MAME V0.130 - Stuttering sound - Advice please!

[slapaham]

Just installed my compiled Mame v0.130 on my new computer (I had 0.84 previously installed on it and thought it was about time I got up-to-date!)

The computer is 2.39GHZ with only a poor 256 RAM. Now, the games seem to run well on the whole (havent tried anything silly mind you... I really can't see it running Tekken, can you?)... however, when trying some of my old favs from 0.84 (that previously worked fine) they didn't run quite as smoothly...

Examples -

Mortal Kombat 2 - plays just as well but stutter-y sound

Grand Striker 2 (love this game - probably the only one !;D) - this has got a bit slow and stuttery in sound and gameplay

Now, I understand MAME is now more system hungry than it used to be but my question is - from the examples given - if I was to upgrade my RAM to 1gig (that is the max you can go on this PC!) - would that solve the problem? Would it be enough to return the cab to smooth operating on most games? (obviously not including the 3D games!!)

Please help... really need advice on this, its concerning me and don't want to fork out for the extra RAM if it isn't going to solve the problem!

[Turnarcades]

if I was to upgrade my RAM to 1gig (that is the max you can go on this PC!) - would that solve the problem? Would it be enough to return the cab to smooth operating on most games?

Doubtful. It's mostly due to the post-0.106 graphics and sound core. There are still a few classics that inexplicably went tits-up with the big re-write too, look at my other recent posts for my comments on the performance in MAME/PC spec argument.

It's things like that that have kept me sticking with 0.105. Nothing worth bothering with was really added after 0.100 and I don't see the point of having to effectively double your PC spec (and hence cost) after this point for a few games. I'm especially bored with the lack of consistency with performance in Midway games that use those boards, so instead stick with the console versions.

[severdhed]

i dont know if that will fix your problem entirely, but upgrading the ram will definitely help with your mame performance.  what version of windows are you running?  256mb of ram just isnt enough to properly run anything above win98.  max that thing out..ram is cheap.  i noticed a difference in performance in MK2 going from 512mb to 1gb in my old motherboard.  (athlon xp 2500+).   i have since upgraded again to a different board and  3ghz p4, with 2gb of ram, and once again, i noticed performance increases, especially with mk3 and umk3. 

definitely go for the ram upgrade...i dont know what type of ram your pc takes...but if it maxes out a 1gb, then it is probably either two 512mb sticks of either  PC100/PC133 SDRAM, or DDR.  looking at newegg.com, PC100/133 is more expensive than DDR, and you can get 512mb sticks for about $32 each....DDR is about half that.  so either way it is pretty cheap to max that thing out, which will make everything run better.

if it matters, i'm running mame .124

[ViciousXUSMC]

I know MK2 works fine for me on the pre-compiled .129

[slapaham]

Darn it! I only just figured out how to compile v0.130 so I'm really going to struggle with downgrading to 0.105 - I think that, from the sounds of it, I should still consider upgrading the RAM when I have the disposable income but downgrade to MAME before the big update!

Turnarcades - would you be able to help me - I really just want a compiled version of 0.105 which doesn't have nag screens, rom loading boxes, white boxes, error messages on roms which don't quite run at full emulation (this one was really important to me!!) and hi score support. It sounds as though the MAME you compiled is just this? Is there any possibility you could send it me? I would be very grateful if you could! It would be a massive help.

Thanks for the feedback guys - kind of bad news but its best to know these things!

[BASS!]

Hey you can always compile a .105 using the same method. You just need the 105 source code, and a rollback romset. Compile mame and then run your roms through clrmamepro, and your set. Your almost there:-). Hey turncades, you sure about that mame revision? I have used many, including some of the .8 series. I think there is a post on the mameworld forums that has a breakdown of the versions compared to system specs.

[SirPeale]

Hold on now...it might be a config issue.  Post your mame.ini.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Hold on now...it might be a config issue.  Post your mame.ini.

I agree with Peale.  It may be a matter of changing your sample rate in the mame.ini file from 44100 to 22100, which will improve performance.

Code: [Select]

samplerate              44100


[slapaham]

This is the ini in full (sorry if thats a bit excessive - just thought I'd be on the safe side!) -

<UNADORNED0>             

#
# CORE CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
#
readconfig                1

#
# CORE SEARCH PATH OPTIONS
#
rompath                   roms
samplepath                samples
artpath                   artwork
ctrlrpath                 ctrlr
inipath                   .;ini
fontpath                  .
cheatpath                 cheat

#
# CORE OUTPUT DIRECTORY OPTIONS
#
cfg_directory             cfg
nvram_directory           nvram
memcard_directory         memcard
input_directory           inp
state_directory           sta
snapshot_directory        snap
diff_directory            diff
comment_directory         comments

#
# CORE STATE/PLAYBACK OPTIONS
#
state                     
autosave                  0
playback                 
record                   
mngwrite                 
aviwrite                 
wavwrite                 
snapname                  %g/%i
snapsize                  auto
snapview                  internal

