Error testing please

**Spacy** · April 23rd, 2006

Hiho.
Since I got access permissions to CVS, I recodet some of my changes from VBA-S to fit into the official VBA build.

The main changes are Visual Studio 2005 compatibility and project files, a new icon, which is Windows 2000 to Vista (256x256x32) compatible and an universal video mode selection dialog that works for GDI, DIrectDraw and Direct3D. Those display APIs have also been reworked a bit, espacially Direct3D behaves now as fine as in VBA-S.

So please test the following binary and tell me if you find mistakes compared to the original 1.8.0-beta 3. Don't tell me about game compatibility.

Oh well, of course tell me if you are missing DLLs, because I don't know if any of the VC++ runtimes ship with Windows.

The following binary is a release build optimized for speed using "whole program optimization" and MMX. SSE is not used. Somehow I managed to display correct graphics in Metroid Fusion instead of a black screen which was normaly caused by those optimizations.

**Spacy** · April 24th, 2006

I just made a quick speed measurent.
I used the title screen of Super Donkey Kong 3 with sound, no filters, directdraw, 2x size, no frame skipping, no synchronization, no throttle, no vsync.

This version with or without SSE:
~195%

Official 1.8.0-beta3:
~170%

Looks like Microsofts new compiler is better than I thought

**Forgotten** · April 25th, 2006

Have you tried to compile for size instead of speed? I wonder if that may make things faster. It is highly dependant on the system.

M[u]ddy · April 25th, 2006

I alway get this error message, when I try to open the emu:

The programm couldn't be run, since the programmconfiguration is incorrect.
You should reinstall the programm to solve the problem.

Mclane · April 25th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by M[u]ddy

I alway get this error message, when I try to open the emu:
The programm couldn't be run, since the programmconfiguration is incorrect.
You should reinstall the programm to solve the problem.

Yup, same here....

Got a previous version and it was fine, just this one does that message and quits.

**Spacy** · April 25th, 2006

Damn, I can't reproduce this error.
I just tested this build on my fresh Windows 2000 SP4 UR1B.
I needed vba.7z, mfc80.7z, msvcr80.7z and DirectX9. To get DirectX9 I installed the files from the redist folder of my Dx9 SDK.

But after that everything worked fine.

Please try to install this http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
and then tell me if it works.

@Forgotten:
No, I only used "Optimize for speed".

EDIT:
Oh, bad luck. I just installed it on Windows XP SP2 Pro english in a VirtualMachine and I get the same problems in the MFC/DirectX AND in the SDL build even though I have all the needed DLLs. Strange...

Mclane · April 25th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spacy

Damn, I can't reproduce this error.
I just tested this build on my fresh Windows 2000 SP4 UR1B.
I needed vba.7z, mfc80.7z, msvcr80.7z and DirectX9. To get DirectX9 I installed the files from the redist folder of my Dx9 SDK.

But after that everything worked fine.

EDIT:
Oh, bad luck. I just installed it on Windows XP SP2 Pro english corporate in a VirtualMachine and I get the same problems in the MFC/DirectX AND in the SDL build even though I have all the needed DLLs. Strange...

I'm on Windows XP pro, all drivers are spot upto date, it's running DX 9.0c, I've got 99% of the usual Visual basic & Visual C dll's installed and just dropped the MFC80 & MSVCR80 into system32.

I have no idea what's causing the error here, I would class my machine as a pretty standard bench marking machine in terms of non ACME parts and industry standard driver software.

**Spacy** · April 25th, 2006

I really wonder what is going wrong here. The manifest file is embedded correctly, not twice. In my current build, I linked every component via DLL (zlib, libpng, cximage) and I still get those crazy errors on my Virtual Machine, but not on my development PC (win2k).

arg, Visual Studio is heaven and hell at once.

