Cabinet software/games administration

[s_busby_uk]

Just wondered if anyone on here had any useful tips for how to conduct updates, maintenance or the addition/removal of new games to a cabinet that's been set up on a network to avoid having to physically attach a keyboard and mouse each time. Would something like Remote Desktop (RDP) be the best bet or are there other easier options?

[NOP]

I use tightVNC for my remote desktop needs.
http://www.tightvnc.com/

[Fursphere]

RDP (mstsc.exe) is built in to windows.  Doesn't get any easier than that.

The only reason to use VNC (any flavor) would be if you don't want the console "locked" when you're remoted in from another machine. 

Remote control (VNC) vs remote login (rdp).  Your choice.

[s_busby_uk]

Thanks Fursphere and NOP. Think I will try VNC - I use it with my Linux server so I have some experience on the Client end at least.

Can I pretty much do anything a direct (local?) user would be able to do at a Windows machine using VNC or are there any restrictions?

[Fursphere]

With both VNC and RDP you'll have problems actually launching the games / emulators.  Frontends might work (I doubt Hyperspin will).

This has to do with video performance over these remote connections, especially in full screen mode.

[s_busby_uk]

Oh I don't want to play games over VNC/RDP, I just want to be able to access the desktop in case I need to make any tweaks to e.g. Hyperspin.

[Fursphere]

Right.   But often after tweaking you need to test - which means firing up Hyperspin or said emulator. 

[s_busby_uk]

Yeah but at that point I just try on the cabinet, no?


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[Fursphere]

Sure.

Just wanted to make sure you understood the limitations.  Good luck!   

[s_busby_uk]

Ha, and thank you!


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[stripe4]

Another RDP advantage is ease of file transfers. If you have Clipboard and Drives enabled in your RDP client, (Local Resources tab, click More... for Drives), you will be able to copy and paste files between local and remote session, as well as have your local drives mapped in My Computer in the remote session.

[s_busby_uk]

Is that with just the standard Windows RDP software stripe4?


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[stripe4]

Exactly (see the attachment).

[s_busby_uk]

Ah lovely, thanks! Will there be similar options in Windows XP?

[stripe4]

Ah lovely, thanks! Will there be similar options in Windows XP?

I cannot check right now, but I do know that it works on Windows Server 2003, which is from the same Windows generation as XP. You might have to install the latest RDP client version:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20609

Also do keep in mind that in order to receive RDP connections, the remote computer (your cab) has to run one of these Windows versions:

• Windows XP Professional edition
• Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition
• Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition
• Windows 8 Pro, or Enterprise edition

That means no RDP for "Home" versions. Microsoft being Microsoft, you know.

[s_busby_uk]

Ah bugger, I'm using MicroXP which is heavily stripped back. Will do some investigating into possibilities...

Update: yup, looks like I'll be using TightVNC then!

[s_busby_uk]

Does anyone have any experience with using the Chrome Remote Desktop app?

https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1649523

I assume the down side i shaving to install Chrome on the remote machine, but it seems pretty easy (haven't had a chance to have a go with it myself yet but will do when I get home).

[stripe4]

I haven't used it either but I'm pretty sure it requires both local and remote computers to be connected to Internet. VNC and RDP also work in an isolated network.

[s_busby_uk]

It also requires that Chrome is running on the serving computer. Not such a good idea then!

[Fursphere]

You can probably add RDP support back in....?

Have you run any kind of benchmarks to verify that you're actually seeing a noticeable improvment with a stripped down version of XP?  With today's hardware I question the logic of hacking XP to pieces to "gain" a performance boost.

[s_busby_uk]

It's more about getting a fast boot time to be honest. I don't expect the performance will otherwise improve all that much. This is all until I get some sort of SSD I suppose.


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[Howard_Casto]

I was going to wait until everyone chimed in before I replied. 

To be perfectly honest I've been at this for over a decade and I've never found a really good solution for remote management. 

I mean yeah you can use remote desktop, but it's slow as hell and won't properly display half of the front-ends/emulators that we use.  A shared network drive works, but it'll slow down your bootup considerably and it means that your cab needs to be connected to the network, which may or may not be possible depending upon your location.

But ignoring all of that, you'll set your mamecab to boot into the front-end of your choice and shut down when you exit said front-end.  So regardless of the solution, you typically have to whip out the old keyboard and mouse to halt this process and get into the pc's innards. 

So my recommendation:

Mount a usb hub just inside the coin door... put a roll-up keyboard and mouse in the coin door as well.  When you need to add/update stuff simply take a usb stick and fill it up and take it and the keyboard/mouse and plug them in prior to starting the cab.  Then bypass the fe and go to town.  Sometimes old-school is still better. 

[s_busby_uk]

Hmm, you may be right Howard_Casto.

I've also been convinced by an IT-working friend to put Windows 7 on instead of XP, so I think I'm going to find a copy of Windows 7 Professional and put it on and then see how I get on with RDP, and then if the boot-up time savings are considerable when I replace the explorer shell with Hyperspin I may just have to go to good ol' keyboard and mouse! I intend to put a USB port in a discreet position on the front of the cabinet anyway.

