First time GroovyMame help please.

[joeH]

I'm replacing my MAME PC for the first time in about 10 years, and thought that I'd give GroovyMame a shot before going the ArcadeVGA card route again.  The video card is a MSI HD4350 procured from Ebay.  Here are the steps I've taken:

1.  Install Win 7 Pro x64 with all patches
2.  Copied over full rom and chd set into their respective directories
3.  Installed the official Mame .168 x64 binaries into C:\GROOVYMAME
4.  Downloaded the latest Groovymame, extracted it, and replaced the Mame64.exe file with the one from the Groovymame download.
5.  Opened up command prompt with elevated privileges and ran:  C:\GROOVYMAME\mame64.exe -cc to generate the .ini file.
6.  Removed the Catalyst drivers for the HD4350 that Windows had automatically installed. 
7.  Ran the crt_emudriver setup file, and installed drivers.  *Windows did not ask me for a reboot*
8.  Opened up the VMMaker.ini file and changed the directory of where Groovymame was listed.  Left the monitor type to "CUSTOM".
9.  Ran VMMaker with admin privileges.  Generated 120 modes and exited program.  *Windows again never asked me to reboot*. 
10.  Shut down the computer. 

11.  Hooked PC up to monitor (Betson Imperial multisync).  No picture.  Shut down and re-hooked back up to PC monitor. 

12.  Changed VMMaker .ini monitor from "CUSTOM" to "MULTI" (thinking I have a multi-sync monitor??). 
13.  Rehooked PC back up to arcade machine.  Was actually able to boot to Windows desktop. 
14.  Configured mame.ini generated from step 5 above, and specified rom path as well as changed monitor type to arcade_15_25_31 as to match my multisync monitor. 
15   Opened up command prompt and navigated to C:\GROOVYMAME.  Then executed "mame64.exe pacmania".  To which I received the following errors:

"SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry
SwitchRes: Failed opening System\CONTROLSET001\SERVICES\VGASAVE\Device0 registry entry"

I've tried multiple times with elevated prompts.  I've enabled mame64.exe to be run with full admin privileges.  I've disabled UAC.  I've made sure that my account is an admin account.  I've tried to do everything I can think of to make sure Groovymame can write to the registry, but no luck.  Each time I get the error listed above.   

Any info on what I can try next? 

Also, just out of curiosity, is there a front-end for Groovymame in the same vein as MAMEUI?  I can't say that I'm fond of running MAME via command line, nor using front ends.  I've been using MAMEUI for quite a few years now, so I was curious if anyone has ever compiled a version using it before. 

[Sledge]

7.  Ran the crt_emudriver setup file, and installed drivers.  *Windows did not ask me for a reboot*

Did you follow the instructions for installing hte drivers?
did you change the resolution to a 15Khz mode?

When installing CRT Emudriver in Windows 7, some extra caution must be taken:

1.- Run the Setup program with ADMIN RIGHTS enabled.
2.- DO NOT restart the system when W7 prompts you to do so, let the Setup program finish, allow it to set TEST mode on.
3.- CRT Emudriver for W7 doesn't boot in 15 kHz automatically after restart. You need to manually enable a 15 kHz mode from Arcade OSD.

[joeH]

7.  Ran the crt_emudriver setup file, and installed drivers.  *Windows did not ask me for a reboot*

Did you follow the instructions for installing hte drivers?
did you change the resolution to a 15Khz mode?

When installing CRT Emudriver in Windows 7, some extra caution must be taken:

1.- Run the Setup program with ADMIN RIGHTS enabled.
2.- DO NOT restart the system when W7 prompts you to do so, let the Setup program finish, allow it to set TEST mode on.
3.- CRT Emudriver for W7 doesn't boot in 15 kHz automatically after restart. You need to manually enable a 15 kHz mode from Arcade OSD.

Setup program was run with admin rights.  I was never prompted for a reboot, as mentioned above. 
No, I haven't touched OSD yet, but the desktop is already coming up at 31kHz...I was under the assumption that I needed to configure Arcade OSD if I only had a 15kHz monitor to work with. 

