games from the ui because that's the old way to do things and you can do this anyway through ini files. In other words: the fact that you feel the need to assign resolutions manually (e.g. for DK) is because your setup is suboptimal in the first place.

GroovyMAME is AdvanceMAME but in 2015. I used AdvanceMAME too back in the day. I see what you mean, but I think you still don't really grasp how GM does work when properly configured (mainly using a supported card) with little to zero user intervention. You don't really need to search for a mode that works because all modes work out of the box and are already centered. But in order to do this, it must be able to edit the video timings and this is something that can't be done with an ArcadeVGA.

[barakawins]

I think I'm following now. Is there any type of tutorial that you know of wherein powerstrip is used? I guess what I'm asking is how do you bring power strip up to alter the actual game screen. That's what I need to know.

[barakawins]

Calamity,

Reading hours and hour and hours... I'm starting to feel that this ArcadeVGA5000 is not looking good for my standard res monitor due to the
limited video resolutions. Am I correct here? Should I go with another ATI card that can display more resolutions and download CRT emudriver?
Which PCIE card would you recommend if you feel so.

[krick]

The general recommendations are Radeon X300, Radeon X600, or most Radeon HD 4xxx models.

There's a very small number of Radeon HD 4xxx cards that are based on mobile chipsets that don't work, but I'm not sure how to identify them.

More info on cards here...

http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=47