maniac, I think you forgot something in your mame124 tutorial :
Copy C:\emu\game22\cfg to D:\configbak\game22\cfg
D:\configbakd\game22\cfg
Copy C:\emu\game22\nvram to D:\configbak\game22\nvram
D:\configbakd\game22\nvram
same as what is said in cnfsafe.bat
About HW modifications, especially the fan, I don't really see the point of it, as the system is used inside the cab and is far less noisy than many arcade systems such as Naomi, AtomisWave and CPS2.
As for the HD rack, I don't think about changing the HD every day.
For the CPU change, I think it could result in instablility in the main OS, so I would't recommend it.
About changing the frontend ;currently mamewin; for the latest mamewah, I don't really see the point neither.
For now, I think the systems works the following way :
- win2k (light) starts
- babystar.exe starts and launches coinme.exe and vgatv.exe
- coinme.exe launches mamep.exe (for english) or mamew.exe (for chinese)
So I think if you want to change the frontend, you would have to edit babystar.exe, so you will need to decompile it... so a really big mess for nothing much...
What I mean is that the purpose of the 10xxin1 was to provide an all in 1 plug & play device instead of an homemade PC config.
I think if we go too far in HW and SW mods it will just loose its advantage over the homemade PC, as the homemade PC.
It's far easier to config an homemade PC using mamewah than a 10xxin1, also the homemade PC will output native resolution wich is more enjoyable (mostly 321x240) while the 10xxin1 outputs filtered 640x480 (however I think the 465in1 outputs native).
Conclusion, if you really want a customized system, mayble it would be better to starts on a good basis wich is the homemade PC.
I think the more we could do for the 10xxin1 would be to write a script for automaticly add new games, but I don't have any knowledge about scripting.
Maybe a simple .bat would do the job.
I think the SETUP/UPDATESYSTEM option is about that...
wait and see..