Freezy DMDExt 1.7. A universal DLL for real DMD, virtual DMD, and PinUP System!

[TerryRed]

DMDExt 1.7.1 is now released!

 

EVERYONE absolutely NEEDS to upgrade to DMDExt 1.7! This is the answer to everyone’s prayers! First, we get FULL colour support for virtual and real DMD users! (It looks excellent on virtual now).

Real DMD and virtual users ALL use the same DLL, and so does PinUP System (Popper and Player)! There is no more worrying about installing the correct DLL with Pinup System installs, etc….as it’s now part of this new dmddevice.DLL that EVERYONE will use!!!

 

EVERYONE PLEASE READ EVERYTHING BELOW!

You need to make changes to dmdext launch commands (for FX3) and dmddevice.ini for Pinup Player, and possibly other changes. Very easy to do!

 

=================================

DMDext 1.7.1 update:

• Added VNI coloring support with help from @lucky1 and @djrobx (#102)
  Added coloring support for other resolutions (192×64)
  Added support for XDMD and thus UltraDMD
  Added support for TPA’s cabinet build
  PinUP support is now built-in. However note that you’ll still need dmddevicePUP.dll installed. Also, the syntax changed, instead of -o PINUP, use the new –pinup option (#104).
• New Pinball FX3 grabber – reads DMD from memory, much faster and more stable (thanks NoEx!)
• Timing improvements when reading colored animations (thanks  @djrobx
• Properly upscale 128×16 games when using VNI (thanks  @djrobx)
• Location of dmddevice.ini can now be set via environment variable
• Print warning when dmddevice.ini not found

 

DMDext 1.7.1 download (use 32 bit only!)

https://github.com/freezy/dmd-extensions/releases/tag/v1.7.0

=================================

INSTALLATION NOTES AND CHANGES:

PLEASE READ AND MAKE THE REQUIRED CHANGES!

First: install the new Freezy dmdext 1.7 files (32 bit ONLY!!!) into your VPinMAME folder. Make sure you delete, or copy over any other versions of dmddevice.dll that you have elsewhere on your system! Also, if you have a file called Libdmd.DLL in your VPinMAME, you need to delete that file, or dmdext will crash!

Two important changes that needs to be done with Popper and PuP for everyone who upgrades….

===============================

For VPX, you need to edit the dmddevice.ini

The section should now be disabled (it was enabled for PinUP before). It should look like this:

; if enabled, writes frames to an .avi file
enabled =false
; path to folder or .avi file. if folder, gamename.avi is used.
path=

Now you add a new section for Pinup Player’s PuPCapture:

[pinup]
enabled=true

===============

Also, if you have a “DmdDevice.log.config” file, you need to edit that file and make sure that if the <rules> section looks like this:

<rules>
<logger name=”” minlevel=”Trace” writeTo=”console” />
<logger name=”” minlevel=”Trace” writeTo=”file” />
</rules>

…it needs to be changed to:

<rules>
<logger name=”” minlevel=”info” writeTo=”console” />
<logger name=”” minlevel=”info” writeTo=”file” />
</rules>

Same with the “dmdextlog.config”. The <rules> section should look like:

<rules>
<logger name=”*” minlevel=””info” writeTo=”console” />
</rules>

This is to disable logging for when colouring is being used. Apparently it can cause performance issues for some people. It’s only needed for those who are colour modding DMDs and are troubleshooting.

=================================

For FX3, you need to change the PuP portion of the command line for launching in Popper and PBX!

It used to be:

-o PINUP\[GAMENAME] (this was 1.6)

It is now is replaced with:

--pinup PINUP\[GAMENAME]

An example for Popper launch script for FX3 is:

start /min "" "dmdext.exe" mirror --source=pinballfx3 -q -d auto --virtual-hide-grip --virtual-position=3400 5 400 --pinup PINUP\[GAMENAME]

Note, 1.7.1 changes: I have found that you need to have both dmdext AND FX3 run as admin for this new FX3 memory grabber version to work properly with the new method it uses. If both aren't run as admin, then the first FX3 table launched will work with dmdext fine...but the second table launched wont work.

Or...if you dont want to deal with running either as admin...and want the original method...then just add --fx3-legacy to your dmdext command in the launch script.

start /min "" "dmdext.exe" mirror --source=pinballfx3 --fx3-legacy -q -d auto --virtual-hide-grip --virtual-position=3400 5 400 --pinup PINUP\[GAMENAME]

For now guys....if you are using FX3 PuP-Packs or Fx3 PuP-SSF, I would recommend using the Legacy Method by adding in --fx3-legacy to your dmdext command line in Popper's FX3 launch script...and NOT running either dmdext or fx3 as admin. The reason being that running dmdext as admin causes the Aliens (and possible SSF) FX3 pup-packs to not close out when exiting the table.

Note…that some of the dashes are getting cut in the “pasting” of text on the forum.

