20 replies to this topic

[Tesla]

I need to upgrade the computer that runs my cabinet of 40-Tables ... VPX 7.2.x (and Pinball-Y front-end) install. It sits on the floor under my cabinet

 

Going from old Windows-10 Dell Intel-i5 to newer Intel-i7 that is running Windows-11 Pro 64-bit. Also, more-ram, newer Nvidia GTX-1070, NVMe-SSD, etc.

 

I had this idea about how it was going to be so easy, but now I'm drawing a blank.  ​ 

 

I connected the monitors slowly, and they are now appearing in Settings and Numbered the same as before on the old pinball-computer. 

 

I have the old C:\Visual Pinball\ and C:\PinballY\ (and similar) Folders ready to restore (from recent Macrium-Reflect-8 backup-imaging).

 

Since this computer has never had these installed on it before ...

do I just run the Pinball-Y and VPX-7.2.x installers and end-up with generic installs under Windows-11 now.

Then, restore my Tables and ROMs Folders ... maybe a few config files?

Does that sound correct (trying to get back to my exact old software-config, but now on Windows-11)?

 

Or, should I do something else?

 

It would be nice to do it in a way that can clone my VPX config and table-assets, and get the proper sub-system DLL's placed and Registered ... the first time around. 

Edited by Tesla, 27 November 2024 - 03:12 AM.

[Tesla]

More Info: I suppose you could also call it a "VPX Migration" to a new computer.

 

Yeah, I need the accepted steps for that.

 

I remember talk that VPX (if not also Pinball-Y) was considered fairly "portable" and looked-upon as a convenance. Additionally, that moving existing/configured Tables was fairly easy and an accepted-practice. 

Edited by Tesla, 27 November 2024 - 03:52 AM.

[TT11]

As everyone will always tell you...... Make sure your standalone VPX is running BEFORE attempting a Front end program like PBY....  I have never used it myself, but Baller Installer seems to do a great job of installing all the basics before you attempt PBY.

[scutters]

This still looks like pretty good advice to me for vpx 10.7 - https://www.vpforums...=40895&p=413695

 

Pretty much what i did when i changed pc. The only thing missing there is pup pack stuff if you use them.

 

If you updating to 10.8 then you'll also need main ini file (if you haven't moved it to the Visual Pinball folder) - %AppData%\roaming\VPinballX\VPinballX.ini

and also update vpm, flexdmd, B2S & dmddevice

[Tesla]

 Make sure your standalone VPX is running BEFORE attempting a Front end program like PBY....  

 

Agreed.

 

For simplicity, it will be left for later (and left out of this discussion).

[Tesla]

 

If you updating to 10.8 then you'll also need main ini file (if you haven't moved it to the Visual Pinball folder) - %AppData%\roaming\VPinballX\VPinballX.ini

and also update vpm, flexdmd, B2S & dmddevice

 

 

I think I should just swap the computer for now. Get my VPX 7.2.x 40-table install working again, but now on Windows-11 Pro. Get the cabinet working again and playing F14-Tomcat ASAP !

 

 

This still looks like pretty good advice to me for vpx 10.7 - https://www.vpforums...=40895&p=413695

 

Pretty much what i did when i changed pc. 

 

 

 

Well yeah, that's the basic idea ... but those directions are a little light on specific procedures

 

This is actually only my second VPX-Install on a new computer. Remembering back to the first time 2-years ago ... I envisioned it going smoother if I did it more cleverly this time

This is the first time I have a lot of pre-configured Tables (cabinet config for 3-Displays config, KL25z, etc) to move-over.

 

The first time I used the posted-here in 2023 VPX72setup.zip All-In-One Installer. In the months that followed, it took some work to get some better DLLs Installed and Registered. A separate folder for B2S, stuff like that.

Edited by Tesla, 27 November 2024 - 06:15 PM.

[Tesla]

A month-or-so ago, I finally got my new Windows-11 Pro desktop installed as my new Windows Daily-Driver. 

There was a good-amount of apps and programs to fresh-install (and data-files to migrate). 

 

Intel i9-14900K (24-Cores) with 360mm iCue-LC

64gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 Ram

Nvidia RTX-4080 (16gb 3-Slot)

Samsung 2tb 990 Pro NVMe SSD 

Corsair RM1000x Gold PS

Windows 11 Pro

-

Monitor: LG 32in UltraGear 4K G-Sync GR93u-b

 

So that frees-up this system from 2017 to use on my VPX pinball-cabinet.

