New setup, everything but CPS2 games working

[Snakesnsparklers]

Using a k7000 monitor and GM 0.153. Have k7000 monitor set in mame.ini and GENERIC set in vmmaker before I ran it. The desktop and groovymame menu display fine. I have roughly 20 or so various games loaded for testing and they all dispay fine except CPS2 games (1944, AvP, HSF2 tested). The CPS2 games must be switching to some resolution mode not supported as I get vertical rolling/distortion on the picture. When I exit these games, the same problem stays and now the groovymame menu looks just as bad until I exit it and restart groovymame. What is causing the CPS2 games to not display correctly and then keep that resolution held when I exit back into the menu?

[Snakesnsparklers]

Logs are attached. 1944 does not work but btoads does work perfectly.

[sean_sk]

As far as I'm aware GM menu stays at the same res as the last game you've played until you either select a new game or exit out completely. At least that is what it does for me.

As for the scrolling and distortion you are getting with certain resolutions, have you tried adjusting the vertical hold and horizontal holds to start with? I've not used vmmaker so I can't help you with that. Someone else will have to chime in with that one.
Having a look at the log it looks like switchres is selecting an interlaced res of 768x576 for 1944. I take it your using CRT_Emudriver?
1944 uses 384x224 but it doesn't look like it's in your list of supported res. You might have to create that in vmmaker?

According to this thread http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116023.0.html the k7000 has this preset: crt_range0  15625-15800, 49.50-63.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 192, 288, 448, 576  - I had thought that this should also be used in vmmaker rather than using generic.

[Snakesnsparklers]

As far as I'm aware GM menu stays at the same res as the last game you've played until you either select a new game or exit out completely. At least that is what it does for me.

As for the scrolling and distortion you are getting with certain resolutions, have you tried adjusting the vertical hold and horizontal holds to start with? I've not used vmmaker so I can't help you with that. Someone else will have to chime in with that one.
Having a look at the log it looks like switchres is selecting an interlaced res of 768x576 for 1944. I take it your using CRT_Emudriver?
1944 uses 384x224 but it doesn't look like it's in your list of supported res. You might have to create that in vmmaker?

According to this thread http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116023.0.html the k7000 has this preset: crt_range0  15625-15800, 49.50-63.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 192, 288, 448, 576  - I had thought that this should also be used in vmmaker rather than using generic.

I think I read in a recent post that GM no longer requires vmmaker as it generates it's own modes on the fly and overrides those is vmmaker. Calamity can shed more light on the subject.

I am able to adjust the monitor's V hold pot to make either game work but not both. The adjustments seem ever so slightly apart but I can't reach a setting that will work with both games, only one or the other.

I am using CRT emudriver and have run vmmaker with my ROM path. I wonder why it's trying to run 1944 at a different resolution than normal?

[sean_sk]

I did notice that switchres is selecting an interlaced resolution 768x576 for 1944 when it should be using 384x224, but it cant because it's not in your list of supported resolutions.
Same with btoads. It should be 512x224 but it's selecting an interlaced res of 512x448 instead.

You might have to create those reolutions in vmmaker.

[Sledge]

As far as I'm aware GM menu stays at the same res as the last game you've played until you either select a new game or exit out completely. At least that is what it does for me.

As for the scrolling and distortion you are getting with certain resolutions, have you tried adjusting the vertical hold and horizontal holds to start with? I've not used vmmaker so I can't help you with that. Someone else will have to chime in with that one.
Having a look at the log it looks like switchres is selecting an interlaced res of 768x576 for 1944. I take it your using CRT_Emudriver?
1944 uses 384x224 but it doesn't look like it's in your list of supported res. You might have to create that in vmmaker?

According to this thread http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116023.0.html the k7000 has this preset: crt_range0  15625-15800, 49.50-63.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 192, 288, 448, 576  - I had thought that this should also be used in vmmaker rather than using generic.

I think I read in a recent post that GM no longer requires vmmaker as it generates it's own modes on the fly and overrides those is vmmaker. Calamity can shed more light on the subject.

