PINemHi and PINemHi Leaderboard v3.6.8 (new version is out)

[makmak]

What do i know what additional jnfo you need. My guess was D:. Other than that i did as the instructions told me. Did not change the ini. All other roms and tables work. Its the same as with 3.6.3 . Scores from others show up as expected on rom and romless tables. Scores are submitted in Rom tables only. Snippets are copied correctly. rom.exe is in tables folder. Does it work for others? Any scores submitted for romless?

10 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

 

 

10 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

 

 

 

10 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

 

 

[makmak]

Safe cracker is working fine now, thx for adding additional roms

[DnaDisturber]

it seems that others can set scores with rom less games

could it be that the pinemhi_leaderboard.exe wasn't overwritten with the new version perhaps?

[makmak]

I'll try a third time ;-). 

Concerning 5-min-mode: it seems it isnt possible anymore to interrupt the 5min sequence by exiting vpx? In case you got a great score with 3 balls after 4 minutes, lets say you drained the last ball after 4 minutes you have to wait until pinemhi ends the table by itself, otherwise the score isnt submitted? I had the impression its that way now.

[DnaDisturber]

you can still submit the score before the 5 minutes are up with an exit of the game in 5 minute-mode

I tested it and it still works as it should

haven't heard anything from others about this issue

 

 

[makmak]

Again had some issues with submitting scores on 5 min mode yesterday (laser war, sometimes scores were submitted, sometimes not). I believe it had to do with you updating the database or sth as there are new games and roms which are not available/playable yet? Could that be, a rare coincidence?

[DnaDisturber]

I was testing some new games but the database was not offline or something like that.

That isn't the cause of not submitting

 

Next time perhaps you can send the logging , maybe that will give a clue

Did you check if the nvrams were updated after  the score wasn't submitted?

[DnaDisturber]

New version PINemhi & PINemHi LeaderBoard is out (version 3.6.5)

You can download it from http://www.pinemhi.com

 

If you upgrade from version 3.6.3 or 3.6.4 then you don't have to overwrite your pinemhi.ini
Upgrade from earlier version(s) than 3.6.3 should overwrite their pinemhi.ini and copy the values back into it as changes have been made to pinemhi.ini

Best is to make a backup from your old pinemhi.ini so that you can copy the values into the new pinemhi.ini

 

Whatsnew:

**********************
PINemHi Version 3.6.5
**********************
Added the following games to PINemHi LeaderBoard:
Beavis and Butt-Head: Pinballed
Big Bang Bar *
Breakshot *
Airborne *
Pinball Magic *
* capcom games do not support 5 minute mode and you can only submit scores from a fully completed game

Added the following Romless games to PINemHi LeaderBoard (needs code in table script to work and romsub.exe to be placed in tables directory):
Space Cadet Galaxy Edition
The Big Lebowski
Pirates Life
Captain Spauldings Museum of Monsters and Madmen
Willy Wonka
Spongebobs Bikini Bottom Pinball
Blood Machines
Jurassic Park (Stern)
Halloween MM Edition
Men in Black Trilogy
Secret Agent
The Mandalorian
Great Houdini
Pulp Fiction
Superman and the Justice League
John Rambo

*code inserts for tablescript can be found here http://pinemhi.com/code.php
 or go to http://pinemhi.com/ and use the "rom-less code snippets" link on the right


added the following roms to PINemHi LeaderBoard:
all the roms from the added games above (that use a rom of course)
xfiles304 (X-Files) *
batmanf5, batmanf501 (Batman Forever) *
bay_401 (Baywatch)   * this was added in an earlier version but forgot to put it in the database but works from now on
lw3_300, lw3_301 (Lethal Weapon) * these were added in an earlier version but forgot to put it in the database but works from now on
*These are all unofficial roms by Pinballcode.com (scoring is different then other official roms)


Badges added to PINemHi Leaderboard:
Scores
-------
All of the above (new) games

Special scores
--------------
Aerosmith (Medley)
The Goonies Never Say Die (Do or Die)
Iron Maiden Legacy of he Beast (Loop Champion, Power Jackpot Champion, Spinner Master, 3 Bank Champion, Playfield X Champion, Supersling Champion, Combo Champion)
The Munsters (Herman Champion, Grandpa Champion, Lily Champion, Spot Champion, Raven Champion, Munster Madness Champion, Zap Champion)
Big Bang Bar (Underground Elite, Weak Kidney Club, Big Bang Regular)
Breakshot (Cutthroat Champion)
Pinball Magic (Member of the Cabal)
Airborne (Flyby Kings, Loopsters)


