Hyperspin startup quirk?

[menace]

So fresh install of hyperspin (not sure of version but its not using rocket launcher) on a core 2 duo with windows XP (rocking it old school~!)  Anyways, the pc boots to hyperspin in 24 seconds but here's the part that is stumping me.  On a fresh start, it takes 50+ seconds to got from the main emulator wheel (mame, NES, SNES setup at the moment) into the MAME game wheel.  If i exit back to the desktop and restart hyperspin, it all gets loaded with almost no delays between main emulator wheel and mame wheel.

The games run fine and start as I expect them to--its just that really long (subjective) first start up that annoys me.

I'm a MALA guy but I thought I should try out what all the kids are talking about    Any tips?

[Token]

What size is the Mame.xml file in your Databases folder?

Are you using LEDBlinky or any other additional software that runs alongside HS?

[menace]

its only 955Kb--I'm running mame .160 and have skinned out about 4000 roms (mahjong, adult, rest of the bloatware that gets put into mame these days <--That makes me sound like an old timer with a trick elbow.. )

[Token]

Do you have XMLs for different genres? Maybe I'm wrong, but I keep thinking it's an issue with loading the databases. You could troubleshoot by replacing your XMLs with single game XMLs (after backing up the originals, of course) and seeing how HS reacts.

Are you using LEDBlinky?

[menace]

sorry--no I dont have led blinky --its just a plain jane setup with an ipac2.  i tried swapping in a different xml and the behaviour was the same--slow initial start with every subsequent start (pc stays on but hyperspin gets restarted) normal.

just debating whether the flashiness of hyperspin is worth the wait...

[n3wt0n]

I wonder if this is related more to the computer just being started and needing to do startup stuff in the background, thus slowing down the loading of your xml files vs the actual time it takes to start Hyperspin. The reason I think that is because otherwise when booted Hyperspin opens and is ready to go in 24 seconds. I assume you are starting Hyperspin automatically when the computer starts. how about letting the computer boot, waiting the 40 seconds or so and then trying to start Hyperspin. Is is still slow?

[menace]

Thanks for that suggestion!  I did try that and gave the pc plenty of time (5 mins) sitting on the main wheel--behaviour was the same--took about 50 seconds to get into the mame wheel--not sure if this matters but the hard drive was working pretty hard that whole time.

Out of curiousity I closed down to the desktop, restarted hyperspin and to go from one menu to the next is virtually instantaneous.

More info:
Under the optimization tab in hyperhq I have:

[Token]

If you have XMLs for genres in the databases folder, remove them temporarily and see if that helps.

[aldub516]

This isn't the same problem.. But I too am running hyper spin on a few older machines like yours. The only one time lag like that I get is when I launch an emulator for the first time.. Example. I start a name game and it takes 8 seconds. Any time after that until I restart the pc, any mame game boots right up. Weird. I guess I had to cue up some databases or something to send to mame the first time

[cnsf]

So fresh install of hyperspin (not sure of version but its not using rocket launcher) on a core 2 duo with windows XP (rocking it old school~!)  Anyways, the pc boots to hyperspin in 24 seconds but here's the part that is stumping me.  On a fresh start, it takes 50+ seconds to got from the main emulator wheel (mame, NES, SNES setup at the moment) into the MAME game wheel.  If i exit back to the desktop and restart hyperspin, it all gets loaded with almost no delays between main emulator wheel and mame wheel.

The games run fine and start as I expect them to--its just that really long (subjective) first start up that annoys me.

I'm a MALA guy but I thought I should try out what all the kids are talking about    Any tips?

I used to have the exact same problem.  It had something to do with the video driver (I had an NVIDIA card). It went away when I upgraded the computer. Got a Core i3 6100, 16GB DDR4 RAM (it's cheap now) and a Samsung SSD for the boot drive.  I also found a great way to boot right into Hyperspin on this forum and bypass Explorer. If you use the Intel video, disable hardware acceleration in Adobe Flash or the video gets wonky in Hyperspin.

From cmd/powershell/run dialog box:
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v Shell /t REG_SZ /d "D:\path\to\hyperspin.exe" /f
Upon exit, you may need to run explorer.exe manually to get start menu & such... Press CTRL-ALT-ESC to bring up the task manager, go to 'File->Run' type explorer.exe in the box to bring up start menu & remaining parts of windows that this bypasses.

[menace]

Ive been debating throwing in a seperate video card rather than the onboard video--but its only in this one time and one instance that I notice a lag so I've had a hard time justifying it..maybe i'll see if i can borrow one and see if that does in fact address the issue.  I will post back (since i hate coming across posted problems where the solution doesnt get posted!)

[menace]

So I popped in a nvidia gt610 card and not only did it not work--hyperspin stopped working!?  I could get to the main menu but if I selected "mame" it would just bounce to the next wheel so I could never actually get off the main menu wheel--this is mind boggling 

After uninstalling the drivers, and going back to onboard video (intel)--hyperspin worked fine with the same lag as noted above..I can see why people's approach to fixing hyperspin is to just throw money/parts at it..

I'm done with it--going back to mala--the faster, easier, more reliable (and admittedly a bit more boring..) frontend

thanks for everyone's input!

[jaywv1981]

I have a similar problem the first time I EXIT a game.  When I press my exit button the game goes back to the hyperspin menu but its like its paused.  No movement and no controls work.  When I press my exit button a second time it "unpauses" and resumes as normal.  It only does this on the first exit of a hyperspin session.  I can start and exit games normally from then on out.  Not a big deal though just odd.

[menace]

Possible update:  In the wheel settings for mame I have "roms only" checked--thinking that I only want to show the games I physically have and not the ones in the xml.  I unchecked that and the start up time seemed to come way down.  Its like every time the pc restarts it wipes a file that hyperspin wrote that lists all the roms--then when hyperspin starts, it polls the rom folder (taking 50 seconds) and makes a new file?  of course that may not be what happening--but it seems like it.

If anyone has some insight on that behaviour, i'd be interested...