Raspberry Pi vs a 60 in 1 for a Cocktail Cabinet

[TheShaner]

So, I am doing a cocktail cabinet.  Maybe even a couple.  I have a 60 in 1 on order and that will do fine although I am a little disappointed that the mame version on these is old, that I cannot add more games, and the sound on a few games is junk.

With that said, I started digging for a programmable jamma to see if I could control the games I wanted on them and possibly update the mame version to something at least even remotely current.  No dice.  Those things are almost $300 and hard to find.

So now I am looking at RP.  It seems like it is a decent solution.  I have spent some time digging through threads and have seen that a lot of people consider it a little underpowered and premature.  Here is my question though... If you are simply comparing it to a 60 in 1 jamma, how does it fare?  It seems like it should be comprable as far as processing power goes.  If I am just planning on using it for a select number of games, mostly old school verticals and maybe a few horizontal games like asteroids and defender, wouldnt it be a better solution than the 60 in 1 since the mame version is a little more current and you can better control what goes on there?

[Nephasth]

What's wrong with using an old throw-away P4?

[yotsuya]

I have an Intel ATOM board in my vertical upright basically running the same games as the 60-in-1 with NO issues.

[Diet_Pepsi]

Atoms are great for running the classics, especially since a lot of them don't need a fan for cooling.  I have a setup with an atom d510, 32gb ssd and a pico power supply, and, I must admit, it is strangely satisfying to run it with zero background fan noise.

[Maximus]

I'm also interested in this conversation from an OS standpoint. Those of you running x86 chips are you running windows or do you have a much more dedicated software solution?

Also what about the Android 'stick' computers, they are shipping with 2gb of ram, quad core processors, mini usb and SD cards for under $100

[Diet_Pepsi]

I have not had to run any dedicated software solutions.  I am running win 7 64bit on all my machines with MAME .146.  For fun i tried it on my netbook, which has an AMD c-60 dual core running at 1.0 ghz.  I was shocked at what that thing can run.  Even stuff like metal slug and Batrider were running with no problems.

[Maximus]

I played with one of these sticks a while back at work to see if it had potential as a dumb terminal, since then they have gotten much more powerful, I'd be interested to see if I could load one of these up with MAME4Droid Reloaded 0.139 to start in menu mode and run the roms through a hacked together USB/Jamma converter of some kind

$62 buys you a lot of computing power these days...

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2013-new-arrival-in-May-QC802-Quad-core-Andriod-4-2-RAM-2GB-ROM-8GB-RK3188/106530_926348116.html

[Vigo]

Atoms are great for running the classics, especially since a lot of them don't need a fan for cooling.  I have a setup with an atom d510, 32gb ssd and a pico power supply, and, I must admit, it is strangely satisfying to run it with zero background fan noise.

Agreed. If you top that off with USB stick for a hard drive, you have sheer solid state bliss.

[jdbailey1206]

I'm surprised more guys aren't running these in mini cabs.

[Diet_Pepsi]

Wow. I guess if they are shipping these platforms inside mobile phones, why not in a stick computer?

I might have to pick one of these up and start testing...

I played with one of these sticks a while back at work to see if it had potential as a dumb terminal, since then they have gotten much more powerful, I'd be interested to see if I could load one of these up with MAME4Droid Reloaded 0.139 to start in menu mode and run the roms through a hacked together USB/Jamma converter of some kind

$62 buys you a lot of computing power these days...

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2013-new-arrival-in-May-QC802-Quad-core-Andriod-4-2-RAM-2GB-ROM-8GB-RK3188/106530_926348116.html

[mcseforsale]

This all sounds interesting.

In other words:

Subscribed.

AJ

[Diet_Pepsi]

Just picked up a dual core unit from amazon.  I'll get it on Tuesday, and we'll see what it can do.  Worst case I can use it with one of my TVs for streaming.

[TheShaner]

So the main point behind running one of these rather than an older pentium is several fold.  No moving parts, no need for a hard drive (if you are running rp since it uses a sd card), cheaper obviously, and no noise.  Since I am just looking to run the classics, nothing even remotely heavy (ie no outrun), it seems like it would be a better solution than the 60 in 1 card since I can load it with stuff of my choice.

If I was to do another full blown vertical cab, I would obviously need to get something with more horsepower, but galaxian and tetris can be run with minimal power under the hood I am assuming, so Im thinking the answer.

Now the question becomes, is it Raspberry Pi, or some other flavor along this vein.  I really dont want to have to hook up a solid state drive and all of that jazz, but I might consider it if the Pi doesnt work out.  I do really want to get away from moving parts though.

[TheShaner]

I have an Intel ATOM board in my vertical upright basically running the same games as the 60-in-1 with NO issues.

Does it require a fan?  How is the power handled?....

Nevermind, I just read the rest of the post.

[michelevit]

Maybe a time for stick computer FAQ or forum subsection.
As long as my builds have room for a mobo, powersupply and hardrive, I'll probally keep going that route. You can pick up P4s all day used for nothing. I'd like to build a micro console one day and then Rasberry Pi sounds XLNT.

[Maximus]

I wanted to grab one of the Android sticks for media center ideas too so I'll throw it all in the same bucket of testing.

I'm going to play with a Tronsmart MK908 Quad Core 2GB/8GB set up and see what it's like.

Tronsmart MK908 - $90
Mini-HDMI to VGA adapter - $10
ZD USB Keyboard encoder & wiring- $20

added the extras to the list so we can call it a real alternative for a MAME/CAB set up.

To mirror comments already covered here, an easy-on, non-windows solution, fanless and small but also with the ability to add your own games is really interesting. At the moment the quad core sticks are more expensive at around $90 but they will fall quickly in price so you could consider them more viable in a few months.

Currently a 60 game board with a decent Jamma Harness will cost you approx $75 shipped anyway

[TheShaner]

Maybe a time for stick computer FAQ or forum subsection.
As long as my builds have room for a mobo, powersupply and hardrive, I'll probally keep going that route. You can pick up P4s all day used for nothing. I'd like to build a micro console one day and then Rasberry Pi sounds XLNT.

Mich, as stated, I am not trying to replace the need for a motherboard, how in the hell would you play killer instinct?  Cant have that.  For a cocktail, or mini cabinet, the 60 in 1 jamma makes a lot of sense, but is just too dated.  But the allure of having a quick power on and boot, and practically dedicated software with no moving parts to break is hard to resist.  It would be nice to find something comparable though, in the relative price range, with roughly the same functionality, and the ability to update / tweak etc, and I think we are on the right track. 

I will buy something early next week after I get a little more input from those who have done this already and done a little research of my own.  MaxiGriff, I will make sure to do something different from what you are going to do so we can have a good comparison.

[paigeoliver]

Raspberry Pi is basically the worst possible solution you could come up with for a game cabinet, it is underpowered and requires a crap ton of adapters to even be used.

Here is the secret about good results with the common 60 in 1 board. Turn off all the 8-way games. The majority of the games on the board are 4-way or 2-way anyway, and those 8-way games happen to have almost all the serious sound and emulation problems that people always complain about.

If you absolutely need PC hardware and a small form factor I have found that Pentium 2 and Pentium 3 tablets can be had for under $100, and are small enough to slip into a bartop easily. Just make sure the model you get has VGA out (all the ones I have owned had that, but it never hurts to check).

[Rigby]

Raspberry Pi is basically the worst possible solution you could come up with for a game cabinet, it is underpowered and requires a crap ton of adapters to even be used.

Here is the secret about good results with the common 60 in 1 board. Turn off all the 8-way games. The majority of the games on the board are 4-way or 2-way anyway, and those 8-way games happen to have almost all the serious sound and emulation problems that people always complain about.

If you absolutely need PC hardware and a small form factor I have found that Pentium 2 and Pentium 3 tablets can be had for under $100, and are small enough to slip into a bartop easily. Just make sure the model you get has VGA out (all the ones I have owned had that, but it never hurts to check).

