Windows XP 64-Bit Redux

[Concerned Human]

Hello, first-time poster big-time fan. Thank you so much to the entire Dolphin team for being so passionate about this project. The latest 32-bit version of Dolphin is pretty good. It runs most games exceptionally, except my favorite Mario sports, Mario RPG, and any of the Zelda's.....

I've seen the very nasty thread here: http://code.google.com/p/dolphin-emu/issues/detail?id=4300

Yes, it is very nasty no matter how big your sexy brains are.

I use XP x64. I love Zelda and Paper Mario. The FPS on the latter swings radically from anywhere between 45-55 FPS and never seems to quite stabilize long enough to get used to it. Wind Waker decided it would be a real buzzkill by crawling at grampa speeds of nearly %25 that.

This is under the most recent Dolphin builds optimized for 32-bit systems on Windows 7 or newer with DX10+. While I can definitely appreciate the savvy nature of staying up to date, seems sort of opinionated and judgmental given how easy this fix appears from such a layman as myself. I program casual flash games, but that's got nothing on this.

I did try to learn to build my own version of Dolphin with the appropriate flags disabled ("USE_SRWLOCKS" and "USE_CONDITION_VARIABLES"), which I understand are the only reason I can't use the full power of my computer. It's the only disc I got, I can't afford an expensive new OS. Jesus man, I can't even afford a CD-RW drive. I have a CD-R. i scrimped and saved, worked like a dog to build this so i could dream on. only to find that after that, i'm still at the bottom.

You may consider me handicapped. Just because two people in wheelchairs can't get up the stairs, does that mean no ramp should be built? And frankly, if this only a matter of two booleans being toggled....how long can that possibly take to put together by such smart and well-meaning folks? more than half an hour?

I have spent many, many, many hours trying to do this myself. My system won't run VC2010, I don't understand the workarounds which want to stick their fingers into my computer-pie, and the old 64-bit builds appear to have been removed. Why? Did it turn out they were they filled with viruses? Or are people really just not to be trusted like that? I don't understand why that was needed. Obviously neither of those statements are very nice, but I really think that's just over the top with the XP h8rade.

I may sound angry and ungrateful, and perhaps I am the former, but when most of my favorite games can't be played and then I get an incredible experience from any PS2 game (boooring), or even one of those crappy old Xbox titles...it seems really unfair.

I've really tried to fix this myself, and I can't. It's really heart-breaking for me to see that the solution is very clear, very simple, and indefinitely out of reach. But not for you! You with the skills, and maybe half an hour. Please? Won't you disable these flags for me? I don't know how long it takes to compile and spit back a .zip folder in order to bring pure joy to my heart and those of countless people who just "gave up".

I'm not trying to argue ethical software and whine a lot, I'm just trying to play my favorite characters of all time and join them on their greatest adventures. Maybe I'm way off base, and totally lame for not just enjoying the three games i like that work.

if noone ever helps me, then i am still glad to know there are many people doing there best to preserve this stuff. It's important. But then....you gotta ask yourself...for who? The wealthy and elite with top of the line everything and the master knowledge of exactly what they need? I thought we all at least agreed we hated those guys! Discs don't last forever, and I don't know about you guys but I'd like to share this stuff with my children. Get them off the "call of duty".

[Anti-Ultimate]

XP is not supported anymore no matter what you do. Don't be such an oldie and get a newer OS. (Windows 7/8.1)

[KHg8m3r]

Its tough, but true. XP support dropped a while ago, and x64 bit XP never really ran well at all. (unless you do that compiling thing yourself, which you did)

Windows 7 isn't that expensive (8 is so different from XP/Vista/7 that you might not like it).
Or you can go free - Ubuntu is a free OS, pretty easy to install along side XP, and you can get official support for it on the forums.

[Concerned Human]

Like I says, I can't even afford a CD-RW drive, let alone the fancies to load in it! But regardless, there has to be a workaround somewhere. I found that in the short-term by reading through reams of forumites being really snotty about having configured their own settings wrong.

This wonderful and perfectly-outdated guide by MarioMadness increased performance, and not being greedy about the window size got me somewhere reasonable. At around $150 for W7, I'm not willing to indenture myself further in the name of curating these classics. It is very sad to realize these ten years later that I was sitting on a gold mine, failing to recognize the importance of these things now that I work with games. I believe that the entire collection was traded off to Game Krazy for less than $100 total. With karma like that, no wonder that company is bankrupt!

Thank you both for your help, I'll eventually partition the HD and look into Ubuntu. I...didn't know there was a Windows 8. Or that Debian went anywhere.

As a final thought, no wonder the good people who put Dolphin together don't touch these kinds of things, when Mario Kart plays like a dream and there are enough pre-fab tools to solve your own dang problems. I think it's really unfortunate how much hostility I've seen users give to those trying to provide support over something that was given to them for free. And especially when after so many weeks of digging, it looks like most of the issues are their own fault. If any of that team should read this, thank you for helping to preserve these masterpieces so beautifully for people like me and mine. It's sad that I only now appreciate them and everyone who remains so passionate as such. Thank you!

EDIT: For others with this dilemma, that guide is at: http://128bit.me/index.php?topic=7442.0

[Anti-Ultimate]

Uhh, why are you writing so long posts though?

Noone wants to read through all of that.

Windows 7 OEM should be around 50-100$ though, no idea where you got that 150$ Price tag from

[rokclimb15]

If it's out of your price range, Linux is a good solution, like KHg8m3r said. It doesn't even require a CD-RW drive (do you have a USB key over 512MB?). You'll get the same high end modern standards support like everyone else without paying MS a dime.

[tueidj]

You can find CD-RW drives in PCs left on the side of the road, or even buy one of them fancy new-fangled DVD-RW drives for less than $20.
That said, if you sold all your games a long time ago and still continue to play pirated copies of them I can't really believe you when you say the barrier to upgrading your OS is the purchase price...

[magus]

I think you can install windows 7 from a USB stick.

[KHg8m3r]

I just did that the other day on a work computer.
But you need a Windows 7 license anyways.

[Concerned Human]

As for installing from stick, let's see here....ah, my trusty 50MB jump-drive. I'm actually pretty excited about Ubuntu, since it can install within Windows and their philosophy is very cool. Ultimately I still feel left with too many incompatible cheap hardware components (my Wi-Fi adapter software HAS to be running to connect). I really do appreciate all of your folks help, but hey, remember how I said "problems that are their own fault, anyway"?

Prior to defrag:
http://postimg.org/image/mz4mhob15/

poor critter. the HD had less than %10 free, now is closer to %50. With addition of this basic neglected maintenance, and while running "Game Booster" and MarioMadness's unofficial Dolphin Launcher (both frag greedy explorer processes until quit), and with suggested plugin settings, I can stick to 55-60FPS almost all of the time.

I've learned a lot so far, and it's very exciting stuff to me, but...

(02-15-2014, 06:50 AM)Anti-Ultimate Wrote: Uhh, why are you writing so long posts though?

Noone wants to read through all of that.

Windows 7 OEM should be around 50-100$ though, no idea where you got that 150$ Price tag from

Quote:You can find CD-RW drives in PCs left on the side of the road, or even buy one of them fancy new-fangled DVD-RW drives for less than $20.
That said, if you sold all your games a long time ago and still continue to play pirated copies of them I can't really believe you when you say the barrier to upgrading your OS is the purchase price...

You both sound very nice. Together between you I have Bob Barker screaming at me about how computers grow on trees while flailing some kind of strange and threatening device.

At any rate, I've fixed my problem, thanks to good people like the rest of you, and I appreciate your having taken the time.