Raspberry pi zero, $5

[opt2not]

Sorry, you lost me at replacing an original Joust board-set with a Pi. 

[vwalbridge]

Sorry, you lost me at replacing an original Joust board-set with a Pi. 

 . 

[Jamesbeat]

I'm not sure that $50 figure is altogether accurate.

As I said in my above post, I became frustrated with the pi when trying to get it to work as a multi emulator console, and this was because of some serious shortcomings.

I'd love to know where you can get a $2 power supply that will work properly with it. I went through several before finally spending around $20 on a good quality 2A one.

Same goes for all the usb hubs, cables etc. You end up spending quite a chunk of change before you get something that works well.

Another problem is that there were several software problems which looked like they were hardware problems.
I had a nightmare trying to get a particular monitor working.
After following advice to try a different dvi adapter, different hdmi cable, and of course a beefier power supply, the problem was solved by a software update.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the pi for the application I'm using it for, but they don't quite live up to how they were initially marketed.

[aldub516]

Joust was an example. Way avoid anything I pointed out though. As for the price and problems.. I guess it all depends. I've plugged my pi into half a dozen monitors from 10" to 65 and it pops up fine. As for power supply..
Amazon has it for 9 bucks. But most every old charger I had sitting around was 2a. As I said it depends what application you're doing. But think of it like this.. IMAGINE you put it in a cabinet. With a pi, hdmi/video cord,sd cArd and gpio board you're at 60 dollars.. That is a full working system. Existing buttons and joys go right into the gpio. I was just addressing the super hate against the pi because well.. Like it or not... Its going to run mame just as well as any xxx board or other alternative. Besides the "I lost you at pi in a joust", my point about joust was still completely valid. The pi can hold its weight in a lot of arcade projects.  You don't have to love it, but there's no merit to completely crappin on it

[ChanceKJ]

.

[Jamesbeat]

See now, the price you quoted for the PSU has already gone up from $2 to $9, and that's what I'm talking about.
When the Pi first came out, the implication was that most people probably already had everything they needed to get started.
The reality is that your old phone charger probably doesn't have the grunt to power the Pi reliably, and that monitor with a DVI input might not be plug and play.

Another problem that is rarely talked about is the footprint.

Sure, the board itself is small, but the way the ports are laid out on the original model, you have thick inflexible cables sticking out on all sides.
Add a powered usb hub etc. and all of a sudden you have a big unwieldy crab sitting on your desk.

Like I said above, I love the Pi for the application that I am currently using it for, and I agree that it can play classic arcade games with aplomb, (or at least sufficiently accuate to fool me) but a fully functioning setup is neither as small or as inexpensive as it first appears.

Would I use a Pi again if I was starting over?

Yes, I think I would.

It meets my needs for the types of games I'm interested in playing, and despite being unwieldy, it is still a lot smaller than a regular PC.
It boots quickly and shuts down at the touch of a button. It is also silent, which I like.

Another nice thing is the modularity.
If my SD card gets corrupted (never happened so far) or the Pi itself craps out, I could have my machine back up and running in under five minutes, even if it happened in the middle of a party and I was drunk

[Locke141]

This is made by Namco, and you know what, it's pretty ---smurfy---. Let's be honest, compared to an actual PCB setup for one of the 12 games it has, this is ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. But it's made by the actual company.  A Pi is now cheaper then this, and is quite a bit more capable.

I'll take the Pi.

Funny, I was thinking about replacing the steamy Namco mutiny pack man in my Vegoluxs-Yellow fever Hybrid with an Raspberry pi the next time I'm home. The goal of that build was originally to make something decent in one weekend for under $100, the R-pi would have still fit in that budget and time line and would have been a lot more customizable.

[pbj]

I've probably got at least 2 dozen AC/DC converters laying around from various devices that have been thrown out over the years.  Only thing that pumped out 2A was an ipad charger.

[Jamesbeat]

I have found that many phone chargers etc are very 'optimistic' about their stated output, which is a big part of the problem.
Trying to find a genuine 2A usb psu is pot luck unless you don't mind throwing money at the problem.
A genuine Apple iPad charger will put out 2A, but it will also cost more than a Raspberry pi if bought from Apple, (at least they were in 2012 when I was looking) and there's too many fakes on eBay to know what you're getting.

The pi also doesn't like a lot of usb hubs and other peripherals, so basically you end up having to trawl through community-generated compatibility lists to make sure you are buying something that is known to work.

This isn't so bad for a tinkerer such as myself, but the pi was aimed at the educational market, and the implication was that a poor inner-city schoolkid could scrape together all the components necessary to get a pi working and become the next Bill Gates.


Again, I love my pi mame  setup, but I do think the management team should have been more honest (or less naive) about the way they marketed it.

I'm thinking of upgrading to the pi2 in order to fix the choppy MK, but I'm going to wait for the teething troubles to be resolved before I buy one this time.

[Locke141]

This isn't so bad for a tinkerer such as myself, but the pi was aimed at the educational market, and the implication was that a poor inner-city schoolkid could scrape together all the components necessary to get a pi working and become the next Bill Gates.

