MiniPAC Stuck Key

[kyoke]

Hi all,

Just finished wiring up my cabinet. All keys are connected and grounded as necessary.

I'm using a brand-new MiniPAC directly from Ultimarc.

Using the WinIPAC programming software I notice a constant problem. What would be "TAB" and "ENTER" keys stick and stay stuck (on the WinIPAC CP display the key remains blue).

Another problem I have is when I program the board, all the keys get wonky. For example I will program the second player top left button as R and middle top button as S. After programming both keys will register when pressing the top left button.

Anyone have any insight as to why this is happening? Do I have a bad MiniPAC board?

Thanks!

[Ed_McCarron]

Make sure the switches are wired NO and not NC.  Voice of experience there.

[kyoke]

Thanks Ed_McCarron!

Yeah, double-checked the NO vs. NC part. It appears the keys that stick most often are TAB and ENTER.

I tried using the keyboard test at passmark.com on each key, one-by-one, and TAB and ENTER register correctly and have correct repeat rates. They also do not indicate any stickiness.

I've contacted Andy at Ultimarc and he's having me troubleshoot. It could be the WinIPAC software that's messing up. Maybe.

[Flip The Switch]

You say you can see it sticking in the WinIpac program, how does it all function in MAME is it sticky inside mame?

I had problems with my arrow keys being stuck whenever i programed my joystick to u/d/l/r through WinIpac, through some playing i found it just doesnt like these keys, after i bound u/d/l/r to w/a/s/d instead of the arrows the problem went away, not sure what causes this, i dont think the pac unit is to blame.

what happens if you bind those buttons to other keys?

[Turnarcades]

Thanks Ed_McCarron!

Yeah, double-checked the NO vs. NC part. It appears the keys that stick most often are TAB and ENTER.

I tried using the keyboard test at passmark.com on each key, one-by-one, and TAB and ENTER register correctly and have correct repeat rates. They also do not indicate any stickiness.

I've contacted Andy at Ultimarc and he's having me troubleshoot. It could be the WinIPAC software that's messing up. Maybe.

Always had the same thing in Winipac utility, though only with the 'tab' key. I think it's a software bug (I work with it loads and the utility has many faults) but if you play in reality you will find those keys don't really stick, or at least not usually enough to affect play. Check your mappings in MAME to ensure there aren't any double-mappings or conflicts and I woulstart from scratch with your Winipac layout and reprogram to ensure you haven't accidentally assigned incorrect connections or shifted functions somewhere along the line.

[kyoke]

Thanks for your help everyone.

It turns out that the problem I'm experiencing is indeed a WinIPAC software bug. My MiniPAC is programming and working correctly!

For documentation and for anyone that might experience this problem in the future for a MiniPAC or IPAC, I used this utility to test each key input, recommended by Andy at Ultimarc - http://www.passmark.com/products/keytest.htm

Thanks again!