MortalKab 4 player DIY slim arcade cabinet/ Finished / Update?

[deezdrama]

Says right in the thread title "lots of questions"

I have a large queue of questions, ive been working 12 hour shifts and running kids around, seems like all my free time is researching into this cab and dumping money into it.
I planned on searching on the tv power issue but too busy researching on swapping my jlf pcb for cherry switches.
So figured either someone could point me in right direction or just ignore the question.

I started this thread with the intent to document alot of the questions and answers one might stumble into in this hobby since im a complete noob to it. It wasnt untill I stumbled upon chances well documented build that I had the confidence to start mine.
But he has more knowledge of the hobby so left alot of the simple things out.

Im just trying to keep a document of all the hurdles it takes for a noob to complete a project like this.....in hopes it may help someone else one day.
If not....well then I wasted my time typing.... no big deal.

Sometimes when your overwhelmed with questions that you might not need an answer too that second ...you want to get it out before you forget.

Anyway ya..... sorry if its all covered but I need to get this project complete and it feels lile its consumed the last 3 months of my life and figured it was an easy question with an easy answer

[rablack97]

Just thought about something.

How can I get my tv to turn on with the computer? I know my ps3 turns my tv on but think it was a setting in the ps3 to do this.
Even if I got a smart strip.... just giving it power when the pc is switched on wont actually turn it on will it?

From my experience, once the TV is turned on with the remote, it stays in that state.  Think about a drill with the locking trigger, if the trigger is locked and no power, then its off, plug it in then it comes on.

So with your smart strip the PC will command the other peripherals through it, once the PC comes one it will trigger power and your TV will come on at the same time, and shut down when the PC shuts down.

I don't know how to say it without sounding like a complete ass but....


Have you ever looked at the Wiki or the parent site of these forums?  Alot of the questions you have are addressed and you don't have to wait for members to answer.

There are ways to accomplish what you want how you do it depends largely on if the TV has power return. Check that first.

Sometimes its better to hear from a human based on experiences, deezdrama was nice enough to provide input on my MKX video card question, even though im sure my question was addressed in a wiki somewhere.  The wiki is a nice resource but some folks value the advice in the threads and can revert to the wiki for further peace of mind.

[deezdrama]

Just thought about something.

How can I get my tv to turn on with the computer? I know my ps3 turns my tv on but think it was a setting in the ps3 to do this.
Even if I got a smart strip.... just giving it power when the pc is switched on wont actually turn it on will it?

From my experience, once the TV is turned on with the remote, it stays in that state.  Think about a drill with the locking trigger, if the trigger is locked and no power, then its off, plug it in then it comes on.

So with your smart strip the PC will command the other peripherals through it, once the PC comes one it will trigger power and you TV will come on at the same time, and shut down when the PC shuts down.

I don't know how to say it without sounding like a complete ass but....


Have you ever looked at the Wiki or the parent site of these forums?  Alot of the questions you have are addressed and you don't have to wait for members to answer.

There are ways to accomplish what you want how you do it depends largely on if the TV has power return. Check that first.

Sometimes its better to hear from a human based on experiences, deezdrama was nice enough to provide input on my MKX video card question, even though im sure my question was addressed in a wiki somewhere.  The wiki is a nice resource but some folks value the advise in the threads and can revert to the wiki for further peace of mind.

Thanks man... appreciate it.
I dont think he meant much disrespect...
Im sure people get sick of mame cab noobs questions but its in my title lol.

This forum has a mixed atmosphere.... but ive learned alot and will try and give back when I can.

So did you pick out your 900 series gtx for your build?

I have an old xeon processor that I oc'ed to 4.4ghz in my game rig, got the same processor in the mame pc but cant get it to oc over 3ghz so looks like im in the market for a better motherboard cause I know that cpu is capable of 4ghz with no sweat.

But yeah....so im trying to research like 100 things at once and just had to get the tv question out there before I forgot.


This project has been a long journey. Im kinda ocd about ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and once I start something I cant just drag it out and have patience.
At work on my breaks im researching ,when im waiting at kids school researching, when im at home up later than O should....researching.
Lol..... im just in the mindframe where I need to get this done so I can stop obsessing ....even if I have to take a few shortcuts.