Thanks. 

[haynor666]

After driver installation make sure that test mode is enabled by Calamity installer (just after main driver installation), then restart PC. After that run VMMaker.

for GUI You may use M+GUI but configuration must be done manually as M+GUI does not recognize groovymame options.

[joeH]

After driver installation make sure that test mode is enabled by Calamity installer (just after main driver installation), then restart PC. After that run VMMaker.

for GUI You may use M+GUI but configuration must be done manually as M+GUI does not recognize groovymame options.

Thanks for the tip on M+GUI. 

Much more progress today!  Downloaded and ran the ATI cleaner to completely remove all traces of the drivers.  Re-ran the driver setup.  This time it did ask me to run in test mode.  Enabled super resolutions for Windows 7.

Changed VMMaker.ini back to the original "CUSTOM" monitor setting.  The PC booted to a very low res desktop which was unusable.  Tried going back to the "MULTI" setting, which this time wouldn't boot to a desktop at all.  Finally tried the "D9200" option as it looked the closest to supporting my Betson as it does 15,25, and 31 kHz modes.  Booted to desktop successfully! 

Tried to run games via command line - success!  The games *look* great!  The problem is that they don't *sound* great.  I'm getting audio stuttering in almost every game I try.  Almost like a doubling of some sound samples.  I'm guessing I need to tweak something somewhere...any ideas?

Also, is the D9200 the best option I can choose in the vmmaker.ini file?  Does anyone have a custom setting for a Betson Imperial multisync? 

[joeH]

Sound issue fixed.  I didn't have multithreading enabled in the mame.ini.  Everything plays great now! 

Now to tackle either setting up a front end or GUI...

[joeH]

So I had everything up and working with the .168 version of GM, and CRT_emudriver 1.2b.  With all of the new releases yesterday, I decided to upgrade to GM .169 and CRT_emudriver 2.0 beta 2.  Things were not working well, so I had decided to start from scratch with a fresh Windows 7 install.  There isn't a tutorial for VMMaker 2.0, so I tried extrapolating the 1.2 instructions for 2.0. 

What I've done:

Installed MAME .169, and replace the executable with GM .169. 
Generated a new MAME.ini file. 
Uninstalled the driver Windows installed for my HD4350.  Used CCleaner to remove any other traces. 
Install CRT_Emudriver 2.0 beta 2 to allow testmode.  Rebooted as I was prompted to do so before the driver could install. 
Installed driver.  Did not reboot. 

In vmm.ini: 
   Added path to GM.exe
   Changed monitor from generic_15 to D9200 (the closest option to my Betson multisync)

Renamed user_modes.ini to user_modes - old.ini
Renamed user_modes - super.ini  to user_modes.ini

Ran vmmaker.exe with admin privileges. 
Clicked on the "Generate modes" button at the top.  It looked like it added 27 super resolutions to the registry. 
Exited vmmaker.exe and rebooted system. 

After a reboot, I didn't have any icons on the desktop, and the wallpaper was bordered.  I checked resolution and saw that I now have two monitors listed.
Monitor 1 is listed as a generic monitor with a 800x600 resolution.  Monitor 2 is the PC monitor I'm using for setup and is native at 1650x1080. 
Set the computer monitor that I'm currently using to primary, so I could interact with desktop. 

In mame.ini:
  Set rom path
  Changed monitor type from generic_15 to arcade_15_25_31
  Set resolution to 2560x0
  Set cleanstretch to 2
  Set multithreading to 1

Went back and re-enabled Generic Monitor (800x600) as the primary.
Shut down the computer and hooked up to arcade monitor.  Booted computer, and no picture.  I can hear it booting to the desktop. 
No change regardless which "monitor" of the two listed I set to primary. 
 

Can anyone please give me any pointers where I'm making a mistake?  .ini file names have been changed, so I'm trying to change similar things to 1.2 where possible.  Also, is it normal to have 2 monitors listed after a reboot?  I had no such problem after running 1.2. 

Thanks!!

[Calamity]

Hi joeH,

You see 2 monitors listed because the forced monitor detection is working.

