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MAME resolution q' -> Should I expect games to fill arcade monitor?

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Hiub1:
The QuickRes utility not working is what is causing the problem! :/ Powerstrip has some sort of bug that will output 18 kHz instead of the 15.7 kHz when using these low arcade resolutions. If you could run XP, assuming you have an older machine you can use a barebones edition of XP that has all services turned off and is really light. I am running it at the moment on an AMD K6 233 mhz with 128 mb of ram and it works without a problem. I believe that once you do that, you should be good to go, but again it is somewhat of a pain in the butt to upgrade. I ran into all of this about 3 weeks back, when attempting to make my monitor run. Had to upgrade from 2000 to XP, blah blah blah, but finally got it working and it looks sweet! Don't give up!

quarterback:

--- Quote from: Hiub1 on May 05, 2006, 06:43:11 pm ---The QuickRes utility not working is what is causing the problem! :/ Powerstrip has some sort of bug that will output 18 kHz instead of the 15.7 kHz when using these low arcade resolutions.
--- End quote ---

Well, holy crap.   I had no idea.  I figured that QuickRes was just going to make it 'easier' to select resolutions.    I can give XP a shot, but I'm running on 64meg of ram which is fine for DOS, but is really bare bones for XP.

Hmmm... I wonder if there are older versions of Powerstrip without this bug.   I think that the instructions in the Powerstrip FAQ (in Mon/Vid forum) are from an earlier version because they don't completely match up with the current one.  Maybe I should prowl around for a 2005 version.


--- Quote ---If you could run XP, assuming you have an older machine you can use a barebones edition of XP that has all services turned off and is really light.
--- End quote ---

I wouldn't be against giving it a shot.  Is there an XPLite download like there used to be for Win98?  I guess I'll prowl around for that as well.

In the end, I'd still like to actually figure out why mame's arcade monitor output won't work correctly for me, but I'm willing to mess with powerstrip if it can actually work on my system.
Thanks again

Hiub1:
Yes, the QuickRes utility is the key to the whole process! Actually, once you load all the resolutions from powerstrip onto the driver, you can switch resolutions with Mame with the -r command, as long as the resolution is available. Say you loaded 324x224, 384x256, and 384x224, you can run those 3 resolutions natively through mame by typing

mame mslug -r 324x224

And it will run at that resolution. You just cannot switch resolutions from Powerstrip, or have it running while you are at 15 kHz resolutions. Also make sure that you do what I mentioned earlier with the monitors and boot up the computer with no monitor attached so it does not see a plug and play monitor. When you add the resolutions in powerstrip, you are adding them for whatever monitor is plugged in at the moment. If you do it like you should, under the "Windows Default Monitor", the settings will carry over when you boot up with your arcade monitor which is going to be recognized just the same.

About the Light WinXP, there are many out there. I have had great succes with the Windows XP Barebones edition. You really should try and get a 128 mb stick of ram or more, that will help you out a lot!

Good luck and keep us posted!

quarterback:

--- Quote from: Hiub1 on May 05, 2006, 06:43:11 pm ---Powerstrip has some sort of bug that will output 18 kHz instead of the 15.7 kHz when using these low arcade resolutions.
--- End quote ---


--- Quote from: Hiub1 on May 05, 2006, 09:04:32 pm ---Yes, the QuickRes utility is the key to the whole process! Actually, once you load all the resolutions from powerstrip onto the driver, you can switch resolutions with Mame with the -r command, as long as the resolution is available.
--- End quote ---

See, I'm not sure that the problem I'm having is the same as what you're describing.  I don't think the resolutions are ever loading onto the driver.

I get the repeated messages of "You have selected a vertical resolution below 480 which may prove incompatible w/ your display driver.  Are you sure you want to continue?" I click to continue and then I get "Windows will need to be restarted to see if the display driver has accepted the new resolution"

But I get this every single time.  It's not that I'm getting a bad/wrong-frequency with these resolutions.  These resolutions don't ever seem to be "accepted" by my display driver at all.  And I've tried with powerstrip versions 3.63, 3.60 (June 2005) and 3.47 (2003 or 2004) all with the same results.   I don't think I'm dealing with a bug that requires the ultimarc utility or people would have been forced to use that for years


The "640x480i (arcade) is a different story.   That one clearly is loaded and just gives me a garbled, squiggly mess on the monitor whether it's started from powerstrip or from the mame command line with something like "mame 1942 -r 640x480" but as far as the low resolutions go, I don't think they're ever being entered into the registry (or wherever(

Hiub1:
Well, if you are using those resolutions that I gave you, it should be 641x480i? I believe that 641 instead of the 640 is just there to differentiate between regular 640x480 and the interlaced mode. Maybe you missed that? Also, drivers vary from Win98 to XP, so you might have better luck there. I have been using a Radeon 9200SE, and a regular 9200 with no problems whatsoever, and they are dirt cheap. I picked one up on ebay for $10 a couple of days ago. I would still suggest upgrading to XP and trying out those drivers, maybe it will run through there. I am pretty sure that ATI cards are the most compatible when outputting low frequency modes, so I don't think you should have a problem with that. By the way, I was using the latest Catalyst drivers, but I don't know if those apply to your card.

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