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

[arzoo]

Complete noob here, having difficult getting LED blinky active animation to keep buttons a solid color as shown in the support videos by using a single frame animation.
Also when I go into a game it doesn't light only the buttons of that game.

What actually happens, only player 4 is comletely right.

When I check the LED colors in the "General LEDBlinky INput Map they are all correct and when I run the animation it's all correct.    Please HELP!
Also sorry haven't used a forum like this is a long time, didn't know how to get images to show directly.

When using a GamePlay animation, any buttons configured to light for that game (based on emulator configuration and LEDBlinky input map) will override the animation. So for example, you mention that only P4 from the animation is lighting correctly; that would lead me to believe that P1, P2, and P3 buttons are lighting based on the specific game.

I can help better if you email me your debug files; from the Misc options tab, enable the Debug Log, run your emulator and the game that's not working, then email me back the debug.zip and/or debug.log files and I'll take a look. support@ledblinky.net

[theholmesplace]

Hoping this is a simple question to answer, questions, but curious on functionality.

Assigning colors within colors.ini or LEDBlinkyControls.xml seems to be done using words (i.e. red, blue, green, purple, etc).
Is there a list of words that LEDBlinky will recognize anywhere? For example, I can't use words, "pink", "gray", "teal", but colors "green" OR "lime" work.
Even crazier, can RGB values be assigned within these files somehow? Maybe like color="RGB(255,0,0,1)".



Second question, I've come across some games that, oddly enough, alternate between players 1 and players 2, but the players still need to use their respective controls (example: player 2 uses player 2 controls, and player 1 uses player 1). Is there any sort of function built into LEDBlinky, which will turn on / off the controls based on who's turn it is? (I suppose the answer would be no, because that would involve LEDBlinky getting information fed back somehow from MAME). But was curious and thought I'd ask anyways.

If anyone knows where to find info on colors available, that'd be cool to see, pink, grey, would be cool to get. A better orange than "orange" would be cool too, "orange" looks more dark yellow. I know I'm not working with Phillips Hue here, but I have been able to mimic the colors needed through the LEDBlinky LED Mapper app before, just wish I could also assign them color names.

Cheers!

[arzoo]

Hoping this is a simple question to answer, questions, but curious on functionality.

Assigning colors within colors.ini or LEDBlinkyControls.xml seems to be done using words (i.e. red, blue, green, purple, etc).
Is there a list of words that LEDBlinky will recognize anywhere? For example, I can't use words, "pink", "gray", "teal", but colors "green" OR "lime" work.
Even crazier, can RGB values be assigned within these files somehow? Maybe like color="RGB(255,0,0,1)".



Second question, I've come across some games that, oddly enough, alternate between players 1 and players 2, but the players still need to use their respective controls (example: player 2 uses player 2 controls, and player 1 uses player 1). Is there any sort of function built into LEDBlinky, which will turn on / off the controls based on who's turn it is? (I suppose the answer would be no, because that would involve LEDBlinky getting information fed back somehow from MAME). But was curious and thought I'd ask anyways.

If anyone knows where to find info on colors available, that'd be cool to see, pink, grey, would be cool to get. A better orange than "orange" would be cool too, "orange" looks more dark yellow. I know I'm not working with Phillips Hue here, but I have been able to mimic the colors needed through the LEDBlinky LED Mapper app before, just wish I could also assign them color names.

Cheers!

Look at the color-rgb.ini file. I'm not sure adding new colors will work but you can definitely alter the existing color values. As for your second question, you are correct, currently there's no way for LEDBlinky to "know" which player is up (mame does not provide that output).

[theholmesplace]

How in the world I missed that file when looking yesterday is beyond me, but thank you for pointing it out! That's exactly what I was after.

And bummer on MAME, but understandable, that would be quite a niche "feature" tbh.

[PL1]

currently there's no way for LEDBlinky to "know" which player is up (mame does not provide that output).

Maybe you could use a LUA script to monitor the memory locations/values in the game program that shows which player is up and send outputs that LEDBlinky can receive to turn each player's LEDs on or off.
- You might want to ask Jon (10yard) for a sanity/viability check before diving into the deep end on this approach.