With the new VMMaker you no longer edit the ini file but use the new settings dialog, I bet you didn't see it. Besides, now there are 2 steps, you first generate the modes, then you *install* them once the monitor icon becomes active.

[haynor666]

joeH, if You are using super resolutions then there is no need to point VMMmaker to groovymame exe because You are not generating any resolutions from XML butt it's probably (untested) needed for export settings.

[Calamity]

joeH, if You are using super resolutions then there is no need to point VMMmaker to groovymame exe because You are not generating any resolutions from XML butt it's probably (untested) needed for export settings.

Yeah it makes it easier to have GM and VMMaker crt_range settings synchronized.

[joeH]

Hi joeH,

You see 2 monitors listed because the forced monitor detection is working.

With the new VMMaker you no longer edit the ini file but use the new settings dialog, I bet you didn't see it. Besides, now there are 2 steps, you first generate the modes, then you *install* them once the monitor icon becomes active.

Thanks Calamity.  Happy new year.  Just a couple more questions, thanks for all your hard work!

1.  Which monitor do I set as primary?  Does it matter?  After driver install, the 800x600 monitor is set as primary, and when I'm working on the PC I have to set it as primary so I can see what I'm doing.  Do I need to set it back to monitor 1 prior to hooking it up to the arcade multisync?
2.  Do I need to set the resolution to 2560x0 or cleanstretch = 2 in the mame.ini anymore?
3.  In vmmaker dialog tabs, under the last tab titled "MAME", do I check the box titled "Export settings to Groovymame"? 

[Calamity]

1.  In the last stage you'll want to have the arcade monitor as primary, in the meanwhile it doesnt matter, you do what's more convenient.

2. yes

3. yes

[joeH]

OK, some progress.  I can at least boot to a desktop now.  However, the monitor resolution on both monitor 1 and monitor 2 is 2560x254 which obviously does not look right on the arcade monitor.  When I try to change the resolution to 640x480, it just shrinks the picture down with borders around all four sides. 

Should I be using super resolutions?

[Calamity]

That's so odd. Have you cloned the desktops are something similar?

In fact, if you have a D9200 you could perfectly unplug the other monitor and boot with just the D9200 plugged, once you have selected 800x600.

[joeH]

That's so odd. Have you cloned the desktops are something similar?

In fact, if you have a D9200 you could perfectly unplug the other monitor and boot with just the D9200 plugged, once you have selected 800x600.

I had been choosing D9200 before as it seemed to be the closest to my Betson multi sync.  This time using the dialog boxes in vmmaker, I chose arcade multisync. I have not cloned the desktops, simply set monitor one as the primary and hard shut the computer down.

I can tell you though that right after I *installed* the new video modes through vmmaker, it set monitor 1 to 2560x224 before I had ever shut the computer down.  Monitor 2 (computer monitor) was still listed at 1650x1080.

Should I try the D9200 setting again instead of arcade multisync?

[Calamity]

I can tell you though that right after I *installed* the new video modes through vmmaker, it set monitor 1 to 2560x224 before I had ever shut the computer down.  Monitor 2 (computer monitor) was still listed at 1650x1080.

When you're at that point, instead of shutting the computer down, try setting monitor 1 to 640x480. You can plug the arcade monitor the free output at this point, without shutting down. Check if you have a proper picture. If so, make the the arcade monitor primary, and set desktop to show only on the arcade monitor. That's it.

I think I should upload a video to youtube.

[joeH]

I'll have to try it out later today. The computer monitor is in a completely different room, so I'll need to move it.  If I still can't get it working, I'll post a video.

Can I lose the question again if super resolutions are necessary in the first place for Windows 7?

Thanks again for all your help Calamity.

[Calamity]

Can I lose the question again if super resolutions are necessary in the first place for Windows 7?

No, only convenient for MAME. You can try normal resolutions first.

I meant that *I* should upload a video to prove how easy it is.

[joeH]

Can I lose the question again if super resolutions are necessary in the first place for Windows 7?

No, only convenient for MAME. You can try normal resolutions first.

