"loss of focus" problem. *Testers Wanted* for possible permanent fix

[TheShanMan]

Try This MaLa Plug-In

http://www.malafe.net/index.php?page=plugins#malafocuslogger


I've read some old threads on the subject of mala losing focus, but it appears that they were mostly resolved by the time 1.0 was released. I am having a focus problem occasionally with the latest mala, and I did see a post describing the same thing:

I have mala set to start centipede as soon as mala loads (i.e. bootup). Sometimes when I exit centipede to go back to mala my joystick/buttons don't work and I have to alt tab to mala or click in mala to get them to work again.

Anyone else experiencing this? Is there a way to solve it (other than not loading a game at startup)?

[TheShanMan]

Anyone???

I thought making mala the windows shell rather than explorer might do the trick, but I actually experienced the same problem after returning from a screensaver (the tacobird screensaver).

[loadman]

try another version of mame

[TheShanMan]

Could you be more specific? Does mala have problems with particular variants of mame or something? I'm currently using straight mame with the hiscore patch. So are you suggesting try the official mame.exe? Or mameui32.exe? Is mameui32 with the hiscore patch ok? Is this issue a known issue that has some documentation out there somewhere?

[loadman]

Sorry It was just a Guess. I have no idea what your issue is 

[Dropkick_Wally]

I had this problem as well.  Actually, the exact same problem, in the latest Mala release.  I turned off the background music, and for some reason, that fixed the problem.  Now I have other problems like some sounds not working for no reason.  I've upgraded Mala a few times and I think some things got scrambled.  I'm going to try a new install and re-set everything up once I have time.  I think that might clear up the issues for me.  The screen fades seemed to start the whole thing off.  If you figure out the exact cause, let me know!
Cheers.

[CatttDaddy]

I just started using Mala and have this problem as well.
When my computer boots up Mala seems to be in the foreground but I have to click the mouse once before the controls work. It seems that clicking the mouse actually selects Mala and makes it the active window...

No Background music doesn't help me because I have no music and it has done this from a brand new install of Mala.

[TheShanMan]

Yeah, I have no background music either. This is a BIG issue because in a cab, of course you don't want to have a mouse sitting there for these occasions.

I'm not sure that I had the problem from the very start, but 2 things I've done recently are introduce the emumovies and compile mame with the hiscore patch. I wonder if one of those is somehow having an effect.

It sounds like there are enough people experiencing this that the Mala developer must be aware of it, but I guess I should officially submit a bug report for it. Perhaps I'll include a link to this thread so any helpful info posted here is seen. I sure hope it gets worked out soon!

[Dropkick_Wally]

I'm not sure if swindus is working on mala right now.  It's been a while since there's been an update.  He's been part of the threads where people have discussed this issue before.  I'm pretty sure it's been documented as well.  If you have the patience I would reinstall and reconfigure Mala to see if that fixes the issue.  If not, it may be better to try a new frontend and see if that works better for. I'll post back if I figure anything out.

Cheers.

[headkaze]

It could be either the DivX codec stealing focus from Mala. There are registry entries you can make to prevent the codec stealing focus. I'm not sure if that is what the problem is but it might be worth checking out.

Here is an example..

Code: [Select]

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DivXNetworks\DivX\SMExclusions]
"Mala"="Mala.exe"

[TheShanMan]

Headkaze, that's sort of what I was thinking even though I have no focus issue when navigating between games which results in new videos playing. I'll investigate that though, so thanks for the suggestion.

[CatttDaddy]

yeah thanks because as a matter of fact my intro video is divx. it would make sense if its the issue thanks

[TheShanMan]

I turned off the videos and that didn't help. I switched between straight mame and mameui32 and that didn't help. Both were patched (hiscore patch), but I can't imagine that would affect it, so since I didn't want to give up hiscore support I haven't tried it. If someone thinks that really could be the cause I will try.

It happens most frequently with the "launch game on startup" feature. Maybe I'll have to turn that off.

Any other ideas?

[headkaze]

Well, I was thinking more about avi snaps, not the intro video. If your using avi snaps the video might be stealing focus then. Did you try my reg edit? Just copy the text I posted into a file called FixDivX.reg and then double click it to add the info into the registry.

Other things to try....

Get yourself a program called Process Explorer. It's an essential tool to have for any Windows user anyway.

Run Process Explorer and then just go through right clicking on running processes then selecting "Kill Process". Then run Mala and see if the problem still occurs. This will rule out any program running in the background causing it to lose focus. Be careful not to kill any system processes only ones that branch out below explorer.exe.

[TheShanMan]

I mean the avi snaps. I figured turning them off completely would be as effective as your suggestion. And I have mala running as the windows shell, so there is nothing running under explorer because there IS no explorer! Unfortunately, this problem is infrequent enough to be difficult to track down, and mostly seems to occur at start up, after returning from the auto-started game.

[TheShanMan]

A little more info that I think sheds some light on the problem...