It sounds possible, but it would be a huge job to fully implement.


Scott

[drjmoney]

Can someone point me in the right direction. I have LED blinky up and running. Is there an easy way to make EVERY game in MAME just work? I have the input map setup correctly. Currently I am doing each game by hand individually and its going to take forever. Is there a master XML file somewhere?  Please help

[Roland_001]

Hi Arzoo,

For the Ultimarc Servostik (and 360 stick, and possible others), I wonder if it's possible to add some kind of output that informs the user of the current state (4-way or 8-way).  I imagine something like a pair of LED's that get selectively turned on/off when the stick is in 4-way or 8-way mode.  They could even be connected to the main I-PAC (eg. the Ultimate I/O has the ability to control stand-alone LED's as well as RGB buttons).

I ask because, a) it would be a cool and logical feature b) it's not always intuitive when a game doesn't "feel" right while playing, if it's due to the joystick being in the wrong configuration (case in point, I was playing a version of Street Fighter the other day, it felt "off", but I could still execute the moves occasionally - turns out the Servostik was in 4-way mode, but this wasn't obvious.  As there are 11,000+ MAME games, at some point it's easier to just look down at which LED is on, and determine if the configuration is correct, than to try and trouble-shoot thousands of games by feel alone).

I emailed Andy Warne, the main contact at Ultimarc, and he says that their Servostik does not operate on a toggle basis, but that the program JoyTray (and the PacDrive32.dll library) should be able to report the last command it received.

In theory, this could then activate/deactivate a dedicated LED via LEDBlinky, giving visual feedback to the user.

-Rolyen

[arzoo]

For the Ultimarc Servostik (and 360 stick, and possible others), I wonder if it's possible to add some kind of output that informs the user of the current state (4-way or 8-way).  I imagine something like a pair of LED's that get selectively turned on/off when the stick is in 4-way or 8-way mode.  They could even be connected to the main I-PAC (eg. the Ultimate I/O has the ability to control stand-alone LED's as well as RGB buttons).

You can already do this; using the GenLEDBlinkyInputMap, assign the ports for the 8-way LED to JOY8WAY and the ports for the 4-way LED to JOY4WAY.

[Roland_001]

What?!  That's amazing, thank you!  I'll work on that over the weekend and update my post with the results, thanks again.

-Rolyen

[Onslaught23]

Hello All,

LED Blinky has been giving me issues. For the life of me been trying to figure out how to reset or turn off these two buttons that no matter what will not turn off or will go into different colors when booted. I have unplugged from the board unplugged power and everything and still no dice. Please Help or show me the way

[arzoo]

LED Blinky has been giving me issues. For the life of me been trying to figure out how to reset or turn off these two buttons that no matter what will not turn off or will go into different colors when booted. I have unplugged from the board unplugged power and everything and still no dice. Please Help or show me the way

Using the SimpleLEDTest app, can you individually control the LEDs under those two buttons? This sounds like a wiring or hardware issue.

[Onslaught23]

When I use the simple led test I can turn it off and on but when I exit the lights just come back on

[gbarnes27]

I am having issue getting ledblinky to work.  I have a new build of coin ops arcade2 vertical build.  When it starts all the light light up and even when I go into a game like 1942 it speaks the game name but fire or loop lights light up or gets spoken.

[arzoo]

When I use the simple led test I can turn it off and on but when I exit the lights just come back on

Some Ultimarc boards can store an LED configuration in the firmware; you may need to clear that (using the Ultimarc software). Or this may be related to the wiring or hardware?

[arzoo]

I am having issue getting ledblinky to work.  I have a new build of coin ops arcade2 vertical build.  When it starts all the light light up and even when I go into a game like 1942 it speaks the game name but fire or loop lights light up or gets spoken.

You can try using the LEDBlinkyTroubleshooter app to see if it can provide an answer. If not, email me the debug.zip and/or debug.log files and I'll take a look.

