1622 replies to this topic

[mjr]

hlr53 - okay, here's an instrumented testing version for you.  This will be a huge pain to run because it's going to pop up message box after message box telling you every step it's doing with the config file.  Bear with it and read the messages to see if there's any hint about the problem.  Pay attention to:

 

- The exact file and path name it's reporting.  See if you can spot any discrepancy from what it should be.  The correct answer is always <PinballY install path>\Settings.txt.  Please pay close attention to every character in the path/file name and see if you can spot anything wrong there.  Make sure the drive letter is right.  Make sure the colon and spaces and periods and backslashes are right.  See if the read file name matches the write file name.

 

- Result codes reported in the messages.  Error 0 means success.  Anything else means an error occurred.  See if anything is reporting a non-zero error code at any step along the way.

 

- The main series of actions to test is:  run, bring up the options dialog, change an option, hit Apply.

 

You'll get messages when you first run about the config file load.  When you first open the Options dialog, you'll get more messages about save and then load.  When you change something and hit OK or Apply, you'll get another series of save messages.  Hopefully something in one of the endless series of dialogs will point out the problem.  It's got to be something!

 

This is just the instrumented files (one EXE and one DLL).  Save your existing copies of the files by renaming them, copy these in their place, run.

 

http://mjrnet.org/pi...mented-6620.zip

Edited by mjr, 16 September 2018 - 10:31 PM.

[hlr53]

{EDIT going to run test exe now

Edited by hlr53, 16 September 2018 - 10:31 PM.

[mjr]

One other random thought occurs.  Are you running any antivirus/antimalware/antispyware/Internet security suite programs?  If so, maybe PBY is getting quarantined - that could explain the inexplicable behavior where it seems to think it's writing files (and apparently not getting any errors back from the OS) but it's not really succeeding.  

(I mention this because someone ran into a problem with PinEMHi where an antivirus program kept quarantining it every time he tried to install, which made the install fail with a very unhelpful and uninformative error message from SETUP.  But that showed up during the install process.)

Edited by mjr, 16 September 2018 - 10:37 PM.

[hlr53]

{EDIT going to run test exe now

Path was correct c:\PinballY\settings.txt

 

All zero errors but on B2 it showed this if it means anything?

 

 

log file

 

Sunday, September 16, 2018, 6:38:32 PM: Session started

PinballY 1.0.0 (Alpha 20), build 6620 (x64, 20180916-2214)

 

Sunday, September 16, 2018, 6:39:06 PM: PinballY session ending

Edited by hlr53, 16 September 2018 - 10:39 PM.

[mjr]

 

{EDIT going to run test exe now

Path was corretc c:\Pinbal

 

All zero errors but on B2 it showed this if it means anything?

 

 

 

All good so far - "error code 0" means happy.  The string of hex nonsense with the file handle is fine too; that's just information on what's going on.

[hlr53]

One other random thought occurs.  Are you running any antivirus/antimalware/antispyware/Internet security suite programs?  If so, maybe PBY is getting quarantined - that could explain the inexplicable behavior where it seems to think it's writing files (and apparently not getting any errors back from the OS) but it's not really succeeding.  

(I mention this because someone ran into a problem with PinEMHi where an antivirus program kept quarantining it every time he tried to install, which made the install fail with a very unhelpful and uninformative error message from SETUP.  But that showed up during the install process.)

 

Just Windows Defender. 

 

Again, this all started with the PBX install.

Edited by hlr53, 16 September 2018 - 10:42 PM.

[mjr]

Just Windows Defender. 

 

That should be fine - I've never had a problem with that, at least.

 

 

Again, this all started with the PBX install.

 

Well, the impact of that on your media paths is well understood.  But do you have any theory on how it could have created this "can't write Settings.txt" issue?  I sure don't - it seems like it's got to be a complete coincidence.

 

So did you go through the full test - you did an option settings update, saved, and all of the dialogs reported happy results for the settings file write?  You got a confirmation at the end of the save that the file was written and the overall result was success?  And then you looked at the settings file again and it was not in fact updated?

