136 replies to this topic

[jarr3]

Hi, I am working with Toxie on some improvements for the B2S Server.  

 

I guess I was too optimistic with my changes on 1.3.1.0, so you should take the upcoming release once finished.

 

If you care to BETA test, you can check here (do not know if linking it here will work?):

 

https://vpuniverse.c...t&comment=63092

 

All alpha numeric tables worked just fine on 1.3.0.4 server.

 

That is a good hint, I will check what the difference was there.

 

Meantime do you mind to test the BETA at https://vpuniverse.c...t&comment=63092 and please report to me? 

 

I guess my changes has not improved numeric tables (yet?), but otherwise all tables I have tried sofar look good.

 

Edit: also a newer version was uploaded by another user (in same thread) and DMD LEDs will show on screen three but doesn't on 2 screen setup. 

 

 

Can you please show the thread you are talking about?

/Jarr3

Edited by jarr3, 22 May 2022 - 09:48 AM.

[wiesshund]

Hi, I am working with Toxie on some improvements for the B2S Server.  

 

I guess I was too optimistic with my changes on 1.3.1.0, so you should take the upcoming release once finished.

 

If you care to BETA test, you can check here (do not know if linking it here will work?):

 

https://vpuniverse.c...t&comment=63092

/Jarr3

 

You dont have this on github with an actions build section by any chance?
If you do i will test it more often

 

1.3.1.1 beta has definitely fixed the pinning of DMD to backglass when no DMD screen is present

 

And what did you do to the LED rendering?
That is awesome, they look more like real LED's, even have that slight flicker that LED drivers give

[jarr3]

 

Hi, I am working with Toxie on some improvements for the B2S Server.  

 

I guess I was too optimistic with my changes on 1.3.1.0, so you should take the upcoming release once finished.

 

If you care to BETA test, you can check here (do not know if linking it here will work?):

 

https://vpuniverse.c...t&comment=63092

/Jarr3

 

You dont have this on github with an actions build section by any chance?
If you do i will test it more often

 

1.3.1.1 beta has definitely fixed the pinning of DMD to backglass when no DMD screen is present

 

And what did you do to the LED rendering?
That is awesome, they look more like real LED's, even have that slight flicker that LED drivers give

 

No, the code is still on sourceforge, and needs to move to github. Currently Toxie manually pushes the changes from my personal github and compiles all pieces manually. So you can understand it needs a while...

Will see if I can support Toxie in moving sometime soon.

Regarding LED rendering, I have not touched anything in that area, so if someone else has done changes there, all thanks to that person please

 

/Jarr3
 

[wiesshund]

The unknown coder?

 

On sourceforge i dont know how to see branches commits changes or who did what etc

on github or bitbucket i can just use sourcetree and see what all has gone on.

 

Anyways some change from 1.3.1.0 to 1.3.1.1 stuck the DMD back where it belongs in the absence of a DMD screen, so that is great.

 

Now on the designer, i wish to hell i understood the code, cause i know exactly what it doesnt do, during the import of reels or leds
and i know exactly what it should do, and where it should be doing it, and what it should be writing to the directb2s file

 

i just havent a clue what that is supposed to look like when its turned into code

[sundogak]

Hi, I am working with Toxie on some improvements for the B2S Server.  

 

I guess I was too optimistic with my changes on 1.3.1.0, so you should take the upcoming release once finished.

 

If you care to BETA test, you can check here (do not know if linking it here will work?):

 

https://vpuniverse.c...t&comment=63092

 

All alpha numeric tables worked just fine on 1.3.0.4 server.

 

That is a good hint, I will check what the difference was there.

 

Meantime do you mind to test the BETA at https://vpuniverse.c...t&comment=63092 and please report to me? 

 

I guess my changes has not improved numeric tables (yet?), but otherwise all tables I have tried sofar look good.

 

Edit: also a newer version was uploaded by another user (in same thread) and DMD LEDs will show on screen three but doesn't on 2 screen setup. 

 

 

Can you please show the thread you are talking about?

/Jarr3

Here    the JasonDH version

[wiesshund]

 

Here    the JasonDH version

 

 

Can you please show the thread you are talking about?