Don't diss agree with your general point but the originally goal of the R-pi was to do a small run for incoming freshman to the Computer science department at Cambridge. It kind of exploded into a much bigger thing.

[Jamesbeat]

This isn't so bad for a tinkerer such as myself, but the pi was aimed at the educational market, and the implication was that a poor inner-city schoolkid could scrape together all the components necessary to get a pi working and become the next Bill Gates.

Don't diss agree with your general point but the originally goal of the R-pi was to do a small run for incoming freshman to the Computer science department at Cambridge. It kind of exploded into a much bigger thing.

I didn't know that, but I still stand by my statement that once it did explode, that was how it was marketed.
The 'you probably already have everything you need to get started' angle was misguided at best, unless you already happened to own a cellphone charger with the energy output of a star.

I usually enjoy tinkering and problem solving, but only if I'm learning something at the same time.
The problem solving that I had to do with the pi was to keep throwing hardware at it until I found something that worked.
It went something like this:

My monitor is flashing
It's your power supply
I just bought a new 2A psu!
It's still the psu, buy a new one from the compatibility list.
(Order a better power supply)
Still flashing
Must be your hdmi cable
(Order a better hdmi cable)
Still flashing
Must be your dvi-hdmi adapter
(Order a new adapter)
Still flashing
Your adapter isn't grounded properly
(dismantle adapter and solder in a better ground)
Still flashing
It's your power supply
(hook it up to an ATX psu)
Still flashing
Must be a bad monitor
Monitor works fine with a PC
The monitor must require a stronger signal than the pi can output, buy a new monitor
F*uck you.

I eventually took it to the range so I could shoot it with a load of buckshot and make myself feel better, but I got yelled at by the rangemaster (paper targets only)

Months later, I tried it again, ran an update, and the problem was gone.

I tried it with the original cables, psu, adapter etc, and it worked perfectly.


I suppose my main problem was being an early adopter, but it would have been nice if the 'experts' had admitted that they didn't know what was wrong rather than sending me on various wild goose chases.

As I said, I now have it set up and running just fine, but the initial learning curve was frustrating and soured the experience for me.

[vwalbridge]

^^ THAT is some funny stuff right there. Like I said, I can't bash the Pi since I haven't tried it but this thread now reminds me of this famous quote:

"Linux is only free, if your time is worthless"

                                                             -Jamie Zawinski

[Jamesbeat]

^^ THAT is some funny stuff right there. Like I said, I can't bash the Pi since I haven't tried it but this thread now reminds me of this famous quote:

"Linux is only free, if your time is worthless"

                                                             -Jamie Zawinski

Lol that's true enough I guess, though my issue was specific to the pi hardware, not the OS itself.
However, I use Linux full time (except at work) and I would never go back to Windows.
Once you get Linux set up properly, it is unbelievably stable.

Using Windows at work really makes me appreciate Linux when I get home

[vwalbridge]

though my issue was specific to the pi hardware, not the OS itself.

But didn't you say it was a software update that fixed the flashing monitor?  The Pi hardware never changed.

[Jamesbeat]

I think the problem was with the hardware abstraction not anything intrinsic to the OS.

In other words, the problem was specific to the pi, not to Linux.

There were problems with the usb ports etc as well which have also been improved I believe.

[aldub516]

But even with the misguided cheap price.. lets say at max prices.. pi 35, psu 10, hdmi 5, sd card 10, gpio board 10. Thats 70 dollars and you have everything you need for a system. I guess i got lucky and didnt run into all those problems ^... my process went like this.. buy pi 2, plug in hdmi monitor,burn sd card with portable mame, insert card, plug in pi, play any game i want.. Now again, in no way am i saying these should replace pcs in a full cabinet.. But it seems odd that the super haters cant bring them selves to say "hey, for a scaled down project, or for a classic gaming only project, the pi works pretty well and has a lot of capabilities for its price". which is true. Instead its LMAO ID RATHER GET RAPED BY A GORILLA THAN USE A PI!!!.. i guess elitists come in every hobby.

as i said, im not trying to prove that its great , or good, or anything. Its not the compliments, its the outright ignorant hate for it. I saw posts somewhere like "hey guys lol whats WORSE than a pi to put in an arcade or project?"..

i just have to defend that, as someone who is brand new to linux and pi, i was able to get a great project off the ground and finished with minimal effort, and minimal investment.   Yes it cost more than the 40 bucks you intend.. BUT, for the 70 dollar investment for an up an running arcade system, what other type of pc or board can run video to hdmi, run a simple front end with tons of games, and also be able to directly accept the joystick and button inputs?  a kangaroo is about 100 and needs hdmi plugs etc with no way to directly hook up your panel and such.. Theres no particular point to prove about the pi, i just dont get the violent hate against it from some people when ive achieved perfect results with a small investment and some time to learn what i had to learn. Anyways, onto the next debate..

[vwalbridge]

I'll admit, for the price and integrated GPIO, it certainly makes it tempting.