Edited by mjr, 16 September 2018 - 10:51 PM.

[Outhere]

When using the native VP/VPinMAME DMD there is no delay

It was the same delay for VP10 and vpinball-physmod5

Yes I am using a pin2dmd Plus the external virtual DMD because I just got my real one and I'm still setting it up

 

 

Sorry --- Visual Pinball? - no front end

 

"the playfield starts flashing", --- What I mean is the playing field flashes all the lighting like normal

 

Okay, but in which program?  Visual Pinball?  PinballY?  Something else?

 

Outthere - doesn't look like it's any different either way when I try it.

 

Could you try a little test on your machine for me?

 

1.  Fire up MM in VP with the new version of the DLL loaded

 

2.  This is where you're seeing the 8-second delay (correct me if I'm wrong)

 

3. Press F1

 

4.  Un-check "Use external DMD"

 

5.  Click OK

 

6.  Press F3

 

7.  The virtual DMD window should disappear, and the game should restart

 

8.  What kind of delay do you see this time?

 

You can A/B test it by switching back and forth.  When "Use external DMD" is disabled, DmdDevice.dll won't be in the mix at all, so you should be seeing the native VP/VPinMAME startup time after pressing F3.  When you switch back and forth, do you see the 8-second delay come and go reliably according to whether the DmdDevice window is appearing or not?

 

One more question:  which version of VP is this in?  VP X or VP 9.9.5 or something else?

And actually, I should ask:  are you using a real DMD device?  That might be the difference between our setups if so - I'm only testing with virtual.

 

[hlr53]

 

Just Windows Defender. 

 

That should be fine - I've never had a problem with that, at least.

 

 

Again, this all started with the PBX install.

 

Well, the impact of that on your media paths is well understood.  But do you have any theory on how it could have created this "can't write Settings.txt" issue?  I sure don't - it seems like it's got to be a complete coincidence.

 

So did you go through the full test - you did an option settings update, saved, and all of the dialogs reported happy results for the settings file write?  You got a confirmation at the end of the save that the file was written and the overall result was success?  And then you looked at the settings file again and it was not in fact updated?

 

I wish I knew? The full test showed reading and writing with zero errors.

 

So I understand this, I went into PBY just now running the test and changed the media path to an existing c:\temp directory. And reran again without changing anything.

 

Should MediaPath now = c :\temp     It shows MediaPath = Media

Edited by hlr53, 16 September 2018 - 11:17 PM.

[mjr]

When using the native VP/VPinMAME DMD there is no delay

It was the same delay for VP10 and vpinball-physmod5

Yes I am using a [Forbidden DMD of Darkness and Depravity] Plus the external virtual DMD because I just got my real one and I'm still setting it up

 

Okay, that's good information.

 

I'm thinking maybe it's the Forbidden DMD of Death and Doom.  I didn't change anything there, but I'm building against Freezy's latest source code, which hasn't been released as a binary release yet, so maybe there's some update in the base code between 1.7.1 and latest that affected it.  

 

Two things we can try to sort that out:

 

First, is there any way you can temporarily disable the Forbidden DMD of Damnation and Despair?  Maybe just unplug it from USB for a bit?  Then do the test without it (go purely virtual for testing) and see if the timing difference persists.  If the timing difference goes away, then we can be pretty sure it's something specific to the device.  (Not the device's fault - just something that changed in the DLL that's specifically related to the device.)

 

Second, if that first test shows that the timing difference is in fact specific to the device being present, what I can do is compile up a binary for you of the base code from Freezy's repos that I started with, without any of my changes.  Then you can try that with the device attached again and see if the timing difference is there.  If the timing difference comes back, it's in something between 1.7.1 and Freezy's latest; if the timing difference doesn't come back, it's something I added.  Either way that will tell us where to look next.