[Onslaught23]

When I use the simple led test I can turn it off and on but when I exit the lights just come back on

Some Ultimarc boards can store an LED configuration in the firmware; you may need to clear that (using the Ultimarc software). Or this may be related to the wiring or hardware?

You were right it was a USB issue. Now that I have a new one I went and installed the new along with me
W Led Blinky update now it only recognizes one at a time. I did the whole
 Firmware ID 2 process and still not able to get both recognized. Led blinky only see one as active.

[arzoo]

You were right it was a USB issue. Now that I have a new one I went and installed the new along with me
W Led Blinky update now it only recognizes one at a time. I did the whole
 Firmware ID 2 process and still not able to get both recognized. Led blinky only see one as active.

So you have two UIO boards, one set as ID1 and the other ID2, but LEDBlinky only see's the one? Does the SimpleLEDTest app show both boards? Do you have any other Ultimarc devices connected? Email me your debug log and I'll take a look.

[Onslaught23]

Hey Arzoo,

I just seen this message. I went back and installed previous LED Blinky and updated the firmware. It recognizes now. It’s it something to do with updated LED Blinky?

[arzoo]

Hey Arzoo,

I just seen this message. I went back and installed previous LED Blinky and updated the firmware. It recognizes now. It’s it something to do with updated LED Blinky?

I don't see how it could be related to a recent update to LEDBlinky, nothing has changed with the UIO interface. Which version is working for you? And do you mind installing the most recent version of LEDBlinky into a temporary folder and just try the SimpleLEDTest app to see if both UIOs are recognized - that way we can determine if it's the LEDBlinky version or the firmware update.

[Onslaught23]

I believe it’s the new LED Blinky. I used the old version and it worked. Same firmware for the UIO boards.
I didn’t get a chance to make the log with the updated version of LED Blinky since I just went back to the old version.

[arzoo]

I believe it’s the new LED Blinky. I used the old version and it worked. Same firmware for the UIO boards.
I didn’t get a chance to make the log with the updated version of LED Blinky since I just went back to the old version.

What version are you running that works?

[Onslaught23]

I believe it’s the new LED Blinky. I used the old version and it worked. Same firmware for the UIO boards.
I didn’t get a chance to make the log with the updated version of LED Blinky since I just went back to the old version.

What version are you running that works?

I think I'm back at square 1. I was using LEDBlinky v8.2.1, Went back to 8.2.0.4. Since I been trying to get my trackball to work. I see that it wasnt be recognized I upgraded the firmware in winpac to 155 ID2 (149 #ID2 was the only firmware that seemed to recognize the 2nd board) now its back to only recognizing one board at a time.

[wdb]

First off, thanks for a great product - it's awesome to be able to light up only those controls that are in use for a particular game, and drive animations across the control panel!

Is there a good way to light (better yet, conditionally light) non-standard admin buttons (like a button mapped to an I-PAC Ultimate "shift" key) without adding an additional LED controller and considering them cabinet LEDs?  One item on the feature list of LEDBlinky is: Designate LEDs as "Always Active" for use with coin, start, or administration controls, but I can't seem to find a way to do this for buttons that aren't mapped to MAME inputs or known UI/admin controls.

It would be nice if there were a way to set specific device/port values in response to incoming notifications (game start, game pause, etc.).  Maybe there is and I'm just missing it?

Thanks!

[arzoo]

First off, thanks for a great product - it's awesome to be able to light up only those controls that are in use for a particular game, and drive animations across the control panel!

Is there a good way to light (better yet, conditionally light) non-standard admin buttons (like a button mapped to an I-PAC Ultimate "shift" key) without adding an additional LED controller and considering them cabinet LEDs?  One item on the feature list of LEDBlinky is: Designate LEDs as "Always Active" for use with coin, start, or administration controls, but I can't seem to find a way to do this for buttons that aren't mapped to MAME inputs or known UI/admin controls.

It would be nice if there were a way to set specific device/port values in response to incoming notifications (game start, game pause, etc.).  Maybe there is and I'm just missing it?

Thanks!

