131 replies to this topic

[freezy]

Hi!

 

Apologies for the lack of updates, as some of you know I've been busy with many other things. BUT better late than never, I've released a new version of dmdext. There are many changes, bugfixes and features.

 

Just to be clear, dmdext isn't only "freezy" anymore, many contributors made this possible, so give a big cheer for @vbousquet, @djrobx, @mjr, @noex and @jseph!

 

So here we go, let's start with the new features:

 

An Installer!

 

We're now shipping an installer in order to make things easier for beginners. The installer is somewhat intelligent and will find out where it needs to copy stuff. If you want to manually copy the update, you can of course still do that by grabbing the .zip file. We're also automatically building the project on every commit for you to download. Go here for a list of latest builds.

 

Hires Alphanumeric Rendering

 

This has already been discussed here, now it's official. Consider this as experimental, you still need to clean the .direct2b files if you want to seriously use it, and it needs more customizations in order to work for all games.

 

Updated Coloring Support

 

Thanks to DJRobX we're now on par with Lucky1's latest features of the DMD coloring, so games like Getaway are now supported.

 

More Efficient Coloring on PinDMD3 Displays

 

We can now send 4-bit frames and include a palette per frame. This means we can send much less data than we previously needed with RGB24, and thus prevent stuttering. Note that in order to use that feature, you'll need to have firmware of 01013 or greater upgrade your firmware to rev 1014. If you don't, you'll need to upgrade Upgrade in any case. In order to do that, post your serial in this thread and @russdx will send you a build.

 

Configuration Changes

 

There were a few changes in terms of configuration. Firstly, you now can use DmdDevice.ini for the command line tool as well. Just point it to the file and it'll take the options from the .ini. This can be useful if you have dmdext set up in many different places and want to change a configuration setting. Just update the file instead of all your scripts / third party configs.

 

Then, one thing that should have there from the beginning: When running via VPM, you can now save the current position of the virtual DMD to DmdDevice.ini by right-clicking on the virtual DMD. You can save it globally or only for the running ROM. This should save a lot of time for many.

 

Lastly, default config options only enable the virtual DMD. This makes dmdext boot up faster with no config and avoids conflicts with different drivers.

 

Network Streaming

 

This more of a dev feature, but it's still pretty cool. You can set dmdext to listen for incoming frames from the network, and you can configure it to send frames to another machine. This allows you to basically stream your DMD wherever you want. More documentation can be found here.

 

Other Stuff

 

We have a new driver. Welcome Pixelcade to the family of dmdext-supported displays. Pixelcade is mainly used in the MAME community, but now allows running VP sims with real DMD support as well.

 

NoEx fixed the Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX3 grabber to work with the latest versions.

 

Download

 

At the usual place.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

EDIT2: Attention!

 

For the PinDMD3 optimization, there was a misunderstanding about the revision. I was under the assumption that revision 1013 included the needed changes, but that's not the case. Revision 1014 is needed. So everybody with PinDMD3 who upgrades to 1.8 must also upgrade the firmware.

 

If you don't care about coloring but you still want to upgrade to 1.8, please grab a snapshot of 1.8.1 here, otherwise dmdext might use a frame format your display doesn't support.

Edited by freezy, 06 May 2020 - 10:59 AM.

[ashleyb]

Thanks @Freezy, updated and works great.  Fixes the issue with the new WH2O colourisation.

Edited by ashleyb, 03 May 2020 - 05:52 PM.

[bolt]

Thank you so much freezy.

[unclewilly]

Will this work with pinup? I know it was recomended to use 1.7.1 and not to upgrade

[Outhere]

Will this work with pinup? I know it was recomended to use 1.7.1 and not to upgrade

Yes

[Outhere]

I just tried the new Freezy 1.8 r122

https://ci.appveyor....ensions/history
Click on    ---->  1.8.0-r122
Then click platform X86
Then click on artifacts
Then download the zip file
I downloaded the Zip file - Installer\Builds\dmdext-1.8.0-r122-x86-Release.zip

Freezy’s Latest Now supports color layer mode — Like the color DMD for White Water

1.8 r122 — The only file I used so-far – DmdDevice.dll

Seem to work fine

Tested on a Pin to DMD and a LCD

If your coming Freezy 1.71 You will need to add this to your DmdDevice.ini
[alphanumeric]
enabled = false

 

Info on new features, Plus clicking on this at the top of the page for more info --->  dmd-extensions --> Make sure you Go through the Whole page 
https://github.com/f...al/AlphaNumeric
https://www.vpforums...e=2#entry419369

 

 

    A big thanks to everybody that made this happen And of course a big Thank you for all the other thing you do

Edited by Outhere, 01 July 2020 - 03:00 AM.