 

So did you go through the full test - you did an option settings update, saved, and all of the dialogs reported happy results for the settings file write?  You got a confirmation at the end of the save that the file was written and the overall result was success?  And then you looked at the settings file again and it was not in fact updated?

 

 

So I understand this, I went into VPX just now running the test and changed the media path to an existing c:\temp directory. And reran again without changing anything.

 

Should MediaPath now = c :\temp     It shows MediaPath = Media

 

 

Man, this is strange as heck.  I just don't know what to try next.  It seems like everything's working, and yet it's not.  

 

When you look at the "Modified" date for Settings.txt in the properties dialog in Windows Explorer, what does that say?  Does it ever change when you save updates from PinballY?

 

If you manually rename Settings.txt to something random, say OldSettings.txt, run PinballY, edit options, Apply, quit, is a Setting.txt file created? If so, do your changes stick that time?

 

Is anyone else out there seeing anything similar to this?  That is, you update settings, no error messages, yet settings aren't getting saved to Settings.txt?

Edited by mjr, 16 September 2018 - 11:11 PM.

[mjr]

 

 

So I understand this, I went into VPX just now running the test and changed the media path to an existing c:\temp directory. And reran again without changing anything.

 

Should MediaPath now = c :\temp     It shows MediaPath = Media

 

 

Hang on a sec.... we might be talking about two different things here.  

 

There are two media paths in the system.

 

1.  The GLOBAL media path, setting the root folder for all media

 

2.  The SYSTEM SPECIFIC media folder, setting the SUBFOLDER ONLY for individual systems

 

Have we been talking at cross purposes this whole time, you're talking about (2) and I'm talking about (1)?   I'm being stupid if so.

 

The GLOBAL media path is the MediaPath variable I've been talking about.  That's set in the Folders page of the options.  It affects every system.  That's the root path that, by default, adapts to whether PinballX is installed or not.

 

The SYSTEM media folder is just a subfolder of that global media path that's set per system.  That's stored under System<N>.MediaDir. Whatever your VPX system number is, that's where to look - look for SystemN = Visual Pinball X, then look under that same N for the .MediaDir.  DON'T put an absolute path (with drive letter) there - that's just a subfolder.  It should just be something like "Visual Pinball X".

 

The COMBINATION of the two paths is the media folder for a given system.  

 

Global Media Path\System Media Dir

 

I've been thinking this whole time that you're going to the Folders page in the options.  That's where you want to be looking to override the PinballX default.

Edited by mjr, 16 September 2018 - 11:29 PM.

[Outhere]

I only have the delay with the [Removed for Trademark Infringement] Pluged in...
I thought Freezy's latest was 1.7.1

I just came across this and this is the reason

https://github.com/f...ions/issues/132

 

When using the native VP/VPinMAME DMD there is no delay

It was the same delay for VP10 and vpinball-physmod5

Yes I am using a [Forbidden DMD of Darkness and Depravity] Plus the external virtual DMD because I just got my real one and I'm still setting it up

 

Okay, that's good information.

 

I'm thinking maybe it's the Forbidden DMD of Death and Doom.  I didn't change anything there, but I'm building against Freezy's latest source code, which hasn't been released as a binary release yet, so maybe there's some update in the base code between 1.7.1 and latest that affected it.  

 

Two things we can try to sort that out:

 

First, is there any way you can temporarily disable the Forbidden DMD of Damnation and Despair?  Maybe just unplug it from USB for a bit?  Then do the test without it (go purely virtual for testing) and see if the timing difference persists.  If the timing difference goes away, then we can be pretty sure it's something specific to the device.  (Not the device's fault - just something that changed in the DLL that's specifically related to the device.)

 

Second, if that first test shows that the timing difference is in fact specific to the device being present, what I can do is compile up a binary for you of the base code from Freezy's repos that I started with, without any of my changes.  Then you can try that with the device attached again and see if the timing difference is there.  If the timing difference comes back, it's in something between 1.7.1 and Freezy's latest; if the timing difference doesn't come back, it's something I added.  Either way that will tell us where to look next

Edited by Outhere, 17 September 2018 - 12:42 AM.

