835 replies to this topic

[wiesshund]

I have the same problem.  I might look into using a AHK script or something to ALT-TAB after the table loads, but not sure if that will work.  Otherwise I'll need to go back to UltraDMD for my front end to launch them properly.

 

 

 

 

I would take a good look over your setup to see what is actually causing that as it is not flexDMD in and of itself.

 

Moving back to ultraDMD would kind of be a step backwards
A lot of newer tables wont run it

[groo]

Gentlemen.

 

It´s possible to use this software to display text and images via command line?

 

i.e. : "flexdmd c:/path/image.png" or "flexdmd "hello world!"?

 

I´d like to use this to replace HyperDMD which is not available anymore.

 

Below my first test taken in 2012. It worked (with improvements) until today, when I upgraded my setup to windows 10.

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=ZR0C2xcP5x0

 

thanks in advance.

 

Eric

[wiesshund]

It isnt flexDMD you are looking to, it is freezy's DMD extensions, which you already have i would imagine

 

And i think all of the modern front ends can send an image to the DMD display directly?

 

I am pretty sure both pinballX and pinballY can
i am not sure if pinup popper does, but i would really have to think that it can?

[Shoopity]

Forgive me if this has already been answered elsewhere, but I'm looking for some good documentation on how to code for FlexDMD.  I think I saw wiesshund mention to check the github and the demo table, but I didn't see much there as far as documentation is concerned.  I can get stuff up and running, and there's some description in github (though there's no wiki), but the demo table doesn't contain any comments; I'm looking for more description of stuff.  Like, what all is available to me in the ActionFactory, or even just a description of the variables.  E.G. I can discern from the demo table that MoveTo(location, ??, speed_of_movement).  Is there somewhere the actually breaks all these things out and describes them?  Or, I can figure out that you can make your own animations from one picture.  But I'm guessing this isn't every single thing FlexDMD is capable of.

 

If not, I totally understand.  I know documenting work is more of a pain than just doing it.  I'm working on seeing if I can bring Ben Heck's Bill Paxton table to VPX.  I used UltraDMD in AMH.  One thing I don't currently see in FlexDMD is UDMD's "isRendering" function.  Does FDMD have anything like that?

 

[wiesshund]

FlexDMD does not have a good set of docs/tutorials yet that i know of for its API.
I dont know it very well

 

It will however happily run UltraDMD code, though UltraDMD's API is more limiting
But it does work fine, if you run into a crunch

[Thalamus]

Yeah ... maybe. But, there is very advanced tables - like https://vpuniverse.c...s-bountyhunter/ .. much to learn from it.

[drinkcristal]

From my perspective, rather than copy other tables scripts and interpret the code (which I have done recently for Thunderbirds), it would be good to have some explanation of the basics. I am struggling to debug errors that some people experience on a table I have authored. (errors I am not experiencing)

 

FlexDMD works fine for most inc myself but the odd person is getting errors. I see on Github that Wiesshund reported the same error I have seen so I hope it is being looked into.

 

I actually like working with FlexDMD and it is a powerful capability. I just think with a little more documentation (similar to pup packs), more people can unleash the total potential of this great add on to VP

[JDEC]

Hello,

 

I am getting also a hard time making FlexDMD work. UltraDMD was fine but now, nothing appears... All black. In FlexDMD log, I can see "Failed to load dmdscreen.dll in C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\dmdscreen.dll".

 

But from what I read before on this thread, there should not be any dmdscreen.dll.... FlexDMDUI has all the green checks, but when I launch the designer stuff, nothing appears either.

 

Totally lost on this thing.

 

Thanks for any help.

[JDEC]

Anyone ?

[Tiki]

Does your Flex Demo.vpx work?
Did you install freezy or lucky, dmdext?

[Thalamus]

If you got a dmdscreen.dll - try to rename it ... dmdscreen.dll_ or something. Renaming a file, won't make your computer explode. If it isn't needed, it might very well start to function properly. IF you've got it, and it isn't in the "correct" version, missing some essential functions. It can actually be in some cases breaking the "chain".

 

When/after you rename a *.dll, I recommend rebooting, to be 100% sure that you are clean from cached resources, there is other ways, but, it is the easiest.

 

ALSO, make sure that dmdscreen.dll diesn't exists anywhere else in the computer. There are several "system" folders, or potentially, registered locations where it can be read from IF it at one time was registered as a valid dll file.

 

Having several different versions of a dll file can lead to the same issue you see if you keep old *.vbs script in tables folder. It will be used before the one that is actually the correct and most up to date one. I'm not sure what provides dmdscreen.dll in the first place. If it is UltraDMD, well, it is about high time to get rig of it completely. FlexDMD is superior in all areas, not fucking you all over if you OS isn't US locale pr. example !

 

You being French (?) - I expect that it is part of your problem. Software made quickly by a US guy, mashing up something, totally ignoring any  characters in the alphabet outside a-z. Fortunately, Vincent is French ;-)

Edited by Thalamus, 01 December 2022 - 05:04 PM.

