Messages

1

Themes / Re: How do I get full game name in ListBox instead of short form name?

« on: June 11, 2022, 02:02:17 PM »

Solved.  Thank you.

The issue wasn't my Squirrel code, as it turns out.  I had a typo in the main setup file for the AM scraper.  It didn't give me an error when I ran it, but it didn't output any data either.  So none of the "Magic Words" got populated.  Without any data, the program just defaults to things like the short filename format.

An error message would have been nice <grin>.  But the Silent But Deadly Error was making me mad.

Appreciate the feedback.

2

Themes / How do I get full game name in ListBox instead of short form name?

« on: June 11, 2022, 08:15:31 AM »

I can't figure out how (or where) Squirrel pulls filenames to fill the ListBox.  But my add.listbox command only fills it with the filename minus the  .zip  (ex: "joust").

How do I get my listbox to show the full game name instead (ex:  "Joust (Green Label)").

I only make one call to the listbox, and AM does seem to pull some default data to fill it.  Can't find where to change this.
     local lb = fs.add_listbox( 10*xs, 83*ys, 245*xs, 335*ys );
     lb.rows = 18;
     lb.charsize = 12*ys;

Any help, appreciated.

3

Themes / HELP: AMBuilder: Layout Designer!

« on: June 09, 2022, 02:06:03 PM »

I want so much to love this program.  But no matter what I change, the net result is a menu window that only occupies the top left 1/4 of my screen.

I've tried varying resolutions, height, width.  Nothing changes.

Has anyone made this program work properly?  It seems like it's.....almost great.  But I'm missing something.

Any help - hints, suggestions, sample files made with this, etc, greatly appreciated.

4

Themes / Re: CoinOps - can I stretch menu to fill 16:9 monitor?

« on: June 09, 2022, 08:31:05 AM »

Thanks.  I think I'm on track now.

5

Themes / CoinOps - can I stretch menu to fill 16:9 monitor?

« on: June 08, 2022, 10:16:28 AM »

I love CoinOps.  But when my last 4:3 monitor gave out and I shifted to a 16:9 monitor, and I'm now having an issue with how the Main menu is displayed.

Maybe I never noticed on the 4:3 before, but on the 16:9 the Main menu screen is shifted all the way to the left.  The right side of the screen is blank.  See my picture.

Is this by design, or can I somehow stretch the screen (or center it) so it doesn't look so...weird.

Any help, appreciated.

6

General / Need multiple ESC presses to exit AttractMode?

« on: November 05, 2018, 03:20:02 PM »

I love AttractMode, and it runs really well on my system:  I use MAME64 as my emulator, along with a X-Arcade Tankstick.  Awesome.

One minor irritation:  When i want to exit any particular game (and go back to the main menu), i have to press the ESC key multiple times.  Like 4, 5, or even 6 times before it responds.

When I run MAME64 with the Tankstick (and don't use AttractMode), one press is all it takes.

It's not a big deal - a minor annoyance - but if there's an easy way to fix this I'd appreciate any kind of help.

Great program.  Love it.

7

General / How to Wake/Sleep via Task Scheduler in Windows 10 (Solved)

« on: February 24, 2018, 02:05:14 PM »

Maybe this wasn't as hard for you as it was for me.  But after reading (countless) entries on Wake/Sleep via Task Scheduler in Windows 10, I've finally got it figured out.

My goal was to have my Arcade Cabinet - running Attract Mode - Sleep at night.  But be awake when I come downstairs in the morning to greet me <grin>.  I also combined this with a (cool and cheap) powerstrip from Home Depot with a timer, so as to turn the monitor and marquee power off at the same time.

Following is the magic Task Scheduler commands that make it work under Windows 10. 

Note:  You have to download PSTOOLS, but it's free.  Find it here:  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/pstools

NOTE:  Using Windows rundll32.exe isntead of pstools is nothing but trouble...

I scheduled 3 different events:  (1) Kill attract.exe process at 10pm (2) Sleep the PC at 1005pm (3) Wake the PC at 600am by starting a new copy of attract.exe.

Note that I leave 5 minutes between (1) Kill attract.exe and (2) Sleep the PC.  One minute was sometimes (rarely) not enough, and it caused issues.  This method works fine.

In Task Scheduler, create 3 "Basic Tasks" one at a time.  Setup On/Off times, then go to each inividual "Actions" tab and enter the following commands as indicated.  Note for the first two, nothing is entered in the optional "Start" section - this is only used for the 3rd (Wake) item.

------------------------

(1) Kill AttractMode
Setup On/Off Times, then go to the "Actions Tab"   
        Program:  taskkill.exe
   Arguments: /im attract.exe
   Start:

(2) Sleep PC
Setup On/Off Times, then go to the "Actions Tab"
   Program:  c:/pstools/psshutdown.exe
   Arguments: -d -t 0 -accepteula
   Start:

(3) WakeAttractMode
Setup On/Off Times, then go to the "Actions Tab"
   Program:   attract.exe
   Arguments:
   Start:      c:\attractmode

Every night at 10pm, AttractMode (nicely) shuts down.  5 minutes later, the PC quietly goes to sleep.  At 6am the next morning, AttractMode starts.  Make sure in WakeAttractMode that you put your OWN directory of where you have AttractMode installed (mine is c:\attractmode.)  This is the only one of the 3 that needs a "Start" option entered.

Good luck.