Mini-Pac help - multiple buttons firing at once?

[benarcade]

I just got the mini-pac and wired up a 4-way only to discover that when I push the joystick left, it lights up Joy 1 Left, player 2 coin, player 2 start, Joy 2 Right, and player 1 switch 6 - all at once!

I'm using the WinIPAC software from Ultimarc.

What am I doing wrong? According to the documentation, this should be a simple one to one mapping.

[benarcade]

I'm using a hard drive ribbon to connect, and for whatever reason, it fouls it up. Using a straight contact appears to solve most problems. I'm still seeing pins 16, 14, and 13 mapped to all three keys: W+S+Q simultaneously.

[MD Draco]

sounds to me like contacts might be touching somewhere along the line; have you checked your pinouts & the solder on the actual pcb? Should be spot on as they're machine pressed, but you can never be to sure if you're having issues like this. If it's the same mini iPac as I've got, you can release the cables from the ribbon you'll have gotten with it, just make a note of what goes where so you can put it back when you've checked

I have noticed that the USB connection can be a bit flakey, (not quite tight enough to the PCB, and there is about a mm of movement in the plug itself) but an inch of duct tape seems to have resolved that issue for me, apart from that; as yet, I haven't noted any problems with my own, however; if I were to replace it at any point, I wouldn't worry about the size (given how much air space is in an arcade, even if you're building a mini, there will be enough air space) and I'd go with a normal iPac2. Frankly; I'm actually considering it already, as the build quality just doesn't seem as good, and of course; it would allow me to re-wire the inside of the CP, as I don't like how untidy it looks even after I tidied it all up to make sure the cable runs didn't get caught up anywhere. If you haven't already seen it; ethernet cable used to wire the inside of the CP's looks awesome! I'm not sure of the link, but I'm sure it'll be featured on here somewhere, and definitely a good way to tidily run your cables, here's a handy video of someone's machine who has done just that: http://cablecat5ethernet.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/wiring-arcade-control-panel-for.html

[benarcade]

Network cables - that's a good tip, and timely too, since I haven't yet built the permanent control board yet.

Here's the default pin layout for inhabitants of Earth:



... according to the WinIPAC software.

Note that the WSQ means that all 3 buttons fire from those single pins: W + S + O.

I checked the USB connection. It's fine.

[PL1]

... according to the WinIPAC software.

The software shows all 3 keypresses assigned to 13, all 3 to 14, and all 3 to 16?     If so, that's your problem. 

Have you powered down and checked to see if there's a short between the wires?

With the Mini-Pac, wires, and buttons connected the way they are when you saw the malfunction -- but with power OFF-- use a multimeter in ohms mode and connect your leads to the Normally Open contacts on two of the three microswitches.

They should register as open.

Repeat with the other pairings until you've tested 1+2, 2+3, and 1+3.

If it shows up as a short, unplug the cable from the Mini-Pac and repeat.

If it still shows up as a short, it's the IDE cable.


Scott

[benarcade]

all 3 keypresses assigned to 13, all 3 to 14, and all 3 to 16

Yes, that is my problem.

The Mini-Pac is not connected to any buttons - it's a single wire from Ground to pin that registers multiple button presses in WinIPAC.

[PL1]

If "A S Q" is showing up in all three boxes of table view of WinIPac, click on "restore defaults".

Once you restore defaults, the highlighted boxes should show up like in the attached photo.


Scott

EDIT: Forgot to attach the pic.   

[benarcade]

click on "restore defaults"

Thanks for the suggestion. It didn't work though. Still showing W + S + Q on those three pins.

[PL1]

Sorry about forgetting to attach the pic earlier.

If WinIPac displays what the pic shows and shorting a single wire (disconnect the IDE cable first) from ground to one of the inputs gives all 3 outputs, you should contact Andy at Ultimarc.

Also, did you ohm out the wires to verify they aren't shorted?

That is far more likely than a bad Mini-Pac.


Scott

[benarcade]

If WinIPac displays what the pic shows

Thanks, Scott. That's exactly what it looks like.

And I'm using a bare Mini-Pac, 2 days old, connected to the computer via USB, ONE single wire between ground and pin 13 - or the others - and it lights up S Q W in table view.

In fact, here's the screen shot from pin 13:



I have an email out to Andy.

Thanks again.

[benarcade]

Follow-up - Andy sent a functioning unit at no cost to me. I feel bad that he probably didn't break even - I don't expect anyone is getting rich providing these parts.

Here's the correct pin layout:



I found that solid copper doorbell wire (18 gauge) fits perfectly in female jumper wire connections, and it's 19 cents a foot at the hardware store - and it's twisted red and white, so really it's 10 cents a foot.

Jumper wire:

[CpCaveman]

try some simple fault finding,

unplug the connections to each switch that shouldnt be on one at a time, if they stay on or/and the other two drop out as well theres a short, re plug each afterwards (all this can be done with it on, its low voltage) , if that fails unplug the lot (of problem ones) so no switches can mechanically be made and connect one at a time, checking as you go, another thing whats your set up? are you using those letters/key inputs for something else? a pic of your button wiring might help a bit more, depending on your setup if you have enough spare inputs you can always map your spares to what you need if there is a fault with the card