ePSXe question: is it possible to use Mooby's CDR with Mamewah or Mala?

[Timstuff]

I'm going to start fiddling with my Mame-cab's PC this week, and one of my goals is to get Mamewah set up with all the emulators I'm going to want to use on it. I was googling around and I found this thread, which helped me better understand how to use Mamewah and ePSXe together.

However, I haven't used Mamewah in a while (didn't have much reason to since I didn't have a cabinet), and I've been booting Playstation ISOs and .Bin files using Mooby's CDR plugin, and I'm a bit confused as to how one would go about working it into the ePSXe .bat files for Mamewah.

Some games require a .cue file in order for in-game music to work, and Mooby's CDR allows them to be loaded. One of the biggest reasons I want ePSXe installed in my cab is for the 3D fighting games, and one notable game in this genre (Dead or Alive) uses a .cue file to play music, as do many PSX games, so wether or not Mooby's will work with Mamewah (or Mala) is pretty important to me.

So, has anyone had any luck getting ePSXe to boot up through Mamewah, while using the Mooby's CDR plugin? Any help would be appreciated.

[gonzo90017]

You don't need bat files anymore. Make sure each bin, iso is in its own folder.
Example Castlevania (U).iso should be in a folder called Castlevania (U).

Code: [Select]

### psx.ini (mamewah v1.62) ###

emulator_title                            psx

### List Generation Settings ###
rom_path                                  L:\ps isos
rom_extension                             iso;bin
dat_file                                 
nms_file                                 
catver_ini_file                           
list_generation_method                    rom_folder_subfolders

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             
emulator_commandline                      C:\juegos\psx\ePSXe.exe -nogui -loadbin "[rompath]\[name]\[name].[romext]" {dosbox}{safelaunch}
post_emulator_app_commandlines           
general_app_commandlines                 

### Artwork Settings ###
artwork_image_paths                       C:\juegos\psx\snaps
movie_preview_path                        C:\juegos\psx\videos
movie_artwork_no                          1
enable_fuzzy_search                       0
history_dat_file                          auto
history_dat_artwork_no                    2

### Screen-Saver Settings ###
enable_music_in_screensaver               0
select_random_game                        0
saver_type                                saver_commandline
movie_path                               
movie_fullscreen                          1
quit_delay                                30
saver_commandline                         

### Additional Settings ###
music_path                                C:\juegos\psx\musica
lcd_display_file_path                     
description_display                       [description]{scroll}

### Settings used by MAMEWAH ###
current_list                              0


[Timstuff]

Ah, that's nifty to know. But I still need to know what kind of setup you need if you want to launch PSX games through Mooby's CDR plugin, rather than through the usual "run ISO" command in ePSXe. Mooby's CDR is kind of weird, because instead of opening games as ISOs, you load up a game as if running it through the CD drive, and then the Mooby's menu pops up and you select the ISO or BIN you want from there. There's probably a way to make this all work using Mamewah, but I don't really know how since I'm not that good at using command line stuff.

[gonzo90017]

Just use ePSXe CDR WNT/W2K core 1.5.2. plugin. That's the one I use and the games load up fine through Mamewah.

[Timstuff]

But are you running PSX games from a CD, or a hard drive? I want to be able to be able to run games from my HDD so that I don't have to swap discs constantly, and I can have them all listed seperately in Mamewah. That's why I need to know if I can set up Mooby's to work when ePSXe launches through Mamewah. Otherwise, I'm going to have to either accept some games not having music, or I'll have to constantly swap discs, which wouldn't be so hot since my goal is to have as few seams as possible the arcade experience.

[Timstuff]

Hmm... I found this thread which speaks of a plugin called "Closemul." Closemul apparently allows Mamewah to automatically mount and unmount ISOs and BIN files to Daemon Tools when it launches an emulator, such as ePSXe. If there's a way to make that work, then maybe I don't even need Mooby's CDR, and could just use CDR WNT/W2K core 1.5.2. plugin, and Closemul can simply tell Daemon tools which ISO or Bin to mount.