Tonight I was playing with my kids, and one game we played was Q-Bert. The strange thing is I could hear Q-Bert audio that was out of sync with the state of the game, on top of the normal (in sync) Q-Bert audio. Eventually I realized what it was; the avi video in Mala was still playing and I could hear the audio of that avi during gameplay! I never noticed this aspect of the problem before because I used to have the avi audio turned off.

Then, when I exited the game mala didn't have focus. So, for whatever reason when I launched the game, mala did something "abnormal" - forgetting to stop the avi, and neglecting to watch for the mame process to terminate.

I think this MUST have something to do with the problem I've been experiencing. It sure doesn't seem to be a coincidence.

Unfortunately it doesn't give me any ideas for solving or working around the problem.

[loadman]

hmmm

Are you using the latest version?

If you disable Video in MaLa do you still have the issue?

[TheShanMan]

Yeah, I mentioned a bit earlier in the thread that it happens if I disable the video. That's not the problem. And I'm using the latest version unless a new one was released in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

[loadman]

Yeah, I mentioned a bit earlier in the thread that it happens if I disable the video. That's not the problem. And I'm using the latest version unless a new one was released in the last 2 or 3 weeks.

Hmm

Suggestion:

Can you copy whatever MaLa folder is. Name is MaLa2 or something.

Delete the mala.ini file.

When you start mala from there now it will get you to set up mala from scratch.

Do the minimum to get q'bert or to load. No fancy layout or settings.

If you don't have the same problem continue to build on the MaLa config and check that it still works bit by bit. Hopefully that will at least reveal what area is causing the problem for you

[TheShanMan]

Maybe I will have to do that, but as I stated the problem is it is very intermittent. It only seems to happen like once a week (with daily usage). So trying to isolate one faulty setting among lots and lots as you describe I think could take a LONG time, and when I decide "that option wasn't a problem, let's move to the next option" there will be doubt in my mind - "did I wait long enough before moving on to the next option?"

So while I appreciate your help and perhaps this is my only option at this point, this isn't a whole lot better than just saying "it's a limitation in mala that you can't work around". Anyone have any other ideas I could try before I resort to this?

I'm thinking I might be better off seeing if mamewah will equally meet my needs.

[loadman]

this isn't a whole lot better than just saying "it's a limitation in mala that you can't work around". Anyone have any other ideas I could try before I resort to this?

I'm thinking I might be better off seeing if mamewah will equally meet my needs.

Go for it 

It's not something I have come across so I can only assume it's something to do with your system/config.

Good luck 

[TheShanMan]

A little more info that I think sheds some light on the problem...

Tonight I was playing with my kids, and one game we played was Q-Bert. The strange thing is I could hear Q-Bert audio that was out of sync with the state of the game, on top of the normal (in sync) Q-Bert audio. Eventually I realized what it was; the avi video in Mala was still playing and I could hear the audio of that avi during gameplay! I never noticed this aspect of the problem before because I used to have the avi audio turned off.

Then, when I exited the game mala didn't have focus. So, for whatever reason when I launched the game, mala did something "abnormal" - forgetting to stop the avi, and neglecting to watch for the mame process to terminate.

I think this MUST have something to do with the problem I've been experiencing. It sure doesn't seem to be a coincidence.

Unfortunately it doesn't give me any ideas for solving or working around the problem.

OK, I know how to reproduce the focus issue I mentioned here. All you have to do is navigate to a game, and before the avi snap has a chance to start, launch the game. You'll hear that the avi snap is still playing while mame is also running the game, and when you exit the game mala does not have focus. I'd love to hear if anyone can reproduce this. I'll try headkaze's registry suggestion to hopefully at least fix the focus issue, but that obviously doesn't help with hearing the avi snap playing while the game is also running.

Reading back thru my other posts, I'm guessing that there is more than one focus issue because this doesn't explain some of what I described, but this seems to be the biggest focus issue for me. And I do think it explains the "launch game on start problem" because that would probably occur before the game that's selected in the list has a chance to start the avi snap.

So what I'm wondering is, what are the chances of getting the developer to fix this? I've posted some bug reports at the mala site before and never heard a word back. I wonder if the developer even works on this anymore.

[TheShanMan]

Loadman, any thoughts on the chances of getting this fixed? Is mala development inactive?

Regarding headkaze's suggestion, I have no DivXNetworks registry key.

[SGT]

It seems to me like you are going to have to do more to help  troubleshoot your issue.  Loadman has already recommended how to do this.  It only takes a few minutes to rename your mala.ini file so that Mala will generate a new one.  If the problem goes away, something in your Mala.ini file is causing the problem.  After that, it takes only a few copy and paste attempts from your original Mala.ini to the new Mala.ini to zero in on what entry in Mala.ini is causing the problem. 

Its not like you're going to lose anything as you'll have your original Mala.ini file to go back to.  Again, I just fail to see what the hangup is in doing this.  I understand its intermittent, but I don't see it getting magically fixed without these troubleshooting steps.

[patrickmaher]

OK, I know how to reproduce the focus issue I mentioned here. All you have to do is navigate to a game, and before the avi snap has a chance to start, launch the game. You'll hear that the avi snap is still playing while mame is also running the game, and when you exit the game mala does not have focus. I'd love to hear if anyone can reproduce this. I'll try headkaze's registry suggestion to hopefully at least fix the focus issue, but that obviously doesn't help with hearing the avi snap playing while the game is also running.

