What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games

dankcushions

@romstar your config is non default and impossible to diagnose. looks like you saved over the retropie provided one?

TATE mode for 2003 is explained here https://retropie.org.uk/docs/lr-mame2003/#tate-mode - i believe this is what you want.

Romstar

@dankcushions I just looked at that , and don't understand it at all. where do I need to edit in order for the video to fill the screen ?> what config file do I need to manually edit, I can use ssh. I don't need to use retropi menus to do so, I can manually edit the config file(s) I just need to know what to modify...

Here's an example I just did this to the game specific arkanoid rom config file( It now fills the top / bottom but is squeezing the image in the center) I just need to know what the correct parameters I need to enter in order to display the proper aspect ratio :

video_allow_rotate = "true"
video_rotation = "1"
aspect_ratio_index = "19"
video_aspect_ratio_auto = "false"
video_aspect_ratio = "1.33"

result from above mame specific game rom config results in:

mahoneyt944

@romstar what does your emulationstation screen look like? You don't typically need to set these ratios manually. I use the same monitor as well.

I do recall having to disable over scan to fit the screen image.....remove the black boarder that is.
/boot/config.txt then remove the "#" from disable_overscan=0

Romstar

@mahoneyt944

my boot config text looked like this for that section:

#uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
#and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

It won't allow me to make changes to it saying permission denied.

Thorr69

@romstar Seriously, just turn on Tate mode as detailed in the post. Open up your game, hit select+X (hotkey+x), go into the quick menu there and find Tate mode. Enable it. It's that simple. Your game will fill the screen.

Hell, you even tried it before... https://retropie.org.uk/forum/post/174446 (That's you...)

Basically, stop trying to edit the config file. Use the menu instead:
https://retropie.org.uk/docs/RetroArch-Core-Options/#setting-core-options

mahoneyt944

@thorr69 these are two separate issues.

Tate mode sets the rotation to that of actual hardware. If your only using vertical games then this would work. But horizontal games won't.

editing /boot/config.txt to remove over scan fixes the black boarders for this monitor type.

To edit '/boot/config.txt' you can plug your microsd card into another computer and edit the file. They make many adapters to do this if your computer does not have a slot to do so.

I'd imagine you want everything to display in the same direction though, you might find this useful
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/989/rotating-retropie-for-vertical-monitor

Thorr69

@mahoneyt944 said in What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games:

Tate mode sets the rotation to that of actual hardware. If your only using vertical games then this would work. But horizontal games won't.

https://retropie.org.uk/docs/lr-mame2003/#tate-mode

mahoneyt944

@thorr69 I'm a developer for mame2003.

The core is set to rotate the screen image automatically so that vertical and horizontal games display upright on a standard monitor or tv without the need to turn your monitor.

This is not the behavior of an actual arcade machine however, vertical games would have physically mounted the monitor sideways in the cabinet yet the image is still shown normally to the player. So it displays in a 90 degree rotation.

Tate mode is designed for a user that is going to physically rotate their monitor for vertical vs horizontal games everytime. See this video around 3:30

If you are mounting a monitor in the vertical position permanently then you want to rotate the entire system so emulationstation and everything else shows properly. This is done in config.txt rotate_display=1 set the value to 0, 1, 2, 3

Thorr69

@mahoneyt944 said in What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games:

@thorr69 I'm a developer for mame2003.

The core is set to rotate the screen image automatically so that vertical and horizontal games display upright on a standard monitor or tv without the need to turn your monitor.

This is not the behavior of an actual arcade machine however, vertical games would have physically mounted the monitor sideways in the cabinet yet the image is still shown normally to the player. So it displays in a 90 degree rotation.

Tate mode is designed for a user that is going to physically rotate their monitor for vertical vs horizontal games everytime. See this video around 3:30

If you are mounting a monitor in the vertical position permanently then you want to rotate the entire system so emulationstation and everything else shows properly.

Yeah, I know. I've done all of this and have a vertical system. My reply above was an aborted post. I got phone call when I started and must have hit Submit when I meant to Discard. I came back and saw it and tried to delete it, but the time window expired and I could no longer change it.

mahoneyt944

@thorr69 no problem, just trying to clear up some of the rotation confusion.

The op needs to remove any aspect ratios they may have altered in their cfgs and set the systems rotation in config.txt then everything should work.

Thorr69

@mahoneyt944 said in What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games:

The op needs to remove any aspect ratios they may have altered in their cfgs and set the systems rotation in config.txt then everything should work.

Yeah, this is where I was going, too. I use a rotatable Dell 19" 5:4 monitor, so I manually turn my screen for vertical games. The setup is simple: Use TATE mode as a Core setting and disable Auto-rotate, then set rotations as Game overrides where needed. No other changes were required. The default values worked just fine on every other setting. I've rebuilt it several times and just those two settings are all I have to change to make it work.

jamrom2

@dankcushions Understood. I did not know this and was just trying to be helpful. I've been running MAME since 1998 on all 5 of my dedicated MAME cabinets with PC's.