PINemHi LeaderBoard Bugfixes:
Fixed a bug when you used the sendbutton or f3 under 5 minute mode the score was sent to normal score database

Overall changes PINemHi LeaderBoard:
Warning message added at the start of the capcom games that only fully completed game scores are being submitted
Warning message added in 5 minute mode at the start of the capcom games that it doesn't support 5 minute mode
Capcom games will automatically switch to regular mode when in 5 minute mode (no timer and scores are being sent to the normal scores database)
Extra nvram update check after score not submitted in log to see if nvram was updated within 2 minutes after vpinball exit or send score button pushed


PINemHi Changes:

Added the following roms:
lw3_300, lw3_301 (Lethal Weapon 3)
trek_300 (Star Trek 25th Anniversary)
xfiles304 (X-Files)
batmanf5, batmanf501 (Batman Forever)
stwr_104, stwr_106, stwr_107, stwr_107s (Star Wars)
kpb105 (Kingpin)
beav_butt (Beavis and Butt-Head: Pinballed)

[Sbaby]

On 3/16/2025 at 6:47 PM, DnaDisturber said:

Added the following Romless games to PINemHi LeaderBoard (needs code in table script to work and romsub.exe to be placed in tables directory):
Space Cadet Galaxy Edition

Hi, thank you for your work and support!

I have placed romsub.exe in the Tables folder and added the code for Space Cadet Galaxy Edition in JP Salas’ VPX. The PINemHI panel is displayed correctly when the game starts, but at the end of the match, it did not record the scores.

I usually submit my scores with regular tables without any issues, so I’m not sure what might be causing this behavior.

Do you have any suggestions on what might be causing the issue?

Thanks in advance!

Edited March 18, 2025 by Sbaby

[makmak]

Same here, still. 'Looks' like it should work, but no scores submitted after a romless game. No chance to get it work.

[DnaDisturber]

Hi @Sbaby,

If you get the pinemhi panel then the romsub part works

It could the be either that the USER directory in pinemhi.ini isn't correct

USER=D:\Visual Pinball\user\

you should have a backslash at the end

 

Or it could be also that the spacecadetge.pmh file in the user directory isn't filled or isn't there
you could check that one and see what is in the file ....
if it 's only an s then it means it has a 0 score

It could also be that something didn't get updated in the new release (maybe because the file was still in use)

or maybe the second part of the code wasn't completely copied in the tablescript or at the wrong place perhaps?

or romsub.exe didn't stop after the game (, you could check if it still runs after the exit of a game using task manager

Maybe we can see something in the logging to give us a clue, if you could post it (after playing the game exit and then wait a few seconds and see what's in the logging
It's under the PINemHi LeaderBoard directory

 

@makmak you never gave me logging of some sort, it's difficult to investigate without logging

Edited March 18, 2025 by DnaDisturber

[Sbaby]

3 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

If you get the pinemhi panel then the romsub part works

The PINemHi panel does appear, but unlike other games where I usually upload high scores correctly, it looks generic and doesn’t seem to specifically reference Space Cadet GE.

 

3 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

It could the be either that the USER directory in pinemhi.ini isn't correct

USER=D:\Visual Pinball\user\

you should have a backslash at the end

My USER directory is correct and ends with a backslash.

 

3 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

Or it could be also that the spacecadetge.pmh file in the user directory isn't filled or isn't there
you could check that one and see what is in the file ....
if it 's only an s then it means it has a 0 score

The file spacecadetge.pmh is present, and its timestamp matches the moment I played the game. When I opened it with Notepad, its content was: OziLssss.

 

3 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

It could also be that something didn't get updated in the new release (maybe because the file was still in use)

I updated to the new release properly, and during the update, there were no previous executables running.

 

3 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

or maybe the second part of the code wasn't completely copied in the tablescript or at the wrong place perhaps?

I noticed that in my case, the Loadhs line is at row 214 instead of 224, as you described, so I placed the first part of the code at line 214, right after Loadhs, as instructed

 

 

The second part is also placed as instructed, let me know if you see anything wrong.

