AtomicFe and Daphne Module Question

[Kevin Mullins]

I browsed around a bit, but didn't find anything really related to my issue.

First off.... I've simply been poking around for a nicer frontend for Daphne. I really don't want this one to have a gazillion bells and whistles, just laserdisc games.

AtomicFE seems to be really simple to use, simple to configure, I installed Havocs laserdisc module and had Dragons Lair up and running pretty quickly. (sorta) The problem is that I can hear it running in the background just fine going through the motions as it should but the screen is basically blank. (more of a green screen actually)

Video files seem to be where they should be in the proper folders, but it's as if it's playing the audio files and not the video or the resolution settings are wrong or something.
No errors....just no video.

I'm sure I'm missing something simple..... any pointers?

[Havok]

Looks like a codec issue. Can you play the videos outside of Daphne\Atomic? Try opening a m2v file with Media Player and see if you get the same result. If that works, then I would try and narrow down if it is an Atomic issue. Try then to see if it works with Daphne, without Atomic. Let me know how you make out, and we'll go from there...

[Kevin Mullins]

Using Daphne - They all play fine.

I've been messing with it for quite some time now and was starting to wonder myself if it wasn't a missing codec. Because other than displaying the video content it seemed to work great..... error free.

But I did just now notice when I would open the .m2v files up individually with Media Player that it would briefly say "aquiring codec"..... "codec aquired" and then plays.
And it does that EVERY time I open one.

I did just recently re-do this pc, so I will try and update the codecs a bit and see if that's it and let ya know.

Thanks

[Kevin Mullins]

Well... so far no luck using AtomicFE to run the m2v files.

Media Player opens them fine.
DaphneLoader opens them fine.
And I can run Daphne from a command line from RUN and it works fine.

But still when I start a game from AtomicFE.... it loads..... the audio starts.... but no video.

Could it be a resolution issue?
It seems to look like it's trying to open a "widescreen" aspect ratio and not an 800X600 like I have it set. Just curious..... I'm clueless.

[Havok]

Perhaps it is a resolution issue. Try running one game in windowed mode and see if that helps - edit your config file which is located here:

C:\AtomicFE_v019\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\daphne.cfg

Look for the entries that specify the command line settings about three quarters of the way down, and remove the -fullscreen switch on one of the games, and see if it works properly then.

[Kevin Mullins]

This has got me buggin' for sure...... where's that dang ol' little check box I'm missing. 

Does basically the same thing in windowed mode like you suggested.
(just in a windowed version of course)

BTW - I tried the other laserdisc player module and got the same results.

Also loaded the Atari 2600 module and it "worked", but each game gave a different result as far as video size, quality, position, etc. I know it's not the same as playing the m2v files, but it made me wonder if there was something un-related going wrong also. (back to the resolution questions)

Do you think there's a plugin I'm missing or something?

[Havok]

Alright, it's got to be a codec issue. In a case like this, I reach for the all in one codec pack that works every time - K-Lite. I would try the standard version. It's more codecs than you need, but it should solve your video issue. Here's one site that I have grabbed it from before:

http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

[Kevin Mullins]

Yeah, that's the one I usually use to reload codecs with. I even tried the "lots of stuff" option this time and still no go on the video working. Done it twice now, even after re-installing AtomicFE, same results.
I just can't figure out where the "green screen" is coming from either. That might point me in a direction as to what it's at least trying to do. (seen better in the windowed pic)

 

Seems like I'm the only one having this issue...........

[Havok]

Must be user error...

 

See if this works - go back to the daphne.cfg file, and remove all the game entries, from the astron= to the uvt=. This will remove the custom settings in the config file, and just use the generic loader.bat to run Daphne. Hopefully that gets it working for you...

[Kevin Mullins]

Must be user error...

Most certainly is somewhere down the line..... "what's this button do??"   

Non-the-less.... just removed all that from the cfg and it STILL does the same EXACT thing.
Loads up, greenish screen appears, audio starts...........

I'm starting to feel like a real ditz here.

[Havok]

ok, last two suggestions, and then I am at a loss:

1: Uninstall all codecs, re-install just Xvid, and try again
2: Re-download Atomic, install into a different directory, and also re-install the plug and play module and install into that directory. Copy (or move - that's quicker) the Daphne files and try again.

good luck!

[Kevin Mullins]

I swear I have done this this over and over again, codec, un-codeced, everything just short of kickin' it...... no-go on the video. 
 

It seemed to get worse the more I messed with it. Had to un-install everything just to get things straight again.

Ah-well..... guess I'll move onto the next frontend.

Really appreciate the effort Havoc.   

( know anything about Game Launcher? )
 

[headkaze]

I swear I have done this this over and over again, codec, un-codeced, everything just short of kickin' it...... no-go on the video. 
 

It seemed to get worse the more I messed with it. Had to un-install everything just to get things straight again.

Ah-well..... guess I'll move onto the next frontend.

Really appreciate the effort Havoc.   

( know anything about Game Launcher? )
 

You give up too easy, obviously it's something simple your doing wrong. Didn't you say you could run Daphne games outside of AtomicFE? Then how can it be a codec issue if it works outside Atomic? Atomic doesn't play the video Daphne does. Or am I missing something here?

