312 replies to this topic

[MichaelB14]

So I am using "Pin 2 DMD" and when I run "dmdext test" I get:

 

-PinDMDV1 device not found

-Device found but it's not a PinDMDv2

-Checking port COM1 for PinDMDv3

-Error: The parameter is incorrect

-PinDMDv3 device not found

-Found Pln2DMD device

-  Manufacturer: Pln2DMD

-  Product:      Pln2DMD

-  Serial:       00000000050C

-  Language ID:  1033

-Added Pin 2 DMD renderer

-Added VirtualDMD renderer

-Press Ctrl+C to close

 

I see the virtual dmd on the screen, but the Pln2DMD never changes for the boot screen.

I can use the Pln2DMD tool app and see changes on the DMD.

 

Any idea what I could be doing wrong?

Edited by MichaelB14, 17 November 2016 - 01:19 PM.

[gtxjoe]

I get the same print but the "dmdext" screen also shows up on the Pin2dmd

C:\dmdext>dmdext test
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.184 DEBUG | PinDMDv1 device not found.
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.253 DEBUG | Device found but it's not a PinDMDv2 device
 (PIN2DMD).
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.266 DEBUG | PinDMDv3 device not found.
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.285  INFO | Found PIN2DMD device.
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.285 DEBUG |    Manufacturer: PIN2DMD
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.285 DEBUG |    Product:      PIN2DMD
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.285 DEBUG |    Serial:       00000000050C
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.285 DEBUG |    Language ID:  1033
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.285  INFO | Added PIN2DMD renderer.
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.419  INFO | Added VirtualDMD renderer.
 [1] 2016/11/17 07:21:33.476  INFO | Press CTRL+C to close.

Is Pin2dmd working with vpinmame already?  Or not tested yet?

[MichaelB14]

The only thing on the machine currently is Pinball FX2, so no I haven't tried it on anything else.  I am leaving the country tomorrow morning, but if I get a chance tonight I will install pinmame.

[freezy]

PinMAME is for VP, which already supports all the displays out there.

 

dmdext is for the rest, though there is a project moving the DMD code from PinMAME into a separate DLL that dmdext will support, which will benefit from Lucky1's coloring code.

 

I'll be working on that once I launch the other project

[MichaelB14]

PinMAME is for VP, which already supports all the displays out there.

 

dmdext is for the rest, though there is a project moving the DMD code from PinMAME into a separate DLL that dmdext will support, which will benefit from Lucky1's coloring code.

 

I'll be working on that once I launch the other project

 

Do you have any idea why it won't show on the Pln2DMD when I test?  Is there anything I should look at?

Edited by MichaelB14, 17 November 2016 - 02:53 PM.

[freezy]

No idea, it's weird since it apparently has recognized the display. If you want to have it debugged please create an issue at GitHub with the log from the console, then I'll have a look at it in a week or two.

[MichaelB14]

To add to the issue, after I hit Ctrl-C I opened the Pln2DMD software back up and the test image half appeared on the DMD...

[Azurden]

Freezy,  Any chance you were able to give some consideration as to why some of us are seeing the dmdext blinking when running the command at startup or even by launching it as a batch file prior to starting FX2?  As I mentioned earlier in the post if I start up FX2 and start a table, then manually going to the cmd and type (or copy paste) in the start up commands it will work fine.  Any other way the DMD will blink as is the videos I posted.

 

This is also true (the blinking) if I start up FX2 to a table and then try to run a batch file.  It will continue to blink.  It has to be typed or copy pasted into the active cmd window for it to work.  Really make little to no sense to me at all why this is.

[xman72]

Freezy,  Any chance you were able to give some consideration as to why some of us are seeing the dmdext blinking when running the command at startup or even by launching it as a batch file prior to starting FX2?  As I mentioned earlier in the post if I start up FX2 and start a table, then manually going to the cmd and type (or copy paste) in the start up commands it will work fine.  Any other way the DMD will blink as is the videos I posted.

 

This is also true (the blinking) if I start up FX2 to a table and then try to run a batch file.  It will continue to blink.  It has to be typed or copy pasted into the active cmd window for it to work.  Really make little to no sense to me at all why this is.

 

Hello All...

 

For awhile now, I've been beating myself up on why I kept getting flickering on my pindmd3. I have finally solved it and the solution was so easy. I hope this solution works for everyone who's had similar issues.