Now my boy wants me to build a bartop for xmas 

[rablack97]

Nahhh, Harvey is cool, and no disrespect was meant by my comment.  However I had the same dumb question, and my answer wasn't found in a wiki, a member explained how that worked.

We all are pretty pungent in our comments, but you actually try to help out with your own expertise, so i was just returning the favor man.

I posted the total spec in the software section, i think i'm all set, your advice helped tons.......

[deezdrama]

Yeah.... looking forward to your build.... when you starting on it?

[rablack97]

already started

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,147663.0.html

[deezdrama]

Omg..... my fingers hurt!
Started wiring at 7am and just now got done (2am)
Next time I will use premade daisy chains!

Its not as neat as I hoped but it will do. The big tape ball in the middle is the excess wiring (untill my ipac4 gets here)
The 4 admin buttons and the utrak will be rgb once the pac drive gets here as well.

Also left alot of wire slack for the joysticks untill the slip rings come and I figure the best way to mount them.

The paradise led buttons are pretty decent for as cheap as they are, the switch holders are a pita to snap in place, broke the tabs off a few of the buttons because they are so hard to get on.
But with the 20g zippy switches they feel great.
Ordered a 2tb harddrive, going to transfer over my hyperspin mame set and a buddy is going to hook me up with some hyperspin sets he has.

Still need to wire my coin mechs to my coin buttons and do some major wire management in the back of the cab. Got some cherry switches and oversized actuators for the jlf's coming. I should of ordered more for the p3 and p4 sticks....they are super loud clicky.

The kids are getting excited.... hopefully will be done in a week or two.....software setup is always the pita.

 

[stavros693000]

wow just wow....I cant believe this is your first build lol. the attention to detail from the woodwork, controls,artwork to the wiring is just fantastic.
you should be very proud of what you have built.

well done sir I salute you

[deezdrama]

wow just wow....I cant believe this is your first build lol. the attention to detail from the woodwork, controls,artwork to the wiring is just fantastic.
you should be very proud of what you have built.

well done sir I salute you

Thank you...
Ive always been into building things and diy projects, building computers, automotive sound installs, and dozens of other hobbies ive gotten in and out of so I kind of just took a little experience sprinkled from other experiences and just cheated and used chances build as guidance lol.... im actually a little let down that I took a few shortcuts but really needing to button this build up.
The next one I can take my time with and get creative.

 I really appreciate the comment!
This hobby sheds light and gives me a newfound respect for all the people in this hobby!
Im already wanting to build another one now 

[deezdrama]

Getting close to being done. Did some cable management in the back of the cab,wired in the smart strip, installed the ipac 4....
I messed around with my old 500gb mame/hyperspin drive ive had for years and gave up. Took a 2 tb drive and had my buddy copy his drive for me.
Mame is working fine.... still need to install virtual drive etc for alot of the systems to run.

Im having a weird problem in mame. in 4 player games players 1,2,and 3 work fine but I hit coin up on player 4 and when I hit button 1 to start nothing happens, this happened on several games I tried.

If I open notepad and hit p4 button1 it registers as B just like it should.
I lnow its a dumb question but maybe someone has an idea. Will have to do some reading tomorrow after work.....
Still not sure how to map my admin buttons. I have 4 connected to player 4 sw 5,6,7,and 8.
Not sure if I need to remap them in hyperspin,mame, or?

[scoodidabop]

Getting close to being done. Did some cable management in the back of the cab,wired in the smart strip, installed the ipac 4....
I messed around with my old 500gb mame/hyperspin drive ive had for years and gave up. Took a 2 tb drive and had my buddy copy his drive for me.
Mame is working fine.... still need to install virtual drive etc for alot of the systems to run.

Im having a weird problem in mame. in 4 player games players 1,2,and 3 work fine but I hit coin up on player 4 and when I hit button 1 to start nothing happens, this happened on several games I tried.

If I open notepad and hit p4 button1 it registers as B just like it should.
I lnow its a dumb question but maybe someone has an idea. Will have to do some reading tomorrow after work.....
Still not sure how to map my admin buttons. I have 4 connected to player 4 sw 5,6,7,and 8.
Not sure if I need to remap them in hyperspin,mame, or?

