Single game autoloading MAME?

[crashwg]

I was just pondering a little project that would go something like this and I could use a little input...

A control panel would be constructed with a spinner, two player buttons, one or two start buttons and optionally a credit button if Tempest cannot be set to freeplay which I have yet to check.

Check!  All that stuff is commonplace...

Now the part that I'm unsure about.

Inside the control panel would be a USB Hub that the spinner and button interfaces would be hooked up to.  In addition to that though, would be a USB Thumb Drive.  On the thumb drive I would like to put MAME and Tempest.  I would like it to be extremly user friendly, starting Tempest pre-configured without front ends or any of that junk perhaps even Auto-Starting if that is an option on thumb drives which I have also yet to check.

So there it is...  My idea.  Please give me suggestion and/or point me in the right direction of any tutorials on doing the stuff that will be required.  Oh, and feel free to use this idea, I haven't pattented it yet.

[RetroBorg]

Check out this link: http://surf.to/amoad

It's called Arcade Machine on a Disk.

Unfortunately there is no Tempest yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Also it's based on booting from your floppy drive but I'm sure you could do the same for a thumb drive. 

[crashwg]

Check out this link: http://surf.to/amoad

It's called Arcade Machine on a Disk.

Unfortunately there is no Tempest yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Also it's based on booting from your floppy drive but I'm sure you could do the same for a thumb drive. 

While that is interesting I'm realy looking for a solution that is idiot proof.  Something that can be just plugged into a USB port and off you go.  Rebooting can absolutly not be part of it.

I have done a bit of research since I've posted and have found out the following...

I can make a CDrom containing command line mame and tempest, on that disk I can make an autorun.inf file.  When I load the image file of that disk (i'm not going to waste disks just yet) it automatically starts tempest.  Now, of course this is another option as opposed to a USB thumb drive, I need a media that is re-writable so that the high scores will be saved.

Putting the same files including autorun.inf on a thumb drive does nothing.  That is untill I downloaded a program called "APO USB Autorun" which is a program that runs in the task bar and when a thumb drive is inserted it seeks out autorun files and loads them.  This is closer to the result I'm looking for but not quite there yet.  The host computer must not be changed by adding and sort of program such as this so I'm moving on... 

[crashwg]

Ok, so I've decided that if the USB thing doesn't go anywhere I'm going to want to go with an installer.

Unfortunatly I don't have much experience with them either though...

If I go that route, I would like to have an autorun.inf that launches an installer that has three options

"Install" which will:
~install to "C:\program files\tempest" or maybe I'll just go w/ MAME... IDK?
~create shortcut on desktop to "c:\program files\tempest\mame.exe tempest -mouse"
~create same shortcut in start menu (optional)

"Play" which will launch with the same parameters as the desktop and start menu shortcuts

"Exit" this one is obvious

For this I'm going to need some sort of easy to use, FREE, installer maker or some serious help.

But again, this is just a backup plan if the USB thing doesn't work.

[AlanS17]

Are you looking for something you can take from machine to machine in a Windows environment? Or are you looking for a way to play just one game on a particular machine when booted from the USB drive?

[AlanS17]

Are you looking for something you can take from machine to machine in a Windows environment? Or are you looking for a way to play just one game on a particular machine when booted from the USB drive?

Ok, you can scratch what I was saying before. I get it all now.

[AlanS17]

Can't you just write a batch file and drop it into the root of your USB thumb drive? Then people can double-click the batch file to run MAME. It's not 100% automatic, but it's just 4 clicks of a mouse (well technically two double-clicks). You already get a prompt to explore the directory when you plug the drive in. If it's the only file you leave in the root directory, people should be able to figure it out.

Exactly how dummy proof does this need to be?

[Bobbler]

Getting it to autorun on insert is a little tricky, as Windows treats USB devices differently than CD/DVD media. There are applications that will enable it to autorun but AFAIK they make changes to the machines registry.

One double click is the minimum I can get it down to for you

Firstly download http://www.tarma.com/index.htm#/products/autorun/index.htm
and place it on the usb key root drive. You need this as windows will only launch executable files from the autorun menu, a batch file is not considered executable. You could alternatively compile the batch file if you want.