[hlr53]

[SNIP]
 
They're back. I changed it to setting_old.txt, reran the normal PBY without changing any media path, and it built a new settings.txt from what looks like DefaultSettings.txt.
 
[SNIP] just read your above posting as I was typing this up.

Really sorry for the path confusion. I indeed was looking at the system specific path rather than media root.

Edited by hlr53, 18 September 2018 - 09:21 AM.

[STV]

Turn off the computer.  Walk away.   Spend a couple days doing something else.  Return with an enhanced perspective. 

[kiwiBri]

Hi,I'm intrigued by this new menu system.  Are there any video's demonstrating it in action? 

thanks

[mjr]

New Alpha 21 is now available.  Highlights:

 

- Pinball Arcade DX11 and Pinball Arcade Cabinet can now be launched directly.   See the System Options help file for the recipe.

 

- The "Auto" option for the global Media and Table Database folders has been removed and replaced with more specific options: "Use the PinballY folder", "Use the PinballX folder", and "Use some other folder".  This will hopefully cause less confusion in the future by making things simpler and more explicit.  When you run the new version for the first time, it might ask you to choose a new path setting if you're currently using Auto, but that's just a one-time step to update to the new scheme.

 

- The secret to getting DX11 to launch turned out to be a couple of environment variables that have to be set (found with a little spelunking in the debugger), so there's a new "Environment" setting in the system options for adding variables to the launched program's environment.  The other trick (the one that was causing all the "assert failures" in Pinball Arcade, if you ever ran into that nasty business) was to use normal "show" mode instead of "minimized" mode when launching it.  Most of the other programs (VP, FP, anything launched via Steam) does better with a minimized initial window because they want to flash some other window than the game up first, but a direct TPA DX11 launch doesn't do that, and the program blows up if it's launched that way.  So now there's a way to say what to do, per system.

 

- Admin mode can now be specified for Run Before/After commands.  Although hopefully no one will ever actually need those, now that dmd-ext doesn't need them for its memory grabbers.  If you're still using an old dmd-ext that *does* require admin mode, you should replace it with the one here:    https://github.com/m...7.1 mjr20180915

[hlr53]

New Alpha 21 is now available.  Highlights:
 
- Pinball Arcade DX11 and Pinball Arcade Cabinet can now be launched directly.   See the System Options help file for the recipe.
 
- The "Auto" option for the global Media and Table Database folders has been removed and replaced with more specific options: "Use the PinballY folder", "Use the PinballX folder", and "Use some other folder".  This will hopefully cause less confusion in the future by making things simpler and more explicit.  When you run the new version for the first time, it might ask you to choose a new path setting if you're currently using Auto, but that's just a one-time step to update to the new scheme.
 

 
Nice, and timely too. Very cool you tracked it down. One of the nagging things left was launching DX11. I was getting ready to try kludged AHK scripts running before/after within PBY that GAH1068 mentioned over at pinballarcadefans.
 
EDIT 15:30 Installed Alpha 21. Very nice and as always Thank You. It has the Folders option to set Media and table databases to PBY, PBX or other. I'm going to reinstall PBX to test plus I want to scarf some media from it. For Pinball Arcade I changed Process name to PinballArcade11.exe and since I use Free Camera Mod, I pointed to (on my system) C:\TPAFreeCamMod\TPAFreeCamMod.exe. Show. Window mode: (SW_SHOW). PBY ran the DX11 version with the FCM overlay just fine to the main PBA main menu. ESC back to PBY with no problem.

Edited by hlr53, 20 September 2018 - 08:31 PM.

[mjr]

Hi,I'm intrigued by this new menu system.  Are there any video's demonstrating it in action? 

 

I haven't had a chance to make a video yet.  If anyone else wants to post one, that would be great. 

