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Front End Support => MaLa Frontend => Topic started by: ARTIFACT on September 22, 2007, 02:03:36 pm

Title: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 22, 2007, 02:03:36 pm
in case these are bugs, i will also send a pm to swindus with a link to here :)

#1 ---- sometimes when I exit a game, my layout background image is "offset" to the rigth and bottom, by about 200 pixels... makes the interface unreadable :(
. I did check the option to reload layout

#2 ---- everytime I exit a game, the game selection 'moves up' once, selecting the previous game up
. i use the trackball (mouse Y) to scroll games ... this ROCKS but issue above

#3 ---- 'remove game' page/menu: game list scrolls when trying to select 'yes' (to remove game from list)
. this results in removing the wrong game (the next one)
. only the yes/no box should scroll, game list shouldnt

#4 ---- sometimes when exitin a game, mala doesnt seem to have keyboard focus
. my ipac2 buttons dont work and i am forced to reach for a mouse to 'click' to fix it

Voila :)

i hope some of these are useful to report!

go mala + swindus for the har work!!! :)
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: shock_ on September 22, 2007, 11:32:47 pm
1. Check your MaLa display resolution - especially if the emulator you're running is swapping resolutions.  Try forcing MaLa into a particular resolution if possible?

2.  I get that too, never bothered to mention it though

3. Not sure about this one.

4. A few people have mentioned this recently, I started getting it too, after leaving Vpinball, only after upgrading to MaLa 1.0x.  When I rolled back to RC9 however, the issue remained.  I haven't mentioned this either yet because I haven't worked out a repeatable test case and am waiting to try it on another machine.  I find ALT-TAB regains focus as well, if you've got buttons mapped to those; ugly and cumbersome but doesn't require a mouse.
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 23, 2007, 07:52:00 pm
I am looking forward to see more folks add their ideas/input here :)

... will send the link to Swindus too...
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on September 23, 2007, 08:16:26 pm
Just so you didn't think I was ignoring this thread.

I don't experience any of those problems reported.  :dunno. But keep in mind I only really use it for Mame so my thoughts are:

1)  :dunno Does not happen to me
2) I don't use a trackball but will have a Spinner soon so i will check with that.
3)  :dunno Does not happen to me
4) This could be the Emu not exiting properly possibly.

Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 23, 2007, 08:20:57 pm
Hey there loadman :)

#3 may only happen if you use the trackball / mouse to scroll the lists  (same as #2)

#4 happens with MAME, in case it is any help... Yes that's what it sounds it is, but it only happens occasionally (at least once per hour ... sometimes more).

I finally sent the link to swindus, looking forward to see what he says.


BTW... #3 ("remove game screen") also happens on the "add to list" screen... This makes it VERY hard to add games to lists
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on September 23, 2007, 10:33:12 pm
Hey there loadman :)
BTW... #3 ("remove game screen") also happens on the "add to list" screen... This makes it VERY hard to add games to lists

Hmm I'm at work so I can't test. Have you tried to see what does/doesn't happen if you are hitting keys/controls as the EMU is quitting? That may cause MaLa to loose focus I suppose?
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 23, 2007, 11:29:41 pm
it does loose focus if you keep holding down a button while exiting mame yes ... but it also happens sometimes even without pressing other buttons...

if i knew about that, i would have wired all of my buttons to my u360s (and get the button harnesses) instead of using the ipac2 keyboard encoder i already had... :( (but maybe the same issue would happen also then).
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: Dropkick_Wally on September 24, 2007, 07:16:54 am
I posted earlier about #4 with my mame console project.  Mine happens when I have the music enabled and I use the fade option.  I lose focus with every emu on exit and it actually leaves the "starting game" box up until I use a mouse click to regain focus (gamepad never works again though).  The computer I'm using is less than 1Ghz so I was thinking that with game exit, menu fade, and music fade, maybe the speed of the computer causes the hiccup.  Swindus told me that he was aware of issues with the music and was on the 'to do' list.  Does anyone else find that the loss of focus is related to the music?
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: shock_ on September 24, 2007, 07:19:45 am
#2 happens to me sometimes and I use keyboard to select.

#4 happens to me without music.  I see no starting windows when I exit vpinball - just looks normal except for focus. Anyone know a way to report which window has focus - does Microsoft Narrator do that?

Will test some more.

Hmm I'm at work so I can't test.

Pfft excuses...
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 24, 2007, 10:32:34 am
Great thanks guys for gathering notes on this... :)

It will help Swindus test his code and find if there are bugs/issues! Cool.
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: xmenxmen on September 24, 2007, 05:56:01 pm
the 1st 2 problem seems to be related to the layout that you are using.  I had similar problem when I was using the gamex layout, but forgot to drop the require font in systems/fonts.  And there's a few times I would see the layout resize back incorrectly when the game exit.  All those problem have now gone since I put the font in, force all my games to the same resolution as the front.

Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 27, 2007, 10:52:53 pm
**** UPDATED ORIGINAL POST: ISSUE #1 ****

The layout issue is that the background image offsets by 200 pixels or so in both X and Y axis.
Only happens here and there, but often to be annoying
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: shock_ on September 28, 2007, 07:51:07 am
Issue 1: Is that your own layout as seen on your project thread?  (Lovely cab by the way)


Armed with all that I might be able to try and replicate?
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 28, 2007, 10:45:18 am
hey there thanks for posting

yes its the layout for my artifact cab :)

. it is 800 by 600 both the image, layout, and os resolution

. switchres is enabled yes - my monitor is multisync and displays low res gorgeously... except certain vertical games which have hwstretch on to display correctly

. layout has fixed option on i believe

thanks :)
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 29, 2007, 11:59:19 pm
#4 is happening A LOT now.. :(

focus is not back to mala menu after exiting a game... not all the time, OK, but almost 50% of the time :(
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: shock_ on September 30, 2007, 03:25:30 am
re the focus - I've found so far that focus isn't quite exactly the issue, although it feels like it, and ALT-TAB rectifies it.

I enabled the mouse to scroll the gamelist (after experiencing 'focus' issues with just keyboard control; this is not something that introduced the problem).

When I return to MaLa after vpinball and the keyboard no longer scrolls the list, I found that the mouse DOES.  Clicking the mouse 'returns focus' for the keyboard to work.  Very odd... I would expect the mouse to not work while the keyboard was not working, if it was truly a window focus problem proper?

Shall continue the research.
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on September 30, 2007, 12:58:34 pm
ok

more details on the 'background shifts on game exit' bug

it only happens when exiting games with switchres OFF and hwstretch ON

check this: it ADDS MORE SHIFTING when exiting these games over and over. playing 3 games tat shift the bg will shift it 3 times ...

(a few games i have set like this are centipede, mario bros, dig dug)

Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: diverdown on October 07, 2007, 01:50:17 am
i have the number 4 bug but only on 1st boot/ start. 1 in 4 boots wont give kb focus until i click mouse.... then no issue
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on October 08, 2007, 03:29:45 am
i have the number 4 bug but only on 1st boot/ start. 1 in 4 boots wont give kb focus until i click mouse.... then no issue

Are you hitting any controls while it is booting?

If you do does it make a difference?
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: diverdown on October 08, 2007, 06:59:39 am
Nope, previous cabs have shown that hitting buttons on loading can stuff the boot so I am careful to never hit any buttons during boot.

Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on October 10, 2007, 12:09:20 am
ARG

OK so... I just noticed:

Exiting SNES games (ZSNES) = focus issue ALWAYS happens..
Yes, I have the ESC key hook option, GUI disabled, etc...

I have a feeling that these issues did not exist in the older versions of Mala... Am I correct?
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on October 10, 2007, 01:12:57 am
ARG

OK so... I just noticed:

Exiting SNES games (ZSNES) = focus issue ALWAYS happens..
Yes, I have the ESC key hook option, GUI disabled, etc...

I have a feeling that these issues did not exist in the older versions of Mala... Am I correct?

Quite Possible.

I will see if I have an old version to play with at home
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: diverdown on October 10, 2007, 06:25:03 am
ARG

OK so... I just noticed:

Exiting SNES games (ZSNES) = focus issue ALWAYS happens..
Yes, I have the ESC key hook option, GUI disabled, etc...

I have a feeling that these issues did not exist in the older versions of Mala... Am I correct?

Mine did the same...... i fixed the problem would you believe by UNCHECKING the esc hook. Dont ask me why but it worked.  (I still had the GUI disabled )
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on October 12, 2007, 07:47:44 pm
I have a feeling that these issues did not exist in the older versions of Mala... Am I correct?

Here is a couple of older versions to try:

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC8.zip (http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC8.zip)

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC9.zip (http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC9.zip)
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on October 12, 2007, 11:45:17 pm
Thanks!

I hope I can just replace the EXE without loosing all of my lists and layouts, when going back to RC8

BTW I tried unchecking and checking the Exit Hook option, and either way it does the same thing... :( ESC *does* exit ZSNES, but focus is not on Mala (and thus IPAC 2 buttons don't work...)
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on October 13, 2007, 12:26:13 am
Thanks!

