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Author Topic: "loss of focus" problem. *Testers Wanted* for possible permanent fix  (Read 84347 times)

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loadman

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Re: mala - "loss of focus" problem
« Reply #120 on: September 20, 2010, 06:42:24 am »
I had no luck with my clutter problem after disabling ctfmon.  My clutter is not at mala startup, but when certain games/emu's are closed by 'esc' (AAE /ActionMax and many pc games, and a few emu's i can nolonger remember).

Loadman i will still send a harddrive to you but i'm a bit disabled after a carcrash. I can't sit at the monitor/keyboard more than 30 minutes a few times aday right now. (And  i'm not sending a 2 TB hd with the full setup , i found a 250 Gb that can do if i edit thnigs out snd leave the important.
I need to finish that hd ASAP and mail it. Expect it to arrive in 3 weeks (as i expect it takes 2 weeks to Austarial (i have a lot of family there)!

Henrik


NO RUSH  :o

Thanks  ;D

FlatEarth

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Re: mala - "loss of focus" problem
« Reply #121 on: December 02, 2010, 05:39:06 pm »
Can people please let me know if they have success by removing/disabling ctfmon.

I have loss of focus every time at startup (running v1.70, I think, on XP SP3 Home).  I disabled ctfmon, no effect.  Still lose focus on every startup.  Only using MAME, and have no problem (so far) upon game exit, it is only on initial startup.
I don't have DivX installed, using Xvid.  I have not tried the malafocuslogger plug-in yet, and I may try the autohotkey trick to see if that works.

loadman

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Re: mala - "loss of focus" problem
« Reply #122 on: December 02, 2010, 08:03:06 pm »
Bugger

I sympathize but I have never had this issue  ???

Can someone please send me a 'VM' (preferable VMWare image) of a system where this is happening so I can fix it?

Thanks
« Last Edit: December 11, 2010, 01:50:40 am by loadman »

Henrik68000

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Re: mala - "loss of focus" problem
« Reply #123 on: December 10, 2010, 03:55:38 pm »
Hi, Im go nna send you mine. I just had hospital stay and then bed stay due to a car crash so i never got to send you a hd image but i will soon. Henrik

loadman

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Re: mala - "loss of focus" problem
« Reply #124 on: December 10, 2010, 08:13:19 pm »
Hi, Im go nna send you mine. I just had hospital stay and then bed stay due to a car crash so i never got to send you a hd image but i will soon. Henrik

Mate, No worries, but there must be someone else who can send me a VM as well?  Please

loadman

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Re: mala - "loss of focus" problem
« Reply #125 on: December 11, 2010, 08:49:20 pm »
Hi

Just to be clear.  ;)

I have never had this issue on any of my machines, so I can't solve a bug I can't see.

What I am asking, if anyone with an unsolved 'Focus Problem' of their system to send me a VM Image of the setup

You can use VMWorkstation (if you have it) or the free conversion tool (link below)

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vcenter_converter_standalone/4_0

The fun part is how do you get the image to me...   ;D ;D We can discuss options once you have a image for me.

Thanks in advance....  :)
« Last Edit: December 11, 2010, 08:53:17 pm by loadman »

mike boss

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Re: mala - "loss of focus" problem
« Reply #126 on: January 01, 2011, 01:09:39 am »
Just wanna thank TheShanMan,
I used this plug in and it solved the problem for me.
Every time I would hit ESCAPE and exit to the MaLa menu I would need to click the mouse in order to play a game.
I installed the plug in and it instantly solved the problem.
I'm not very computer savvy, so this was a life saver.
Awesome tool. Thanks

markronz

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Hey everyone.   I have tried all the tips in this thread and on one of my machines the Reg Fix did fix my issue.   On my other machine, the loss of focus problem persisted.   It was maybe like 1 out of every 100 times I exited a game the problem would occur.  But it was a bit unsettling when it occurred.  I of course knew how to fix it (left clicking to get mala back in focus), but my guests were always confused.    

anyway, like someone else once posted, I was able to correct this problem with an AHK script.  It's pretty simple:

Code: [Select]
#NoTrayIcon

~h::
Process, Exist, MaLa.exe
If (ErrorLevel != 0) ; If it is running
   {
    Sleep, 750
    Send {Click}
   }
return


H is my exit key, but you could substitute Escape or whatever you want in the above to suit your needs.   There's no way to exit the above script either, aside from killing it in Task Manager, but I am fine with that.   I just meant to keep it simple.    Anyway, just wanted to post this here in case it helps anyone.   I have been using the above script for a few days now and have not noticed any adverse affects!
« Last Edit: January 20, 2011, 01:28:15 pm by markronz »

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the plugin worked for me, but only after I turned off my anti-virus software (avast!)

