Hello Everyone. I'm trying to get my arcade cabinet running again. First I'll share my system details: Intel i5 3.10Ghz, 8GB RAM, Nvidia 650 TI (replacing this with the ATI 4980 to use 15Hz mode), arcade monitor WG (Don't know model purchased from X-Arcade years ago 800x600 max resolution at 60Hz). I'm having all kinds of problems getting a configuration working that does what I would like it to do. First I'll start with what I did. I tried completing rebuilding and upgrading OS and configurations to RL and Hyperspin. I had the old hard coded launcher running years ago with Windows XP 32 bit and just a standard build MAME. When I started building the new system and configuration, I wanted to go with Windows 7 64 bit as I wanted to run a lot of modern PC fighting games and Demul on it and needed DX10/DX11. I configured everything outside of the cabinet and had everything launching and running perfectly on a standard Samsung LCD. When I put the computer back in the arcade and powered up, the monitor wouldn't display anything other than some wavy colored lines. NO matter what I tried it would do anything other than display wavy colored lines. I did a ton of research and found out this was somewhat a known problem and caused by the Windows initial video driver resolution set to high. I could get it to work in a way by plugin the system into an old CRT monitor I had stored, get in the Windows 7 desktop, and then unplug the old CRT and plug into the arcade monitor; but this isn't a solution. I never found a work around. So I started a new OS build having saved off all of my configurations and files on a home server.
While doing the research I found GroovyMAME and the 15Hz information that I never knew about before. I assumed MAME ran all the roms correctly but I did notice that something was off the last time I played MS PACMAN compared to an actual arcade game of MS PACMAN - timing or something? So what I would like to do is to use 15Hz so I can play all the classics in the correct aspect ratio, resolution, and refresh. I bought an ATI 4980 to replace the Nvidia 650 TI as Calamity's drivers only support up to 4980 from what I read. I would also like to play all the supported DEMUL games as many aren't playable in MAME yet. The problem is I can get my monitor to correctly load Windows XP 64bit and display it correctly but I'm limited to DX9. DEMUL runs DX10 or DX11. To get DX10/11 requires going to Vista. I don't know if my monitor will handle Vista. Of course, I can always try to install Vista and test whether the screen is displayed correctly - my guess is it will not but I don't know. I know that Calamity drivers work in Windows XP 64. Will the drivers work in Vista? Will I have any issues installing the Calamity drivers in Vista and still configuring on an LCD until I'm ready to put the system back in the cabinet? I guess my concern is I feel like I'm going to have to make a decision, give up basically all of DEMUL games and stay in XP 64 to get my arcade monitor to work with Calamity Drivers. Any thoughts about what I options I have at this time? Guess the big one is does Calamity Drivers work in Vista? I can always install Vista and then dump it if it won't work with my monitor.
Lastly, is there a suggested way to get everything working - meaning when to install the calamity drivers, any changes I have to do to the MAME install such as changing the .ini file or other files, is there something I need to do to setup so MAME actually runs the games at the original settings and not the scaled 640x480 resolution my ini is currently set too? I know this is a ton of questions. I'm just beaten down by this rebuild. I spent years literally between down time at work trying to get my arcade back up and running on Windows 7.
Thanks for all of your help and for the community. I love having a cabinet but this has really beat me down to get It back up.
Dave