Trouble Installing MAME on new XP Install

[javeryh]

I just did a fresh install of XP on a laptop (IBM thinkpad - pentium III) and I can't get MAME to run.  Am I missing drivers/important files due to the new OS installation?  I installed DirectX 9.0c and then XP off of my installation disc.  I'm getting a Direct 3D error (I think) when I run it from the command line.  Any ideas?

[Ginsu Victim]

Man, James....you have the worst luck with software. You're a wiz at cabinet building, but the software always kicks you in the nuts.

You installed DirectX, then XP? Have you tried installing DirectX again? Do you have MAME set to use Direct3D? I use MameUI to set the options, then regular MAME for playing games. It makes it easy to change things and test them before deciding on options. Just drop the UI version (EXE only) into the same folder as your MAME and see what the settings are and mess around with it some.

[Kman-Sweden]

DirectX before XP? How's that even possible? Try installing the newest drivers for your graphic card.

[abispac]

i think your problem its simple, if you are using mame 129 or newer, try to use direct draw at your mame ini file instead of d3d , or try using on older mame 105 maybe? im pretty sure its the video card that wont support the newers mame builds....

[Ginsu Victim]

DirectX before XP? How's that even possible?

Yeah, I had the same question.

You installed DirectX, then XP? Have you tried installing DirectX again?

[Finchbyrd]

He probably ran the xp setup from another OS, fresh install means you had no OS or formatted before you installed. If you had xp, then installed it again on top of itself you will need to run directx after you install xp. Start fresh fresh, reboot with the disk in the pc, boot from disk and install from there, formatting first.

[syph007]

Ya I think what most folks do is keep a separate OS partions.. 10gb or so, then to fresh install just I just reformat that partition and reinstall.  MAME and other valued stuff lives on a separate partition.