If you don't have Daphne working outside of Atomic you won't get it to work with any front end. All a FE does is launch the emulator, so if the emulator doesn't work by iteself a FE is not the cause of problem.

What I did was use Daphne Loader to configure everything before I tried to get it running in my FE. Your framefiles could be screwed up like mine were. So I recommend you get them working in that first.

[Kevin Mullins]

Getting Daphne or Daphneloader is definitly NOT the problem.
I can run it either way, upside down,backwards, whatever the case may be.... Daphne works fine. I can run it from the DaphneLoader or from the RUN command just fine.
And that's exactly why it was getting frustrating, because I have put a couple days into this for several hours straight to always come back to the same result no matter how I configured it. I'm sure it is something simple somewhere.....

I swear it almost looks as if something is still running over top of Daphne when it loads.
That's the best way I can describe it since you can hear it running just fine in the background.

[headkaze]

Getting Daphne or Daphneloader is definitly NOT the problem.
I can run it either way, upside down,backwards, whatever the case may be.... Daphne works fine. I can run it from the DaphneLoader or from the RUN command just fine.
And that's exactly why it was getting frustrating, because I have put a couple days into this for several hours straight to always come back to the same result no matter how I configured it. I'm sure it is something simple somewhere.....

I swear it almost looks as if something is still running over top of Daphne when it loads.
That's the best way I can describe it since you can hear it running just fine in the background.

What command line options do you use? I use the following

vldp -fullscreen -x 640 -y 480 -nohwaccel

In my frame files the first lines is simply a "." which means the videos are located in the same folder as the framefile.

[youki]

Hi,

Sorry for my late answer. I didn't have access to computer.

On what OS are your running Atomic?

How much memory you have?

Did you installed Atomic in the default folder or else where?  On what Drive?

Describe me precisly where you put roms file , where you put frame files and what are their exact names.  (for example for Dragon's lair )

Thanks

[Kevin Mullins]

Let me start from scratch and re-install everything and get back to square one and I'll let you all know.
That way there's little that I've already messed with. 

But some basic:

WinXP
512MB ram
Default folders for AtomicFE
Daphne was located in AtomicFE's plug and play folder (Havocs laserdisc module setup)
ROMs located in the Daphne folder installed under the plug and play folder
Framefiles= same

I'll be more specific when I re-install it all again.

[Kevin Mullins]

What command line options do you use? I use the following

vldp -fullscreen -x 640 -y 480 -nohwaccel

In my frame files the first lines is simply a "." which means the videos are located in the same folder as the framefile.

My command lines from Dragons Lair straight from Daphne are:

daphne.exe lair vldp -framefile "C:\Emulators\Daphne\Dragons Lair\lair.txt" -ignore_aspect_ratio -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir . -fastboot -bank 0 11101000 -bank 1 00100111 -prefer_samples -sound_buffer 4096 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 -nohwaccel

(I know I could slim this down some)(but it works fine through Daphne itself)

My framefile for Dragons Lair also starts with the "." and I just copied it straight over to the framefile folder in the Daphne folder for plug and play stuff.

.

150   dl-slates.m2v
323   dls00.vob.m2v
1366   dls01.vob.m2v
2044   dls01d1.vob.m2v
2085   dls01d2.vob.m2v
2133   dls01d3.vob.m2v
2213   dls01b.vob.m2v
2297   dls02.vob.m2v
2729   dls02d1.vob.m2v
2801   dls02d2.vob.m2v
2849   dls02d3.vob.m2v
2921   dls02d4.vob.m2v
etc....
etc....
etc....

(no, I'm not running the Daphne downloaded "DVD" version)(but once again, it works fine through Daphne)

EDIT: The command line above is from my regular standalone Daphne setup, not the AtomicFE setup. I'm looking now to see where the command lines are for the Daphne installed under AtomicFE.

[Kevin Mullins]

Some specifics for youki:

AtomicFE folder
C:\AtomicFE_v019

Daphne ROMs folder
C:\AtomicFE_v019\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\roms

Framefiles
C:\AtomicFE_v019\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\framefile

For testing purposes all I re-installed was the Dragons Lair stuff since I got the same results with ALL of the games so far.

The framefile for Dragons Lair is named lair.
All audio and video files are also in the Framefile folder. (m2v, ogm/ogg,dat)

[headkaze]

There should also be a command line that is sent from Atomic to Daphne when it launches it with the name of the game replaced using a variable. So what does that look like? I'm guessing your command line to run it in Atomic is wrong.

[Kevin Mullins]

He.... yeah I was just looking at that and edited my earlier post.

Since there is a full copy of Daphne in the plug and play folder I would assume there is a command line set for that somewhere........ looking now for it.