Pfft.  The RPi isn't bad at all, unless you want to drive an arcade CRT.

Is it an absolutely 100% accurate arcade emulation solution?  Not at all.  Is it a $30 arcade emulation solution?  yep.  Running MAME4ALL on there runs approximately 1500 games from the MAME 0.37u5 romset at full speed without any issues I can notice.  The midway 53hz games don't run full speed, but nearly everything else is perfect.  Pretty sure an i-pac will run on the RPi perfectly without any configuration.

If you've resolved to using an LCD, the raspberry pi is not a bad choice.

The board Maximus mentioned would run iMAME4All reloaded (0.139 romset) full speed, no problems whatsoever, almost certainly.

[TheShaner]

Raspberry Pi is basically the worst possible solution you could come up with for a game cabinet, it is underpowered and requires a crap ton of adapters to even be used.

Here is the secret about good results with the common 60 in 1 board. Turn off all the 8-way games. The majority of the games on the board are 4-way or 2-way anyway, and those 8-way games happen to have almost all the serious sound and emulation problems that people always complain about.

If you absolutely need PC hardware and a small form factor I have found that Pentium 2 and Pentium 3 tablets can be had for under $100, and are small enough to slip into a bartop easily. Just make sure the model you get has VGA out (all the ones I have owned had that, but it never hurts to check).

Underpowered compared to what?  Remember, the title of this thread is comparing this to a jamma board.  Those things cant have much power to them.   I understand we can get cheap PC's etc, but that is not the point here.  I want to run about 50 games of my choice on a newer .   Im trying to find another solution other than these crappy Jamma boards.  I dont mind an adapter or two if it gives me a better experience than the Jamma.

With that said, this is exactly what I had hoped would happen.  Opinionated conversations and debate from both sides on the subject! 

[Maximus]

My gear should appear some time next week so it will be fun to play with.  Also the other advantages of android and a wifi enabled 8gb platform will be interesting to explore.

[DHTech]

I've run PiMame with some classic games on my Pi Model B without issue, it's a great cheap little computer and capable of running a lot of games. it doesn't have a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- load of adapters to make it run, that is a very ill-informed opinion.
For £30 it's an inexpensive option to run classic games and really easy to setup, has hdmi, usb and Ethernet and runs from SD card which are easy to swap about.

[Sjaak]

Just wondering, does an IPac also work on a RP or an android stick?

[TheShaner]

I cant vouch for the stick, but I have read the ipac will work.  Its just an encoder.

[Maximus]

I imagine any usb encoder that replicates a keyboard will work ok.  I went with the ZD purely to keep the cost of experimenting down for now.

[Rigby]

I imagine any usb encoder that replicates a keyboard will work ok.  I went with the ZD purely to keep the cost of experimenting down for now.

Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago, is correct.

[mcseforsale]

AJ

[BobA]

Ben Heck put a Raspberry Pi in a handheld game case for some good MAME action. Should be easy to put it in a mini arcade or mini cocktail. Pi in a Game case

[DHTech]

Raspberry Pi works fine with an iPac2
You can overclock the Pi up to 1Ghz, although shortens the life.

[404]

So, I am doing a cocktail cabinet.  Maybe even a couple.  I have a 60 in 1 on order and that will do fine although I am a little disappointed that the mame version on these is old, that I cannot add more games, and the sound on a few games is junk.

With that said, I started digging for a programmable jamma to see if I could control the games I wanted on them and possibly update the mame version to something at least even remotely current.  No dice.  Those things are almost $300 and hard to find.

So now I am looking at RP.  It seems like it is a decent solution.  I have spent some time digging through threads and have seen that a lot of people consider it a little underpowered and premature.  Here is my question though... If you are simply comparing it to a 60 in 1 jamma, how does it fare?  It seems like it should be comprable as far as processing power goes.  If I am just planning on using it for a select number of games, mostly old school verticals and maybe a few horizontal games like asteroids and defender, wouldnt it be a better solution than the 60 in 1 since the mame version is a little more current and you can better control what goes on there?

If you absolutely must pick either one of the two, I would pick a Pi. The Pi, while grossly underpowered can play a hell of a lot more games than just 60 and there are dedicated emulation distros like PiMame that have tons of tools already packed together for you.

As others have mentioned here however, I would prefer to stick with a pentium 4 era box you can probably find for free or dirt cheap. It would emulate much more games than a pi and would only require only a  bit more time on the setup.

Then again, you mentioned just one or the other.

I'm also interested in this conversation from an OS standpoint. Those of you running x86 chips are you running windows or do you have a much more dedicated software solution?

Also what about the Android 'stick' computers, they are shipping with 2gb of ram, quad core processors, mini usb and SD cards for under $100

In my opinion, I still think that while linux would give users a more fluid and realistic look in terms of bootup and start times, nothing can beat windows in terms of user friendliness and most importantly, drivers.

I wanted to grab one of the Android sticks for media center ideas too so I'll throw it all in the same bucket of testing.

I'm going to play with a Tronsmart MK908 Quad Core 2GB/8GB set up and see what it's like.

Tronsmart MK908 - $90
Mini-HDMI to VGA adapter - $10
ZD USB Keyboard encoder & wiring- $20

added the extras to the list so we can call it a real alternative for a MAME/CAB set up.

To mirror comments already covered here, an easy-on, non-windows solution, fanless and small but also with the ability to add your own games is really interesting. At the moment the quad core sticks are more expensive at around $90 but they will fall quickly in price so you could consider them more viable in a few months.

Currently a 60 game board with a decent Jamma Harness will cost you approx $75 shipped anyway

The problem with those android and ARM based sticks is that while mame isn't necessarily optimized for a single cpu architecture, mame really isn't optimized for ARM processors.

Not to mentionandroid from a dedicated arcade perspective would require quite a few teaks just to make it look decent. You would not only have to tinker with Android in order to bypass the lockscreen, launcher etc. You would also have to worry about a frontend that would work and look fine on your cab.

[Maximus]

The front end is definitely the weak point at the moment for sure. As for the launching and startup tgat is easy enough. Ill be interesred to see what kind of performance we get from the 1.6Ghz quad chip as you are right about the code optimizations. 

Although also remember we are looking for something simply more versatile than the 60-in-1 solutions at a similar price point.

[Maximus]

Also unless you are planning to run linux on an x86 setup lets please not pretend Windows is free when we are trying to do like for like comparisons. Even an OEM copy of XP runs $120 so its a significant cost that shouldn't be ignored in a shootout

[paigeoliver]

Also unless you are planning to run linux on an x86 setup lets please not pretend Windows is free when we are trying to do like for like comparisons. Even an OEM copy of XP runs $120 so its a significant cost that shouldn't be ignored in a shootout

If you are trying to compete with the Pi then you don't need windows at all, FreeDos or a dos start disc will more than handle it since dosmame was developed for a hell of a lot longer than the 1998 era mame that was ported to the pi.

Also, basically every complete system sold in America comes with windows preloaded. An OEM copy of XP might cost $120, however you can purchase good used windows XP computers for well under $100. I spent all of 60 seconds browsing craigslist and I found XP systems cheaper than a pi that can run 95 percent of the mame catalog at full speed.

If you really think the Pi is good for mame then you are deluding yourself. I get tons of crap here for suggesting that mame .55 is a good emulator, while the mame .35 mame 4 all the pi runs is about 20 releases earlier than that.

[Maximus]

That's good to know I'm definitely interested in anything that can get rid of the Windows resource hogging monster

[DHTech]

If you really think the Pi is good for mame then you are deluding yourself. I get tons of crap here for suggesting that mame .55 is a good emulator, while the mame .35 mame 4 all the pi runs is about 20 releases earlier than that.

