Weird keyboard issue in MAME32

[mcleanjoel]

Hi guys,
Can anyone help me figure this out:

In MAME32 (v65 or v62) I have problems with keystrokes either being slow or not recognised. This was not a problem before as I was using a MS Sidewinder but now I am building a CP with an I-Pac so you can see my problem.

The problem occurs with both the I-Pac & a Logitech keyboard.
Just hitting 5 to enter credits does not even work correctly.

It all works fine if I load a game w/ Mame(v65 Pentium Pro)
It also works in Mame32 if I boot up in safe mode.

Here are the specs on my pc:

Intel 845E motherboard with 1.6 Pentium 4 CPU
256 mb RAM
Windows XP Pro

I would appreciate any tips.

[cdbrown]

If I'm reading correctly - you have the keyboard plugged into the ipac pass thru and the ipac into the pc.  And pressing 5 on the keyboard or the button wired to the credit 1 on the ipac doesn't register.

Does the problem still occur if you have the keyboard plugged directly into the PC?  Are you sure the 5 key is mapped to be a credit button.  I know it is a mame default, but sometimes things get messed up.

Can you check these out and get back to us, may be able to narrow it down further.  Also the other buttons you mentioned were troublesome.

Cheers
-cdbrown

[mcleanjoel]

If I'm reading correctly - you have the keyboard plugged into the ipac pass thru and the ipac into the pc.  And pressing 5 on the keyboard or the button wired to the credit 1 on the ipac doesn't register.

Does the problem still occur if you have the keyboard plugged directly into the PC?  Are you sure the 5 key is mapped to be a credit button.  I know it is a mame default, but sometimes things get messed up.

Can you check these out and get back to us, may be able to narrow it down further.  Also the other buttons you mentioned were troublesome.

Cheers
-cdbrown

The credits do register with pressing "5" - just not consistently.
The arrow keys will move a player in a game - just not consistently & response is slow.
These are just examples that I am using to test as they are easy to repeat.

I have tried this with the following setups:

  just a ps2 keyboard  & no I-pac
  a ps2 keyboard and I-pac connected by USB
  I-Pac connected by ps2 with keyboard in pass-through port.

[mcleanjoel]

OK, I have it narrowed down a bit. It seems to be related to the sound card.

It works fine under the following conditions:

If I uninstall the driver or
if I disable the Windows Audio service.(this also means I have no audio)

I have an onboard Avance AC'97 2.2 sound card.
I have tried built-in xp drivers and several AC'97 drivers I have found on the web .

Nothing I do seems to make it work with sound.(except using mame instead of mame32)

What is different between mame & mame32 that would be affected by the soundcard?

Any ideas?