 

 

3 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

or romsub.exe didn't stop after the game (, you could check if it still runs after the exit of a game using task manager

About romsub.exe, I have it inside the PINemHi folder. Since you mentioned it should also be in the tables folder, I placed a copy there as well. Should it be moved instead, or is it fine to have it in both locations? Just to clarify, right after playing Space Cadet GE, I tried Fish Tales, and that game uploaded all high scores correctly.

 

3 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

Maybe we can see something in the logging to give us a clue, if you could post it (after playing the game exit and then wait a few seconds and see what's in the logging
It's under the PINemHi LeaderBoard directory

I haven’t had a chance to replay Space Cadet GE yet, but I’ll do so later. Once I’ve played again, I’ll upload the log file so we can check for any useful information. Anyway, I already checked yesterday’s log, and it only contains references to Fish Tales, nothing about Space Cadet GE.

 

Thank you very much for the support !

 

[DnaDisturber]

It's no problem to have the romsub.exe in both places (pinemhi dir and tables dir)

[Sbaby]

 

I just achieved my highest record in the game, surpassing 20,000 points, but unfortunately, it wasn't streamed! 😢 Here's my log :

 

 

New score submitted to pinemhi leaderboard 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
18/03/2025, 21:28
pinemhi rom monitor version :  3.6.5.0
pinemhi leaderboard version :  3.6.5.0
VPinmame version :  3.6.0.1167
Player :  Sbaby
detected game with rom description :  rom-less game
matching romname :  spacecadetge 
previous spacecadetge score extracted 

18/03/2025, 22:18 
pinemhi rom monitor version :  3.6.5.0
pinemhi leaderboard version :  3.6.5.0
VPinmame version :  3.6.0.1167
Player :  Sbaby
detected exit from game with rom description :  rom-less game 
new spacecadetge score extracted 
New score submitted to pinemhi leaderboard 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

pinemhi_leaderboard_log.txt

 

 

 

there is only one s in the spacecadetge.pmh file,  now, why?

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2025 by Sbaby

[DnaDisturber]

ok the good news is.
The score got submitted to the server

2025-03-18 21:28:37 Sbaby spacecadetge Space Cadet : Galaxy Edition 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 

Unfortunately it was a 0 score , so it isn't registered in the database

Perhaps you started a new game accidentally right before exiting the game?

 

You could try again , play one ball and exit the game and see if it works

[Sbaby]

37 minutes ago, DnaDisturber said:

You could try again , play one ball and exit the game and see if it works

The score was the highest ever, so the game allowed me to enter the usual three-letter name. I exited normally, so I don’t understand why the value 0.0.0.0 was sent. Moreover, I played another game on purpose with a low score, and this time the pinmemhi log correctly indicated that the score didn’t exceed the previous one, so nothing was sent. There’s clearly something wrong.

[Sbaby]

If it helps in solving the issue, I use PinUp Popper and have no problems with other tables—for example, I just uploaded a high score on Attack from Mars without any issues.

I also use LaunchBox to manage my game collection, and thanks to a plugin developed by a friend, I can view high scores directly from the frontend without launching the game. However, while high scores are displayed correctly for all other tables, for Space Cadet GE I get the following error:

NO SUCH FILE \Vpinmame\nvram\JpspacecadetGE.nv

 

At this point, realizing that the name was different, I decided to try this approach:

 

I tried replacing all instances of "jpspacecadetGE" in the code with "spacecadetge," and I also renamed the puppack video from "jpspacecadetGE" to "spacecadetge." After launching the game, I confirmed that it worked correctly: the game was completely reset, with all scores starting from scratch. The PineMHI monitor displayed correctly.

I played a game and achieved the highest score, entering my name with three letters. Then, I calmly waited for the game over. I tried submitting the score using the key combination I usually use, as well as the "Q" key to exit. However, in both cases, the score was not sent to the PineMHI server.

The log I got is as follows:

 

19/03/2025, 00:14
pinemhi rom monitor version :  3.6.5.0
pinemhi leaderboard version :  3.6.5.0
VPinmame version :  3.6.0.1167
Player :  Sbaby
still running game with rom description :  rom-less game
matching romname :  spacecadetge 
previous spacecadetge score extracted 

19/03/2025, 00:14 
pinemhi rom monitor version :  3.6.5.0
pinemhi leaderboard version :  3.6.5.0
VPinmame version :  3.6.0.1167
Player :  Sbaby
detected exit from game with rom description :  rom-less game 
new spacecadetge score extracted 

*** previous score is equal to new score *** 
*** probably because there was no game played *** 
*** it could also be that this rom is not supported (yet) *** 
*** it could also be that your nvram didn't update *** 
*** this score will not be submitted *** 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the content of the spacecadetge.pmh file is:

jLiOOsss
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2025 by Sbaby

[DnaDisturber]

13 hours ago, Sbaby said:

The score was the highest ever, so the game allowed me to enter the usual three-letter name. I exited normally, so I don’t understand why the value 0.0.0.0 was sent. Moreover, I played another game on purpose with a low score, and this time the pinmemhi log correctly indicated that the score didn’t exceed the previous one, so nothing was sent. There’s clearly something wrong.