I don't think anybody is deluding themselves, the Pi can happily run the early arcade games, if those are what you're interested in then the Pi is ideal, I can certainly run more than the 20 games you suggest! The Pi may not be for you but please don’t trash something you obviously know little about.

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

My gear should appear some time next week so it will be fun to play with.  Also the other advantages of android and a wifi enabled 8gb platform will be interesting to explore.

You shouldn't have any trouble. My buddy just got the MK908 last week, and it's rather stunning for these mini purposes. The plethora of cables take up more space than the actual unit!  I've been planning on getting one and doing a review for BYOAC for a month now, but Real Life got in the way! 

That said, my old-by-Android-standards Transformer TF101 (dual-core 1.0Ghz) can run just about everything in Mame4Droid Reloaded and runs everything else that's available in RetroArch - including PS1 games. The general rule of thumb I'm finding is this; if it has been emulated "properly" in Windows, and the Android port is good, you don't need a tremendous amount of raw Ghz to run any particular game.

What's really intriguing to me is that they've just recently got full-blown Ubuntu running on sticks with the same chipset: http://liliputing.com/2013/06/ubuntu-up-and-running-on-android-min-pcs-with-rk3188-chips.html

I'd LOVE to see how it handles with a full OS, with a fully featured version of Mame, and a graphical frontend running. (Cabrio maybe? ... I've only recently started dabbling in Linux.)

[404]

Also unless you are planning to run linux on an x86 setup lets please not pretend Windows is free when we are trying to do like for like comparisons. Even an OEM copy of XP runs $120 so its a significant cost that shouldn't be ignored in a shootout

If you are trying to compete with the Pi then you don't need windows at all, FreeDos or a dos start disc will more than handle it since dosmame was developed for a hell of a lot longer than the 1998 era mame that was ported to the pi.

Also, basically every complete system sold in America comes with windows preloaded. An OEM copy of XP might cost $120, however you can purchase good used windows XP computers for well under $100. I spent all of 60 seconds browsing craigslist and I found XP systems cheaper than a pi that can run 95 percent of the mame catalog at full speed.

If you really think the Pi is good for mame then you are deluding yourself. I get tons of crap here for suggesting that mame .55 is a good emulator, while the mame .35 mame 4 all the pi runs is about 20 releases earlier than that.

Have to agree with paigeoliver here on both parts.

It's difficult to grasp why anyone would opt for a pi as opposed to an old DOS compatible pc and simply use that to run advancemame and advancemenu as their frontend.

Same goes for your modern day PC. most of all of them contain an OEM copy of windows.

You shouldn't have any trouble. My buddy just got the MK908 last week, and it's rather stunning for these mini purposes. The plethora of cables take up more space than the actual unit!  I've been planning on getting one and doing a review for BYOAC for a month now, but Real Life got in the way! 

That said, my old-by-Android-standards Transformer TF101 (dual-core 1.0Ghz) can run just about everything in Mame4Droid Reloaded and runs everything else that's available in RetroArch - including PS1 games. The general rule of thumb I'm finding is this; if it has been emulated "properly" in Windows, and the Android port is good, you don't need a tremendous amount of raw Ghz to run any particular game.

What's really intriguing to me is that they've just recently got full-blown Ubuntu running on sticks with the same chipset: http://liliputing.com/2013/06/ubuntu-up-and-running-on-android-min-pcs-with-rk3188-chips.html

I'd LOVE to see how it handles with a full OS, with a fully featured version of Mame, and a graphical frontend running. (Cabrio maybe? ... I've only recently started dabbling in Linux.)

Linux and android aren't equals when it comes to emulation. Commercial android solutions has quite a number of advantages including better driver support, JIT and much more. Difficult to compare Android on a commercial rig as opposed to generally vanilla linux builds.

[paigeoliver]

I didn't suggest it only ran 20 games. I mentioned that the mame version that is used on the pi was 20 versions early than the antiquated version that is considered by some to be the first really good version. Pi runs mame 4 all, which is based on the 1999 era mame code, back when things were still pretty dicey and a lot of major titles still had major bugs.

Your two choices for video are composite, which lets face it, is awful, or HDMI, which pretty much ties you down to a widescreen display that is the incorrect aspect ratio.

If you really think the Pi is good for mame then you are deluding yourself. I get tons of crap here for suggesting that mame .55 is a good emulator, while the mame .35 mame 4 all the pi runs is about 20 releases earlier than that.

I don't think anybody is deluding themselves, the Pi can happily run the early arcade games, if those are what you're interested in then the Pi is ideal, I can certainly run more than the 20 games you suggest! The Pi may not be for you but please don’t trash something you obviously know little about.

[Chris John Hunter]

I think its harsh to slam a one board pc that costs just £30. That runs Mame and plenty of retro fun to be had. Raspberry Pi will soon be able to run Ice Cream Sandwich which has numerous builds of Mame. You could write your own front end and forego all the flash bang wallop of numpty ones like Hyperspin. It just has to be a easy to navigate menu. Anyone who thinks Mame needs a powerful pc your joking right? I'm using WinXP, Onboard GFX and sound with 512mb ram.You can write your own FE which is part of the point of Raspberry Pi
  -it was invented so British kids could learn to program in schools. Not to run Killer Instinct. It runs great when your working with a smaller monitor. A friend recently did a mini machine with a digital photo frame. Agree with DHTech. paigeoliver Your talking cobblers mate.
Check this out http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/tag/mame

If you want to play 'Classics' (60-1 range) no issues. And as it is Android based, you can use any controller setup you like. I would also like to point out, it is likely there will be a commercial edition released this year or next that will be used to fund the project further . That edition I would image to have 1GB onboard and if so, will be ideal.

Your only ever going to be running one game at a time! Its got HD video playback capacity.That guy has a full cab running off it. Only consideration is storage, and you have it. It doesn't have the overheads of running Windows bloatware either.

CJ

[shponglefan]

I think of one thing which is missing in this conversation is that there are different solutions for different situations.  There is no one single perfect be-all-and-end-all MAME solution.

For example, people have tossed out the idea of older pentiums.  But those have drawbacks such as increased power consumption, heat, size, incompatibility with newer storage devices, larger footprint, and so on.

On the other hand the Pi, while not the most advanced kid on the block is tiny, no moving parts, no heat issues, low power consumption.

It really comes down to what is more important to the person in question doing the build.  In the case of the OP, he specifically mentioned no moving parts.  So that mostly rules out an old P4.

[DHTech]

Your two choices for video are composite, which lets face it, is awful, or HDMI, which pretty much ties you down to a widescreen display that is the incorrect aspect ratio.

This is incorrect, I am running a 4:3 display with and HDMI to DVI adapter, you can also get HDMI to VGA adapters, they only cost about $5

[BobA]

Sure there are OLD tried and true ways of getting mame and other emulators to run but it is nice to see new ways of doing it without the overhead of atx power supplies and fans.   Love to see new way of doing a 100 in 1 board that does not cost alot of coin and is eco friendly.   The small form factor and the minimum power requirements will probably make some nice compact cabs.

[sharpfork]

This is incorrect, I am running a 4:3 display with and HDMI to DVI adapter, you can also get HDMI to VGA adapters, they only cost about $5

I had discounted the raspi as an option partially due to limited video options and reports of sound issues.  Can you tell us more about your setup?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[DHTech]

This is incorrect, I am running a 4:3 display with and HDMI to DVI adapter, you can also get HDMI to VGA adapters, they only cost about $5

I had discounted the raspi as an option partially due to limited video options and reports of sound issues.  Can you tell us more about your setup?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

My original idea was to run a Pi as I only wanted to run games such as Defender, PacMan, Zaxxon, Contra and the likes, so the early 80s arcade games, these the Pi runs with out any issues. The Pi is connected to a 4:3 Viewsonic monitor via a DVi adapter the audio is run into a small 12v auto amp and connected to some small 4" car speakers, control is via an iPac2. I'm running the lastest version of PiMame, which includes AdvanceMame, GNGeo, pcsx-reARmed and SNES9x all installed on an easily swappable SD card. The Pi I have overclocked from it's standard 700mhz to 800mhz, you can take them up to 1ghz but this shortens the lifetime. All roms are transferred to the Pi via ftp.