There are two dashes with:

--source=pinballfx3

--fx3-legacy

--virtual-hide-grip

--virtual-position

I can’t properly paste it in for you as the forum removes the extra characters.

=================================

Another big plus for VPX PuP-Packs! You can now choose any colour (or coloured) DMD you want! You no longer need to set a specific colour for the DMD thanks to DJRobX’s wizardry!

=================================

A BIG thanks to Freezy, Lucky, and DJRobX for putting in the work to bring this miracle to the community!

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9 users thanked author for this post.

CastilianFly, Fulltilt, Scritley, olowou, xenonph, Johngreve, Pinbolt, Mark70, Draifet

[Draifet]

Already enjoying the vni color dmd’s since yesterday, but I skipped some steps, this tutorial is very useful and easy to follow. Freezy, Lucky1, DjRobX, and TerryRed… THAAAAANKS!

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[snwfrd38]

Looks like a promising release!

Does it enable colorized rom for LCD panel? If so I tried to colorize my roms using one of the many tutorial for ACDE 168 and I failed. I wonder if someone has managed already

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[TerryRed]

snwfrd38 wrote:

Looks like a promising release!

Does it enable colorized rom for LCD panel? If so I tried to colorize my roms using one of the many tutorial for ACDE 168 and I failed. I wonder if someone has managed already

Yes….fully colourized rom now for LCD…the exact same as Pin2DMD, etc..

ACDC LE has a very nice colored rom. VPU would have most of the info for that stuff.

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[snwfrd38]

Actually I found – my SAM VPINMAME was outdated

With the 3.0 it works perfect! 

 

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[Cameron]

Hmmm… Just went through this update. Now my virtual DMD is always appearing in my top right of my Playfield. Can’t seem to get rid of it or hide it…

I was reading that the updated dmddevice.dll forces the virtual DMD to be on the top to keep vp from crashing on exit. Does anybody experience this same thing and know how to get around it?

 

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[TerryRed]

Which virtual DMD? Freezy, or PinMAME?

To disable or position the freezy dmd….edit dmddevice.ini

 

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[Cameron]

Thanks. It was the Freezy one… I was thinking it was the Pinmame one so I was poking around there. Turned it off in the .ini. I forgot it had that section when it was overwritten with the update. OK now I’m back on track….

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[Mark70]

TerryRed wrote:

snwfrd38 wrote:

Looks like a promising release!

Does it enable colorized rom for LCD panel? If so I tried to colorize my roms using one of the many tutorial for ACDE 168 and I failed. I wonder if someone has managed already

Yes….fully colourized rom now for LCD…the exact same as Pin2DMD, etc..

ACDC LE has a very nice colored rom. VPU would have most of the info for that stuff.

I am curious, is this diffent to the color rom patched  LE version then?
And of course: Thanks for the information and how to, for DMDExt 1.7!

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[TerryRed]

Mark70 wrote:

TerryRed wrote:

snwfrd38 wrote:

Looks like a promising release!

Does it enable colorized rom for LCD panel? If so I tried to colorize my roms using one of the many tutorial for ACDE 168 and I failed. I wonder if someone has managed already

Yes….fully colourized rom now for LCD…the exact same as Pin2DMD, etc..

ACDC LE has a very nice colored rom. VPU would have most of the info for that stuff.

I am curious, is this diffent to the color rom patched LE version then?

And of course: Thanks for the information and how to, for DMDExt 1.7!

No…that’s the same one I was referring to.

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[Pinbolt]

Thanks.

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[RYSr (Rich)]

Pinbolt wrote:

Can’t install the dmddevice.exe. My Norton kills this exe every time.

PLease help

I have Norton on my desktop and when I download it I also get the popup message that Norton have removed the file. If you click in the lower portion of that message it says something like ” more information” you can then select an option to restore the file then select to accept the file as safe always.

Norton has a reputation ratting where if less then 5 or so Norton users worldwide have used this file, they consider it dangerous, even though it’s not.

Some times my Windows 8 also pops up a warning screen and I have to answer it to also ignore and use it anyway through options in the message.

I do all my downloads, setup and testing on my desktop, then transfer the tables/files to the Cab with a meme stick, I do not have internet access or run anti Virus on the cab.

Rich

 

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[TerryRed]

Don’t have any Anti-virus installed or running….even Defender if possible.

Not needed in a pincab…and will cause nothing but headaches.

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1 user thanked author for this post.

Pinbolt

[Pinbolt]

Works great.

 

How can I resize the Desktop Color DMD and disable the old DMD?

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[Johngreve]

Thanks for the great instructions TerryRed….I worked up the courage to install this today…..I was running great on 1.6.1 but knew the future lay with this version. I’ll have to say I followed the instructions to the letter and to my amazement everything worked perfectly! So relieved……your looking at a guy that struggles with updates at times.