Basically, my goal now should be for all PSX games in Mamewah to be listed seperately as they would be with Mame roms, and for them to run through ePSXe's "CD mode" but using a virtual drive made with Daemon Tools, with a different CD image being mounted to the drive automatically for each title.

Could someone more savvy than myself please explain how to make this all work "for dummies" style? Or, has anyone else here used Closemul before with success in achieving results similar to what I'm looking for?

[Ginsu Victim]

You're making this much harder than you need to.

Gonzo explained it pretty well, especially using games from the hard drive.

[gonzo90017]

Yes, i'm using images from my hd.
Basically the way I have it setup you don't need closemul or Daemon tools. Unless your images are something other than .bin, .iso. img. If they're not just do it the way I have it.

If you're still having trouble I have a package with most of the emus setup and ready to go. You just provide the snaps, roms, and videos.

[Timstuff]

Okay, I'll try it out the way you suggested. I'll let you know whether or not it worked for me.

[Red]

If you're still having trouble I have a package with most of the emus setup and ready to go. You just provide the snaps, roms, and videos.

gonzo90017,

I'd be interested in that package as it would save me a lot of time setting them all up myself.  Much appreciated.

Red

[Timstuff]

Dang, it looks like I've got a different problem to deal with now... I haven't gotten to test the music in Dead or Alive yet, because Mamewah will only let me play Tekken 3. Here's what the log had to say:

Code: [Select]

5/29/2008 12:29:45 AM MAMEWAH v1.62 launched
5/29/2008 12:29:45 AM Cursor scheme: Windows Default, Arrow: (None), Wait: (None), AppStarting: (None)
5/29/2008 12:29:45 AM Desktop colour: 9981440
5/29/2008 12:29:45 AM Wallpaper filename: C:\Documents and Settings\Tim\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Desktop Background.bmp
5/29/2008 12:29:45 AM Desktop display mode: 1440x900 @ 85Hz, 32bit colour
5/29/2008 12:29:45 AM Decimal symbol: '.'
5/29/2008 12:29:45 AM Games list read: epsxe-0.lst
5/29/2008 12:29:48 AM Mode 640 x 480 @ 60Hz, 16bit colour selected after 2 attempt(s) at 1/2 second intervals.
5/29/2008 12:29:48 AM Layout selected: C:\Mamewah\config\layout.lay
5/29/2008 12:29:50 AM No. joystick devices attached: 1
5/29/2008 12:29:50 AM Ctrlr file selected: C:\Mamewah\config\mamewah.cfg
5/29/2008 12:29:50 AM Keyboard enabled
5/29/2008 12:29:51 AM Current drive/directory selected: C:\epsxe
5/29/2008 12:29:51 AM Commandline run: C:\epsxe\ePSXe.exe -nogui -loadbin "D:\PSX ISOs\Tekken 3\Tekken 3.bin"  {flags=210}
5/29/2008 12:30:04 AM Application quit: C:\epsxe\ePSXe.exe -nogui -loadbin "D:\PSX ISOs\Tekken 3\Tekken 3.bin"
5/29/2008 12:30:05 AM Mode 640 x 480 @ 60Hz, 16bit colour selected after 2 attempt(s) at 1/2 second intervals.
5/29/2008 12:30:06 AM Mode 640 x 480 @ 60Hz, 16bit colour selected after 2 attempt(s) at 1/2 second intervals.
5/29/2008 12:30:11 AM Current drive/directory selected: C:\epsxe
5/29/2008 12:30:11 AM Commandline run: C:\epsxe\ePSXe.exe -nogui -loadbin "D:\PSX ISOs\Dead or Alive\Dead or Alive."  {flags=210}
5/29/2008 12:30:13 AM Application quit: C:\epsxe\ePSXe.exe -nogui -loadbin "D:\PSX ISOs\Dead or Alive\Dead or Alive."
5/29/2008 12:30:14 AM Mode 640 x 480 @ 60Hz, 16bit colour selected after 2 attempt(s) at 1/2 second intervals.
5/29/2008 12:30:16 AM Mode 640 x 480 @ 60Hz, 16bit colour selected after 2 attempt(s) at 1/2 second intervals.
5/29/2008 12:30:20 AM Mode 1440 x 900 @ 85Hz, 32bit colour selected after 1 attempt(s) at 1/2 second intervals.
5/29/2008 12:30:24 AM MAMEWAH quit
It has the .bin extension attached to Tekken 3, which worked, but there is no extension attached to Dead or Alive, which will not load. I have no idea why that would be since Tekken 3 and Dead or Alive are both .bin files, but whatever the case, Tekken 3 seems to be the only one that Mamewah is launching (I have about 5 PSX images on my hard drive ATM). Could someone please cue me in on why this might be?

