MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - MAME 0.198 crash when selecting game with joystick

First, I suggest you run a test on the X-Arcade controller, just to make sure it's actually working fine, in Windows. You can download an X-Arcade test program here: https://support.xgaming.com/support/solu...ick-diagnostics

If you don't want to run the test program, you could also just open a new .txt file, make sure it's the currently active window, then start pressing each key on your X-Arcade. There should be a corresponding key appearing in your text file.

It's important to check that it's working in Windows, since, if it doesn't work in Windows, it'll never work in MAME, either. X-Arcade controllers are built to last, but they do occasionally need repairing.

Now, assuming your X-Arcade controller is working fine OUTSIDE OF MAME, that leads me to think it's a configuration issue with MAME itself, as another poster suggested, and you'll need to hunt down (the configuration issue, not the poster, lol). You didn't specify which game it happens on, so I'll assume this is happening with a known working game.

Your problem reminds me of a similar situation I ran into a while back with my own X-Arcade: while playing, if I pressed PLAYER2 COIN while simultaneously pressing PLAYER2 START, MAME would exit. For a long time, I could not figure out what was causing this. One day, I started poking around in the "Input Settings" in MAME and found that the option "UI_CANCEL" had changed and added that specific key combination to exit MAME. I changed it to 'ESC' only, and my problem was solved.

You will need to manually figure out which key setting is causing MAME to quit. You might want to delete MAME and start over, that way all of MAME's config files are untouched. Or, as a test, set up MAME in another directory, with just one ROM, then try your X-Arcade on that folder's MAME. It *should* work fine since MAME's configuration reverts to default in this case. If you'd rather not do that, then you'll have to step through each of MAME's 'Input Settings' to find the one causing your problem.

When, exactly, does MAME crash? You said, "If I assign one of the joystick buttons, to start a game, then MAME quits without an error description." Okay, let's go from there. There are several places you'll need to check.
While MAME is running, press 'TAB', select 'Input Settings', then 'Input Assignments (this system)' and check all the key bindings.
Next, go back one menu and select 'Input Assignments (General)'
In the next window, you'll need to check 'User Interface', 'Player 1 Controls', and 'Other Controls' to determine if there's a key conflict. It's a lot to check, which is why I suggested you set up MAME from scratch, without your current config files. While in 'User Interface', I suggest you look carefully at "UI_Cancel". "UI_Cancel" should ONLY have the "Escape" key bound to it (if you're using an X-Arcade, that is).

Also, and I don't think it's critical, your 'mame.ini' file should have the following lines in it:

# CORE INPUT OPTIONS
#
coin_lockout 1
ctrlr xarcade

That's all I can suggest you try. I can tell you this, though: if your X-Arcade is working fine, it's certain that your problem lies in MAME's current configuration. Good luck, and I hope that helps.