I am able to adjust the monitor's V hold pot to make either game work but not both. The adjustments seem ever so slightly apart but I can't reach a setting that will work with both games, only one or the other.

I am using CRT emudriver and have run vmmaker with my ROM path. I wonder why it's trying to run 1944 at a different resolution than normal?

As sean states.. run vmmaker with the preset for the K7000 screen.

MonitorType = "CUSTOM"
monitor_specs0    15625-15800, 49.50-63.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.160, 1.056, 0, 0, 288, 448

Also there is no where to put the 'rom' path into vmmaker.ini? The only path you need to put in the atm is the mame.exe (make sure it's called mame)

I think that should be correct...

[Calamity]

Hi Snakesnsparklers,

The problem is you're using the old version of VMMaker that comes with the drivers. Dowload the newer one here (1.3c): http://mame.3feetunder.com/windows-ati-crt-emudriver/

This will actually manage the new xml format from recent MAME versions so all the required resolutions are created.

[Snakesnsparklers]

Hi Snakesnsparklers,

The problem is you're using the old version of VMMaker that comes with the drivers. Dowload the newer one here (1.3c): http://mame.3feetunder.com/windows-ati-crt-emudriver/

This will actually manage the new xml format from recent MAME versions so all the required resolutions are created.

Thanks, that did the trick! I now have over a hundred modelines created and the aforementioned games both work great. Had no idea I was using an outdated VMMaker.

I am now having similar issues with another game though, Aero Fighters loses the V hold when I run it, log attached. Am I reading this right? Aero Fighters (vertical) has a resolution of 224x320@61.31, which translates to 480x464@61.31 on my horiz. monitor which is what Switchres chooses, is this the correct resolution? If so maybe my monitor does not support it?

[Calamity]

Hi Snakesnsparklers,

The v-freq pot in your monitor could be adjusted to acommodate the working range from fifty-something to 61-62. If you want to limit the upper vfreq then set:

monitor custom
crt_range0 15625.00-15800.00,49.50-61.00,2.000,4.700,8.000,0.064,0.160,1.056,0,0,192,288,448,576

Then lower that 61.00 value until you find a point where this game doesn't go out of sync.

[Snakesnsparklers]

Thank you for that tip. Unfortunately I let the magic smoke out of the monitor last night so I'll need to order some repair parts and fix it before I can start dialing in the setup again 

[Calamity]

Oh that's a real shame, sorry. Hopefully it's an easy fix.

[Snakesnsparklers]

Thanks, I hope so too.

[Snakesnsparklers]

Hi Snakesnsparklers,

The v-freq pot in your monitor could be adjusted to acommodate the working range from fifty-something to 61-62. If you want to limit the upper vfreq then set:

monitor custom
crt_range0 15625.00-15800.00,49.50-61.00,2.000,4.700,8.000,0.064,0.160,1.056,0,0,192,288,448,576

Then lower that 61.00 value until you find a point where this game doesn't go out of sync.

Got the monitor working again! Am I to change the above in vmmaker.ini and rerun vmmaker? I found that in vmmaker.ini I can change MonitorType from k7000 to custom. There is no "crt_range0" but there is "monitor_specs0" Which seems to expect the same. results as you are saying to input. Unfortunately when I saved this then ran vmmaker.ini I get an error "error trying to fill monitor mode with (your recommended specs)" Then it doesn't work when I reboot I get a junk sync signal and can't see anything, but I VNC in and see the error message Switchres: Could not find a video mode that meets your specs". For now I changed MonitorType back to k7000 to revert back to get a good picture again... What am I doing wrong?

[Calamity]

Hi Snakesnsparklers,

I'm glad you could fix your monitor.

There's nothing you need to change in VMMaker. Just apply my suggested settings in mame.ini.

PD: Make sure to read this regading VMMaker vs GM monitor range definitions: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,116023.0.html

[Snakesnsparklers]

I guess a week away from the project and I forgot some of the basics! I set the max Vfreq to 62 and I can adjust the monitor to a point where all games I've tested sync properly now!