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OK, I finally got my issue sorted out (I hope).
I have a minimal install, running XP SP3, xvid, and have an ArcadeVGA.  I am running MAME only.

I was having to alt-tab to get Mala focus on every startup.  I loaded the malafocuslogger plugin, and it did not solve the problem by itself but did show that ccc.exe was part of the focus log.  Hmmm, a clue!  I looked into it, and the Catalyst Control Center does not seem to be critical to the operation of the computer so I went into msconfig and disabled CLIStart.exe from the startup procedure.  It appears to have solved my problem!!

I have only tested this a few times today, but my focus problem has not repeated itself yet.  Looks like a solution, for me at least!   :cheers:

jasonbar

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Howdy-

Loadman asked me to share my solution for my loss of focus problem, which still persists today when I don't use the following AutoHotKey script.

I actually have 2 AHK scripts that run (copied & pasted below--BYOAC won't let me attach a .ahk file).

AutoHotKey.ahk launches when my PC boots.  The first thing it does is launch the shutdownmonitor.ahk script.


AutoHotKey.ahk launches CPWizard & then plays a random sound from a directory
It then launches MaLa, waits to be sure that MaLa is launched, pauses 10 seconds, then clicks the left mouse button, then waits for MaLa to close.
When MaLa closes, it plays another random sound.
if I'm holding down a secret key on my control panel, it will exit to Windows.  If the secret key is not held down (i.e., MaLa crashed or somebody stumbled across the exit menu if I forgot to disable it), MaLa will relaunch immediately.



The other script, shutdownmonitor.ahk, waits for the PC power button to be pressed, then plays a random sound, then executes the shutdown.


I hope these are of help to others with the loss of focus problem or who might have other issues or might want to spice up their cabinet with some random sounds.


Thanks,
-Jason


AutoHotkey.ahk:






; Launch MaLa & CPW, ensure MaLa focus, play random start & end sounds w/out clipping

; run shutdown monitor script
run, C:\Documents and Settings\Customer\My Documents\shutdownmonitor.ahk

; launch CPWizard minimized
run, C:\program files\cpwizard\cpwizard.exe -minimized


; generate random #...set high value to # of files in start sound directory, name all files #.wav
random, startsound, 1, 20

; play random start sound
soundplay, c:\emulators\mala\Sound-MaLa_Start\%startsound%.wav, wait


;Loop to launch MaLa & monitor if MaLa closes
monitormala:



; launch MaLa
run, C:\emulators\mala\mala.exe

; make sure MaLa exists before continuing
;winwait, MaLa

; as soon as MaLa loses focus, get it back
;sleep, 1000 ; had to have a short pause here or regaining focus wouldn't work...
;winwaitnotactive, MaLa
;winactivate, MaLa

sleep, 10000
click

; wait for MaLa to close (intentionally or not)
winwaitclose, MaLa


;Check for MaLa close while holding down Exit Code Key
getkeystate, state, F10
if state = D
{
  ; generate random #...set 2nd # to # of files in exit sound directory, name all files #.wav
  random, exitsound, 1, 16

  ; play random exit sound
  soundplay, c:\emulators\mala\Sound-MaLa_Exit\%exitsound%.wav, wait

  ; launch Windows Explorer
  run, explorer

  ; exit script
  exit
}


;If MaLa exits w/out Exit Code Key...
else
{
  ; generate random #...set 2nd # to # of files in exit sound directory, name all files #.wav
  random, exitsound, 1, 11

  ; play random exit sound
  soundplay, c:\emulators\mala\Sound-MaLa_Exit\%exitsound%.wav, wait

  goto, monitormala
}





shutdownmonitor.ahk:




#singleinstance ignore

OnMessage(0x11, "powerbutton")
Return

powerbutton(wParam, lParam)
{
    SetTimer, soundoff, -10
    Return false ; abort shutdown
}


soundoff:
    ; generate random #...set 2nd # to # of files in exit sound directory, name all files #.wav
  random, exitsound, 1, 16

  ; play random exit sound
  soundplay, c:\emulators\mala\Sound-MaLa_Exit\%exitsound%.wav, wait

  Shutdown,5
 
Return

loadman

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Thanks, It's never happened to me so I don't know how to fix what I can't see

 :cheers:

I have requested that someone send me a copy of a VM that has the issue so I can attempt to fix, but so far nobody has  :'(
« Last Edit: March 13, 2011, 06:40:37 pm by loadman »

jasonbar

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Loadman-

What's a VM?