 

Failing that, it should be pretty quick and easy to set up and try out for yourself, or at least it's meant to be, when everything goes right.   The main hassle is that you have to update a few other things, if you're using them at all:

 

 - if you're using DOF, you have to update to the very latest (you need the "experimental" R3++ version of 2018-09-04 or later),

 

 - plus refresh your DOF Config Tool ini files

 

 - if you have a real DMD, get the equally bleeding-edge version of the dmd-ext DLL from https://github.com/m...7.1 mjr20180915

 

But otherwise it shouldn't take much work to set up and try out, other than waiting for the large-ish download to finish.

EDIT 15:30 Installed Alpha 21. Very nice and as always Thank You. Has the Folders option to set Media and table databases to PBY, PBX or other. I'm going to reinstall PBX to test plus I want to scarf some media from it. For Pinball Arcade I changed Process name to PinballArcade11.exe and since I use Free Camera Mod, I pointed to (on my system) C:\TPAFreeCamMod\TPAFreeCamMod.exe.Show. Window mode: (SW_SHOW). PBY ran the DX11 version with the FCM overlay just fine to the main PBA main menu. ESC back to PBY with no problem.

 

Hopefully the PBX install won't create as much of a hassle this time!  

 

Glad to hear the DX11 + FCM combination is working.  I forgot about that combination (don't have it to test out myself), but it sounds like you have the right settings for that.  I'll add that to the list of known system recipes in the help file.

[hlr53]

Good Friday morning all,

 

Installed PBX and under the PBY Folders in Options I set the radio buttons to: Use the PinballX media Folder and PinballX database folder. This worked perfectly. Much smoother now, thank you very much - LOL.

 

I did have one issue prior to installing PBX. On a fresh A21 install (and this may have happened on earlier Alpha's) FX3 would not launch individual tables using the default setup. It went to the main menu.

 

Pinball FX3

System class: STEAM
Program EXE: [STEAM]
Parameters: applaunch 442120 "-table_[TABLEFILE]"
Window Mode: Minimize
Process name: Pinball FX3.exe
Table folder: steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\steam
Table extension: .pxp
DOF Prefix: FX3

 

and these exe Parameters are identical to the one in PBX.

 

After the PBX install I switched the Table folder over to C:\PinballX\Databases\Pinball FX3 (my system). The tables now launch correctly. They are pulling from PBX's XML file.

 

Not sure if this has happened to other people?

 

Switching back to PBY from log file:

 

Configuring pinball player system "Pinball FX3"

+ database folder = C:\PinballY\Databases\Pinball FX3

+ [STEAM] executable specified, full path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe

+ working path when launching player program is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\

+ full table path (folder containing this system's table files) is ??E

+ scanning for table files: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam\steamapps\common\Pinball FX3\data\*.pxp

+ media folder base name is Pinball FX3, full path is C:\PinballY\Media\Pinball FX3; this folder name is defaulted from the system name

+ searching folder C:\PinballY\Databases\Pinball FX3 for table database .XML files

 

There are no Media or database folders set up yet on my PBY install. So I made a FX3 database folder and dropped PBX's table XML in there, pointing PBY to that directory,  and I now launch tables direct from PBY. Of course, PBX's XML does not quite match the tables I own, and at this stage I would have to manually edit the XML file.

 

PBY Log:

 

+ System "Pinball FX3": loading table database file C:\PinballY\Databases\Pinball FX3\Pinball FX3.xml

++ This is the main file for this system (it doesn't define a category)

++ adding game Alien: Isolation, table file Alien_Isolation, media file base name Alien Isolation

++ adding game Alien vs. Predator, table file Alien_vs_Predator, media file base name Alien vs. Predator

++ adding game Aliens, table file Aliens, media file base name Aliens

+ +.......

Edited by hlr53, 21 September 2018 - 03:25 PM.

[hlr53]

A21 64 bit

 

Tried setting up a VPX game and I put in a matched title, the blanks fill in and when I hit OK,  PBY immediately shuts down. No errors shown. It just shuts down.

 

It does not do this for Future Pinball tables. Adds everything and is fine.