There's a few ways you could light up non-game related buttons during game play. One option as you mentioned would be using a second LED controller. A second option, and probably the best solution would be to use the Game Play animation and create an animation that sets the one (or more) buttons ON in every frame. A third option (which you also alluded to) would be the "Run External Applications" feature (Integrations tab) - with this you could theoretically send an LEDBlinky command to itself to light a specific port or ports on an event such as Game Start. I've never tried this but I think it should work. All the LEDBlinky command line parameters are documented in the readme and Install and Config pdf. Hope this helps!

[wdb]

A third option (which you also alluded to) would be the "Run External Applications" feature (Integrations tab) - with this you could theoretically send an LEDBlinky command to itself to light a specific port or ports on an event such as Game Start. I've never tried this but I think it should work. All the LEDBlinky command line parameters are documented in the readme and Install and Config pdf. Hope this helps!

Ah, I didn't realize that was an option - sounds like that should work.  Thanks for the detailed response!

[DJO_Maverick]

Is there any particular quirk to getting output hooked up with Groovymame 0.253 in particular?  Groovymame folder is set properly in config, and I've manually set output to Windows in the mame.ini, but the output test is simply not picking up any outputs from it at all.

Thanks-

[arzoo]

Is there any particular quirk to getting output hooked up with Groovymame 0.253 in particular?  Groovymame folder is set properly in config, and I've manually set output to Windows in the mame.ini, but the output test is simply not picking up any outputs from it at all.

Thanks-

This support link may help.

[DJO_Maverick]

This support link may help.

Actually tried following through that before posting.  I already manually changed OSD Output to Windows in the mame.ini, and am using the Output Test to verify there's no output of any kind being picked up.  Doesn't seem like Groovymame distributions come with the whatsnew.txt, if that is required.

Left me wondering if it meant it doesn't work with 0.221 OR LATER, or if it is only 0.221 that's at issue?  Anything else that could be causing output not to be picked up?

Thank you,

[arzoo]

This support link may help.

Actually tried following through that before posting.  I already manually changed OSD Output to Windows in the mame.ini, and am using the Output Test to verify there's no output of any kind being picked up.  Doesn't seem like Groovymame distributions come with the whatsnew.txt, if that is required.

Left me wondering if it meant it doesn't work with 0.221 OR LATER, or if it is only 0.221 that's at issue?  Anything else that could be causing output not to be picked up?

Thank you,

There was a specific issue with .221, but it's possible there are issues with other versions. Unfortunately I don't have any control over that. The whatsnew.txt is not necessary. If you have the mame.ini configured correctly (OSD Output) and the LEDBlinky Mame Output test app is still not showing any data, then it may be an issue with the specific version of Groovymame or Groovymame in general? One thing I would try is to downloaded the standard mame build and see if that works on your system.

[DJO_Maverick]

So far I've tried with GroovyMame 0.253, 0.254, and normal MAME 0.254 (current).  None of them are sending any output to the output test window.

And just to make sure I'm not crazy, this is what I've got at the relevant part of my mame.ini:

Code: [Select]

#
# OSD OUTPUT OPTIONS
#
output                    Windows

#
# OSD INPUT OPTIONS
#
Am I missing something obvious, before I start working backwards through a whole lot of builds?

Thanks,

[arzoo]

So far I've tried with GroovyMame 0.253, 0.254, and normal MAME 0.254 (current).  None of them are sending any output to the output test window.

And just to make sure I'm not crazy, this is what I've got at the relevant part of my mame.ini:

Code: [Select]

#
# OSD OUTPUT OPTIONS
#
output                    Windows

#
# OSD INPUT OPTIONS
#
Am I missing something obvious, before I start working backwards through a whole lot of builds?

Thanks,

That looks correct. Not sure what the issue is but I guess it could be something else specific to your system? I'll have to test .254 on my system to see if there's a bigger problem here.

[arzoo]

So far I've tried with GroovyMame 0.253, 0.254, and normal MAME 0.254 (current).  None of them are sending any output to the output test window.

