raspberry Pi poweroff options

[leapinlew]

I've been tinkering with the idea of rebuilding my bartop Defender. If I do, I'll post a small update in Project Announcements.

The problem with it is that I used a PC on the initial build. It worked fine for a couple years, but 1 reboot and it was dead. I'm fairly sure the windows install is corrupt. It was a tight squeeze putting PC guts in it, so this time around I want to do things different. This bartop only plays Defender (doesn't even play Stargate). I want to be able to power off with a lightswitch and not worry about having to reboot it.

• 19-n-1 multigame: disable all games but Defender. I already own a jamma harness and power supply. The 19-n-1 costs less than $50.
• Raspberry Pi: Launch directly into Defender. I already have a Pi, power supply and encoder.

I'd use the pi, if there is a way to power it off without worrying about corrupting the image. The 19-n-1 is pretty rock solid, but I'd prefer to not shell out the $50. One way or another, I got to get this bartop back in business. Is my Rpi knowledge out of date? Is there a way to power it off abruptly and not worry about corruption? If there isn't, I'm going with the 19-n-1.

[Slippyblade]

I like this one.

https://mausberry-circuits.myshopify.com/

I've used em before, very reliable.

[jimmer]

How into Defender are you? Do you want to play different versions and different settings, and have separate hi-scores tables?

My view:

19in1:   Untested but I suspect laggy. 1 ROM, 1 hiscore table.
RasPi:   Possible to build a non-laggy setup. Many ROMS/setting/hiscore tables.
PC:       Possible to build a non-laggy setup. Many ROMS/setting/hiscore tables.
JROK:   Non-laggy. 3 Roms x 2 settings


For what it's worth, since turning off disk caching I've been unable to corrupt my windows7 build while testing hard power cuts.

[leapinlew]

Appreciate the thoughtful reply.

Laggy is a good way to describe defender. I'm leaning towards the 19-n-1. It'll be a quick easy conversion and I can't expect my kids to know to power down a computer or a pi.

[matsadona]

I have a 19-in-1 dedicated to Defender only in one of my cabinets (with a dedicated control panel with 2-way joystick and the correct  button layout) and it plays fine.
Sure I would rather have a JROK board, but I can't justify the price difference. If I had an original Williams cabinet with a dead board set, sure then it would be a different story.

Since i'm 45 in a couple of weeks my reactions is way beyond any lag that might be in this emulation anyway and since the game is so damn hard I can never blame the emulation of being poor when I die.
Haven't played the original so I can't tell how accurate it is. It is however looking valid but others might have a different opinion.
It sounds good also and boots really fast. No mess with configuration just plug n play.

The big down side however is the lack of high score saving.

[leapinlew]

Good to know. This is the route I plan on going. Thanks.

[Titchgamer]

Bit late to the party but I have used mausberry circuits to power cycle my Pi with good success to.

Very easy to install and works perfect.

I used one in my neo geo bartop.

[darthpaul]

Mausberry, I've used it in five and counting, RPi projects with no problems.

[RandyT]

Has anyone tried this method, using just a button connected to the GPIO and some software?  Seems like a simple and cheap solution, if it works.

Of course, you'd need a reset button as well, to bring the power back up without pulling the power cable.

[javeryh]

Has anyone tried this method, using just a button connected to the GPIO and some software?  Seems like a simple and cheap solution, if it works.

Of course, you'd need a reset button as well, to bring the power back up without pulling the power cable.

I am planning to try this method: