Die Hard cab conversion (pics)

[tykenfitz]

Ok so I picked this cab off Craigslist for free! There's nothing in it but the marque bulb, speakers, and 1 broke coin mech and 1 coin mech that is taking quarters.

I want to convert this to a sweet mame cabinet.  Do you think i can find a pc monitor and fit in there? maybe build a shelf system or something?  The screen opening is 25" diagonally.  Also I broke the little plastic tabs that hold the glass on the marquee, do you know where i can get some more of those?  Also, If I get some joysticks and buttons I can wire them to the ipac but can I wire the working coin mech? I really want it to be coin operated.

[mwong168]

Nice score and this cabinet has always interested me despite some people thinking it is ugly.

You should be able to wire up the coin mechanism to your IPAC because I see two wires coming from each one.  One will be common ground and the other one will go to the input terminal on your IPAC or controller.

I found one functioning locally here on craigslist but the dimensions are too big to fit down my stairs in one piece.  Does the machine come apart in several pieces?  I know you can remove the control panel from the cab but about about the rest of the cab?

[tykenfitz]

No, only the bottom metal face plate comes off, other than that it's a big old lunk of plastic and metal, a real to fit in an explorer lol

[leapinlew]

You are a brave man...

Good luck with that. I'm sticking with wood cabinets.

[tykenfitz]

bought some cabinet locks at HD for the CP and rear access door, stupid Home Depot charges $5 a lock but thank god they fit, plus I went through all the locks until I found 2 keyed alike so that's good.

I had no idea how to hook up the flouresent fixture behind the marquee so I just put in one I had laying around that just plugs into a normal socket.  also, I found plastic mirror hanging things at ace, which fit the marquee glass perfectly 


EDIT: Added pic of illuminated marquee.
Tested speakers with my patened ipod to a buch of random wires converter, and surprisingly they both work!

[tykenfitz]

Nice score and this cabinet has always interested me despite some people thinking it is ugly.

You should be able to wire up the coin mechanism to your IPAC because I see two wires coming from each one.  One will be common ground and the other one will go to the input terminal on your IPAC or controller.

I found one functioning locally here on craigslist but the dimensions are too big to fit down my stairs in one piece.  Does the machine come apart in several pieces?  I know you can remove the control panel from the cab but about about the rest of the cab?

Mwong, I actually just had the same problem with fitting it down the stairs.  It does actually come apart more.  The cp can be taken off as well as the marquee, and the main cab splits in two making it just thin enough to fit down the stairs.

We bought a 25" crt tv for $5 and it's working great, we are going to try and fit it in w/o decasing it but we will decase it if we have to.  The laptop I'm going to use MAME on has a s-video out so I used an s-video to composite rca adapter cable and ran it to the tv and it works great!

So it was the most ridiculous thing ever, removing all those screws that held the cab together, there were philips head and I stripped alot of them, would it be OK if I got new screws with a big hexagon shaped head like normal bolts?

Please, feel free to comment, I really want your guys' input!

[mwong168]

Do you mind taking some measurements for me of the parts that come apart of pictures if you haven't re-assembled it yet.

[tykenfitz]

Sorry it's late but here's the dimensions.
Red lines are where it splits apart and orange is the lengths.

It's 23" at its deepest, 33" across the monitor area, and 63" tall, not including the marquee

Not mine just a google pic.

Been messing around trying to get my guncon running on the system so not much progress, but I got a 25" crt tv for $5 for it, it's got a vcr in it, this won't present a problem in mounting, will it?  Also got a dell dimension with s-video for the guts of the thing.

[mwong168]

So depth wise it is only 23"?  How come on this site it lists otherwise?

Upright     76.60"     31.80"     42.10"          529 lbs     729 lbs       26" Monitor

http://www.ggdb.com/GameByName.aspx?vid=768

It it is 23" then I have a chance fitting this down my basement since I have about 28" clearance for the width.