Now I'm having some issues with older vertical games like Ms. Pacman and Galaga. They both experience a lot of overlap/squishing on the bottom of the screen as it wraps past the edge and back upside down, so bad that the ship in Galaga is completely upside down. I can help this a bit with the v. size pot on the monitor but to fix it completely I need to adjust the 50/60Hz pot in addition to v. size. I see they both run at 224x288@60.60 and switchres is choosing 400x288@50.95. What can be adjusted to "force" these games to run at a resolution that doesn't wrap around the bottom of the screen? I know some people adjust their v.size pot for certain games to fit the screen perfectly but I just want to leave it alone. I wouldn't mind small borders on some games if that's the only way to have one physical monitor setting and not have to adjust pots.

A newer vertical game Aero Fighters fits the screen nicely. It's native res is 224x320 and switchres is using 480x464 which looks great. I attached logs for Galaga with the issue and aerofgt which looks great.

[Sledge]

Calamity will correct me if i'm wrong, but try changing your monitor specs in mame.ini to:
crt_range0                15625.00-15800.00,49.50-62.00,2.000,4.700,8.000,0.064,0.160,1.056,0,0,192,256,448,576
that will force all games that are 288 lines tall to be displayed at a higher resolution instead as 288 lines is not available to you then..
Hope this makes sense

[Calamity]

Hope this makes sense

Yes, that's exactly the way to go.

[Snakesnsparklers]

Calamity will correct me if i'm wrong, but try changing your monitor specs in mame.ini to:
crt_range0                15625.00-15800.00,49.50-62.00,2.000,4.700,8.000,0.064,0.160,1.056,0,0,192,256,448,576
that will force all games that are 288 lines tall to be displayed at a higher resolution instead as 288 lines is not available to you then..
Hope this makes sense

I changed the 288 to 256 as noted above, no noticeable change. Galaga and Ms. Pacman still wrap around the lower edge of the screen and have upside down overlap.

[sean_sk]

I changed the 288 to 256 as noted above, no noticeable change. Galaga and Ms. Pacman still wrap around the lower edge of the screen and have upside down overlap.

This to me sound like one of two things. It could be that your horizontal hold needs adjusting so maybe try that first.

Or it could be a B+ Control issue. I had an issue where i was getting wrap around at the top of the screen.
What was happening was that I wanted to make the horizontal size of the picture smaller but my H-Size pot was not allowing the picture to get narrow enough. So i adjusted my B+ Control pot to make the picture even narrower but I found i made it too narrow causing wrap around at the top. So I had to turn it back and make the picture wider so I wouldnt get the wrap around.

Investigate to see whether your chassis has a B+ Control pot. It's usually around where the fly-back is. But if you do this, make sure you're extremely careful that you don't damage yourself and your chassis through a short or anything like that.

[Snakesnsparklers]

It sounds like you are talking about the horizontal width coil or maybe you had a monitor in vertical orientation? My monitor is horizontal, and I do have a B+ pot which is glued fixed from the factory, B+ is measuring 130 or 160 VDC on R301 (I forget which side is B+ so provided both voltages). B+ is just a voltage adjustment.

I have adjusted the width coil to the limit both ways and it just affects the picture width and no affect on the lower edge of the screen rolling over. The only horizontal pots I have are hold and position. I tried adjusting both of those and all they do is move the image left/right or make it go out of sync.

[Calamity]

Hi Snakesnsparklers,

You probably just need to modify both progressive & interlace ranges, like this:

crt_range0                15625.00-15800.00,49.50-62.00,2.000,4.700,8.000,0.064,0.160,1.056,0,0,192,256,448,512

[Snakesnsparklers]

Hi Snakesnsparklers,

You probably just need to modify both progressive & interlace ranges, like this:

crt_range0                15625.00-15800.00,49.50-62.00,2.000,4.700,8.000,0.064,0.160,1.056,0,0,192,256,448,512

That did it! Thanks again!