And just to make sure I'm not crazy, this is what I've got at the relevant part of my mame.ini:

Code: [Select]

#
# OSD OUTPUT OPTIONS
#
output                    Windows

#
# OSD INPUT OPTIONS
#
Am I missing something obvious, before I start working backwards through a whole lot of builds?

Thanks,

I've confirmed the mame output system is working with .249 which was the latest version I currently have installed. But I did notice that it only worked when the OSD OUTPUT OPTIONS "output" value was set to "windows" all lower case. My support doc had the value listed as "Windows" which does not seem to work with later versions of mame. Try using "windows" and let me know if that works for you with .254?

Code: [Select]

output     windows

[DJO_Maverick]

I've confirmed the mame output system is working with .249 which was the latest version I currently have installed. But I did notice that it only worked when the OSD OUTPUT OPTIONS "output" value was set to "windows" all lower case. My support doc had the value listed as "Windows" which does not seem to work with later versions of mame. Try using "windows" and let me know if that works for you with .254?

Code: [Select]

output     windows

That's exactly what it was, ha.  Making it all lowercase fixed it, outputting as expected.

Thank you!

[arzoo]

That's exactly what it was, ha.  Making it all lowercase fixed it, outputting as expected.

Thank you!

Excellent! Sorry for the misdirection on the support page - it's been fixed.

[DJO_Maverick]

So one odd issue I've run into in fine-tuning seems to crop up in some 49-way or analog games; taking Arch Rivals for example.  Colors.ini designates the sticks as orange, and my otherwise not implicated P3 Button 2 (KEYCODE_G) lights up orange.

Sticks are mapped to U360 analog, properly.  From the perspective of global input assignments and game input assignments visible within Mame, every reference to KEYCODE_G (other than P3 Button 2) has been deleted now, and nothing is mapped to P2 X/Y for any device other than the U360...  yet the orange remains.

I checked the debug, and it has this relevant line on game load:

Code: [Select]

[05/05/2023 23:37:28] P2_AD_STICK_X_EXT (MAME-DEFAULT): |JOYCODE_2_ANALOG_X|MOUSECODE_2_ANALOG_X|KEYCODE_G|JOYCODE_2_RIGHTSimilar phantom string for Y_EXT, and both for P1 as well (just not mapped to anything with a light).

Yet when I go manually open up the Mame default.cfg, there isn't even a default port in the file for P2_AD_STICK_X_EXT.  I can manually ADD an entry for it, and map it to none.  If I do so, Blinky correctly previews the game with that rogue light off, and will load the game with it off that time...  however, every time I turn on Mame, it automatically deletes any _EXT ports that I manually added...  which results in the rogue light coming back after restart. 

I can't tell if that input ID was deprecated at some point, or whether it is a Blinky or Mame issue.  At this point, no doubt it would just be easier to just change from 'G' on the key encoder for that button and adjust accordingly, but now I'm just really curious where these seemingly uneditable defaults are coming from?

[arzoo]

I checked the debug, and it has this relevant line on game load:

Code: [Select]

[05/05/2023 23:37:28] P2_AD_STICK_X_EXT (MAME-DEFAULT): |JOYCODE_2_ANALOG_X|MOUSECODE_2_ANALOG_X|KEYCODE_G|JOYCODE_2_RIGHTSimilar phantom string for Y_EXT, and both for P1 as well (just not mapped to anything with a light).

Yet when I go manually open up the Mame default.cfg, there isn't even a default port in the file for P2_AD_STICK_X_EXT.  I can manually ADD an entry for it, and map it to none.  If I do so, Blinky correctly previews the game with that rogue light off, and will load the game with it off that time...  however, every time I turn on Mame, it automatically deletes any _EXT ports that I manually added...  which results in the rogue light coming back after restart. 

I think the confusion here comes from the use of "MAME-DEFAULT" in the debug log. This is actually referring to mame default input codes stored in the LEDBlinkyControls.xml file. Just for reference, input codes from the mame default.cfg file would be referenced in the debug log as MAME-ALLGAMES. But back to the issue at hand; if you search the LEDBlinkyControls.xml file for the <controlDefaults groupName="MAME"...> node, and then under that search for P2_AD_STICK_X_EXT, from there you can remove the default input code(s) that are causing issues, KEYCODE_G in your case.