[freezy]

Updated the first post with more detailed changes.

[Roadblock]

Hi Freezy,

 

First of all, thank you, and others, for all your contributions to the virtual pinball community.

 

I run a PinDMD1 with a Vishay LED in my cabinet

Windows 8.1 64bit with Intel i5-3570K CPU and 8GB RAM

VPX 10.6.0 rev 3788, 32 bit

VPinMAME 3.3

Freezy 1.8.0

 

Lately my PinDMD1 is so slow to update that I've been disabling it and going with a virtual DMD on the backglass (and taking advantage of colorized ROMs). BTW great added feature of Freezy 1.8, I can now save the current position of the virtual DMD to DmdDevice.ini by right-clicking on the virtual DMD.

 

I asked Russdx if there was any way of speeding up the PinDMD1.

Is there new firmware or DLL or is there something I can change in the VPX script?

 

It's a shame to have that beautiful bright display going to waste. Although I did write a batch file that calls dmdext between tables from PinballX to show "Visual Pinball" on the DMD.

 

Russdx said the PinDMD1 hasn't been supported in 8 years and there's no new firmware. Do you test with the PinDMD1? He offered to give you one for testing, if needed.

 

I'm still a noob at this but learning everyday.

Any direction you can offer is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Roadblock.

Edited by Roadblock, 03 May 2020 - 11:54 PM.

[freezy]

Hi @Roadblock, there shouldn't be any slow-downs for PinDMD1s. Its only frame format are 2-bit planes, which is already as efficient as it gets. Can you maybe describe what you mean by "slow"? Does it skip frames? Does it make the game stutter? Does it get delayed?

 

EDIT: Best is to create an issue here and provide a log as well.

Edited by freezy, 04 May 2020 - 02:02 PM.

[Bushav]

 

I just tried the new Freezy 1.8 r122

https://ci.appveyor....ensions/history
Click on    ---->  1.8.0-r122
Then click platform X86
Then click on artifacts
Then download the zip file
I downloaded the Zip file - Installer\Builds\dmdext-1.8.0-r122-x86-Release.zip

Freezy’s Latest Now supports color layer mode — Like the color DMD for White Water

1.8 r122 — The only file I used so-far – DmdDevice.dll

Seem to work fine

Tested on a Pin to DMD and a LCD

 

    A big thanks to everybody that made this happen And of course a big Thank you for all the other thing you do

 

 

 

 

 

 

OutHere always gives the best advice.  I will add that the DMDConfiguration file seems to have an added section supporting the alphanumeric option that has been added.  I cut and pasted this new configuration code to my existing DMDCnfiguration filie found in my VPinMame folder.  This allowed me to keep my DMD position settings and my SEGA DMD files.  So yes, if you are running Freezy DMD already like me, you might just copy the new DmdDevice.dll and make a few additions to your DMDDevice.ini file and I think you will be "current".  This eliminates the fear of loosing your DMD position that you like.  Version 1.8 is working great for me and yes, I gained the ability to run the new Whitewater color DMD.  Thanks Freezy!

 

Edited by Bushav, 04 May 2020 - 02:05 PM.

[freezy]

FYI the installer won't erase DmdDevice.ini if there is one. I consider the installer pretty safe, but then, until now, I was the only one who tested

[The Loafer]

Hi @Roadblock, there shouldn't be any slow-downs for PinDMD1s. Its only frame format are 2-bit planes, which is already as efficient as it gets. Can you maybe describe what you mean by "slow"? Does it skip frames? Does it make the game stutter? Does it get delayed?

 

EDIT: Best is to create an issue here and provide a log as well.

