Fitted Ultimarc SpinTrak...not working?

[GlynH]

Hi there,

I just fitted an Ultimarc SpinTrak to my arcade table but it is not working?

The IPAQ 2 has two rows of header pins.

The poor instructions on the Ultimarc website appear to show the older IPAQ board but buried in the text it does say;

Using the Expansion/Trackball/Spinner interface on I-PAC 2

These pins form a dual-purpose interface. The function is configured in the "config" tab in WinIPAC.
There are 2 modes:
Expansion Interface Disabled: In this mode, an Ultimarc U-Trak trackball and SpinTrak spinner can be directly plugged into the header pins. The wire colors are marked.
Expansion Interface Enabled: In this mode, one or two Ultimarc Xbox360/PS3/Xinput converters can be plugged into the header pins. The wire colors are marked.

I have checked the config in WinIPAQ and the expansion interface is disabled.

The wiring colours in the 5-pin header plug on the end of the cable coming from the SpinTrak are;

Brown
Green
White
Yellow
Empty Not Connected

Applying logic & common sense to the instructions I plugged in the 5-pin header plug to the header marked as 'Spinner/Exp P2' making sure the wiring colours in the plug corresponded to those printed on the board.

So far...so good.

But...and there's always a but the SpinTrak is not recognised in any game that is listed as using a spinner such as Arkanoid. The joystick moves the paddle left & right but the SpinTrak does nothing.

Have I missed something fundamental here?

Any help, hints, tips etc. would be much appreciated.

System details below sig  if it helps?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Dell Optiplex 755 SFF
BIOS A22
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz E6550
Hitachi 500GB HDS725050KLA360 HDD
Sony CRX880A CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Intel Q35 1280x1024 32 bit Graphics
4 x 1GB Samsung RAM
Windows XP Professional SP3
Dell P1914S 19" Monitor
Ultimarc I-PAC 2 2015 PCB v1.32
Sanwa JLW Joystick?
SpinTrak Spinner

MAME v0.146 (21 May 2012)
MALA v1.74 (Mar 2011)
WinIPAC v2.08
WinIPAC V2 v1.0.6.0
Ultimarc Firmware Updater v1.2006.45.2

[Nephasth]

But...and there's always a but the SpinTrak is not recognised in any game that is listed as using a spinner such as Arkanoid. The joystick moves the paddle left & right but the SpinTrak does nothing.

Sounds like you haven't assigned your spinner inputs in MAME.

[GlynH]

Thanks for the quick reply Nephasth,

Could well be...its been a long time since the days when I used to spend more time in the cabinet rather than on it!

I've forgotten more than I ever knew!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

[PL1]

Does the spinner move the mouse cursor in Windows?


Scott

[GlynH]

Err...nope. But then again neither does the joystick if that makes a difference?

-=Glyn=-

[Nephasth]

Err...nope. But then again neither does the joystick if that makes a difference?

-=Glyn=-

Get it working in WinIpac...

[GlynH]

What a time for my wireless keyboard to stop working!
.
.
.
OK...working again and been looking all over WinIPAQ but don't see any option other than Enable Expansion Interface which the Ultimarc website says to leave disabled.

Out of desperation I've even tried turning it on and rebooting but to no avail.

Please spell it out for me...what am I missing here?

Is there any way to check the spinner output via software for example?

Where in MAME/MALA might the spinner option be located please?

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

[Nephasth]

Is there any way to check the spinner output via software for example?

Yeah, WinIpac...

Where in MAME/MALA might the spinner option be located please?

[GlynH]

Thanks for taking the time & trouble to reply Nephasth but you'll have to be gentle with me and lead me by those for this exercise if you have the patience please?

First things first...I should see sign of SpinTrak activity in WinIPAQ yes?

But where/how? When I first tried I was able to run up/down the board connections on the schematic by using various buttons/joystick but after losing the complete IPAQ until I disconnected/reconnected the USB connection to the board I can't even seem to do that now although it does allow me to switch across the three tabs?

Also I took a look at MAME.ini but didn't see anything that resembled the screenshot you posted. Which file were you referring to please?

Sorry to be a dumb ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- but it has been a long time since I got down & dirty and have forgotten almost everything I learned not that I was ever an expert or even competent with MAME/MALA etc.

Baby steps...how do I confirm that this brand new SpinTrak is actually outputting what it is supposed to and that I have definitely connected the thing properly in the first instance?

Thanks for your patience...

-=Glyn=-

[Nephasth]

Search "spinner set up". Or wait until someone comes here to give step by step instructions.

[GlynH]

First thing I searched for both here and Internet/Google before I bothered anybody!

I need to take this step-by-step logically as its no use me diving into config files etc. if it's as basic as the SpinTrak not sending a signal to the IPAQ 2.

I'll keep looking but at the moment I have the top off the arcade table for access and I need to get it back together ASAP.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

[PL1]

Sometimes wire colors get mixed up during cable fabrication.

One thing you may want to verify is that the Spintrak is outputting a quadrature waveform (alternating highs and lows) on each data line when the spinner is *slowly* turned. (use multimeter set to DCV)

A spinner works like a single-axis trackball.

The trackball works like a mechanical mouse.

Further details and better pictures here and there's an explanation of quadrature waveforms here.

There are 4 wires per axis leading to the encoder:
1. 5v - operating voltage for the LED
2. Data A
3. Data B
4. Ground (Sometimes jumpered inside the trackball case, leaving one axis with only 3 wires)

By swapping Data A for Data B, you are swapping quadrature waveform A for waveform B which the encoder translates as turning the other way.

Scott

[Titchgamer]

The main menu can be brought up by pressing the tab button while in MAME then you need to go to the "dial x" press enter and move your spinner.
Some games like puzzloop need to have the dial enabled in the games service menu.

Cant help much with your electrical prob as mine is USB but make sure you have the plug on the right connections on the spin trak.

[05SRT4]

Being that your using windows OS you should see the mouse move left/right on the windows desktop before you launch anything. This is a quick and easy way to test if its working.

The settings you mentioned in Winpac sound like they are correct.

Another thing to note, are you using any adapters from the Ipac2 to the PC? or is it straight USB cable?

Is there a mouse already plugged in the PC while you try this? Maybe try it with one at a time if so, not sure if windows xp can handle that.

[AndyWarne]

As stated above, the spinner should work in Windows, moving the mouse cursor horizontally.

Nothing should be needed, just plug in wire colors matching the board markings as you have done. The default configuration has the spinner enabled.

If its not working something is wrong and so can you drop me an email andy@ultimarc.com and we can try to help

[GlynH]

Apologies for not replying in a timely manner.

The fault was all of my own making <blush> and I *fixed* it the same day but in my excitement to find it working abandoned this post...sorry.

Looking down at an angle to the connector on the PCB is never the best idea! It is in a confined space and *looked* like it was connected properly.

In fact it was one pin out which would explain why it wouldn't work.

Took it off replaced it properly and all was good so it would have worked out of the box if only I had connected it correctly!

Just wanted to update this in case anyone else was searching for an answer.

Thanks for those who tried to help...ain't no way you can help stupid but thanks for trying!

-=Glyn=-