LEDBlinky - Arcade LED Control software and Animation Editor - v8.2

[djm468]

So to clear up some confusion out there (and in here at the moment, as I am not 100% sure yet), all of the files (ctrlr, cfg, etc.) must be "right", but there may be cases where MAME and LEDBlinky disagree on what is right. This is probably what random posters over the years have reported as "lighting the wrong buttons for some games".

For example, if a control works in MAME, but LEDBlinky doesn't see it or vice-versa. Obviously, in a perfect world, LEDBlinky would use the same logic to determine the controls as MAME.

For starters, MAME respects None and LEDBlinky does NOT (at least in the case of inc/dec) and it doesn't make any difference if ctrlr or cfg is used. That one I'm 100% on and the results can be very confusing for implementers and users alike.

So what is the order for checking these files? I imagine it looks in the game-specific cfg first and if not there, then what? MAME looks in the game-specific ctrlr and then falls back to default ctrlr (all one file). Not sure where default.cfg fits in exactly, but shouldn't matter for my setup, as default.cfg is and always has been:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- This file is autogenerated; comments and unknown tags will be stripped -->
<mameconfig version="10">
    <system name="default" />
</mameconfig>

...as it is basically useless. To see why, set up joystick controls with a gamepad plugged in, close MAME, unplug the gamepad, restart MAME and... oops, all that work down the tubes. That's why I put everything in the ctrlr file.

And there are more complications, as documented by the inc/dec stuff not working per the above, requiring the use of cfg files, where none should be needed. That seems to be a bug in MAME and leads specific game "drivers" to internally assign whatever they want for inc/dec (e.g. Tron uses X and Z). Am certain that LEDBlinky is not hip to those machinations either and the workaround is to copy redundant inc/dec sequences to individual game cfg files. Then MAME acts as expected and LEDBlinky can figure out what to do.

[djm468]

Also, let's take the example of Tron and the requirement to add (otherwise useless) DIAL_EXT PORTs to the ctrlr (or game-specific cfg) file (else LEDBlinky gets confused). If you go into the in-game menu for Tron and select Input (This Machine), you won't see DIAL_EXT anywhere. I've never seen any _EXT suffixes on those screens.

I have one INPUT in my tron.cfg:

<input>
            <port tag=":ssio:IP1" type="P1_DIAL" mask="255" defvalue="0">
                <newseq type="increment">
                    KEYCODE_7PAD
                </newseq>
                <newseq type="decrement">
                    KEYCODE_9PAD
                </newseq>
            </port>
        </input>

...which prevents MAME from substituting X and Z. I used to use None for these, but that confuses LEDBlinky. There is an identical entry in the ctrlr file, which is ineffectual due to whatever the game's driver is doing internally. And the final kicker is that there is a similar entry in the ctrlr file for player 2 and it works without recreating it in the tron.cfg file.

<port type="P1_DIAL">
                <newseq type="standard">
                    MOUSECODE_XAXIS OR JOYCODE_1_XAXIS
                </newseq>
      <newseq type="increment">
                    KEYCODE_7PAD
                </newseq>
                <newseq type="decrement">
                    KEYCODE_9PAD
                </newseq>
            </port>

<port type="P2_DIAL">
                <newseq type="standard">
                    MOUSECODE_XAXIS OR JOYCODE_2_RXAXIS
                </newseq>
      <newseq type="increment">
                    KEYCODE_7PAD
                </newseq>
                <newseq type="decrement">
                    KEYCODE_9PAD
                </newseq>
            </port>

All quite ridiculous on MAME's part, but completely predictable once the rules are reverse-engineered. The source code would reveal all of this as well, but would likely take much longer to figure out. And the documentation is obviously lacking, with decades of confused forum posts to further cloud the issues.

[djm468]

In controls.ini:

;;Controls.dat INI file Version=0.141.1, Time=2011-01-05 18:17:26, Generated by=SirPoonga

SirPoonga used an odd structure to define analog controls. Or perhaps it is just antiquated, as _EXT suffixes don't seem to appear in the typical MAME configuration (or any that I've seen) and doesn't translate directly to what does appear in MAME configurations. I suppose it's fine for a "database" full of control labels.

It's consistent throughout, like this:

P1_AD_STICK_Y=Increase Edge
P1_AD_STICK_Y_EXT=Decrease Edge

In the odd case where an LED indicator would exist for an AD stick (or the stick is illuminated), I'd expect LEDBlinky to say something like: "Increase Edge and Decrease Edge", plus anything associated with P1_AD_STICK_X and P1_AD_STICK_X_EXT, while blinking.