 

I thought maybe not having a Visual Pinball X database folder was causing this so I added one. Same result. Closes to desktop.

 

------------------------------------------ log -----------------------------------------------------------

Friday, September 21, 2018, 3:20:52 PM: Session started

PinballY 1.0.0 (Alpha 21), build 6693 (x64, 20180920-0628)

 

Starting pinball player system setup

The main table database folder is C:\PinballY\Databases

 

Configuring pinball player system "Visual Pinball 9"

+ database folder = C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball

+ full executable path to player program is C:\Visual Pinball\VPinball995.exe

+ working path when launching player program is C:\Visual Pinball\

+ full table path (folder containing this system's table files) is ??l

+ scanning for table files: C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\*.vpt

+ media folder base name is Visual Pinball, full path is C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball; this folder name was specified in the settings

+ searching folder C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball for table database .XML files

 

Configuring pinball player system "Visual Pinball 9.2"

+ database folder = C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball 9.2

+ full executable path to player program is C:\Visual Pinball\VPinball921.exe

+ working path when launching player program is C:\Visual Pinball\

+ full table path (folder containing this system's table files) is ??l

+ This system uses a folder that has already been scanned (C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\*.vpt)

+ media folder base name is Visual Pinball, full path is C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball; this folder name was specified in the settings

+ searching folder C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball 9.2 for table database .XML files

 

Configuring pinball player system "Visual Pinball X"

+ database folder = C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball X

+ full executable path to player program is C:\Visual Pinball\VPinballX.exe

+ working path when launching player program is C:\Visual Pinball\

+ full table path (folder containing this system's table files) is ??l

+ scanning for table files: C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\*.vpx

++ found file:  Alien Poker.vpx

++ found file:  Black Pyramid VPX v1.0.3.vpx

++ found file:  Cavaleiro Negro v1.0.3.vpx

++ found file:  Cheetah 1.0.1.vpx

++ found file:  Harley Davidson (Bally - 1991) v1.0.0.vpx

++ found file:  Nudge Test and Calibration.vpx

+ media folder base name is Visual Pinball X, full path is C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball X; this folder name is defaulted from the system name

+ searching folder C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball X for table database .XML files

Pinball player system "Future Pinball" is disabled; skipping

Pinball player system "Pinball Arcade" is disabled; skipping

Pinball player system "Pinball FX3" is disabled; skipping

Pinball player system "Pinball FX2" is disabled; skipping

 

Starting pinball player system setup

The main table database folder is C:\PinballY\Databases

 

Configuring pinball player system "Visual Pinball 9"

+ database folder = C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball

+ full executable path to player program is C:\Visual Pinball\VPinball995.exe

+ working path when launching player program is C:\Visual Pinball\

+ full table path (folder containing this system's table files) is ??l

+ scanning for table files: C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\*.vpt

+ media folder base name is Visual Pinball, full path is C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball; this folder name was specified in the settings

+ searching folder C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball for table database .XML files

 

Configuring pinball player system "Visual Pinball 9.2"

+ database folder = C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball 9.2

+ full executable path to player program is C:\Visual Pinball\VPinball921.exe

+ working path when launching player program is C:\Visual Pinball\

+ full table path (folder containing this system's table files) is ??l

+ This system uses a folder that has already been scanned (C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\*.vpt)

+ media folder base name is Visual Pinball, full path is C:\PinballY\Media\Visual Pinball; this folder name was specified in the settings

+ searching folder C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball 9.2 for table database .XML files

 

Configuring pinball player system "Visual Pinball X"

+ database folder = C:\PinballY\Databases\Visual Pinball X

+ full executable path to player program is C:\Visual Pinball\VPinballX.exe

+ working path when launching player program is C:\Visual Pinball\

+ full table path (folder containing this system's table files) is ??l

+ scanning for table files: C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\*.vpx

++ found file:  Alien Poker.vpx

++ found file:  Black Pyramid VPX v1.0.3.vpx