kanor

Hi @One Eternal Ash For the Dan Course, I actually conducted a file comparison of some DLL files (gamemdx.dll, arkmdxp3.dll, arkmdxp4.dll, ess.dll) because my suspicion was that there is one DLL that was hacked to enable this. I found armdxp3.dll shared by @FeelTheXtasy (as part of his 20200403 zip file) is different from the others that are currently out for download. So I tested and I can confirm that it's really not the Butterfly version that influences the preserving the progress of Dan Courses, but only his version of arkmdxp3.dll is the one that enables Dan Course progress. I notified him about it as well via private message sometime this week. Here is the comparison I made (I did the comparison in an Excel spreadsheet because it's easier. Although the actual comparison I did it by comparing using hex editor app): File Comparison here. Hi @tw3nz0r, may we also ask for pristine (untouched) versions of arkmdxp3.dll and arkmdxp4.dll?

Wow thank you! Sorry if we had to bother you, we really appreciate your help!

Sorry I didn't understand...what was it again?

Hm. Try this link instead: https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase-downloads.html#javasejdk

Same here...

Hello, I'm not sure anyone in this thread has those charts (so far); sorry.

Ah okay, much clearer now. It was indeed mentioned somewhere in this thread that the game may crash due to a resulting increased file size of the video when switching them.

Hello, Yes, I got my 2020030300 build working. I normally perform the "game patch" process (you start with 2019090300 build then copy-paste the updates files of the 2020020300 patch) instead of the "pre-assembled" package/download of @One Eternal Ash. Here is my procedure: Use the update files from the patch by copy-pasting them over to the 2019090300 build. Download the latest Bemanitools (as of this writing it's version 5.30). There is a zip for DDR in there (ddr12-16 I believe?) and inside that zip are some DLL files: ddrhook.dll ddrio.dll ddriio-mm.dll ddrio-smx.dll eamio.dll geninput.dll unicorntail.dll Copy-paste those DLL files over (I actually do it also for my 2019090300 build, so by the time I had to "patch" to 2020020300 I have already accomplished this step beforehand). Use latest SpiceTools (as of this writing, it's the 6.15.2020 builds/versions). Open the ea3-config.xml and fix the missing/erroneous entries that I mentioned earlier (under the "Network" section of the file, make sure "bool" is "1" and make sure "services" contains "http://localhost"). Make sure that you have copy-pasted the 2020020300 files first to make sure you are editing the correct version of ea3-config.xml (that's the reason why I put it as Step #1!). <network> <!-- XRPC のバッファサイズ。 --> <sz_xrpc_buf __type="u32">102400</sz_xrpc_buf> <!-- https を使うかどうか。 --> <ssl __type="bool">1</ssl> <services>http://localhost</services> </network> Turn on/start the "Butterfly" local server (latest official release is 1.1.0 but someone else also built a newer one based on the latest unpublished changes by the original author of Butterfly, which is 20191018). IMPORTANT: make sure that you install Java 11 on your computer if you are going to use the 20191018 version! Start the game by executing the respective ".bat" file. Game crashes: Game crash on song select ("blue cab" version): this is new to me, that you are "stuck" to using only the "gold cab" version due to game crash on song select. The 20200203 is on "blue cab" version by default. Or did I misunderstand the problem statement? Other stuff: Game crash after entering e-Amusement PIN or during the e-Amusement PIN part (DDR A20 2019090300 or 2020020300 only): make sure to perform the hex edits indicated here (the "Ichika" event) . I actually uploaded a video on how to do it, here. Fix the "small" combo numbers with this. Remove the announcer with this. Convert the game from the default "blue cab" to "gold cab" by doing the following: Perform a hex edit on a DLL file as indicate here: arkmdxp3.dll Copy/save the "Gold cab" edition of background video during music select to the appropriate folder; instructions here. Adjust/fix the "timing" of the arrows on "Gold Cab" edition here. The background is black during song selection (no background video issue): make sure to register/re-register the DLL files inside the "com" folder. Tool for unpacking "startup.arc" which contains musicdb.xml (basically, to "unlock" songs) called arcutil is here. Adding rivals, instructions here.