Thanks,
-Jason

loadman

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Loadman-

What's a VM?

Thanks,
-Jason

ohh

An image of a computer setup to allow you to run it within another computer (possibly that is running another OS like Mac)

If you are keen you can use this for free:

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vcenter_converter_standalone/4_0

Then send the image files to me and/or alter with this (also free)

http://www.vmware.com/products/player/



« Last Edit: March 14, 2011, 05:24:10 am by loadman »

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This weekend I updated my MAME to 141 and I started having this same issue.

I've got an XP and I'm running Mala 171.

The only non game on this computer is AVG. The cabinet's computer is for gaming only and it's offline. I tried to disable AVG, but I was still losing focus when quitting a game.  I noticed that even though AVG was turned off I could still see it in the taskbar so I uninstalled it completely.

Now everything (except AVG) works.

I'll have to be extra careful about installing and copying files onto this computer but this allows Mala to keep the focus and I've freed up a bit more of the processor from AVG.

jasonbar

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Loadman-

I looked at that first link to get VM to help you out, but it requires me to register & give my name, address, e-mail, & a password.  Have you got a logon already that I could borrow?  I'm not a big fan of giving away that much info to strangers.

Thanks,
-Jason


ohh

An image of a computer setup to allow you to run it within another computer (possibly that is running another OS like Mac)

If you are keen you can use this for free:

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_vcenter_converter_standalone/4_0

Then send the image files to me and/or alter with this (also free)

http://www.vmware.com/products/player/





loadman

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Loadman-
I looked at that first link to get VM to help you out, but it requires me to register & give my name, address, e-mail, & a password.  Have you got a logon already that I could borrow?  I'm not a big fan of giving away that much info to strangers.

Download from here ASAP (for a limited time only)   ;D

Big Downloads but worth it   ;D

http://www.malafe.net/files/download/VMPlayer.zip   97MB

http://www.malafe.net/files/download/VMConverter.zip  117MB
« Last Edit: March 15, 2011, 06:08:45 am by loadman »

jasonbar

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Loadman-

I started downloaded the 1st file.

The 2nd link doesn't work for me--please double-check it.

Thanks,
-Jason

loadman

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 ;D

Try again please

It may have been still uploading when you tried

loadman

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All,

I have had an accidental break through with this issue.   ;D

I still have not experienced a situation where MaLa loses focus by itself :-\

But......

1) I now have decent working code that can detect the Active window (window in focus)
2) I now have decent working code that can get focus for MaLa.

 :applaud:

So I'm thinking all I need to do now is get a list of know sceanrios from users where MaLa focus can be lost and apply the code in those sections.??

I will now backtrack through this email to see if I can find all the Scenarios..

List of know Scenarios where users have reported MaLa lost focus
1) MaLa Start - Normal
2) MaLa Start - With Game Start
3) Game Quit
4) Resume form screen saver
5) Any Others?

« Last Edit: March 21, 2011, 01:08:13 am by loadman »

markronz

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This is awesome!!   I'm going to be setting up a few more machines in the coming months, so this makes me very happy that this is coming close to being resolved!

For myself, I only see the problem occasionally when Mala starts, but 99% of the time, it's after I exit a game.

Thanks for the work on this loadman!

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I used to have problem #1, which I solved w/ my AutoHotKey script that clicks the LMB several seconds after launching MaLa.

Problem #3 appeared after I installed 1.74.  Installing MalaFocusLogger solved that problem.

Thanks for your continuing hard work & support,
-Jason

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I am rocking a bad case of #3 about 1 out of 3 game exits.  I upgraded from 1.73 to 1.74, no improvement.  I did not have this issue on the same pc (windows XP, clean install, SP3, basically nothing on it but mame, mameui, other emulators (not being used at the moment) daemon tools lite, etc.)

