Mame, 60-in-1, other multigame boards and latency?

GaryMcT

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Can you help me debug my Mame latency problems?

I know the JROK Multi-Williams board is the real deal. How are the other multigame boards for input latency?

I've been contemplating a Mame cabinet, but I can't get past the input and audio latency. I'm going to measure the latency of Mame first to see if I'm getting more than the best-case single frame of latency. . I suspect I'm seeing much more. I'll see if I can debug the problem.

I work on PC games, and it seems like I'm getting a lot more latency in Mame than we get in our games.

Thoughts?
 
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Needs more information.

What version of MAME?

What kind of input device are you using? You say key, but that isn't specific. That alone could add up to 10ms of latency depending when exactly you press it.



MAME on a PC is never going to have the same latency as a real PCB. MAME on those 60in1 things could be a bit better, but still not like a real PCB.
 
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Mame 132 on XP SP2. Input device is a USB keyboard.

I expect mame to always be more latent than a PCB, but not an 1/8 of a second latent.

Thanks,
Gary
 
Mame 132 on XP SP2. Input device is a USB keyboard.

I expect mame to always be more latent than a PCB, but not an 1/8 of a second latent.

Thanks,
Gary

Dunno what you're doing wrong but there's no way my MAME cabs (any of the 3) are lagging 1/8 second. No way. MAYBE 1/30...2 frames...

I'm quite sensitive to this issue and if there was a 1/8 second lag from control to screen I'd notice it immediately.

Perhaps your keyboard is at fault? I dunno... buy none of my 3 MAME cabs are lagging like that...even the XP1800+ box (which is MUCH less powerful than what you're running).
 
Dunno what you're doing wrong but there's no way my MAME cabs (any of the 3) are lagging 1/8 second. No way. MAYBE 1/30...2 frames...

I'm quite sensitive to this issue and if there was a 1/8 second lag from control to screen I'd notice it immediately.

Perhaps your keyboard is at fault? I dunno... buy none of my 3 MAME cabs are lagging like that...even the XP1800+ box (which is MUCH less powerful than what you're running).

Thanks. Good to hear that it is a local problem that I can probably fix. Could be my crappy audio chipset. Things I can think of trying:

1: different machine
2: low latency audio interface (I have one of these from music recording)
3: Linux build of Mame
4: 360 controller instead of keyboard

Any other ideas?

I'm planning a vertical and horizontal Mame cab to fill in the gaps for my PCB machines, so I'd like to get this sorted out before continuing. :)
 
Well this test isn't really measuring screen latency. The latency is only from the sound of the keyboard to when the sound is played. The video would be a different latency and although it may be close to the latency of the audio it's not the same.

Also, I wouldn't point the finger at MAME right now. There are a lot more pieces involved then just that Application for system latency.
 
Well this test isn't really measuring screen latency. The latency is only from the sound of the keyboard to when the sound is played. The video would be a different latency and although it may be close to the latency of the audio it's not the same.

Also, I wouldn't point the finger at MAME right now. There are a lot more pieces involved then just that Application for system latency.

I'm working on the input to audio output latency first since it is easier to measure. I'll use a vidcam to measure input to video latency after this problem is solved. Fixing the input to audio latency may fix the input to video latency problem so that I don't have to deal with analyzing vidcam recordings.

Mame probably isn't to blame. It could be:

1) keyboard
2) directinput
3) mame
4) directsound
5) etc.

Can you do the same recording easily on one of your machines and send me the file so that I can measure latency on a functioning mame setup?

Thanks, Gary
 
I can time my jumps in Donkey Kong exactly the same on my dedicated cab and on the MAME cab, so I don't think there is a latency issue with MAME at all.
 
I can time my jumps in Donkey Kong exactly the same on my dedicated cab and on the MAME cab, so I don't think there is a latency issue with MAME at all.

That's good to hear. It means that my problem should be solvable.

Can you do me a favor, if you have an iPhone or something similar that can record audio, and do a recording with astdelux similar to what I did in my link earlier in the thread so that I can see what kind of latency to expect out a properly-setup Mame machine?

I'm ignoring video latency for now since it's harder to measure. I'll do that when I'm done fixing my audio latency problem.

thanks!
Gary

PS: How do you change the title of a thread here? The thread title isn't really appropriate anymore. :)
 
Problem solved!!!!! It's my keyboard that is causing the latency. Every machine that I tested on has one of these keyboards. :)

Thanks for the help!
 
Problem solved!!!!! It's my keyboard that is causing the latency. Every machine that I tested on has one of these keyboards. :)

Thanks for the help!

Did you switch it to another USB keyboard or a PS/2?

BTW, just curious but what's the measured latency now on the PC and what was the number for the Asteroids?
 
would that be a usb keyboard by chance

if so thats the main problem esp if you are running a shell on windows


for mame you want ps2 inputs its more of a direct input and does not rely on a usb controller driver wich cause a huge delay
 
If I were to do a Mame Cab, I'd probably hack some original XBOX controllers.
 
Did you switch it to another USB keyboard or a PS/2?

BTW, just curious but what's the measured latency now on the PC and what was the number for the Asteroids?

I'll get the numbers tonight.

I opened up the laptop and used the builtin keyboard instead of the one plugged in via USB. :)
 
would that be a usb keyboard by chance

if so thats the main problem esp if you are running a shell on windows


for mame you want ps2 inputs its more of a direct input and does not rely on a usb controller driver wich cause a huge delay

Laptop keyboard instead of plugged in USB keyboard.

I'm thinking that I'm going to go with the JPAC for the real deal since a friend has one used. Hmmm, I need to see if my laptop has a ps2 input. . . .
 
If I were to do a Mame Cab, I'd probably hack some original XBOX controllers.

original xbox controllers use the usb interface as well so there is still a delay due to the usb controller drivers some devises are better than others but usb is still usb
(just a diffrent plug and 1 extra yellow wire that is used to tell the xbo xif its plugged in r not check here for my tuts http://emulationunderground.net/smf/index.php?topic=318.0 )
 
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