Hello, I apparently responded to your same post on the DDR A thread. Based on your description it looks like "micro-stuttering." Try to turn off any "vertical sync" related settings on your video card software/application.

Hello, By "quick second pauses" do you mean micro-stutters? Try to turn off any "vertical sync" settings on your video card software and see how it goes.

Hello, This could be hardware-related (e.g. your PC specs). My gaming laptop which has better specs, runs the game smoother than the desktop PC that I currently have here.

Sorry I missed this message. Check "ea3-config.xml" around the "Network" part of the lines. SSL "bool" should be "1" and not "0". Also make sure "services" should say http://localhost. I believe that the 2020020300 version of the ea3-config.xml file has those two errors.

Glad you figured out what's causing the crash for you. As for me, it's going to be a bit difficult to pinpoint as I don't recall making any changes to my system, plus an older data dump is working without issues (DDR A 2019042200). Worst-case I'll "refresh" (or is it "reset?") my Windows 10 if I am unable to pinpoint the problem. EDIT: okay so that was weird; I tried again today to reinstall and my game (DDR A20 2019090300) is working now on the original machine that I used to play on. Strange.

Hello, Glad to hear that! in my case I also used the "pristine" copy of gamemdx.dll and yet I am experiencing the crashing on the original machine that I used to play on. I'm actually close to reformatting or "Resetting" (WIndows 10) the OS, but let me do it one more time and I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt that maybe I got some files wrong. To clarify: on the 20190903 your game wasn't crashing? Mine is (but only starting this week, which I find strange).

Hello, True. "Corrupted game file/s" is also on my list of probable causes. Instead of me giving you a copy, I would recommend getting it directly from the source so that you are ensured of its "pristine" (a.k.a. "untouched") state. You can download the DDR A (2019042200) in the DDR A Thread. Then the first DDR A20 available is the 2019090300 which is a torrent (just backread this thread, it's there somewhere). But if you insist, here's mine (they are all "pristine" copies). You can always "compare" DLL files by using a hex editor program (Hex Editor Neo or FlexHex which is free), these hex editors typically have a "compare" feature. This way, you can trace if there are any "modifications" made (but of course you need a "pristine" version of the file as it will be the one to serve as your "base" for the comparison). Indeed. The folks in this thread were transparent enough to mention that, by the way. Speaking of which, i previously did a comparison of the gamemdx.dll of 201909033 and 2020020300 (DDR A20). There seems to be very significant changes in these two files, leading me to believe that the gamemdx.dll itself is a "legit" update (20200203 vs. 20190903). It's probably one of those other DLLs that are causing the problem, but I always make it a point to get the DLLs from Bemanipatcher (latest as of this writing is 5.30) and it was working fine for all 3 dumps (the DDR A and the two DDR A20's) until just this week. EDIT: by "pristine" in the context of our discussion I meant that "I" didn't make any modifications to the file. Meaning, the copies I shared to you are "as pristine as I downloaded them" (so whether the uploaded file has modifications, I didn't touch or make any changes from that point).

Hello, Thanks for sharing your log. My logs and yours have something in common, and it is these lines that are actually the indicator of the crash: [2020/06/25 14:34:59] W:signal: exception raised: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:signal: printing callstack [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 78DD61B4 (gamemdx): (unknown): gameMain [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 78DC157E (gamemdx): (unknown): gameMain [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 78DC09C3 (gamemdx): (unknown): gameMain [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 78DC8C71 (gamemdx): (unknown): gameMain [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 78DC9134 (gamemdx): (unknown): gameMain [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 78DC55CF (gamemdx): (unknown): gameMain [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 79DB0655 (mpg2splt): (unknown): DllCanUnloadNow [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 79DB0158 (mpg2splt): (unknown): DllCanUnloadNow [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 79DA9A62 (mpg2splt): (unknown): DllCanUnloadNow [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 75AEF989 (KERNEL32): (unknown): BaseThreadInitThunk [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 77B17084 (ntdll): (unknown): RtlGetAppContainerNamedObjectPath [2020/06/25 14:34:59] I:stackwalker: 77B17054 (ntdll): (unknown): RtlGetAppContainerNamedObjectPath "Exception Access Violation" is a "memory leak" scenario, and it's caused by gamemdx (the gamemdx.dll file in the main game folder). What I do find strange is that the game runs without problems on my other computer (the gaming laptop). So here are the probable causes I'm considering: Did your problem happen only recently (and previously it was working fine)? Maybe a Windows Update caused a change of behavior? This is more likely to be the cause (it's just a theory though). My game was working fine before...I only started having problems this week. I'll check my Windows Update history. SpiceTools version? (But since you mentioned yours is March 14th, then I may need to eliminate this as a probable cause). Sorry if I came back with just more questions instead of an answer; I'm still clueless at this point and still trying to narrow down a probable cause. Do note that my DDR A (2019042200) data dump works fine without an issue on both computers (so far).