[Kevin Mullins]

WooHOO !!
(insert backflipping emoticon here)

It seems it was indeed the command line found in the daphne.cfg found in C:\AtomicFE_v019\plugnplay\daphne_101.24

It used to read:
lair=.\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\daphne.exe lair vldp -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir . -bank 0 11111001 -bank 1 00100111 -sound_buffer 2048 -fullscreen

Changed it using headkaze's example:
lair=.\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\daphne.exe lair vldp -fullscreen -x 640 -y 480 -nohwaccel

And it worked great........

Now to pick it apart and see exactly what part of it was causing the issue.
(-homedir . maybe)
Because audio was fine..... just a video display issue.

[Kevin Mullins]

Picked it apart ........ removed pieces one at a time...... no fix.

ADDED the -nohwaccel to the end........ FIXED
(no hardware acceleration)

lair=.\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\daphne.exe lair vldp -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir . -bank 0 11111001 -bank 1 00100111 -sound_buffer 2048 -fullscreen -nohwaccel

Did some more tweaking:

lair=.\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\daphne.exe lair vldp -blank_searches -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir . -bank 0 11111001 -bank 1 00100111 -sound_buffer 2048 -fullscreen -x 800 -y 600 -fastboot -nohwaccel

Still works great !!

I think we found the little bugger on this one. 

[headkaze]

Where is that darn backflipping emoticon when you need it? 

[Kevin Mullins]

Thanks to all you guys for pushing me to look at it again..... sometimes a second look makes the darndest things pop right out at ya.

Now to see if I can tweak and tune the layouts.
This oughta be fun......   


 

[youki]

Woauh..you are too fast for me , today!

I was typing an answer and during my typing you managed to post 4 time..

So great, you found an solution.  I was suggesting to modify the loader.bat of Atomic according to your working daphnee command line.

But to sumarise, the problem was with the -nohwaccel flag?

[Kevin Mullins]

Maybe it's just because of my video card... or lack there of a good one.
I'm just running the onboard stuff right now, so I'm thinking maybe it just couldn't handle the hardware acceleration. 
 


But since I'm here I got one other quick question.

Since I basically want to just run a single emulator (Daphne) can the first screen where you would choose an emulator be bypassed?
To just go straight to the list of laserdisc games. (?)

[youki]

Try that :

Open AtomicManager.exe ,

Open the file  "<atomicfe>\plugnplay\daphne_101.24\daphne.cfg

Click on the "Define as Start up config".

Then exit.

then open PlugnplayManager.exe ,  and Disable all the module you see (including the Daphne one!!).

Exit, and start Atomic , it should start directly on the Daphne module.

[Kevin Mullins]

Ah... that worked.
I had tried the "set as start up cfg" option, but never thought to disable the plug and play stuff.
And it even plays the startup video now as where it didn't before with the plug and play modules enabled.

 

Now am I assuming correctly that if I want to edit the layout and options that I would only edit the daphne.cfg or do I still need to edit parts of the atomic019.cfg as well?

One thing I still need to configure is exiting games....... meaning generally ya use the ESC key to quit a Daphne game, but if someone hits it again for whatever reason it will close the frontend. Should I just map a different key for exiting one or the other?

[youki]

And it even plays the startup video now as where it didn't before with the plug and play modules enabled.

by default, the video is not enabled in plugnplay mode, but it is possible to have it.

Now am I assuming correctly that if I want to edit the layout and options that I would only edit the daphne.cfg

Yes, correct, you have to work only on your Daphne.cfg , the Atomic019.cfg file is not used anymore (anyway it was not used in Plugnplay mode).

One thing I still need to configure is exiting games....... meaning generally ya use the ESC key to quit a Daphne game, but if someone hits it again for whatever reason it will close the frontend. Should I just map a different key for exiting one or the other?

you have 2 options with Atomic :
 
-you can change the exit key of Atomic , using AtomicKey.exe
-Or you can put a Password on exit (password can be entered using the controlpanel) , it is an option of Atomic.  If the correct password is not entered after few second, it go back to the fe screen.

A 3rd options would be to change the exit key of Daphnee , but i don't know if it is possible.

[Kevin Mullins]

you have 2 options with Atomic :
 
-you can change the exit key of Atomic , using AtomicKey.exe
-Or you can put a Password on exit (password can be entered using the controlpanel) , it is an option of Atomic.  If the correct password is not entered after few second, it go back to the fe screen.

A 3rd options would be to change the exit key of Daphnee , but i don't know if it is possible.

I'll probably just re-assign the esc key for Atomic, seems the simplest solution for now.
I haven't layed out a control panel or anything yet, so I'm just in the testing phase.

I think you're correct on assigning keys to Daphne, I don't recall seeing an option or cfg for doing this. (unless someone else knows something I haven't seen yet)
So it would then be easier just to re-assign the frontend. 

[Kevin Mullins]

I think you're correct on assigning keys to Daphne, I don't recall seeing an option or cfg for doing this. (unless someone else knows something I haven't seen yet)
So it would then be easier just to re-assign the frontend. 

Just to note that there is an INPUT configuration option when you go into configure each game that can be applied to all games as well.
And there is a dapinput configuration file that i guess could be modified if need be as well.

[Havok]

Glad I checked in on this thread - I'll add that switch to my troubleshooting doc. Congratulations on getting it to work!