Pros:
Low Power
Completely Silent
Swappable SD cards
Very easy to set up
Cheap to buy
Easy overclocked

Cons:
Wont run the more processor intensive games
Limited front end
Older version of Mame
Limited on available emulators

I'm sure other will point out may more pros and cons, but those are just a few that come to mind.

[Haze]

My original idea was to run a Pi as I only wanted to run games such as Defender, PacMan, Zaxxon, Contra and the likes, so the early 80s arcade games, these the Pi runs with out any issues.

with incorrect blitter speed emulation and wrong slowdowns because the emulators are based on such old versions.

[TheShaner]

I think I may order a BeagleBone to do some testing. It is another option if a little more power is needed.  http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/45-beaglebone-black-is-another-raspberry-pi-rival/ .  For about $15 bucks more than the pi, you get 2g onboard storage, and a faster processor.  I have seen at least one MAME port built for it. 

[sharpfork]

I think I may order a BeagleBone to do some testing. It is another option if a little more power is needed.  http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/45-beaglebone-black-is-another-raspberry-pi-rival/ .  For about $15 bucks more than the pi, you get 2g onboard storage, and a faster processor.  I have seen at least one MAME port built for it.

In the space of cheapo android/linux boards, I like this one best for price/ performance.  Make sure you get the newer black version instead of the older version.  The Cubie board looks pretty nice too.

What kind of frontend are you thinking about using?

[TheShaner]

Yep, definitely getting the black version.  Not sure on the front end yet.  I suppose it depends on exactly how I end up configuring the device.

[shponglefan]

Your two choices for video are composite, which lets face it, is awful, or HDMI, which pretty much ties you down to a widescreen display that is the incorrect aspect ratio.

Um, you can get LCD monitors which are non-widescreen.

[Rigby]

Um, you can get LCD monitors w/ 4:3 ratios.

Really?  Most of the ones I find are 5:4, which is not quite the same, but acceptable.  1280x1024 monitors are becoming harder and harder to come by nowadays, though.

[TheShaner]

Ok, well, I have a BeagleBone Black on order now which will get here sometime next week.  We will see how it fares.  I've never touched linux before, so it will be interesting to see whats involved.  Might be a good opportunity to do a noob guide.

[shponglefan]

Um, you can get LCD monitors w/ 4:3 ratios.

Really?  Most of the ones I find are 5:4, which is not quite the same, but acceptable.  1280x1024 monitors are becoming harder and harder to come by nowadays, though.

Oops, you are correct.  I've amended my post.

[kahlid74]

Late to the party I know, but as an early adopter of the RaspberryPi it's a great computer for certain use cases.  It's not a great computer for a 1to1 MAME emulator as has already been discussed.  Further more stuff like the BeagleBone are better than the Pi for automation but I have uses for my Pi's.  I currently use one as a PH/ORD chemical guage for my pool.  The Pi Sits in a 3D printed box in my garage and is on the network.  I can get to the web page to view the PH and chlorine levels and it also sends alerts when I go out of the threshold for either.  The other Pi i use with a PiFace to control my furnace/AC.  It too is networked and utilizes schedules of when to heat/cool the house.  I can also control it via secure access while away from home in case I need to.

So yeah, you're going with the BeagleBone, which IMO would be a better choice than the Pi.  So you're all good.

[mcseforsale]

Can you explain in more detail the PH/ORD chemical guage setup?  A bit OT, but it sounds interesting..

AJ

Late to the party I know, but as an early adopter of the RaspberryPi it's a great computer for certain use cases.  It's not a great computer for a 1to1 MAME emulator as has already been discussed.  Further more stuff like the BeagleBone are better than the Pi for automation but I have uses for my Pi's.  I currently use one as a PH/ORD chemical guage for my pool.  The Pi Sits in a 3D printed box in my garage and is on the network.  I can get to the web page to view the PH and chlorine levels and it also sends alerts when I go out of the threshold for either.  The other Pi i use with a PiFace to control my furnace/AC.  It too is networked and utilizes schedules of when to heat/cool the house.  I can also control it via secure access while away from home in case I need to.

So yeah, you're going with the BeagleBone, which IMO would be a better choice than the Pi.  So you're all good.

[DHTech]

I've read that the BeagleBone has microHDMI output with limited resolution.

Currently the following resolutions are supported via the software:

 1280 x 1024

 1440 x 900

 1024 x 768

 1280 x 720

Saw this in a review:
Sadly, the HDMI output can’t compete with the Pi: video output is limited to 1,440×900 resolution at best, or 1,280×720 with audio. Compatibility, too, is poor: the official support channels show complaints that the HDMI output simply doesn’t work with some TVs and monitors, an issue we ran in to during testing of our review unit.

Worse still is an issue of quality control: the tiny micro-HDMI connector is located on the edge of the board, and is easily damaged – even at the factory. With UK supplies selling out quickly, there can be a considerable wait for a replacement.

[Rigby]

I've read that the BeagleBone has microHDMI output with limited resolution.

True.  The BBB supports what the chipset supports, and the chipset is limited.  The BBB would not be a good XBMC device.

If you can live with that limitation, though, it's a faster processor.

The next class up (two classes up?) has the very nice ODROID-X2 board which is full HDMI and supports Android and has a quad core 1.7GHz CPU.  Even modern MAME/MESS would run acceptably on this thing, I'm betting.  iMAME4ALL Reloaded would likely be excellent, since it supports OpenGL ES under Android.

[Chris John Hunter]

"

I think of one thing which is missing in this conversation is that there are different solutions for different situations.  There is no one single perfect be-all-and-end-all MAME solution.


For example, people have tossed out the idea of older pentiums.  But those have drawbacks such as increased power consumption, heat, size, incompatibility with newer storage devices, larger footprint, and so on.


On the other hand the Pi, while not the most advanced kid on the block is tiny, no moving parts, no heat issues, low power consumption.


It really comes down to what is more important to the person in question doing the build.  In the case of the OP, he specifically mentioned no moving parts.  So that mostly rules out an old P4. "

Exactly the point!
I agree with 90% of whats been said today. Common Sense chaps.

Horses for courses. Each to their own. I agree with BOB as well on this one. At some point some nifty compact cabs are going to come about because of these boards. I wonder what could be done if someone developed a one board pc specifically for this kind of setup, Mame and oldschool I mean.

[BobA]

Here is part 2 of Ben Heck putting the raspberry pi in a hand held game console.

Part 2

[Chris John Hunter]

Here is part 2 of Ben Heck putting the raspberry pi in a hand held game console.

Part 2

That's cool as ---fudgesicle--- and things will only get better with better versions of these boards appearing.


 

[TheShaner]

Here is part 2 of Ben Heck putting the raspberry pi in a hand held game console.

Part 2

That was really kick ass.  It really will be neat to see what these smaller form computers end up turning into as people jack with them.

[Maximus]

The android stick is due to arrive today.  The other bits may take a little longer.  Not sure exactly what the best use case is for this rig but it will be fun to hack together.

[Rigby]

Here is part 2 of Ben Heck putting the raspberry pi in a hand held game console.

Part 2

The RPi Model A would have been better choice since it's thinner and uses less juice.  The single-chip USB hub and Ethernet controller sucks down lots of electricity and is the hottest part on the board.  He also could have done the wiring without using the Teensy using the RPi GPIO, and while GPIO scanning is a slightly CPU-intensive method, it won't use as much power as the teensy.

But, all that said it is a great build and looks slick.  I wish they made IPS LCDs that size.  The LCD he used looked like a TN panel which are just rubbish.  I'd buy it anyway.

