Hi,

Cliff Hanger, M.A.C.H. 3, and Interstellar won't play with Precache Video Mode Enabled. All other Games work fine with Precache Video Mode Enabled. As well as Cliff Hanger, M.A.C.H. 3, and Interstellar working fine with Precache Video Mode Disabled.

I am using a New HP Lap Top Computer, WINDOWS 7, with 6 Gigs of RAM.

Here is my DAPHNE LOG for Cliff Hanger:

--DAPHNE version 1.0.10
--Command line is: daphne.exe cliff vldp -framefile .\framefile\cliff-reencoded-framefile.txt -blank_searches -blank_skips -precache -min_seek_delay 1000 -seek_frames_per_ms 20 -homedir C:\Users\lord_victorino\Desktop\DAPHNE -fastboot -bank 0 00000000 -bank 1 01000000 -bank 2 00000000 -bank 3 01111000 -sound_buffer 2048 -fullscreen -x 640 -y 480
--CPU : GenuineIntel 2550 MHz || Mem : 4096 megs
--OS : Windows XP/.NET || Video : Intel(R) HD Graphics
--OpenGL: Compiled In
--RGB2YUV Function: MMX
--Line Blending Function: MMX
--Audio Mixing Function: MMX
Setting alternate home dir:
C:\Users\lord_victorino\Desktop\DAPHNE
Setting sound buffer size to 2048
Setting screen width to 640
Setting screen height to 480
Set 640x480 at 32 bpp with flags: 80000001
Initializing sound system ...
No joysticks detected
Remapping input ...
Loading compressed ROM image cliff_u1.bin...8192 bytes read.
Loading compressed ROM image cliff_u2.bin...8192 bytes read.
Loading compressed ROM image cliff_u3.bin...8192 bytes read.
Loading compressed ROM image cliff_u4.bin...8192 bytes read.
Loading compressed ROM image cliff_u5.bin...8192 bytes read.
Framefile parse succeeded. Video/Audio directory is: ./framefile/./cliff/
LDP-VLDP: precaching of file ./framefile/./cliff/chmpeg2.m2v failed.
LDP-VLDP ERROR : precaching failed
Could not initialize laserdisc player!
Shutting down sound system...
Shutting down video display...

Yours Truly,

Tony M. Victorino

Hi TMV,

I am considering removing the precache video feature because it seems like something not many people use (I never use it).

If you could explain to me the problem that precache video solves for you, I can see if there's another way to solve it.

Hi Matt,

I really don't have any real problem. I finally got a New Lap Top Computer with enough Memory to try out the precache mode, and wanted to try it out.

I really didn't see any difference between having the precache enabled or disabled on any of the Laser Disc Game that does work with it. I just could not get Cliff Hanger, M.A.C.H. 3, or Interstellar to work with precache mode enabled, that's all.

I'm just glad that DAPHNE works on my New Lap Top Computer with Windows 7, with 6 Gigs of RAM, and a 500 Gig Internal Hard Drive, there is enough room for the Frame Files to run in either case.

Thanks for your quick response.

Your Truly,

Tony M. Victorino

I love the precache option for installations. For instance, I'm putting together a daphne setup inside a DL cabinet and plan to use precaching. Especially since I don't plan on having it be a multi-game setup, this is the best option for me. The boot sequence will take a bit longer (to load the video stream in memory) but then daphne won't quit that game until the machine is powered down.

It's your choice if you want to remove it, but I do find it useful, especially for cabinet setups and I think it could be very useful for potential future projects that we've discussed.

Chip,

I am still a little unclear about why you find it useful. How does the pre-caching option help you or how would it help you?

for a cabinet setup, I want the hard drive to seek as little as possible, especially if the game is going to run for a long period of time. This ensures the hd isn't always spinning and wearing out to seek video. Precaching allows for less wear on hardware that I hope to setup once and forget about for a long time.

SSDs solve this issue, but I've yet to buy an SSD for a cabinet project. Hopefully they'll be more affordable, and bigger, soon.

What about using a flash drive? Would that solve your problem of not wearing out the hard drive?

yes, as I stated, SSDs solve the issue. But they aren't quite practical yet from a size/cost standpoint. And anything USB (the cheap, commonly available "flash" drives) are still a speed bottleneck.

Oh, plus, caching makes daphne boot discs a viable option as well! It's a cool feature. I'd hate to see it go.

One more thought about this point... imagine a virtual laserdisc on a cd-rom or dvd-rom! Pretty cool, visually, and totally possible with video caching!

Have you verified this lately? In my testing, I found the cheap flash drives to be more than fast enough to handle the throughput demands.

I just have the feeling that pre-caching doesn't belong as a feature of Daphne and should be accomplished externally such as using a USB memory stick (flash drive) or setting up a RAM drive and a script to copy files over from the hard drive. I've been reading a design book that has lead me to this conclusion.

it's obviously your call if you want to continue supporting it or not. I don't know what book you're reading or what it says either, but I like the idea of having daphne be self-contained on a disc. Sure, another app could handle the caching, but then I'd have to put that app, a script, and daphne on a disc to accomplish the same thing. It just doesn't seem as clean (from an end-user perspective) as having it all wrapped up inside of daphne.

But from a codebase perspective, I see your side of it too, and how it is cleaner from that perspective. Caching is a feature outside of the scope of emulation, after all. But then, why continue to cache audio and not video? It seems like if we're talking pure design, the debate should be "to cache or not to cache", and not "to cache partially or to cache completely".