But the more common case, where there are only the digital translations to consider, LEDBlinky should be looking at the increment and decrement entries for input codes (or the lack thereof):

<port type="P1_AD_STICK_Y">
      <newseq type="increment">
                    KEYCODE_7PAD
                </newseq>
                <newseq type="decrement">
                    KEYCODE_9PAD
                </newseq>
            </port>

But my experience with dial-based games showed it looking for the _EXT version in the ctrlr or cfg files to figure out the increment half of this. And as the _EXT version isn't necessary for MAME (the above says it all) and isn't even presented in the UI, it's a quandary with no formal documentation that I could find.

Was glad to see that new versions of thing thing are still coming out. April of this year? There appears to be a couple of typos in the timeline (2020 instead of 2022 I think). I'd say the _EXT thing, None handling and honoring per-game entries in the ctrlr file (if that's not currently working) would help a lot.

One workaround for the _EXT issue is to just remove all of those entries from controls.ini. Neither my spinner nor my flight stick have LEDs, so those entries don't matter. Or make sure that every _EXT variation is defined in the ctrlr file. They don't need to be in the cfg files (even for the "problematic" games like Tron), as this is strictly an LEDBlinky workaround.

The workaround for None is to assign unused keys instead. Really only need one "dummy" key for this.

Will be interested to see if the per game ctrlr entries work...

EDIT:
After a little more thought, I realized the first workaround for _EXT won't work. For example (Tron again), I expect LEDBlinky is looking for decrement in DIAL and increment in DIAL_EXT. Will have to confirm that next time I mess with the thing. I think that LEDBlinky should consider if there is no DIAL_EXT in either ctrlr or cfg files, then it should look at both increment and decrement in DIAL. That would solve the whole issue and could be applied to all of the analog control types (e.g. pedals, paddles, ad stick, etc.)

[djm468]

How to reproduce the None and _Ext issues:

Here are the port mappings for my "admin" buttons (plus two flippers):

<port number="31" label="VOLUME_DOWN" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="32" label="VOLUME_DOWN" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="33" label="VOLUME_DOWN" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="34" label="EXIT" type="R" inputCodes="KEYCODE_ESC"/>
    <port number="35" label="EXIT" type="G" inputCodes="KEYCODE_ESC"/>
    <port number="36" label="EXIT" type="B" inputCodes="KEYCODE_ESC"/>
    <port number="37" label="VOLUME_UP" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="38" label="VOLUME_UP" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="39" label="VOLUME_UP" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="40" label="SHUT_DOWN" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="41" label="SHUT_DOWN" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="42" label="SHUT_DOWN" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="43" label="FLIPPER_1" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="44" label="FLIPPER_1" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="45" label="FLIPPER_1" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="46" label="FLIPPER_2" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="47" label="FLIPPER_2" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="48" label="FLIPPER_2" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>

Other than Exit Game (esc), these buttons are only expected to light up during animations (and that's generally the case), as the buttons use mouse clicks, volume and power control. I wouldn't mind making them light up all the time, but apparently that requires customizing the animations. NBD and beside the point.

So, if you use None in your ctrlr or cfg files to un-assign MAME defaults (e.g. left and right arrows for dial inc/dec), LEDBlinky strangely "matches" that None to the NONEs above and all of those buttons blink and announce themselves for whatever you were trying to un-assign. That should be an easy fix.

In my case, again using Tron as an example, the announcement for these "ghost" controls is "Aim Left".

From the same file:

<port number="4" label="P1JOYSTICK" type="R" inputCodes="DOUBLEJOY4WAY|DOUBLEJOY8WAY|DOUBLEJOY2WAY|VDOUBLEJOY2WAY|KEYCODE_UP|KEYCODE_RIGHT|KEYCODE_LEFT|KEYCODE_DOWN"/>
<port number="5" label="P1JOYSTICK" type="G" inputCodes="DOUBLEJOY2WAY|VDOUBLEJOY2WAY|DOUBLEJOY4WAY|DOUBLEJOY8WAY|KEYCODE_DOWN|KEYCODE_UP|KEYCODE_RIGHT|KEYCODE_LEFT"/>
<port number="6" label="P1JOYSTICK" type="B" inputCodes="DOUBLEJOY2WAY|VDOUBLEJOY2WAY|DOUBLEJOY4WAY|DOUBLEJOY8WAY|KEYCODE_UP|KEYCODE_DOWN|KEYCODE_LEFT|KEYCODE_RIGHT"/>

Now, if there is no DIAL_EXT defined in the ctrlr or cfg files AND there is a lighted control on the CP that uses KEYCODE_RIGHT, it will blink and announce as "Aim Right". You can imagine the confusion of these two together (5 buttons for Aim Left that have nothing to do with the spinner and, for example, the player 1 joystick claiming to be Aim Right).

