1622 replies to this topic

[hlr53]

Hi Mike,

 

#2 Immediately when dmdext starts up. And yes my command line is D:\dmdext mirror --source=pinballfx3 --no-virtual or from C:\PinballY\

 

Also, PBY sometimes hangs when being esc back to from FX3.

 

Searching for real DMD device DLL

+ Found the DLL in the PinballY folder: C:\PinballY\DmdDevice.dll

 

Detecting and configuring real DMD device

+ Searching for dmddevice.dll

+ found DMD interface DLL: C:\PinballY\DmdDevice.dll

+ retrieving file version info for DLL, to check for special handling

+ Version Info data: version=1.7.2.0, product name="Universal DmdDevice.dll for Visual PinMAME", comments="Universal DmdDevice.dll for Visual PinMAME for all displays, inclusively frame-by-frame coloring support. Unofficial mjr build; includes fixes #122, #127.", copyright="Copyright © 2018 [email protected]"

+ This appears to be the dmd-extensions version of the DLL, based on the product/copyright strings

+ Based on the version number, this version has the fix for the PM_GameSettings bug

+ Based on the version number, this version has the fix for the Open/Close bug

+ Checking if dmd-extensions virtual DMD mode is enabled

+ Loading DmdDevice.ini from DLL folder (C:\PinballY\DmdDevice.ini)

+ DmdDevice.ini successfully loaded; scanning

+ It looks like virtual dmd mode is disabled in the dmd-extensions DLL, so we're enabling the DLL.

+ dmddevice.dll successfully loaded

+ It looks like virtual dmd mode is disabled in the dmd-extensions DLL, so we're enabling the DLL.

 

Table launch: UNIVERSAL_BTTF, table file UNIVERSAL_BTTF, system Pinball FX3

+ launch: full table path C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\UNIVERSAL_BTTF

+ table launch: table file C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\UNIVERSAL_BTTF doesn't exist; try adding extension -> C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\UNIVERSAL_BTTF.pxp

+ table launch: file + extension (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\UNIVERSAL_BTTF.pxp) exists, using it

+ RunBeforePre (initial pre-launch command):

> d:\dmdext.exe  mirror --source=pinballfx3

+ RunBeforePre (initial pre-launch command): [NOWAIT] specified, continuing

+ table launch: executable: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe

+ table launch: applying command line variable substitutions:

+ Original> -applaunch 442120

+ Final   > -applaunch 442120

+ table launch: waiting for secondary process Pinball FX3.exe to start

+ table launch: found matching process 9928

+ using this process

+ table launch: process launch succeeded

+ table launch: Close Game command received

+ table launch: game exited normally

+ table launch finished successfully

 

Detecting and configuring real DMD device

+ It looks like virtual dmd mode is disabled in the dmd-extensions DLL, so we're enabling the DLL.

Edited by hlr53, 12 September 2018 - 11:11 PM.

[mjr]

#2 Immediately when dmdext starts up. And yes my command line is D:\dmdext mirror --source=pinballfx3 --no-virtual or from C:\PinballY\

 

Okay... does the same thing happen if you run dmdext directly from Windows?

(Without PinballY running at all, I mean.)

You might also want to try getting dmdext logging enabled and see what it says about it.  It should show information like this somewhere in the log:

 

Added VirtualDMD renderer

 

-or-

 

VirtualDMD renderer disabled

I'm curious if you see the "renderer disabled" line even though the virtual window doesn't actually seem to be disabled.  That might indicate whether it's a command line parsing problem or if some unrelated code somewhere else in the program is opening the virtual window despite the command parser recognizing that it's meant to be disabled.

[hlr53]

 

#2 Immediately when dmdext starts up. And yes my command line is D:\dmdext mirror --source=pinballfx3 --no-virtual or from C:\PinballY\

 

Okay... does the same thing happen if you run dmdext directly from Windows?

(Without PinballY running at all, I mean.)

You might also want to try getting dmdext logging enabled and see what it says about it.  It should show information like this somewhere in the log:

 

Added VirtualDMD renderer

 

-or-

 

VirtualDMD renderer disabled

I'm curious if you see the "renderer disabled" line even though the virtual window doesn't actually seem to be disabled.  That might indicate whether it's a command line parsing problem or if some unrelated code somewhere else in the program is opening the virtual window despite the command parser recognizing that it's meant to be disabled.

 

I opened a cmd.exe window and ran it without PBY, like the old days. Fired up PBY and it completely hangs when I try to launch a table. I did remove the run before line first. Tried a few times. It does not play well with dmdext running first.

 

This dump from dmddevice? Not sure about what you mean by VirtualDMD renderer ?

 

I was running the cmd window first and then firing up PBY. My DMD is on COM3

 

[1] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.751  INFO | Successfully loaded config from C:\PinballY\DmdDevice.ini. 

 [1] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.773  INFO | Starting VPinMAME API through PinballY.exe. 

 [1] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.773  INFO | [vpm] Open() 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.773  INFO | [vpm] PM_GameSettings(0) 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.773  INFO | Disabling game colorization 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.773  INFO | Setting game name:  

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.786  INFO | Setting color: #FFFF5820 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:45.786  INFO | Bit-convertion disabled. 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:46.062  INFO | PinDMDv1 device not found. 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:46.078  INFO | PinDMDv2 device not found. 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:46.084  INFO | Checking port COM3 for PinDMDv3... 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:46.084 ERROR | Error: Access to the port 'COM3' is denied. 

 [8] 2018/09/12 20:16:46.084  INFO | Checking port COM4 for PinDMDv3... 

Edited by hlr53, 13 September 2018 - 12:24 AM.

[mjr]

Hkr53 - sorry; what I meant was, try running without PBY involved in any way. Just dmdext and fx3.

1. Run dmdext —source=pinballfx3 —no-virtual (with the new version; replace options to match what you actually use)

2. With that still running, run fx3

Does the virtual dmd window appear in this case?

[hlr53]

Hkr53 - sorry; what I meant was, try running without PBY involved in any way. Just dmdext and fx3.

1. Run dmdext —source=pinballfx3 —no-virtual (with the new version; replace options to match what you actually use)

2. With that still running, run fx3

Does the virtual dmd window appear in this case?

 

No virtual DMD displayed while running dmdext with FX3 outside of PBY

[mjr]

 

Hkr53 - sorry; what I meant was, try running without PBY involved in any way. Just dmdext and fx3.

1. Run dmdext —source=pinballfx3 —no-virtual (with the new version; replace options to match what you actually use)

2. With that still running, run fx3

Does the virtual dmd window appear in this case?

 

No virtual DMD displayed while running dmdext with FX3 outside of PBY

 

Okay, that means it's not dmdext, so it must be the DLL that PBY is using.

 

Let me make sure I'm understanding the behavior correctly:

 

1.  Start PinballY, everything is fine so far

 

2.  Run an FX3 game -> virtual DMD window suddenly appears

 

3.  Stop the FX3 game -> virtual DMD window disappears again

 

Is that correct?

 

What about this case?:

 

1.  Start PinballY

 

2.  Run a VP game

 

Question: does the virtual DMD window appear while the VP game is running?

[hlr53]

 

 

Hkr53 - sorry; what I meant was, try running without PBY involved in any way. Just dmdext and fx3.

1. Run dmdext —source=pinballfx3 —no-virtual (with the new version; replace options to match what you actually use)

2. With that still running, run fx3

Does the virtual dmd window appear in this case?

 

No virtual DMD displayed while running dmdext with FX3 outside of PBY

 

Okay, that means it's not dmdext, so it must be the DLL that PBY is using.

 

Let me make sure I'm understanding the behavior correctly:

 

1.  Start PinballY, everything is fine so far

 

CORRECT

 

2.  Run an FX3 game -> virtual DMD window suddenly appears

 

CORRECT - I see the CMD.EXE window launch and immediately after, the virtual DMD appears next on the back of the playfield. Then FX3 starts launching.

 

3.  Stop the FX3 game -> virtual DMD window disappears again

 

Is that correct?

 

CORRECT

 

What about this case?:

 

1.  Start PinballY

 

2.  Run a VP game

 

Question: does the virtual DMD window appear while the VP game is running?

 

NO  

 

[mjr]

hlr53 - all right, I think I understand the symptoms, at least.  I don't have any guess yet about what's going on.  Given that it happens only with the exact combination of PinballY + dmdext + FX3 (not without PinballY, not without FX3), it seems like it's an interaction between the dmdext EXE and the dmdext DLL.  But that's completely baffling to me - I have no guess about how those could interact.  I'll have to think about it and see if I can come up with something to try next.

...Actually, one thing occurs to me that you could try.

 

1.  Remove the copy of DmdDevice.dll that PinballY is loading.  You can see the exact path to that if you look at PinballY.log after a run.  You can delete the file or just rename it to something else.

 

2.  Run PinballY again and exit.  Check PinballY.log again, and confirm that PinballY is now trying and failing to load DmdDevice.dll.  In other words, make sure it says that it's searching for one and can't find one, and therefore is disabling Real DMD features for the session.

