1630 replies to this topic

[wiesshund]

If running futureDMD via the shortcut works, colours and all
if run after FP hard already started, then maybe try this

 

futureDMD.bat

PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul
start "" "c:\futureDMD\FutureDMD.exe" table=%1 close=1

and make your run before

RunBeforePre (initial pre-launch command):
> C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\futureDMD.bat "[TABLEFILE]" 

 

that will wait 40 seconds before engaging futureDMD

[bpjacobsen]

1. created shortcut for future dmd - opened properties, entered "C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\FutureDMD.exe" table=aliens legacy in the target field, then ran the shortcut - this put the dmd in the default color on my playfield (default position too) ran the table from pby and no dmd. it sits in the back behind the PF. (also removed the run before line)

2. closed pby, ran the shortcut again, ran aliens legacy from BAM - same exactly issue, the default dmd opens but hides in the background behind the PF

3. If I run a table via BAM, I can't run the shortcut b/c it won't let me go to the desktop. It's like FP takes over control until I close the table.

 

I attached a screenshot of the properties for the shortcut. I want to make sure I set this up right.

Attached Files

•  shortcut properties .png   17.07KB   1 downloads

[wiesshund]

You may have to wrap aliens legacy in quotes

it is possible that it may read it as table=aliens legacy=nada

 

so table="aliens legacy"

assuming table name is aliens legacy.fpt?

 

As for FP not letting you go behind it
If you temp disable arcade mode i think you can alt tab and get to the taskbar etc

 

When the DMD sits behind the playfield, is it at least running?
Because that part would just be a matter of getting it moved to the DMD screen

which once you can poke at it, should be easy
 

[bpjacobsen]

The quotes (inside or outside the brackets) just prevents it from using the green color so that is not it. unchecking arcade mode yielded same results. can't get outside the table. Ugh, this is super frustrating. I think I will just suck it up and use the default unless someone can figure this out. I just don't know what else the problem is. it's so odd that it recognizes the green color but will not load the table. I do appreciate your efforts. and if you really want me to try more stuff, I"m happy to but I don't expect you to waste more of your time on this. thanks. Sorry to be such a pain on this.

[wiesshund]

Well, i have it working
and that is without pinballX Y or Z
 
I ran futureDMD, it created an ini
i launched it again, it appeared in top left of my main screen
i drug it to second screen and resized it, so i dont have to pry it from under a table later
(fyi, you have to take FP out of arcade mode and out of full screen, and it still does not like alt tabbing a lot
Then i closed it.
 
Then i edited the INI

[default]
red=50
green=100
blue=50
highscore_1_1=" is #1|"
highscore_1_2=" Rules|"
highscore_1_3="HIGH SCORE|"
highscore_1_3_2=" "
highscore_1_4="Can you beat|"
highscore_1_4_2=" ?"
avg_time_1_1="Average Game Length.."
avg_time_1_2="Average|Survival Time.."
avg_time_1_3="Most Balls Drained in.."
avg_time_1_4="Can you last longer than?.."
PosScreen=1
PosX=1806
PosY=325
SizeW=768
SizeH=192
Orientation=0
Mirror=0
Shades=0000000000000000

[Aliens Legacy (Ultimate Edition) (v1.12) (p2.7) (DOFLinx)]
red=255
green=100
blue=50

Aliens is orange, default is kinda greenish
doesnt matter, is just a test
 
Now i ran this
future-test.bat (in c:\pinball\FP)

start "" BAM\FPloader.exe /STAYINRAM /open ".\tables\Aliens Legacy (Ultimate Edition) (v1.12) (p2.7) (DOFLinx).fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE
rem PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul
START "" futuredmd.exe table="Aliens Legacy (Ultimate Edition) (v1.12) (p2.7) (DOFLinx)" close=1

 
and it worked
Both with and without the delay
So, if you match the commands i am sending, you should be fine, it should work
 
Oh make sure you put the opengl dll file that comes with futuredmd and put it in the FP folder, or it wont work

Edited by wiesshund, 16 December 2020 - 05:06 PM.

[bpjacobsen]

Well, i have it working
and that is without pinballX Y or Z
 
I ran futureDMD, it created an ini
i launched it again, it appeared in top left of my main screen
i drug it to second screen and resized it, so i dont have to pry it from under a table later
(fyi, you have to take FP out of arcade mode and out of full screen, and it still does not like alt tabbing a lot
Then i closed it.
 