As noted previously, there are workarounds for both of these. I imagine the None issue is universal, but don't yet know if the _EXT issue affects paddles, pedals, AD sticks, etc. Will check those next...

As for dials, at least for my setup, I don't see any harm in just removing every DIAL and DIAL_EXT entry from controls.ini. Those would only be needed if using a light up spinner or allowing inc/dec (digital to analog) on the CP (e.g. buttons to do what the spinner handles much better).

And for the None issue, the best workaround I can figure is to remove the NONEs from LEDBlinkyInputMap.xml, replacing them with unused keys (as I had previously done throughout my ctrlr and cfg files). That should stop the incorrect matching of None and NONE.

Ideally, these issues can be addressed in a future release, as the behavior is very confusing and somewhat difficult to diagnose. Have to figure that at least some aspiring users have downloaded and tried this thing over the years, only to give up and not buy it.

Still wondering if the per-game ctrlr definitions will be parsed. If not, that's a much bigger bug than the other two, with dizzying possibilities for incorrect control highlighting and announcements. Will know by the weekend anyway...

EDIT: I figured out that the flippers can be assigned mouse buttons 1 and 2; will have to see if "MOUSE1" works for me, as I don't use multimouse in MAME. For example:

<port type="P1_BUTTON1">
                <newseq type="standard">
                    KEYCODE_LCONTROL OR JOYCODE_1_BUTTON1 OR JOYCODE_5_BUTTON2 OR MOUSECODE_BUTTON1 OR GUNCODE_1_BUTTON1
                </newseq>
            </port>

Am hopeful that LEDBlinky understands MOUSECODE_BUTTON1 means any mouse or that editing the LEDBlinkyInputMap.xml file to change it to use the generic MOUSECODE_ prefix will work. Hard to say what the UI will show after such an edit, but I'm about done with the UI anyway.

As for the others, the solution is to remove NONE from the inputs in the UI (or the file), which the UI then shows as "none". Yes, NONE and none have very different meanings, with the latter outputting "" for inputs in the XML and the former "NONE", which is then apparently matched up with MAME's None. Very confusing.

Haven't tested yet, but presumably that fixes the NONE problem. I'd recommend taking NONE out of the list of port inputs, as it won't lead to useful results in any case I can think of.

Also, missing pedal 3 in that list, not that it should matter to anyone (who has LED pedals?) Only games I know of that use that control are Hard Drivin' and Race Drivin', but there are likely a few others. The 2011 controls.ini file does not list any of them, which may explain why pedal 3 isn't in the list.

[djm468]

On an unrelated note, before I even attempt to edit any of the LEDBlinky configuration files, I saw a post that mentioned a "tip found on the Web" or some such that implied that LEDBlinky cannot parse UTF-8 encoded files, which is the default encoding used by most Windows-based text editors (e.g. Notepad). I expect this only comes up when using Save As, else an editor should respect the original encoding.

Is it the case where ANSI encoding is required for these files?

Also unrelated, the "Audio" tab on the config app always alerts that I have no "audio devices" or some such. I believe this tab is for configuring audio input processing for animations that try to mimic sound. It's been a long time since I messed with audio inputs on a PC, other than microphones. Presumably the PC in question will work with a microphone (like any PC), but I haven't tried that yet.

[djm468]

Found another interesting one. I did get the flipper buttons (mouse buttons 1 and 2) to work as P1 buttons 1 and 2. IIRC, I had to basically lie to the input mapper app by assigning the key codes. They are the same as MAME player buttons 1 and 2 (Left Ctrl and H in my case). These two keys are also set up as Start and Exit in HyperSpin.

In short, it works in MAME, with both buttons announcing, flashing and highlighting as appropriate. but HS only announces/flashes Exit (button 2 AKA H), along with the two joysticks up/down/left/right. The related entry in HyperSpin's Settings.ini is Start=17, which is indeed the Ctrl key and works as expected. Very strange.

To be clear, I haven't even tried the proper P1 buttons 1 and 2 yet, but I expect the same results (button 1 AKA Left Ctrl AKA 17 will work in MAME, but not HS) This was my first foray into buttons and, of course, I ran right into some strange edge case.

Also, the default speech for HS is too verbose. I found it in an XML file, but did not see where the UI allowed for changing that stuff. They are too specific as well, with Start being "Start Game" and Exit being "Exit HyperSpin". Those will only be accurate in some circumstances. I would suggest "Enter" and "Exit".

Am hopeful there isn't some weird bug related to code 17. I already had to change various MAME defaults because HS is incompetent with keyboard input (as well as joystick, but that's another story). ALT and Space are right out. Of course, it handles Left Ctrl (AKA 17) just fine.