[tykenfitz]

Are those the specs when it is fully assembled?  Im saying, with every part that comes off, off the machine, the deepest part of the largest piece is 23" So if you remove the CP, marquee and front of the machine the only thing you have to worry about depth wize is the remaining largest piece which is 23" deep.  Me and my friend brought it down the stairs into my basement no problem, but, removing all the screws to get it apart was the most difficult thing ever because they are all philips head screws and mine had sat screwed together for alot of years, it did not want to come apart.

[tykenfitz]

So we've de-cased and discharged the tv, I figured it would bolt right up but, of course, I was wrong.  The metal mounting bars need to be heavily modified, need to cut of the the middle tabs, and drill new hold and get new bolts 

[tykenfitz]

Ok so got some progress here.

1. The mounting setup in the above post did not work out, but I didn't realize it until I chopped one of the bars (first pic) w/e should be easy to put a new bolt to the side of it.

2. New mounting setup - I'm going to put a wooden frame around the the monitor and bolt it to the metal bars.  Picked up a 2'X4' 3/4" MDF sheet at the Home Depot to use.  I've traced where to put holes for the bolts in the metal bars, I'll drill 'em out and trace around the monitor and stuff later.

3. Just got some B-day money, so I'm gonna place an order for my controls and stuff soon.

4. I wired the speakers to the headphone output on the PC but it's not loud enough, luckily I found a small stereo no one wanted so I'll run the pc to the stereo as aux and then hook the cab speakers up to it, should be able to blast pretty good 

[tykenfitz]

Ok i ordered the controls and the ipac should be here soon.

[tykenfitz]

So, the controls arrived, got them mounted up, bought a crimping/stripping tool for 6.50 at ace and 100X .25 female disconnects because I didn't get enough from GGG,  also, working on the monitor set-up.  Is the MDF gonna be a problem? I heard it's kinda weak, should I go with ply wood instead?

I daisy-chained the grounds, still waiting on the ipac VE to arrive.

[tykenfitz]

So, perfect example of measure once buy twice    messed up an entire 2' X 4' MDF

Gotta be more careful with my measure ments next time and I'm going to get ply wood because I've heard it's much stronger so probably for the best anyway. 

[releasedtruth]

Be careful with the plywood you select because many of the cheapest grades are not entirely flat. You'll get bend more easily than higher end woods or MDF.

[DCsegaDH]

I always thought the Die hard arcade cabinets look strange because of the top mounted coin mechs, but I like the original shape that they have. Good luck on this project. 

[tykenfitz]

Be careful with the plywood you select because many of the cheapest grades are not entirely flat. You'll get bend more easily than higher end woods or MDF.

So at the homedepot, what should I ask for? Should i just get more MDF?

[releasedtruth]

Mdf is good, but it's heavy and usually pretty thick and not great with screws. I used plywood, just made sure that the piece was straight. Also plexi covered my cp, but that's just personal choice. The Die hard cab is a nice one, almost grabbed one myself. Looking forward to seeing your results. All that plastic and steel is a challenge.

[tykenfitz]

Half-way done wiring the ipac, you have to wire the joysticks backwards, right? because the movements are inverse with the switches?

Also, bought a new 2X4 of MDF at the Home depot, I need another clamp before I attempt to cut it again though. Let's hope I get it right this time!

I played golden Tee 2010 at the restaurant today and realized i need a track ball lol, gotta find a spot to put it.

[releasedtruth]

Make sure you give yourself space because the trackball has a large footprint below the control panel and you don't want it too close to the screen otherwise long drives will put your fingers into the monitor.

[tykenfitz]

got the controls wired up, been  playing galaga on this little tv so not much other progress, I laid out the plan for the MDF on paper and drew the lines on the board.  Just gotta cut it but I need to get some more clamps first 

[tykenfitz]

So while the tv was laying out I tripped over it and snapped the neck of the tube 

I've located another 25" tv but i've had enough of this stupid wooden frame.  If I get a WG 25" monitor frame, can't I just mount it right up like this one ?:

[severdhed]

that sucks about your monitor, hopefully the new one will be awesome.

