POLL: Which OS is on your arcade gaming rig?

[RandyT]

Hopefully this hasn't been done to death.  It seems that today more than ever, there are a lot of options out there for OS'es.  And one thing is for certain about our community:  We don't follow the normal trends, as quite a few still use DOS on their arcade gaming setups.

Please limit responses to configurations where the system in question is dedicated to an arcade-gaming setup.  It will skew the poll numbers if you enter the information for your everyday system that you occasionally play a game on.  That's not the information we're looking for here.

If you are using Linux, or "Other", then please elaborate on the Distribution / Operating System you are using and why you selected it.  Likewise, if you are using modified versions of the more mainstream OS'es, then feel free to elaborate on what's been modified and how the modifications benefit your particular situation.  if the OS is a free one, links are good too!

Participants are allowed to change their vote if desired so,  if it can be kept track of, the poll can serve as a running reference and provide a better understanding of the OS'es we choose to use.  Not to mention, serve to guide new members of the community who might be just getting ready to set up their systems.  Each user can vote up to 3 times so more than one type can be represented in the case of multiples.

In addition, basic system specs (Processor, Speed and Memory) and what you perceive as its limitations when coupled with your OS of choice would also be helpful.

Thanks,
RandyT

[spacies]

XP here because its just too easy!

I just replaced my rig with a new one. AMD X2 4200. 1gig ram. SATA 80gb HDD. 256meg GFX card.

Computers are getting cheap these days!

[Bloinkxp]

XP Arcade Rig-

2.0 GHZ AMD64 (3200+)
1 Gig RAM
20 Gig Boot Disk
80 GIG SATA Disk for the ROM(s)

Runs pretty well.  Basically you want enough RAM to load the OS and Game in to memory.  This reduces the hard drive chatter that most people complain of.

-d

[edge]

XP (fully patched) in all my cabs.

most of my machines are high end p4's and above, so I have not had to try any other OS yet.

[Apollo]

XP
1.6GHz cpu
512 ram
40 gb HD
mame .86b
roms .86
mamewah 1.62b13
26 " arcade monitor
arcade vga video card

[slycrel]

Modded xbox (softmod)
UnleashX
Hardware is as it came.

[psychotech]

No vote ..

DOS 6.22, DOS 7.1 & WIN98SE

Come on! Retro games, retro hardware!

Well, one KeyWiz per machine..

[patrickmaher]

Windows XP stripped down with nLite
P4 2.4 GHz
512MB RAM
250 GB SATA drive

My OS of choice for normal use is Windows 2000. Through much testing I found that Windows 2000 boot up takes to long for arcade use. Although Windows 2000 and XP are the same in most ways and 2000 works fine for normal use/modern gaming, there are some improvements in XP that make it the choice for arcade use.

After alot of optimization Windows 2000 boot up from power button press to usable OS was always over 1 minute. XP boot up after optimization is around 20-30 seconds. Although I did not try this myself, I have read many times that 2000 does not support multiple mice.

I started my build wanting to use 2000 because I am most comfortable with that version. After using nLite to strip XP I am satisfied with what I have. Most of the graphical differences and things I disliked about XP are gone/disabled, leaving me with something that feels close to 2000 but has the improvements needed for my arcade setup.

[emerica]

1)
winxp
celeron 2.93ghz
1g ram
64 mb ati 9200se
gameex

Everything I would want to play runs fine except for those dreaded CHD games.

2)
Dos 7.1
amd duron 700mhz
256 MB pc100 ram
8 MB ati rage xl
arcadeos

This system used to be my main machine with winxp. Windows booted slowly as well as mame, so I ditched the older hardware for the newer stuff above. This now sits in a mini-mame I built for my daughter. Using mame .36, every game in the machine runs smoothly (just 4-way classics for now). I think Dos has a better arcade feel to it when looking at load times. I also like the idea of turning off the power switch to turn the machine off without the worry of screwing up windows.