EDIT:

Answer is likely here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/inputdev/virtual-key-codes

...as Left Ctrl is A2 (162) and any Ctrl (I guess) is 17. Whatever. Unfortunately, HS doesn't know that. It wants 17.

HS hasn't changed since 2015 IIRC, so the only solution to this one is to make LEDBlinky understand that HS 17 is the same as KEYCODE_LCONTROL in MAME. I expect it wants 162, but it will never get it from a working HS configuration.

Workaround is likely to just use a different key.

EDIT:

Took out the key codes from the flipper buttons, as they don't make sense in HS, which doesn't respond to the mouse buttons (was just testing these first two buttons) or to spinning the mouse wheel for that matter. (!) Was able to make it work in MAME by using MOUSECODE_1_BUTTON1 OR MOUSECODE_BUTTON1 for P1B1 (and similar for P1B2). Using MOUSECODE_BUTTON1/2 alone did not work, though it makes perfect sense in my setup.

I assume that LEDBlinky does not understand MOUSECODE_BUTTON1/2, which is why they aren't listed under the available inputs for the ports. That's unfortunate, as multimouse=1 would just create a lot more ctrlr work, mapping the 6 odd mice to the spinner, track ball, etc. Prefer to let all mice act as one, just mapping the light gun(s). Whatever.

[djm468]

So I thought I'd try out editing the Colors.ini file. First one I tried was to change Pacman joysticks from red to yellow. Seemed like a no-brainer, but failed. They were still red. I had done this previously with an override (which I realized was overkill for changing colors), so was puzzled.

Tried changing Jr Pacman and it worked. Changed a couple more without issue. Then went ahead and changed Puckman, which is the parent of the Pacman ROM. Maybe it was a coincidence, as I only tested once more, but it indeed changed the single joystick to yellow for Pacman.

I had also changed the P2 joystick for Puckman to blue in the hopes that it would change on alternating players, but that didn't work (always yellow). If that's by design, then I'm not sure why the P2 stick is defined in Colors.ini for games that alternate on a single joystick.

Will try again with some other alternating games, but is this the expected behavior?

[arzoo]

How to reproduce the None and _Ext issues:

Here are the port mappings for my "admin" buttons (plus two flippers):

<port number="31" label="VOLUME_DOWN" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="32" label="VOLUME_DOWN" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="33" label="VOLUME_DOWN" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="34" label="EXIT" type="R" inputCodes="KEYCODE_ESC"/>
    <port number="35" label="EXIT" type="G" inputCodes="KEYCODE_ESC"/>
    <port number="36" label="EXIT" type="B" inputCodes="KEYCODE_ESC"/>
    <port number="37" label="VOLUME_UP" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="38" label="VOLUME_UP" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="39" label="VOLUME_UP" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="40" label="SHUT_DOWN" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="41" label="SHUT_DOWN" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="42" label="SHUT_DOWN" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="43" label="FLIPPER_1" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="44" label="FLIPPER_1" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="45" label="FLIPPER_1" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="46" label="FLIPPER_2" type="R" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="47" label="FLIPPER_2" type="G" inputCodes="NONE"/>
    <port number="48" label="FLIPPER_2" type="B" inputCodes="NONE"/>

There is a bug in the LEDBlinky Configuration Wizard (which I'm assuming you used to generate your port mapping) that added 'none' as the inputCodes value for undetected button inputs. You can edit your LEDBlinkyInputMap.xml file and set any port with inputCodes="none" to inputCodes="". The bug will be fixed in the next release. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[arzoo]

Also, the default speech for HS is too verbose. I found it in an XML file, but did not see where the UI allowed for changing that stuff. They are too specific as well, with Start being "Start Game" and Exit being "Exit HyperSpin". Those will only be accurate in some circumstances. I would suggest "Enter" and "Exit".

From the ControlsEditor, click the "FE" button and from there you can edit the Voice Action for any of the defined front-end buttons.

[MydknyteStyrm]

Hello. Long time LEDBlinky user, but having trouble incorporating it into my LB/BB setup. I used Hyperspin for the last ten years, and colored every single game on my own since I wasnt a fan of the set colors in the ini. files. I have successfully incorporated LedBlinky into my new frontend, but the issue I am having is that my colors are showing up on different buttons than what I set. In the ControlEditor.exe I see everything work as expected, but it doesnt when LB or BB are working. The colors are right but on the wrong buttons.

I then reinstalled the newest version of LEDBlinky, made a new map, and colored my first game. Nothing shows up at all!

I am also getting a BASS Recording Failed error even though I see the StereoMix and it is set to default.

