Monitor Issues: Resolved (for now)

After some extensive tweaking in the mame.ini file I finally found the settings that display (most) games properly. The picture to the left shows the problem I was having. I kept having to disconnect the monitor from the computer and connect a spare LCD because Windows XP wasn't even showing up because it was set to output at a resolution my monitor could not handle.

Upon the advice of some people over at BYOAC I changed d3d to ddraw and then changed the following settings:

switchres 1
hwstretch 1
resolution 640x480

The picture is now completely rectangular and fills the screen (XP still looks off and so does MaLa but hopefully I can fix that later... well the MaLa gamelist display at least). With these settings enabled I'm forcing every game I run to display in 640x480 mode which isn't the end of the world. There might be a few games that look messed up running in this resolution but not many and certainly not to the untrained eye.

I also was able to launch Popeye for the first time ever on the cabinet - every previous attempt I was greeted with an "out of range" error message... it is one of the games that looks a little different than I remember it (not as sharp) but I can change "hwstretch" to "0" in a specific popeye.ini file. I'll have to continually tweak the individual .ini settings for the games that don't look quite right but there shouldn't be many of them.

Another Update

As previously mentioned, I started updating the computer with the newest version of MaLa and a fully compiled version of MAME .119u3. There's a problem with Galaga so it looks like I have to roll it back a version to MAME .119u2. Not a huge deal but it's going to be a pain because compiling takes about 45 minutes and there's no way around it.

What I'm more concerned with is the fact that after reinstalling everything, my monitor refused to output anything in the proper resolution. Every game I tried loading was completely pixelated and unplayable. I'm not sure how to fix this yet but I'm 99% sure it is a software issue either with MAME or MaLa and not a problem with the monitor itself because Windows XP and my game list (with the "snaps") displays perfectly.

I guess it's time to troubleshoot.

Quick Update:

• I tried to order the 1/4" tempered glass for the tabletop but the glass shop I went to told me it would cost about $250 - yeah, right - I'm not paying that. I am going to replace it but I need to find a cheaper solution. The 1/8" piece I am currently using will have to go in the trash I guess.
• I also contacted the artist that is doing my table top underlay and he said he will be getting me something soon (I've heard that one before though so I'm not holding my breath). HERE is a link to his site so you can see the style that I'm going for - he's very talented but very slow.
• I started updating the computer with the newest version of MaLa and a fully compiled version of MAME .119u3 - this doesn't match my romset (.118u2) but it shouldn't be a problem. I tried using MAME .118u2 but there is a bug for Mappy and Super Pac-man which are two essential games for the cabinet so I had to try a different version.

It's not much but compared to the last 12 months of inactivity it's a ton!!