Just out of curiosity, what codec are you using to play the divx/xvid files?

I have noticed when using the divx codec it will open a program in the system tray every time I open a divx video in my media player. This can cause problems when I close one video and open another to quickly because the divx program in the system tray closes and then reopen.

I know it wont be the solution to any bugs in your FE but if you are using the divx codec, maybe it will help the problem to happen less if you use the xvid codec.

[loadman]

Yep  Read my Signature 

...please send the exact scenario to enable debugging to take place.

[TheShanMan]

I don't remember off hand which codec it is, but I went through this once before a few months ago, and I ended up using the one recommended on the emumovies website, whichever one that is. I can try going through it again though.

So are you guys saying it's the codec's fault that mala keeps playing the video? I can understand the focus issue possibly being blamed on the codec, but I would think it's entirely up to mala whether or not to stop playing the video. Incidentally, that's why I didn't think starting with a clean mala would have anything to do with it SGT.

[loadman]

Loadman, any thoughts on the chances of getting this fixed? Is mala development inactive?

MaLa development is about to fire up again.   

[TheShanMan]

I do have the latest xvid codec, so nothing to try there (unless there's another codec you'd recommend). Loadman, what are you looking for when you say "send the exact scenario"? I assume that means the steps to reproduce that I gave aren't adequate. Maybe you were wanting to know what codec I have? Or was it something more than that? Maybe platform? I'm running XP SP2 and though I wouldn't expect this to cause my problem, my arcade doesn't normally run using an administrator user account.

I appreciate the help and suggestions everyone!

[joebells]

Loadman, any thoughts on the chances of getting this fixed? Is mala development inactive?

MaLa development is about to fire up again.   

whats he going to work on? about all I can think of is true png transparency(I think the current way makes things look jagged at the edges of transparent things and really throws off the whole look) and it would be cool if the text lists wrapped(I mean when you are at a it would show the z right above it instead of showing blank space. But really thats not a huge deal. It's pretty nice as is.(I don't use it personally as I want true transparency for my png's but it is nice and lightweight)

[Luigi]

Anything new on that?

I had the same problem when I made a Mame-Cab for someone else. I don't have access to it anymore but I had the "losing focus problem", too and I had no videos running. When exiting a game sometimes Mala doesn't react and you have to left- or right-click the mouse.

I had installed the latest version with standard layout and configuration

 

[TheShanMan]

Try installing the MaLaFocusLogger plugin I made. Best case scenario - it may fix your focus problem, worst case scenario - if another application is stealing focus you can find out what it is and then deal with it.

[Luigi]

Thanks.....I'll give it a try

 

[loadman]

Thanks.....I'll give it a try

 

Let us know how you go please 

[TheShanMan]

Yeah, I'd love to know too. I haven't had a loss of focus problem since I installed it. It's always possible that something else changed that made the problem go away, but I'm pretty sure it's the plugin that did it. It would be nice to hear if it helps or doesn't help for someone else.

[Luigi]

hmmm.....is the plugin showed inside Mala (Options/Event Plugins) ?? I cannot see it.

I made a directory "plugins" in the Mala-directory where I've put the .mplugin file. I copied the other three files into the Mala directory itself....is that correct so far? Is there a error message if loading a plugin fails?

I don't have a Mame-Cab at the moment and it wasn't my cab that had the problem. I will send the files to the owner and tell him to test it so I can report here

[loadman]

I made a directory "plugins" in the Mala-directory where I've put the .mplugin file. I copied the other three files into the Mala directory itself....is that correct so far? Is there a error message if loading a plugin fails?

 

The 'plugins' folder is automatically created (if missing) if you have the latest version where plug-ins are supported.

[TheShanMan]

Having to create the plugins directory sounds suspicious to me as well. Can you get other plugins to load properly?

I don't think mala reports on loading problems (would be nice!), but if it truly is a problem with loading that plugin, then rather than dealing with the 3 extra C runtime files, you could just install the C runtime here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9B2DA534-3E03-4391-8A4D-074B9F2BC1BF&displaylang=en

[Luigi]

Hi.

I downloaded the 1.04 version again and when running mala.exe all directories were created. I downloaded and installed EmuWave and it is shown in the "Event Plugins"-Tab....but Focus Logger isn't    I'll try the C++ package at home.....I have no admin rights here at work   

[TheShanMan]

2 other suggestions - if you're willing please try these before installing the package from microsoft.com. You could try putting the C runtime files in the plugins directory and see if it loads then (for me it would only load if I put them in the exe directory). You could also try running Dependency Walker (http://www.dependencywalker.com/) and load the dll in it (you would probably need the C runtime files in the plugins directory for this to work). It will report any required dll's that fail to load.

Please report back and let me know what works. I'd like to add the info to the plugin download so other people don't run into the same problem.

It would also be interesting to know which version of windows you're running.

Thanks Luigi, and sorry for the trouble.