Each system has a keywiz. one eco and one max. (shame-less plug  )

[Thenasty]

Intel 2.4Ghz CPU
1GB RAM
80 GB HD
AVGA 7000
IPAC 4
3" PS2 Imperial/Betson Trackball
Tornado Hack mouse/Serial Com1 Spinner
DOS 7.1
SB 16 PCI
2 19" WG7200 Arcade CGA Monitors
Advmenu 2.4.13 (Used my own created Snaps) see pic for one.
Advmame v106

[ringram]

dos 6.22, arcadeOS
celeron 350Mhz overclocked to 450Mhz, 196Mb of ram

mostly playing the older classics. Works fine.

[loadman]

winxp sp2- No Strip down, but fe is running as the shell
512k ram
amd proc 2ghz
geforce4 video
wireless network card (that is so handy with a Cocktail cab on wheels)

It runs way better than what I need it for, which is games pre 1995

[gonzo90017]

WinXP stripped down with nlite
256mb ram (runs great with 128 but neogeo games load slow sow I upgraded to 256)
400MHZ Celeron
80gb hd
3dfx pci video card

Runs almost all games full speed with no frameskip. Just need to now what emus to use:
Raine - all + cps1, cps2
Winkawaks - NeoGeo
Everything thats left:
Mame37b16
Pmame59
Fastmame 71
Fastmame84

[Zeppo]

I use Tiny XP.

It's a stripped down version of XP.
It boots and runs quick.

Here's a link to a review:

http://www.secguru.com/link/tinyxp_run_xp_from_400mb_hdd_and_under_40mb_ram

[Guaranos]

I use FreeDOS on a Duron 600 with a 10gb hard drive and 128mb of RAM.  It runs AdvanceMAME 0.78 and AdvanceMenu from around that same era.  It runs everything up to around the SF2/Neo Geo level without a hitch.  It takes about 10-12 seconds from the push of the power button to playable.  It's four years old, and I have no plans to upgrade/change it in any way.

In the past, I have usually built cabinets for friends using FreeDOS.  I built one with XP due to special requirements (needed USB for an analog controller), and it seemed stable enough, but I wouldn't do it again unless I had the same special requirements.

I love OS X, but I wouldn't waste a Mac on a MAME machine unless I was making something tiny and wanted to use a Mac Mini.

[ElfShotTheFood]

Well, I haven't actually built my cab yet, but the plans are almost done, the parts have shipped from ggg and the computer hardware is just waiting to have the dust blown off of it.

OS is probably the easiest choice so far in this project. 
Slackware linux of course.  Why because it lets me do what I want the os to do.  no need to strip anything, just don't install any extra stuff in the first place.  I already have it installed on my laptop, server and mp3 boombox, so most of the other programs i will need are already made into slackware packages in a directory on the server.

also when you plug in a usb hid device it just starts working.  if you plug it into a new port, it just works, you dont have to click "continue anyway"  a bunch of times for a device that you have used before in the same machine.

msi nforce1 board with athlonXP 1800+
512 mb
whatever hdd is handy

[Havok]

Windows XP
AMD Athlon 3300+
X300 PCI-e 256MB video
250GB Hard Drive
512MB RAM

[rovingmind]

ibook 6oomhz dual usb running OS X 10.4, <- secondary

athlon 1.4 gig, 512meg ram, chaintech nvidia geforce 4, running XP,  <- main

350mhz, 16meg generic graphics card, 1gig ram running Mandrake linux. <- going into a cocktail for classics.

[Tiger-Heli]

Please limit responses to configurations where the system in question is dedicated to an arcade-gaming setup.  It will skew the poll numbers if you enter the information for your everyday system that you occasionally play a game on.  That's not the information we're looking for here.

I cheated and voted for WinXP anyway.  I don't have a dedicated arcade-gaming setup, but I run WinXP and MAME on my primary computer, and it's what I would load on a dedicated cab, and is more than just an occasional game system.

In addition, basic system specs (Processor, Speed and Memory) and what you perceive as its limitations when coupled with your OS of choice would also be helpful.