 

3.  Run PinballY yet again, and fire up an FX3 game.

 

4.  See what happens with the virtual DMD window.

 

* If the virtual DMD window doesn't appear any more, then it would tend to confirm the theory that it's some mysterious interaction between dmdext.exe and DmdDevice.dll.

 

* If the virtual DMD still appears, then it's probably just something simpler about dmdext.exe in isolation:

 

   - something about your Run Before command line that's starting dmdext.exe

   - something about the specific copy of dmdext.exe that's getting loaded

   - something about the config environment for the copy that's getting loaded

 

Whatever it is, it's obviously a difference from the plain vanilla environment you get when you run the same thing from Windows without PinballY involved.  But it's probably just some simple thing about the command launch environment and not some mysterious interaction between processes.

Edited by mjr, 13 September 2018 - 10:49 PM.

[Outhere]

I tried out this version and when I run VP ... The game will start but when I quit the game, It crashes VP

With dmdext-v1.7.1-x86 all is good

Spoiler

[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.720 INFO | Successfully loaded config from E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\DmdDevice.ini.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Determined color path from assembly path: E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Starting VPinMAME API through VPinballX.exe.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | [vpm] Open()
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | [vpm] Set_4_Colors_Palette()
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Setting palette to 4 colors...
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | [vpm] PM_GameSettings(1)
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Enabling game colorization
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Setting game name: mm_109c
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.752 INFO | Setting color: #FFFF5820
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.752 INFO | Loading palette file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].pal...
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.768 INFO | Loading virtual animation file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].vni...
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.017 INFO | Loaded animation set VPIN v4, 394 animation(s)
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.017 INFO | Opening virtual DMD...
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.081 INFO | Found B2S, moving behind DMD.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.081 INFO | Added VirtualDMD renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | PinUP DLL starting mm_109c...
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | Added PinUP renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | Transformation options: Resize=Fit, HFlip=False, VFlip=False
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | Just clearing palette, colorization is done by converter.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.115 INFO | Resizing virtual DMD to 128x32
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.115 INFO | Setting up 2-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.166 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM 2-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray2 => Gray2)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Setting up 4-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM 4-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray4 => Gray4)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Setting up RGB24-bit VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to Dmd (Rgb24 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to PinUP Writer (Rgb24 => Bitmap)
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.123 INFO | [vpm] Close()
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.123 INFO | Closing up.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.133 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.133 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.133 INFO | Source for 2 renderer(s) stopped.

 

With dmdext-x86-mjr-NoAdmin-20180911a

 

Spoiler

[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.175 INFO | Successfully loaded config from E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\DmdDevice.ini.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Determined color path from assembly path: E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Starting VPinMAME API through VPinballX.exe.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | [vpm] Open()
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | [vpm] Set_4_Colors_Palette()
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Setting palette to 4 colors...
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | [vpm] PM_GameSettings(1)
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Enabling game colorization
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.219 INFO | Setting game name: mm_109c
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.219 INFO | Setting color: #FFFF5820
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.235 INFO | Loading palette file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].pal...
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.235 INFO | Loading virtual animation file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].vni...
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.537 INFO | Loaded animation set VPIN v4, 394 animation(s)
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.537 INFO | Opening virtual DMD...
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.593 INFO | Found B2S, moving behind DMD.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | Added VirtualDMD renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | PinUP DLL starting mm_109c...
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | Added PinUP renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | Transformation options: Resize=Fit, HFlip=False, VFlip=False
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.610 INFO | Just clearing palette, colorization is done by converter.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.610 INFO | Resizing virtual DMD to 128x32
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.610 INFO | Setting up 2-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.654 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM 2-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray2 => Gray2)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Setting up 4-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM 4-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray4 => Gray4)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Setting up RGB24-bit VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to Dmd (Rgb24 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to PinUP Writer (Rgb24 => Bitmap)
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.424 INFO | [vpm] Close()
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.424 INFO | Closing up.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.424 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.441 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:58.541 ERROR | System.Threading.Tasks.TaskCanceledException: A task was canceled.
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.Wait(TimeSpan timeout)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(DispatcherOperation operation, CancellationToken cancellationToken, TimeSpan timeout)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(Action callback, DispatcherPriority priority, CancellationToken cancellationToken, TimeSpan timeout)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(Action callback)
at LibDmd.Common.VirtualDmd.DisposingControlWindow() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\Common\VirtualDmd.xaml.cs:line 83
at LibDmd.Output.Virtual.VirtualDmdControl.Dispose() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\Output\Virtual\VirtualDmdControl.xaml.cs:line 157
at LibDmd.RenderGraph.Dispose() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\RenderGraph.cs:line 1028
at LibDmd.RenderGraphCollection.<>c.b__13_0(RenderGraph graph) in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\RenderGraphCollection.cs:line 98
at System.Collections.Generic.List`1.ForEach(Action`1 action)
at LibDmd.RenderGraphCollection.Dispose() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\RenderGraphCollection.cs:line 98
at LibDmd.DmdDevice.DmdDevice.Close() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\DmdDevice\DmdDevice.cs:line 465
at PinMameDevice.DmdDevice.Close()

 

 

OK...so figured out the logging... 

