Happ trackball USB problem...

[Vidiot]

Hey guys. I'm having this problem with my Happ 2 1/4" Trackball and I was wondering if anyone else ever had this problem and if so know how to help me resolve it? I have the one with the PS/2 & USB connector. I have to use the USB connector because my motherboard only has one PS/2 port and I'm using that with my I-PAC encoder. Anyway the trackball randomly stops working and the only way to get it to work again is to restart the computer or physically unplug the USB cable and replug it back in again. I've tried connecting the trackball to a powered USB hub thinking that perhaps it was a power issue but it didn't help. I also checked the setting under device manager to not allow Windows to turn off devices to save power and it is unchecked. I'm starting to suspect that the controller boards might be starting to go bad? Anyone ever have this happen to them or can shed some light on this for me?

Thanks!

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA880GMA-USB3
CPU - AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition
RAM - Crucial Ballistix Tracer 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
Windows XP Home 32-bit
Happ 2 1/4" USB Trackball

[lilshawn]

go into the device manager and for the device and/or the "usb root hubs" and see if it has a power management tab

 "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"... turn it off. (so it stays on )

i sometimes have that issue with touchscreens becoming unresponsive. sometimes that's the issue. other times it's just a crappy designed board and there is nothing you can do about it. 

[Vidiot]

go into the device manager and for the device and/or the "usb root hubs" and see if it has a power management tab

 "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"... turn it off. (so it stays on )

i sometimes have that issue with touchscreens becoming unresponsive. sometimes that's the issue. other times it's just a crappy designed board and there is nothing you can do about it. 

Thanks for the suggestion but I actually tried that already. Mine is already unchecked and its actually greyed out so I couldn't enable it if I wanted to.

[Hoopz]

Can you connect the I-Pac via USB and the trackball to the PS/2 port?

[Vidiot]

Can you connect the I-Pac via USB and the trackball to the PS/2 port?

I may need to look into this as a solution. I do believe that it supports USB with a jumper configuration but it doesn't have any USB port on it. Perhaps I would need some kind of special USB connector cable? I have an older I-PAC so I'm not sure. I'll need to look into it.

I also have a tornado spinner and it doesn't have this disconnect problem. Kinda makes me think the circuit boards on the trackball might have the problem. I actually had the trackball stop working as I was using it. The cursor just stopped moving. Weird!

[Hoopz]

You can get a cable for the I-Pac that is PS/2 on one end and USB on the other.  Divemaster127 sells them on his site arcadeemulator.net.

I believe the Happ trackballs did have issues with the optic boards.  You can search here and find that either the red or green boards caused the issue while the other one fixed the problem.

[Vidiot]

You can get a cable for the I-Pac that is PS/2 on one end and USB on the other.  Divemaster127 sells them on his site arcadeemulator.net.

I believe the Happ trackballs did have issues with the optic boards.  You can search here and find that either the red or green boards caused the issue while the other one fixed the problem.

Cool. I'll search for that. Mine have the green boards.

I'll check out arcadeemulator.net too. Thanks!

[Hoopz]

This thread may help:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=89819.0

You may need to do some research to see if you have the same type of trackball since that thread talks about USB quite a bit.

[Vidiot]

This thread may help:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=89819.0

You may need to do some research to see if you have the same type of trackball since that thread talks about USB quite a bit.

Thanks Hoopz. It seems like that thread is troubleshooting a different problem with the Happ trackballs but they do mention replacing the boards. I'm still looking through BYOAC threads for a clue as to what my first step should be to replace. I've recently spent a lot of cash to upgrade my cab and I'm not sure how much more I can spend right now.  :'(

[Vidiot]

I hate to double post but I just happened to think about the grounding wire on this thing. I'm not sure if I grounded it to the same wire on my buttons or not. Do you guys think that could cause a problem like mine?

[Vidiot]

Just an update to this situation. I have verified that I have connected the ground wire to the main ground wire with my buttons so I don't think there is a problem there. I have contacted arcadeemulator.net about possibly obtaining a USB cable for my I-PAC and also maybe a replacement circuit board for my trackball (Part # 55-0301-00). I would like to try the I-PAC in USB mode so I can use the trackball in PS/2 mode. My I-PAC is an older model made in 2003 but it does support USB mode. If that doesn't work for some reason then I will replace the circuit board on the trackball. I'll continue to post my progress in case it helps someone else.

[Vidiot]

Just thought I'd post another update in case anyone is following this. I have received the replacement circuit board from divemaster. Seems to have fixed my problem. 

[Hoopz]

 

[timply]

I also have the 55-0301-00 Happs board and has been giving me the same problems.  Can i get a link to the to the place where you got the replacement boards? Or do I need to contact divemaster personally?

[Vidiot]

I also have the 55-0301-00 Happs board and has been giving me the same problems.  Can i get a link to the to the place where you got the replacement boards? Or do I need to contact divemaster personally?

I think I just contacted him directly through email to inquire about them. His website is http://www.arcadeemulator.net/