Press "tab" in MAME to open the menu and go to "Input general" to ensure your IPac mapping matches MAME's mapping.

[deezdrama]

Getting close to being done. Did some cable management in the back of the cab,wired in the smart strip, installed the ipac 4....
I messed around with my old 500gb mame/hyperspin drive ive had for years and gave up. Took a 2 tb drive and had my buddy copy his drive for me.
Mame is working fine.... still need to install virtual drive etc for alot of the systems to run.

Im having a weird problem in mame. in 4 player games players 1,2,and 3 work fine but I hit coin up on player 4 and when I hit button 1 to start nothing happens, this happened on several games I tried.

If I open notepad and hit p4 button1 it registers as B just like it should.
I lnow its a dumb question but maybe someone has an idea. Will have to do some reading tomorrow after work.....
Still not sure how to map my admin buttons. I have 4 connected to player 4 sw 5,6,7,and 8.
Not sure if I need to remap them in hyperspin,mame, or?

Press "tab" in MAME to open the menu and go to "Input general" to ensure your IPac mapping matches MAME's mapping.

Ok thanks.... I figured it was something simple. Ill check it out when I get home.
Finally get my cab done and stuck in this factory all day and its my bday.... I should of been sick today

[deezdrama]

I went in mame and set all the inputs and got all those working.

Now everytime I load a game theres like a second instance of hyperspin that pops up and just gets stuck at a loading splash screen.
I can hit exit and in the background I can hear mame running but cant get the loading screen to go away.

I can alt tab and it wont go to desktop.
Task manager doesnt even show anything running.

[Frank Drebin]

Are you using rocketlauncher or hyperlaunch?  Shut off fade to see what the issue is.  I honestly don't like the fade option even when the emulator is working properly.  I've had that fade screen stay on with everything closed - the only way to get it off is to stop rocketlauncher/hyperlaunch. (Hyperlaunch HQ tab)



If you are using an older version of hyperspin without hyperlaunch/rocketlauncher I'm not sure how to shut off fade.  I bought one of those "pre-configured" drives from the internet and it had HS 1.2 on it and all the games launched with HyperHQ.  Very difficult to add systems so I started with a fresh install of rocketlauncher and HS 1.4.

[deezdrama]

Im hoping I just had some key conflicts.

I remapped all my controls in the ipac config utility to keys that wouldnt function in windows and cause issues if my system hangs on that fade in loading screen.

Im now remapping in mame....
I assume I only need to assign the up,down,left,right directions but there is p1 right/up , p1 right/down etc.....
I dont need to map those for diagonal directions correct?

How do I clear them from inputs?

[deezdrama]

I also notice mame has P set to paus3 but this is now set for my player 3 #1 button.
Infact mame has keys set for everything. Thats probably why Ive had conflicts and hanging screens.

Is there a way to clear all mames keybinds?

Then just go in and set what I need?

[Frank Drebin]

How do I clear them from inputs?

enter, then delete

[deezdrama]

How do I clear them from inputs?

enter, then delete

Ok thanks...

I just need the up,down,left,right directions and not the diagonals?

Should I just clear all the mame ui inputs?

[Frank Drebin]

Correct, and I would only remap the buttons you are mapping.

[deezdrama]

Ok

What about all the mahjong,hanafuda,pedal,reel,paddle etc..... they are all mapped but dont know if I should clear them.


I cleared all the main controls and remapped them.

Sofar im not getting any issues with the fade screen popping up and hanging.

But the issue im getting now is my coin and start buttons are not working as intended.
Ive set the start and select buttons to my player start and coin buttons but its still using 5 as my player 1 coin button but my coin button is set to z

[Frank Drebin]

Double check your mapping in ipac software.  Just a hunch. Make sure you are changing general not this machine

[deezdrama]

Ive quadruple checked.

Ipac and mame general inputs all set to match but button 1 still starts game, and buttons 5,6 are still acting as player 1,2 coin buttons

[deezdrama]

Oh.... they are in "other controls" lol nevermind



What do p1 start and p1 select do in player controls then if start and coin are found in "other controls"

[Frank Drebin]

Open notepad and press those buttons to verify what they are mapped as

[deezdrama]

Open notepad and press those buttons to verify what they are mapped as

Yep they all work in notepad.