AMD Barton XP 2800+
1.5 G Ram

Drawbacks - Mainly I can't use a USB keyboard and hot-swap the KeyWiz.  WinXP will not detect the PS/2 Keyboard device unless it is connected at bootup.  Win98 assumes you have a PS/2 keyboard installed, so no such problems.

[gnateye]

mac os 8.6 super stable and runs macame .57 perfectly, runs faster than other os x rigs on my 300mhz beige desktops i salvaged.....

[Kaytrim]

TinyXP Beast edition on a PIII 730mhz with 512M ram.

Fast and dedicated.

[ahofle]

I smell an upcoming arcade cabinet software product announcement from GGG. 

Oh, I voted 98 and XP because I just upgraded last week (and only to get the better ArcadeVGA drivers).
I am using an Athlon XP 2000+ with 512 Meg RAM.

[Kaytrim]

I smell an upcoming arcade cabinet software product announcement from GGG. 

Oh, I voted 98 and XP because I just upgraded last week (and only to get the better ArcadeVGA drivers).
I am using an Athlon XP 2000+ with 512 Meg RAM.

He could be looking at the OS demands for his new 49-way joysticks and interface.

[divemaster127]

Windows XP this is the computer on my upright quad 4
AMD Athlon 4000+
arcadevga PCI-e 256MB video
250GB sata Hard Drive
1 gig MB RAM

Windows XP considering VISTA but it sures slows down the computer
AMD Athlon 4000+ computer on my racing set down cab
xvga 7900 GS PCI-e 512MB video
250GB sata Hard Drive
2 gig Corsiar extreme RAM

[ahofle]

I smell an upcoming arcade cabinet software product announcement from GGG. 

He could be looking at the OS demands for his new 49-way joysticks and interface.

I certainly hope he's way past that point for the new 49-ways!  I thought they were just about ready to go?

[Havok]

Windows XP this is the computer on my upright quad 4
AMD Athlon 4000+
arcadevga PCI-e 256MB video
250GB sata Hard Drive
1 gig MB RAM

Windows XP considering VISTA but it sures slows down the computer
AMD Athlon 4000+ computer on my racing set down cab
xvga 7900 GS PCI-e 512MB video
250GB sata Hard Drive
2 gig Corsiar extreme RAM

Stay away from Vista if you have XP - it WILL run slower on the same hardware - I have already seen this on a few systems I run at work (new hardware too...)

[grundle]

I use Arch Linux.  There are XMame and wahcade packages available and it doesn't install anything you don't ask for.

I would use XP because it's easier to set up, but the price tag is too much for me.  I already have three computers running xp (two that have office also,) so I think I've paid enough into the Gates Foundation.

[Dervacumen]

I use Windows ME so I chose the Win95 option.
Windows ME is the only legal copy I had that was disposable for my cabinet.

[ark_ader]

For the bartops I use good old DOS on CF.  Cannot beat it, and it runs real fast on vintage laptops.  If its vintage gear and windows is required then NT4.0 SP4 is the ticket. 

For my main Athlon rig I use Tiny XP or 2000 Lite.  Both can be very fast on 512MB.  I just wish I knew how to load the OS into memory like you can Linux...

I hear that Windows 2000 ramdrive might work... 

It tickles me that I can get a laptop on ebay for Ģ10 and run Pacman and Dig Dug on it.   

[Raitsa]

I am using TinyXP rev06 and loving it, really fast & hasslefree

[fuadramsey]

XP

[NoOne=NBA=]

I use a G3/300 B&W Mac on my main cab, running OS 9.2.

[miles2912]

Yea XP because it is easy and just about everything works with it. 

Don

[turbo6]

Win XP for stand up cab:

AMD Athlon XP 2000+
512 MB Ram
GE Force 2/32 mb video

Tiny XP Beast Edition for my cocktail cab:

PII 400 mhz
192 MB Ram
TNT Video Card

Using Mame v90 for both cabs. Tried to use Tiny XP on my stand up cab but had problems with House of the Dead... Wouldn't run, just black screen. Runs fine on full version of XP.