 

Intel i7-7700K 4.2ghz (7th gen) with Asetek-LC

16gb Kingston Hyper-X DDR4 ram

Nvidia GTX-1070 (8gb)

Samsung NVMe-SSD drives

Power Supply 850w

Windows 11 Pro

 

I had planned to erase/format this computer since it's role was changing ... and then build it back-up for this specific purpose. I will eventually do that I think.

 

But now, I question if that is even necessary since (being my previous daily-driver) it's already clean and about as lean as it can get. A lot of Windows-stuff is already installed, Activated, and working. I think I will just create a new Local User called Pinball and work inside there for now. EDIT: Yes, I did that (also with Admin privileges) and it worked fine.

Edited by Tesla, 27 September 2025 - 09:44 PM.

[Tesla]

Since this Windows-11 Pro computer has never actually had VPX installed on it, I needed to go ahead and use the All-In-One VPX Installer posted here by Toxie.

 

Since I'm targeting my old VPX-7.2.x install, I'm again using the file VPX72setup.zip.

I accepted the minimal Defaults for Helper-Components (just DMD-Drivers/DMDext-support).

 

So, VPX-7.2 is installed and test-Tables run/play. Milestone #1 Complete !

I don't know why yall try to make everything hard

See, I knew there was some clever-steps.

 

Just leaving B2S for later custom-installing ... sets me on a better path to getting my "cloned" 40-Table VPX-install running on this new Windows11 Intel-i7/GTX-1070 machine (running my cabinet).

Edited by Tesla, 28 November 2024 - 04:12 PM.

[Tesla]

Looks good so far.

 

So, by just using All-In-One Installer inside VPX72setup.zip (and leaving default Helper-Components of DMD-Drivers/DMDext-support) ... 

 

All 3 test VPX-Tables work fine (including the pretty FlexDMD on that one).

 

VPinMame v3.5 got installed and paths to things like roms are set.

 

I like it. Ready to continue.

[Tesla]

Creating the new Windows-11 Local User called Pinball (with a simple password) works nicely to create a bit of a "new slate" ... for computers like this one (ie., should be "clean" and I know all installed software is legit and Registered to me anyway).

 

The Displays are (purposely) again numbered as before, and I've had the main-display in Portrait-Mode this whole time.

 

See there. Macrium-Reflect-8 is already installed and ready for this new "Pinball" user to run this program.

For now, I just restored these two folders,

C:\Visual Pinball\

C:\PinballY\

 

... inside of my local C:\Temp-VPX\

I will selectively restore specific files from this temporary-stash (of my old computer's files).

 

I always test with Terminiator-2 first, so I just restored it's table.vpx and rom.zip files (now, for a little first-test).

I ran Terminator-2.vpx table from VPX on the desktop.

It ran Full-Screen and butter-smooth (even got to test some surprise Multi-Ball play). No Backglass was expected .

- Seemed-like zero-flipper-lag using keyboard.

- The rom's-DMD was in top left-corner of Playfield (but a good test of my vPinMame install, just the same).

- There was sound, but I think from the wrong set of speakers (easy fix I think).

- It was very smooth, fast and pretty.

 

I think I'm off to a good start

Edited by Tesla, 01 December 2024 - 09:31 PM.

[Tesla]

I accepted the installer's-defaults for minimal Helper-Components (just DMD-Drivers/DMDext-support) on initial-install. 

The fresh-install of All-In-One Installer for VPX v7.2 seemed to work perfectly for a first-install to my newer Intel-i7/GTX-1070 system. 

 

My only real prep was to get the new Windows-11 computer connected-up, and with the 3-monitors setup in Windows the same as before. 

Primary Display-1 is in Portrait-Mode.

 

I restored my good ScreenRes.txt file to my new-computer at C:\Visual Pinball\Tables\ScreenRes.txt .

I made sure I only had the one.

 

In VPX Video-Prefs, I temporarily Un-checked Exclusive-FullScreen-Mode to be OFF.

- so helper-component program-windows can appear on top of each-other (and you can tinker and re-config).

Cabinet-Mode to ON.

Select full-resolution of your main portrait-mode Display as Windowed-FullScreen (should be near the bottom of list).

Exit to save all that and restart VPX.

When you run the T2-table now, it looks a little-more like a real-cabinet.

 

My KL25z (Pinscape-Controller) is now of-course connected to this new computer.

It looks fine in Windows-11 Control-Panel. I did as MJR suggests, and reset/default its Windows Game-Controller calibration.

If you have the Pinscape-Config-Tool handy, it should be able to easily detect your connected KL25z from the main-screen. 

From there, you can backup its current-config.

You can even test the connected Buttons via a neat interactive Test-Utility (outside of VPX, which is nice).

