A couple of ArcadeOS issues.

[Zombie13UK]

Hi,

I have an AMD Thunderbird 1Ghz CPU, and 512MB RAM on my MAME PC. It's running Windows 98 SE, although first it loads ArcadeOS before Windows - via autoexec.bat.

While it appears to be all working, not all games are showing the list. For instance, Tekken and Ridge Racer both do not appear, although I have a complete MAME v0.88 ROM set.

Another issue is that is appears to be running quite slow. Even smaller ROMs like RoboCop appear to take quite a long time compared to running MAME32 in Windows. I have also tried enabling screenshots while browsing the games - but these really punishes the system. No screenshots actually display on the screen, but the background goes black, and takes a long time to even scroll down the list by one game.

Any help on this would be most welcome.

Cheers,
Zombie13.

[dabone]

Ok, you are using win98 in dos mode correct?

Make sure you are running smartdrv. That will improve your performance alot.

also make sure

skip_validitychecks is set to 1 in your mame.ini

(If you are using a current version of mame that is.)


Later,
dabone

[Zombie13UK]

Excellent, I'll give that a try. Thanks!

I'm running ArcadeOS by putting it in the Autoexec.bat. This is so that when I exit ArcadeOS, Windows loads, with my jukebox software in the Startup folder. If I remember right, smartdrv is in the autoexec.bat file, but I'm at work now so can't confirm that. I'll post my autoexec.bat later.

Thanks,
Zombie13.

[SirPeale]

While it appears to be all working, not all games are showing the list. For instance, Tekken and Ridge Racer both do not appear, although I have a complete MAME v0.88 ROM set.

On a lark, scroll thru the disabled games list.  Are you using the most current version (2.52) or an older version?

[Zombie13UK]

skip_validitychecks is set to 1 in your mame.ini

I'm using DOS MAME v0.88. The file is called "mame.cfg", not "mame.ini" and there isn't a "skip_validitychecks" line in the file.

[SirPeale]

Did you upgrade your version of Mame to .88?  In that case, create a new mame.cfg at the command prompt:

mame -cc. 

From what I've read, if you already have one it'll add the new commands to your old one without destroying the first.  But I've never tried this, back it up first.

 If all else fails, you can add this line in.  From my research, it was added for .88 (actually in one of the 'u' releases before .88).

[Zombie13UK]

I've tried re-creating the MAME.CFG from scratch. The entry still wasn't in the file by default, so I added it anyway. Unfortunately this has made no difference at all. 

[SirPeale]

Grr...try upgrading to .89.  Perhaps my research was off.

[SirPeale]

Oh, and to get to the disabled games, it's either button 1, 2 or 3, don't remember which.  I want to say three.  One changes the game orientation, one actually flips the AOS orientation, and one goes thru the filters.  Try them all.

[Zombie13UK]

Yep, it was button 2.   

Although, I can't upgrade to 0.89 yet, as the DOS version hasn't been released. I would think it's a configuration issue within Windows 98, maybe Smartdrv? I'm not really up on Win98 DOS mode, though. I thought DOS was supposed to run faster than Windows, but in my case it seems to run smoother in Windows 98. I don't want to run the arcade from Windows, though, as I use my cabinet as a joint mame cab and jukebox. DOS runs the arcade games, and Windows runs the jukebox software. I like how it's set up, I just want to get it running as smoothly as possible.

Cheers for the help!
Zombie13.

[SirPeale]

Why don't you try DOS Jukebox?  Then it's DOS all around!

[Zombie13UK]

I like having my MP3s having the full filenames, not 8.3 standard. Besides, I've paid for Virtual Music Jukebox twice now, and gone through many problems getting it registered - so I'm determined I'll stick to using that now...