 

Here is a not working log:

 [4] 2018/09/11 20:08:51.984 ERROR | Index was outside the bounds of the array. 

 [4] 2018/09/11 20:08:51.984 ERROR | System.IndexOutOfRangeException: Index was outside the bounds of the array.

   at LibDmd.Input.PinballFX.PinballFX3MemoryGrabber.FindPattern(Process gameProc, Int32 gameBase, Int32 size, Byte[] bytePattern, Int32 offset) in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet 

 

Excellent!  Thanks for getting the log.  That's very helpful at least in pointing out the immediate problem.  The crash is coming from an obvious defect in the memory grabber code.  Let's fix that and see what the next problem is...

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...n-20180911a.zip

 

(I cleaned up a bunch of other stuff in here while I was at it, which probably means I created five or ten new problems.  If this crashes and burns in some new way I'll try doing an isolated fix with just the buffer overrun bug fixed.  But hopefully I proofed the changes carefully enough.)

 

The reason Admin mode made a difference?  Pure dumb luck.  The problem is memory configuration dependent.  When you run in Admin mode it rearranges memory for the running processes.  In your particular configuration, on this particular Tuesday, Admin mode was just by pure blind chance rearranging memory into a favorable layout.

 

Edited by Outhere, 13 September 2018 - 11:07 PM.

[mjr]

Announcing Alpha 20, now with Batch Capture!

 

Having finished the recent digression into dmdext issues, I was able to finish up the Batch Capture feature.  This works basically like the existing capture function, but it lets you work on multiple games at once, so that you don't have to babysit the system quite as much if you have a bunch of games you want to set up.  I think it'll be pretty self-explanatory, but a few notes and tips:

 

- You can find the Batch Capture command on the Operator Menu (press '0' with the default key mappings)

 

- The command will lead you through a series of steps to select what you want to capture.  It's pretty much like setting up a regular single-game capture, except that you have to select what sorts of games to include and what to do with existing media.

 

- You can capture media for all games, for games selected by the current filter (e.g., "70s Tables" or "Williams Tables"), or for games that you've manually marked for batch capture. 

 

- To mark a game for batch capture, use the Game Setup menu ('0' for Operator Menu -> Game Setup -> Mark for Batch Capture).  This lets you designate a specific set of games to include in a batch.  I'm thinking of two use cases for it personally.  The first is that you just want to do a capture on a handful of games that aren't related by a filter; you can do this by marking each of them and then kicking off the batch capture.  The second is that you're enjoying an actual gaming session with your cab, and you come across a game or two that are missing some media.  Rather than interrupting the game session to do the capture, you can just mark them for now, and then some time later when you're back in "setup" mode, you can kick off a batch for all of the games you've marked.

 

- You can specify for each media type whether or not you want to replace existing items.  If you choose "don't replace", it's a handy way to back-fill missing items without having to manually make a list of what's missing.  Just set the batch capturer loose with "don't replace" selected, and it'll find and capture all of the missing media.

 

- Before starting the capture, you'll get a chance to view the proposed capture list to see exactly what's going to happen.  The system will also give you a time estimate for the overall job, based on its assessment of which files are missing and how long each capture will take.

 

 

The batch capture builds on the existing media capture, so the bulk of it is reusing existing code.  But there's still a substantial amount of brand new code that's 19 Alpha releases less mature than the rest of the system, so this will be a little bit of an "alpha within an alpha".

 

 

There are a few other additions worth mentioning:

 

- A new "pause game" command (requested by STV) lets you assign a key/button that brings PinballY to the foreground while a game is running.  With VP, this has the effect of freezing the game physics if you're in the middle of a game.  Menu commands let you resume the game or kill it.