[Mike DA Spike]

Can FLEXDDMD also display other video files than wmv ?

If I start for example FlexDMDUI.exe and use the following code, it shows nicely the video in the flex screen.

Dim scene1
Set scene1 = FlexDMD.NewGroup("Scene 1")
scene1.AddActor FlexDMD.NewVideo("Video1","c:\temp\Filename.wmv")
FlexDMD.RenderMode = 2
FlexDMD.LockRenderThread
FlexDMD.Stage.RemoveAll
FlexDMD.Stage.AddActor Scene1
FlexDMD.UnlockRenderThread

If I do the same with an AVI or MP4 , the FLEX screen stays black.

Checking the flexDMD log is see the following  errors :

 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:27.764 ERROR | Failed to setup video decoder for file 'C:\temp\filename.avi' System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0xC00D5212): No suitable transform was found to encode or decode the content. (Exception from HRESULT: 0xC00D5212)
   at NAudio.MediaFoundation.IMFSourceReader.SetCurrentMediaType(Int32 dwStreamIndex, IntPtr pdwReserved, IMFMediaType pMediaType)
   at FlexDMD.Video.SetupVideoDecoder(IMFSourceReader reader)
 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:27.764 ERROR | ReadNextFrame failed, video discarded System.InvalidCastException: Unable to cast COM object of type 'System.__ComObject' to interface type 'IMF2DBuffer'. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID '{7DC9D5F9-9ED9-44EC-9BBF-0600BB589FBB}' failed due to the following error: No such interface supported (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80004002 (E_NOINTERFACE)).
   at FlexDMD.Video.ReadNextFrame()
 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:27.764  INFO | Video opened: C:\temp\filename.avi size=128x32 length=21.45477s (1 videos are currently opened) 
 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:36.327  INFO | Video closed: C:\temp\filename.avi size=128x32 length=21.45477s (0 remaining videos are currently opened) 
 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:36.327 ERROR | Failed to setup video decoder for file 'C:\temp\filename.mp4' System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0xC00D36B4): The data specified for the media type is invalid, inconsistent, or not supported by this object. (Exception from HRESULT: 0xC00D36B4)
   at NAudio.MediaFoundation.IMFSourceReader.SetCurrentMediaType(Int32 dwStreamIndex, IntPtr pdwReserved, IMFMediaType pMediaType)
   at FlexDMD.Video.SetupVideoDecoder(IMFSourceReader reader)
 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:36.344 ERROR | ReadNextFrame failed, video discarded System.InvalidCastException: Unable to cast COM object of type 'System.__ComObject' to interface type 'IMF2DBuffer'. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID '{7DC9D5F9-9ED9-44EC-9BBF-0600BB589FBB}' failed due to the following error: No such interface supported (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80004002 (E_NOINTERFACE)).
   at FlexDMD.Video.ReadNextFrame()
 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:36.344  INFO | Video opened: C:\temp\filename.mp4 size=128x32 length=15.467s (1 videos are currently opened) 
 [5] 2022/12/05 07:12:38.961  INFO | Video closed: C:\temp\filename.mp4 size=128x32 length=15.467s (0 remaining videos are currently opened) 

LAV codecs are installed on the system and videos plays fine in WMP 
I also tried to use "K-Lite_Codec_Pack_1730_Full.exe", but same error.

 

The 2 test files are attached.
 

I'm I doing something wrong, are the video files wrong format (the Mp4 file I Just create with FFMpeg). or is there something in FleDMD that needs to be adjusted ?

Attached Files

•  Filename.zip   761.4KB   2 downloads

Edited by Mike DA Spike, 05 December 2022 - 06:20 AM.

[wiesshund]

 

 

Can FLEXDDMD also display other video files than wmv ?

It can yes

but the actual encoding will matter

 

WMV the encoding is already figured out for you cause you dont really have a lot of options

[Mike DA Spike]

WMV the encoding is already figured out for you cause you dont really have a lot of options

Not sure what you exactly mean.
Do you mean that only wmv is encoded correctly in code and that any other video, must be added ?
I thought that IMFSourceReader should find a suitable codec on the system for the file.

Edited by Mike DA Spike, 05 December 2022 - 02:14 PM.

[wiesshund]

 

WMV the encoding is already figured out for you cause you dont really have a lot of options

Not sure what you exactly mean.
Do you mean that only wmv is encoded correctly in code and that any other video, must be added ?
I thought that IMFSourceReader should find a suitable codec on the system for the file.

 

 

WMV you get pretty much 0 options

MP4 and AVI are containers, but there are a lot of options on how the media gets packaged into the container

WMV you just get standard MS options as it is a MS windows specific format

[JDEC]

Does your Flex Demo.vpx work?
Did you install freezy or lucky, dmdext?

 

Nope, the Flex Demo does not work. 

