TEST YOUR X-ARCADE™
If your controller doesn't work in the X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program, then it will NOT work in MAME™.
Before attempting to play MAME games, test that your controller is fully working in our X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program.
The X-Arcade works as a simple keyboard, so if it is working in the test program but not in MAME, then you have a problem with your MAME software settings, not the controller!
MAME Setup
Download the X-Arcade™ controller config file and unzip it to the 'ctrlr' subfolder of MAME™. (While MAME includes an 'xarcade.cfg' file, we recommend using our updated version here).- In MAMEUI™ or MAME Plus: open Options (at the top), then 'Default Game Options', select the 'Game Controllers' tab; and set your 'Default input layout' to 'X-Arcade' from the drop-down list (for trackball use also click the box to 'Enable Mouse Support').
- For command line versions of MAME: In the MAME folder you will need to open the file 'mame.ini' with notepad and change the line that says 'ctrlr' to 'ctrlr X-Arcade' (see image on the right). To enable trackball support, also change the line that says 'mouse' from a 0 to 1.
MAME Operation
- Switch to Mode1: Move the switch on the back of the X-Arcade™ to the position closest to the serial port. (Note: For older models you will then need to push the button on the back of the X-Arcade™ twice, the light on the X-Arcade™ should go out on the first push and back on with the second).
- After you start up a game, use the left pinball flipper button on the left side of the X-Arcade™ to insert coins, and press the white start button(s) to play.
- You can exit a game by holding the player 2 start button and pressing the left pinball button (closest to you) simultaneously. The Esc key on your keyboard exits also. (This can be changed by the UI_CANCEL line in the .ini file.) Mouse Button 3 also exits, so if you want to add another button to your Tankstick for Exit just use the Orange from the trackball (see Trackball Wiring on this page).
- MANUAL CONTROL MAPPING: You can change the controls for any game by simply pushing the 'Tab' key while a game is already running to access the controls menu. Input (this game) overrides the general input settings and adds custom controller settings for just the game being used. We recommend against changing the Input (general) option because these settings will be applied to all games, which overrides our config file.
- If you mess up some controls (or a screen like Volume or similar is coming on when you press a button), delete the "default.cfg" file that is in the "cfg" folder in MAME™.
- MAME official Docs.
Troubleshooting
- If you need more help after carefully following the steps here, head to our MAME™ Troubleshooting section.
- TEST YOUR X-ARCADE™: If your controller doesn't work in the X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program, then it will NOT work in MAME™. Download the X-Arcade™ Test Utility Program
- If you mess up some controls (or a screen like volume or similar is coming on when you press a button), delete the "default.cfg" file that is in the "cfg" folder in MAME™.
- Trackball: If you have another mouse/touchpad connected to the PC, you will want to be sure that the option for 'Enable multiple mice' is unchecked. Alternatively you can make the X-Arcade™ Trackball the default mouse. The easiest way to do this is to disable the other mouse/touchpad in Device Manager (The X-Arcade™ Trackball shows up as "Samsung" mouse), then re-enable it. If you have a USB mouse, you can simply unplug it, reboot, and then plug it back in again. Otherwise you will need to change all of the default mouse buttons and movements to the X-Arcade™ Trackball manually.
- If you still have problems, please visit the MAME official Docs.
Front Ends:
If you want more control of the MAME menus, check out these great front-ends with X-Arcade™ support.