does anyone have a list of mame-outputs (led/lamps/solenoid etc) per game

[dna disturber]

Hello ,

does anyone have a list of all the mameoutputs supported by mame
or even better does someone have the mameoutputs.ini filled from ledblinky 
I would only have to adjust the assignment of the leds/lamps and that sounds much better than to figure out myself what kind of output a lot of games had.

I only found a list of roms that have outputs (mameinterop doc) but not what the actual outputs are.

So anyone ?
 
TIA,
Dna Disturber

[arzoo]

Dna,
I don't think any such list exists - or if it does, it's never been posted. I wonder if the mame source code could be parsed to determine all the outputs?

[dna disturber]

He Arzoo,

I was afraid that would be the case (non-existent) , normally you get a quick response but alas.

This morning I was looking at the sourcecode and found a couple.
Unfortunately there's not always a comment on what the output actually does.
So you have to figure it out yourself.
But I have 2 of them in the mameoutputs.ini and will look for more:
Ajax
Lunar Lander

Ajax has a very interesting feature among the outputs:
the superweapon button only lights up when available (now this is the kind of output I really like)     
And with lunarlander the buttons light up  for the selected game, so when you have 4 buttons in a row and you press the select button the lit button will move one up. Maybe in combination with the bezel it would be a great feature (the bezel also lights up the selected game and with some buttons right under your screen it would look pretty cool)

I try to describe the output in the mameoutputs.ini as good as I can, maybe when I have enough I can post them so that others can enjoy it.
Although they may need to adjust the settings somewhat.

If you are able to pull out a list of all outputs please let me know. The way I did it now is that I looked at the list that was in mameinterop doc and then looked at the source for these games but that's a little time-consuming.

Dna Disturber 

[arzoo]

I looked over the mame source and came to the same conclusion. In fact, I couldn't even find many of the outputs. For example, I know that Spy Hunter had buttons that lit up when the weapon was active (or something like that) - but I found no reference to Spy Hunter in the mame drivers. And what about all the games that flash the credit buttons (LED0, LED1, etc) - again I could not find that in the source.

[dna disturber]

He arzoo,

Thanks for the tip on spyhunter, with the mameoutputtest I found the lamps and after some gametime I found the right lamps for the right buttons.
They light up only when the weapons are available (pretty cool  ).

But now I ran into a little trouble with the pause-button.
First I start the game (spyhunter) and all the leds are off.
Then when the game starts I only have the button lit for the machinegun (1 of the 5 buttons)
When I hit the pause button, the buttons are all lit because of the function speak and blink controls on game pause.
When I return to the game all the buttons are lit including the one's that shouldn't

Is it possible to have ledblinky make a before image that looks how the leds are lit on entering pause and when you leave pause it sets them back ?

By the way if you know more of these kind of games.......bring 'm on.

TIA,

Dna Disturber 

[arzoo]

But now I ran into a little trouble with the pause-button.
First I start the game (spyhunter) and all the leds are off.
Then when the game starts I only have the button lit for the machinegun (1 of the 5 buttons)
When I hit the pause button, the buttons are all lit because of the function speak and blink controls on game pause.
When I return to the game all the buttons are lit including the one's that shouldn't

Is it possible to have ledblinky make a before image that looks how the leds are lit on entering pause and when you leave pause it sets them back ?

Let me look into that. If it's not a big effort, I'll fix it for the next release.

[dna disturber]

Arzoo,

Is there also a way to map more leds to 1 mameoutput in mameoutputs.ini

I got chasehq to work and when the siren goes when in pursuit of the criminal one light flashes red and the other blue.
But I can only get one button to flash red and one blue what I really want is a row of say 3 red and on the other side 3 blue going of.

Is it possible to implement that in ledblinky? 

[arzoo]

Arzoo,

Is there also a way to map more leds to 1 mameoutput in mameoutputs.ini

I got chasehq to work and when the siren goes when in pursuit of the criminal one light flashes red and the other blue.
But I can only get one button to flash red and one blue what I really want is a row of say 3 red and on the other side 3 blue going of.

Is it possible to implement that in ledblinky? 

That's not going to be possible. The way the code works, it's basically one LED or button per output (unless you physically wire multiple LEDs to the same controller port). Sorry.

