Setting up PC to boot to MAME Attract Mode

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I got MAME'd, need some MAME talk.....

Setting up a win10 mame pc in an arcade cabinet took quite a bit of googling and reading threads.
Compiling steps I used here.

Set the PC to boot when AC power is applied to the computer:
--Enter BIOS
--Hold Shift while selecting Shutdown from Power menu.
--Restart computer while holding F2.
--Release F2 once BIOS message appears on Windows splash screen
--Use keyboard to navigate to Settings>Power Management>AC Recovery
--Select Radio button for Power On

Install the desired version of MAME:
--Download the desired version of MAME from MAMEDEV site, using a Binary file is quickest
--Install game files of choice in the Roms folder
--Access MAME and configure controls for games using the TAB key within game.

Install Attract-Mode Front End:
----Note- I found that newer MAME and games with CHDs didn' work with many of the existing popular Front Ends, but Attract Mode worked great.
--Make a folder inside the MAME folder called attractmode for the installation.
--Install AttractMode 32bit version (64bit version is buggy).
--Start Attract Mode, hit TAB, navigate to Configure>Emulators>mame
---Update the Executable entry to match where to find the mame.exe on your PC. ie c:\users\desktop\mame\mame.exe
---Update the Rom Path to match where to find the rom folder of your mame install. ie c:\users\desktop\mame\roms
---Update the marquee, snap and wheel paths to match where to find the same folders in the attractmode folder
---Run Generate Collection/Rom List
---Make sure the PC has internet access then run Scrape Artwork to get the marquee/snap/wheel art pulled down from online sources automatically
--Navigate to Configure>Controls
--Adjust at least these controls to run the attractmode game menu- Back, Up, Down, Left, Right, Select
--Use Escape key on keyboard to exit AttractMode back to windows desktop
--Optional-Adjust the game list shown in the attract mode menu (navigate to attractmode folder>romlists)
Edit the mame.xml with notepad++ and delete any row you don't want to appear in the menu.
--Note- Games with CHDs will create bogus entries for the game menu so simply delete the entry from the xml file

Set the PC to boot directly to AttractMode:
--Hit the Windows key and R to get the Run window to appear
--Type shell:startup , hit OK
--Right click and drag the attractmode exe to the window, choose to "make a shortcut here"
--Note- to confirm you have the exe in the startup folder, right click the taskbar>Task Manager>Startup tab> Confirm attractmode is listed.

Electrical considerations:
--For arcade cabinet, I wired a light switch to one side of a power cord, then ran the wiring to a normal electrical outlet box inside the machine.
--Then I plugged a power strip into the outlet, which allows for multiple connections like the pc, the monitor and speaker power plugs.

Windows Shutdown considerations:
--To gracefully shutdown the PC and avoid profile error messages upon the next boot up.
--I ran wires from the power button pcb on the PC to an arcade pushbutton, per online suggestions.
--This lets you tap the button to shutdown the PC BEFORE turning off AC power to the cabinet.
--It also lets you reboot the PC for troubleshooting or lock-ups.
--Another idea is to set the Windows Power Settings to shutdown after X amount of minutes. (Systems Settings>Power and Sleep Settings>When Plugged in, Turn off after...)

I setup my cabinet for trackball and buttons only.
Running MAME184, the following games were selected. Open to more trackball suggestions, too, please and thank you.
Arkanoid
Revenge of Doh
Atari Football
Blades of Steel Hockey (E and L versions)
Centipede
Crystal Castles
Golden Tee 98-06 complete
Kickman
Major Havoc
Marble Madness
Millipede
Missile Command
Off the Wall (the Atari breakout style game)
Quantum
Reactor
Simpsons Bowling
Super Breakout
Tehkan World Cup Soccer
Tempest
Warlords
World Class Bowling
 
im working on my first mame system and after reading your thread id say you have done a damn fine job.
thanks
blake
 
Ah, the good old days of just turning a classic game on and playing it within 30secs.....
 
.....