Hello, May I ask for the following: What arcade dump version What spice tools version (or date) A full copy of the log.txt In the last few days I am also encountering random crashes where there was none before that, and I suspect that it does have to do with the latest version of Spice Tools (the one with an edit date of June 15th, 2020). What I do find strange is that I don't encounter any crashes when using it on DDR A (data dump 2019042200). It only happens with DDR A20 (2019090300 onwards). However, I tried on another computer (our gaming laptop at home) and DDR A and A20 both worked without crashes - with the latest Spice Tools (06.15.2020). Strange, indeed.

Hello, Great to hear that! "Dan Courses" is available exclusively on the 20th Anniversary Edition of DDR A20 cabinets (most people call it the "Gold Cab" because the actual arcade cabinet is colored in a gold theme). To "convert" your game to the "Gold Cab," you need to perform the following steps: Either of the two (don't do both!): "Override" or a "hack" via a process called "hex editing" on one of the system files found within the game folder. Please read here for DDR A20 2019090300 or 2020020300 for the details or here for DDR A 2019042200. Alternatively, you may download the said system file that is already "hex edited" for convenience, here (for 2019090300 or 2020020300 only). Once you convert to "Gold Cab" you will notice that the background animation/video (during music select) is plain black. You need to download the "Gold Cab" version of the said animation. Please read here for the details. Just in case the combo looks weird, you can download the "combo fix" here. VERY IMPORTANT: use the "modified" Butterfly Local Server to play the game, NOT the official Butterfly and NOT the default "-ea" switch/option in the .bat file/launcher commands. This is the only way you can properly play the "Dan" courses that will progress from Dan Course 1 to 8. Take note, from the DDR A20 wiki: Information about the Golden League can be found here.

Hello, There are a few possible causes, of which must have been encountered by others already in this thread. You can read back to the previous pages or search with a keyword like "network" or something similar.

Is it crashing after entering the e-Amusement PIN (when the newly unlocked songs are showing)? If yes: You will need to perform a "hex edit" on a file (gamemdx.dll...it's in the main game folder), as per this post: Fix crash at card screen - 0x51b30 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 (Ignore event data of 0x51b80 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 Ichika's VS award 2019) 0x51bd0 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 Alternatively you should 0x51c20 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 use butterfly server, 0x51c70 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 and insert the event data) 0x51cc0 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 0x51d10 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 0x51d60 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 0x51db0 : 33 c0 -> 90 90 ...and also you may need to open the SQL Database included with the forked Butterfly, and edit a certain table ("Global Events"): INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(101, 0, 0, 10, 38295); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(102, 0, 0, 10, 38294); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(103, 0, 0, 10, 38290); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(104, 0, 0, 10, 38292); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(105, 0, 0, 10, 38264); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(106, 0, 0, 10, 38291); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(107, 0, 0, 10, 38293); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(108, 0, 0, 10, 38289); INSERT INTO ddr_16_global_events VALUES(110, 0, 0, 10, 38279); Change all the "10" to "9999". I actually uploaded a "how-to" video on how to do this. You can find it here.

You're welcome! Tip: if you're using the "modified" Butterfly Local Server, set the hex edit to the default value of 8B 41 and and then manage that setting via the SQL Database instead (by typing either "FOREGROUND" or "BACKGROUND" as per this post). Same for "Force Darkest Background" and "Force Enable Fast/Slow" settings.

