AdvMame is kooky, I just don't get it.

[SirPeale]

I had it running mostly okay on a P133 with a Trident card.

I'm trying to get it to work with an arcade monitor.  I've got an old VGA monitor that can do both, so it gets used a lot to test stuff out.

I try it on my test machine, my dad's old Compaq.  It's got built in sound and video, so it's a good choice for what I'm going to do with it.

Start it up, and the frequency is *way* off.  Monitor is whining, it's weird.  Especially considering that this monitor can do both arcade and VGA frequencies.

Then I think, "hm, perhaps the VIA video chipset can't do 15KHz, let me put in an ATI Rage 128 card I know works."

Attempt to run it, and the screen is blank.  Okay, let's set the modes up for an arcade monitor.  Delete advmame.rc (just to be sure) and run advcfg.exe.  Still a blank screen.  WTF?

Switch to vanilla DOS Mame, version .90.  Displays fine in both arcade mode, and VGA.

So why, Why WHy WHY am I having such a problem with arcade modes with Advance Mame?

[Witchboard]

Heck, I haven't even got it to run on a regular VGA monitor yet. 

[wpcmame]

Why not go the easy way and use 31KHz modes (either with advmame or regular mame) since the monitor supports it?

There is a picture comparison on the retroblast site (http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/avga2.html)

Can't understand why anyone who got a monitor that supports 31KHz thinks the differernce between 15 and 31KHz is worth all the trouble.

[SirPeale]

Why not go the easy way and use 31KHz modes (either with advmame or regular mame) since the monitor supports it?

There is a picture comparison on the retroblast site (http://www.retroblast.com/reviews/avga2.html)

Can't understand why anyone who got a monitor that supports 31KHz thinks the differernce between 15 and 31KHz is worth all the trouble.

Because I'm not using the 12" monitor in my cab, you silly rabbit.  It's just for testing purposes.  And as it stands right now, I can't get VGA modes working either.

[JoyMonkey]

I dunno what could be up.
I can give you my advmame.rc files for an XGA monitor that I've got set up correctly (I've got AdvMame 0.67 and 0.80 running on them).
I have a Nintendo/Sanyo monitor set up with AdvMame 0.67 too, but I'd have to dig the hard drive out of a pile of crap to get to it.

[SirPeale]

Can't understand why anyone who got a monitor that supports 31KHz thinks the differernce between 15 and 31KHz is worth all the trouble.

Because it looks more authentic.  You may be in it for the games, I'm in it for the experience.

I have a Nintendo/Sanyo monitor set up with AdvMame 0.67 too, but I'd have to dig the hard drive out of a pile of crap to get to it.

Nah, don't bother.  I'll work it out, or I won't use AdvMame.

[marcus.]

vga can look just as authentic as 15khz
in advancemame create a mode that is exactly double that of the game ...
galaga = 448x 576
enable integer resizing and scan2horizontal (scanlines)  for vertical monitor))
games look identical as they would on a arcade monitor.
The big plus in doing this on a vga is that your menu software can be a high res with tonnes of detail.
keep pursuing with advmame/menu. They do take a while to understand and setup, but if you want every game to perfectly fit the sceen and run at correct frequency its worth it.

[SirPeale]

If I could get it to do what it's supposed to do, I wouldn't have a problem setting it up.  But when you get *nothing* to appear on screen, it's hard to work with that.

[rosborn]

AdvMAME is picky about what video card you use.

[Santoro]

AdvMAME really is complex, but it is so worth it once your are past the painful setup.  On my last cab I could not get adfcfg to run properly so I poplulated my Advmame.rc file manually with video settings I found on Google. 

Is your onboard video definitely supported?  Check Cardwin.txt or Carddos.txt to be sure. 

[SirPeale]

Even if the onboard video wasn't (didn't check yet) I know my ATI Rage 128 is.  And I can't get that working either.