Im at a loss. I had a handle on this program years ago but I cant figure out why my buttons are all over the place. My Debug.zip is attached. Thanks in advance for any ideas or help.

[arzoo]

Hello. Long time LEDBlinky user, but having trouble incorporating it into my LB/BB setup. I used Hyperspin for the last ten years, and colored every single game on my own since I wasnt a fan of the set colors in the ini. files. I have successfully incorporated LedBlinky into my new frontend, but the issue I am having is that my colors are showing up on different buttons than what I set. In the ControlEditor.exe I see everything work as expected, but it doesnt when LB or BB are working. The colors are right but on the wrong buttons.

I then reinstalled the newest version of LEDBlinky, made a new map, and colored my first game. Nothing shows up at all!

I am also getting a BASS Recording Failed error even though I see the StereoMix and it is set to default.

Im at a loss. I had a handle on this program years ago but I cant figure out why my buttons are all over the place. My Debug.zip is attached. Thanks in advance for any ideas or help.

I've responded via email.

[theholmesplace]

Hoping someone can clue me into the obvious that I'm likely missing. I've searched, researched, and watched videos and I just can't seem to figure this out. Ultimately, I don't really know what to search for to find if others have ran across either of these issues before.

1st issue: When I exit a game, it would be lovely if LEDBlinky reverted back right away to my setting of "Demo game controls", but this doesn't happen. The LEDs just all turn off until I change to a different game. I thought maybe MAME was sending it's stop signal (if that's what LEDBlinky relies on), but this occurs on other emulators as well. Is this a setting that I'm missing? Or is this just not possible?

2nd issue: When I launch a game within another emulator, such as Nintendo Entertainment System, all LEDs turn white once the game is loaded. Within HyperSpin (the FE I'm using) the B and A buttons light up red and nothing else lights up, and when I start the game I have the voice even read off the controls and they blink red for A and B, but then all LEDs turn white. I looked at the Control config and the default setting for that system is B and A set to red only. So why would it revert to all white? Hopefully it's some simple thing I'm missing and someone can clue me in, thank you very much.

BTW, the FAQ section on LEDBlinky has got to be one of the best and most useful FAQs I've ever seen! Wow! I've always viewed FAQ sections on websites as jokes, but LEDBlinky's FAQ section actually helped me solve like 3 other issues I had while setting this up. Very nice to see great documentation!

[theholmesplace]

Think I figured out finally why the buttons are turning white. To me it feels like unexpected behavior. I launch an NES game and it goes and uses MAME default colors that were set specifically for each button by RocketBlinky....

Need to run more tests though to verify this, and at the moment I'm exhausted. Will report back.

[arzoo]

1st issue: When I exit a game, it would be lovely if LEDBlinky reverted back right away to my setting of "Demo game controls", but this doesn't happen. The LEDs just all turn off until I change to a different game. I thought maybe MAME was sending it's stop signal (if that's what LEDBlinky relies on), but this occurs on other emulators as well. Is this a setting that I'm missing? Or is this just not possible?

2nd issue: When I launch a game within another emulator, such as Nintendo Entertainment System, all LEDs turn white once the game is loaded. Within HyperSpin (the FE I'm using) the B and A buttons light up red and nothing else lights up, and when I start the game I have the voice even read off the controls and they blink red for A and B, but then all LEDs turn white. I looked at the Control config and the default setting for that system is B and A set to red only. So why would it revert to all white? Hopefully it's some simple thing I'm missing and someone can clue me in, thank you very much.

BTW, the FAQ section on LEDBlinky has got to be one of the best and most useful FAQs I've ever seen! Wow! I've always viewed FAQ sections on websites as jokes, but LEDBlinky's FAQ section actually helped me solve like 3 other issues I had while setting this up. Very nice to see great documentation!

For the 1st issue; when LEDBlinky exits the game active mode, it will revert back to the FE configuration, usually lighting the FE buttons or running the FE Active animation (if configured to do so). If you don't have either of those options enabled, then nothing will light up. The Demo Mode only lights the game controls for a few seconds as you scroll through game lists. So unfortunately what you're asking is not how LEDBlinky works.

For the 2nd issue I would have to see a debug log to figure out what's happening. If I had to take a guess I would say maybe the LED ports for one or more buttons are assigned the same input codes and LEDBlinky is using the second (wrong) button colors, but that's just a guess. Email me the debug.log and I'll take a look.

Glad you found the FAQ useful, thanks!

[theholmesplace]

Thanks for the reply Arzoo!

Yeah, on issue 1, yesterday evening I began realizing that I'm trying to have it do something that it doesn't. Then thought about it abit more, and doing that is just kind of silly anyways, as I will eventually set up FE controls anyways. So likely a non-issue. I just haven't done it yet because I don't have all of my buttons quite installed at this time.