I just assumed they carried over. Sorry.

Romstar

@mahoneyt944

So first went to ssh to delete any modifications I made. Proceeded to pop in my SD card into my computer and I modified my boot config text as suggested and added "rotate_display=1" did absolutely nothing. The game is oriented in the wrong orientation, and It's to be used for a monitor mounted vertical.

Here is my boot.cfg (scroll to bottom you can see where I added "rotate_display=1":

https://pastebin.pl/view/d673de11

Romstar

@thorr69 said in What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games:

@mahoneyt944 said in What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games:

The op needs to remove any aspect ratios they may have altered in their cfgs and set the systems rotation in config.txt then everything should work.

The setup is simple: Use TATE mode as a Core setting and disable Auto-rotate, then set rotations as Game overrides where needed. No other changes were required. The default values worked just fine on every other setting.

I don't understand TATE mode I've clicked on the link can someone explain it to me here instead of the wiki ?

Romstar

through the location of ssh

/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/retroarch-core-options

My file looks like this:

cap32_autorun = "enabled"
cap32_Model = "6128"
cap32_Ram = "128"
cap32_combokey = "y"
fbneo-diagnostic-input = "Hold Start"
fuse_machine = "Spectrum 128K"
gambatte_gb_colorization = "custom"
mame2003_skip_disclaimer = "enabled"
mame2003_dcs-speedhack = "enabled"
mame2003_samples = "enabled"

mahoneyt944

@romstar my apologies, I mixed up the wording... you'll use one of these. Each one rotates the image 90 degrees, pick the one you need:

display_rotate=0
display_rotate=1
display_rotate=2
display_rotate=3

Then remove the # if front of:

disable_overscan=1

Romstar

OK FINALLY!! Figured it out (with the help from you guys).... Below is what I did hope this helps others:

Here's where my file was located and what I did :

Through access ssh the path is : /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/config/MAME 2003 (0.78)

Within that folder I saw "MAME 2003 (0.78).opt" file

right clicking it & hitting edit brought up the following of my file:

mame2003_art_resolution = "1"
mame2003_brightness = "1.0"
mame2003_cheat_input_ports = "disabled"
mame2003_core_save_subfolder = "enabled"
mame2003_core_sys_subfolder = "enabled"
mame2003_dcs_speedhack = "enabled"
mame2003_dialsharexy = "disabled"
mame2003_display_artwork = "enabled"
mame2003_display_setup = "disabled"
mame2003_frameskip = "0"
mame2003_gamma = "1.0"
mame2003_input_interface = "simultaneous"
mame2003_mame_remapping = "enabled"
mame2003_mouse_device = "mouse"
mame2003_nvram_bootstraps = "enabled"
mame2003_rstick_to_btns = "enabled"
mame2003_sample_rate = "48000"
mame2003_skip_disclaimer = "enabled"
mame2003_skip_warnings = "disabled"
mame2003_tate_mode = "disabled"

I changed the bottom line to mame2003_tate_mode = "enabled" which ultimately resolved my issue. now The vertical game is finally displaying the way it should on my HAPP Vision pro monitor mounted vertical !! At some point I'd like to build a vertical only list of games and have the menu / retropi running exclusively in vertical mode.

dankcushions

@romstar said in What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games:

Through access ssh the path is : /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch/config/MAME 2003 (0.78)

glad it's working! interestingly, the reason this file is in this location, and not updated correctly in /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-core-options.cfg as it should do in retropie, is a side-effect of your /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg being non-default. specifically the setting
global_core_options = "false"
should be
global_core_options = "true"

i would encourage you to resolve this by replacing the entire /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg with /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg.rp-dist (if the latter doesn't exist you can generate it by updating retroarch via retropie_setup > manager packages > core packages > retroarch). or you could just change the one setting, but i would imagine there are other non-default settings hidden in there...

obviously after you've done this you'll have to make the same tate change via /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-core-options.cfg

Thorr69

@romstar said in What's the correct aspect ratio I should be using as a config for a HAPP / VISION PRO 19" LCD arcade monitor for MAME Horizontal / Vertical games:

I changed the bottom line to mame2003_tate_mode = "enabled" which ultimately resolved my issue. now The vertical game is finally displaying the way it should on my HAPP Vision pro monitor mounted vertical !! At some point I'd like to build a vertical only list of games and have the menu / retropi running exclusively in vertical mode.

I knew it would change your life. I would not recommend trying to make the whole of retropie itself work in vertical mode yet, though. I stayed with my rotating monitor because rotating emulationstation causes performance issues. I believe it also became more difficult to rotate emulationstation on the Pi4 because the option was deprecated. I stayed with my Pi3b for my vertical MAME games for that reason and hope that a good solution for a fully vertical system presents itself later.