Tab not working in MAME

[MilitiaMan]

This is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever experienced with MAME or the building of my cab ... and the answer is probabnly going to be painfully easy.

Here is the problem:

I can't get into the options/settings area of MAME ... I press tab on the kb, I press the button on my cp I have assigned to tab and nothing happens.  

I can go to notepad and press tab repeatedly to verify that the buttons are working but for some reason MAME is not recognizing this as the command to open the settings box.

Any ideas?

MM

[AlanS17]

Did you somehow redefine the button? Try installing a fresh copy of MAME or something and start from scratch.

[SNAAAKE]

delete the .CFG files !
and next time you start mame,everything will be default.

[Tiger-Heli]

This is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever experienced with MAME or the building of my cab ... and the answer is probabnly going to be painfully easy.

Here is the problem:

I can't get into the options/settings area of MAME ... I press tab on the kb, I press the button on my cp I have assigned to tab and nothing happens.  

I can go to notepad and press tab repeatedly to verify that the buttons are working but for some reason MAME is not recognizing this as the command to open the settings box.

Any ideas?

MM

Delete your C:\Mame\mame.cfg file (older MAME versions).  If that doesn't work, look for a C:\mame\cfg\default.cfg file and delete it.  You will then need to reset your "Inputs - All games" settings if you changed them.

Reply back if that doesn't work and I'll try to come up with something else.

[The Man]

This is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever experienced with MAME or the building of my cab ... and the answer is probabnly going to be painfully easy.

Here is the problem:

I can't get into the options/settings area of MAME ... I press tab on the kb, I press the button on my cp I have assigned to tab and nothing happens.  

I can go to notepad and press tab repeatedly to verify that the buttons are working but for some reason MAME is not recognizing this as the command to open the settings box.

Any ideas?

MM

I have the same problem.  I just delete the default.cfg file and its fixed.  But this happens all the time on the CP I built for my Brother In-law.  I have a couple of questions for you:

What version of MAME are you using?
Are you using an encoder and what kind is it?
What OS are you running?

I sure would be interested to find what's doing this.  I know that a person isn't redefining the TAB key, so I would like to find out what causes this.

Thanks,
TM

[AlanS17]

It's the MAME gnomes. They're sneaky devils...

[2slk]

I thought they stopped selling Tab years ago.

[mclaught]

i had the same problem with version .37b5, tab didn't work at all. I then installed version .61 and it worked fine. Try installing a newer version if nothing else works, it worked for me.

[anthony691]

I have a bad story on this one...

I pushed Esc trying to get myself out of the control CFG menu... but it mapped the cfg menu to "none".

Snaake is dead-on!

[u_rebelscum]

I sure would be interested to find what's doing this.  I know that a person isn't redefining the TAB key, so I would like to find out what causes this.

Redefining tab is one the easiest things to (accidently) do; it only takes four key presses: [TAB], [Enter], [Enter], [ESC] (and then [ESC], [ESC] to finalize it.)

One way to protect against this is delete cfg/default.cfg, start any game in mame, exit mame, and then make the just created cfg/default.cfg read-only.

[u_rebelscum]

Delete your C:\Mame\mame.cfg file (older MAME versions).

Hey, Tiger-Heli,

How old?  0.37b series or before?  Not anytime within year or two, I don't think.  Just wondering.

[OSCAR]

Hey, Tiger-Heli,

How old?  0.37b series or before?  Not anytime within year or two, I don't think.  Just wondering.

dosMAME .70 still uses the mame.cfg file, doesn't it?  Just the winMAME compiles use the mame.ini file if I'm not mistaken, but I've been wrong before...

[u_rebelscum]

Hey, Tiger-Heli,

How old?  0.37b series or before?  Not anytime within year or two, I don't think.  Just wondering.

dosMAME .70 still uses the mame.cfg file, doesn't it?  Just the winMAME compiles use the mame.ini file if I'm not mistaken, but I've been wrong before...

Yes, but the current (and recent) dmame mame.cfg file does not contain any info on key input remapping.  Tiger-Heli was suggesting deleting mame.cfg would fix the TAB input problem, and I don't remember mame.cfg containing the input info.  

I was introduced to mame at 0.37b12, but didn't get into coding it until pretty much the end of the 0.37b series; that's why I ask "how old?"  I'm a "middle-ager" when it comes to mame.

[SirPoonga]

Hehe, suprised no one suggested ctrlr files yet?  Then definately make the default.cfg read only.

[Tiger-Heli]

Delete your C:\Mame\mame.cfg file (older MAME versions).

Hey, Tiger-Heli,

How old?  0.37b series or before?  Not anytime within year or two, I don't think.  Just wondering.

I was thinking of before MAME went to a WinMAME/DMame split.  The command line version that ended up as DMAME.  I almost posted to delete your mame.cfg file, to which 90% of people would have said "Where's that, I don't have one?"

I feel very, very old . . .

[OSCAR]

I was introduced to mame at 0.37b12, but didn't get into coding it until pretty much the end of the 0.37b series; that's why I ask "how old?"  I'm a "middle-ager" when it comes to mame.

I pulled a hard drive out of one of my old computers a couple weeks ago and I found a MAME .28 installation on it.  And I know I had MAME on a different computer before that one.  Heh, now I feel old, too...  

[Tiger-Heli]

I pulled a hard drive out of one of my old computers a couple weeks ago and I found a MAME .28 installation on it.  And I know I had MAME on a different computer before that one.  Heh, now I feel old, too...  

I think it was somewhere late 0.33, early 0.34 for me.  I don't feel as old anymore.   Thanks OSCAR!

[Cave]

Don't you mean mame\cfg\default.cfg, this is the file to delete, it contains all the key bindings.