 

To get the Buttons working inside VPX:

Using a screen-shot of previous VPX working-install (on old computer) ...

- Start VPX, go to Key-Nudge Prefs, and easy set this screen properly.

If you try T2 table now and all the cabinet-buttons should work.

 

I restored my old B2STableSettings.xml file to the main \Tables\ folder.

I restored my old whole \B2S\ folder (with B2S-Server_v1.41) to C:\Visual Pinball\B2S\ 

I ran the B2S .EXE program to Register this program-DLL. Prompts show progress.

 

I verified that the Tables, roms, music and backglass.directB2S files for my 3 favorite VPX-tables (T2, F14, and ST-TNG) had been restored.

 

The tables think they are new and being boot-up for the first-time-ever (which is fine).

After a table (like T2 or ST-TNG) loads and Initializes, press F1 for VPinMame v3.5 Options. 

- Set size to 4, and then drag-over its rendered-DMD to Display-3.

On F14-Tomcat, you instead select the option to hide-it (as the alpha-numeric score is shown a different way).

 

All three tables look ok and seem fine on the cabinet as a whole.

Final step before "real" play-testing is to simply pop into VPX's Video-Prefs, and ENABLE the Exclusive-FullScreen-Mode.

 

Methodically, my 3-favorite VPX Tables are now running on my whole cabinet again like before the computer-swap (with very-little drama, trying to get it all working again).  

Maybe this will help some others trying to do similar in the future.

Edited by Tesla, 04 December 2024 - 01:29 AM.

[digitalarts]

Thanks for your dairy... i'm Sure it will Help some Others sometime

[Tesla]

Thanks for your dairy... i'm Sure it will Help some Others sometime

 

It's mostly my notes so I can do another easy VPX computer-migration again in 5-years or whatever.

I like the idea of putting the money into new computer-systems for us, and any "still-gaming-capable" desktops get a second-life running a pinball-cabinet (or arcade cabinet).

 

Seems like others will need it soon. We coasted a long time on Windows-10. Windows-11 has been out for a while now. These Intel-based machines that can legit-run Windows-11 are 8th-Gen or higher ... so much better all-around hardware (and things like video-cards from that time-frame). It should end-up being a worthy upgrade (and be good for a while ... like 5 years).

 

But who wants to rebuild their configs from scratch (and re-custom-config for each of 40 tables) ?

... When we have all the old files ready for restore.

 

To me, seems like the extra-detail I tend to include in my notes ... it's either helpful or you can skip it if you know more than me.

I like the idea of getting the Tables running (completely on the whole cabinet like normal) from the Windows-Desktop.

Then, you just use whatever Front-End you prefer (I really like Pinball-Y for it's simplicity and functionality).

Edited by Tesla, 05 December 2024 - 12:05 AM.

[Tesla]

I restored the balance of required files from my old \Visual Pinball\ folder.

This should be the complete list:

Whole folder \B2S\

Whole folder \Music\

- (Looks like it was mainly for Heavy-Metal, Star-Wars, and Tom & Jerry ... so far).

Whole folders like \Table-WIP\ and \Table-Info\ 

- (so they don't show in Pinball-Y, and to keep config-notes near tables)

 

To \Tables\ folder : Restored required table.vpx files. 

- (Also their matching backglass.directB2S file, and sometimes even a custom-resolution.res file)

To \Tables\ folder : ScreenRes.txt and B2STableSettings.xml

To \Tables\ folder : Folders of table media-assets (like video-files for Heavy-Metal)

 

Restore to \Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\

To \roms\ folder: All the required rom.zip files for my installed tables

To \VPinMAME\ folder itself, the VPMAlias.txt file (rom alias for Heavy-Metal and others)

Whole \AltColor\ folder

 

So, about here with T2-table running perfect, we know these are working:

Visual Pinball X v7.2

VisualPinMAME v3.5

B2S-Server v1.41 (Backglass)

Flex-DMD (likely, since FlexDMD-Demo.vpx table works-and-displays fine)

 

T2 - I'm leaving as simple-retro on (internal) VPinMame-generated Size=4 orange-monochrome DMD.

 

StarTrek-TNG - Start testing using VPinMame's-DMD (monochrome like real-table) 

- Size=4 fits and then drag it over to Display-3. Click-it to save.

This is a Williams-90s table, so set the rom-audio needs to be set once to level-25 

(END key to open Coin-Door. Adjust with 8-9. END again to close door).

 

To get the AltColor DMD's working quicky, you can also restore your old DmdDevice.ini to the main \VPinMAME\ folder.

Backup your current-one first (in case you want to go back).