What changed:  was using my u360 joy with button harness as the entire CP, now have an Ipac based cp with u360 on usb.  So basically I didn't have the problem (the joystick still always works) until I started using the keyboard encoder. 

installed malafocus logger: 

results of 2 different sessions where games were entered, exited and eventually focus lost:
Code: [Select]
MaLaFocusLogger started.
Program Manager (process: Explorer.EXE)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
Options (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
MAME: Ms. Pac-Man [mspacman] (process: mameui.exe)
No window has focus: setting focus to MaLa.
-- Failed to set focus to MaLa.
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
frmExit (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
MAME: Puzzle Bobble (Japan, B-System) [pbobble] (process: mameui.exe)
No window has focus: setting focus to MaLa.
-- Failed to set focus to MaLa.
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
frmExit (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
MAME: R-Type (US) [rtypeu] (process: mameui.exe)
No window has focus: setting focus to MaLa.
-- Failed to set focus to MaLa.
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLaFocusLogger ended.

;;;[had to click here to refocus]

[Session 2]
MaLaFocusLogger started.
Program Manager (process: Explorer.EXE)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
Options (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
MAME: R-Type II [rtype2] (process: mameui.exe)
No window has focus: setting focus to MaLa.
-- Failed to set focus to MaLa.
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
MAME: Rastan (US, set 1) [rastanu] (process: mameui.exe)
No window has focus: setting focus to MaLa.
-- Failed to set focus to MaLa.
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLaFocusLogger ended.

Any help appreciated - willing to try anything.  THANKS.

loadman

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What changed:  was using my u360 joy with button harness as the entire CP, now have an Ipac based cp with u360 on usb.  So basically I didn't have the problem (the joystick still always works) until I started using the keyboard encoder.  

Good to know a sceranrio,,,,

If I can get hold of a u360 joy I will test

Does the problem go away if you remove the u360 from usb?

Does the problem go away if you disconnect the keyboard controller? What exact type is it anyway
« Last Edit: April 27, 2011, 10:20:35 pm by loadman »

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Keyboard controller is an Ipac 2.  I unplugged the u360 from usb and played 10-12 games flawlessly with no LOF.  Then I plugged it back in and played 5 more, no LOF.  I will try both ways over the next day or so and report back.  I will see if I can narrow down the variables and will save the Log if LOF occurs.  Thanks!

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I'm having the same focus problems with Mala, unforuntately making it almost unusable for me considering I have no keyboard or mouse in the cab.

I use the focus logger and it reports that it's attempting to set focus to mala then fails.  So it's of no use either.  Mala is loaded as a shell instead of explorer so I really don't understand what is causing it to lose focus.  It always occurs when loading a MAME rom that doesn't work, i.e. one that needs a CHD that you don't have.

Very frustrating because I really like the FE, and I really don't have any other alternatives since they're all too slow/abandonware (Maximus) or don't work with hacked ATI drivers (Hyperspin).

Help!!!

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I have the same problem with focus logger.  Every time I exit any game it logs "--Failed to set focus to MaLa." but often it does keep or regain focus.  There is nothing that differentiates a logged focus loss from a true loss, so I haven't been posting logs.  I've got a few hours tomorrow to try different stuff and mess with it, hopefully I can find some cause/effect. 

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Ok, I think I'm fixed:

Went into msconfig and -
-Disabled cftmon
-Disabled two or three processes associated with the Nvidia card.  it is a new card but older generation chip (circa 2007) and I had all the latest drivers, etc.  One was I think the Nvidia version of ATI Catalyst control panel.

from the desktop -
-turned off auto hide task bar.

everything runs fine and I get a sound more quickly after game exit to mala.  I went back in and enabled auto hide task bar with no issue.  Haven't tried turning on the nvidia stuff individually to see which one it is.  Will report back if I see another LOF  Hopefully this is my last post in this thread.


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I have loss of focus when trying to resume from the screensaver. I am using the videos screensaver. Mala version 1.74. MAME version 0.142u3. Windows XP

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Had the same issue on boot, drove me insane  :angry:

Thanks to this thread and MaLa Focus Logger 1.0 by TheShanMan, resolved  ;D

MaLaFocusLogger started.
frmSplash (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
(error) (process: floater.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
Options (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
frmExit (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLaFocusLogger ended.

googled floater.exe and then uninstalled HP Display Assistant Utility.

Excellent...thanks all - special thanks to TheShanMan.. :applaud:
« Last Edit: June 04, 2011, 03:55:53 am by Xatinni »

loadman

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Had the same issue on boot, drove me insane  :angry:

Thanks to this thread and MaLa Focus Logger 1.0 by TheShanMan, resolved  ;D

MaLaFocusLogger started.
frmSplash (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
(error) (process: floater.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
Options (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLa (process: MaLa.exe)
frmBlend (process: MaLa.exe)
frmExit (process: MaLa.exe)
MaLaFocusLogger ended.

googled floater.exe and then uninstalled HP Display Assistant Utility.