#
# CORE PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
autoframeskip             0
frameskip                 0
seconds_to_run            0
throttle                  1
sleep                     1
speed                     1.0
refreshspeed              0

#
# CORE ROTATION OPTIONS
#
rotate                    1
ror                       0
rol                       0
autoror                   0
autorol                   0
flipx                     0
flipy                     0

#
# CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS
#
artwork_crop              0
use_backdrops             1
use_overlays              1
use_bezels                1

#
# CORE SCREEN OPTIONS
#
brightness                1.0
contrast                  1.0
gamma                     1.0
pause_brightness          0.65

#
# CORE VECTOR OPTIONS
#
antialias                 1
beam                      1.0
flicker                   0

#
# CORE SOUND OPTIONS
#
sound                     1
samplerate                48000
samples                   1
volume                    0

#
# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout              1
ctrlr                     
mouse                     0
joystick                  1
lightgun                  0
multikeyboard             0
multimouse                0
steadykey                 0
offscreen_reload          0
joystick_map              auto
joystick_deadzone         0.3
joystick_saturation       0.85

#
# CORE INPUT AUTOMATIC ENABLE OPTIONS
#
paddle_device             keyboard
adstick_device            keyboard
pedal_device              keyboard
dial_device               keyboard
trackball_device          keyboard
lightgun_device           keyboard
positional_device         keyboard
mouse_device              mouse

#
# CORE DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
log                       0
verbose                   0
update_in_pause           0
debug                     0
debugscript               

#
# CORE MISC OPTIONS
#
bios                     
cheat                     0
skip_gameinfo             0
disable_hiscore_patch     1
disable_crosshair_patch   1
disable_nagscreen_patch   0
disable_loading_patch     0

#
# WINDOWS DEBUGGING OPTIONS
#
oslog                     0
watchdog                  0
debugger_font             "Lucida Console"
debugger_font_size        9

#
# WINDOWS PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
priority                  0
multithreading            0

#
# WINDOWS VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video                     d3d
numscreens                1
window                    0
maximize                  1
keepaspect                1
prescale                  1
effect                    none
waitvsync                 0
syncrefresh               0

#
# DIRECTDRAW-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
#
hwstretch                 1

#
# DIRECT3D-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
#
d3dversion                9
filter                    1

#
# PER-WINDOW VIDEO OPTIONS
#
screen                    auto
aspect                    auto
resolution                auto
view                      auto
screen0                   auto
aspect0                   auto
resolution0               auto
view0                     auto
screen1                   auto
aspect1                   auto
resolution1               auto
view1                     auto
screen2                   auto
aspect2                   auto
resolution2               auto
view2                     auto
screen3                   auto
aspect3                   auto
resolution3               auto
view3                     auto

#
# FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
triplebuffer              0
switchres                 0
full_screen_brightness    1.0
full_screen_contrast      1.0
full_screen_gamma         1.0

#
# WINDOWS SOUND OPTIONS
#
audio_latency             2

#
# INPUT DEVICE OPTIONS
#
dual_lightgun             0


Well, my sample rate is even higher than you expected. However, that doesn't quite explain the slowdown in Grand Striker 2 (however, this is the only game I have noticed any change in other than sound so far - and this hasn't achieved 100% perfect emulation in MAME yet anyway!) So, if I was to change the samplerate down to 22100 then that should rid me of stuttery sound?

I've compiled a 0.105 now anyway and I'm in the process of compiling the roms - what are people's suggestion to achieving the best perfromance for my cab? I will upgrade the RAM regardless, but what would be the best option? 0.105 or 0.130?

Thanks for all your help everyone, appreciate this!

[slapaham]

While I'm at it and I've got the ini posted up, I may as well ask, some of my games have a black bar to the left of the screen, I'm guessing this is a resolution problem? Is there anything inside the ini which I can change so that all games run at full screen? Thanks again!

[Todd H]

Try setting triplebuffer to 1.

[slapaham]

Will give it a go, cheers!

[SirPeale]

Try these changes:



#
# CORE ARTWORK OPTIONS
#
artwork_crop              0
use_backdrops             0
use_overlays              0
use_bezels                0

#
# CORE SOUND OPTIONS
#
sound                     1
samplerate                44100
samples                   1
volume                    0

#
# WINDOWS PERFORMANCE OPTIONS
#
priority                  1
multithreading            0

#
# WINDOWS VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video                     ddraw
numscreens                1
window                    0
maximize                  1
keepaspect                1
prescale                  1
effect                    none
waitvsync                 0
syncrefresh               0


#
# FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
triplebuffer              1
switchres                 1
full_screen_brightness    1.0
full_screen_contrast      1.0
full_screen_gamma         1.0


That's a start...there are other things to try.  Hwstretch with DDRAW may or may not work.