New game install with existing games + DIAG at bottom of display

[wubears71]

I’m hoping I can find some help here so I don’t do anything stupid. 
I have a Twinstar that currently has Huff N More Puff loaded on it along with 2 other games.  I’m looking to load a new game and when I use the installer, the installer wants to uninstall the other three games.  I do not have the installer USB for the other three games and i don’t want to lose them. 

I’ve attached a picture of what I’m seeing.  I can switch between the three installed games with a NVRAM Clear.  If I’m looking at all of this correctly, I will lose the other three games if I install the new one, correct?  Is there a way to just add the file without uninstalling the other three?

Finally, out of curiosity, what does the stuff at the bottom of the other screenshot mean? It says Physical, Committed, Power off, Restart, DIAG.


Thanks!

[kwcolor1]

Pretty sure the only way to use the installer is to uninstall what’s on there. I’ve done this multiple times
Switching between games. Unfortunately I was under the impression the only way to go back to a game after you uninstall it was to have the installer for it. I started with Huff and more puff and had to buy a physical copy as I didn’t have an installer for it. As for the physical and committed this refers to ram usage. Hope this helps as I’m pretty new with this as well and learning as I go along. What are you trying to install?

[wubears71]

Here is what I currently have installed.


The games already loaded on the machine can be switched if I do the whole NVRAM clear procedure and either use a backup EZconfig or manually set it all up. 

It would be nice to add the other two I have without having to uninstall anything.  I have Eureka Treasure Train and Dragon Train that I’d like to load.

Any way to get the messages at the bottom to go away?

[kwcolor1]

Unfortunately I don’t know of anyway of installing in addition to only uninstalling and then installing the new files. I install one at a time and then just install the next one when I’m ready to uninstall the first one. When I run Dragon Train alone the committed goes up to 50% the highest of all the games I run. Since you have 3 games currently installed and are running at almost 77% I’m not sure if you would be able to run another game with it without maxing the machines ram. I think installing them together is the only way to have multiple but it will replace what’s on the machine to the best of my knowledge. Also I have not figured out anyway to get rid of those messages it at the bottom. Hopefully there are some more knowledgeable people on here who can help us both.

[slotjon]

Here is what I currently have installed.

The games already loaded on the machine can be switched if I do the whole NVRAM clear procedure and either use a backup EZconfig or manually set it all up. 

It would be nice to add the other two I have without having to uninstall anything.  I have Eureka Treasure Train and Dragon Train that I’d like to load.

Any way to get the messages at the bottom to go away?

Hey dude, I have literally the same games and same system as you - got from the same place I suspect.  If you RAM clear you can switch between those three games.
To install a new game you need an ARGOS installer and a game.   Make sure you take a IMAGE/Clone of your hard drive before doing anything so you can restore back.  Make sure that restore works before doing anything.  i'll PM you.

[kwcolor1]

That’s a great tip. I wish I would have known this before. I had the same machine with the same 2 games from the same place. I didn’t create a backup so those are now lost. Good tip to make the backup, how did you do it?

[slotjon]

That’s a great tip. I wish I would have known this before. I had the same machine with the same 2 games from the same place. I didn’t create a backup so those are now lost. Good tip to make the backup, how did you do it?

So I was pretty lucky I had two machines.  I broke one and then used the second one to restore the hard drive to the first one.  A bit learning lesson!
I used clonezilla a linux software to take an image of the hard drive and then restored that to the other system and it worked fine.  I'll send you a PM and see if I can help.

[Rob in AK]

I assume the data on the bottom is because your running a Dev bios. That is allowing the machine to skip the need for license dongles.  My gamescape was set up that way. I changed it to normal bios.

[slotjon]

That being said pm me if you have good games and licenses i'm always on the lookout!

[wubears71]

Hey dude, I have literally the same games and same system as you - got from the same place I suspect.  If you RAM clear you can switch between those three games.
To install a new game you need an ARGOS installer and a game.   Make sure you take a IMAGE/Clone of your hard drive before doing anything so you can restore back.  Make sure that restore works before doing anything.  i'll PM you.

That is such good information.   I have an installer and additional games.  I am trying to avoid losing these original three games.  I’ll do a clone and go from there. 

I love tinkering with these things.

[wubears71]

Yep these machines from SMU come with no license dongles and diagnostic bios.  i was able to find one production bios so I can flip between but the diagnostic bios is nice because it enables you to install more games -- sometimes you cant find the license or they are expensive.

That being said pm me if you have good games and licenses i'm always on the lookout!

That makes sense.  Is that a software thing then - the diagnostic bios?

I don’t mind the text at the bottom - not a big deal especially if it means I can avoid license dongles.  I didn’t know if it was just some setting in the config that I was missing to turn on/off, but it sounds like it’s more than just that.

[shortrackskater]

Member wubears71:
Please do not use offsite image hosting. Please use the NLG file system. Offsite images ALWAYS disappear over time rendering the thread useless of anyone that may have the same problem.
thank you
NLG Admin.

[wubears71]

Member wubears71:
Please do not use offsite image hosting. Please use the NLG file system. Offsite images ALWAYS disappear over time rendering the thread useless of anyone that may have the same problem.
thank you
NLG Admin.

No problem.  I originally tried that approach and every time i hit post, I would get a white screen and nothing would happen.  I had to rewrite my post multiple times and could never get it to work correctly.  I’ll try it next time and reach out to you if I have the same issue.  I even shrunk the images down to under the attachment size limit.

[alex]

Hey dude, I have literally the same games and same system as you - got from the same place I suspect.  If you RAM clear you can switch between those three games.
To install a new game you need an ARGOS installer and a game.   Make sure you take a IMAGE/Clone of your hard drive before doing anything so you can restore back.  Make sure that restore works before doing anything.  i'll PM you.

That is such good information.   I have an installer and additional games.  I am trying to avoid losing these original three games.  I’ll do a clone and go from there. 

I love tinkering with these things.

If you look through the cloned disk image you might find these games IMG somewhere in the filesystem possibly, because ARGOS boots these IMAGES in containers on every boot. If you extract them and put it on a sg installer usb then you could probably just reinstall in the regular way.

[slotjon]

Wow that's an interesting comment!   I have these games now but I'll poke around in there and see if those images can't be found!   

[Retro tech repair]

I assume the data on the bottom is because your running a Dev bios. That is allowing the machine to skip the need for license dongles.  My gamescape was set up that way. I changed it to normal bios.

Yep these machines from SMU come with no license dongles and diagnostic bios.  i was able to find one production bios so I can flip between but the diagnostic bios is nice because it enables you to install more games -- sometimes you cant find the license or they are expensive.

That being said pm me if you have good games and licenses i'm always on the lookout!

Having multiple games installed at the same time is not a side effect of the diag bios. I have multiple games on my argos converted bb2. Its a feature some games support and some do not. They also have a multi game menu file that you can install that allows you to enable all the games at the same time.

[wubears71]

They also have a multi game menu file that you can install that allows you to enable all the games at the same time.

In Argos?   What version?

[Retro tech repair]

They also have a multi game menu file that you can install that allows you to enable all the games at the same time.

In Argos?   What version?

Im fairly new to argos/sg side of machines. Currently on my bb2 i have a 3.2 cpu with upgraded ram. The games have to support dmg currently i have on my machine 2 versions of gold fish feeding time, rich little pigs meal ticket and i think invaders from planet moolah classic. I have not found anyone willing to share the multi game menu file tho but it’s similar to what comes in the velocity sets only not locked to specific games.