So on my USB key I would have a little batch file and the Mame executable (plus tempest rom):
1. Autorun.inf contains

Code: [Select]

[autorun]
OPEN=autorun.exe launch.bat
ICON=tempest.ico
ACTION = Launch Tempest
Put that in the root of the USB key

2. launch.bat contains:

Code: [Select]

@echo off
\mame\mame.exe \mame\roms\tempest -nomouse

When you insert the USB key you get the standard windows autorun dialogue box, you double click on Launch Tempest and the game should launch. No installation, no changes to the local PC.

[NickG]

Interesting project.  Lot of neat info in this thread.  Supposedly some security experts were doing Trojan experiments with thumbdrives...n/m...that's OT.  The point is, since you don't want to modify the computers, the USB device needs to fake out XP and pretend it is a CD drive.  Supposedly, this is one that does just that.  Looks promising;  what a great idea for a gift.

[IG-88]

Check out this link: http://surf.to/amoad

It's called Arcade Machine on a Disk.

Unfortunately there is no Tempest yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Also it's based on booting from your floppy drive but I'm sure you could do the same for a thumb drive. 

Do you know if this is still under development? I tried emailing but it bounced back.

[RetroBorg]

Check out this link: http://surf.to/amoad

It's called Arcade Machine on a Disk.

Unfortunately there is no Tempest yet but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Also it's based on booting from your floppy drive but I'm sure you could do the same for a thumb drive. 

Do you know if this is still under development? I tried emailing but it bounced back. It's a real cool project!

I'm not sure, I only discovered this site two days ago when some one linked to it on the AussieArcade.com.au site.

[Brad]

That site is ancient. It's been around for years. Unfortunately it also hasn't been updated in at least 7 years that I know of. I'm surprised it's still a live site?

Brad

[lloydcom]

I think I have what you need.

Its a free program and allows you to plug in a usb drive in either XP or Win2K and autostart an application ie mame.exe tempest

It's worth noting that the proceeds from donating to the software goes to a needy cause, so if you are indeed interested and use the program, please include a donation.

This works exactly as you have requested in your first post, without the need to reboot.  Note that you will have to go into options (middle left side of menu) to enable english.

Hope this helps you and indeed the Associazione Culturale Oltre l'immagine.

http://www.mypendrive.org/faq_eng.htm

[lloydcom]

Ok maybe the last post was a bit misleading. 

Perhaps the good cause will enable us to have the functionality in the near future.

Otherwise, after trying to tweak the utility to automount Mame in the above solution, I gave up and looked around for an alternative.

http://www.archidune.com/?q=node/1

Got it working in 20 minutes.  After the singing and dancing of getting it configured, install mame on the flash drive and your chosen rom and bingo off it goes.  I like the countdown feature especially when you have a Tiny XP install with shell turned off - you are kinda in the dark.

I now can go to a mates house and fire this up without too much messing about.

Thanks for the earlier pointer about APO but you just might have missed getting this to work on a temporary profile.  This way you don't have any "evidence" that you installed this on the works PC.

You just log off and log back on again.  As the software allows an installer to be loaded on the USB Disc.

The only other scenario would be to have the flash drive boot Knoppix Linux into Ram that way there would be no trace of Mame after reboot.  You could also mount Knoppis under windows.

Stealth Mame - I like it!

Have fun! 

[GMZombie]

ya know i dabbled into this a while back to see if i could single load Galaga. I did it from a cd rom and made mame save the high score to a floppy disk. it worked for me but then i decided to update to a different drive and different games and whatnot. still worked though just had to preconfigure mame for it

[quarterback]

I downloaded a program called "APO USB Autorun" which is a program that runs in the task bar and when a thumb drive is inserted it seeks out autorun files and loads them. 

http://www.archidune.com/?q=node/1

Got it working in 20 minutes.  After the singing and dancing of getting it configured, install mame on the flash drive and your chosen rom and bingo off it goes. 

So, does it take 20 minutes to install this?   20 minutes to get it working correctly?  20 minutes just the first time you put it on your USB drive?   

you just might have missed getting this to work on a temporary profile.  This way you don't have any "evidence" that you installed this on the works PC.