Hello, It's actually just a hex edit as mentioned here for 2019090300 and above, or here for 20190422 (or simply use online BemaniPatcher - same result). 2019042200 name: "Force background judgement", patches: [{offset: 0x97C50, off: [0x8B, 0x41], on: [0x31, 0xC0]}] 2019090300 and above Force Background Judgement - 0xa1860 : 8B 41 -> 31 C0 In both cases, 31 c0 sets the Judgment at the background; 8b 41 sets the Judgment at the foregound. In addition, if you're using the "modified' Butterfly Local Server, you also have to edit the corresponding table in the database (FOREGROUND or BACKGROUND) as per this post. For manual hex editing method, you can use a guide here or one of the videos I uploaded.

In terms of "real arcade" there are two (2) themes: DDR "Blue" (technically the cabinet is white) and DDR "Gold (the cabinet is in gold color scheme)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution_A20#Release The most prominent difference between these two would be the "Dan Courses" (this is exclusive only to the "Gold Cabinet Theme"). Personally, I prefer the "Blue Cabinet Theme" when playing the PC Arcade Data Dumps because the "timing" of the "Gold Cabinet Theme" is a bit off. The "Blue Cabinet Theme" has a more accurate timing.

Hello, I was able to get rid of it. It can be removed by either of the following actions: Directly install the PC Arcade Dump version 2019090300 or higher. If you still wish to stay on the 2019042200 PC Arcade Dump version, you will have to do the following (I personally tried this last night when I tested DDR A): "Unlock" the songs by "hex editing" gamemdx.dll manuall or via online BemaniPatcher tool/site, and then... "Unlock" the songs by using arcutils and DDR A Song Database Manager on startup.arc, and then... "update" your game package using the 2020020300 patch (you'll need to copy-paste some files) HOWEVER, you have to realize this: doing all of the steps mentioned above is the same as simply just installing the 2019090300 PC Arcade Dump. Less hassle, same result. I realized this when I tested DDR A last night because I wanted to check the issue you and some others mentioned. In fact, when merely unlocking all songs (up to Orca) the game has been practically converted/upgraded to DDR A20. As per the code of the BemaniPatcher for 20190422 version of gamemdx.dll (source: https://github.com/mon/BemaniPatcher/blob/master/ddra.html):

Hello, I started being involved with this PC Arcade Dump for DDR A20, but I am an avid player of DDR A (up to all its updates to A20, before the COVID-19 lockdowns in our area which is around March 9th or so). So I'm well-versed with the play mechanics of the "events" and "unlocks." I've also had a hand at installing this game, learning quite a few things along the way like "hex editing" (or "modding" some system files). It's cool actually. Although on a separate note I prefer Stepmania for the convenience of setting it up and all (however, PC Arcade Dumps like this give you the "novelty value" or "authentic" feeling, so that's great as well). In regards to your concern: About ability to save progress/scores: in more recent developments, someone made a "modified/revised" version of the Butterfly Local Server. This one has a pre-built database especially made so that you can save your scores/progress. It also allows you to change some settings/options like enabling Fast/Slow, Screen Filter (Dark/Light), moving the Judgment in the Foreground/Background, etc. I know this can be done via patching ("hex editing") but at least setting these options via the database is less "hack-ish" so to speak. You can find it in the DDR A20 thread, specifically here. About Baby-Lon's Adventure resetting to World 1 every game, and "Heat Power" always at Level 3: I think this is a "side-effect" of "hacking" the game to unlock all songs. In DDR A/A20, most of the songs that are "unlockables" are actually coming from "events." So if the songs were "forcibly" unlocked (e.g. through manipulation of musicdb.xml or hex editing gamemdx.dll), you get the result that you want which is the song gets unlocked. But the "events" where these songs belong to, get tampered (for the lack of a better term). For example, in later arcade dumps (notably DDR A20, there is a similar "side-effect" but it's for a different event - it's for the 20th Anniversary Challenge Songs/ So instead of seeing Baby-Lon running up the stairs and it looks like it keeps on resetting, in DDR A20 there's this red curtain animation that says "Grand Finale" which can't be removed because the songs related to the event are already unlocked "forcibly." It has even been noted in one of the comments already that it can't be modified. So I think it's the same scenario for Baby-Lon's adventure.