Author Topic: Game Launcher HELP! (Read 3170 times)

Distortion · « **on:** February 21, 2003, 06:22:50 pm »

I'm having a hard time with Game Launcher. I got it to recognize my roms, and they all show up properly now, however when I go to run them, they don't launch, but crash to the desktop. Here's the last few lines of my glaunch.log file....

Quote

21 Feb 2003 18:17:10.730 [Info] No HW blit: memory bitmap for movable bitmap
21 Feb 2003 18:17:10.730 [Info] No HW blit: memory bitmap for movable bitmap
21 Feb 2003 18:17:10.730 [Info] No HW blit: memory bitmap for movable bitmap
21 Feb 2003 18:17:10.730 [Info] No HW blit: memory bitmap for screen shot
21 Feb 2003 18:17:11.490 [Info] Starting engine loop
21 Feb 2003 18:17:17.870 [Info] Game selected: <1942 (set 2)>
21 Feb 2003 18:17:17.870 [Info] Emulator: <MAME>
21 Feb 2003 18:17:17.870 [Info] Directory: <c:\MAME>
21 Feb 2003 18:17:17.870 [Info] Pre-command: <>
21 Feb 2003 18:17:17.870 [Info] Post-command: <>
21 Feb 2003 18:17:17.870 [Info] Command: <mame.exe 1942a >
21 Feb 2003 18:17:18.140 [Info] Average FPS: 21.2857
21 Feb 2003 18:17:18.200 [Info] Exitting
21 Feb 2003 18:17:18.200 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller
21 Feb 2003 18:17:18.580 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller: Done

rampy · « **Reply #1 on:** February 21, 2003, 07:49:45 pm »

try turning on debug mode for GL to see the command line action ... I found that to be an invaluable tool when first configing glauncher...

good luck,

rampy

Distortion · « **Reply #2 on:** February 21, 2003, 10:03:46 pm »

Quote from: rampy on February 21, 2003, 07:49:45 pm

try turning on debug mode for GL to see the command line action ... I found that to be an invaluable tool when first configing glauncher...

good luck,

rampy

I turned on the debug mode, but it didn't seem to do anything differently. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place...

Jakobud · « **Reply #3 on:** February 21, 2003, 10:22:52 pm »

see the command it puts in to run Mame w/ 1942? Try opening up a DOS prompt and goto the Mame folder and type in the exact same thing...see if it crashes.

Distortion · « **Reply #4 on:** February 21, 2003, 11:25:29 pm »

that was actually one of the first things i tried, and no, it didn't crash, it worked perfectly.

CurmudgeonlyBastrd · « **Reply #5 on:** February 22, 2003, 12:34:08 am »

I'm having the exact same problem. I have set up GL and it recognizes my roms, snaps, etc. But after launching a game from within GL it crashes out. I also tried this in DOS, and a message appears "invalid directory" yet I KNOW it's the right directory... and yes I have no problem launching the games from the command line manually, in either windoze or DOS. Distortion and I are having the same problem. My log looks just like his. Whats up?

Jakobud · « **Reply #6 on:** February 22, 2003, 03:56:32 am »

This is wierd i have never seen this problem. What OS are you using? I'm using Windows 2000 with no problems. You guys using WinXP?

Distortion · « **Reply #7 on:** February 22, 2003, 10:10:09 am »

yeah, i'm in XP pro....and just like curmudgeonlybastrd, all my snapshots work, all the games show up, the rom search feature works flawlessly, etc. I'm gonna try some stuff with nesticle and see if i have the same problem.

Birdtales · « **Reply #8 on:** February 22, 2003, 10:16:36 am »

I had the same problems in XP Pro. I wound up getting it to work by placing Mame in a first level directory (ie. C:\mame) and changing the pointers to it, worked after I did that. I'm thinking it just didn't like the combination of long file names and the way that XP handles them. Of course that's just a guess I have no programming experience.

Distortion · « **Reply #9 on:** February 22, 2003, 10:26:55 am »

My mame.exe is in c:\MAME and the roms are in c:\MAME\roms. I just tried Nesticle and RockNES and neither worked.

Frostillicus · « **Reply #10 on:** February 22, 2003, 10:33:52 am »

This is just a guess, but that sounds like something is wrong with mame.exe, because if the rom wouldn't open or launch it would just go back to GL. Using debug mode, however annoying it can be on a regular basis, is useful for launching executables. I'm sure you've tried this, but mess with every possible configuration detail like "use rom extenstion" etc.

CurmudgeonlyBastrd · « **Reply #11 on:** February 22, 2003, 05:43:33 pm »

Distortion, I also tried it with 98SE and the problem is not solved. Maybe the author of GL just uploaded a new version with a bug? I've gone over the .cfg files a hundred times and tried endless settings and they still won't launch, in XP, 98SE or DOS. Too bad because I love the simple look of this fe which fits in with a cab to my mind, plus it's easy to keep users of the cab from changing settings with GL. It's really great I hope there is a solution.