Its because I was assigning them in player inputs under "p1 select" and "p1 start"

The start and coin functions I needed were found under "other controls"

Im just now wondering what the first two under player inputs are used for?

[deezdrama]

Got all the wiring pretty much done, pacdrive installed (still no clue how to setup or use the trackball hehe)

Id say its pretty much completed although I fear my software journey has just begun.

Having a hell of a headache trying to get emulators reconfigured to my controls and half of em cant even get them to run.

I think Im just going to order a fresh 2tb HDD... install the newest hyperspin/mame/etc on it. That way I will know whats on it and how to configure it.
I want mame,nes, super nes, tg16 and cd, sega and cd, jaguar, 3DO, atomiswave, mugen,dreamcast, and some newer pc games like shank , sf4, mkx.

Any honest idea of a time estimate it will take to learn to compile all of the above? I have most of the artwork already 

[deezdrama]

Hey Frank....
My hyperspin is 1.2 0 and mame is .149
So its old and having alot of issues running other systems.

Should I definately start over with a fresh install of new software?

Im looking at a new 3tb drive to build on.
Will the artwork on my new drive transfer over without issues?

What about all my other systems.... will those roms work with the newest emulator versions?

[Frank Drebin]

Its a marathon not a race.     You could spend endless hours on hyperspin trying to set up every system under the sun and only play a handful of them.

I would do one system an evening (1-2hrs), and get it perfect.  Controls, bezels, scanlines, etc.

Figure out how to configure retroarch and you're on your way to 90% of the systems out there.  It does all the consoles you mentioned.  Each one has to be configured manually though.

The videos and artwork are the easy part.

[deezdrama]

Ive been following simply austins videos and spent all last night and half of today on this....
Slowly making progress (not really) 

I got my new 2tb drive.... formated.

Installed all the prerequisites for HS (dx 9,net4.0, c+,etc etc etc)

Got hs 1.4 and rocketlauncher up and running.....

Setup retroarch ( so does it handle all cart based games only or it does a good job with cd based stuff too?)

Now im dealing with mame.
Using mameiufx nonag (wish it kept hiscores but couldnt find a .167 that does.
I have a mame .167 with nonag and hiscores but austin uses maneuifx so figured id follow that route 

Copying my mame chd's over now.....
2 hours 

Will I need a mame database or xml file?
Once i get mame setup is there anyway to remove all the non working chd's taking up space?


update,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Ive got mameuifx installed in HS and all my roms/chd's

 

Everything shows up and is playable.

Id like to get rid of all the mojhong crap but cant find any database file for .167

 

 

anyone know where to find one that cuts the casino,majhong roms out?

[Frank Drebin]

Romlister can create xml files however you want.  I haven't used it, just downloaded all the files this morning but it keeps crashing on me.  Maybe its the 32 bit laptop I'm using.
controls.xml file:

http://controls.arcadecontrols.com/


I usually just make sure mame only runs on "wheels only" on hyperspin, filters out a lot of crap easily, then use the genres to help narrow down and create a favourites list.

As for your earlier question about emulators, I think once you get retroarch set up it does like 90% of consoles, including cd based ones.  Its almost a frontend on its own with a bunch of emulators inside.  For example you are really using Nestopia, inside of retroarch, not actually retroarch.

The problems I'm having with it are: 1. Poor/stutturing sound.  I think shutting off vsync is an easy fix but not sure if it is the right fix.  2.  I don't think I'm getting accurate game speed on NES, on certain games.  When I open up SMB2, the theme song is playing at around 125% speed by default.  Not sure how to fix that, when I switch to nestopia emulator it plays normal.

So I haven't got it configured, yet.

[deezdrama]

Well, I bit the bullet and donated to HB and Emumovies.

Ive got mame and sega genesis completely setup sofar with all vids and themes.
Your were right.... Blows my old drive away! 

Im still confused on the mame hlsl vs glsl  Im just using the default hlsl and it looks good to me so probably wont mess around with it untill my drive is done and am really bored.

[DatsWassup]

I've been following your build and it's turned out great.  I was able to get a lot of answers to questions from reading through here and I really like how you came up with some alternate solutions to problems.