 

I would also state if the pindmd is now having slow downs where there were no slowdowns before that is likely not something that can be fixed via a firmware update. Firmware updates typically add features, fix bugs, etc. but if the board worked before perfectly, that doesn't sound like something needing a firmware update, unless this is caused by new vpinmame features that makes it incompatible with the pindmd1.

 

Roadblock:  Something to try to determine if this is the issue:

- Try your pindmd1 with an old version of vpinmame. 

a) If it works fine, then we can look at the possibility of a bug in VPM/Freezy's DLL, etc

b) if it still doesn't work, the issue may be the board or...

C) try it on a different PC to determine if it's something at your end, maybe a USB issue?

Edited by The Loafer, 04 May 2020 - 03:22 PM.

[freezy]

@Roadblock try also dmddevice.dll for pindmd1 that is included in the VPX installer (it's in a separate folder in Visual Pinball). It's another (non-dmdext) dmddevice.dll that only works for PinDMD1, without all the features from dmdext (which most you probably don't need for a 2-bit display anyway).

[Roadblock]

Hi @the loafer,

I quickly tried VPinMame 2.7 and it worked.

Tonight I will track it down some more to see which version of VPinMame and/or Freezy introduced the slow down.

Thanks

[Roadblock]

Hi Freezy,

The dmddevice.dll from the PinDMD1 folder or the one from the DMDext folder makes VPinMame crash in test mode.

[HiRez00]

Hi Guys,

I can confirm updating the dmddevice.dll and dmddevice.ini works well with a PinDMD3.

Will need to update my firmware once I can figure out how to get my serial number.

Do have a question though, Sega oversized DMDs like Baywatch (that never looked good on a pindmd3) are completely illegible when i installed this 1.8 update.

I tried all the settings options in the dmddevice.ini at the top. I had it set to “stretch” before and it was pass-ible.

Is there a tweak or setting I can get Baywatch and Frankenstien DMDs to look better ?

If not, then it is what it is.

Thank you for all the hard work!

[Kook]

I’ve been running DMD Extensions 1.7.3 since November 2019, and switched over to 1.8.0 a couple days ago. For Pinball FX3, I use DMDEXT.EXE mirroring which renders beautiful dots on my virtual (LCD) display. For me, over the course of six months, FX3 mirroring hasn’t broken. It survived Windows 10 updates, Steam client updates, and even the FX3 Williams Volume 5 update (which broke DOFLinx). I’ve never had to use legacy mode. The only issue I’ve run into is that mirroring may not work properly if you exit FX3 then relaunch it. It only happens with certain FX3 tables such as Paranormal. Thankfully I found a solution. When you exit FX3, kill the background Steam client (steam.exe) too. Otherwise the memory grabber might get hosed-up and you’ll see a blank DMD.

[lukpcn]

I found old post:

"You'll get that dialog by clicking on the top right corner of the DMD. The principle is the following:

• You can save and load "styles" to DmdDevice.ini.
• Styles are global, as in not linked to a game (they are defined under [virtualdmd]).
• You can, however, assign a style to a given game to get different styles for different games.
• When you click on "Apply" and a style is selected, that style is saved for the currently running game
  "

Does it work in 1.8 ? can we alter the look of the dmd?

[KABS]

thank you Freezy, I ran the all in one installer and the whitewater color rom now works and it looks great.

[Roadblock]

OK did some testing last night.

My PinDMD1 works with Visual PinMAME 2.7 (Standalone DLL, PinDMD1) 2.7

I've tried VPinMame 2.8, 2.8b, 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 they either crash or they update the DMD slowly

I've tried Freezy 1.4.0, 1.5.0, 1.6.0, 1.7.0, 1.7.1, 1.7.2, 1.8.0 they either crash or update DMD slowly

Has anyone ever tested a PinDMD1 with Freezy and Attack from Mars (afm_113b) ?

It seems when VPinMame started using an external dmddevice.dll the PinDMD1 got slower.

I've had my cabinet for about a year and I noticed that some tables were slow like Williams and Bally but some others weren't so bad, like Stern and Data East. I kept hoping that the next version of Freezy or VPinMame would fix this.

I'm still hoping and I know there's some very smart people on this forum.

Thanks for your help.