[tykenfitz]

The new one is my brothers.  It dosen't have  vid input, but I found an RF modulator at a garage sale for a buck!  I have to fix this broken lcd in the basement, put it in my room, then give my brother mine so I can have his which will fit in the arcade.

Lol, when I broke the monitor, air rushed into it, but i didn't know they were vaccumes at first and I thought some crazy gas was escaping it freaked me the hell out 

[tykenfitz]

So, does anyone know if that monitor frame will work?

[tykenfitz]

well the tv fit right in perfect have to use a vcr to go composite to RF


its just set in here then i put bolts through the ears



hooked up the ps2 and away we go   

[mgb]

Nice,
if the vcr takes up too much room, you can still get modulators at home depot or radio shack to take care of the composite to rf.
Is the picture decent with an rf signal?

I really like the Die Hard cabinets look and have been tempted to pick one up one as I see them on sale some times.
From what I hear, the cabinet is made of plastic. Does it seem like it would be possible to modify the control panel easy enough?

[tykenfitz]

Nice,
if the vcr takes up too much room, you can still get modulators at home depot or radio shack to take care of the composite to rf.
Is the picture decent with an rf signal?

I really like the Die Hard cabinets look and have been tempted to pick one up one as I see them on sale some times.
From what I hear, the cabinet is made of plastic. Does it seem like it would be possible to modify the control panel easy enough?

Yea the whole thing is plastic, the CP's got a lot of space for mods and it seems it'd be easy enough to put the holes for buttons in with a paddle bit.  My plan is to add 3 more buttons per side under the existing ones, for mortal kombat and the like.
I'm not super happy with the die hard cab, if it wasn't free i'd definately go with a wooden cab next time. it'sweird to work with and makes and odd hollow sound when your mashing buttons and stuff.

 

[tykenfitz]

i was thinking about orderning this trackball from GGG.
http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=363

but i'm not sure how to mount it.  do i just need to drill a 3" hole and put bolts through the cp? i'm not really comfortable working with the plastic cp and i don't want to have ro cut any weird holes free hand

[FiZiX]

I'm sorry to revive an old thread. Just wondering if you could post some pics of the final result? I have a Die Hard Arcade cabinet I'm working on converting.

[JimmyU]

I'm sorry to revive an old thread. Just wondering if you could post some pics of the final result? I have a Die Hard Arcade cabinet I'm working on converting.

I love me a good necrobump! Unfortunately, tykenfitz hasn't been on this forum in almost two years. 

[tykenfitz]

I'm sorry to revive an old thread. Just wondering if you could post some pics of the final result? I have a Die Hard Arcade cabinet I'm working on converting.

I love me a good necrobump! Unfortunately, tykenfitz hasn't been on this forum in almost two years. 

JimmyU, make that four years, but I'm back baby!

The PC in the cabinet bit the dust, I'm replacing the whole thing with a Raspberry pi 3 running Retropie.  Adding the buttons and 4 way joystick for realz this time haha.

OK so first a few updates.  The cabinet served me well for a couple of years, but was never really "complete."  The PC, the VCR, and the CD player I used as an amplifier were always just placed outside the cabinet with wires running in and out every which way and I never quite got around to installing more buttons, a four-way joystick, or a trackball.  It was always ugly as sin, but always worked for me, especially for PS2/PS1 light gun games, since it is the only CRT TV left in the house (and probably on of very few left on the face of the planet  ) 

After I went away to college and have since returned like the prodigal son, I have found that things are not exactly as I left them.  First, the PS2 and all of my light gun games have been boxed up and shoved away in some deep dark unknown corner of the basement.  Second, the POS PC that I had been using refuses to acknowledge the existence of my controls.  I believe this is a problem with computer itself, rather than an issue with the I-PAC I used to interface with it.  Finally, the stereo I had used as an amplifier for the speakers is missing, it's probably blasting EDM jams in my brother's dorm room as we speak.