I meant that *I* should upload a video to prove how easy it is.

I'm only using this machine for MAME.  Sole purpose is to be connected to the arcade cabinet.  I'm assuming that I do need the super resolutions.

A YouTube video would be awesome if you have time for it.

[joeH]

Finally got home and was able to do some more testing.  Was able to boot to a 640x480 desktop on the arcade monitor, but everything kept looking very squished.  Went into resolutions, and noted that Windows was still seeing 2 identical monitors.  Making either of them prime didn't change anything, and I couldn't disabled one.  Finally I tried "Duplicate desktop on 1 and 2", and finally had one stable image at 640x480. 

Tried to play some games.  Neogeo games like Samsho2 looked and played great, however, vertical games like MsPacman and Galaga played at the wrong resolution and refresh rate.  The screen looked squished with blended pixels.  I looked at the mame.ini and saw that many things were different compared to the mame.ini I was using with CRT_emudriver 1.2.  Namely, the monitor type was now set to "custom" and there were specific CRT values listed under CRT0, CRT1, and CRT2.  I changed the monitor from "custom" to "arcade_15_25_31" and removed the custom CRT values and change it back to "auto".  Vertical games now display at the same resolution and refresh rate as 1.2!

I need to play with it further, but one problem I still have is trying to run CAVE games like mushihimesama.  Something is wrong because when I try to start CAVE games, the monitor loses picture and the monitor displays a CRT out of range error.  Escaping out of the game brings me back to the desktop.  I don't remember testing CAVE games on 1.2 or not, so I don't know if this is a problem with just 2.0, or that I need to enter specific resolutions or not. 

[Calamity]

Finally I tried "Duplicate desktop on 1 and 2", and finally had one stable image at 640x480. 

That's cloning and it's the specific setting that shoud NOT be used, although for some reason it seems to fix your problem.

Namely, the monitor type was now set to "custom" and there were specific CRT values listed under CRT0, CRT1, and CRT2.  I changed the monitor from "custom" to "arcade_15_25_31" and removed the custom CRT values and change it back to "auto". 

This is because VMMaker is exporting your settings to GM. If you have the proper settings in VMMaker, GM should work just fine without the need of manually modifying it back. It is expected to see "monitor custom" after using VMMaker, whatever monitor you select in VMMaker, because it will manage all presets as custom.

If you have issues with specific games, post logs so we can start fixing things.

[joeH]

I went and re-ran the vmmaker mode generation and install as quite a few games didn't run with an edited mame.ini file.  I selected D9200 as monitor type (any chance of including Betson Imperial multisyncs as an option??) and generated the super resolutions. 

Games are now running again, but I'm back to vertical games like Ms. Pacman being "squished" as compared to running them under 1.2.  I've attached a log file.  Can you please identify what I need to change to have the vertical games running at the correct ratio again? 

Thanks!

[joeH]

Calamity,

Installed beta 3 driver and re-ran vmmaker.  No longer getting weird resolutions on bootup.  Tried arcade_15_35_31 but caused some games like Donkey Kong to go out of range, so I went back to D9200 as I seem to have the greatest compatibility with it. 

Vertical games which need 288 lines of resolution still seem to be a problem though.  GM is displaying them at 320p which seems to make it too "squished" and un-centered in the screen.  Did you happen to see the mspacman log I posted in the last post? 

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer everyone's questions!

[Calamity]

Vertical games which need 288 lines of resolution still seem to be a problem though.  GM is displaying them at 320p which seems to make it too "squished" and un-centered in the screen.  Did you happen to see the mspacman log I posted in the last post? 