[facesmiths]

I remember some one was looking for a way to output a solenoid signal for Q*bert for when he falls off the board. if this were an LED output the power for the LED could be amp'd pretty easily even with out electronics skills other than soldering. the power for the LEd I think would be enough for a very small solenoid to push button that powers a larger one. that way you would not have to have knowledge on transistors like the FET. to do this though I think if this is already incorporated or could be done *the LED output for the game* then I would put a tutorial together for the transistorized version should anyone want the info.

*edit*
ok I feel stupid I guess I was  tired when I saw that other post as I was sure it was just a guy asking and no positive responses. but apon looking for it I found there is a whole resouce for doing that project. onlything that confuses me is why I cant find the methode to turn on the led outputs for mameUI32. anyone know if it even supports it? using latest build .126

[retromax]

Arzoo,

Is there also a way to map more leds to 1 mameoutput in mameoutputs.ini

I got chasehq to work and when the siren goes when in pursuit of the criminal one light flashes red and the other blue.
But I can only get one button to flash red and one blue what I really want is a row of say 3 red and on the other side 3 blue going of.

Is it possible to implement that in ledblinky? 

Hi, I've been searching all over and eventually found your post here!!!, i'm wanting to control light outputs for chase hq in mame..... what did you do? what software do I need and how did you interface it?.
I'm sure I can wire something up I just need to communicate with mame first and i'm unsure where to go with this, i've got an original chase hq cabinet running the mame version of the game and I want to get the patrol lights working when they should, currentley i've got led's that constantley flash but after reading your (old) post it seems there is light at the end of the tunnel!!!

[dna disturber]

Hi Retromax.....

I use a ledwiz (hardware) , ledblinky (Arzoo rules) and of course a frontend (I use mala and Hyperspin on my 2 cabs)
When you've wired the led's right then you have to put some commands in mameoutputs.ini
I'm at work at the moment so I can't show you the exact lines you have to put in mameoutputs.ini

Also you have to have a mameversion that sends these outputs to ledblinky.

I'll post the commands later and also what you should change in those lines.

It really works great on my cabs and It looks really good....as soon as you begin the part where you have to crash into the car the LED's flash red and blue (or whatever color you want).

 

Dna Disturber

[retromax]

Hi Retromax.....

I use a ledwiz (hardware) , ledblinky (Arzoo rules) and of course a frontend (I use mala and Hyperspin on my 2 cabs)
When you've wired the led's right then you have to put some commands in mameoutputs.ini
I'm at work at the moment so I can't show you the exact lines you have to put in mameoutputs.ini

Also you have to have a mameversion that sends these outputs to ledblinky.

I'll post the commands later and also what you should change in those lines.

It really works great on my cabs and It looks really good....as soon as you begin the part where you have to crash into the car the LED's flash red and blue (or whatever color you want).

 

Dna Disturber

I'm nearley there using mamehooker and an lpt port but just having a few issues with the lights flashing together an not alterating.
here's a short video of what's happening

[retromax]

Now i've got them working right... here's a short video of them in action!

[dna disturber]

Looking great 

[Endaar]

Arzoo,

Is there also a way to map more leds to 1 mameoutput in mameoutputs.ini

I got chasehq to work and when the siren goes when in pursuit of the criminal one light flashes red and the other blue.
But I can only get one button to flash red and one blue what I really want is a row of say 3 red and on the other side 3 blue going of.

Is it possible to implement that in ledblinky? 

That's not going to be possible. The way the code works, it's basically one LED or button per output (unless you physically wire multiple LEDs to the same controller port). Sorry.

I sort of got around this. LEDBlinky supports RGB LEDs and thus allows you to set three LEDWiz outputs per MAME output. I just used this syntax to set three LEDs to a single color. You couldn't do multiple RGB LEDs, but if you want three solid color LEDs, it works fine.

[arzoo]

Arzoo,

Is there also a way to map more leds to 1 mameoutput in mameoutputs.ini

I got chasehq to work and when the siren goes when in pursuit of the criminal one light flashes red and the other blue.
But I can only get one button to flash red and one blue what I really want is a row of say 3 red and on the other side 3 blue going of.

Is it possible to implement that in ledblinky? 

That's not going to be possible. The way the code works, it's basically one LED or button per output (unless you physically wire multiple LEDs to the same controller port). Sorry.

I sort of got around this. LEDBlinky supports RGB LEDs and thus allows you to set three LEDWiz outputs per MAME output. I just used this syntax to set three LEDs to a single color. You couldn't do multiple RGB LEDs, but if you want three solid color LEDs, it works fine.