After spending a couple hours trying to get this freakin' dell to accept my I-PAC, I decided that I would instead take it to the back yard and stick an M-80 inside, prompting the search for a new powerhouse for the cabinet.

The one reason I went with that Dell to begin with was it had S-Video out, so I could easily (i.e. cheaply) go S-Video -> Composite Video -> VCR/RF Modulator -> TV.  After looking at ridiculously expensive HDMI to composite adapters and all sorts of other work-arounds, I had almost given up hope.  That was, until I read up on the miracle-in-a-box they call the Raspberry Pi.  This little thing is a beast, with hardware specs that blow the Dell out of the water, accepts almost any USB HID, is the size of a credit card, and the best part, it can output analog audio and composite video out of the box!

Oh yeah, it also has wifi, bluetooth, a huge community that supports the RetroPie operating system, and it only costs 35 bucks! 

Anyway, I have been playing with this thing non-stop since I've gotten it.  So far I've been able to hook up a wireless PS4 controller and get all my NEO-GEO ROMS working (which are my favorite) as well as some NES and SNES ROMS which are cool, but will probably be removed before I put it in the cabinet.

My objectives for this overall project are:

• Get all my favorite NEO-GEO and MAME ROMS to work on the RetroPie (Neo-Geo works easily, MAME takes a ton of tweaking)
• Set up controls so that you can turn everything, play a game, exit it, play another with a different emulator, and turn it all off without opening the CP
• Get every component (Pie, I-Pac, Amplifier) mounted within the cabinet, only a power cord sticking out the back
• Install more buttons, total of 6 per player
• 4-way joystick, either on its own or replace existing one with a switchable joystick
• Add a dedicated "1 credit" button to the CP in addition to the working coin acceptor

Tasks/Roadblocks

• Turning on the TV from outside the cabinet

I will have to drill a hole and mount a button somewhere on the cab or CP and wire/solder it up to existing power button on the TV's circuit board.  Luckily, the TV defaults to channel 3 whenever it's turned on, so I wont have to mess with any other buttons.

• Installing additional buttons

I will attach photos of two layouts I'm thinking about, the four colored buttons represent the layout for Neo Geo games, with an extra two buttons each for six-button fighting games.
Note: I did not take the original photo, it is from someone else who was doing a Die Hard conversion with an Xbox.  Someone, obviously, with much more "Git-r-Done" than myself 
In the spirit of giving due credit, you can check out his/her/their build here: Die Hard Arcade Cabinet Conversion - CoinOPS XBox Project

• Coverting composite video to RF

Right now, in order to get the PC or PS2 to show up on screen you have to turn on the VCR and use the Channel buttons on the VCR to select AV input one or two.  My plan here to switch out the vcr for a stand-alone
RF modulator that will be mounted inside the cabinet and always powered.  I haven't seen any RF modulators that support switch inputs, so I will either have to build or buy an RCA input switch, which will be mounted to the cabinet or inside the CP.

• Re-wiring the controls

My current cable management is a living nightmare, I'm pretty sure there's a loose wire somewhere in my ground daisy chain, and I'll have to do a good bit of wiring for the new controls anyway.  So once everything's mounted the way I want it, I'm gonna rewire the whole thing to make it not look like a robin's nest.

• Audio

Seeing as my CD player disappeared, I will need someway of amplifying the audio from the Pi to the speakers in the monitor bezel.  I've used these little guys before, they're cheap and will mount easily inside the cabinet:
Lepy Stereo Class-D Hi-Fi Digital Audio Amplifier with Power Supply Black US - Amazon

Stay tuned for progress, man it feels good to be back! 