 

- You can now program individual media types for "Manual Start/Stop" modes.  Manual Start means that the capture process will prompt you to press a key to start capture for that item (two keys, actually - both flipper buttons).  Manual Stop does the opposite: it means that a capture will continue indefinitely until you press both flipper buttons.  Manual Start/Stop is useful for cases where you want to synchronize the starting and stopping points of the capture to the table's attract mode loop, or sync them to some other action.  I think it's probably most useful for DMD captures, in case you want to try to capture exactly one loop of the attract mode messages.  

[hlr53]

Announcing Alpha 20, now with Batch Capture!

 
I was wondering if you ever started working on that. 
 
Will also play with dmdext and dmddevice in the morning. I was sitting here tonight thinking the exact same thing to try next. Take the DLL out of the equation. I may try to test and disable the virtual in the vpinmame setup.

Edited by hlr53, 14 September 2018 - 01:14 AM.

[hlr53]

 

Announcing Alpha 20, now with Batch Capture!

 
I was wondering if you ever started working on that. 
 
Will also play with dmdext and dmddevice in the morning. I was sitting here tonight thinking the exact same thing to try next. Take the DLL out of the equation. I may try to test and disable the virtual in the vpinmame setup.

 

 

The virtual window is now gone and I don't have a clue why? As I/we former tech reps of Honeywell-Measurex used to be asked by managers at client sites, "How did you fix the problem?" Sometimes we responded "PFM". as in Pure F********* Magic. Which doesn't give one a warm fuzzy feeling as it may come back to bite one in the butt. I'm sure a lot of tech say the same thing - LOL.

 

I did some tablet reading on the couch last night and any command line switch set to dmdext is only used by dmdext. So, if I say --no virtual,  dmdext itself will not display that window. For whatever reason only known to the Windows DLL Gods, dmdext, dmddevice.dll and possibly vPinMAME.dll and/or a combination of all three, because I have a zero clue how they all interact, were ignoring the DmdDevice.ini setting(s). I removed the dmddevice from the PBY directory (not needed there anyway if one is running VP and the C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME directory. STILL had the virtual window displaying (maybe still in memory - was too impatient to reboot). I downloaded your latest dmdext-x86-mjr-NoAdmin-20180911a.zip again and put it into the VPinMame directory again and overwrote everything. Inside DmdDevice.ini I reset both to false. 

 

; a DMD that renders with nice dots on a computer monitor
[virtualdmd]
enabled = false
; virtual dmd stays on top of all other windows
stayontop = false

 

and low and behold it all worked? Something got jammed up somewhere but after overwriting it worked. I have no idea if any of this is in the Windows registry and I may have been able to fix there. 

 

Here is the latest PBY log with everything working except my FX3 table launch isn't working (I will troubleshoot that separately). Basically same log when I couldn't get rid of the virtual window.

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

 

Detecting and configuring real DMD device
+ Searching for dmddevice.dll
+ found DMD interface DLL: C:\Visual Pinball\VPINMAME\DmdDevice.dll
+ retrieving file version info for DLL, to check for special handling
+ Version Info data: version=1.7.2.0, product name="Universal DmdDevice.dll for Visual PinMAME", comments="Universal DmdDevice.dll for Visual PinMAME for all displays, inclusively frame-by-frame coloring support. Unofficial mjr build; includes fixes #122, #127.", copyright="Copyright © 2018 [email protected]"
+ This appears to be the dmd-extensions version of the DLL, based on the product/copyright strings
+ Based on the version number, this version has the fix for the PM_GameSettings bug
+ Based on the version number, this version has the fix for the Open/Close bug
+ Checking if dmd-extensions virtual DMD mode is enabled
+ Loading DmdDevice.ini from DLL folder (C:\Visual Pinball\VPINMAME\DmdDevice.ini)
+ DmdDevice.ini successfully loaded; scanning
+ It looks like virtual dmd mode is disabled in the dmd-extensions DLL, so we're enabling the DLL.
+ dmddevice.dll successfully loaded
+ It looks like virtual dmd mode is disabled in the dmd-extensions DLL, so we're enabling the DLL.

 

Table launch: Mars, table file Mars, system Pinball FX3
+ launch: full table path C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\Mars
+ table launch: table file C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\Mars doesn't exist; try adding extension -> C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\Mars.pxp
+ table launch: file + extension (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam\Mars.pxp) exists, using it
+ RunBeforePre (initial pre-launch command):
> d:\dmdext mirror --source=pinballfx3 --no-virtual
+ RunBeforePre (initial pre-launch command): [NOWAIT] specified, continuing
+ table launch: executable: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe
+ table launch: applying command line variable substitutions:
+ Original> -applaunch 442120
+ Final   > -applaunch 442120
+ table launch: waiting for secondary process Pinball FX3.exe to start
+ table launch: found matching process 4148
+ using this process
+ table launch: process launch succeeded
+ table launch: Close Game command received
+ table launch: game exited normally
+ table launch finished successfully

Detecting and configuring real DMD device
+ It looks like virtual dmd mode is disabled in the dmd-extensions DLL, so we're enabling the DLL.