[Maximus]

Opened the box to some good old Engrish

[Maximus]

Tiny with a nice compliment of cables and adapters

[Chris John Hunter]

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what a RPI can do, if you don't want the world

Its a shame it doesn't say MADE IN ENGLAND
but then we don't make our own gadgets anymore.

[Maximus]

Dug up these bits that should go well with the stick. 4000mah rechargable pack and a bluetooth keyboard mouse combo

[ahofle]

Forget about a P3 or P4, I picked up a refurb Dell small form factor/pizza-box Core2Duo from newegg for $149 shipped a few weeks ago, including win7 home premium.  They are on there all the time.  More than enough power for even many modern games.  If "moving parts" are that much of an issue, get an SSD, although that seems like a waste of money.

[TheShaner]

Forget about a P3 or P4, I picked up a refurb Dell small form factor/pizza-box Core2Duo from newegg for $149 shipped a few weeks ago, including win7 home premium.  They are on there all the time.  More than enough power for even many modern games.  If "moving parts" are that much of an issue, get an SSD, although that seems like a waste of money.

I have a huge cab that plays pretty much every game, I don't need another.  I am trying to do something very specific here, and other than one vent fan, I am trying to avoid all moving parts.  I am assuming your Dell has fan or two in it.  It is also a lot bigger than I want.

I think it is funny how many people keep posting "Get a P4" or other full size PC's.  Is the title of the post unclear?

MaxiGriff - What OS is gonna run on that stick?  Are you going to try and do a mini build with it?

[twistedsymphony]

Your two choices for video are composite, which lets face it, is awful, or HDMI, which pretty much ties you down to a widescreen display that is the incorrect aspect ratio.

This is incorrect, I am running a 4:3 display with and HDMI to DVI adapter, you can also get HDMI to VGA adapters, they only cost about $5

IMO a VGA adapter is just as useless as HDMI for a MAME cab... I'd love to run one of these PCs in a MAME cab but for me using a real arcade monitor is a must... for that you'd have to run something like Soft15... which a VGA adapter wouldn't exactly support.

otherwise you're looking at HDMI to a VGA adapter and then through something like an iPAC... which at the end of the day would blow out any cost savings you might have had... not to mention the potential for introducing lag.

[Vigo]

MaxiGriff - What OS is gonna run on that stick?  Are you going to try and do a mini build with it?

I'm also looking forward to see what you do with that little android stick. 

I have been toying with the idea of making a little mini kiosk/coffee table thing for the wife by hooking something like that up to a touchscreen monitor. It would be a jukebox and a sort of multitouch game system. Thing is I have no clue if an on market touch screen would be compatible with an android hdmi device.

[Maximus]

MaxiGriff - What OS is gonna run on that stick?  Are you going to try and do a mini build with it?

Currently just flashed it to the Finless 1.5 custom ROM (Jellybean 4.2) with native 1080p kernel. I'm actually playing with it in work as an option for a cheap thin client to connect to our VMWare remote desktops at the moment, still just making sure it has a solid android base with everything working properly before I start trying to do other things with it.

It's nice that it runs off of 5v as it means it's a plug and play rechargable/portable solution. Also has wifi and bluetooth built in already, lets see your craigslist P4 come with all of those features. Another great bonus was I plugged a Rocketfish ethernet-USB adapter into it and it connected to our network instantly.

[yotsuya]

I'm just waiting for Shanghaiguide to finish the OpenJAMMA board. Problem solved.

[Chris John Hunter]

Here we go! Check this out!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pimoroni/picade-the-arcade-cabinet-kit-for-your-raspberry-p

[paigeoliver]

I'm just waiting for Shanghaiguide to finish the OpenJAMMA board. Problem solved.

Doesn't what he is trying to make already exist? That second board with the Jamma connector on it in the PC based 2 board stacks that make up the 1xxx in 1 and 2xxx in one boards seem to already be that.

[ahofle]

Forget about a P3 or P4, I picked up a refurb Dell small form factor/pizza-box Core2Duo from newegg for $149 shipped a few weeks ago, including win7 home premium.  They are on there all the time.  More than enough power for even many modern games.  If "moving parts" are that much of an issue, get an SSD, although that seems like a waste of money.

I have a huge cab that plays pretty much every game, I don't need another.  I am trying to do something very specific here, and other than one vent fan, I am trying to avoid all moving parts.  I am assuming your Dell has fan or two in it.  It is also a lot bigger than I want.

I think it is funny how many people keep posting "Get a P4" or other full size PC's.  Is the title of the post unclear?

Your original post said 'I am doing a cocktail cabinet' and listed two options for running MAME, both of which had drawbacks.  The small form factor PC I suggested is tiny compared to a normal case, very inexpensive, is very quiet, and eliminates the need to only run a few old 80s games which is why I suggested it as an option.  If your primary goal is a good cocktail computer it is worth considering...if your only goal is zero moving parts then not so much.

[Maximus]

So far I'm not very impressed with Mame4all. Donkey Kong struggles to maintain a steady 100% emulation speed on this quad core stick running Jellybean 4.2. Obviously this shows where the code is no where near optimized for the ARM architecture.

[paigeoliver]

You can grab an older passively cooled mobile based x86 system and boot off something solid state, either a USB stick or an SSD and still get no moving parts on PC hardware. An old windows based tablet would be ideal as it would cost about the same as a Pi, except be dozens of times more useful. and wouldn't take up much more room once you factor in all those cables and adapters I see sticking out of every pi setup.

Forget about a P3 or P4, I picked up a refurb Dell small form factor/pizza-box Core2Duo from newegg for $149 shipped a few weeks ago, including win7 home premium.  They are on there all the time.  More than enough power for even many modern games.  If "moving parts" are that much of an issue, get an SSD, although that seems like a waste of money.

I have a huge cab that plays pretty much every game, I don't need another.  I am trying to do something very specific here, and other than one vent fan, I am trying to avoid all moving parts.  I am assuming your Dell has fan or two in it.  It is also a lot bigger than I want.

I think it is funny how many people keep posting "Get a P4" or other full size PC's.  Is the title of the post unclear?

Your original post said 'I am doing a cocktail cabinet' and listed two options for running MAME, both of which had drawbacks.  The small form factor PC I suggested is tiny compared to a normal case, very inexpensive, is very quiet, and eliminates the need to only run a few old 80s games which is why I suggested it as an option.  If your primary goal is a good cocktail computer it is worth considering...if your only goal is zero moving parts then not so much.

[Maximus]

You can grab an older passively cooled mobile based x86 system and boot off something solid state, either a USB stick or an SSD

I like the idea but seriously doubt you'd be able to boot from a USB stick on these devices. I use MBR hacked USB sticks to boot and image boxes/servers on a daily basis and see many motherboards as new as 3 years old that cannot boot from these devices.

[paigeoliver]

Well a quick check on google shopping shows that you can get a 64GB SSD for $14. That is cheaper than an 8 GB USB stick at Walgreens.

[JDFan]

Well a quick check on google shopping shows that you can get a 64GB SSD for $14. That is cheaper than an 8 GB USB stick at Walgreens.

Yep - but as is par for Google shopping when you click on the compuvest link it goes to a 1gb DDR800 ram module for that price not an ssd drive !! (same as the $21, the $25 etc. !! )

[mcseforsale]

Enough with the leg-lifting contest and let's get back to the OT.  So, more info on the devices at hand.   

AJ

[CoryBee]

Just ordered one of these for my laptop. Can't beat 18 monies for an ssd big enough for an operating system and a few vital programs.

EBAY

[mcseforsale]

That thing's gonna boot dog-ass slow.

YMMV

AJ

Just ordered one of these for my laptop. Can't beat 18 monies for an ssd big enough for an operating system and a few vital programs.

EBAY

[CoryBee]

why?

[Vigo]

why?