Hi Sbaby,

Just to clarify...
It doesn't matter what score you make , it will always be sent to the database (scores below 100 will not be included in the database but are sent to the server< and i can see them in the serverlog)

So you don't have to score higher than before or get in the hiscore table of the game (locally)

This is the case for the rom related games (attack from mars) and also the games without roms (spacecadet for instance)

Even if you have a score of 100.000 on attack from mars it will be in the database, and this is also the case for spacecadet (even if you previously had higher scores)

 

Hope this explains it a bit

 

 

Edited March 19, 2025 by DnaDisturber

[DnaDisturber]

13 hours ago, Sbaby said:

If it helps in solving the issue, I use PinUp Popper and have no problems with other tables—for example, I just uploaded a high score on Attack from Mars without any issues.

I also use LaunchBox to manage my game collection, and thanks to a plugin developed by a friend, I can view high scores directly from the frontend without launching the game. However, while high scores are displayed correctly for all other tables, for Space Cadet GE I get the following error:

NO SUCH FILE \Vpinmame\nvram\JpspacecadetGE.nv

 

At this point, realizing that the name was different, I decided to try this approach:

 

I tried replacing all instances of "jpspacecadetGE" in the code with "spacecadetge," and I also renamed the puppack video from "jpspacecadetGE" to "spacecadetge." After launching the game, I confirmed that it worked correctly: the game was completely reset, with all scores starting from scratch. The PineMHI monitor displayed correctly.

I played a game and achieved the highest score, entering my name with three letters. Then, I calmly waited for the game over. I tried submitting the score using the key combination I usually use, as well as the "Q" key to exit. However, in both cases, the score was not sent to the PineMHI server.

The log I got is as follows:

 

19/03/2025, 00:14
pinemhi rom monitor version :  3.6.5.0
pinemhi leaderboard version :  3.6.5.0
VPinmame version :  3.6.0.1167
Player :  Sbaby
still running game with rom description :  rom-less game
matching romname :  spacecadetge 
previous spacecadetge score extracted 

19/03/2025, 00:14 
pinemhi rom monitor version :  3.6.5.0
pinemhi leaderboard version :  3.6.5.0
VPinmame version :  3.6.0.1167
Player :  Sbaby
detected exit from game with rom description :  rom-less game 
new spacecadetge score extracted 

*** previous score is equal to new score *** 
*** probably because there was no game played *** 
*** it could also be that this rom is not supported (yet) *** 
*** it could also be that your nvram didn't update *** 
*** this score will not be submitted *** 
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the content of the spacecadetge.pmh file is:

jLiOOsss
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The launchbox doesn't work properly for spacecadet because this game doesn't use a rom, this also means that no nvram file will be created
I assume you are talking about the top score viewer plugin from JoeViking245

The games without roms should normally be excluded or the program should get the hiscores from  the vpreg.stg file instead of the pinemhi tool (not leaderboard)
the pinemhi tool (not leaderboard) will only work with nvram and fpram files

so NO SUCH FILE \Vpinmame\nvram\JpspacecadetGE.nv is completely normal for a game that doesn't work with a rom

 

To make sure the games without roms can submit scores (also in 5 minute mode) to pinemhi leaderboard i created a substitute rom
That's the romsub.exe

It fakes a rom to make pinemhi leaderboard work well with it

Hope that explains it a bit

 

I hope you didn't have too much work in renaming all of the stuff but that wasn't necessary at all...sorry about that

 

oh and another thing , the send button or f3 only work with rom based games
the send button or f3 reset vpinmame which causes it to write to the nvram file

I'll have to put that in the instructions somewhere as i can imagine it is confusing

 

Maybe we could try a different game to see if this one only gives you problems

We could try JP's deadpool perhaps

Just download the table (and pup) and make it run first

then insert the code in the tablescript

play a game and exit, wait a minute, and again play a game and exit (you can just play one ball and exit) 
make sure the scores of the first and second game aren't the same ( when you only launch a ball and exit that could easily be the case)

 

Then check the website to see if the score came through or what the log said

 

Hope we can get this sorted out , there are some real nice original table gems

 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2025 by DnaDisturber

[Sbaby]

13 hours ago, DnaDisturber said:

Hope that explains it a bit

 

Thank you very much for the clarifications, they are very helpful.