Excellent...thanks all - special thanks to TheShanMan.. :applaud:


Yes ut is a good util.

 In theory I could add this reporting into MaLa itself but why fix something that isn't broke ?  (reporting focus theft that is)

The problem is I can't find a reliable way to force focus back to mala that works on Windows 2000 trough to Windows 7    :(

We prey one day it won't be required.

TheShanMan

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Always glad to hear when it helps someone!

Do other front ends suffer from this problem? If not, have you talked to other FE developers to find out what they might be doing differently, loadman?
My Collection: Mame cab, 38 dedicated vids, pin, skeeball, coin op air hockey table, Ice Cold Beer, Megatouch, 2 token machines, and payphone (VAPS, pics at Arcade Crusade)

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loadman

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Always glad to hear when it helps someone!

Do other front ends suffer from this problem? If not, have you talked to other FE developers to find out what they might be doing differently, loadman?

None use Delphi  ???

I can find Delphi code to detect Focus loss/change but none that forces focus back from Vista versions upwards . The call just make mala flash in the taskbar (if enabled)

Have a look at this posting please  ;) In particular:
Quote
If the application is currently in the foreground, this API still behaves as it always did.  Then one could bring any window to the front--both those belonging to one's own application and those of other applications.  However, if one's app doesn't hold the foreground [which is our case] newer versions of Windows simply call FlashWindow() to achieve the flashing effect.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=76882.msg1192088#msg1192088

Any Ideas  :'(
« Last Edit: June 11, 2011, 01:57:53 am by loadman »

loadman

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Later...

I made a test tool  ;D    Seems to work.

But I need people to test on there system using the following tool and publish results. before I put the code fix this foxus issue into MaLa.

Thanks in advance  :cheers:

What to do to help with this test

1) Download the tool.
2) Run the tool and click on the bottom, then within 4 sec click on another window.
It can be any window on you desktop. EG Notepad, Word, whatever, just click on another window so the tool loses focus.
3) Post Results.
3A) What OS are you using?
3B) Did it work. If it worked you should be able to just hit 'return' without clicking on the screen to start enable the button and start the countdown again.
3C) If it did what method reported by the tool was the successful method.

www.malafe.net/files/download/FocusTester.zip

The quicker I get test results, the quicker I can add to MaLa.  Thanks  ;D

Ha Ha I ust noticed I spelt Delphi .. Deplhi ... :dizzy:

« Last Edit: June 11, 2011, 09:15:58 pm by loadman »

TheShanMan

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Windows XP 64 bit (this is not my cabinet btw).

First attempt was clicking on WinZip, and it succeeded using method #2. Every other attempt (6 or 7) succeeded using method #1.

Hope this ultimately gets solved once and for all! Glad you got some inspiration!
My Collection: Mame cab, 38 dedicated vids, pin, skeeball, coin op air hockey table, Ice Cold Beer, Megatouch, 2 token machines, and payphone (VAPS, pics at Arcade Crusade)

Add Ambience to your mame cab setup

loadman

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Thanks for testing.

I updated the tester a little bit just now..  Just better messages

I NEED TESTERS PLEASE
« Last Edit: June 12, 2011, 11:22:05 pm by loadman »

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Re: "loss of focus" problem. *Testers Wanted* for possible permanent fix
« Reply #157 on: June 13, 2011, 12:55:33 am »
Worked 8 times out 8 with method #1!

Windows XP Professional, 32-bit.

 :applaud:

-Jason

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Re: "loss of focus" problem. *Testers Wanted* for possible permanent fix
« Reply #158 on: June 13, 2011, 02:17:12 am »
Worked 6 out of 6 times using method number 1.   Windows 7 64 bit.  ;D

loadman

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Re: "loss of focus" problem. *Testers Wanted* for possible permanent fix
« Reply #159 on: June 13, 2011, 03:37:37 am »
Cool, Are any of you finding that if the window is on top (or at least overlapping) the tester will often fail using Method#1? Not that the method is critical I am just trying to work out the pattern as to when certain pattern fail......  ;D
« Last Edit: June 13, 2011, 03:41:21 am by loadman »