However, I fell in love with Hyperspin the first time I used it. I'm stuck on Windows, no turning back for me.

[Jamesbeat]

When did you buy your Pi?

As I said, I believe my pi troubles were mostly due to me being an early adopter, and the product is far more mature now.

I'm weird in that I am sort of a pi hater but also love it in my cab.
I don't hate what the pi has become, but I do have a bad taste in my mouth from my experiences as an early adopter.

Not only do I agree with you that a pi makes a fine mame machine for smaller project where a PC won't fit, I'm going to go one step further.
I'm going to be replacing my bartop with a  full sized upright cab soon, but it's going to have a pi inside.

The pi currently does everything I want from a mame cab, ie plays classic games and has a simple interface that my 5 year old can navigate.

I'm not saying my needs won't change in the future, but for now the pi is perfect for me, and there's no need to fix what isn't broken.

If I think of a game that I absolutely have to have that the pi can't run, I'll drop it like a hot potato.

There's no point having loyalty to any specific hardware or software, just use whatever will do the job correctly.

[opt2not]

One, if you unplug it, the SD card takes a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and you have to start over.

This is the biggest deal breaker for me.  I'm a set-it and forget-it type of guy, I don't want to be futzing with the set-up after it's all put together. If i can't instantly turn off and on my system without fear of corruption/damage, then it doesn't suit my needs. 

[Jamesbeat]

One, if you unplug it, the SD card takes a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and you have to start over.

This is the biggest deal breaker for me.  I'm a set-it and forget-it type of guy, I don't want to be futzing with the set-up after it's all put together. If i can't instantly turn off and on my system without fear of corruption/damage, then it doesn't suit my needs.

I have pulled the plug on my pi many many times and never had a corrupted card. I think the problem is way overstated.
I have installed a proper shutdown switch now, but mainly because I figured out that I could add the shutdown function to an existing admin button and shutting it down is the right thing to do.

My system takes around 20 seconds to boot, and about 5 seconds to shut down after hitting the shutdown button, although I do have to turn the power off after shutdown.


I can certainly see the appeal of being able to pull the plug whenever though.

What setup do you have that enables you to do that safely?

[opt2not]

My MAME PC is a WinXP duo core Mini-ITX, (costed me $30) with XinMo USB encoder ($25), soft15khz video output for CRT's, controls + audio + video all wired to a JAMMA edge connector for easy installing into my machine when I want to take them off dedicated PCB's and mess around with mame.

My cabinets are in the ON position full-time, all connected to a powerbar with a switch. I just flip the switch and boot-up in about 20 secs as well.  When I'm done, I switch off the powerbar. No fuss, no worries. WinXP has never corrupted my setup, nor have I had to touch the hardware since it was intially set-up.

[yotsuya]

"Super haters" and "violent hate". Oh, the hyperbole.

Oh, and Jamesbeat, at first when you posted your token thread, I rolled my eyes a few times thinking "Here we go....", but I've grown to like you.

Edit: Though why you'd put a Pi in a full-size is beyond me. :-)

[Jamesbeat]

"Super haters" and "violent hate". Oh, the hyperbole.

Oh, and Jamesbeat, at first when you posted your token thread, I rolled my eyes a few times thinking "Here we go....", but I've grown to like you.

Edit: Though why you'd put a Pi in a full-size is beyond me. :-)

Glad to make your acquaintance 

Re: the pi in the upright cab, I'm not dead set on it as a permanent solution, but as you know from my token thread, I'm working to a tight budget.
I just have too many hobbies. I just bought a lathe, and the tooling I need costs as much as the lathe does.

If I want a cab right now, then I have to do it on the cheap.
I'm going to make something serviceable and upgrade it over time.

That upgrade process will probably include a more powerful computer, but for now the pi meets my needs because it plays all the classics that I like.

If you your taste is for the classic games and you can live without hyperspin, the pi is pretty capable.

[aldub516]

just to answer james without re-hashing debate.. The software i run on the pi for the purpose of my mini dedicate games is called portable-pi, and by all means its one of the most fantastic things ive come across. Very simple program, clean and easy to use, runs off an old mame rom set. Just about anything under mortal kombat runs great. Easy to set single game boots and other options. It was more or less made with the intention of easy and quick solution to replace pcb boards. So its very clean, simple,and fool proof. To answer you, it runs as read-only except for a tiny partition for hi scores. You can pull the plug at any given time and it will never ever crash your card. As of now portable pi comes only loaded with roms so its not available through regular means such as retropie, and needs to be hunted down in the wild of the internet, but there is a newer version coming out soon, which should be addressing the roms included issue to open it up to more people without trouble. Id say portable pie could make believers out of some. wish you the best in your adventures

[Slippyblade]

As of now portable pi comes only loaded with roms so its not available through regular means such as retropie, and needs to be hunted down in the wild of the internet,

I was about to ask for a link, but then read this.  Time to use the google!

[ark_ader]

I know the purist would want original boards, but if you use the full size cabinet to play one or 5 games of the similar nature then I do not see what the big deal is.