Friday, September 14, 2018, 7:59:07 AM: PinballY session ending

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

 

Now on to DLing Alpha20 and see what I can break with the batch recording - WOOHOO! (after lawnmowing and breakfast)

 

EDIT: almost forgot: Run before (1): settings on my system: [NOWAIT TERMINATE] d:\dmdext mirror --source=pinballfx3 --no-virtual

 

Everything else is the standard default FX3 settings.

Edited by hlr53, 14 September 2018 - 05:37 PM.

[hlr53]

Ran capture a few times and the interface is great and easy to use via the flipper buttons. Nice options. I didn't scrutinize or try all the options yet. Just ran it on 4 JP Salas VPX tables and they all captured perfectly.

 

Sorry this is sideways. Wasn't when I uploaded.

 

MASSIVE EDIT: Running through the tables with the flipper buttons in attract mode on the 32 bit PBY resulted in VERY SLOW rendering of the captured videos. Here is an example of a video trying to get rendered to the playfield monitor. It eventually displays properly.

 

 

 

 

MJR suggested using the 64 bit version which I did. I am running the 64 bit on my D data drive and 32 bit on my C drive. Capturing with 64 bit resulted in no lag while switching through the tables.

Edited by hlr53, 14 September 2018 - 09:01 PM.

[TerryRed]

I tried out this version and when I run VP ... The game will start but when I quit the game, It crashes VP

With dmdext-v1.7.1-x86 all is good

Spoiler

[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.720 INFO | Successfully loaded config from E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\DmdDevice.ini.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Determined color path from assembly path: E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Starting VPinMAME API through VPinballX.exe.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | [vpm] Open()
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | [vpm] Set_4_Colors_Palette()
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Setting palette to 4 colors...
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | [vpm] PM_GameSettings(1)
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Enabling game colorization
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.743 INFO | Setting game name: mm_109c
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.752 INFO | Setting color: #FFFF5820
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.752 INFO | Loading palette file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].pal...
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:51.768 INFO | Loading virtual animation file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].vni...
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.017 INFO | Loaded animation set VPIN v4, 394 animation(s)
[17] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.017 INFO | Opening virtual DMD...
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.081 INFO | Found B2S, moving behind DMD.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.081 INFO | Added VirtualDMD renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | PinUP DLL starting mm_109c...
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | Added PinUP renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | Transformation options: Resize=Fit, HFlip=False, VFlip=False
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.097 INFO | Just clearing palette, colorization is done by converter.
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.115 INFO | Resizing virtual DMD to 128x32
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.115 INFO | Setting up 2-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.166 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM 2-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray2 => Gray2)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Setting up 4-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM 4-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray4 => Gray4)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Setting up RGB24-bit VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to Dmd (Rgb24 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 17:55:52.175 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to PinUP Writer (Rgb24 => Bitmap)
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.123 INFO | [vpm] Close()
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.123 INFO | Closing up.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.133 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.133 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[17] 2018/09/13 17:56:10.133 INFO | Source for 2 renderer(s) stopped.

 

With dmdext-x86-mjr-NoAdmin-20180911a

 

