NOW FINISHED: Pi Powered Galaga-themed Bartop

[mvolke1]

It's in the Retropie menu

[mvolke1]

Hey Everyone,

She's finally done! I'm very happy with the build. This kit came from Harumancustoms.com, and I really highly recommend them if you're thinking about a kit or custom build. Great service, great product, super fast shipping and fair prices.

I got the last piece of art on last night and finished off the t-molding. The only thing I have left to do is map the controls for the consoles. MAME works perfectly, though, and I've been playing it a ton. It's in my office right now. Going to break it out at lunch time.

Thanks all for the advice and feedback!


Here's the parts list:
Haruman widescreen two-player bar top kit
http://www.harumancustoms.com/bartop-kits/

HDMI to VGA adapter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007KFVQXI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Inline plug
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050HH70E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Speakers. Never even had to take them out of their cases.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181043149309?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

These buttons are much firmer than the classic Happ buttons, but I really like them.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ARCADE-LIGHTED-LED-LONG-GREEN-BUTTON-MAME-MULTICADE-/360296413375

The lamp to illuminate the marquee. It fit just fine in there with the speakers. I used velcro to attach it.
http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=71118-57299-7000&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=4075998&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Ipac4 (I know I only needed a 2, but I had one I reused it from a previous build)
Raspberry Pi Model B with Retropie
Ultimarc Mag-Stick Plus
Heat sinks for the Pi
HP L2045W HSTND-2181-T 20" LCD MONITOR (got it used on ebay)

[mvolke1]

Here are some more photos.

[mvolke1]

And more

[mvolke1]

And yet another.

[mvolke1]

Last one.

[Malenko]

trade me your IPAC4 for my IPAC2?  I'll ship first




Cab looks fantastic!

[yamatetsu]

Congrats on a beautiful cab 

Please consider posting a pic in the "I completed my project! I posted a pic and a link to my project thread" !

[mvolke1]

Thanks guys!

[imsuperduckie]

Very nice build. I'm trying to build one myself with a raspberry pi B+. Please excuse the newbie question, but why is an I-PAC 2 or 4  needed? Is that just for ease of connections or is that the only way to connect up the buttons/joysticks to the pi? I figured there is a 40 GPIO on the pi, wouldn't that be used to connect? Please help. Thanks.

[Slippyblade]

Very nice build. I'm trying to build one myself with a raspberry pi B+. Please excuse the newbie question, but why is an I-PAC 2 or 4  needed? Is that just for ease of connections or is that the only way to connect up the buttons/joysticks to the pi? I figured there is a 40 GPIO on the pi, wouldn't that be used to connect? Please help. Thanks.

It's called ease of use and support.  The I-PAC is stupidly easy to use and has a ton of support available for it.  You -could- use the GPIO pins on the RPi to do pretty much the same thing but you would have to write and debug the interface code on your own and if something went wrong, you'd have to figure it out on your own - no support.

[imsuperduckie]

Great explanation. Thanks!

[mvolke1]

Very nice build. I'm trying to build one myself with a raspberry pi B+. Please excuse the newbie question, but why is an I-PAC 2 or 4  needed? Is that just for ease of connections or is that the only way to connect up the buttons/joysticks to the pi? I figured there is a 40 GPIO on the pi, wouldn't that be used to connect? Please help. Thanks.

It's called ease of use and support.  The I-PAC is stupidly easy to use and has a ton of support available for it.  You -could- use the GPIO pins on the RPi to do pretty much the same thing but you would have to write and debug the interface code on your own and if something went wrong, you'd have to figure it out on your own - no support.

What he said! 

The iPac is soooooo easy to use. Way easier than messing with the GPIO. And I had an extra from an old project, so it was no big deal to reuse. If I do this again, I'd get another iPac. It's been working perfectly.

[DaOld Man]

Very nice job!
I have got to get me some of that Pi!!

[imsuperduckie]

Have another question for OP and anyone else that went the Pi route, how are the 3.5 analog speakers working for you? Especially the sound. I, for the life of me, cannot get rid of the audio static that you hear from the 3.5 pi connection. I've swapped different speakers without any luck. No  static at all if I use the HDMI connector to a monitor with built in speakers. Any tricks?

[nitrogen_widget]

Have another question for OP and anyone else that went the Pi route, how are the 3.5 analog speakers working for you? Especially the sound. I, for the life of me, cannot get rid of the audio static that you hear from the 3.5 pi connection. I've swapped different speakers without any luck. No  static at all if I use the HDMI connector to a monitor with built in speakers. Any tricks?

I believe in the retropi-config script there is an option to set hdmi or jack for the primary oudio output.
That may help you out.

[Goochee64]

The iPac is soooooo easy to use. Way easier than messing with the GPIO. And I had an extra from an old project, so it was no big deal to reuse. If I do this again, I'd get another iPac. It's been working perfectly.

Like your cabinet. Looks great. It has inspired me to go and purchase a Pi2 for my next build.
You say the iPac is So easy to use. I assume you had to edit the retropi config file to map the buttons? Can you give some more detail how you got the iPac and retropi working so well. Doing a search I see some people having problems getting them working together.
Any info will be greatly appreciated
Cheers
Goochee

[mvolke1]

The iPac is soooooo easy to use. Way easier than messing with the GPIO. And I had an extra from an old project, so it was no big deal to reuse. If I do this again, I'd get another iPac. It's been working perfectly.

Like your cabinet. Looks great. It has inspired me to go and purchase a Pi2 for my next build.
You say the iPac is So easy to use. I assume you had to edit the retropi config file to map the buttons? Can you give some more detail how you got the iPac and retropi working so well. Doing a search I see some people having problems getting them working together.
Any info will be greatly appreciated
Cheers
Goochee

Thanks for the question. I'm really glad you like the build! It's found a home in my office at work

I literally just wired the iPac up to the controls and plugged the usb cord into the Pi and it worked without any programming or extra wiring. It was pretty easy. The hardest part was stripping all that damn wire. 

[mvolke1]

Very nice job!
I have got to get me some of that Pi!!

I have to say it's pretty tasty. My next build will be a full-size cab, running on a Pi.

[RetroGreg]

I have to agree that I need to get a Pi2 for a project soon. Congrats on this cab! Looks great!

[mvolke1]

I have to agree that I need to get a Pi2 for a project soon. Congrats on this cab! Looks great!

The Pi is great for someone like me who is better with the build than the computer portion (i.e., I'm pretty clueless with that stuff). Especially when you have the iPac. I am already planning my next build and am thinking of doing another Pi in a full-size arcade for my home office. 

[nitrogen_widget]

I have to agree that I need to get a Pi2 for a project soon. Congrats on this cab! Looks great!

The Pi is great for someone like me who is better with the build than the computer portion (i.e., I'm pretty clueless with that stuff). Especially when you have the iPac. I am already planning my next build and am thinking of doing another Pi in a full-size arcade for my home office. 

Initial tests on my RPI2 show it can play so much more than the RPI 1.
i've been playing around with my rpi1 and getting it ready for my bartop now so havn't had a chance to play with my rpi2 too much lately.