Simply because the read speed is slower than a regular HDD, and bootup is a demanding time.

I don't think it should be too bad. I used something similiar on my SNES mod.


http://dx.com/p/sdhc-sd-card-to-sata-solid-state-hard-drive-22597

It only gets 10mb/sec, and boots as fast as any other XP machine. The little guy Cory got looks to be 6mb/sec, but for the price maybe adding another 30 seconds to the boot time isn't too bad of a deal.

[twistedsymphony]

I always thought one of the big selling points of SSDs was FASTER boot times because there no time cost for accessing the data? 

[paigeoliver]

I always thought one of the big selling points of SSDs was FASTER boot times because there no time cost for accessing the data? 

I have an SSD in my 5 year old system and it is about 5 or 6 seconds from the boot menu (where I pick Vista or 7) to the fully loaded desktop.

[Vigo]

Well, there is a major difference between a real SSD and these kind of mini SSDs. These guys pretty much are SD cards with a SATA port. A real SSD will rank a read speed probably around 100-500mb/sec. These little guys are 5-10 mb/sec.

And yeah, they don't have to "spin-up", so the initial read speed is always quicker on a SSD.

[Maximus]

All SSDs are not the same. Access speeds differ vastly and you have to see if they are optimized for fast random reads (lots of little files) or fast long read (transfer of large files) same goes for SD Cards.  You want fast random reads for OS boot with as many gb/sec as you can afford.

The drive you pictured is 6gb/sec not mb it will be good and fast enough

[Vigo]

The drive you pictured is 6gb/sec not mb it will be good and fast enough

Oops! Massive read fail.

Yeah, that thing is gonna cruise.   

[sharpfork]

Well a quick check on google shopping shows that you can get a 64GB SSD for $14. That is cheaper than an 8 GB USB stick at Walgreens.

I searched google and ebay and was not able to find a 64GB SSD for $14.  I want to convert one to IDE100 for a Coinops OG/original xBox so please provide sources for this price if they can be found. 

While we are going off on an SSD tangent under the "no moving parts" idea of the OP... I made a nice little 8gig IDE SSD out of a the 8GB version of this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313224 + something like this http://dx.com/p/compactflash-cf-card-to-ide-hard-disk-adapter-card-ide-40-10309 .   I get about 40 MB/s read on it and it boots an xBox to emu game selection in ~10 seconds.
I have a SATA SSD in my MAME PC and it boots to windows 7 in about the same time.

[TheShaner]

While I can appreciate the input on different means of creating a solid state cabinet, I think the point of this thread keeps getting missed by a few.  Yes I know we can achieve much better results by putting a pc in a cab, and can even get to the point that we are 95% solid state (you have to have an exhaust fan somewhere), we are talking about reinventing the jamma board here.  A single board blug and play MAME solution.

There is an obvious allure to the Jamma board.  Slap it into the cab, wire it up and the cab functions.  The problem is, the emulation is terrible, the games are limited, and you cannot modify the interface.  With that said, I am trying to find a better solution.  While most of us hobbyests wont use something like this, I have need for something like this for a friends cab I am building, I bet there are a lot of others that would go jamma that would benefit from this.   There will obviously need to be an iPac involved, but with the right board, and a well tweaked load, this could be a very viable solution to a 100 in 1 cab or so that just plays older games like the Jamma.

The BB comes in tomorrow or Tuesday.  I post when it does.

[kahlid74]

While I can appreciate the input on different means of creating a solid state cabinet, I think the point of this thread keeps getting missed by a few.  Yes I know we can achieve much better results by putting a pc in a cab, and can even get to the point that we are 95% solid state (you have to have an exhaust fan somewhere), we are talking about reinventing the jamma board here.  A single board blug and play MAME solution.

There is an obvious allure to the Jamma board.  Slap it into the cab, wire it up and the cab functions.  The problem is, the emulation is terrible, the games are limited, and you cannot modify the interface.  With that said, I am trying to find a better solution.  While most of us hobbyests wont use something like this, I have need for something like this for a friends cab I am building, I bet there are a lot of others that would go jamma that would benefit from this.   There will obviously need to be an iPac involved, but with the right board, and a well tweaked load, this could be a very viable solution to a 100 in 1 cab or so that just plays older games like the Jamma.

The BB comes in tomorrow or Tuesday.  I post when it does.

There are some nice mini intel/AMD ITX systems with no moving parts that would fill this void well.  Price would be a little higher than the RaspberryPi but would still work well IMO.

[TheShaner]

There are some nice mini intel/AMD ITX systems with no moving parts that would fill this void well.  Price would be a little higher than the RaspberryPi but would still work well IMO.

Funny you mention that, I am spec'ing out a media center right now with an ITX motherboard and case.  Gonna do something similar to the LifeHacker article that was out last August.  I have a rooted AppleTV delivering all of my content from an NAS drive, but it chokes on some of the larger content.  Plus with this setup, I will be able to launch some games and other programs from the box too.  Those ITX form factors are nice and small, easy to hide. 

[Maximus]

Also for delivering locally stored content check out Plex.  It's the best media solution I've used and has apps on all the major platforms including Roku.

[TheShaner]

Yes, I have messed with Plex, but unless something has changed since I gave it a go a couple of years back, it requires a computer to be on to act as a server.  I like being able to just hang a drive out on the network and letting the device (currently the ATV) stream from it.

[Maximus]

Gotcha. Yeah you still need to have a PC running the server.  I keep one on downstairs all the time also running rss feeds for torrents of TV shows. When they download they dump straight into the Plex folder and show up on the apps automatically, very wife friendly.  I even have my mum in the UK streaming my Plex server to her tablet so she can watch our movies and shows easily.

[Rigby]

Media Center is something the Raspberry Pi does very well.  I'm not a fan of the XBMC GUI but as a media player, the Raspberry Pi is excellent.

Not all file formats & codecs are supported, but I haven't yet thrown anything at it that it could not play.  (I don't have any WMV files, for example.)

[TheShaner]

Media Center is something the Raspberry Pi does very well.  I'm not a fan of the XBMC GUI but as a media player, the Raspberry Pi is excellent.

Not all file formats & codecs are supported, but I haven't yet thrown anything at it that it could not play.  (I don't have any WMV files, for example.)

To each their own I suppose.  I have been using XBMC for years and find it to be my preferred option.  The range of codec support, ability to customize the hell out of it, as well as the ability to launch applications (I plan on putting MAME and a few other games on my media center) really seal the deal for me.  One menu to rule them all!

[Rigby]

I was speaking of XBMC, and while I don't like the UI, it is an excellent media player.

[TheShaner]

Have you tried any other skins?  It is completely customizable, and not just from a visual standpoint.  A lot of the skins completely change how it flows.

[DHTech]

The Pi as an XBMC player is good, but a word of advice, only use the default skin, the processor is not up to any of the other skins, makes it painfully slow to use.

[TheShaner]

Finally got the board in today.  I know these things are supposed to be small, but wow.  For some reason I didnt realize these and the Pi's were so damned tiny!  Very cool.  Gonna try to get a distro going later on today and hopefully some flavor of MAME if I can manage it, just to get a first impression.

[sharpfork]

Nice little board...

Is that a HDMI -> VGA conversion cable I see on your desk?  Do you plan on using it with the BBB?

I just got my OUYA yesterday to experiment with.  One test will be seeing if it can be the brain of a cab.

[Maximus]

Cool.

Been playing with RetroArch on Android and it's much better.  I pulled together nearly all of the 60 standard roms you'd find on the other boards to try and build a clone set up.

Now I have to see if I can launch roms via a script, that way I can piece together a simple front end.

[lordnacho]

Following.  I have a raspi that is acting as a paper weight.  Have tried a few ideas like xbmc and as a picture frame, but just not enough horsepower on it.
Installed pimame, but haven't tried it yet.

[404]

Cool.

