Can someone tell me if its Mame / MaLa / Fatfingers Pluggin, or my U360's Issue

[mrclean]

OK sorry for a some what of a double post but im still having some trouble Ultimarc joysticks both clearly work in various games / and other emulators both in Mame/ and outside of.. this is why I don't think anything is wrong with them.. however ;

Sometimes when i get to the Warning before the rom loads.. move joystick left / right OK Rom check menu the joystick doesnt work period.

I need to if i get stuck at this screen either exit with ESC, or if i intend to proceed I must tap left and right on my keyboard rather that using the P1 Joy..

Upon loading certain games using the FE MaLa ; I'm experiencing very odd things on the PLAYER 1 Joystick..
player 2 isn't affected, Mario Bro's now doesnt work with player 1 joy, only player 2.. when I try to hit TAB within Mame to map it the joystick for player 1 doesnt respond? the arrow keys on my keyboard currently control player one.. but it won't let me map it to my u360 ?, What leaves me really baffled is the fact that many other games work just fine.. so far galaga, bubble bobble, and now mario bro's ive had the same issue?> Any one that can walk me through this fix it would be greatly apreciated.. previously I had Mamewah, but switched to MaLa mainly because of FatFingers pluggin' which alegidly automatically maps for the specific game.

[u_rebelscum]

I don't use MaLa or Fatfinger's pluggin, so take this with a grain of salt.  Also I haven't seen your prior post, so I don't know what's been suggested.  Anyway...

Try setting the u360 in analog mode for all games all the time, and let mame do the automatic mapping.  Mame can do exactly the same thing as u360 is doing, without need for a pluggin.  If you didn't change u360's default maps (8way/4way/4way diagonal), you shouldn't notice a difference.  If you did change the maps, you can give mame the equivalent; for now just test with mame's defaults, and I'll help you with mame's analog to digital mapping format later.

I am assuming you are using a recent or current mame, of course.


My guess at what's going on with the little info I have: the u360 is restarting after the remap, and mame starts before the u360 recovers.  Since mame only looks for new joysticks at startup, it misses joy1.  (I wonder if you can add a delay between remapping u360 and starting mame?)

Some questions I have if I'm wrong:
Player1 u360 is joystick 1, and p2 is joy2?
Sometimes joy1 works, sometimes it don't, and a game might flipflop between joy working and not?  Or once a game doesn't work once, it continues not working?
Does joy2 act is if it was joy1 in the joy1 not working times?  Or is it still joy2?

Something else you also might want to do:
In mame "input (general)" "user Interface", map both joy1 & joy2 as UI_left & UI_right.  Then you can wiggle either joy1 or joy2 to get past the ok screen.

[kegger]

Have you created a file called "umapper.log"? This should tell you what is going on when the plugin tries to load a map for a game. I would first make this file and see what it says
then go from there. I am using Mala and the same plugin with no issues but I haven't tried those games either but I will give them a shot tomorrow and post the results.

[mrclean]

Some questions I have if I'm wrong:
Player1 u360 is joystick 1, and p2 is joy2?...

-joystick 1, and 2 are both different U360's

Sometimes joy1 works, sometimes it don't,

Yes its working fine in like 95% of my other games.. except for the ones that ive discovered so far.. bubble bobble, mario bro, galaga

and a game might flipflop between joy working and not? Or once a game doesn't work once, it continues not working?

No, certain games are just having this issue.. all the other games are just fine.. so far ive only noticed this problem specifically on bubble bobble, mario bros, and galaga.  *When I had Other joysticks installed i left the microswitches underneath my cabinet connected because I didnt want to disconnect anything.. the U360's obviously use USB connection.. this might be the reason why?
 

Does joy2 act is if it was joy1 in the joy1 not working times?  Or is it still joy2?

nope thats not an issue.. joystick 2 is always joystick 2

Something else you also might want to do:
In mame "input (general)" "user Interface", map both joy1 & joy2 as UI_left & UI_right.  Then you can wiggle either joy1 or joy2 to get past the ok screen.

I didnt try this yet, how exactly do I do that? and, even upon if the game actually loads once in game the joystick doesnt have any responce when hitting TAB within mame anyways.. even if loaded with my keyboard left right?

[mrclean]

Have you created a file called "umapper.log"? This should tell you what is going on when the plugin tries to load a map for a game. I would first make this file and see what it says
then go from there. I am using Mala and the same plugin with no issues but I haven't tried those games either but I will give them a shot tomorrow and post the results.

Yes I created a umapper.log file... i actually didnt even read it yet to be honest

[fatfingers]

The joystick is completely mapped before MAME starts.  Try uninstalling the plugin from MaLa and see if the same issue still happens.  You have to go about the debugging process slowly and methodically.  If the problem still happens without the plugin, then what about if you start MAME and the game in question from the command line?

[mrclean]

I think I may have figured it out.. its mapping the wrong 2-way map.. its mapping a 2-way up and down map restriction instead of a left right map.. which is why within mame if i hit TAB i can hit up and down and it will let me assign those as the inputs. How do i fix this? I think I just need to edit / or delete a MAP file / ugc. file ? Where is that map thats causing me these issues?>

[mrclean]

Have you created a file called "umapper.log"? This should tell you what is going on when the plugin tries to load a map for a game. I would first make this file and see what it says
then go from there. I am using Mala and the same plugin with no issues but I haven't tried those games either but I will give them a shot tomorrow and post the results.