[Howard_Casto]

Well I hate to burst your bubble, but a clean install of XP typically boots much faster than win 7.  A lot of this depends upon the hardware (and is sadly intangible differences) but in general at least. 

That being said if you intend on playing some pc games you need win 7.  Some of us (myself included) are having growing pains with our cab.  Mortal Kombat, Injustice, the SFIV games  typing of the dead and all those are vista or above. 

I'm not sure if I would replace explorer either.  Typically it's more trouble than it's worth.  I just hide the desktop and throw a shortcut to the fe in the startup folder. 

[s_busby_uk]

It can do sure, but in terms of support it's still a more or less redundant OS at this point, particularly for 64-bit. The computer I'm putting it on isn't so ancient that it desperately needs XP.

Ultimately, if this cabinet gets as much use as I hope it does, I intend to upgrade it with some modern kit anyway. And there are indeed some Steam games I want to put on there (although I actually got SSFIV working on XP before).

Oh I assumed you were implying that RDP/TightVNC wouldn't be accessible if the computer was booting straight into Hypserpin, and therefore that you were assuming I'd make Hyperspin my shell (I don't actually know if doing that would lock out RDP). So surely if Hyperspin is just running from the Startup folder then RDP/TightVNC will work just fine?

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah it causes other issues as well.  Most notably if you have any helper apps you want to use on your cab (joy2key, mamehooker, ect) you don't have an easy way to auto-load them as all that junk is loaded when explorer starts.  The same goes for a few services... most are worthless, but a few might be useful to you.

Well most remote desktop programs won't run without some sort of initialization on both ends regardless I would be amazed if hyperspin would render via remote desktop.  So you'll have to exit out of hyperspin, which means you need to whip out the keyboard and mouse on the machine.. at which point it just makes more sense to do things locally.

[s_busby_uk]

Well I wouldn't expect Hyperspin to render with all it's bells and whistles going, but it may do enough to be able to quit out of it?

Anyway, will find out soon - I am installing Windows 7 on a separate drive to see if it works out.

[jelwell]

Did anyone notice the web server built into MAME last year?
http://mamedev.emulab.it/haze/2013-mame/

I've tried wireless keyboards, but they're problematic during the boot process, which is often critical during maintenance. Also batteries suck. My cab has a trackball, so I have player 2 buttons 4 through 6 wired as mouse buttons 1 through 3. I have a small keyboard hidden in the cab. That works best for me.
Joseph Elwell.

[twistedsymphony]

I know it's not popular but if you need to run Vista or newer Win 8 might not be a bad choice, it boots faster and is less resource intensive than win7 and if mapped correctly you can navigate the metro UI with a joystick or keyboard input. I hate using it as a PC but I find it actually works really well for a dedicated gaming machine.

I also just use a keyboard and thumb drive to update my machines. I picked up a Logitech wireless keyboard with a built in touch pad which makes it super easy to setup... no wires just plug in two little dongles.

If you need true remote access then I might also recommend Dameware. We use that heavily at my work. You can take over the "current user's" UI and control their keyboard/mouse OR you can silently login to the background as a separate admin user to change things around without disturbing the current user... which might be idea for simply updating files. The only problem is it's EXPENSIVE.... :-/ So I wouldn't think it's worth it unless you already had access to a license.

[s_busby_uk]

I think a simple RDP/VNC setup will do fine. I'm only really expecting (hoping) to use it for moving ROM files into folders and that sort of thing. Anything beyond that and I will just plug a keyboard and mouse in.

[Generic Eric]

How about just having an external video jack on the back of the cabinet, extend the desktop on the PC and then use a wireless keyboard and mouse on a table or desk.  This is a natural idea for me as I have a desk next to my lowboy, tv, and recliner in the basement.  *shrug*

If you have been to a casino, you may have seen a cluster of slot machines that has a work desk with a separate monitor inside the cluster.  I think that was at the coushata in Louisiana I saw that.  I don't remember the game.

[s_busby_uk]

Yeah but at that point why bother using an extra monitor at all? The cabinet comes with one! Plus anything that i can't do by RDP (such as checking how the games play) I'll probably want to be using the main monitor for anyway to make sure things are set up correctly.

[lamprey]

I tend to agree with Howard about just hooking up a keyboard and mouse. However, if you did want to avoid this and you don't have a version of windows with RDP access another option might be Mouse without Borders from Microsoft.

I use it on a couple of my machines. Without all the gory details, I have two "machines" right next to each other (by machines I mean monitors, keyboards and mice). Sometimes when I'm doing certain tasks across computers it's more convenient to just use the mouse without border to control the other computer. But, all that really does is make it so you can hook the keyboard and mouse to another computer instead of the actual one you want to work with. Which may or may not help you.

At any rate, just throwing out an option you may not know about.