Im utterly amazed at what a game changer this version is…..it does everything advertised…perfectly. It’s so nice now to be able to have colors other than orange for PuP capture to work on Avatar,Tron etc tables. If most guys are like me we didn’t buy pin2dmds or pinDMD3 to look at orange. This truly is amazing work by the team.

Also am amazed how georgous the new AFM and WCS color ROMs are looking now that we can enjoy that work with this new dmddevice.dll and the associated .pal and .vni Files.

This is REALLY something special……the work recently going into color ROMs and DMD’s is incredible. I remember back in 1993 when I bought my TZ pinball myself and my friends were all standing around it in amazement and were wondering what the next big improvement in pinball was going to be. I remember saying that I thought it was going to be color DMD displays,I thought that would of been only a year down the road or so .Little did I know that it would take 25 years and a community of deducated and talented hobbiests and coders to make that statement come true. The manufactures couldn’t or wouldn’t pull it off. Obviously that was driven by the collapsing market at the time. TZ sold like 15,000 units following Adams Families 21,000 or so.Those numbers were never seen again.

So thanks again to the talented team of folks who made this improvement possible. It really simplifies things on our end what with wondering what works with what. A stunning achievement!

Now Im off to the VPU color WIP page to gush about their work there.

Simply amazing what has gone on in the hobby the past year

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[TerryRed]

Note, 1.7.1 changes: I have found that you need to have both dmdext AND FX3 run as admin for this new FX3 memory grabber version to work properly with the new method it uses. If both aren’t run as admin, then the first FX3 table launched will work with dmdext fine…but the second table launched wont work.

Or…if you dont want to deal with running either as admin…and want the original method…then just add --fx3-legacy to your dmdext command in the launch script.

start /min "" "dmdext.exe" mirror --source=pinballfx3 --fx3-legacy -q -d auto --virtual-hide-grip --virtual-position=3400 5 400 --pinup PINUP\[GAMENAME]

For now guys….if you are using FX3 PuP-Packs or Fx3 PuP-SSF, I would recommend using the Legacy Method by adding in --fx3-legacy to your dmdext command line in Popper’s FX3 launch script…and NOT running either dmdext or fx3 as admin. The reason being that running dmdext as admin causes the Aliens (and possible SSF) FX3 pup-packs to not close out when exiting the table.

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[Kleig]

Hey guys getting an odd issue.  When launching the Pinball Fx3 Tables from PinUp Popper, The DMD ext Starts and then abruptly stops.  I am quickly did a print screen on this error.  This is my launch script for Popper.

@echo off

rem remove rem to setup your DMDEXT press “open examples for more info”
cd “C:\Emulators\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME”

start /min “” “dmdext.exe” mirror –source=pinballfx3 –fx3-legacy -q -d auto –virtual-hide-grip –virtual-position=2320 1650 1024 –pinup PinUP\[GAMENAME]

START “” “[STARTDIR]Launch\VPXSTARTER.exe” 5 5 60 “Pinball FX3”

START “” “[DIREMU]\steam.exe” -applaunch 442120 -table_[GAMENAME]

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Attachments:

1. 

   DMD-error.png
   

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[TerryRed]

Kleig wrote:

Hey guys getting an odd issue. When launching the Pinball Fx3 Tables from PinUp Popper, The DMD ext Starts and then abruptly stops. I am quickly did a print screen on this error. This is my launch script for Popper.

@echo off

rem remove rem to setup your DMDEXT press “open examples for more info”

cd “C:\Emulators\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME”

start /min “” “dmdext.exe” mirror –source=pinballfx3 –fx3-legacy -q -d auto –virtual-hide-grip –virtual-position=2320 1650 1024 –pinup PinUP\[GAMENAME]

START “” “[STARTDIR]Launch\VPXSTARTER.exe” 5 5 60 “Pinball FX3”

START “” “[DIREMU]\steam.exe” -applaunch 442120 -table_[GAMENAME]

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

`
Try running the same command outside of Popper to see if you have the same issue.

cd “C:\Emulators\Visual Pinball\VPinMAME”

start /min “” “dmdext.exe” mirror –source=pinballfx3 –fx3-legacy -q -d auto –virtual-hide-grip –virtual-position=2320 1650 1024 –pinup PinUP\[GAMENAME]

 

See if it works outside of Popper. Make sure you installed 1.7.1 according to what I typed in the first post.

Make sure you are not running either dmdext or fx3 as admin when using the legacy flag.

Make sure no dmdext files are blocked by Windows.

 

‘

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[Kleig]

Running that exact command line opens another cmd window only to have it close instantly.

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[TerryRed]

Open command prompt

Change directory to where your VPinmame is.

run this command, edited for your position:

dmdext.exe mirror --source=pinballfx3 -q -d auto --virtual-hide-grip --virtual-position=2320 1650 1024 --pinup PinUP\[GAMENAME]

 

That should bring up dmdext running.

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