Then i edited the INI

[default]
red=50
green=100
blue=50
highscore_1_1=" is #1|"
highscore_1_2=" Rules|"
highscore_1_3="HIGH SCORE|"
highscore_1_3_2=" "
highscore_1_4="Can you beat|"
highscore_1_4_2=" ?"
avg_time_1_1="Average Game Length.."
avg_time_1_2="Average|Survival Time.."
avg_time_1_3="Most Balls Drained in.."
avg_time_1_4="Can you last longer than?.."
PosScreen=1
PosX=1806
PosY=325
SizeW=768
SizeH=192
Orientation=0
Mirror=0
Shades=0000000000000000

[Aliens Legacy (Ultimate Edition) (v1.12) (p2.7) (DOFLinx)]
red=255
green=100
blue=50

Aliens is orange, default is kinda greenish
doesnt matter, is just a test
 
Now i ran this
future-test.bat (in c:\pinball\FP)

start "" BAM\FPloader.exe /STAYINRAM /open ".\tables\Aliens Legacy (Ultimate Edition) (v1.12) (p2.7) (DOFLinx).fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE
rem PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul
START "" futuredmd.exe table="Aliens Legacy (Ultimate Edition) (v1.12) (p2.7) (DOFLinx)" close=1

 
and it worked
Both with and without the delay
So, if you match the commands i am sending, you should be fine, it should work
 
Oh make sure you put the opengl dll file that comes with futuredmd and put it in the FP folder, or it wont work

 

wait whoa this is beyond my skill level. where are you putting these commands? I need a bit more specific direction on where you are putting each of these commands. Did you get this to work in PBY? what does this setup lookup in the fp setup in pby? Sorry, I'm just not as savvy as you are with this stuff. Learning as I go. According to Terry R you have to launch the tables and futuredmd via a front end for the custom color dmd to work.

Edited by bpjacobsen, 17 December 2020 - 01:15 AM.

[wiesshund]

wait whoa this is beyond my skill level.

Notepad?

where are you putting these commands?

In notepad (or notepad++ if you prefer)
I am just writing a batch file

I need a bit more specific direction on where you are putting each of these commands.

In notepad, exactly as i have shown here?

I'm not overly familiar with how to create a batch file.

Um open notepad
type stuff in
click FILE
Pick Save AS
click all file types in drop down
type filename.bat
Save it
?

did you get this to work in PBY? what does this setup lookup in the fp setup in pby?

Huh? i just said, it was a batch file and not pinballY
So go make a bat file, and run it, i have given you every piece of info to do so.
All you literally have to do is copy, paste, and edit to reflect your paths and your table name
If it does not work, then you have something wrong.

And one of the 1st things i would do, is start over with futuredmd
delete the futureDMD.INI and do it according to the instructions that come with futuredmd
Open futureDMD by itself, let it create the INI, and it will then exit
Re-Open futureDMD and drag it to the place it is supposed to be
Resize it as needed, then right click it and pick close

THEN, and only then, open futureDMD.ini
and add your entry to change to colour of the table's DMD
which i pasted my own futureDMD.ini above, so you can see exactly what it should look like, aside from wrong colour choices
and you will notice it has none of the blank lines that yours did that you showed earlier.

Save futureDMD.ini

NOW you are ready to try testing a table

Sorry, I'm just not as savvy as you are with this stuff. Learning as I go.

nothing savvy here really, unless maybe a PC was an alien thing to you in 1980

Forget about pinballY already
PinballY does not exist
Until you can make it work on it's own there is no pinballY
and once you can make it work on it's own, you will already know exactly how to make it work in pinballY

[bpjacobsen]

getting the attached 2 errors running the batch file but I'm sure I did something wrong as usual. Just shoot me. Here is what I put in my batch file:

 

start "" BAM\FPloader.exe /STAYINRAM /open ".\tables\Aliens Legacy.fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

rem PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul

START "" futuredmd.exe table="Aliens Legacy" close=1

 

I also tried just putting in the full path to fploader and future dmd but that didn't work either. Like I said, for me, b/c I'm really challenged with this stuff, I need to know exactly what I'm supposed to enter for my system. so if my path is c:\pinball\future pinball\Bam\Fploader.exe, then how should it look above? future dmd is in c:\pinball\future pinball\futuredmd.exe.

