Bear with me and this bug report please (AM not launching emulator).

[xod]

@xod:  Along with MameUI, another thing you could do is try one of RetroArch's really old Mame cores.  Any of their Mame cores with a date (for example: Mame 2010 core) would mean it's the older variant.  Not exactly sure which one 0.78 romset would fall under though for use, or if you'd have to download a new set.  But the older cores would be perfect for you because they would optimized for weaker hardware setups.

Yes, that's what I had in mind. 0.78 = 2003, does RA have that ?

[dukpoki]

@xod:  Along with MameUI, another thing you could do is try one of RetroArch's really old Mame cores.  Any of their Mame cores with a date (for example: Mame 2010 core) would mean it's the older variant.  Not exactly sure which one 0.78 romset would fall under though for use, or if you'd have to download a new set.  But the older cores would be perfect for you because they would optimized for weaker hardware setups.

Yes, that's what I had in mind. 0.78 = 2003, does RA have that ?

Yup they do.

[progets]

1. the mame emulator mame.ini "rompath" must always be set correctly otherwise split romsets or roms that use .chd files won't work
2. mame.cfg AM file must contain the rompath to build an AM romlist but doesn't need to be used for "args" statement (because the mame.ini "rompath" takes care of this)
3. you should never configure the AM exit key option unless the emulator doesn't provide this option (this should be blank in the AM mame.cfg)
4. you can use RA to run the mame2003 core but let there be no mistake that the RA mame2003 core and the the full mame .078 elmulator operate differently (in some cases better and in some cases worse)

See this post of links to other options that will help you to the correct fix http://forum.attractmode.org/index.php?topic=2589.msg17688#msg17688.

[xod]

1. the mame emulator mame.ini "rompath" must always be set correctly otherwise split romsets or roms that use .chd files won't work
2. mame.cfg AM file must contain the rompath to build an AM romlist but doesn't need to be used for "args" statement (because the mame.ini "rompath" takes care of this)

I already have mame.ini -> rompath set and valid, but I like to cover all holes.

3. you should never configure the AM exit key option unless the emulator doesn't provide this option (this should be blank in the AM mame.cfg)

I don't use it for MAME.

4. you can use RA to run the mame2003 core but let there be no mistake that the RA mame2003 core and the the full mame .078 elmulator operate differently (in some cases better and in some cases worse)

Whichever 0.78 edition that will will coopeate with AM is welcome. Else a later version with nearly same performance will have to do, unless it all fails, in which case I'll have to experiment with some other FEs.

See this post of links to other options that will help you to the correct fix http://forum.attractmode.org/index.php?topic=2589.msg17688#msg17688.

I have tried many, including explicit resolution (same as OS), but I understand explicit resolution is of no use for d3d renderer, is that true ? In any case, I have to have d3d since the ddraw renderer cannot be configured to give same CRT-ish quality as the 3d3 renderer (either that or I hasted in my experiment).

Btw, as I have written before, on some sessions I can alt+tab into MAME after having lanched it through AM, like some users report (regarding various emulators). But the big difference for me is that, unlike those other users, MAME quits 1-2 second later returning control back to AM, so the alt+tab has to be pressed immediately after launching. Again, that works on some sessions only (AM sessions, not MAME sessions), on others it doesn't work at all.

Thanks for the comment.

[xod]

I have now tried MAMEUI 0.78. In MAMEUI, I configured roms folder, so now the <MAMEUI root>\ini\mame.ini's rompath option points to my roms folder. Running it directly, everything is fine. Running it through AM, always complains about missing roms:

Code: [Select]

1-n3a.bin    NOT FOUND
1-n4.bin     NOT FOUND
1-n5.bin     NOT FOUND
1-n6.bin     NOT FOUND
1-n7.bin     NOT FOUND
1-c11.bin    NOT FOUND
1-f2.bin     NOT FOUND
2-a1.bin     NOT FOUND
2-a2.bin     NOT FOUND
2-a3.bin     NOT FOUND
2-a4.bin     NOT FOUND
2-a5.bin     NOT FOUND
2-a6.bin     NOT FOUND
2-l1.bin     NOT FOUND
2-l2.bin     NOT FOUND
2-n1.bin     NOT FOUND
2-n2.bin     NOT FOUND
08e_sb-5.bin NOT FOUND
09e_sb-6.bin NOT FOUND
10e_sb-7.bin NOT FOUND
f01_sb-0.bin NOT FOUND
06d_sb-4.bin NOT FOUND
03k_sb-8.bin NOT FOUND
01d_sb-2.bin NOT FOUND
02d_sb-3.bin NOT FOUND
k06_sb-1.bin NOT FOUND
01m_sb-9.bin NOT FOUND
ERROR: required files are missing, the game cannot be run.
Surely it seems that there is some strange error handling going on ? I mean, it looks (refer to my previous experiences, and other users') like there is some conflict with AM <-> MAME* video/graphics, and that MAME* has flawed error handling, and instead wrongly executing code that outputs that roms are missing ? It sure looks like that, what else could it be ?

Anyway, tomorrow or the day after I will try AM -> RetroArch.

Ok, the always roms errors was due to my customization of MAME.cfg. Now that I fixed it, the error message is always:

Code: [Select]

Unable to start video emulation
Error setting cooperative level: 88760245
In other words, just like regular 0.78, except the roms are not listed/enumerated (regular 0.78 enumerates the roms whether there is any kind of error or not).

[rand0m]

The error relates to DDraw/ DirectX. 
Post #2 lists some solution (dx runtime files): https://steamcommunity.com/app/343000/discussions/0/215439774852237513/

[xod]

The error relates to DDraw/ DirectX. 
Post #2 lists some solution (dx runtime files): https://steamcommunity.com/app/343000/discussions/0/215439774852237513/

I searched google myself earlier, but unfortunately by copy-pasting an entire line from error message, instead of just the errorcode + one or more words. Thanks for the link.

Even though I'm not using ddraw ? (d3d here), I'm guessing it's a d3d problem and that ddraw is just a layer on top of d3d. I believe ddraw was directly supported by gpu hardware eons ego, but I think my (although over a decade old now) gpu's ddraw driver sits atop the d3d driver. That could be an explanation. But I admit I know nothing about DirectX (programming wise), so I'm just speculating.

I'm not much in the mood of "updating" directx and reinstalling gpu drivers (the latter really) for now, so I'll try the other paths first (RetroArch etc), and if that is fruitless, I'll just have to bite the sour apple I guess.

[xod]

Update: Someone mentioned AM v2.0.0-rc2 in another thread, I tested it and it works, so sweet

[toothlessgrinn]

smmfh............