On issue 2, I'll get you the debug log, sorry. I thought about attaching it, but thought it was just an option that I was missing at first. As far as buttons being assigned to the same port, thats a good thought. Let me look, but I'll get you the debug file anyways here in a few moments.

Thank you!

[theholmesplace]

Debug log for this issue:

When I launch a game within another emulator, such as Nintendo Entertainment System, all LEDs turn white once the game is loaded. Within HyperSpin (the FE I'm using) the B and A buttons light up red and nothing else lights up, and when I start the game I have the voice even read off the controls and they blink red for A and B, but then all LEDs turn white.

Also, from testing yesterday, I discovered launching an NES game seems to use MAME default colors that were set specifically for each button on player 1 and player 2 based on my current configuration.

Again, I don't have all buttons installed and setup quite yet as the I'm not making a "normal" arcade cabinet so to speak. If you want to look at what I'm attempting to pull off, you can check it out at https://theholmesplace.com

EDIT: forgot to attach the debug files. 

[arzoo]

Debug log for this issue:

When I launch a game within another emulator, such as Nintendo Entertainment System, all LEDs turn white once the game is loaded. Within HyperSpin (the FE I'm using) the B and A buttons light up red and nothing else lights up, and when I start the game I have the voice even read off the controls and they blink red for A and B, but then all LEDs turn white.

Also, from testing yesterday, I discovered launching an NES game seems to use MAME default colors that were set specifically for each button on player 1 and player 2 based on my current configuration.

Again, I don't have all buttons installed and setup quite yet as the I'm not making a "normal" arcade cabinet so to speak. If you want to look at what I'm attempting to pull off, you can check it out at https://theholmesplace.com

EDIT: forgot to attach the debug files. 

I believe you can resolve this issue be unchecking the option "Use MAME Default Control Mapping For Other Emulators" option in the LEDBlinky config.

[theholmesplace]

Thank you! Unchecked and works.

However, one thing struck me as odd, and I recall setting this because I watched it in some youtube video and it made sense at the time. I had set a particular LEDBlinky setting within RocketLauncher under the main settings. I set Enabled to ALL and then the real kicker is that I entered the letters "MAME" in for the System Name. Doing this would make sense why I was getting MAME controls whenever I'd launch a game from any system except MAME. No idea why I did this now, but anyways, not sure if it was this or unchecking that option (because I swore I did that before).

So either way, that's finally fixed, thank you Arzoo!

I also got FE controls to light up and I've disabled the game demo thing. I like that configuration better anyways. Thought demo was cool at first, ended up not liking it. The problem basically ended up resolving itself because I changed my preferences of how the buttons would illuminate.

Lots of configuration left to do! Thanks again!

[arzoo]

So either way, that's finally fixed, thank you Arzoo!

 

[Classic 80s Gamer]

First of all LED Blinky is awesome and I have been enjoying it for years.  I recently built a new cabinet from scratch and it includes 1 iPac Ultimate and 1 iPac HID.  Everything with Launchbox is working perfectly.  Where I am having an issue is tying Mame outputs to channels for player 1/2, QBert Knocker and Chase HQ Police Lights.  I have all of the channels configured and work fine in the LED Blinky Controls setup.  I can also confirm control with the simple output test.  I also can run the Mame Output monitor and I see all of the outputs I need are showing correctly.  The Player 1 and 2 show as LED 0 and LED 1 with Galaga and the knocker shows as KNOCKER0. 

For mapping I am using:
[default]
LED0=IP,1,4,48
LED1=IP,1,7,48
KNOCKER0=UH,2,3,48

Player 1 and 2 buttons are on iPac Ultimate with address 1 and the red channel for RGB LED is 4 and 7
For the Knocker I am using the HID controller set to controller 2 and I set the pin to PC output 3

When I view the Mame Output I see the action associated with the outputs set in the Mame Output ini file

I am stumped, Mame is outputting to LED Blinky and LED Blinky is mapped to the outputs but nothing happens. I am missing something I just don’t know where else to look. 

Output is set to windows in Mame.ini

Tried entering “ LEDBlinky 1 ‘. before “ Mame QBert “ or “ Mame Galaga “ no luck.

LEDBlinky version 8.2.0.4
Mame version .245

[Classic 80s Gamer]

Well sometimes the answers stare you right in the face.   Instead of launching from the command line I launched Launchbox.  Sure enough it works perfectly.