/Jarr3

 

 

 You will have to edit that backglass yourself or contact the author, i dont have his permission to change it
He made that a 3 screen only, the DMD on that particular backglass is set to display on 3rd screen only

You can look at this for an example of how to do it

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

[toxie]

New official build is up, thanks Jarr3!!! (and all others for testing, etcetc, of course!!)

[jarr3]

New official build is up, thanks Jarr3!!! (and all others for testing, etcetc, of course!!)

Cool Toxie! 

 

/Jarr3

Edited by jarr3, 23 May 2022 - 11:46 AM.

[jarr3]

Hi,I think I’ve run into something similar here..though not 100% sure. I updated my b2s server from 1.3.0.4 to 1.3.1 today to get some features working correctly on the new backglass for the Space Oddity table. 

The official 1.3.1.1 is released, do you mind test that your tables works? Have fun!

 

/Jarr3

[wiesshund]

What does the following mean?

 

 

 

• - The DMD form has to be in front of the grill when it is a part of the Backglass, for mixed 2 and 3 screen backglasses

 

Does this mean, corrected backglass server to force it to the front?

or does it mean the author must do something in b2s designer that maybe we dont know about?

[jarr3]

What does the following mean?
 

 
 

• - The DMD form has to be in front of the grill when it is a part of the Backglass, for mixed 2 and 3 screen backglasses

 
Does this mean, corrected backglass server to force it to the front?
or does it mean the author must do something in b2s designer that maybe we dont know about?

Yes, when you use the „new“ small button feature sometimes the background was put on top of the included dmd.
I did check many different back glasses with or without a pup video. And apparently it should also work good in desktop mode.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jarr3]

Now the move to github is finalized:  https://github.com/v...l/b2s-backglass

 

So now it should be easier for everyone to send in patches!

 

/Jarr3

[TT11]

I had to go back to 1.3.0.1 of the B2S Server.  All my scoring 'reappeared' on the backglass without any need for alt-tabbing to 'formDMD' on my late 80's/90's pre DMD segmented displays.  The newer versions of 1.3.1.0 / 1.3.1.1 made all the scoring disappear on this era of tables backglasses..

 

E.g. Whirlwind, Raven, Rapid Fire, 250cc  etc,

[wiesshund]

 

I had to go back to 1.3.0.1 of the B2S Server.  All my scoring 'reappeared' on the backglass without any need for alt-tabbing to 'formDMD' on my late 80's/90's pre DMD segmented displays.  The newer versions of 1.3.1.0 / 1.3.1.1 made all the scoring disappear on this era of tables backglasses..

 

E.g. Whirlwind, Raven, Rapid Fire, 250cc  etc,

 

 

I have whirlwind and rapid fire and one of the others you mentioned int he other thread.
But dont have that behaviour

 

I wonder if it could either be, the particular version of the backglasses you have.
Or something in the b2s settings xml?

The XML you can test easy, by renaming it to like xml.old
and then launching an offending table, with b2s server 1.3.1.0
and seeing what happens.

To test the backglass itself, you would have to try swapping in some different versions.

[jarr3]

1.4.1 pre-release #2 https://github.com/v...runs/3413377265

 

Since it is a pre-release, you need to login to github to get access. (It is a 2 minutes thing to add a user)

 

This time it is about a new option called "FormNoFocus". it means for FormToFront similar to SendToBack, EVERYTHING is done to force the Forms not to react on mouse-clicks and any interaction which would mean the forms come above the DMD.

 

I tested this already with IT on a desktop with Backglass and FULL DMD and a Freezy DMD on top. It was rock solid, the windows stay in place and in order, no matter what I do. 

To my surprise, I even managed to get Haunted House working with this setup, having freezy alpha numerical's added without them falling behind the Backglass.

 

Most certainly something for single screen users, though I believe it should be useful for all setups?  If this turns out well, I will make this the default setting...

 

Have fun!