Yeah, I've confirmed this. The d9200 preset probably needs some tuning. Try changing this value:

monitor "d9200", "Wells Gardner D9200", "4:3"
        crt_range0 15250-16500, 40-80, 2.187, 4.688, 6.719, 0.190, 0.191, 1.018, 0, 0, 224, 288, 448, 576
        crt_range1 23900-24420, 40-80, 2.910, 3.000, 4.440, 0.451, 0.164, 1.048, 0, 0, 384, 384, 0, 0
        crt_range2 31000-32000, 40-80, 0.636, 3.813, 1.906, 0.318, 0.064, 1.048, 0, 0, 480, 512, 0, 0
        crt_range3 37000-38000, 40-80, 1.000, 3.200, 2.200, 0.020, 0.106, 0.607, 0, 0, 512, 600, 0, 0

[joeH]

Vertical games which need 288 lines of resolution still seem to be a problem though.  GM is displaying them at 320p which seems to make it too "squished" and un-centered in the screen.  Did you happen to see the mspacman log I posted in the last post? 

Yeah, I've confirmed this. The d9200 preset probably needs some tuning. Try changing this value:

monitor "d9200", "Wells Gardner D9200", "4:3"
        crt_range0 15250-16500, 40-80, 2.187, 4.688, 6.719, 0.190, 0.191, 1.018, 0, 0, 224, 288, 448, 576
        crt_range1 23900-24420, 40-80, 2.910, 3.000, 4.440, 0.451, 0.164, 1.048, 0, 0, 384, 384, 0, 0
        crt_range2 31000-32000, 40-80, 0.636, 3.813, 1.906, 0.318, 0.064, 1.048, 0, 0, 480, 512, 0, 0
        crt_range3 37000-38000, 40-80, 1.000, 3.200, 2.200, 0.020, 0.106, 0.607, 0, 0, 512, 600, 0, 0

That was a big help.  The games are now displaying in 576p as opposed to 320p, which is a marked improvement.  Thanks!

[joeH]

Updated to GM Fix 3 and vmmaker beta 4.  Things are running very well, but have two minor issues. 

#1:  Games with 288 vertical resolution still aren't running right.  GM is now picking 600p resolution at 37Khz.  Very playable, just not native.  The funny part is that if I launch MsPacman from a front end such as QCM2, it displays at 288p 15.7Khz instead of 600p from the command line. 
#2:  The GT Fore games are running WAY too fast. 

I've tried reverting the 384 fix from above back to 320 with no change in results. 

Calamity, if you could take a look at the attached dump files, I'd appreciate it.  Thanks again for devoting so much time to answering our questions!

[Calamity]

pacman will run at 288p-53 Hz, that's why GM is preferring 600p. I'd say you can force 288p by increasing -syncrefreh_tolerance to a high value. You won't like it. You can also force 2560x288 for pacman.

GT fore is switching modes. Doing that with -multithreading enabled may cause problems. Either disable -mt or force an fixed resolution for this game.

[joeH]

pacman will run at 288p-53 Hz, that's why GM is preferring 600p. I'd say you can force 288p by increasing -syncrefreh_tolerance to a high value. You won't like it. You can also force 2560x288 for pacman.

GT fore is switching modes. Doing that with -multithreading enabled may cause problems. Either disable -mt or force an fixed resolution for this game.

Forced a 2560x288 resolution for Ms.Pacman.  Looked good, but the top of the screen was cut off as the horizontal monitor can't display 288 lines.  Went back to what GM is automatically selecting. 

Disabling MT on GT Fore games had no impact.  I also specifically set some arbitrary fixed resolutions with no difference in speed noted.  Everything just runs very fast.  Anything else I can try, or do you know a specific resolution I should try to force?

[haynor666]

Some games in mame (official one not only groovymame) does not work with syncrefresh. Good examples are Midway 3D games.

[joeH]

Some games in mame (official one not only groovymame) does not work with syncrefresh. Good examples are Midway 3D games.

I can try turning that flag off as well.  From my testing yesterday, I've found that if I force a resolution that GM can't recognize (say 2560x640) then the GT Fore games surprisingly run at normal speed.  The intro mame screen shows that it's running at 100x100 @ 60Hz though (same as running MameUI64 on my desktop).

Strangely enough, the only recognized resolution that I've found works is 2560x288, which obviously isn't good graphically, but the game runs at normal speed. 

[haynor666]

I've tested some iteagle sets with official mame (syncrefresh, throttle off)- same problems as with Midway 3D games.