[Timstuff]

Ugh... Now I feel like a dumb@$$. It turns out that Tekken 3 was the only image file that had the same name as the folder it was in, which is why it was the only one working. Now all of my image files work, but there's no music in Dead or Alive, which brings me back to my original inquiry: how do I get Mamewah to properly run PSX games with CD music?

[gonzo90017]

Red you can download the zip file package from here.
Just downlooad the zip file and unzip it inside C:\
Installation instructions are included in C:\juegos\installation.txt If you want to install additional emulators not included in the main package just download the add-on for the emu and unzip it inside C:\

Timstuff what cdr plugin are you using?

[Timstuff]

I tested both Mooby's CDR plugin and ePSXe CDR WNT/W2K core 1.5.2. With Mooby's, I had to go through the Mooby's menu to access the BIN file and the folder it was in, which wasn't exactly "arcade perfect" (or user friendly, for that matter). With ePSXe CDR WNT/W2K core 1.5.2., it only gave me a black screen, because it was trying to access the CD-Rom drive. Here's the .ini file for ePSXe that I tested them with.

Code: [Select]

### epsxe.ini (mamewah v1.62) ###

emulator_title                            Playstation

### List Generation Settings ###
rom_path                                  D:\PSX ISOs
rom_extension                             bin;img;iso
dat_file                                 
nms_file                                 
catver_ini_file                           
list_generation_method                    rom_folder_subfolders

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             
emulator_commandline                      C:\epsxe\ePSXe.exe -nogui {dosbox}{safelaunch}
post_emulator_app_commandlines           
general_app_commandlines                 

### Artwork Settings ###
artwork_image_paths                       
movie_preview_path                       
movie_artwork_no                          1
enable_fuzzy_search                       0
history_dat_file                          auto
history_dat_artwork_no                    2

### Screen-Saver Settings ###
enable_music_in_screensaver               0
select_random_game                        0
saver_type                                saver_commandline
movie_path                               
movie_fullscreen                          1
quit_delay                                30
saver_commandline                         

### Additional Settings ###
music_path                                C:\juegos\psx\musica
lcd_display_file_path                     
description_display                       [description]{scroll}

### Settings used by MAMEWAH ###
current_list                              0

Basically the .ini is set up to run games through eSPXe using the CD drive, since Mooby's emulates a CD drive by opening up a menu where you can locate the file (or type in the file path), and the game loads, complete with emulated CD music. It works fine if you're using ePSXe's GUI, but interfacing it with Mamewah is what's proving to be a pain. I've attached a picture of the Mooby's menu for you to see.

What seems like it'd be the ideal solution, but I have no idea how one would go about setting it up, would be if there was some way to tell Mamewah to automatically type in the CD image's location and press enter as soon as the Mooby's menu pops up, like this:

Code: [Select]

### Execution Settings ###
emulator_commandline                      C:\epsxe\ePSXe.exe -nogui {dosbox}{safelaunch}
Automatic typing at startup               [rompath]\[name]\[name].[romext]
Obviously, the solution can't be that simple, but I wish it was.