 

/Jarr3

[jarr3]

1.4.1 pre-release #3 https://github.com/v...runs/3447113146

 

Changelog sofar:

 

 

- Add installation folder to the search path of ScreenRes.txt file. Current search "path":  (1.4.1 pre release #1)

 

1. tablename.res

2. Screenres.txt ( or whatever you set in the registry) in the table folder

3. tablename\Screenres.txt ( or whatever you set in the registry)

4. Screenres.txt ( or whatever you set in the registry) in the B2SServer folder.

 

- Add additional setting FormNoFocus complementing FormToFront. When set also FormToFront will stay in front and will ignore mouse key presses. (1.4.1 pre release #2)

- B2SBackglassServerRegisterApp: Added registration of a .vpx file context menu copying template res files next to the table. Incl. small cmd to copy the file. (1.4.1 pre release #3)

 

 

So the B2SBackglassServerRegisterApp not only registers the COM objects of the B2SBackglassServer.dll, it now also allows to register or remove a right click context on vpx files.

 

While started, it first asks for registration of the COM object. Then it allows to register (press Yes) or un-register the context menu.

 

 alreadyRegistred.JPG   17.88KB   6 downloads  RegisterContextMenu.JPG   20.05KB   6 downloads

 

 

When it registers the context menu, the folder ScreenResTemplates is scanned for *.res files:

 

 ScreenResTemplates.png   39.27KB   9 downloads

 

The name of the files (without extension) are added to the context menu:

 

 RightClickAndCopyScreenres.png   56.48KB   8 downloads

 

Then, when right clicking the vpx file, it is possible to choose which prepared res-file should be copied from ScreenResTemplates to TableName.res.

 

Three res files are included (just the names make any sense, has to be edited before use) The ScreenResTemplates folder can also be used to store the background pictures where needed.

 

To copy the res file, the cmd file "ScreenResTemplates.cmd" is executed using the name of the source res file and the full path of the vpx table.

 

I new .res files are added to the folder, B2SBackglassServerRegisterApp can be started again to regenerate or remove the context menu.

[jarr3]

There is a new pre-release available: https://github.com/v...runs/3933680761  ( an account is needed to login to github, takes 5 min)

 

This should hopefully solve ALL "DMD is below the backglass" issues.

It will also allow a mix of PuP Videos and B2S screens: The new little command B2SWindowPunch can cut a hole in windows where there is an intersection with another named form.

 

Usage: B2SWindowPunch "Destination regex" "Cutter Regex"

Destination and the cutter window string has to be valid regular expressions

E.g.
Cut holes in the "B2S Backglass Server" form using "Virtual DMD" and all "PUPSCREEN" forms as two regular expressions:

B2SWindowPunch.exe "^B2S Backglass Server$" "^Virtual DMD$|^PUPSCREEN[0-9]+$"

 

 

Changelog:

 

2.0.0

- B2SBackglassServer.dll: Add support for B2SInit.cmd to be called after Backglass is started.
- Add B2SWindowPunch: General window punch routine to cut holes into B2S Backglass Form and make DMD and PuP Windows shine through.
 

 

B2SWindowPunch works similar to "Desktop_PuP_Punch". Thanks for the hint @Nailbuster 

Edited by jarr3, 17 January 2023 - 05:55 AM.

[Slydog43]

thanks for the new 2.0 Server.  I decided to try and move my B2s stuff from my tables directory into a b2s directory under visual pinball.  I then reran the register directb2s DLL thingy with success.  When I ran a table, b2s showed up normally, but my plugins button was greyed out.  The plugins dir was also moved to the b2s dir, so I am confused.  Without the plugins, DOF and pup pack stuff will not work.  Any ideas?

[Mike DA Spike]

Today I started to add VPX64 bit next to my own existing 32 bit.
I used a bit of your documentation 64bit VPX Pincab Setup Guide · vpinball/b2s-backglass Wiki (github.com)
Now, B2sserver 2.0 is running fine from a new location that I setup (\visual Pinball\Directb2sServer) for VPX32, but running the same table in VPX64 it doesn't show anything.
My assumption is that the DLL's are correctly registrated.
What could possibly causing the issue that it won't show during 64 bit ?
Any debugging I can do, or logging ?

Edit : Moved question to https://www.vpforums...=50652&p=516295

Edited by Mike DA Spike, 16 March 2023 - 11:56 AM.

[Slydog43]

Thanks for the 2.0.3 update.  Perfect timing as I'm setting up a new PinCab now.