mouse 1, 2, 3? Mame keeps changing

[boboli]

Does anyone know why my trackball Mouse # keeps changing on re-boot (and how I can fix it)? It screws up Mame mapping so that I have to re-map each time I reboot.

Alternately, is there any way to configure Mame keycodes in a file, rather than having to go into Tab menu? That way, I could map trackball to Mouse 1, 2, 3 and 4, just in case. I only have one trackball on my control panel.

Thanks

[u_rebelscum]

Does anyone know why my trackball Mouse # keeps changing on re-boot (and how I can fix it)? It screws up Mame mapping so that I have to re-map each time I reboot.

This is due to windows, USB, and timing; windows numbers them in the order the mice "check in" at boot up, which, as in your case, can change.  FWIW you can see this with USB joysticks, also, except usually only if they're the same.  Since mame numbers them in the order windows "gives" them, mame can't do much. 

Alternately, is there any way to configure Mame keycodes in a file, rather than having to go into Tab menu? That way, I could map trackball to Mouse 1, 2, 3 and 4, just in case. I only have one trackball on my control panel.

Yes.  Use ctrlr files.  The easiest way to do this remap using the normal Tab "Input (general)" method and exit mame.  Then copy the cfg/default.cfg file to the ctrlr folder.  Make four copies, I'll call them mouse1.cfg, mouse2.cfg, etc in this example.  Open the files in any text editor and change all the '#' you mapped to in MOUSECODE_#_ANALOG_X to the correct number and save.  Mame does not edit these files, so you don't need to worry about mame overwriting them.  Select which one you use with the -ctrlr xxxx option.  More details at http://www.mameworld.net/easyemu/mameguide/mamecontrolini.htm

[boboli]

thanks for the tips. I'll be trying this out tonight.