The relevant line in the file looks like this;

Code: [Select]

<control name="P2_AD_STICK_X_EXT" inputCodes="|JOYCODE_2_ANALOG_X|MOUSECODE_2_ANALOG_X|KEYCODE_G|JOYCODE_2_RIGHT" allowConfigPlayerNum="2"/>Edit the line to look like this;

Code: [Select]

<control name="P2_AD_STICK_X_EXT" inputCodes="|JOYCODE_2_ANALOG_X|MOUSECODE_2_ANALOG_X|JOYCODE_2_RIGHT" allowConfigPlayerNum="2"/>

[SuperMagoAlex]

Hi Guys,
I'm using Ledblinky with a Pacled64 and works well, now I added two rgb led strips behind the cabinet (connected to the Pacled) and I would like them changing color according to the game.
For example when I play Virtua Tennis (Flycast), I would like them to turn green.
Since they are not associated with any buttons or controls, which menu/option should I use to do that?

[arzoo]

Hi Guys,
I'm using Ledblinky with a Pacled64 and works well, now I added two rgb led strips behind the cabinet (connected to the Pacled) and I would like them changing color according to the game.
For example when I play Virtua Tennis (Flycast), I would like them to turn green.
Since they are not associated with any buttons or controls, which menu/option should I use to do that?

The only way I think this could work would be to create a game specific animation with a single frame that lights the strips the color you want. You would have to create an animation for each game you wanted to do this for, but you could copy the same animation for multiple games. For example, you could create an animation called green.lwax and then copy/rename it to run for whichever games you wanted to light green. Look in the \LEDBlinky\lwa\GameSpecific folder and there should be an info.txt file that explains how to have an animation run for a specific game.

[Awch]

I originally posted this as its own topic but it looks like this is the better spot for it. Sorry for the spamming!

LEDBinky and WLED

Hi all,

I'm hoping to find a way to use LEDBinky to control addressable LEDs connected to WLED. I've done quite a bit of searching and haven't found anything yet. Addressable bulbs on WLED have a couple of big advantages: incredibly cheap controllers (a few dollars) and VERY simple wiring.

My hope is to get the two talking to each other but their JSON APIs are different. At this point I'm imagining writing a server/mediator that sits in the middle and translates/maps messages going in each direction. Before I start doing anything like this I'm hoping someone can suggest an easier approach. My preference would be finding some way to configure LEDBlinky's JSON Output to speak to WLED's API but I don't see any way to configure it.

On the WLED side I'm thinking that creating segments for each device would allow them to be targeted easily whether they have one bulb, like a button, or many bulbs, like cabinet lighting. Actually, it will have to be an individual bulb approach due to the limited number of segments supported.

Basically I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to get started with this project. I'm retiring in a couple of weeks and will soon have lots of time to work on it.

LEDBlinky's Output System:
https://www.ledblinky.net/downloads/Install%20and%20Config.pdf#page=81

WLED's JSON API:
https://kno.wled.ge/interfaces/json-api/

WLED's individual bulb API:
https://kno.wled.ge/interfaces/json-api/#per-segment-individual-led-control

Thanks for any help,
Greg

[arzoo]

I originally posted this as its own topic but it looks like this is the better spot for it. Sorry for the spamming!

LEDBinky and WLED

Hi all,

I'm hoping to find a way to use LEDBinky to control addressable LEDs connected to WLED. I've done quite a bit of searching and haven't found anything yet. Addressable bulbs on WLED have a couple of big advantages: incredibly cheap controllers (a few dollars) and VERY simple wiring.

My hope is to get the two talking to each other but their JSON APIs are different. At this point I'm imagining writing a server/mediator that sits in the middle and translates/maps messages going in each direction. Before I start doing anything like this I'm hoping someone can suggest an easier approach. My preference would be finding some way to configure LEDBlinky's JSON Output to speak to WLED's API but I don't see any way to configure it.

Here's another possible option; Ultimarc offers an LED controller for addressable LED strips that is supported by LEDBlinky; https://www.ultimarc.com/output/led-and-output-controllers/nano-led/