Mclane · April 25th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spacy

I really wonder what is going wrong here. The manifest file is embedded correctly, not twice. In my current build, I linked every component via DLL (zlib, libpng, cximage) and I still get those crazy errors on my Virtual Machine, but not on my development PC (win2k).

arg, Visual Studio is heaven and hell at once.

Is there any chance that VS is making it dependant to any thing in it that's not in the extra's you put up for download?

Something that's not 'virtually' available?

**Spacy** · April 25th, 2006

Since it runs on Windows 2000 with only the files I posted, I don't think it's a missing component.

It is really odd to have such problems, because I fixed all the compile errors and lots of warnings that were triggered by the new compiler, which is a bit stricter.

I will create a completely static build (except DirectX) in the next days, maybe this will help somehow.

Mclane · April 26th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spacy

Since it runs on Windows 2000 with only the files I posted, I don't think it's a missing component.

It is really odd to have such problems, because I fixed all the compile errors and lots of warnings that were triggered by the new compiler, which is a bit stricter.

I will create a completely static build (except DirectX) in the next days, maybe this will help somehow.

I had just wondered if it was working on machines that had the VS dev stuff onboard and on those that didn't it was failing. Being an MS product it's entirely open to numerous flaws :-)

That aside, thanks for trying a new build, I'll look forward to it...Cheers again

ShadowFX · April 26th, 2006

To be completely honest, I haven't noticed any differences with this version compared to the original VBA 1.8.0b3 and VBA-S on my system.

**Spacy** · April 26th, 2006

As always, the changes are more at the inside...

I don't know if kxu is happy if I am changing too much code or not. Beside, I am using VS2005, so I can't make changes to the older solution and project files. So those would not compile if I made too many changes.

Maybe it would be better to continue with my own build?

ShadowFX · April 26th, 2006

For one, your build has a better menu structure, in my view. But I really hope you can manage to solve the slowdown in fullscreen (using VSync in combination with TB). However, I think I've already mentioned that in your other VBA-S thread.

**Spacy** · April 27th, 2006

What do you mean by TB?

ShadowFX · April 29th, 2006

Triple Buffering

**Spacy** · April 30th, 2006

While I was reading a bit in the MSDN documentation, I found a section regarding Manifest files. There's also written soemthing about apllication configuration, so I guess this error was caused by the included manfiest file.
I will release a new test soon.

**Spacy** · May 3rd, 2006

HiHo.

I managed to fix that weird error message. This is not a VBA-S build, but an official one. pokemonhacker finally submited his fixes for the GB emulation core (and other stuff) to CVS, but unfortunately their CVS server is halfway down, so I could not integrate them yet.

I put very much effort into Direct3D, so please test this mode extensively. Don't report about the other graphic modes, because I did not change much for them yet.

Moreover, I sucessfully added multi-monitor support (I could test it, because I got anotehr TFT from my brother). Now you can select the display device index (the indices represent the different monitors at all your graphics cards).

DirectX runtime web updater: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

ShadowFX · May 5th, 2006

I have a question, what are the actual minimum specs for good GBA emulation? I'm beginning to suspect my system isn't capable enough for the current emulation. Second, on Direct3D mode... it's VSync that's the frame-rate killer on my system. So I was wrong the first time, TB works fine but it still leaves some screen tearing, while DirectDraw is smooth with TB alone. I'll test some more on our high-end system later on

**Spacy** · May 5th, 2006

What do you mean by performance-killer? For me, VSync restrict the VBA framerate to the monitor refresh rate. This means max. 125% for 75Hz or exactly 100% for 60Hz modes. I could also change the D3D flag to sync every second frame instead of every frame.

Well, maybe I should read a bit mroe about how to take care of sreen tearing, because without VSync it is really annoying in side-scrolling games (for example Metroid).