[danny_galaga]

win98 here (and mame32 'front end'. yeah, i know, i know  ). why is win95 lumped in with 98? id like to see how many of each. i might try tiny xp or something for the next one since atomic runs well on xp but takes a bit of work on win98

[albarellij]

Win 98 w/ Mamewah, on a P2 w 512M RAM.  I don't imagine much else would run ont he machine but DOS or 95 or 98.

[ChadTower]

The only PC based dedicated setup I have right now is the one I'm currently building - which is a win98se box specifically because it is for games that require 95/98.  It will not have MAME on it.

[northerngames]

xp pro sp2
nanao 26" monitor with switachable res.
1 gig ram
AMD 64 3200
arcadevga2
mamewah
avgain for native auto res
WD caviar 160 gig hdd
ulti minipac

[ElKootcho]

OS X only because I'm a Mac guy and had a spare BW G3 floating around. If I had my choice I'd run Windows simply so that I'd have more options including front end launchers and pinball.

[RayB]

I voted DOS, but it's actually Win98se set up to boot straight to DOS mode.

[MinerAl]

It's been so long since I built the machine that it is running the then-current MacOS 9.1.  Older MAME and the Classic MacOS Launcher for a front end.  Works fine for my infrequent game-enabled parties.

[Raitsa]

I updated to the latest version of TinyXP a few days ago, it is available on Windows 50-in-1 Ultra DVD by eXPerience, can be found from the user called eXPerience33

MAMEXT32 v0.123 running flawlessly on top of TinyXP now.

<no piracy please>

[danny_galaga]

I updated to the latest version of TinyXP a few days ago, it is available on Windows 50-in-1 Ultra DVD by eXPerience, can be found from the user called eXPerience33

MAMEXT32 v0.123 running flawlessly on top of TinyXP now.

your post is gonna get pulled as soon as a mod is on 

[Truecade]

My current cabinet is running pure DOS with Game Launcher as a front-end.  The only gripe I have is I can't seem to make Game Launcher work with with Smartdrive so the menu system is a little sluggish.  GL just freezes up when I use SMARTDRV.EXE.  Otherwise the system runs every game I want to play at full speed and the load times are quick.  Any suggestions for how to fix the GL and Smartdrive compatibility? 

Specs:
P3 933Mhz
256MB Ram
2GB Compact flash card w/ IDE adapter (instead of a hard drive)
vsyncmame .61

[Dexter]

Windows 2000, but I'll be switching to TinyXP in the next couple of months hopefully.

[rooter]

I'm using a 64bit version of Vista.  I tried a 64bit version of XP but it was total garbage.  I wanted to build a system that would be have the ability to play future MAME ROMs without having to rebuild everything.  I thought 64bit would be the way to go.  We'll see.

[tikbalang]

My current cabinet is running pure DOS with Game Launcher as a front-end.  The only gripe I have is I can't seem to make Game Launcher work with with Smartdrive so the menu system is a little sluggish.  GL just freezes up when I use SMARTDRV.EXE.  Otherwise the system runs every game I want to play at full speed and the load times are quick.  Any suggestions for how to fix the GL and Smartdrive compatibility? 

Specs:
P3 933Mhz
256MB Ram
2GB Compact flash card w/ IDE adapter (instead of a hard drive)
vsyncmame .61

use hyperdkx.exe (hyperdisk) from speedkit. google for speedkit 4.78 (300kb, abandonware).
another option is to use udma drivers from freedos. however, udma.sys has issues with SB and emulated SB drivers.

[lanman31337]

AMD X2 4800+
2 gig ram
2 320 gig hard drives
Nvidia 7600GT 256 PCI-E

I think I might take the mobo and switch it for my desktop, it's sli ready.  Might eventually switch to the Phenom processor for it too.

[Raitsa]

Updated my Mame PC to TinyXP rev09, now with SP3:

http://apcmag.com/pirated_windows_more_impressive_than_the_real_thing.htm

[bloodyviking77]

Cab v1:
PII 400mhz, 256mb RAM,  running DOS/Arcadeos with standard res arcade monitor

Cab v2:
Athlon 1600, 512mb RAM, running stripped down Ubuntu (Hardy) on framebuffer (no X), booting straight into advancemenu and running advancemame 1.06.