If anyone can figure out a good answer to this problem, then it should definitely go in the Wiki. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever wanted to emulate CD music in a Playstation game while using Mamewah...

[Red]

Red you can download the zip file package from here.
Just downlooad the zip file and unzip it inside C:\
Installation instructions are included in C:\juegos\installation.txt If you want to install additional emulators not included in the main package just download the add-on for the emu and unzip it inside C:\

Thanks gonzo90017. 

Red

[Timstuff]

Well, I think I've determined what the solution to my problem is, but it's giving me quite a few headaches... I tested Dead or Alive by using Sapu's CD plugin in ePSXE, and I mounted the Dead or Alive .cue file to a virtual CD drive using Daemon Tools. It worked fine, just like it was running with Mooby's plugin. I decided I'd have a go at the Closemul software, since it's supposed to automatically mount CD images with Daemon Tools.

In theory, it should work out perfectly when it's all set up, but I feel like I'm because I'm probably not setting it up right. Getting the setup correct is proving most difficult for my feeble mind, so any help would be appreciated.

The ePSXe ini for Mamewah

Code: [Select]

### epsxe.ini (mamewah v1.62) ###

emulator_title                            Playstation

### List Generation Settings ###
rom_path                                  D:\PSX ISOs
rom_extension                             cue;bin;img;iso
dat_file                                 
nms_file                                 
catver_ini_file                           
list_generation_method                    rom_folder_subfolders

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             
emulator_commandline                      C:\closemul\closemul.exe C:\epsxe\ePSXe.exe -nogui "[rompath]\[name]\[name].[romext]" {dosbox}{safelaunch}
post_emulator_app_commandlines           
general_app_commandlines                 

### Artwork Settings ###
artwork_image_paths                       
movie_preview_path                       
movie_artwork_no                          1
enable_fuzzy_search                       0
history_dat_file                          auto
history_dat_artwork_no                    2

### Screen-Saver Settings ###
enable_music_in_screensaver               0
select_random_game                        0
saver_type                                saver_commandline
movie_path                               
movie_fullscreen                          1
quit_delay                                30
saver_commandline                         

### Additional Settings ###
music_path                               
lcd_display_file_path                     
description_display                       [description]{scroll}

### Settings used by MAMEWAH ###
current_list                              0

The Closemul ini

Code: [Select]