April 25th, 2006	#6 (permalink)
Spacy Emu author Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 372	Damn, I can't reproduce this error. I just tested this build on my fresh Windows 2000 SP4 UR1B. I needed vba.7z, mfc80.7z, msvcr80.7z and DirectX9. To get DirectX9 I installed the files from the redist folder of my Dx9 SDK. But after that everything worked fine. Please try to install this http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en and then tell me if it works. @Forgotten: No, I only used "Optimize for speed". EDIT: Oh, bad luck. I just installed it on Windows XP SP2 Pro english in a VirtualMachine and I get the same problems in the MFC/DirectX AND in the SDL build even though I have all the needed DLLs. Strange... Last edited by Spacy; April 25th, 2006 at 20:34.

May 5th, 2006	#19 (permalink)
ShadowFX Dark Dragon Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 67	I have a question, what are the actual minimum specs for good GBA emulation? I'm beginning to suspect my system isn't capable enough for the current emulation. Second, on Direct3D mode... it's VSync that's the frame-rate killer on my system. So I was wrong the first time, TB works fine but it still leaves some screen tearing, while DirectDraw is smooth with TB alone. I'll test some more on our high-end system later on __________________ "Change is inevitable; progress is optional"

May 5th, 2006	#20 (permalink)
Spacy Emu author Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 372	What do you mean by performance-killer? For me, VSync restrict the VBA framerate to the monitor refresh rate. This means max. 125% for 75Hz or exactly 100% for 60Hz modes. I could also change the D3D flag to sync every second frame instead of every frame. Well, maybe I should read a bit mroe about how to take care of sreen tearing, because without VSync it is really annoying in side-scrolling games (for example Metroid). Last edited by Spacy; May 5th, 2006 at 20:43.

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April 25th, 2006	#3 (permalink)
Forgotten Emu author Join Date: Oct 2001 Posts: 483	Have you tried to compile for size instead of speed? I wonder if that may make things faster. It is highly dependant on the system.

April 25th, 2006	#4 (permalink)
M[u]ddy Registered User Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Germany NRW Posts: 2	I alway get this error message, when I try to open the emu: The programm couldn't be run, since the programmconfiguration is incorrect. You should reinstall the programm to solve the problem.

April 25th, 2006	#8 (permalink)
Spacy Emu author Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 372	I really wonder what is going wrong here. The manifest file is embedded correctly, not twice. In my current build, I linked every component via DLL (zlib, libpng, cximage) and I still get those crazy errors on my Virtual Machine, but not on my development PC (win2k). arg, Visual Studio is heaven and hell at once.

April 25th, 2006	#10 (permalink)
Spacy Emu author Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 372	Since it runs on Windows 2000 with only the files I posted, I don't think it's a missing component. It is really odd to have such problems, because I fixed all the compile errors and lots of warnings that were triggered by the new compiler, which is a bit stricter. I will create a completely static build (except DirectX) in the next days, maybe this will help somehow.

April 26th, 2006	#12 (permalink)
ShadowFX Dark Dragon Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 67	To be completely honest, I haven't noticed any differences with this version compared to the original VBA 1.8.0b3 and VBA-S on my system.

April 26th, 2006	#13 (permalink)
Spacy Emu author Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 372	As always, the changes are more at the inside... I don't know if kxu is happy if I am changing too much code or not. Beside, I am using VS2005, so I can't make changes to the older solution and project files. So those would not compile if I made too many changes. Maybe it would be better to continue with my own build?

April 26th, 2006	#14 (permalink)
ShadowFX Dark Dragon Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 67	For one, your build has a better menu structure, in my view. But I really hope you can manage to solve the slowdown in fullscreen (using VSync in combination with TB). However, I think I've already mentioned that in your other VBA-S thread.

April 27th, 2006	#15 (permalink)
Spacy Emu author Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 372	What do you mean by TB?

April 29th, 2006	#16 (permalink)
ShadowFX Dark Dragon Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 67	Triple Buffering

April 30th, 2006	#17 (permalink)
Spacy Emu author Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 372	While I was reading a bit in the MSDN documentation, I found a section regarding Manifest files. There's also written soemthing about apllication configuration, so I guess this error was caused by the included manfiest file. I will release a new test soon.