Advice needed regarding Cab software

[Invader_Stu]

I am planning my first cab and need some advice.

I want the cab to be used for only two things: playing MAME roms and playing Music (two seperate activities).

I will be running Windows 98 on the machine. The specs follow:

AMD XP 2000+
256mb RAM
Sapphire Radeon 9200se

I will be running it on a 25' TV via S-video input.

The most popular front end seems to be Mamewah and I read that it can interface multiple emulators. I need to decide on just what it will launch however.

There are a few different versions of Mame (Mame, Mame32 plus various releases) and I'm not sure which one I should run.  I want to play as many games as possible, except the very latest machine intensive ones. Any advice? I was just going to go with Mame32.

At first I was planning on just running Winamp for Music/Jukebox use, but then I wondered if there was an music emulator that Mamewah could launch. This would simplify everything and make my control board less cluttered. Can anyone recommend one?

Lastly, assuming I go with Mamewah, Mame32 and <insert JukeSim here> how many buttons will I need to navigate and run these? My board will have 2 joysticks with 8 buttons each (one being a start button).

These are the use-cases where I might need a control button (however there may be more, or work-arounds, if so please enlighten me!):
-Exit game
-Exit menu
-Make selection (game or menu)

Any advice appreciated thanks guys.

[Invader_Stu]

After checking out some of the Jukebox software, I can see that ArcadeJukebox was designed primarily for MAME cabs, and has nice 1-2 button functionality. Unfortunately it requires DirectX9.b, which a lot of MAME cabs (including mine) may not be able to support.

Any other similiar programs? Or should I bite the bullet and invest in a  DirectX9.b compatible card (ie 9600se) ?

[lucindrea]

you could probly use any FE with a wrapper , then it's just a matter of passing the name of the song or playlist to the player ( ie winamp.exe song.mp3 ) , or just associate mp3/mpa/etc withe the player and just call the song from the FE ... this is how i launch a ton of non-cab programs from my fe ( dk ) useing howards command wrapper so the esc key is mapped out to exit the app , and if all else fails i revert to writing up a small autoit script.

[Chris]

For music, WinCab Jukebox can be adapted to just about any control layout.