 

I know  you are probably banging your head by now and I'm truly sorry but you said copy your command and update the table name to match mine and path. I tried this also:

 

start "" C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\BAM\FPloader.exe /STAYINRAM /open ".\tables\Aliens Legacy.fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

rem PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul

START "" C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\futuredmd.exe table="Aliens Legacy" close=1

 

but it says it can't find it.  

 

Attached Files

•  error running batch file.png   5.99KB   0 downloads
•  2nd error running batch file.png   5.86KB   0 downloads

[wiesshund]

getting the attached 2 errors running the batch file but I'm sure I did something wrong as usual. Just shoot me. Here is what I put in my batch file:

 

start "" BAM\FPloader.exe /STAYINRAM /open ".\tables\Aliens Legacy.fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

rem PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul

START "" futuredmd.exe table="Aliens Legacy" close=1

 

I also tried just putting in the full path to fploader and future dmd but that didn't work either. Like I said, for me, b/c I'm really challenged with this stuff, I need to know exactly what I'm supposed to enter for my system. so if my path is c:\pinball\future pinball\Bam\Fploader.exe, then how should it look above? future dmd is in c:\pinball\future pinball\futuredmd.exe.

 

I know  you are probably banging your head by now and I'm truly sorry but you said copy your command and update the table name to match mine and path. I tried this also:

 

start "" C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\BAM\FPloader.exe /STAYINRAM /open ".\tables\Aliens Legacy.fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

rem PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul

START "" C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\futuredmd.exe table="Aliens Legacy" close=1

 

but it says it can't find it.  

 

your attached screen shots are showing something other than what you are typing

 

according to the error, you do not have the full path

 

and in what you are typing, you are not making sure to enclose paths with spaces in quotes

i dont use spaces in anything in emulation
c:\pinball]vpx
c:\pinball\fp

c:\pinball\VpinMAME
etc, but you do, so you need to wrap things in quotes where a single statement contains a space

 

start "" "C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\BAM\FPloader.exe" /STAYINRAM /open ".\tables\Aliens Legacy.fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

rem PING -n 41 127.0.0.1>nul

START "" "C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\futuredmd.exe" table="Aliens Legacy" close=1

Edited by wiesshund, 17 December 2020 - 04:33 AM.

[bpjacobsen]

OMG it's a miracle! So my batch file works. OK, I understand that all the batch file does is run FP and run the table I specified with the dmd and the custom color. But how do I incorporate this into pby now so it is not specific to just Aliens Legacy and it will load the table specific dmd color? The batch file is specific to one table. How do I make the run before command work for all FP tables so it pulls the proper color? Unfortunately, I don't know how to make it work in PBY unless you meant for testing with just  this table. I need it to be dynamic in that it will load future dmd with any table specific color added in the ini.

Edited by bpjacobsen, 17 December 2020 - 05:10 AM.

[wiesshund]

OMG it's a miracle!

No, it is just doing what it is supposed to do.
And the objective here was simply to find out, do the applications work as they are designed to.
The answer is yes.
 

I understand that all the batch file does is run FP and run the table I specified with the dmd and the custom color.

And at the end of the day, this is all PBY does as well
 

But how do I incorporate this into pby now so it is not specific to just Aliens Legacy and it will load the table specific dmd color? The batch file is specific to one table. How do I make the run before command work for all FP tables so it pulls the proper color? Unfortunately, I don't know how to make it work in PBY unless you meant for testing with just  this table. I need it to be dynamic in that it will load future dmd with any table specific color added in the ini.

Well, you have all your answers in front of you

 

start "" "C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\BAM\FPloader.exe"

 

This part PbY does for you, provided you stick it in the right working folder, and point it at the correct EXE

 

/STAYINRAM /open

 

This we have to manually enter and tell it, so this is the 1st thing we put in the arguments box

 

".\tables\Aliens Legacy.fpt"

 

this PbY will do for us, we just have to tell it how

"[TABLEPATH]\[TABLENAME].fpt"

 

/play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

 

These we have to tell it by hand.
So in total our parameters line looks like

 

/STAYINRAM /open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLENAME].fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

 

now, we have to figure the parameters for futureDMD

 