 

In the end, instead of trying Deadpool, I decided to test Total Annihilation, since I had it sitting there for a while. Right from the first launch, PineMHI worked perfectly: I played four games, exiting and re-entering each time, and all the hiscores were successfully uploaded to the server.

Now I need to figure out why Space Cadet isn’t working, even though I followed the exact same steps as with Total Annihilation, which runs flawlessly. The only small difference I noticed is that the line number of the first code in your description of Space Cadet's Tablescript code is 224 Loadhs, while in mine it’s 214, whereas in Total Annihilation everything was exactly the same.

[DnaDisturber]

great

glad you got it working

 

The spacecadet GE that i used is this one

This has the loadhs on line 224

[Sbaby]

Thanks but I played now a ton of games on Total Nuclear Annihilation, and PinEmHi uploaded the scores completely randomly, whenever it wanted, despite me always entering and exiting the game the same way. I even tried different approaches, but the randomness stayed the same. This never happens with tables that use ROMs. At this point, I really don’t know what else to do.

[makmak]

7 hours ago, Sbaby said:

Thanks but I played now a ton of games on Total Nuclear Annihilation, and PinEmHi uploaded the scores completely randomly, whenever it wanted, despite me always entering and exiting the game the same way. I even tried different approaches, but the randomness stayed the same. This never happens with tables that use ROMs. At this point, I really don’t know what else to do.

I discover some 'randomness' sometimes, too. But with rom-tables (not sure wether its at 5-minute-mode only). I have the impression, it helps (sometimes) to be patient and wait a while before restarting pinemhi and vpx. It also seems, pinemhi sometimes need to be restarted and sometimes not (after quitting a game). I have made it a habit to activate and deactivate 5-minute-mode before starting vpx to hear the voice which assures pinemhi is already/still running.

[DnaDisturber]

10 hours ago, Sbaby said:

Thanks but I played now a ton of games on Total Nuclear Annihilation, and PinEmHi uploaded the scores completely randomly, whenever it wanted, despite me always entering and exiting the game the same way. I even tried different approaches, but the randomness stayed the same. This never happens with tables that use ROMs. At this point, I really don’t know what else to do.

I wonder if it has something to do with exiting a game and then immediately starting it again.

Maybe the proces hasn't been completed in the background yet (there are a couple of seconds delay builtin)
You could try to wait 30 seconds after you exit a game to start it again and see if that helps

 

I don't know if you know this but...

You don't have to exit after every game , if you have a bad game or just not worth of submitting the score you can just start a new game without exiting the game
and when you have a good enough score you just exit

Hope this helps

Edited March 21, 2025 by DnaDisturber

[DnaDisturber]

3 hours ago, makmak said:

I discover some 'randomness' sometimes, too. But with rom-tables (not sure wether its at 5-minute-mode only). I have the impression, it helps (sometimes) to be patient and wait a while before restarting pinemhi and vpx. It also seems, pinemhi sometimes need to be restarted and sometimes not (after quitting a game). I have made it a habit to activate and deactivate 5-minute-mode before starting vpx to hear the voice which assures pinemhi is already/still running.

 

Hi makmak,

 

Pinemhi_rom_monitor is designed to always keep running
Are you perhaps using your frontend to stop the program after you exit a game (after a stop vpx)

This would perhaps cause these issues
If you leave it running then you won't have to check 5 minute mode, it will stay on ( if you set the alert to on for 5minute mode games then you get a voice telling you when the game starts it is in 5 minute mode)

if you stop pinemhi_rom_monitor it will default back to normal mode the next time it starts (even if you previously ran it in 5 minute mode)

 

It would perhaps explain why the rom-less games don't work as pinemhi_rom_monitor gets killed before it completes the task on the background

 

*There has been an update to avoid 5 minute mode scores being submitted on normal mode database, to prevent that the proces had to wait a bit more before you can use the switch key again
After you exit a game it now may take a few seconds before the switch key responds and switches to normal/5 minute mode