Quote from: Distortion on February 22, 2003, 10:26:55 am

My mame.exe is in c:\MAME and the roms are in c:\MAME\roms. I just tried Nesticle and RockNES and neither worked.

Distortion · « **Reply #12 on:** February 22, 2003, 11:32:09 pm »

Quote from: Frostillicus on February 22, 2003, 10:33:52 am

This is just a guess, but that sounds like something is wrong with mame.exe, because if the rom wouldn't open or launch it would just go back to GL. Using debug mode, however annoying it can be on a regular basis, is useful for launching executables. I'm sure you've tried this, but mess with every possible configuration detail like "use rom extenstion" etc.

It's not mame, cuz like I said, it didn't work with Nesticle or RockNES either.

Jakobud · « **Reply #13 on:** February 23, 2003, 01:48:15 am »

Yeah its XP. Game Launcher was originally made for DOS. Even though it is obviously not a DOS executable you are using, XP just hates DOS stuff period. It is doing something that DOS doesn't like. I am using GL in Win2k with no problems though.

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #14 on:** February 23, 2003, 09:04:00 am »

not true jakobud.... 2000 and xp behave the same dos wise except xp has better dos support in some cases.... As a matter of fact xp is better, game performance wise than 2000 in every way, but I won't go there.

This is a simple configuration error as I remember it happening to me all the way back in the win98 days. I can't remember the specifics of the way the error was caused, but it had something to do about having your roms on one drive and your mame.exe and gl.exe on another. (GameLauncher severely needs better directory support as this problem has been there literally for years.) Also not putting in slashes in the appropriate places and not defining full path names to objects will cause the error.

rampy · « **Reply #15 on:** February 23, 2003, 11:33:29 am »

Quote from: Distortion on February 22, 2003, 11:32:09 pm

Quote from: Frostillicus on February 22, 2003, 10:33:52 am
This is just a guess, but that sounds like something is wrong with mame.exe, because if the rom wouldn't open or launch it would just go back to GL. Using debug mode, however annoying it can be on a regular basis, is useful for launching executables. I'm sure you've tried this, but mess with every possible configuration detail like "use rom extenstion" etc.
It's not mame, cuz like I said, it didn't work with Nesticle or RockNES either.

that's not a good test. it would just mean that you misconfigured those emulators in glaunch the same way you did mame (most likely)

actually I think I see the problem...looks like there is an extra "space" in the mame command which I think jacks things up... I vaguely remember something about this on the glaunch mailing list... (diggin up the link)

rampy

EDIT archive of glaunch mailing list to browse through

EDIT 2 I'd also suggest trying to run MAME via the command line that is being generated by glaunch... i.e.

mame.exe 1942a

just to see what happens in *just* mame. if you don't have your .ini's / configs of vanilla mame configed it won't be able to find the correct /ROMS directory and/or stuff. *shrug*

Distortion · « **Reply #16 on:** February 23, 2003, 03:30:44 pm »

what i was saying is that it wasn't the actual mame.exe that was corrupt as he had said. not that my configuration wasn't faulty. i'm gonna check on that space thing.

rampy · « **Reply #17 on:** February 23, 2003, 03:37:43 pm »

Quote from: Distortion on February 23, 2003, 03:30:44 pm

what i was saying is that it wasn't the actual mame.exe that was corrupt as he had said. not that my configuration wasn't faulty. i'm gonna check on that space thing.

ahhh.. i see. good luck. hope it works out...

rampy

Distortion · « **Reply #18 on:** February 23, 2003, 04:20:14 pm »

I can't figure out why it's adding that space, but when I set it to use the full path on the roms, it merely added a . (period) before the rom title... so i.e.

Quote

23 Feb 2003 16:07:18.010 [Info] Starting engine loop
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Game selected: <Aliens (World set 1)>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Emulator: <MAME>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Directory: <c:\mame>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Pre-command: <>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Post-command: <>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Command: <mame.exe .aliens >
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.300 [Info] Average FPS: 24
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.350 [Info] Exitting
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.350 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.680 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller: Done

and those spaces are still at the end there.

CurmudgeonlyBastrd · « **Reply #19 on:** February 24, 2003, 12:11:39 pm »

Distortion, I have gotten it to work...

First I tried debug mode, and it sorta worked but it pauses automatically so you have to press a key to continue.

Then I checked the logs again... I was getting like FIVE spaces after my command, which shouldnt matter to mame but...

to get rid of the spaces I had to add arbitray options to my mame.cfg file. It's ok if they are duplicates of default commands. I added -soundcard 0 and -vsync.