So it does need to run a piece of software in the taskbar like crashwg mentioned? 

You just log off and log back on again.  As the software allows an installer to be loaded on the USB Disc.

So you have to install the program that runs in the taskbar, log off, log on and then run the game? 

The only other scenario would be to have the flash drive boot Knoppix Linux into Ram that way there would be no trace of Mame after reboot.

Are you saying that there are "traces of Mame after rebooting" if you use the APO 'solution'?

[lloydcom]

I downloaded a program called "APO USB Autorun" which is a program that runs in the task bar and when a thumb drive is inserted it seeks out autorun files and loads them. 

http://www.archidune.com/?q=node/1

Got it working in 20 minutes.  After the singing and dancing of getting it configured, install mame on the flash drive and your chosen rom and bingo off it goes. 

So, does it take 20 minutes to install this?   20 minutes to get it working correctly?  20 minutes just the first time you put it on your USB drive?    

Cannot exactly say it was 20 minutes as I did not time myself - but yes 20 minutes sounds right.  Time to look at the docs, install new Mame in pendrive and the rom (robby for me), correct some errors etc.

you just might have missed getting this to work on a temporary profile.  This way you don't have any "evidence" that you installed this on the works PC.

So it does need to run a piece of software in the taskbar like crashwg mentioned?  

To be honest I haven't really looked at making a temp profile and installing it. there are some residue files which checks for the thumb drive.  Guess it had to considering.

You just log off and log back on again.  As the software allows an installer to be loaded on the USB Disc.
So you have to install the program that runs in the taskbar, log off, log on and then run the game? 

Uh no you run the game with the software, configure the APO to install as well on the thumb drive then reboot.  it should reinstall look for the thumb drive and off it goes. Temp profiles are just that they get erased when you log out.

The only other scenario would be to have the flash drive boot Knoppix Linux into Ram that way there would be no trace of Mame after reboot.

Are you saying that there are "traces of Mame after rebooting" if you use the APO 'solution'?

No not if the above temp solution was in effect, just other possibilities one can look at.  But you know that already quaterback and just pulling my chain for effect.

For me it works fine.  Nice idea for a stand alone PC or a jukebox or a picture viewer.  Lots of possibilities.

At the end of all this two solutions to the original problem are solved:

1) A way for a thumb drive to be inserted to get a single game loaded.
2) To carry out this task without any user interaction.

Granted its not a clean cut solution, but is it ever?

[quarterback]

But you know that already quaterback and just pulling my chain for effect.

I really wasn't.   

 was confused by your post because at first it seemed like you had come up with a solution for crashwg but then other things you wrote made it sound like it wasn't really a solution because you had to (a) install some software on the machine (b) restart or log-off/log back in and (c) that there would be remnants of mame (and other software?) left on the machine. 

Not having any idea how that APO program works, I was being genuine in my questions.

Granted its not a clean cut solution, but is it ever?

Amen brother!

[lloydcom]

Ok I understand now, and yes it was confusing now I have read it again.  Apologies all round.

I was trying to get out of the cycle of installing and leaving stuff behind.  With an arcade machine you can have lots of options to load games, but to load up a Mame game and then leave the machine in the same state you visited is very interesting.

Perhaps with further tinkering one can overcome this small nagging problem of residue programs or registry entries.  I don't like having my machine cluttered up with all kinds of programs trying to slow the PC down. 

But there is a problem trying to get XP to recognise the USB drive and make it do what you want it to without it doing something else.  There is some kind of loader installed with the APO that needs looking into. 

Maybe this thread will yield a solution, the moderators can put in the Wiki.

Kudos to crashwg for coming up with this idea.

[Kremmit]

Just in case this one got missed above:

....The point is, since you don't want to modify the computers, the USB device needs to fake out XP and pretend it is a CD drive.  Supposedly, this is one that does just that. 

And from one of that site's other pages:  (http://www.hscus.com/whatsNew/UD-RW.htm)

The Hagiwara Sys-Com UD-RW acts as a virtual CD-ROM drive, complete with autorun.

....without the mess of drivers!

Sure looks like the answer to me.