Volume control and Windows Shutdown

[edub]

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice. I have just started using MA seriously (owned it for a year now) now that I have started to build my cab. I currently have two questions:

1. I'd like to have 3 buttons on my cab control the master volume - up, down, mute. This is just for convenience (vs. a "shift key" + joystick or trackball). I know there are multiple ways to do this - cabvol - voltray - key remapper. I'd like to know what MA users do for volume control and if there are any plugins that are common. If you used buttons to control VOL, what solutions have you come up with? Cabvol is a possibility - I just don't know that much about it and if cabvol is a good choice, how does it "plug in" to MA?

2. When I exit MA, I'd like Windows to shutdown automatically. Is this what most MA users do? Or what works best for you in your cab? Do you control this via a button on the cab? I guess I'd have to map a button to "Ctrl-Q". I am using Ultimarc's mini-pac. Any help with how to set this up in MA would be great.

Thanks so much for any suggestions you have,

Cheers,
edub

[edub]

Thanks for the reply.

How did you "map" ctrl-Q to exit and go to Explorer? Also, how do you set up a "button combo" or a simple arcade button to be recognized by MA to "shutdown windows"?

If I can basically press "H" or "Shift-Q" or whatever on a keyboard which is encoded by my MiniPac encoder and send a signal to MA to "shutdown windows" or "exit to explorer", that would be great. I'm just looking for specifics on HOW to do this inside MA and any other info you can share about how you did this on your cab.

So, in your opinion, there is no "button volume" mapping in MA to help me pick a keyboard press (like "V" e.g.) to make the volume go up or down (e.g)?

Thanks so much...

edub

[edub]

Wow. Thanks.

This solved a few of my concerns very quickly. Thanks for the step-by-step instructions. As you can tell, I am not that familiar with all the setup in MA. I really like this FE and am nearing cabinet build time, so "needs" are surfacing.

Ok - so the power DOWN is looking good - great options - and I can just wire a button (or buttons) for exiting MA or shutting down windows. Perfect.

For volume control, are you saying that I can assign an individual arcade button to "VOL UP", "VOL DOWN" and "MUTE" ? If so, that definitely solves my volume concerns and makes volume control accessible to the player via buttons. In that case, I would not need cabvol or any other volume control "plug in" to windows 7 and remap keys outside of MA. Is this correct?

Quickie - non MA Q - how do you power UP your cab with an arcade button?   

Thanks,
edub

[edub]

Thanks.

I was just assuming regarding volume that MA could control the master volume. In other words, when you hit a "key" (button), MA could interpret that key press and send a "VOL UP" signal or "VOL DOWN" signal to the O/S (in my case, Win7). Just like assigning a key press or combo to "exit to Windows" or "shutdown windows". I will investigate and let you know. Just wondered if someone out there at tried it and gotten it to work successfully thru MA. For some reason, I doubt it - because if MA supported this, why do people use cabvol AND MA together? If MA handled this correctly, there would be no need for cabvol.

So, you use a mechanical "coin press" to "PC button" thing? I've actually heard of others doing this. But yes, a video is always appreciated.

Cheers,
edub