Spoiler

[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.175 INFO | Successfully loaded config from E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\DmdDevice.ini.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Determined color path from assembly path: E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Starting VPinMAME API through VPinballX.exe.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | [vpm] Open()
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | [vpm] Set_4_Colors_Palette()
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Setting palette to 4 colors...
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | [vpm] PM_GameSettings(1)
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.208 INFO | Enabling game colorization
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.219 INFO | Setting game name: mm_109c
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.219 INFO | Setting color: #FFFF5820
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.235 INFO | Loading palette file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].pal...
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.235 INFO | Loading virtual animation file at E:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\altcolor\mm_109c\[Removed for Trademark Infringement].vni...
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.537 INFO | Loaded animation set VPIN v4, 394 animation(s)
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.537 INFO | Opening virtual DMD...
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.593 INFO | Found B2S, moving behind DMD.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | Added VirtualDMD renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | PinUP DLL starting mm_109c...
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | Added PinUP renderer.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.597 INFO | Transformation options: Resize=Fit, HFlip=False, VFlip=False
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.610 INFO | Just clearing palette, colorization is done by converter.
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.610 INFO | Resizing virtual DMD to 128x32
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.610 INFO | Setting up 2-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.654 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting 2-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM 2-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray2 => Gray2)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Setting up 4-bit Colored VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray2 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting 4-Bit Colorizer to Dmd (ColoredGray4 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM 4-bit Source to PinUP Writer (Gray4 => Gray4)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Setting up RGB24-bit VPM Graph for 2 destination(s)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to Dmd (Rgb24 => Rgb24)
[19] 2018/09/13 18:03:39.662 INFO | Connecting VPM RGB24 Source to PinUP Writer (Rgb24 => Bitmap)
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.424 INFO | [vpm] Close()
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.424 INFO | Closing up.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.424 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:55.441 INFO | Source for 4 renderer(s) stopped.
[13] 2018/09/13 18:03:58.541 ERROR | System.Threading.Tasks.TaskCanceledException: A task was canceled.
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.ThrowForNonSuccess(Task task)
at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.TaskAwaiter.HandleNonSuccessAndDebuggerNotification(Task task)
at System.Windows.Threading.DispatcherOperation.Wait(TimeSpan timeout)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.InvokeImpl(DispatcherOperation operation, CancellationToken cancellationToken, TimeSpan timeout)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(Action callback, DispatcherPriority priority, CancellationToken cancellationToken, TimeSpan timeout)
at System.Windows.Threading.Dispatcher.Invoke(Action callback)
at LibDmd.Common.VirtualDmd.DisposingControlWindow() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\Common\VirtualDmd.xaml.cs:line 83
at LibDmd.Output.Virtual.VirtualDmdControl.Dispose() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\Output\Virtual\VirtualDmdControl.xaml.cs:line 157
at LibDmd.RenderGraph.Dispose() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\RenderGraph.cs:line 1028
at LibDmd.RenderGraphCollection.<>c.b__13_0(RenderGraph graph) in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\RenderGraphCollection.cs:line 98
at System.Collections.Generic.List`1.ForEach(Action`1 action)
at LibDmd.RenderGraphCollection.Dispose() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\RenderGraphCollection.cs:line 98
at LibDmd.DmdDevice.DmdDevice.Close() in D:\per\Visual Pinball Cabinet Project\dmd-extensions\LibDmd\DmdDevice\DmdDevice.cs:line 465
at PinMameDevice.DmdDevice.Close()

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I noticed similar....it's specifically with the dmddevice.dll included with mjr's zip. The dmdext works perfect for me with fx3....but dmddevice.dll does indedd cause VPX tables to crash when closing out. Much more so tables that are using PuP-Packs.  Going back to freezy's 1.71 dmddevice.dll, and everything works fine.

[mjr]

Attract mode is very problematic. Checking and unchecking Attract mode in Options does nothing. 

 

Okay, I'll have a look at that.

 

 

The default is 10 sec/table view and it is not switching to the next table. Attract mode is having trouble (sometimes) building the videos on to the monitors quickly. 

 

I'm a little confused...  it's not switching, but it is switching and not updating the videos?  Maybe I need to see the video.  You could always post it to youtube, although they do have some minimum community standards you have to meet: the video must contain either (1) a cat on a Roomba or (2) someone getting kicked in the @*#*s.

 

If you're getting weird gray screens like in your photo, it's because VLC is falling behind on the decoding.  There are lots of reasons this can happen that have little to do with system performance.  

 

Here's the big question:  Does this ONLY happen in attract mode, or does it also happen when you switch to the same games manually?

 

If it ALWAYS happens with the particular videos, you might try the 64-bit version if you're not already on that.  Some videos (especially 4K, but probably not limited to 4K) just need too much memory for 32-bit mode, and one of the big symptoms you'll see is that gray screen playback.

Yes, I noticed similar....it's specifically with the dmddevice.dll included with mjr's zip. The dmdext works perfect for me with fx3....but dmddevice.dll does indedd cause VPX tables to crash when closing out. 

 

My experimental dmdext update has lots of other changes I've made besides the memory grabber changes, so one of those is probably the problem.  Should be fine to mix and match versions of DmdDevice.dll and dmdext.exe since they're independent components.  

Edited by mjr, 14 September 2018 - 06:55 PM.

[TerryRed]

 

Yes, I noticed similar....it's specifically with the dmddevice.dll included with mjr's zip. The dmdext works perfect for me with fx3....but dmddevice.dll does indedd cause VPX tables to crash when closing out. 

 

My experimental dmdext update has lots of other changes I've made besides the memory grabber changes, so one of those is probably the problem.  Should be fine to mix and match versions of DmdDevice.dll and dmdext.exe since they're independent components.  