 

I'll start by stating that I have Windows 7 64 bit so the fix should be similar but may vary slightly by OS.

 

Fix:

 

- Go to My Computer.

- Click on Performance Information and Tools on the bottom left.

- Click on Adjust Visual Effects at the top left.

- When the Performance Window pops up, click on Adjust for Best Appearance. All the boxes should automatically get check marked.

- Click on Apply, and then OK to get out.

 

That's it. This worked for me.

 

I remember reading many many Months ago somewhere in some post, that all of the boxes in the Performance Window should be off. This would make your pinball games run a bit better because Windows would free up some resources. This made sense to me and the games seem to run well so I always unchecked everything. Even after I re-installed windows, one of the first things I did was go into this menu and un-check everything. Un-checking everything seems OK except for having a real DMD. When I finally got my Pindmd3, I started having problems right off the bat, I couldn't figure it out.

 

So after reading what must have been hundreds of posts, I came across a post from Freezy that stated something about the Pinball FX2 DMD/Screen grabber used it's Print Window to grab the info as opposed to the other way Visual Pinball or FP. I figured because I had un-checked some of those boxes, that's what was giving me the flickering.

 

Anyway, everything is great now, my cabinet is officially done finally. I started it in March and am very happy with it. It's the second one I've built. I'd be happy to share pictures and/or video but I don't think this is the right spot/post for it.

 

Azurden... please let me know if this fix works for you.

 

And Freezy, thanks for everything!

 

[Azurden]

Dude, that's cool. Will try that this weekend. Will report back. Mine is set to best performance now as well....

[CaptFlam]

 

PinMAME is for VP, which already supports all the displays out there.

 

dmdext is for the rest, though there is a project moving the DMD code from PinMAME into a separate DLL that dmdext will support, which will benefit from Lucky1's coloring code.

 

I'll be working on that once I launch the other project

 

Do you have any idea why it won't show on the Pln2DMD when I test?  Is there anything I should look at?

 

 

Which driver do you use ? Winusb or libusb32 ? Libusb32 needs libusbk.dll installed . You can change to the other using zadig and try if that works.

[Azurden]

Just news on the issue with the DMD blinking in and out like in the videos I posted....  XMAN72 figured out the solution to this issue.  And I would have never guessed this one...  We both had our systems set up in WIN 7 to "Best Performance" for the OS.  When it was set like this, the DMD would blink in and out.  

 

If you set the system to "Adjust for Best Appearance" the DMD will load up and work perfect!  Thanks for the time to test this XMAN72!  

[freezy]

Cool, I'll add this to the README somewhere then.

 

Cheers!

[hlr53]

Just built a new Windows 10 Pro system this weekend 41/28/pinDMD V3 and ran my Zen FX2 tables through PinballX and DMDext.
 
WORKS PERFECTLY and looks AWESOME! A breeze to set up. Phenomenal work!
 
to Freezy
 
Next up is trying out Pinball Arcade..... Edit: couldn't get the DMD to display in TPA. Running win 10 pro.
 
Oh, and vpdb.io is very polished!

Edited by hlr53, 27 November 2016 - 10:56 PM.

[freezy]

Released v1.3.0-beta2. You can now easily color the output if you have an RGB display. Also, TPA is fixed. Full changelog in the link.

[roar]

Released v1.3.0-beta2. You can now easily color the output if you have an RGB display. Also, TPA is fixed. Full changelog in the link.

 

Amazing work freezy... thanks so much!

[kiwiBri]

Freezy, just a note to say thanks for this extension,  works great in Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX2 with the latest Beta.  Thanks for fixing and releasing so quickly!

[bent98]

I tried out the new color command and it doesnt clear the color pallet when exiting out of FX2. I am using the -q command and running the race condition close script as well.

[freezy]

I tried out the new color command and it doesnt clear the color pallet when exiting out of FX2. I am using the -q command and running the race condition close script as well.

 

Noted. Will be fixed in next version.

[bent98]

I tested out the new color switch and it works great. How can I figure out the color palette values? The sample one you provided is blue.

 

Also, is there any chance you can pick multiple colors shades like you can do in pinmame? So you can select different colors for the low medium high color gradients.? It would be cool to mix and match colors to give the illusion its colorized dmd.