Special comments:

(a) The Ubuntu install was sorta by default - I had planned to use vanilla Debian Etch but I didn't have an install CD handy!

(b) I have been meaning to switch to sdlmame for several emulation improvements since 1.06 (eg Bubble Bobble) but seems I have some mucking about to do before I get sdlmame running on the framebuffer (one problem is getting SDL to work at all without a mouse being plugged in to the system)

(c) Advmenu works well with one exception: its default keymapping is not really ideal for cab use. This could be addressed I suppose either by remapping keys for advmenu (involves editing the advmenu.rc file by hand) or a 2 step process of reprogramming the IPAC then updating keys for MAME. Neither option is very attractive so I am muddling on with the defaults..

Another thing that gives me the irrits with advmenu is that pressing a letter will jump to that letter in the gamelist. As the player 2 controls (including joystick) are by default mapped to letter keys on my IPAC, this leads to lots of silly jumping around when my enthusiastic 3 year old whacks the buttons while I'm trying to start Bubble Bobble!

(d) To overcome the issues in (c) I have started playing with lemonlauncher and pyrecade, but am having some difficulty in setting these up. The issues mostly seem related to SDL or missing config files - I haven't put any time into resolving these yet but any pointers on running either fe (or another fe that runs without X) would be handy!


(phew! sorry for long post!)

[ddrtist]

Windows XP Pro SP2
MAME .122
Mala FE with CPWizard, CabVol

P4 3.0 Ghz 800Mhz 1MB
2GB DDR 400
120GB SATA HDD
ATI Radeon 9550 256MB AGP
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS with Creative Inspire 5.1 speakers

[Blanka]

Mac OSX with Emulaunch as front-end.
Although I have an IntelMac, I still prefer MacMame (even when it is emulated PPC code) over MameOSX
The OpenGL effects, the interface and the compatibility with the old games is much better. I'll ask the Emulaunch guy if he can make the front-end launch MacMame for older titles and Mame OSX for the new ones.

[Raitsa]

Windows TinyXP Christmas 2008 Edition was just released (22.12.2008) on ---No torrents please - thanks!--- and itīs working great on my Mame PC 

[severdhed]

xp pro, sp2
mame .124
MALA frontend as shell

athlon xp 2500+
1gb ram
40gb hd
geforce mx440 agp video

[retrometro]

Running Windows XP 64bit.  I originally tried Vista 64bit which had some speed improvements for some games but Vista 64bit to date doesn't work with Soft15khz.  :-(

Running:
mala 1.05
mame .127

- Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L LGA 775 mATX Motherboard
- Intel Core 2 Duo e6300 1.86GHz Processor over-clocked to 2.45GHz
- Crucial Ballstix 2x1GB PC-6400 800MHz DDR2 RAM in Dual Channel
- Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro 256MB PCI-E Video Card
- Antec NSK4480 Mid Tower Case w/380W Antec Earthwatts PSU
- Cooler Master Rifle Bearing CPU Fan
- Antec 120MM TriCool Rear Case Exhast Fan

[MotorHedJr]

My dedicated cabinet:

O/S: (Gentoo 2007.1)
kernel: (Linux i686 2.6.12.3)
emu: AdvMAME v0.106.0
fe: AdvMENU v2.4.13
proc: AMD Athlon 1.73 GHz
v-card: PNY Verto GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP Video Card
s-card: Ensoniq Audio PCI (1371/1373 Chipset)
Monitor: WG D9200

I selected Gentoo because the documentation was good.

Another thing that gives me the irrits with advmenu is that pressing a letter will jump to that letter in the gamelist. As the player 2 controls (including joystick) are by default mapped to letter keys on my IPAC, this leads to lots of silly jumping around when my enthusiastic 3 year old whacks the buttons while I'm trying to start Bubble Bobble!

Viking, change the following parameter in your advmenu.rc to:

event_alpha no

Happy Holidays,

MotorHed Jr.