Mag-Stick - Potentially stupid question

[darryldale]

OK, so I've got a custom pedestal that I just purchased that is using all Ultimarc parts.

The board is an ipac ultimate i/o.
4 players with separate trackball connector.
4 Mag-stick joysticks (the ones with the white switch on the bottom).

Everything is now configured and working great except I cannot for the life of me figure out how the 4/8 switch works. If I figure up a game that requires a 4-way stick like pac-man it's difficult to move precisely because I'm assuming it's in 8 way mode. If I life the control panel and move the switch and try again it seems like there is no change.

Am I missing something obvious? Is there something I should be changing in the default Mame config?

[Slippyblade]

Isn't the mag stick a top switch stick?  I thought you were supposed to grip the handle, lift, and twist?

[darryldale]

That is the mag stick plus.

These ones are the normal mag stick where I have to move a switch on the bottom.

Isn't the mag stick a top switch stick?  I thought you were supposed to grip the handle, lift, and twist?

[Slippyblade]

Got it, sorry.  I've never used em, only read about em on the forums.

[dashingw]

There should be nothing else to do. Try an 8 way game like 1942 and see if you can hit the diagonals. Also do you not have a panel test you can bring up like winipac that directions light up when you move it each way. I'm using the Mag stik plus but I think their similar except as mentioned I can pull up on mine

[darryldale]

OK, so not sure if I have a defective joystick or not.

Here was my test. I fired up Double Dragon in Mame:

a) Player 1 joystick - Can hit all diagonals.
b) While game is still running lift up control panel and move switch.
c) Player 1 joystick - Can hit all diagonals

d) Player 2 joystick - Can hit all diagonals
e) While game is still running lift up control panel and move switch.
f) Player 2 joystick - CAN NO LONGER HIT DIAGONALS
g) While game is still running do several more tests moving switch and seems to work as expected. In one position can hit diagonals in the other can't.

No matter how many times I flick the switch on the player 1 joystick however I can always hit diagonals. I think one of my next tests is to just swap the player 1 / player 2 joysticks in the panel. If the problem follows the joystick then I know it is a mechanical issue and not a software issue.

[darryldale]

OK, I can see that there is indeed a problem with my player 1 joystick.

If I lift the control panel and move the switch on the other three joystick I can see that it cause a white plate to move as well as the black middle part to rotate about 45 degrees. If I move the switch on the player 1 joystick I see the white plate move underneath but it does not cause the black middle part to rotate.

So either the joystick is broken or whoever put the player 1 joystick together left it intentionally as an 8 player joystick and removed some sort of piece to prevent it from switching to 4?

Darryl

[Slippyblade]

Was it a new purchase or used?  If new, get an email to Andy.  He is top notch about helping customers.  It might be a simple fix, might be a replacement.

[darryldale]

I just purchased the completed board yesterday.

The guy I bought it off of said he purchased everything directly from Andy.

Just waiting to hear back from him now to find out when he purchased all the items.

[Slippyblade]

I'd contact Andy regardless.  Probably save yourself a ton of aggravation.

[BobA]

Check the assembly of the stick you are having problems with.   The switching from 4 way to 8 way can be a bit touchy.  Make sure that the working stick is the example and that the non working stick is assembled in exactly the same way.  Can you see the non working stick switch just like the working one or is the mechanism too tight to switch?

[darryldale]

Check the assembly of the stick you are having problems with.   The switching from 4 way to 8 way can be a bit touchy.  Make sure that the working stick is the example and that the non working stick is assembled in exactly the same way.  Can you see the non working stick switch just like the working one or is the mechanism too tight to switch?

Um yep, that was it.

The little black piece that sits in between the switches has a round and a square end. The square end needed to be down in the plate and not the round part. The switch was turning the plate but because the round side was down the black piece wasn't rotating as well.

All fixed up now.

Thanks for the tip.