Quick question for you about the glass you ordered.  After having it for a little while now are you happy with it?  Would you go darker or thinner or what?  Thanks in advance man.

[scoodidabop]

Well, I bit the bullet and donated to HB and Emumovies.

Ive got mame and sega genesis completely setup sofar with all vids and themes.
Your were right.... Blows my old drive away! 

Im still confused on the mame hlsl vs glsl  Im just using the default hlsl and it looks good to me so probably wont mess around with it untill my drive is done and am really bored.

glsl is an OpenGL renderer and hlsl is directX.  hlsl has been around longer and has more options. 

[deezdrama]

I've been following your build and it's turned out great.  I was able to get a lot of answers to questions from reading through here and I really like how you came up with some alternate solutions to problems.

Quick question for you about the glass you ordered.  After having it for a little while now are you happy with it?  Would you go darker or thinner or what?  Thanks in advance man.

Im happy with it. 3/16" is perfect thickness in my opinion.
I got the light gray.... It might be a hair too light but I think the dark gray would be too dark. Too bad they dont make a medium gray.

With the inside of the cab painted black... you dont see anything but the tv frame....this is in a lit room. In a dim room you dont see anything. When the tv is on it looks great.

I got the standard tempered glass. I didnt pay extra for the "no tong mark" option and I dont see any imperfections anywhere.
Also I skipped the edge grind to save some money.

Was only like $60-70 bucks shipped. Was packed great. Well worth it.

[deezdrama]

Ok.... 5 year update...... Damn time flies 


About a year ago I started having issues with the computer in this cab locking up after I moved it on the porch for a couple weeks while we re-arranged the house.
I found out it had a critter living in it 
It was almost winter and cold on the porch, a dang mouse climbed in the cab through the vent holes and nestled nicely ontop of my video card where it relieved itself evidently

So.... I pulled the aging 2tb hyperspin emulator pc out and salvaged what I could, Cleaned the cab out, installed metal screen to the vents (should have done that to begin with) and here she sat in the corner of the living room collecting junk and being used by ol lady and kids as a freaking in-table drop point for junk to collect 

But over the past couple years I was working hard compiling an 8tb Launchbox/Bigbox emulation computer for a dedicated CRT-emudriver project that turned out pretty cool...


So.... I made a copy of the drive....took a week to copy  and been sitting on it with plans of some day putting it in the MortalKab. A while back I bought a 2080TI graphics card and so for christmas built my son a new PC and let him have my 1080ti..... So, now I have his old computer with a spare 1660ti graphics card that will be going into this arcade cab. Sadly my job closed its doors so have time to kill on the project once again.

Im thinking of giving it a makeover, was going to replace the vinyl but dont really want to spend that kind of money so thinking about new buttons and joysticks.
It has LED JLF's which are nice for fighting games but honestly I kind of miss the Happs bat style joysticks that I grew up with. I never remember a single arcade cab in the 90s having the balltop joysticks .... Not the games I played anyway...mostly fighting games- so I kind of regretted not going with the bat styled sticks.

Im also not fond of the multi-colored buttons. The ones I used kinda matched the color scheme and were in my budget at the time but id like something more uniform colored but translucent and could be rgb controlled.

So..... Ive been out of the arcade control scene for 5+ years now and wondered if anyone could recommend me any buttons that might match this cab and can be rgb controlled?

Also I dont know if anyone made any rgb translucent bat style sticks? The 4 player layout sounded cool but really wasnt utilized much except for the random TMNT, simpsons run throughs...and maybe bro force from time to time.... so thinking about the outer sticks being 4 way for the 80s games but still would like them to match the p1 and p2 8 way bat sticks if possible. Any suggestions for buttons and sticks are appreciated!

Also...will be using Launchbox/Bigbox this time which surely cant be as bad to setup as Hyperspin was??

Oh....heres an updated pic from about a year ago right before the computer took a crap...

[deezdrama]

Ok.... I have alot of updates.... Jan 9th 2021 .... 5 years after completing this cab I decided to overhaul the entire cab .I rushed through the wiring in 2015 and cheaped out on controls and wanted to do it right this time.
I decided I wanted to rebuild the joysticks, and wanted full rgb buttons.
Once i jumped in I ended up basically replacing/ rebuilding the entire cab. 😣
And since my job closed its doors I have alot of free time so decided to tidy up some fine details.

