Arcade Cab crapped out again - need reload advice!

[vettetekk]

Hey all!
Well, my stand up machine running a AMD 1900 XP finally died. It took out a couple hard drives with it as well. So im going to once again reload it for the 4th time. 1st was arcadeos  in DOS, then was MAMEWAH, and the latest load was MALA. I havent been  "up to date" with the scene lately and was just wondering whats the best combo running on lately. I liked diffrent frontends for diffrent reasons, and Ill probably roll with MALA but I wasnt sure if Mamewah has gotten better lately. Or is there another front end out there now thats even better? I was running MAME 1.06 and the version I had before that was .79 I think. For some reason I couldnt get the vectors to look right on the later version as they did on the older version of mame - something about HWstretch or something.
Thanks in advance for the advice !
~V

[stephenp1983]

Personally I prefer gameex as a frontend, because of its easy of use and many features.

[Guaranos]

Why does your arcade machine keep dying on you?  Fixing that issue should be your first priority.

[vettetekk]

Why does your arcade machine keep dying on you?  Fixing that issue should be your first priority.

Well, The pc board thats in there came  from my old computer when I upgraded. That was the first time as the original MoBO was a celeron running the DOS and arcade OS. Then this last time is because the MOBO finally just had it and wiped the hard drives - electrical surge down the IDE cables will do that  . So, I know the reasons - its not like it keeps happening, I just needed some input on what everyones using nowadays since I dont stay up with the "scene" probably like I should.
I was just wondering if there has been any real AWESOME additions to any front ends out there in the last 8 months that I should look into before just going with what I had.
Thanks again everyone!!
~V

[rdowdy95]

I use .110 of Mame with Mamewah version b12.  The Mamewah probably has a newer version.  I just got this nice layout I made in Mamewah.  What I did do though is I back all my stuff up.  I have a western digital 80GB passport drive USB 2.0 style.  I need to make sure I have all my recent changes saved.  I have my setup file my roms and all that jaz, but I really need to make sure all my current Daphne stuff is saved.  Also have some ini files from mamewah I need to make sure I have saved.  If mine were to die on me I may not remember how to get some of that stuff operational again.  LOL!

[vettetekk]

If mine were to die on me I may not remember how to get some of that stuff operational again.  LOL!

Thanks for the info - I know what you mean - Its like having to learn it all again for the first time. Plus with new front ends and updates to mame parameters, Im back at square 1. I do have a backup of all the "media", just not the main files.
I guess Ill start reading some more. Im glad to see nothing new has come out and added yet another choice to my situation 
~V

[diverdown]

Im glad to see nothing new has come out and added yet another choice to my situation 
~V

Personally I prefer gameex as a frontend, because of its easy of use and many features.

GameEx is different to any other front end you have tried..... It is PC demanding though, but if you are going to upgrade and want to try something new  maybe this is worth a go. You don't need a trackball but it would help....


Otherwise Mala if it is the one you are used too



just my 10c

[Havok]

Come on, it's time to try AtomicFE !

 

A friend of mine I haven't seen in about a year, who is a hardcore Mamewah user got a chance to check out my cab, and now he is putting AtomicFE on his cabinet. Check out the 100 + layouts, and the really cool intro video by MYX...

[vettetekk]

Come on, it's time to try AtomicFE !

I checked it out - Man, I like the multiple layers and background animations! Is there somewhere online that has help with using the editor to make my own layouts? Dont get me wrong, there are some FANTASTIC layouts online, but im looking for something more personalized to my cab - not to an individual game (like ghosts n goblens - ect.)
So I guess im going to work with this and see where it leads - I could always go back to mamewah or mala if it doesnt work out.
Thanks again all for the replies
~V

[Havok]

I checked it out - Man, I like the multiple layers and background animations! Is there somewhere online that has help with using the editor to make my own layouts?

Check out the older documentation here:

http://www.atomicfe.com/Downloads/olddocs.zip

It has more detailed info on how to create a layout. I actually did a couple myself, the newer editor is much easier to use. Once you dig in, you may be able to at least get started, and Youki can help.

I'm not that great with the graphics end, so I didn't really put too much in the documentation about creating layouts. However, the developer Youki is awesome about helping people out, especially with layouts.

Post in his forum for some help:

AtomicFE Support Forum

[RayB]

Motherboards don't cause power surges, power supplies do.
Trash that power supply.

[vettetekk]

Motherboards don't cause power surges, power supplies do.
Trash that power supply.

Yep, Stripped the cab out tonight, the power supply is going with it!! Thanks for the advice. Im still replcing the MoBo combo - its a nice excuse to upgrade!!    Im taking this opertunity to rewire and "clean up" the cab since some things werent the way I wanted in the beginning.

[vettetekk]

It has more detailed info on how to create a layout. I actually did a couple myself, the newer editor is much easier to use. Once you dig in, you may be able to at least get started, and Youki can help.

I just spent about 5 hours tonight trying to "learn" atomic, and Ill tell you, I just dint know. I really want to use it from some of the videos Ive seen, but I really dint like the "parochial" look of most of the layouts, plus I need a layout in 640x288 for the monitor. I attempted to try and make what I'm envisioning, but I just cant get it.  After giving up on that I figured Id try and at least get it running with the standard layout - Still cant get anything to load. I guess I'm just going to go back to MALA.    Its a shame too, I can see a whole bunch of potential for what I want to do. I just want an arcade - no jukebox, video, or karaoke machine - just something to play arcade games on.
V~