Been playing with RetroArch on Android and it's much better.  I pulled together nearly all of the 60 standard roms you'd find on the other boards to try and build a clone set up.

Now I have to see if I can launch roms via a script, that way I can piece together a simple front end.

I haven't tinkered with android in a while but you would obviously need root and a working terminal emulator for this.  According to some quick searches i've seen, the android version is still using libretro with the cores seperate so there might be a way of using your own commands.

The rest of the subject would probably be better off for squarepusher to answer. You should ask him on the retroarch forums.

[Maximus]

All my bits have arrived now so if I get time tonight ill have a play

[Unstupid]

Just ordered one of these for my laptop. Can't beat 18 monies for an ssd big enough for an operating system and a few vital programs.

EBAY

Wow 18 monies for a 320 gb drive...  I paid 250 monies for a 256gb drive for one of my intel nuc's only 6 months back...  BTW these mSATA drives smoke most of the drives out there...  Crazy Fast!

[CoryBee]

Wow 18 monies for a 320 gb drive...  I paid 250 monies for a 256gb drive for one of my intel nuc's only 6 months back...  BTW these mSATA drives smoke most of the drives out there...  Crazy Fast!

Joking right?

It is a 32gb drive

 

But yea, from what I have heard they are pretty fast.

[Maximus]

Played with the Android gear tonight, made a short 4 min video of it but my internet connection is acting up so finding it hard to get it up to YouTube.

Anyhooo

Overall very very good. The Kade is super easy to flash between the different profiles that it comes with in the software. Android recognized PS3 controller, USB HID Joystick and HID Generic Keyboard profiles with no problems. I did have a small issue in RetroArch where I had mapped the Kade PS3 Dpad to the movement keys, it detected the pad properly in setup, but then when I ran Mame for some reason the movement didn't work. I think that's more a RetroArch issue rather than a Kade issue.

I'm working with the standard list of ROMS that you would see on your typical 60 game board and so far they all look great on the Android stick with nice crisp emulation and snappy input, a better emulation than the boards as the sound is better. Add to that the fact that you can add your choice of games AND RetroArch is a multi-platform emulator bundle and you have yourself something far more attractive than the generic 60 board. I've only tried one of the other emulation cores so far, the PSX one and it ran Crash Bandicoot: Warped and Parappa the Rapper very nicely from BIN files.

So far so good, now I have to work out that DPad mapping issue and work on some kind of front end, but overall this is far superior for a zero-moving-parts solution that could potentially run on rechargeable batteries, very attractive for a headless box, although admittidly it's more spendy than the 60 board.

Kade inc shipping $32
Android Stick - $50-$100 depending on choice of device and storage.
HDMI-VGA Adapter - $8

[BobA]

Great work so far.  Following your work closely. 60 in 1 need a good replacement and this looks great.

[Maximus]

Finally the video uploaded

[TheShaner]

Im sorry, I cant understand a word you are saying with that accent ... :-)

[CoryBee]

YEA!!! 

GO BACK TO ALL THOSE PLACES YOUR ACCENT CAME FROM!!!!

[Unstupid]

what that artifacts on the bottom of the screen when you playing games?

[Maximus]

what that artifacts on the bottom of the screen when you playing games?

what artifacts?

YEA!!! 

GO BACK TO ALL THOSE PLACES YOUR ACCENT CAME FROM!!!!

Im sorry, I cant understand a word you are saying with that accent ... :-)

Shut yer cock holsters

[jdbailey1206]

what that artifacts on the bottom of the screen when you playing games?

what artifacts?

YEA!!! 

GO BACK TO ALL THOSE PLACES YOUR ACCENT CAME FROM!!!!

Im sorry, I cant understand a word you are saying with that accent ... :-)

Shut yer cock holsters

[shponglefan]

what that artifacts on the bottom of the screen when you playing games?

My guess is MAME-related onscreen text.

[Maximus]

what that artifacts on the bottom of the screen when you playing games?

I think you are seeing the on-screen overlay for touchscreens, you can turn it off.

[jdbailey1206]

Maximus where did you pick up your video adapter from?

[Maximus]

Maximus where did you pick up your video adapter from?

found it on ebay $10

[Unstupid]

what that artifacts on the bottom of the screen when you playing games?

I think you are seeing the on-screen overlay for touchscreens, you can turn it off.

@ 2:00 right when you move Mario there is some yellow things right where he is at the bottom of the screen... Is that the touchscreen text?

[Maximus]

That's the emulator registering the input controller

[degenatrons]

Finally the video uploaded

Cheers for the video

I made some progress with launching into MAME directly by building a modded RetroArch .APK . I posted info here.  Potential for this as a viable alternative to those ?-in-1 boards. 

[Maximus]

Yup just responded, very exciting!

[TheShaner]

How are you breaking the audio out of your stick Griff?  Is yours an hdmi out?

[DeLuSioNal29]

Looks like he has a stereo 1/8" jack coming out of the HDMI adapter (not connected to anything at the moment as Griff states in the video).

D

[jdbailey1206]

Maximus bought one of these bad boys.  http://www.amazon.com/Conversion-Converter-Adapter-Laptop-Projector/dp/B00DNT2JJA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372848682&sr=8-2&keywords=JMT+Mini+HDMI+To+VGA+with+Audio

[degenatrons]

Wow!  Those mini HDMI to VGA converters looky nice, and no external power needed!  I just ordered one for £6.50 on ebay    Had paid £35 a few months back for a powered one 

[TheShaner]

Awesome, I was having a hard time finding one of these, thanks!

[Maximus]

Yep that's the one. Haven't tested audio yet but vga works just fine

[Unstupid]

Does the Pi have a HDMI or MiniHDMI connector?

[DHTech]

Full size HDMI

[Unstupid]

I have these ones that I have used to connect a intel nuc to a VGA and audio amplifier... and both work fine... not sure if they will work with the Pi though since I don't own one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815158349

http://www.kanexlive.com/atvpro

[lettuce]

What about using a Ouya?

[Unstupid]

What about using a Ouya?

As a doorstop?   

[paigeoliver]

What about using a Ouya?

As a doorstop?   

Does this assume that the pi isn't also a doorstop? I have yet to see how it outperforms dollar for dollar anything from a used PC wholesaler (and don't forget those video adapters that every pi build is buying).

[shponglefan]

I have yet to see how it outperforms dollar for dollar anything from a used PC wholesaler

Power consumption.

[Maximus]

I have yet to see how it outperforms dollar for dollar anything from a used PC wholesaler

I've yet to see a 8 year old full size truck that doesn't outperform a Prius I mean it tows more, hauls more, you can put a snow plow on it and drive over large obstacles. I know you said you wanted something small, cheap, efficient and reliable but hey trucks are awesome!

Waaaaah?

[EightBySix]

I have yet to see how it outperforms dollar for dollar anything from a used PC wholesaler

Power consumption.

Size
Noise levels

[TheShaner]

You sure are a PC pusher Page.  We all know the PC wins the power debate ... but size, need for components like hard drives and power supplies, noise levels, etc ... different ball game.

[jdbailey1206]

I am a big proponent of PC's myself.  But we are building arcade machines and space seems to be scarce for those who are building arcade systems with a smaller footprint.  Putting full PC's into these "weecade" cabinets seems to be working backwards in some if not most cases.  If we were to look at the inner workings of the original arcade cabinets we just have 2-3 PCB boards wire's monitors etc.  We have enough room to cram six full working arcade games into the space we have instead of cramming one PC into a much smaller space.  With these Mini PC's we are liking more to the idea of the original arcades.

I know the argument could be said that if something goes wrong with a regular PC we could just change out the component that was giving us the trouble but by the time we did that we could have already payed for one of these Mini PC's that seem to be going for next to nothing.  We already have to worry about the many workings of the control boards.  Let's not complicate things.