Closemul v0.3
Contact: lustar[at]free[dot]fr

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Exit Key 1: (ASCII key code). The key that will be used to Exit the Program. Defaults to ESC (27).
- Exit Key 2: (ASCII key code). A second key to form an ExitKey1+ExitKey2 combination to Exit the Program.
- Extract: ("unzip" for zip, 7z, tar, or "unrar" for rar). Extract File, then run it with the Program.
- Extracted Ext 1: (without the dot, as in "cue"). In case there are several files in the archive.
- Extracted Ext 2: (without the dot, as in "cue"). In case the archive could contain another file format.
- Pre Command: ("bat"/"exe" or path\executable.ext). Program to execute before launching the File.
- Post Command: (executable.ext or path\executable.ext). Program to execute when the main Program is closed.
- Mount Program: (daemon tools full path). Mount The File to a virtual drive before launching the Program.
- Mount Device: (virtual drive device number). Needed by the mount setting. Usually 0.
- Mount Parameters: (put quotes around the whole line, not around each parameter). If you need daemon settings.
- Registry File: (name.reg). Enforce settings from .reg before the File is launched.
- Automation: (Keyword or Window Title). To activate automated loading. Needed by the Automation Steps setting.
- Automation Steps: (comma separated list, using WAIT/ASCII/F1-F12/ENTER/SPACE/SHIFT+/CTRL+/ALT+/WIN+).
- Automation Delay: (milliseconds, Defaults to 100). Time to Wait between each Automation Commands.
- Program: The Program that is going to be run then closed using the Exit Key(s).
- Program 2: This program will not be launched, but will replace the Program to be closed using the Exit Key(s).
- Param Before File: If the Program needs extra command line parameters Before the File name.
- Param After File: If the Program needs extra command line parameters After the File name.
- File: A File to be run by the Program.
- Snap 1 Search: (Search String). Search a File containing this string.
- Snap 2 Search: (Search String). Search a File containing this string.
- Snap Extension: (File Extension). The file format of the snapshots.
- Snap Source Folder: (Path). Source Folder of the snapshots.
- Snap 1 Dest Folder: (Path). Destination Folder for the first snapshot.
- Snap 2 Dest Folder: (Path). Destination Folder for the second snapshot.
- Quit Management: (0:Off 1:On(Default) 2:orESC 3:=ESC 4:CloseOnly 5:MethodB 6:MethodB+orESC 7:MethodB+=ESC).
- Quit TimeOut: (Defaults to 200. 0: Always Force) Gently Close Program -> TimeOut -> Forcefully Close Program.
- Disable Quotes: (0|blank: Use Quotes / 1: Disable quotes). Some emulators do not expect quotes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Parameters]
Exit Key 1= 27
Exit Key 2=
Extract=
Extracted Ext 1=
Extracted Ext 2=
Pre Command=
Post Command=
Mount Program= C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\daemon.exe
Mount Device= 0
Mount Parameters= "[rompath]\[name]\[name].[romext]"
Registry File=
Automation=
Automation Steps=
Automation Delay=
Program= C:\ePSXe\ePSXe.exe
Program 2=
Param Before File=
Param After File=
File=
Snap 1 Search=
Snap 2 Search=
Snap Extension=
Snap Source Folder=
Snap 1 Dest Folder=
Snap 2 Dest Folder=
Quit Management= 3
Quit TimeOut=
Disable Quotes=

I'm not even sure I have Closemul installed correctly... I have it in it's own folder in the C:\, but I think maybe I'm supposed to be using a copy of it in ePSXe's folder. Maybe I should start a new topic for this?

[gonzo90017]

The reason it gave you a black screen is because you didn't use the ini file I  gave you. It supposed to read:

Code: [Select]

emulator_commandline                      C:\juegos\psx\ePSXe.exe -nogui -loadbin "[rompath]\[name]\[name].[romext]" {dosbox}{safelaunch}
As you can see in "your ini" you left out -loadbin.

[Timstuff]

Like I said before, I did it that way, and I wasn't getting music in games that use CD music, since ePSXe doesn't have built-in CDR emulation. My goal right now is to configure Closemul and Mamewah so that I can have ePSXe launch as if running a game from the CD drive (actual a virtual drive from Daemon Tools), and have Closemul automatically mount the game I want to play to the virtual drive. In theory this should work fine, but I'm having a hard time actually figuring out how to use Closemul.

[gonzo90017]

You don't need to use closemul. Just add this line to your ini.

Code: [Select]

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\daemon.exe -mount 0,"[rompath]\[name]\[name].[romext]"{nowait}

[Timstuff]

You don't need to use closemul. Just add this line to your ini.

Code: [Select]

### Execution Settings ###
pre_emulator_app_commandlines             C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\daemon.exe -mount 0,"[rompath]\[name]\[name].[romext]"{nowait}

After over 3 hours of tinkering with Closemul, I finally managed to figure out how to make it automate the Mooby's menu, and was feeling pleased with myself... I was just making peace with the possibility that the Mooby's menu was going to appear on my cab's screen every time someone wanted to play a PSX game, and then I came here, and saw this... 

I tried your solution. The only additional measures I had to take were to use Sapu's CDR plugin for ePSXe, and set Mamewah so that it recognized .cue files instead of .bin files as PSX rom extensions. Now, it all works perfectly, and I no longer have to worry about whether or not there will be music when the teenage ninja girls are kicking the cooties out of each other.  Thank you very much for your patience with me.

This should definitely get Wiki'd. Somewhere in the future, this information could save a bloke like me a lot of headaches and many hours of lost work / sleep.