Can't find the solution.

Well, I've been having a problem with MAME. I'm pretty good with emulators and I've googled this problem quite a few times but, I just can't find the solution. I downloaded MAME32 recently to play Splatterhouse (one of my favorite old games :]) but, when it loads, the window opens for a split-second and closes. I've tried different ROMs from different sites to see if that was it but, they do the same thing. I also tried to play Marvel vs. Capcom with the same results. Anyone have this same problem or a solution? All my other emulators work just fine.

Right click the game in the game list and select 'audit' from the menu that appears. If Mame reports any missing or bad files post the result here. Seems likely its either an emulator/rom mismatch (mame roms are updated regularly and have to be matched to the version of the emulator they were dumped for), or some weird issue with your videocard (unlikely but possible).

Try opening the Mame32 toolbar, select 'Options' then 'default game options' and in the display section change the video from D3D to DDraw (just on the off chance you're using some arcane onboard video solution that it doesn't like.

Well, it didn't find any problem with the files. After changing the settings it persisted on doing the same thing. The window opens and closes itself. I haven't seen anyone with the same problem and I've tried many things to fix it. I'm starting to think perhaps the copy of MAME32 I'm using is faulty, as it won't play any other ROMs I've tried either. But, I can't find any other good downloads of it.

The fact it audits and passes your roms is good. It means your games are ok and compatible with the version you're using.

You're using Mame32 so the .ini file isn't an issue.

Next thing to try, have you opened the 'options' > 'directories' tab and made sure that everything is pointing to the correct folder?.

Also open the video options and select the 'run in a window' option to see if its having a problem jumping to fullscreen. If it runs ok in a window but won't do fullscreen, that would indicate that its having a problem displaying whatever res its trying to use on your display. (from what you are describing this seems the most likely issue).

Finally redownload mame32. Extract it to a completely new folder, and just transfer your rom folder across. Try running your games again.

Make sure you download the same version number of Mame (you can right click the .exe file to see the version number). You can grab previous builds of Mame32 (now called MameUI) from www.joymonkey.com

Finally got it fixed. It seems my version of Mame was faulty afterall. I was using Mame Plus because of it but, I didn't like it much. I'm glad I finally found a good version of regular Mame. Thanks for your help Trucker. ^_^

Glad it helped.