Volume control without explorer.exe

[fleskebacon]

Ok, so I know this has been discussed elsewhere, but that didn't help me a lot, so I'm starting a new one.

I run Mala as shell, so explorer.exe doesn't start at all. I have an I-Pac, which controls the volume just fine on its own when explorer.exe is running. But when explorer.exe doesn't run, the volume controls stop working.

I have tried CabVol, which works just fine, even after I shut down explorer.exe. But when I install it as a service, it doesn't work. The process starts and shows up in task manager and everything seems fine, but it's just not working. The same applies to FrontEndHelper.

Am I doing something wrong, or am I just out of luck?

The best solution would be to find a way for the I-Pac system volume controls to work without explorer.exe running, any ideas on this?

[Slippyblade]

Or you could just wire a physical pot into the speaker line.

[Howard_Casto]

My 2 cents.... don't run Mala (or any FE) as shell.  It'll often cause problems that you can't quite pinpoint the source.  Throw a shortcut in the startup folder, use an all black theme and you are good to go. 

[vwalbridge]

My 2 cents.... don't run Mala (or any FE) as shell.  It'll often cause problems that you can't quite pinpoint the source.  Throw a shortcut in the startup folder, use an all black theme and you are good to go.

+1. Howard_Casto is right on that one. Shelling your FE is more trouble that it is worth IMO.

[fleskebacon]

I have considered going back to not shelling Mala, but I'm so pleased that I finally have hidden Windows 7 completely. It looks really nice at boot time. If I don't shell Mala, I'm having a hard time hiding the taskbar.

The only thing that doesn't work the way I want it to is the volume control, so I feel like I'm stuck two feet from the finish line, and I don't feel like going back to start..

But I totally agree - the easiest and safest way would definately be to go back to not shelling Mala.

[empardopo]

I think using AllInOneFYC you could do that.

[Howard_Casto]

I have considered going back to not shelling Mala, but I'm so pleased that I finally have hidden Windows 7 completely.

What part of all black theme didn't you understand?  Switch the machine to classics view.... set all colors to black.  You'll get a black screen.  Honestly though, auto-hide the taskbar and you are good to go. 

[fleskebacon]

I have considered going back to not shelling Mala, but I'm so pleased that I finally have hidden Windows 7 completely.

What part of all black theme didn't you understand?  Switch the machine to classics view.... set all colors to black.  You'll get a black screen.  Honestly though, auto-hide the taskbar and you are good to go.

I understood all parts of "all black theme", even though English isn't my native language. But no matter how black you make everything, auto-hide and everything, that darn taskbar still pops up at boot. Once Mala starts it stays hidden though, so it's not a huge deal. But booting the machine looks so much better when it's completely gone.

Also, boot time is significantly faster when Mala is shelled.

[haynor666]

You can also use telus black theme available on deviantart though You need also patch uxtheme.dll.

http://www.deviantart.com/art/telusblack-82201603

[fleskebacon]

I gave up and mounted the amp directly inside the coin door so I can adjust volume there. Not an optimal solution, but I rarely have to adjust the volume so it's ok for now.

I also set the default volume in Mame to -10, so that I have the option of adjusting it both up and down in game.

None of the programs I've tried has been able to make use of the I-Pac's volume control keys without explorer.exe running. This could very well be dependent upon the type of sound card and driver used, as I've heard rumours of other people making this work.

If someone finds an easy fix to adjust system volume in Mame without explorer.exe running I'd like to hear about it though.

[haynor666]

Have You tried multimedia keyboard ? On my Asus I can directly control sound volume though explorer is already loaded, I don't know if it will work for You.

[Howard_Casto]

I have considered going back to not shelling Mala, but I'm so pleased that I finally have hidden Windows 7 completely.

What part of all black theme didn't you understand?  Switch the machine to classics view.... set all colors to black.  You'll get a black screen.  Honestly though, auto-hide the taskbar and you are good to go.

I understood all parts of "all black theme", even though English isn't my native language. But no matter how black you make everything, auto-hide and everything, that darn taskbar still pops up at boot. Once Mala starts it stays hidden though, so it's not a huge deal. But booting the machine looks so much better when it's completely gone.

Also, boot time is significantly faster when Mala is shelled.

Boot time is significantly faster because it isn't loading all the components of windows... thus the advice in regards to not doing it.  If you decide to run anything other than mame you are going to eventually run into issues.  Apparently you don't understand the all black theme thing because a black taskbar with a black highlight color on a black background will still pop up, but you can't see it as it's the same color as the background.  You use classic windows 9x themes, not modern xp/7/ect themes. 

[yotsuya]

Just turn the machine on well before the party starts and no one will ever see the taskbar.

[wp34]

Just turn the machine on well before the party starts and no one will ever see the taskbar.

So simple but so right.

[fleskebacon]

Yep, I agree with all of you. As stated, this really isn't a big issue. And the obvious way to fix the volume controls would definately be not to shell the FE.

My question however, was if it COULD be done. And the answer to that is probably plain and simple "no, forget it, it can't be done".

I'm using the classic Windows 9x theme, auto-hide taskbar and set all colours to black, but the start button and the systray is still visible at boot time. This options also causes me trouble when I have to make system changes, because everything is black...

I have tried various "taskbar-hiding" apps, and one of them actually does the trick pretty well, without having to black everything.

I'm also aware of the fact that Windows boots faster when shelling the FE because not all elements are loaded, and that is one of the main reasons I wanted to shell Mala in the first place. I also understand that this of course can bring with it challenges in unexpected directions, but when that ##@$ volume control is the only thing not working for me, I was really hoping there was a way to solve it.

But this obviously doesn't have an easy fix.

So my options are:
1. Shell Mala and use the volume control on the amp.
2. Not Shell Mala and accept the slightly slower boot and the possibility of the taskbar not being 100% gone.

None of these options will bring the end of the world to me, so I'm happy and I think I can settle with this.

Thanks guys!

[keilmillerjr]

Run explorer, run mame, max out main volume in mame, adjust explorer to max setting you want by ear, set encoder to ~.

Maybe this work for you?