Some minor issues

[Evenflow]

Hello, I'm having some minor issues with MESSUI (This is on XP 32 bit). They are not new, but I finally thought I might point them out, maybe there is a fix in the cards.

 

 

1) Effect files cannot be handled from the gui. Inserting the "effect" line in a system's ini works and it will appear in the gui, but it's not possible to manipulate the settings there.

 

 

2) MESSUI doesn't like it when I'm entering "ams" in the search field - if you want to e.g. list Amstrad platforms that way, it causes relatively high cpu load/freezes.

 

3) Specifying a different rompath doesn't work anymore. Outside of the "roms" directory where MESS/MESSUI is located, Bios files won't be recognized.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Evenflow

[Robert]

Hi,

 

1. I've never used effects files, and I don't know what to expect. Can you guide me?

 

2. I typed in ams, and the cpc464 emulation started up. On exit, all the amstrad systems were listed. I suspect the slowdown is due to the huge number of items in the software list. I don't think that can be improved on a slow computer. Just wait a while, and see what happens.

 

3. My bios files are not in the usual place, and they are found without problem. Have you set up your mess.ini files (both of them) in the proper way?

[julepe]

Hi,

 

what I can see on Windows 7 64 bits

 

1. Ok, you can select the effect from the GUI but it's not saved in CORE SCREEN OPTIONS (mess.ini)

2. I think like Robert. That is because the first system listed with "ams" is cpc464. I've tried it on my old core2duo laptop, OMG! so it's my children laptop, 45 seconds. But it takes the same time if you click on it (move the scroll bar and click on cpc464)

3. I have no problem with the rompath (mine: rompath roms1;roms2;software)

Edited May 31, 2015 by julepe

[Evenflow]

Hi,

 

1. I've never used effects files, and I don't know what to expect. Can you guide me?

 

Under the Advanced tab, MESSUI allows to select an effect file (such as scanlines, aperture etc.). These are normally located in the "artwork" folder. Whatever you choose there is not saved, the effect is never applied. Checking older versions of MESS with UI, I found there is an "effect" line in the ini under "Windows Video Options". This line is missing by default now it seems.

 

2) Indeed! I moved the cpc_flop.xml out of hash, and presto, cpc almost instantly usable. Thanks.

 

3. My bios files are not in the usual place, and they are found without problem. Have you set up your mess.ini files (both of them) in the proper way?

 

I actually don't know what you mean by setting the ini files up - in my experience everything was set up automatically. I found now while comparing with version 0149u1, that for some reason my rompaths aren't updated anymore in inis with whatever I specified via gui. Writing the path in mess.ini manually makes it work. This had the curious effect that after an audit, MESSUI told me that various systems I had started before were now available, but they still would not work, because the system-specific ini was still pointing to the old path. After deletion of those inis, those systems naturally work as well.

[julepe]

Evenflow, you can manually change mess.ini located in ini folder. The problem is that every system, once played, will save its ini file with the current config and that file has priority over mess.ini

 

If you want to add an effect, on 0.162, look for something like this in your ini file, modify it and save the file.

#
# CORE SCREEN OPTIONS
#
brightness 1.0
contrast 1.0
gamma 1.0
pause_brightness 0.65
effect Scanlines75x2_j4

[Robert]

Thanks for the infos. The problem is that INI file handling within the MAME core is a bit of a disaster, with the problems you see. I have a plan to modify MESSUI to get around these issues, but do not know exactly when that will happen. Hopefully soon!

 

 

 

The proper way to setup your ini files with MESSUI, let's say you have a brand new installation with no mess.ini

 

1. at the command prompt, type messui -cc (this creates a default mess.ini)

 

2. md ini (creates an ini folder)

 

3. Open mess.ini in Notepad and modify whatever you want. Make sure that 'inipath' contains ini and nothing else. Make sure that the read and write options at the top are set to 1.

 

4. Save the file. Copy it to the ini folder. Now it should work as you intended.

 

While the file is open, you can change a few other things (recommended). See http://messui.1emulation.com/howto.html for the details.

[Evenflow]

Oh ok. As I said, minor issues, I see the workarounds now. I'd just hate to see it become worse, also it sometimes hard to see what's actually supposed to work and not, though this isn't a specific problem with the gui . Thanks for maintaining it.

Edited June 1, 2015 by Evenflow

[Robert]

i was able to track the change of "effect" right into the MAME core, yet it never wrote the new value to the ini file. Looks like it might have to wait for that rewrite.

[Robert]

After a substantial amount of work in adding MAMEUI's caching and speedup code to MESSUI, I was eventually able to track down why "effect" wasn't being saved. The problem is now fixed.