The opther change I made was in the glaunch.cfg file. Since I had deleted the files for the extra emu's besides mame, I erased them froom the glaunch.cfg file as well.

One of these steps fixed it. I'm not sure which!

Warborg · « **Reply #20 on:** February 24, 2003, 12:44:11 pm »

Quote from: Jakobud on February 23, 2003, 01:48:15 am

Yeah its XP. Game Launcher was originally made for DOS. Even though it is obviously not a DOS executable you are using, XP just hates DOS stuff period. It is doing something that DOS doesn't like. I am using GL in Win2k with no problems though.

I always love how people decide to blame XP when they can't think of anything else... It's M$'s new OS, must be at fault. I run XP on my main PC at home with GL, works great. I run XP on my arcade cab, guess what? Works perfectly there, as well.

Dave Dribin · « **Reply #21 on:** February 24, 2003, 01:14:28 pm »

Quote from: Distortion on February 23, 2003, 04:20:14 pm

I can't figure out why it's adding that space, but when I set it to use the full path on the roms, it merely added a . (period) before the rom title... so i.e.

Quote
23 Feb 2003 16:07:18.010 [Info] Starting engine loop
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Game selected: <Aliens (World set 1)>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Emulator: <MAME>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Directory: <c:\mame>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Pre-command: <>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Post-command: <>
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.020 [Info] Command: <mame.exe .aliens >
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.300 [Info] Average FPS: 24
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.350 [Info] Exitting
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.350 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller
23 Feb 2003 16:08:10.680 [Info] Cleaning up Launcher_Controller: Done
and those spaces are still at the end there.

I think I've seen this before. Make sure you have "use_rom_directory = no" and "use_extension = no" in your mame.cfg. I fthat doesn't work, post youre mame.cfg. Better yet, join the Game Launcher mailing list and post it there. Trailing spaces shouldn't matter, but that extra dot will mess things up.

-Dave

Howard_Casto · « **Reply #22 on:** February 24, 2003, 04:34:46 pm »

Quote from: Warborg on February 24, 2003, 12:44:11 pm

Quote from: Jakobud on February 23, 2003, 01:48:15 am
Yeah its XP. Game Launcher was originally made for DOS. Even though it is obviously not a DOS executable you are using, XP just hates DOS stuff period. It is doing something that DOS doesn't like. I am using GL in Win2k with no problems though.

I always love how people decide to blame XP when they can't think of anything else... It's M$'s new OS, must be at fault. I run XP on my main PC at home with GL, works great. I run XP on my arcade cab, guess what? Works perfectly there, as well.

Agreed....

People love to blame microsoft products (especially the newer, more advanced ones) because they are from a big "bad" corporation. The truth is that big, bad corporation is the reason you are able to type this post on a global internet, with your cheap pc and your reliable, customizable os.

It's like that ad about the phone company from "Crazy People"

"Were AT&T and we invented the damn phone so shut up and pay your bill!" --AT&T

Well they are Microsoft and they made the damn personal computer industry so shut up and use the os.

(Mac users and m$ haters please insert flame here, but do you honestly think that the computer industry would be as cheap, global and advanced without m$ ?)

romid · « **Reply #23 on:** February 25, 2003, 07:48:40 pm »

Im having the same problem as the OP

I have tried all the recomendations, but games only launch when in deug mode. I also have spaces at the end of the commands that are being executed. If anyone has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them-- thanks!

romid · « **Reply #24 on:** February 25, 2003, 11:04:17 pm »

I think I have it figured out...

This is the problem I had: Games would properly load when in debug mode, but not load at all when not in debug mode.

This is how I fixed it: I moved the directory I had extracted gamelauncher to the root directory (c:\) It possibly wasnt working before because the path to it had a space in it?

Good luck to all those having similar problems!

rosebudcassidy · « **Reply #25 on:** February 26, 2003, 09:06:38 am »

Has anyone had any issue wth GL and NTFS (W2K and XP) I have gotten it to work on a machine that was FAT32 running XP but not NTFS. Any help would be appreciated.

jets · « **Reply #26 on:** February 26, 2003, 09:27:58 am »

I doubt it has anything to do with ntfs since I run GL on 2 PCs which use that file system.

rosebudcassidy · « **Reply #27 on:** February 26, 2003, 09:34:53 am »

When I attempt to run glaunch I get the following error.

Error

Could not create "logs" directory

Has anyone seen this before?

TroyS · « **Reply #28 on:** January 09, 2006, 02:00:58 pm »

I had the Could not create "logs" directory in glaunch and could find little help so I am replying to this old post to help others. I found that you get this error on XP (and probably win2k) computers if you are running glaunch located on a large NTFS partition (I suspect larger than 8gig). If you move glaunch to a separate partition that is FAT32 or a small NTFS partition under 4 or 5 gig, glaunch works fine.


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