Nice little hack! 

[Howard_Casto]

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I would chime in.  I got ahold of retromax (eventually) btw and he's all setup now! 

Because the mame source code is a mess when it comes to outputs and they are next to impossible to find I designed mamehooker specifically to tackle this problem.  When you run a game that has outputs while mamehooker is running, an ini file is automatically generated in the "ini" folder of mamehooker.  If someone REALLY wanted to determine which games have outputs, the easiest way to do it is to leave mamehooker running and write a batch file that runs every game in mame once.  Generally speaking outputs are "found" by mamehooker immediately upon the game's startup, so the games wouldn't have to run long. 

Also expect a new version of mamehooker soon which will support more hardware devices and features.  I just have to sit down and drag the dragon king website out of mothballs first

[retromax]

Yep that's one other thing I found good about Mamehooker was the fact that when it was running and you ran a game in mame it created a .ini file showing the game's outputs if it had them

[lingpanda]

I suppose this would work while running a Mame screensaver?

[Howard_Casto]

Well I hadn't thought about it, but yeah assuming it doesn't use a modified version of mame and it runs a new enough version of mame to support outputs then yeah... it should work great!

As I said, I'm in the process of bringing the dragon king website back from the dead so if anyone has a complete romset and wants to give it a whirl I'd be glad to post the results on my site.  The ini files even support descriptions and comments, so once we had a complete set we could go back and fill in info on what output is what.

[headkaze]

Mame screensaver runs random games though. It would be easier to write a batch file to go through each game and run it for a few seconds.

[Popcorrin]

HC,  I use mamehooker and I noticed a little bug.  I noticed sometimes after a reboot the default ini file for mamehooker shows the outputs at the top and the general settings at the bottom and it doesn't seemed to get parsed correctly after that.

Glad to hear that you might be releasing a new version.

[Howard_Casto]

Mame screensaver runs random games though. It would be easier to write a batch file to go through each game and run it for a few seconds.

Hey hk.   I wasn't sure if that was an option or not.... but it was a good idea in theory. 

[Howard_Casto]

HC,  I use mamehooker and I noticed a little bug.  I noticed sometimes after a reboot the default ini file for mamehooker shows the outputs at the top and the general settings at the bottom and it doesn't seemed to get parsed correctly after that.

Glad to hear that you might be releasing a new version.

I think I know what you mean, but just to be sure please post a before and after example so I can see exactly what it's doing.  I think I ran across this bug myself but seeing as how it's been a couple of years I'm not sure if I fixed it or not.

[headkaze]

Hey hk.  I wasn't sure if that was an option or not.... but it was a good idea in theory.  

Hey Howard   well not sure what you mean as an option.. from memory when Mame starts it sends out a list of mame outputs, if you write those to an ini then all we need to do is have each game run for a few seconds. This could be done with a batch file using a "for loop" with a "dir /b" and a "ping" for waiting and a taskkill for closing (well you would need to run Mame with "start" so it would continue on the next batch command). But to be honest it would just be easier to write a little app to do it. The way I got the original list of outputs was using a little app that scanned the parent drivers for keywords (they were constants from memory for LAMP, LED etc.) then listed all the clones of those parents. Your idea of using Mame Interop is much better though.

[Popcorrin]

HC,  I use mamehooker and I noticed a little bug.  I noticed sometimes after a reboot the default ini file for mamehooker shows the outputs at the top and the general settings at the bottom and it doesn't seemed to get parsed correctly after that.

Glad to hear that you might be releasing a new version.

I think I know what you mean, but just to be sure please post a before and after example so I can see exactly what it's doing.  I think I ran across this bug myself but seeing as how it's been a couple of years I'm not sure if I fixed it or not.

Before:

[General]
MameHookerStart=lds default
MameHookerStop=
MameStart=lds default
MameStop=lds default
overlay=
overlay=
overlay=
Pause=
porch=
pressed0=
pressed1=
pressed2=
pressed3=
pressed4=
pressed5=
pressed6=
pressed7=
pressed8=
pressed9=
refrigerator=
speaker=
speed=
StateChange=
tachometer=
time1=
time10=
toybox=
vfd0=
vfd1=
vfd10=
vfd11=
vfd12=
vfd13=
vfd14=
vfd15=
vfd16=
vfd17=
vfd18=
vfd19=
vfd2=
vfd20=
vfd21=
vfd22=
vfd23=
vfd24=
vfd25=
vfd26=
vfd27=
vfd28=
vfd29=
vfd3=
vfd30=
vfd31=
vfd4=
vfd5=
vfd6=
vfd7=
vfd8=
vfd9=
zap1=
zap10=
zap100=
zip1=
zip10=
zip100=