 

 

 

Yup...that's what I'm using now. Freezy's original 1.71 32 bit files with your dmdext.exe update, and that works perfect.

[hlr53]

 

Attract mode has some issues Checking and unchecking Attract mode in Options does nothing. 

 

Okay, I'll have a look at that. NEVERMIND - SEE BELOW

 

 

The default is 10 sec/table view and it is not switching to the next table. Attract mode is having trouble (sometimes) building the videos on to the monitors quickly. 

 

 

If you're getting weird gray screens like in your photo, it's because VLC is falling behind on the decoding.  There are lots of reasons this can happen that have little to do with system performance.  

 

Here's the big question:  Does this ONLY happen in attract mode, or does it also happen when you switch to the same games manually?

 

If it ALWAYS happens with the particular videos, you might try the 64-bit version if you're not already on that.  Some videos (especially 4K, but probably not limited to 4K) just need too much memory for 32-bit mode, and one of the big symptoms you'll see is that gray screen playback.

 

WOW! Bitness _DO_ make a difference! Just doing 1080p.I put the 64 bit version on my D drive and captured the 4 tables again. While running through them in attract mode there was no lag and the playfields and back-glass all displayed correctly.

 

OK, attract mode does go off and on. I set attract mode to start after 10 seconds of being idle (default 180 sec). After 10 seconds, the tables do display for 10 sec each and then switch to the next table. Unchecking attract mode does turn that mode off. I wasn't waiting long enough

 

Sorry about that. 

Edited by hlr53, 14 September 2018 - 08:08 PM.

[mjr]

WOW! Bitness _DO_ make a difference! I put the 64 bit version on my D drive and captured the 4 tables again. While running through them in attract mode there was no lag and the playfields and back-glass all displayed correctly.

 

OK, attract mode does go off and on. I set attract mode to start after 10 seconds of being idle (default 180 sec). After 10 seconds, the tables do display for 10 sec each and then switch to the next table. Unchecking attract mode does turn that mode off.

 

Sorry about that. 

 

Great!  It's always good when the solution is as easy as "run the other version"!

 

64-bit is a huge win because it gives you access to so much more memory.  A 32-bit Windows process only gets to allocate about 800 MB of RAM dynamically, because of the way Windows is designed.  64-bit mode blows away those barriers and lets you access all of your installed RAM.  I don't know if VLC is a memory hog or if you just inherently need a ton of memory to decode video (my guess is that it's a bit of both), but once you get a couple of HD videos going at once, VLC uses up just about all of the memory in the 32-bit process space.  Throw a 4K video in there and it's all over.  The interesting thing is that VLC *kind of* copes when memory gets tight - playback is crippled with those weird gray screens, but it doesn't tend to crash and burn the way most other software does when it runs out of memory.  I think it would actually be nicer if VLC reported errors back to the caller rather than trying so hard to cope with crippled playback, since then I could at least show a warning saying that you should switch to 64-bit.  As it is, PBY doesn't have any idea that VLC is suffering so badly - VLC just keeps up its death march without complaint and lets the caller assume that things are going fine.  PBY doesn't get any information back about the crippled playback.

Edited by mjr, 14 September 2018 - 08:15 PM.

[hlr53]

Getting closer to Beta...…..... Maybe 23 alpha's first?

 

https://www.independ...ee-6262624.html

 

Seriously, 64 bit it is. Now, with a lot of 32 bit software out there, anything I should watch out for that won't specifically work with 64 bit PBY, pinball-wise that is. I'm adding a Sainsmart 8 relay board next and then doing LED lighting. I don't know what I'm going to control the lighting with yet?

 

Better put a warning in the docs about the capture/display :-)

Edited by hlr53, 14 September 2018 - 08:35 PM.

[mjr]

Seriously, 64 bit it is. Now, with a lot of 32 bit software out there, anything I should watch out for that won't specifically work with 64 bit PBY, pinball-wise that is. I'm adding a Sainsmart 8 relay board next and then doing LED lighting. I don't know what I'm going to control the lighting with yet?

 

There are a couple of things, mentioned on the main PinballY page - http://mjrnet.org/pi...pe/PinballY.php

 

- You need to grab my very recent DOF R3++ release, 2018-09-04 or later.  Earlier DOFs won't load properly in 64-bit mode.

 

- You need the 64-bit version of DmdDevice.dll.  That can coexist peacefully alongside the 32-bit version, which you'll need to keep for VPinMAME's sake  See "Real DMD update alert" for details, but the gist is that you just have to install the 64-bit version and make sure it's named DmdDevice64.dll.