Set the PC to boot when AC power is applied to the computer:
--Enter BIOS
--Hold Shift while selecting Shutdown from Power menu.
--Restart computer while holding F2.
--Release F2 once BIOS message appears on Windows splash screen
--Use keyboard to navigate to Settings>Power Management>AC Recovery
--Select Radio button for Power On

I wouldn't do this. Since you've already extended the PC's existing power button just get a smart strip and plug your PC in as the "master" and then everything else in the cabinet such as your monitor in the "controlled" or "slave" outlets. Now when you hit the power button for the PC and it boots, everything else will turn on. When you hit the power button when it's on a graceful shutdown will happen and all will power off. This way if your game is on and you have a storm or brownout your PC won't power itself on and off and on and off etc.
 
Ah, the good old days of just turning a classic game on and playing it within 30secs.....

You can do that with the cabinets that I do.

Check out the Dig Dug cabinet I built - it's nearly impossible to tell that it's running MAME. And it's a 30 second boot, too.

 
When you hit the power button when it's on a graceful shutdown will happen and all will power off. This way if your game is on and you have a storm or brownout your PC won't power itself on and off and on and off etc.

I break the power coming in with a cabinet switch, when it is off the whole system is off.
I run the switched AC into an outlet and a power strip.

So the above scenario won't ever happen. With little kids playing the machine, they do best with one single On switch. :)
 
You can do that with the cabinets that I do.

Check out the Dig Dug cabinet I built - it's nearly impossible to tell that it's running MAME. And it's a 30 second boot, too.


That is darned clever work. You should write up a techie step by step about how you did the stealth mame with the Atari logo. Very cool.

As far as Mala, I couldn't get it to work right with newer mame/games with CHD. But I didn't try too much harder after I realized Attract Mode fit the bill and worked with Golden Tee Fore! Complete.
 
You can do that with the cabinets that I do.

Check out the Dig Dug cabinet I built - it's nearly impossible to tell that it's running MAME. And it's a 30 second boot, too.

Do you still have the files for that Dig Dug MALA front end? That is pretty damn cool.
 
You can do that with the cabinets that I do.

Check out the Dig Dug cabinet I built - it's nearly impossible to tell that it's running MAME. And it's a 30 second boot, too.

Very Nice! I have a similar plan for my empty Burgertime Cab - Except using a Raspberry Pi. I've taught myself to build RetroPie themes - so I'll build one custom for it.

I like the idea of packing more games into my cabinets that use the same control setup - no hacking control panels/wiring/etc - just hooking up new molex connections in between.

I've thought about rigging up a parallel port switcher to be an in and out board and to act as a switch between the original PCB and a PC or SBC running a curated selection of games that work with the existing controls.
 
Except using a Raspberry Pi. I've taught myself to build RetroPie themes - so I'll build one custom for it.

I like the idea of packing more games into my cabinets that use the same control setup - no hacking control panels/wiring/etc -

amen brutha- I put a pi in a space invaders cab. Playing Atari 2600 Demon Attack and even arcade Joust with the mirrored moon is nifty. The industry should have done more of the mirrored diorama effect back in the early 80s. Galaxian and Galaga are pretty cool with a moon background, as well.
 
amen brutha- I put a pi in a space invaders cab. Playing Atari 2600 Demon Attack and even arcade Joust with the mirrored moon is nifty. The industry should have done more of the mirrored diorama effect back in the early 80s. Galaxian and Galaga are pretty cool with a moon background, as well.

Nice! Yeah, I like the mirror games - Asteroids Deluxe was another nice one - the Mirror is one thing you can't emulate - ha!
 
Set up another PC for MAME tonight.
Added the Cheats file which has steps for the installation here.
https://www.wikihow.com/Add-Cheats-to-MAME

Basically just install the cheat.7zip file for the desired version of MAME in the \MAME folder on your pc.
then make sure \MAME\mame.ini has cheat set to 1 instead of 0.

cheats are adjusted using Tab when in game.
 
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