START "" "C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\futuredmd.exe" table="Aliens Legacy" close=1

 

Well, we can not tell pinballY the START "" as it is not a commandline interpreter, and so i do not think it is going to pull that off properly
so we have 2 choices

 

1) We can attempt to do it PbY's way
There is a possibility that PbY will sit and think it is waiting on something and that this way wont work well, or seems to maybe not work well for you but we dont really care to be honest, there is another way

 

NOWAIT "C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\futuredmd.exe" "table=[TABLENAME]" "close=1"

 

the reason for wrapping the table and close args is the = sign

in case is is not being sent literally to futureDMD and is instead being seen as a control symbol

it should work as it is simply doing what the working batch file is doing

 

 

2) Possibly PbY pukes on that no matter what
No worries.
You know that bat file you made?

well rename it to something like fpdmd.bat

now edit it.

and 1st thing, write the letters REM and then a space, in front of all 3 lines in it
Unless you are using the delay time in which case leave the PING line unremarked

 

(reason i am having you remark them out instead of delete is you can look at them later, as a reference) 

so a line that says

START "" "do this thing"

becomes

REM START "" "do this thing"

Now add a new line

 

START "" "C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\futuredmd.exe" Table=%1 Close=1

 

save and exit notepad

 

Ok now back in PBY our run before would be

 

"C:\Pinball\Future Pinball\fpdmd.bat" "[TABLEFILE]" 

 

which will start fpdmd.bat, will tell it hey, here is this string i am supposed to give to you (%1)
which will be the tables file name, including spaces, if the name has any
 

fpdmd.bat will say ok, start c:\future pinball\futuredmd.exe table="Aliens Legacy ver 1.02 Big Badass mod that i retextured yesterday" close=1

then fpdmd.bat will exit, allowing PBY to see that the run before has in fact exited

so we dont need to worry if it is waiting, thinks it is waiting even though we told it not to, or what even

app ran, app exited, done deal

 

futureDMD will exit of it's own accord when the assigned table exits due to the close=1

 

Now not all FP tables have a valid DMD
for those tables, it will just present a blank DMD which is normal

[bpjacobsen]

YaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

You guessed it, it works! 

 

FYI, the 1st option did not work as it generated an error saying the specified file could not be found. but the 2nd option works perfectly!

 

I did have to change the parameters though from this:

 

/STAYINRAM /open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLENAME].fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

 

to this:

 

/STAYINRAM /open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

 

(removed the .fpt basically)

 

Dude, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the help you provided. Thanks a million. For this you get a vacation. (well I guess b/c of Covid, a Staycation) lol.

Thanks for putting up with my ignoramous.

Edited by bpjacobsen, 17 December 2020 - 04:46 PM.

[wiesshund]

YaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

You guessed it, it works! 

 

FYI, the 1st option did not work as it generated an error saying the specified file could not be found. but the 2nd option works perfectly!

 

I did have to change the parameters though from this:

 

/STAYINRAM /open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLENAME].fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

 

to this:

 

/STAYINRAM /open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]" /play /exit /arcaderender,, HIDE

 

(removed the .fpt basically)

 

Dude, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the help you provided. Thanks a million. For this you get a vacation. (well I guess b/c of Covid, a Staycation) lol.

Thanks for putting up with my ignoramous.

 

Probaby PbY is already including the .fpt in the [tablename] function

 

If you ever want to see exactly what PbY is throwing out at something, make a bat file named test.bat
in the bat file just write

echo %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 

pause

exit

 

then tell PbY to use it (test.bat) as the exe

A command prompt window will pop open and show you exactly what values it would have sent to the real EXE

 

Yea, for some reason i suspected PbY might send the info to futureDMD in some fashion that it did not like much
hence we give just the table name to a bat file that has the other never changing info in it
I suspect it may have to do with the = signs and that either windows or PbY is interpreting them as a thing to set, not a thing to simply repeat verbetim

 

the quote wrapping should cure that but perhaps PbY is stripping the quotes out or something

 

If you are curious what it is bastardizing, use the echo.bat
and have it run that, with what ever arguments would be used
it will show you what was or was not sent the way it was supposed to arrive

 

might help you with something else later

Edited by wiesshund, 17 December 2020 - 10:25 PM.