I hope I can just replace the EXE without loosing all of my lists and layouts, when going back to RC8


If you are worried just copy your whole mala directory to back it up.  It should not be very big.
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on October 13, 2007, 02:17:15 am
OK

the FOCUS BUG is fixed! ZSNES exits fine and focus is back on Mala!
RC8 *does* work better than RC9 in that respect... I hope Swindus reads this!!

The background shift issue is STILL there HOWEVER I edited my layout and instead of using the actual Background "property", I defined a "definable" object... and pointed to my image manually. THAT WORKS! NO SHIFT!
(again, FYI to swindus to help him fix bugs when he gets a chance)

still scrolling options (remove yes/no; add to /list choice) scrolls game list :(
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on October 13, 2007, 02:26:06 am
OK

the FOCUS BUG is fixed! ZSNES exits fine and focus is back on Mala!
RC8 *does* work better than RC9 in that respect... I hope Swindus reads this!!

The background shift issue is STILL there HOWEVER I edited my layout and instead of using the actual Background "property", I defined a "definable" object... and pointed to my image manually. THAT WORKS! NO SHIFT!
(again, FYI to swindus to help him fix bugs when he gets a chance)

still scrolling options (remove yes/no; add to /list choice) scrolls game list :(

Nice One.  I'm sure SWINDUS will apprecite you testing when he get's a chance to de-bug.

Thanks  :cheers:
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: diverdown on October 13, 2007, 09:13:36 am
I have a feeling that these issues did not exist in the older versions of Mala... Am I correct?

Here is a couple of older versions to try:

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC8.zip (http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC8.zip)

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC9.zip (http://www.members.optushome.com.au/themancave/MaLaRC9.zip)


Thanks for these, I will swap back 1 version and see if its fixed
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on October 13, 2007, 10:55:39 pm
ARG ok so for some reason my trackball/mouse scrolling stops working, at some random point, and you simply can't scroll any more :( ... only by letter from the joystick (how i assigned it)

That, and of course the lack of video delay feature, so I can't scroll fast anyway without it pausing on each item.

I miss the video delay feature of RC9.
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: nukedawg on May 30, 2008, 11:19:58 pm
The background shift issue is STILL there HOWEVER I edited my layout and instead of using the actual Background "property", I defined a "definable" object... and pointed to my image manually. THAT WORKS! NO SHIFT!

Old post but same issue. Exiting some PC games that run at a different resolution than mala is running and when returning to mala the background is shifted down and to the right. Also reloading the program and exiting compounds the problem and shifts it further down and to the right.

But Artifact's fix by using a "definable object" for the background instead of using the "background property" works like a charm!

Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: ARTIFACT on June 10, 2008, 02:30:15 pm
any new version of mala with these issues fixed? thanks!
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: RoboG2 on August 05, 2008, 02:56:13 am
Quote
The background shift issue is STILL there HOWEVER I edited my layout and instead of using the actual Background "property", I defined a "definable" object... and pointed to my image manually. THAT WORKS! NO SHIFT!

I'm having the same problem, but this solution does not work for me.  If I set the image as a definable object rather than as the background, the image loads anew everytime I move down the list by one item, causing a half-second grey flash behind the list between moves.  Note that this does not happen when the image is set as the background.  Any ideas?
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: swindus on August 05, 2008, 04:16:30 am
Anybody used this option? Does it work then?



Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: RoboG2 on August 05, 2008, 12:15:11 pm
I will try that.  Thanks!
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: RoboG2 on August 05, 2008, 12:21:29 pm
Thanks.  That worked!
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: loadman on August 05, 2008, 07:22:37 pm
Swindus seems to know a bit about this MaLa stuff.   ;)

I'm so glad he drops in here occasionally to give advice  ;D
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: monkey puzzle on January 26, 2013, 07:37:40 pm
The background shift issue is STILL there HOWEVER I edited my layout and instead of using the actual Background "property", I defined a "definable" object... and pointed to my image manually. THAT WORKS! NO SHIFT!

Old post but same issue. Exiting some PC games that run at a different resolution than mala is running and when returning to mala the background is shifted down and to the right. Also reloading the program and exiting compounds the problem and shifts it further down and to the right.

But Artifact's fix by using a "definable object" for the background instead of using the "background property" works like a charm!

Sorry to bring up this old thread again, but I'm having this exact same problem. I'm using a layout created by someone else, and I think this fix could work for me too. I know this is a noobish question, but could somebody tell me how to edit the layout so I can do this? Is there a layout editor or something?
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: recklessindian on January 26, 2013, 08:01:55 pm
Layouteditor.exe located in the mala folder.
Title: Re: a few mala issues ... bugs?
Post by: monkey puzzle on January 27, 2013, 07:29:51 am
Layouteditor.exe located in the mala folder.

Aha. Thanks.