[twobucks]

Is it possible to force which audio output device ledblinky must use besides the default audio device in windows 10?  I have been trying to get portaudio working with mame and launchbox as the FE but everytime ledblinky gets stuck flashing controls and no audio output during game startup.  If i could force ledblinky to use a secondary audio output device I am thinking this problem would get solved.  Thoughts?

Thanks

[arzoo]

Is it possible to force which audio output device ledblinky must use besides the default audio device in windows 10?  I have been trying to get portaudio working with mame and launchbox as the FE but everytime ledblinky gets stuck flashing controls and no audio output during game startup.  If i could force ledblinky to use a secondary audio output device I am thinking this problem would get solved.  Thoughts?

Thanks

There may be a third-party app you can use. Check out the apps at the end of this support link; https://www.ledblinky.net/Support.htm#StereoMix Not sure if either will help but maybe?

[twobucks]

Thank You for the reply!

I looked into the mixer application which may work but may also negate any latency advantages to using portaudio with mame because you now have a virtual audio device processing all the audio. For my case i already have two seperate audio output devices in windows and would just like to assign the microsoft text to speech audio from ledblinky to another audio output device. I tried changing the options in narrator to my second audio device but that has no affect in how ledblinky uses micrsoft Zira text to speech. Too bad there is no setting in windows to force all text to speech to a specific audio device.

[Bidule200]

I'm trying to set up LEDBlinky to work with BigBox and MAME
(i've bought led arcade buttons and I want them to light up to demo controls),
but I've already spent 2 days and still nothing works

LEDBlinky seems to be perfectly configured, I followed the readme and official tutorials.
✅ I can control every channel in GenLEDBlinkyInputMap.exe, they all light up just fine ✅ (using a PACLED64).

❌ But in Bigbox... nothing happens  . And then I launch a game, and nothing happens either.
- MAMEOutputTest seems to report MAME outputs correctly
- BigBoxSettings.xml is set up correctly in LEDBlinkyConfig.

The problems seems to be that, when I launch LEDBlinky.exe, it detects BigBox immediatly (I hear the voice synth saying the SpeakTextOnFEStart), but BigBox is not even running! How is it even possible?

------
EDIT
------
✅ LEDBlinky works fine with MAME alone, when LedBlinkyConfig is set on "Other FE", so the problem is definitely related to BigBox!
------
EDIT 2
------
✅ OK, I just missed the "Enable LEDBlinky" in Launchbox options. Feel dumb already -_- All good now!

[Headrush69]

Is LEDBlinky/MAME Output Test hardcoded to just read outputs from MAME?

I'm trying to read inputs from Demulshooter games and Teknoparrot games which can output MAME outputs, but I don't get them in MAME Output Test.exe.
They do show up in MAMEhooker though. I'd prefer to use LEDBlinky for everything and also that MAMEHooker doesn't recognize my iPac Utimate as an output device.

[arzoo]

Is LEDBlinky/MAME Output Test hardcoded to just read outputs from MAME?

I'm trying to read inputs from Demulshooter games and Teknoparrot games which can output MAME outputs, but I don't get them in MAME Output Test.exe.
They do show up in MAMEhooker though. I'd prefer to use LEDBlinky for everything and also that MAMEHooker doesn't recognize my iPac Utimate as an output device.

LEDBlinky uses the mame interop library (mame.dll) for mame outputs.

[gstav]

hey! I have some problems with LEDBlinky blocking my demulshooter + MAMEHooker comunication.
Im running Launchbox/BigBox with LEDBlinky for all normal controls.
What I would want is some way to block the hooking process of LEDBlinky , start the game to get the Demulshooter+MAMEHooker functions, and the whenexit the game set LEDBlinky back on again
Is there any way I can switch this via script or someting? Would be great 

[arzoo]

hey! I have some problems with LEDBlinky blocking my demulshooter + MAMEHooker comunication.
Im running Launchbox/BigBox with LEDBlinky for all normal controls.
What I would want is some way to block the hooking process of LEDBlinky , start the game to get the Demulshooter+MAMEHooker functions, and the whenexit the game set LEDBlinky back on again
Is there any way I can switch this via script or someting? Would be great 

LEDBlinky can't connect and disconnect from mame outputs on the fly, so unfortunately what you're asking is not possible.

[gstav]

Ok, thanks!  bummer! Launchbox restart ledblinky if I kill its process when running a game,
Tried to make some blocking script during the time of the game but no luck yet. Do you know how I could do this? 

[arzoo]

Ok, thanks!  bummer! Launchbox restart ledblinky if I kill its process when running a game,
Tried to make some blocking script during the time of the game but no luck yet. Do you know how I could do this? 