So here is the beginning of the rebuild. The cab was in a sad sad state.
For the past year the pc was taken out due to a mouse getting in the cab and pissing on the gpu, the cab was shoved in a corner, and ol lady and kids used it as a end table to pile all there junk and drinks on 😡
It was time to send this to the landfill or completely rebuild.
Thinking of all the hard work,time, and money it took to build years ago I could not get rid of it.

The cab had 7 80mm vent holes at the top that i never got around to placing dust filter so the inside of the cab was horrible.
Thick layer of dust on everything. While dismanteling I noticed the side panels had split down the middle 😣 probably from rough handeling. I broke the entire cab down and injected industrial strength wood glue into the split...clamped it, sanded paint off a section where I epoxied and screwed horizontal reinforcement gussets to stabalize the sides from this happening again.
Also found out the u-trak makes a good spill catcher for kids drinks 😣

[deezdrama]

TdrinksThe screen of the tv was horrible. Looked like 20 years of dust. Im going to have to seal this thing up good with filters when I rebuild.

I cut out all wiring. Scrubbed every inch of every panel inside and out. Completely dismantled the cab, control panel off, glass and tv out, just an empty shell.

Let it all dry out then performed surgery to repair the split in side panels.
While the cab was on its side for repair I ripped out the old blue led under lighting strip and laid a layer of reflective aluminum tape and installed a high powered rgb flood lamp.
WOW this thing obliterates the led strips!!! Its so bright It looks like a hollywood special effect portal opening up under my cab when testing 😯😛😯 I forgot to take a pic so will have to wait untill I get it up and running to show but its awesome.
Was so impressed I gave the $50 worth of led rgb strip lights I bought to put under and behind this cab to my kids and ended up placing a 2nd rgb flood light on rear of the cab. They are friggin sweet!

[deezdrama]

After the repair was cured and every bit of the cab components were de dusted and scrubbed I started the task of relocating the cab upstairs to my bedroom. I thought it wouldnt be bad with the control panel off and glass and tv out. 😂😂😂😂
Boy was I wrong!
I couldnt get the cab around the bend of the stairs and after an hour of cussing I had to take the railing down and me and my son got it up the stairs rear of the cab going up first with about 1/2" of clearance on either side 😒

The first thing I did is started rewiring the entire cab.
Originally when I built the cab I cobbled the wire in there with any type of wire I had laying around, electrical tape everywhere that turned into sticky slime over the years, electrical twist connectors, bad splices of mismatched wires everywhere..... it was shameful lmao.

So the long task of wiring with some kind of order begun.
Still not super clean wiring but light years better than what it originally was.
I thought about dismantling again in the future and so decided to have a quick and easy way to sever all connections near the control panel for easier disassembly next time.
I used terminal blocks to power the marquee and coin doors, and another terminal block near the control panel to quicky disconnect the coin switches, power button near the panel and also in this area will be able to disconnect all 4 usb connections going to the control panel, so next time all these connections can be quickly undone and control panel be lifted away quickly.

[deezdrama]

After a few questions to Andy, and a visit to Ultimark, Focus attack, ebay, and Amazon my pockets were about $600 lighter but had the stuff I needed ordered.

Ultimarc RGB goldleaf buttons, some black plungers for the 4 admin buttons, 2 pacLED64's, 2 5v 3a power adapters, 4 spare rgb leds for the joystick holes, a couple daisy chains, some disconnects, clear dustwashaers, white bat tops, some cherry switches, 6# springs, octagon gates, oversize actuators, diamond plate for a kickplate, pcb standoffs, cables, etc etc

After my wallet was nice and light I pulled the marquee out and installed a new brighter 12v white led strip. This time the strip went across the marquee backer 3 times instead of twice..... Much better.

Then I focussed on the allday task of disassembling the spaghetti bomb of wires and components that were spewed all over the underside of the control panel.
Once stripped down I plotted out where to dremel pockets for the joystick hole rgb led's.

[deezdrama]

Took the panel and the dremel to the basement to make some dust. Cut out pockets for the joystick led's.
I then cleaned up the mess and painted the bare wood.