[Output]
backlight=
bathroom=
blank=
body left high=
body left low=
body right high=
body right low=
bureau=
digit0=
digit1=
digit10=
digit11=
digit12=
digit13=
digit14=
digit15=
digit16=
digit17=
digit18=
digit19=
digit2=
digit20=
digit21=
digit22=
digit23=
digit24=
digit25=
digit26=
digit27=
digit28=
digit29=
digit3=
digit30=
digit31=
digit4=
digit5=
digit6=
digit7=
digit8=
digit9=
dollhouse=
door=
foot 1p down=
foot 1p left=
foot 1p right=
foot 1p up=
foot 2p down=
foot 2p left=
foot 2p right=
foot 2p up=
knocker0=
lamp0=
lamp1=
lamp10=
lamp100=
lamp101=
lamp102=
lamp103=
lamp104=
lamp105=
lamp106=
lamp107=
lamp108=
lamp109=
lamp11=
lamp110=
lamp111=
lamp112=
lamp113=
lamp114=
lamp115=
lamp116=
lamp117=
lamp118=
lamp119=
lamp12=
lamp120=
lamp121=
lamp122=
lamp123=
lamp124=
lamp125=
lamp126=
lamp127=
lamp128=
lamp129=
lamp13=
lamp130=
lamp131=
lamp132=
lamp133=
lamp134=
lamp135=
lamp136=
lamp137=
lamp138=
lamp139=
lamp14=
lamp140=
lamp141=
lamp142=
lamp143=
lamp144=
lamp145=
lamp146=
lamp147=
lamp148=
lamp149=
lamp15=
lamp150=
lamp151=
lamp152=
lamp153=
lamp154=
lamp155=
lamp156=
lamp157=
lamp158=
lamp159=
lamp16=
lamp160=
lamp161=
lamp162=
lamp163=
lamp164=
lamp165=
lamp166=
lamp167=
lamp168=
lamp169=
lamp17=
lamp170=
lamp171=
lamp172=
lamp173=
lamp174=
lamp175=
lamp176=
lamp177=
lamp178=
lamp179=
lamp18=
lamp180=
lamp181=
lamp182=
lamp183=
lamp184=
lamp185=
lamp186=
lamp187=
lamp188=
lamp189=
lamp19=
lamp190=
lamp191=
lamp192=
lamp193=
lamp194=
lamp195=
lamp196=
lamp197=
lamp198=
lamp199=
lamp2=
lamp20=
lamp200=
lamp201=
lamp202=
lamp203=
lamp204=
lamp205=
lamp206=
lamp207=
lamp208=
lamp209=
lamp21=
lamp210=
lamp211=
lamp212=
lamp213=
lamp214=
lamp215=
lamp216=
lamp217=
lamp218=
lamp219=
lamp22=
lamp220=
lamp221=
lamp222=
lamp223=
lamp224=
lamp225=
lamp226=
lamp227=
lamp228=
lamp229=
lamp23=
lamp230=
lamp231=
lamp232=
lamp233=
lamp234=
lamp235=
lamp236=
lamp237=
lamp238=
lamp239=
lamp24=
lamp240=
lamp241=
lamp242=
lamp243=
lamp244=
lamp245=
lamp246=
lamp247=
lamp248=
lamp249=
lamp25=
lamp250=
lamp251=
lamp252=
lamp253=
lamp254=
lamp255=
lamp26=
lamp27=
lamp28=
lamp29=
lamp3=
lamp30=
lamp31=
lamp32=
lamp33=
lamp34=
lamp35=
lamp36=
lamp37=
lamp38=
lamp39=
lamp4=
lamp40=
lamp41=
lamp42=
lamp43=
lamp44=
lamp45=
lamp46=
lamp47=
lamp48=
lamp49=
lamp5=
lamp50=
lamp51=
lamp52=
lamp53=
lamp54=
lamp55=
lamp56=
lamp57=
lamp58=
lamp59=
lamp6=
lamp60=
lamp61=
lamp62=
lamp63=
lamp64=
lamp65=
lamp66=
lamp67=
lamp68=
lamp69=
lamp7=
lamp70=
lamp71=
lamp72=
lamp73=
lamp74=
lamp75=
lamp76=
lamp77=
lamp78=
lamp79=
lamp8=
lamp80=
lamp81=
lamp82=
lamp83=
lamp84=
lamp85=
lamp86=
lamp87=
lamp88=
lamp89=
lamp9=
lamp90=
lamp91=
lamp92=
lamp93=
lamp94=
lamp95=
lamp96=
lamp97=
lamp98=
lamp99=
lampd=
lampe=
lampi=
lampk=
lampr=
lamps=
lampv=
lampy=
led0=
led1=
led2=
led3=
led4=
led5=
led6=
led7=
ledleft0=
ledleft1=
ledleft2=
ledleft3=
ledleft4=
ledright0=
ledright1=
ledright2=
ledright3=
ledright4=