If you don't enable any of the LEDBlinky features that use mame outputs, then you should be fine using MAMEHooker. But if you want LEDBlinky to also use mame outputs, the only thing I can think of would be a script that sends LEDBlinky the FEQuit command (2), alters the LEDBlinky settings file and disables the mame outputs (UseMameOutputs=0), then start up LEDBlinky again with the game ROM. After exiting the game using MAMEHooker, repeat the process but this time enable the mame outputs setting (UseMameOutputs=1). Personally I don't recommend doing this as it would be overly complex and it's not clear it would even work, but maybe?

[gstav]

Hmm I never thought about that. So what should I set up to block the hook functions in LEDBlinky config?

I did managed to do what you suggested, but it's kinda brute
I killed LEDBlinky.exe and MAMEhooker, restart MAMEhooker and then start the game. Sometimes LEDBlinky don't want to be started again and throws a angry message, so it would be so neat just skip the hook functions.

I can still use the standard led instructions from the ledcontrols xml right? I would be more than happy to just use MAMEhooker for output hooking

[arzoo]

Hmm I never thought about that. So what should I set up to block the hook functions in LEDBlinky config?

I did managed to do what you suggested, but it's kinda brute
I killed LEDBlinky.exe and MAMEhooker, restart MAMEhooker and then start the game. Sometimes LEDBlinky don't want to be started again and throws a angry message, so it would be so neat just skip the hook functions.

I can still use the standard led instructions from the ledcontrols xml right? I would be more than happy to just use MAMEhooker for output hooking

You can disable the mame output functionality in LEDBlinky - just uncheck "Flash Player Start with Credits + Other MAME Outputs" option on the Game Options tab. Or you can remove the mame.dll from the \LEDBlinky folder. Then all mame output features would have to be handled by MAMEhooker.

[gstav]

Well that sounds so much easier than having all those command lines running before every needed title, thanks a lot boss. I will try this as as possible 
Thanks for the quick replies my man

update:

Did try to uncheck the "Flash Player Start with Credits + Other MAME Outputs" option, but it wasn't checked to begin with.
Also remove the mame.dll dind't work either. However, the trick was easier than I first thought, so what I did was to add to kill and restart MAMEHooker
when staring a game and it just worked fine So no need to bother LEDBlinky. Super happy and this is absolutely doable for me even though it means an entry per game.
Rock on! 

[gstav]

I still have problem when launching in Launchbox though as it seems its still blocked in some way. have both removed the mame.dll and the output option is unchecked 

[arzoo]

I still have problem when launching in Launchbox though as it seems its still blocked in some way. have both removed the mame.dll and the output option is unchecked 

If mame.dll is removed from the \LEDBlinky folder then there's no way LEDBlinky is using mame outputs. Something else must be causing the problem? If you send me an LEDBlinky debug log I can take a look, but I can't really support issues with LaunchBox and/or MAMEHooker.

[gstav]

Thanks for taking your time boss. I know this is not that much of a LEDBLinky issue so really appreciat the help 
Heres my debug log, I have started LaunchBox and its configured to have LEDBlinky, then also MAMEHooker is started, but does not hook the leds
when the game is started (Chhase HQ with police lights)

[arzoo]

Thanks for taking your time boss. I know this is not that much of a LEDBLinky issue so really appreciat the help 
Heres my debug log, I have started LaunchBox and its configured to have LEDBlinky, then also MAMEHooker is started, but does not hook the leds
when the game is started (Chhase HQ with police lights)

I checked your log and can confirm that LEDBlinky is not using mame outputs. Maybe MAMEHooker is not configured correctly?

[gstav]

Yeah, it's something with MAMEHooker for sure.
Launchbox also seems to refocus LEDBlinky every time a title is launched so might be conflicting there too. MAMEHooker works great on its own, but it's struggle using it with DemulShooter and other hookers in combine. Thanks for helping me on the Ledblinky side boss 

[theholmesplace]

Is there any method available to NOT light up certain buttons?

I have all RGB buttons, two of which are left and right mouse buttons. Well MAME defaults to use Left Control + Mouse button 1 + Gun button 1 and well this causes BOTH my player 1 button 1 button AND my left mouse click button to illuminate. Would like to not have that mouse button illuminate.

Only solution I can think of is removing the mouse button 1 click option from MAME ... which I feel like should be a last resort solution as I don't like changing many default settings due to just not knowing how that will affect other things.

The other button causing me this same issue, is one of my admin buttons is set to "Save State" which is Shift + F7 within MAME by default. Well Player 1 Button 4 is assigned to Left Shift by default within MAME causing both my Save State and Player 1 Button 4 buttons to light up.

Does LEDBlinky have any sort of "NOT" clauses? Or workarounds?
Others run into this issue?

Will my only solution be to reassign the buttons within MAME to something different?

Thanks,