EVENT: Game start (ROM: 'bubbobr1', CLONE OF: 'bublbobl', CONTROL: 'joy2way')

_build_mapname: Built map file name: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\bubbobr1.ugc'
_file_exists: Seeing if file 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\bubbobr1.ugc' exists
_file_exists: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\bubbobr1.ugc' does not exist
_get_mapname: did not locate rom name map file: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\bubbobr1.ugc'
_get_mapname: looking for map for clone: 'bublbobl'
_build_mapname: Built map file name: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\bublbobl.ugc'
_file_exists: Seeing if file 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\bublbobl.ugc' exists
_file_exists: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\bublbobl.ugc' does not exist
_get_mapname: locating map by control type: 'joy2way'
_build_mapname: Built map file name: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc'
_file_exists: Seeing if file 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc' exists
_file_exists: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc' does exist
_get_mapname: located control name map file: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc'
_file_exists: Seeing if file 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc' exists
_file_exists: 'C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc' does exist
_run_ultramap: command line '"ultramap.exe" "C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc"'
_run_ultramap: '"ultramap.exe" "C:\Program Files\mala\Maps\2way.ugc"' completed successfully

[fatfingers]

A couple of things....The correct map is being applied according to the controls.ini file.  It is saying this is a 2-way game.  Should it be?

Secondly, since the 2-way map has been applied, only left and right should be registered by the joystick, and those are exactly the two directions you need to move the stick, so I'm not sure why that would be the issue?

BTW: I have that check compiled out of MAME, so I'm not able to reproduce the error for you.

[mrclean]

its deffinatly the wrong map thats being sent and locking out all other "directions" of use. Its mapping an up and down restriction instead of a left / right.. which is why its not working. when I hit TAB in mame to re-assign the buttons / change the joy 1... only UP, and Down on my U360 P1 works.. which obviously i don't want Up, and down set for left and right.. how do i fix this! ?

[fatfingers]

Hmmmm....seems odd.  The default 2way.ugc file in my plugin refers to the 2-Way Left and Right UltraMap map.  Run UltraMap and load the 2 way left and right map and see what directions it is set up for.  Better yet, take a screenshot of it and post it here so I can see it (my machine is torn apart right now so I can't look at mine).

From here it looks like the map is being applied correctly, but the map itself is incorrect.

[SGT]

its deffinatly the wrong map thats being sent and locking out all other "directions" of use. Its mapping an up and down restriction instead of a left / right.. which is why its not working. when I hit TAB in mame to re-assign the buttons / change the joy 1... only UP, and Down on my U360 P1 works.. which obviously i don't want Up, and down set for left and right.. how do i fix this! ?

Rotate your stick 90 degress. 

[fatfingers]

SGT, you deserve a cookie...I'll bet that's the issue!

[mrclean]

SGT, you deserve a cookie...I'll bet that's the issue!

doesn't make sense as my other games more than 95% are working just fine.. there's gotta be a fix

[mrclean]

galaxian giving me the same issue.. . its obvious to me any 2-way game is not working! if i delete the 2-way map would it automatically make it a 4-way?

[kegger]

If everything is loading corrctly for other games then I would just use Ultramap and load that 2 way map and edit it so it is correct and save over it then your problem should go away.

[fatfingers]

screenshot of map like I asked for before?

[mrclean]

What folder should the maps be in ive coppied and pasted them so many times that im not sure what the proper file structure should be ? and are you looking for a screen shot of the ugc files ? or um files ?

[kegger]

Maps should be stored in your Mala Folder.

Here is a pic of the correct orientation for the u360 but the board should be facing front and the plugs on it should face away from the monitor

[fatfingers]

I am actually looking for a screenshot of the UltraMap program with the 2-way map showing on the screen.

[mrclean]

Finally~! Bubble bobble is now working.. the ugc file was all Fu^$#ed up

i changed it and it worked.. This is what my 2-way .ugc file looked like :

# This is an Ultimarc UltraStik Game Configuration file
UltraStikGameConfigurationFileFormatVersion=1.0

UltraStik1MapFile=2-Way, Up,Down *something along those lines..
UltraStik2MapFile=4-Way
UltraStik3MapFile=Analog
UltraStik4MapFile=Analog

then changed it to this:

# This is an Ultimarc UltraStik Game Configuration file
UltraStikGameConfigurationFileFormatVersion=1.0

UltraStik1MapFile=2-Way
UltraStik2MapFile=4-Way
UltraStik3MapFile=Analog
UltraStik4MapFile=Analog

PROBLEM SOLVED

[fatfingers]

Hmmm...you must have edited that file somewhere along the way...I just extracted the plugin and looked at the file in question, and the following is the default contents:

# This is an Ultimarc UltraStik Game Configuration file
UltraStikGameConfigurationFileFormatVersion=1.0

UltraStik1MapFile=2-Way, Left & Right
UltraStik2MapFile=2-Way, Left & Right
UltraStik3MapFile=
UltraStik4MapFile=