 

I installed Freezy.

 

I went back to UltraDMD, got it working. I installed back FlexDMD and registered what has to be register (all green) but not working (again)

If you got a dmdscreen.dll - try to rename it ... dmdscreen.dll_ or something. Renaming a file, won't make your computer explode. If it isn't needed, it might very well start to function properly. IF you've got it, and it isn't in the "correct" version, missing some essential functions. It can actually be in some cases breaking the "chain".

 

When/after you rename a *.dll, I recommend rebooting, to be 100% sure that you are clean from cached resources, there is other ways, but, it is the easiest.

 

ALSO, make sure that dmdscreen.dll diesn't exists anywhere else in the computer. There are several "system" folders, or potentially, registered locations where it can be read from IF it at one time was registered as a valid dll file.

 

Having several different versions of a dll file can lead to the same issue you see if you keep old *.vbs script in tables folder. It will be used before the one that is actually the correct and most up to date one. I'm not sure what provides dmdscreen.dll in the first place. If it is UltraDMD, well, it is about high time to get rig of it completely. FlexDMD is superior in all areas, not fucking you all over if you OS isn't US locale pr. example !

 

You being French (?) - I expect that it is part of your problem. Software made quickly by a US guy, mashing up something, totally ignoring any  characters in the alphabet outside a-z. Fortunately, Vincent is French ;-)

 

 

Yes, I am French

 

Actually, I use Everything (the software) to check where my files are. And the issue is that DMDScreen.dll is nowhere to be found. It seems that FlexDMD needs it but cannot find,because it does not exist on my computer even though I installed all the needed components. If you have that file, is it possible to post it somewhere and I will copy where needed ? Thanks

[Mike DA Spike]

I dont think that dmdscreen.dll is needed. I do t have it on my system, but works like a charm.
Any other errors in the log if you try to use the flexdmdgui test tab ?

[JDEC]

I dont think that dmdscreen.dll is needed. I do t have it on my system, but works like a charm.
Any other errors in the log if you try to use the flexdmdgui test tab ?

 

 

So the FlexDemo works

 

but when I run a table (say caballeros del zodiaco) then I have the following log

 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.700  INFO | FlexDMD version 1.8.0.0 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.763  INFO | Game name set to Designer 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.773  INFO | Show DMD 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.773  INFO | Loaded dmddevice.dll from C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\dmddevice.dll to create a virtual DMD 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:57.997 ERROR | Failed to load dmdscreen.dll in C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\dmdscreen.dll 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:57.997  INFO | Starting render thread for game 'Designer' using render mode DMD_GRAY_4 

[12] 2022/12/07 13:58:58.006  INFO | RenderThread start 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:58.109  INFO | New font added to asset manager: FontDef [path=FlexDMD.Resources.teeny_tiny_pixls-5.fnt, tint=Color [White], border tint=Color [White], border size=0] 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:58.139  INFO | New bitmap added to asset manager: FlexDMD.Resources.dmds.black.png 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.386  INFO | Hide DMD 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.391  INFO | Disposing DMD dynamic link library 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.391  INFO | Stopping render thread 

[12] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.408  INFO | RenderThread end 

and nothing on the screen. Also I read "Hide DMD" as a comment. Maybe that is the issue. But why does it want to hide the DMD ? 

[scutters]

 

I dont think that dmdscreen.dll is needed. I do t have it on my system, but works like a charm.
Any other errors in the log if you try to use the flexdmdgui test tab ?

 

 

So the FlexDemo works

 

but when I run a table (say caballeros del zodiaco) then I have the following log

 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.700  INFO | FlexDMD version 1.8.0.0 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.763  INFO | Game name set to Designer 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.773  INFO | Show DMD 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:55.773  INFO | Loaded dmddevice.dll from C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\dmddevice.dll to create a virtual DMD 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:57.997 ERROR | Failed to load dmdscreen.dll in C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\dmdscreen.dll 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:57.997  INFO | Starting render thread for game 'Designer' using render mode DMD_GRAY_4 

[12] 2022/12/07 13:58:58.006  INFO | RenderThread start 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:58.109  INFO | New font added to asset manager: FontDef [path=FlexDMD.Resources.teeny_tiny_pixls-5.fnt, tint=Color [White], border tint=Color [White], border size=0] 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:58:58.139  INFO | New bitmap added to asset manager: FlexDMD.Resources.dmds.black.png 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.386  INFO | Hide DMD 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.391  INFO | Disposing DMD dynamic link library 

 [5] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.391  INFO | Stopping render thread 

[12] 2022/12/07 13:59:00.408  INFO | RenderThread end 

and nothing on the screen. Also I read "Hide DMD" as a comment. Maybe that is the issue. But why does it want to hide the DMD ? 

 

 

When you're running a table check the flexdmd log file in the Visual Pinball folder. That will probably show the issue.

[bigus1]

Make sure option 7 in DmdDevice.ini is set to true.