And it's not like we need a complete workhorse that is going to be rendering full 3D landscapes and animations.  We are just playing arcade games with minimal graphics and sounds.  We are trying to recapture a better time.  Build what you need people.  Not what you want.

I like the idea of the mini PC and hope that I can put one in my next build.  I know my hands will be more appreciative when I have more room to work on things.

Just my thoughts.

[mcseforsale]

I'm liking this for bartops, too.  Eliminates a lot of heat issues, too.

AJ

[Rigby]

The emulation on an RPi is sketchy at best, and the performance is sketchy at best, but move beyond the RPi and there are some very valid choices available for emulation.  They're not as cheap as they RPi, but they are cheap, and they're certainly less expensive than a full-blown x86/x64 PC.

For some, though, a Raspberry Pi will suit nicely, and those people should use them.  I just wish there were a way to get RGB video out of them suitable for an arcade monitor.

[TheShaner]

I have been jacking with the BeagleBoard, but the Angstrom load that comes on it is giving me a bit of hassle with the Monitor I am trying to use.  Gonna get Ubuntu loaded on it today probably and try moving forward from there.  Other than this driver issue though, this little board is pretty sweet.

[Slippyblade]

Necro bump!  Any more info or developments on this front?  How'd the Beaglebone Black work out?

[twistedsymphony]

I think of one thing which is missing in this conversation is that there are different solutions for different situations.  There is no one single perfect be-all-and-end-all MAME solution.

For example, people have tossed out the idea of older pentiums.  But those have drawbacks such as increased power consumption, heat, size, incompatibility with newer storage devices, larger footprint, and so on.

On the other hand the Pi, while not the most advanced kid on the block is tiny, no moving parts, no heat issues, low power consumption.

It really comes down to what is more important to the person in question doing the build.  In the case of the OP, he specifically mentioned no moving parts.  So that mostly rules out an old P4.

They make giant fan-less heat-sync modules for traditional PCs, they even make them specifically for the P4: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article118-page1.html

as for the hard dive if the older mobo doesn't have STA ports you can get an PCI adapter card to run SSDs... or run an IDE based Disc on Module or CF adapter.

These options are obviously a bit more expensive but they exist non-the-less.

[sharpfork]

I think something being missed in this conversation is the simplicity of dropping a fully configured Linux build on an SD card compared to dealing with a full OS and hardware specific drivers and such.  If you like tinkering with Windows, the choice is clearer.  If you don't, the value of something like the piplay kickstarter (raspi + bbb) making an emulatuon appliance outweighs the flexibility you get with a pc.

[2084]

I think something being missed in this conversation is the simplicity of dropping a fully configured Linux build on an SD card compared to dealing with a full OS and hardware specific drivers and such.  If you like tinkering with Windows, the choice is clearer.  If you don't, the value of something like the piplay kickstarter (raspi + bbb) making an emulatuon appliance outweighs the flexibility you get with a pc.

I agree.  This threat started talking about using a Raspberry Pi and almost everyone jumped on the using a Windows PC.  I have now built 6 MAME cabinets.  In 4 of those I have used the raspberry PI.  Those machines are mostly dedicated to a single game (Rampage, Robotron, Startgate, and Tempest) which for those games they do as well as a PC.  The Raspberry Pi clearly isn't the right choice for every situation but it is a great option.

[macattack]

I am also in the process of out fitting 4 dedicated cabs with raspberries, for the simple stuff it works a treat.


Www.xtremepinball.com

[elvis]

Making my fifth cabinet currently, and this one will be a gift for a non-technical friend.

All of my previous cabinets have suffered some sort of hardware failure in their life.  Getting in there and troubleshooting a whole PC that is intermittently failing is a pain in the butt.  Dealing with trying to get adequate cooling and fans working, mounting video cards properly if they're not onboard, and other dramas has been annoying.

I'm going with a Raspberry Pi for this current project, as it's going to reduce a lot of problems.  All of my previous cabinets ran Linux (I'm a Linux sysadmin by trade, so there's zero learning curve for me).  The cabinet itself will only need to run 80s games (the recipient is a guy in his 40s who has no care for 1990 and newer games), and the ~5 games he really cares about are all supported by MAME4ALL.

I'm liking the idea of something that will power up easily when the cabinet comes on, but small and power friendly, and have no real need for massive ventilation requirements to work.  Mounting it will be easy enough.  I can take an image of the SD card with the games and config, and replace the RPi easily if it fails.

For this particular cabinet, it's a win.  I wouldn't put it in a cabinet where I wanted to run more modern games (CPS1/CPS2 fighters are my thing, so I'd avoid RPi for them).

[jaharr01]

Yeah I'm late to the party too but I Thought i would put my 2 cents in. Rasberry pis are really more of a gadget for most people. However I have one with xbmc that plays 1080p video from a non ssd harddrive  without a hitch. Now I don't know if a P4 will do that without stuttering. The biggest difference in a pi vs windows PC is bloat. There is no bloat with a pi. Even leaned out xp has bloat. I haven't tried mame on my pi but  it would probably play anything on a 60 in one board. Rasberry pis have come a long way there is a lot of community support for them. They are still only built for tasks.  Would a PC be better probably. How much energy does a p4 use 60 watts per hour. A rasberry pi uses usb voltage.
     I have ran mame and Nes emulators on my droid tablet and they run without a hitch. I don't believe there can be a clear winner here.
1.For durability the 60 in one would have to win. You fart on a rasberry pi and they would break.
2. For power usage the pi would win because those cards I believe are 12 volts. But that's not much of a victory
3. For adaptability the pi would win hands down. you could run the same pi to run xbmc just swap a card out.
4 price a pi is 40+ dollars. A 60 in 1 is what 40 to 60 plus you have to buy a jamma harness. So the pi is a slim winner.
5 for speed I would say it is relatively even..
6 ease of setup I imagine would go to the 60 in one. Even though now pis are relatively easy but not that easy.

Given  these standards I would say it is still dead even. Myself having a pi the durability factor would sway me. Those little pis don't like it when they aren't shut down properly. If I was setting up a cocktail cab I would use the 60 in 1. . But that's just my opinion.

[kahlid74]

Making my fifth cabinet currently, and this one will be a gift for a non-technical friend.

All of my previous cabinets have suffered some sort of hardware failure in their life.  Getting in there and troubleshooting a whole PC that is intermittently failing is a pain in the butt.  Dealing with trying to get adequate cooling and fans working, mounting video cards properly if they're not onboard, and other dramas has been annoying.

I'm going with a Raspberry Pi for this current project, as it's going to reduce a lot of problems.  All of my previous cabinets ran Linux (I'm a Linux sysadmin by trade, so there's zero learning curve for me).  The cabinet itself will only need to run 80s games (the recipient is a guy in his 40s who has no care for 1990 and newer games), and the ~5 games he really cares about are all supported by MAME4ALL.

I'm liking the idea of something that will power up easily when the cabinet comes on, but small and power friendly, and have no real need for massive ventilation requirements to work.  Mounting it will be easy enough.  I can take an image of the SD card with the games and config, and replace the RPi easily if it fails.

For this particular cabinet, it's a win.  I wouldn't put it in a cabinet where I wanted to run more modern games (CPS1/CPS2 fighters are my thing, so I'd avoid RPi for them).

I've built 8 cabs now, all Running some form of Windows and none have failed hardware wise or experienced software failure.  The cab I built in 2003 is running Windows XP with a Pentium III 800Mhz and works like a beast.  The CMOS battery finally died but it in no way affects the computer.  It's UDMA HDD still runs without issue or weird sounds.  We can say I'm lucky, or we could say I take time to read reviews and choose components with longer MTF/MBF or better components.

If you're building a 60 in 1 the Raspberry Pi is fine.  If you're building a MAME machine the Pi IMO isn't the way to go.  Go the route of Beagle or another faster slim System but the Pi just isn't meant for that.