[Popcorrin]

After:

[Output]
=
backlight=
bathroom=
blank=
body left high=
body left low=
body right high=
body right low=
bureau=
digit0=
digit1=
digit10=
digit11=
digit12=
digit13=
digit14=
digit15=
digit16=
digit17=
digit18=
digit19=
digit2=
digit20=
digit21=
digit22=
digit23=
digit24=
digit25=
digit26=
digit27=
digit28=
digit29=
digit3=
digit30=
digit31=
digit4=
digit5=
digit6=
digit7=
digit8=
digit9=
dollhouse=
door=
foot 1p down=
foot 1p left=
foot 1p right=
foot 1p up=
foot 2p down=
foot 2p left=
foot 2p right=
foot 2p up=
knocker0=
lamp0=
lamp1=
lamp10=
lamp100=
lamp101=
lamp102=
lamp103=
lamp104=
lamp105=
lamp106=
lamp107=
lamp108=
lamp109=
lamp11=
lamp110=
lamp111=
lamp112=
lamp113=
lamp114=
lamp115=
lamp116=
lamp117=
lamp118=
lamp119=
lamp12=
lamp120=
lamp121=
lamp122=
lamp123=
lamp124=
lamp125=
lamp126=
lamp127=
lamp128=
lamp129=
lamp13=
lamp130=
lamp131=
lamp132=
lamp133=
lamp134=
lamp135=
lamp136=
lamp137=
lamp138=
lamp139=
lamp14=
lamp140=
lamp141=
lamp142=
lamp143=
lamp144=
lamp145=
lamp146=
lamp147=
lamp148=
lamp149=
lamp15=
lamp150=
lamp151=
lamp152=
lamp153=
lamp154=
lamp155=
lamp156=
lamp157=
lamp158=
lamp159=
lamp16=
lamp160=
lamp161=
lamp162=
lamp163=
lamp164=
lamp165=
lamp166=
lamp167=
lamp168=
lamp169=
lamp17=
lamp170=
lamp171=
lamp172=
lamp173=
lamp174=
lamp175=
lamp176=
lamp177=
lamp178=
lamp179=
lamp18=
lamp180=
lamp181=
lamp182=
lamp183=
lamp184=
lamp185=
lamp186=
lamp187=
lamp188=
lamp189=
lamp19=
lamp190=
lamp191=
lamp192=
lamp193=
lamp194=
lamp195=
lamp196=
lamp197=
lamp198=
lamp199=
lamp2=
lamp20=
lamp200=
lamp201=
lamp202=
lamp203=
lamp204=
lamp205=
lamp206=
lamp207=
lamp208=
lamp209=
lamp21=
lamp210=
lamp211=
lamp212=
lamp213=
lamp214=
lamp215=
lamp216=
lamp217=
lamp218=
lamp219=
lamp22=
lamp220=
lamp221=
lamp222=
lamp223=
lamp224=
lamp225=
lamp226=
lamp227=
lamp228=
lamp229=
lamp23=
lamp230=
lamp231=
lamp232=
lamp233=
lamp234=
lamp235=
lamp236=
lamp237=
lamp238=
lamp239=
lamp24=
lamp240=
lamp241=
lamp242=
lamp243=
lamp244=
lamp245=
lamp246=
lamp247=
lamp248=
lamp249=
lamp25=
lamp250=
lamp251=
lamp252=
lamp253=
lamp254=
lamp255=
lamp26=
lamp27=
lamp28=
lamp29=
lamp3=
lamp30=
lamp31=
lamp32=
lamp33=
lamp34=
lamp35=
lamp36=
lamp37=
lamp38=
lamp39=
lamp4=
lamp40=
lamp41=
lamp42=
lamp43=
lamp44=
lamp45=
lamp46=
lamp47=
lamp48=
lamp49=
lamp5=
lamp50=
lamp51=
lamp52=
lamp53=
lamp54=
lamp55=
lamp56=
lamp57=
lamp58=
lamp59=
lamp6=
lamp60=
lamp61=
lamp62=
lamp63=
lamp64=
lamp65=
lamp66=
lamp67=
lamp68=
lamp69=
lamp7=
lamp70=
lamp71=
lamp72=
lamp73=
lamp74=
lamp75=
lamp76=
lamp77=
lamp78=
lamp79=
lamp8=
lamp80=
lamp81=
lamp82=
lamp83=
lamp84=
lamp85=
lamp86=
lamp87=
lamp88=
lamp89=
lamp9=
lamp90=
lamp91=
lamp92=
lamp93=
lamp94=
lamp95=
lamp96=
lamp97=
lamp98=
lamp99=
lampd=
lampe=
lampi=
lampk=
lampr=
lamps=
lampv=
lampy=
led0=
led1=
led2=
led3=
led4=
led5=
led6=
led7=
ledleft0=
ledleft1=
ledleft2=
ledleft3=
ledleft4=
ledright0=
ledright1=
ledright2=
ledright3=
ledright4=
MameHookerStart=lds default
MameHookerStop=
MameStart=lds default
MameStop=lds default
overlay=
overlay=
overlay=
Pause=
porch=
pressed0=
pressed1=
pressed2=
pressed3=
pressed4=
pressed5=
pressed6=
pressed7=
pressed8=
pressed9=
refrigerator=
speaker=
speed=
StateChange=
tachometer=
time1=
time10=
toybox=
vfd0=
vfd1=
vfd10=
vfd11=
vfd12=
vfd13=
vfd14=
vfd15=
vfd16=
vfd17=
vfd18=
vfd19=
vfd2=
vfd20=
vfd21=
vfd22=
vfd23=
vfd24=
vfd25=
vfd26=
vfd27=
vfd28=
vfd29=
vfd3=
vfd30=
vfd31=
vfd4=
vfd5=
vfd6=
vfd7=
vfd8=
vfd9=
zap1=
zap10=
zap100=
zip1=
zip10=
zip100=
[General]