[mjr]

If you ever want to see exactly what PbY is throwing out at something, make a bat file named test.bat

 

An easier way is to just look at the log file.  Enable logging for launch commands (Settings > Log File > check the Table launch checkbox), then run the game, exit out of PinballY, and inspect the log file (PinballY.log).  The log will show you the command line text before and after all of the [XXX] substitutions, so that you can see the exact command line text that's being sent to the program being invoked.

I'd actually consider that to be more precise and reliable than using ECHO with a batch file, because the Windows batch processor and ECHO command might do some of their own processing of the command-line text, to break it up into tokens and reconstruct it with the "%" variables.  The fewer layers of processing you have, the clearer you can see what's going on, so getting the information directly from the source is better.

And if you're curious about exactly how the [XXX] variables work, such as whether ".fpt" gets added to [TABLEFILE] and so on, and how you might suppress the ".fpt" part if you needed to do that for some reason, there's no need to guess!  It's all documented in detail in the help, under Option Settings > Systems.  Scroll down to Parameters for a full list of the variable names and how they're expanded.

[Thalamus]

Unfortunately. There is no way around it MJR. If you don't give the end user a 100% full proof, ui solution to use the to find the exe and populate it for them, you will end up with people not understanding why quotes are needed.

[wiesshund]

dont know, do not have pinballY

 

but his logs say it should work, but doesn't

and what others tell him he should do, does not work for him

so something is getting eaten between point A and point B

[mjr]

Unfortunately. There is no way around it MJR. If you don't give the end user a 100% full proof, ui solution to use the to find the exe and populate it for them, you will end up with people not understanding why quotes are needed.

 

Well, the EXE itself isn't an issue, since that's automatically quoted (and you can, in fact, pick it from the UI - the little "folder" icon in the system setup dialog, next to the field for the EXE name, lets you pick it interactively).  It sounds like the issues in this case were the parameters being passed, and those are more difficult to make fool-proof, since each of the player systems has its own idiosyncratic command-line syntax.  There's really no way around having to type in the appropriate syntax there.

 

 

dont know, do not have pinballY

 

but his logs say it should work, but doesn't

and what others tell him he should do, does not work for him

so something is getting eaten between point A and point B

 

Trust the log.  PinballY launches the program directly through the Windows APIs, so what you see in the logs is what's actually happening.  Any disconnect you're having could conceivably be that something is getting added or removed between point A and B in your version, when you try to go through other intermediaries.

(And you don't have to take my word for that, or treat this as a black box that you can only infer things about!  You can just look at the code on github to see exactly what it's doing, if you doubt what I'm claiming, or if there's any discrepancy between the documentation and the actual observed behavior.)

[wiesshund]

 

Trust the log.  PinballY launches the program directly through the Windows APIs, so what you see in the logs is what's actually happening.  Any disconnect you're having could conceivably be that something is getting added or removed between point A and B in your version, when you try to go through other intermediaries.

(And you don't have to take my word for that, or treat this as a black box that you can only infer things about!  You can just look at the code on github to see exactly what it's doing, if you doubt what I'm claiming, or if there's any discrepancy between the documentation and the actual observed behavior.)

 

 

You're preaching to the wrong choir

I dont have nor use PbY

I am just trying to help pbjacobsen out
who literally copied and pasted in, verbatim, what he was told to in various other threads (cause he made a bunch of them here and else where)
only to have it flat out not work.

 

I just gave him something to see if the parts themselves work on their own, which they did
and so gave him something that kind of had no choice but to work, if he ran it through pinballY

[bpjacobsen]

New problem. For some reason I cannot get Blues 2020 to appear anywhere in PBY to configure it. I checked hidden tables and unconfigured and it will not come up at all. I have the table and b2s and it runs fine in VP. The wheel is in the proper folder. I checked the settings file in pby and no reference to this table. I added it to the DB file but it just will not come up and I can't for the life of me figure out why. I have been loading tables last few days without issue. But this one has me stumped. I also tried removing the table/b2s files, opening PBY, closing it, then adding the files back. Hmmm

Edited by bpjacobsen, 24 December 2020 - 03:21 AM.

[mjr]

Try going through the steps in the help in the Troubleshooting section under "PinabllY isn't finding my tables".  The basic idea is to look at the log file to see exactly how it's finding the tables it *is* finding, and then identify what's different about the table(s) it's *not* finding that you want it to find.