This will allow you to again use the colorized DMDs for the ones you had setup before.

(and at previously-set ... nice/maxed-out size, position, and aspect-ratio) for a table.

 

To use this one instead, while in a game like ST-TNG 

(Exclusive FullScreenMode is OK ... as you can still-use Tab, Space and Enter)

Press F1 for VPinMame options.

- Turn off Show-DMD (internal VPinMame-generated) Display-window, 

- Enable "Use External-DLL" AND Colorize-DMD (both are needed).

Restart table and the DMD should now be in color 

- Very nice in ST-TNG (with very little fiddling).

- You can easily switch modes and both DMD display-methods hold their proper positions-and-attributes.

 

Pinball-Y (my Front-End) installed fresh, and specific data files were easily restored as described in it's detailed documentation.

 

Now that the two-main programs (Visual-Pinball and Pinball-Y) are installed and working,

in Windows-Settings ... I specifically-declare them to use High-Performance GPU (NVidia GTX-1070), 

- - NOT the baby-onboard Intel-IGP one. 

Verified Game-Mode=ON and HAGS=OFF (and they were, as this is my old gaming-machine).

 

Edited by Tesla, 05 December 2024 - 05:10 PM.

[Tesla]

I'm pretty much caught-up with my (long-time pending) hardware mods, so circling back here. I just have a few lingering questions about my same-to-same migration (to a much faster/nicer gaming-computer), 

 

Visual Pinball X v7.2

VisualPinMAME v3.5

B2S-Server v1.41 (Backglass)

Flex-DMD

 

But now on Windows-11 Pro (64 bit). Hoping to get this finished-up, and then maybe I can think about upgrading to VPX 8.x (and whatever sub-components go along with that).

 

Just some easy (for yall) questions.

 

Question 1: What are these few files in C:\Visual Pinball\User\ folder? Are they settings for Tables or the VPX program itself?

 

Question 2: Should I have restored them to my migrated install?

[Thalamus]

mostly highscores and settings for tables that doesn't have a nvram to save to.

[Tesla]

mostly highscores and settings for tables that doesn't have a nvram to save to.

 

Cool.

Then those need to get Migrated-over as well.

 

Reminds me that some (most ?) of the nvram files should be migrated as well. Especially ones like Rescue-911 (that I spent considerable time using rom-based programming to fix the volume on all the different audio channels). I wonder if there is even a reason NOT to migrate an existing nvram file?

 

I also migrated my C:\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME\PinMAME32ui.ini file. Not sure if it's required (as I didn't keep the default one somehow) but can't hurt (especially since I was migrating to same VPX version).

Edited by Tesla, 29 September 2025 - 12:59 AM.

[Tesla]

Especially ones like Rescue-911 (that I spent considerable time using rom-based programming to fix the volume on all the different audio channels).

 

 

Actually, looks like some of that programming might be inside rescu911.prt, so looks like any files inside

C:\Visual Pinball\VpinMAME\memcard\

folder need to be migrated-over as well (In addition to its nvram file).

Personally, I only have the one file like that so far.

Edited by Tesla, 30 September 2025 - 02:17 PM.

[Tesla]

This still looks like pretty good advice to me for vpx 10.7 - https://www.vpforums...=40895&p=413695

 

 

 

You (and GtxJoe) tried to advise me to also export my VP and VPinMame Registry keys ... but I glossed right over it. Well, in my defense ... this was my first migration <smile> but I know now. I have better notes now and the next one will be smoother.

 

https://www.vpforums...=55998&p=548331

 

If you updating to 10.8 then you'll also need main ini file (if you haven't moved it to the Visual Pinball folder) - %AppData%\roaming\VPinballX\VPinballX.ini

 

 

I just searched the backup of my old VPX-7.2 install again, and I still couldn't find a VPinballX.ini file to restore.

 

Since I also don't have one on the C-Drive of my current (migrated) VPX-7.2 install on new Windows-11 machine ... I'm thinking this file is only created when the newer VPX-8.x is involved? 

Edited by Tesla, 30 September 2025 - 06:09 AM.

[scutters]

I just searched the backup of my old VPX-7.2 install again, and I still couldn't find a VPinballX.ini file to restore.

 

Since I also don't have one on the C-Drive of my current (migrated) VPX-7.2 install on new Windows-11 machine ... I'm thinking this file is only created when the newer VPX-8.x is involved? 

 

 

Yeah sorry, you're correct. I worded that badly, that file is 10.8 so would be relevant if you were moving a 10.8 install to a new pc (but maybe you'd want to start over with a new config on an upgraded pc anyway)