[Howard_Casto]

Boy that's in interesting issue.  Looks like the auto-sort routine I put in to keep things tidy is choking on something. 

Man that's a lot of lamps btw..... must be a casino game or something in there. You've got so many outputs in there that it'll be hard to track down the issue.  I'll have to do a comparative search, so this bug might not get fixed on this first release.  It shouldn't be hard to fix once I do find the issue though as it's probably a keyword interfering with my sort routine.

[Howard_Casto]

Hey hk.  I wasn't sure if that was an option or not.... but it was a good idea in theory.  

Hey Howard   well not sure what you mean as an option.. from memory when Mame starts it sends out a list of mame outputs, if you write those to an ini then all we need to do is have each game run for a few seconds. This could be done with a batch file using a "for loop" with a "dir /b" and a "ping" for waiting and a taskkill for closing (well you would need to run Mame with "start" so it would continue on the next batch command). But to be honest it would just be easier to write a little app to do it. The way I got the original list of outputs was using a little app that scanned the parent drivers for keywords (they were constants from memory for LAMP, LED etc.) then listed all the clones of those parents. Your idea of using Mame Interop is much better though.

By that I meant I didn't know if there was an option to run the mame screen saver sequentially.  Yeah I don't think it'd be tough at all to do, especially now that mame has nifty "run for x amount of frames" options.  I won't have time to do it for a while though because the main reason I'm resurrecting my site is that I have 12 years worth of emulation software that I need to post and be done with forever.  Only a few select apps like mamehooker will survive, but the key is to actually take the time to do it.  I've got some real gems (and pieces of crap) buried on my hdd.

Regardless though, I'll see what I can do sometime this week.  Then maybe we can get a team together and comment/make sense of all the outputs.  It shouldn't take long actually as 80% of the games with outputs simply control lights and there are pieces of artwork to look at that'll tell you whats-what.

[Popcorrin]

Boy that's in interesting issue.  Looks like the auto-sort routine I put in to keep things tidy is choking on something. 