[tykenfitz]

Hey Guys,

So I took the CP to bring it up to my room, figured it would be easier to get controls set up correctly on a HDTV (where I can actually read the menu text) and with a computer nearby.  I've gotten in-game controls the way I want them (setting it up for Neo Geo was actually the toughest part, it switches A and B and X and Y for some reason).  But now the problem I'm having is exiting a game when I'm done playing.

For the MAME versions on retropie it's easy, because I'm using IPAC which was made for MAME, pressing 1P Start + 2P Start emulates pressing the "Esc" key and takes me out of the game.  But on the RetroArch emulators (Neo-Geo, NES, SNES, etc.) you exit the emulator by pressing a "hotkey" + another button.  It won't let me use 1P start as my hotkey because the IPAC doesn't register the keypress if you hold it, it thinks you want to use its built in shift function, so I have to use "Select" as the hotkey (which is default)

The problem is my "Select" Button is actually my coin acceptor, which means to exit a game, I have to open the CP, hold down the switch on the coin taker, then press 2P Start, huge PITA.  Anyone familiar with RetroPie know if I can assign a single button to exit RetroArch (Which would be "Esc," like in MAME) so that I can exit any emulator the same way?

Please let me know, thanks in advance!

P.S. Planning on mounting the 4-way joystick and drilling holes for the new buttons today (they're in the mail  ), pics to follow shortly!

EDIT: Here's the joystick I went with for the 4-way, cheap, quick, short throw, and got that classic Galaga/Pac-Man cabinet look

[Locke141]

Coverting composite video to RF

If that CRT doesn't have composite, just hit Crags list and get one that does. You can still find free CRT's. The R-Pie can support 240p from composite with a little work.

If I was you I would look at Attract mode for the FE. On there website they have links to images and it's an experimental package in retro pie. It also supports Hyper spin themes but I have never tried to us one in Attract mode.

[tykenfitz]

Coverting composite video to RF

If that CRT doesn't have composite, just hit Crags list and get one that does. You can still find free CRT's. The R-Pie can support 240p from composite with a little work.

If I was you I would look at Attract mode for the FE. On there website they have links to images and it's an experimental package in retro pie. It also supports Hyper spin themes but I have never tried to us one in Attract mode.

Hi Locke,

Do you think that if I picked up another CRT of the same size, it would mount up the same as this one?  I'm counting my lucky stars that this one went in with minimal fuss, as that other one I was messing around with was a nightmare haha.

Sorry, what is the "FE" you speak of? Oh, the front end?  So instead of like sitting there, waiting for you to choose a system and game, it will do an arcade style attract mode?  I usually (if I don't want to shut down the whole thing) just leave up the last game I was playing in Attract Mode.  Never get tired of hearing the Simpsons intro song again and again and again haha

[tykenfitz]

Howdy Everyone,

Progress has been slow due to me getting the PS2 dusted off and getting back into Dark Cloud 2
I've got the buttons and 4-way joystick in place, almost done rewiring, just gotta finish up the P2 buttons.  Gonna be taking the CP over to my buddy's party this weekend to kick his ass in KoF '94 so its a perfect does of motivation to get the CP finished up.

Other than that, I've finally got my Sega Saturn flashed with Pseudo-Saturn and my PS2 booting games from HDD, so light-gun heaven here I come haha.

Best,
Fitz

[tykenfitz]

What's up everybody!

So this project is finally "done" - as in my parents got sick of keeping the cab in their basement and made me get rid of it.  The good news is that it has found a new home in an AirBnB where maybe people will actually have time to play it

It didn't turn out like I would have wanted, but I finally did all the little things like solder an on/off button for the tv to the outside of the cab, wire up an on/off switch for the Pi, and replace the VCR with a no-fuss RF modulator.

The end result is that anyone can turn the thing on and start playing without opening the cab or messing with anything.  Attached are some pics from its new home.

While I never got around to doing everything I wanted with this project, I am moving from an apartment to my own house soon, so I'm thinking a bartop cab may be in the works soon