Man that's a lot of lamps btw..... must be a casino game or something in there. You've got so many outputs in there that it'll be hard to track down the issue.  I'll have to do a comparative search, so this bug might not get fixed on this first release.  It shouldn't be hard to fix once I do find the issue though as it's probably a keyword interfering with my sort routine.

It happens when there are just a few outputs.  For example.

[Output]
digit0=
digit1=
digit2=
digit3=
digit4=
lamp0=
lamp1=
lamp2=
lamp3=
lamp4=
led0=
led1=
led2=
led3=
MameHookerStart=lds default
MameHookerStop=
MameStart=lds default
MameStop=lds default
overlay=
overlay=
overlay=
overlay=
overlay=
Pause=
speaker=
StateChange=
[General]

[Howard_Casto]

Found the issue.... that'll be fixed easily.... thanks for the info on it.


*Edit*  Fixed.  It wasn't a bug at all but rather an oversight.  I made the autosort function before I added the "General" section into the ini file.  OOPS!

[headkaze]

*Edit*  Fixed.  It wasn't a bug at all but rather an oversight.  I made the autosort function before I added the "General" section into the ini file.  OOPS!

Not a bug but an oversight? LOL.. just say it was a feature not a bug

[Howard_Casto]

*Edit*  Fixed.  It wasn't a bug at all but rather an oversight.  I made the autosort function before I added the "General" section into the ini file.  OOPS!

Not a bug but an oversight? LOL.. just say it was a feature not a bug

Heh, my apps don't have features.... I wouldn't want to be accused of being user friendly!

[Howard_Casto]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I looked on my hdd and I already had an app that launches every mame game.  It was trivial to add in the command line options that allowed each game to run for a single second and what not, so I went ahead and let it run for a couple of hours.  I got to the "m"s and I was amazed at how many games use outputs so far.  The current count is 860 games, including clones! 

I would guestimate at this point that around 1600 games use outputs.  Of course sometimes the results are misleading.... like neogeo games..... all 300+ of them register as having outputs because the lcd coin counter is hooked up.  We'll have a lot of muck sorting to do once the list is complete. 


Anyway, I stopped the app just a minute or two ago because this pc is in my bedroom and I didn't want that thing running all night.  I'll start it up again tomorrow and we'll have a fairly complete list by tomorrow night!

[Howard_Casto]

Started again about 30 min ago.... we are up to the "p"s now with 1060 entries!

It's gonna be a real mess actually doing anything with this info though.  Perhaps compile it into a database?  Suggestions?

[Howard_Casto]

Ok, the app finished it's run and including clones there are unofficially 1495 games that use outputs!  I say unofficially because this machine doesn't have any chds on it and thus those games wouldn't run.  I'll add those to the list shortly.  For now here is the unofficial list:

[headkaze]

Can you list how many outputs and what they are (ie. led, lamp or digit)?

[Howard_Casto]

Yes, no, maybe?  That's why I asked for help on what to do with the data.  The ini files are created, so it's a simple matter of reading them, BUT...  some games have a LOT of outputs.  One of the casino games has around 100.  I'm kinda confused on what to do with it.  I think it needs in a database definately, but how would I setup the fields?  Just dumping the outputs all into a single field would make the database fairly useless for sorting but then again, I have no way of knowing how many fields we need and if it's in the 100s then it might turn out to be a big mess.  

I have all the files and I can pack them up.  (Was waiting until I get the chds and do those games as well.)  Ultimately though, we might need to go in an look at many of them manually.  Operation thunderbolt comes to mind.... it's the only game with the gun solenoid hooked up, but it is labeled as "led0" and "led1" because the implementation is SO old that it dates back to the keyboard led days.  Some driver submissions to mame might ultimately come out of this.

*edit*
I could do a delimited text file.  Would that work?  I'm pretty sure access and excel support auto-loading comma delimeted text files.

[headkaze]

Really we just need a few fields ie. rom name, led, lamp and digit

Something like?

Code: [Select]

name led lamp digit
digdug 2 0 0
Just use tab as the delimiter and you can import it directly into Excel if you want to do totals etc.

[Howard_Casto]

I don't think we can compartment-alize these outputs so easily.  Lamp, led, knocker and digit are the most popular, but there are some oddball ones in there... like refrigerator?  I can probably write something that'll count the leds, lamps, ect, BUT... even they aren't standardized.... some start with "led0" and some start with "led1".