Help with u-track/ipac/minipac

[chucklepie]

Hello,
I've finished my cabinet and just need to order the parts. Just a few questions relating to keyboard controller (IPAC) and trackballs (UTRACK):

1. The cost of a mini-pac with harness is the same as a ipac 2 plus wires. Is there any difference, do they both work with the ipac software?

2. If I bought the u-track with usb harness how do I wire left/right buttons or do the minipac/ipac controller/software come with mouse button support?

3. The u-track seems to have two sets of wiring harnesses, I can see one plugs into the usb harness, but what is the other for? I've checked the website and it's completely devoid of any wiring information.

I'm using a mix of semitsu joysticks and happ buttons (to get the depth of my 3/4 panel), I'm just wondering if it's worth getting the pre-made ground daisy chained wires (they are cheap enough) because seimitsu and happ use different sized connectors.....

Thanks.

[PL1]

1. The cost of a mini-pac with harness is the same as a ipac 2 plus wires. Is there any difference, do they both work with the ipac software?

You can program both using the same WinIPac software.

The "Mini-PAC Opti. With Harness and USB cable" has the wiring shown below and the optical encoder for spinner/trackball built in.

To use the UTrak with the IPac, you'll need to get the optional USB2 adapter and plug it into an open USB port.

2. If I bought the u-track with usb harness how do I wire left/right buttons or do the minipac/ipac controller/software come with mouse button support?

The new IPac firmware supports assigning inputs as mouse buttons IIRC.

The Mini-Pac opti includes inputs for the mouse buttons, but the harness doesn't have wires in those slots IIRC.

It's easy to move unused or "Extension Harness Pack" wires to those positions on the harness connector. (see wiring info below)

3. The u-track seems to have two sets of wiring harnesses, I can see one plugs into the usb harness, but what is the other for? I've checked the website and it's completely devoid of any wiring information.

Umm . . . 

Right side of the Ultimarc homepage (and many other pages on the site), scroll down a little ways to find "MiniPAC"

As you scroll down that page, you'll see. . .

The Mini-Pac board


Wiring harness for buttons and daisy chain ground


Wiring harness for trackball/spinner


A link at the bottom of the page to wiring information (including a downloadable PDF version)

I'm using a mix of semitsu joysticks and happ buttons (to get the depth of my 3/4 panel), I'm just wondering if it's worth getting the pre-made ground daisy chained wires (they are cheap enough) because seimitsu and happ use different sized connectors.....

I love the pre-made daisy chains -- fast and easy to use.

Get some male .110" (2.8mm) and .187" (4.8mm) QDs and you can splice the two sizes of daisy chain together so each button can have the correct size ground connection.

Also get some female .110" crimps so you can snip off and replace the precrimped .187" QDs on the associated wires. (If there's enough wire, you may be able to reuse those trimmed ends on a later build.  )


Scott

[chucklepie]

Thanks. I figured I wouldnt need the optical option as the usb version of the trackball plugs straight into a usb port and becomes a usb mouse?

I guess that means I may as well get the minipac. So why would anyone buythe ipac when it costs more with no benefit over the mini?

[EssexMame]

Firstly, apologies, I know this is old but it comes the closest to the answers I seek.

I have a u-Trak trackball and mini pac opti with a connection harness. However the wires from the Utrak and wires from the harness are both male. How do I connect them, and where?

I couldn’t find the information or wiring diagram on the Ultimarc site although I did find links here today them they give 404 errors now.

Can anyone tell me how to connect Utrak to the minipac opti?

[PL1]

I have a u-Trak trackball and mini pac opti with a connection harness. However the wires from the Utrak and wires from the harness are both male. How do I connect them, and where?

Male pins on the wires coming from the UTrak are as expected.
- Those should plug directly into the white connectors on the harness shown below.
- Remember that the trackball and spinner connectors use different pinouts, so be sure to not get them mixed up.
(trackball has ground on pin 4, spinner has ground on pin 3)

Are you sure you have the right harness?

The optical part of the Mini-Pac Opti harness has female pins on both ends.   

I couldn’t find the information or wiring diagram on the Ultimarc site

It's on the MiniPac Opti page https://www.ultimarc.com/control-interfaces/mini-pac-en/mini-pac-opti/.
- Below the ordering info, click on the "Mini-PAC Wiring" button.

https://www.ultimarc.com/images/Minipac_wiring.pdf



Scott

[EssexMame]

My bad, I typed male I meant female - both harness and trackball are female so how do I connect them?

I have the minipac wiring diagram and I see where the trackball plugs in but what do the wires on th Utrak equate to - match on colours?

[PL1]

both harness and trackball are female so how do I connect them?

On further consideration, it looks like there are two UTrak wiring configurations -- one with male pins for Mini-Pac Opti and one with female pins for the dedicated USB encoder.



You should be able to connect the female connectors using M-M Dupont jumpers or header pins.

I have the minipac wiring diagram and I see where the trackball plugs in but what do the wires on th Utrak equate to - match on colours?

The colors should match . . . unless you get an odd one like mine.  There was a batch around 10 years ago where the harness X-axis data lines for the trackball and spinner were swapped so the pinout order on one and colors on both were mismatched.   


Scott

[EssexMame]

Thanks seems M-M Dupont jumpers or header pins would work.
I also got some info from Andy at Ultimarc who said I should have the U-HID type 2 harness.
I don't recall, but perhaps I got U-Trak and iPac/harness at different times/from different suppliers? It was 2013 so no chance of remembering!
So, sort M-M dupont jumpers or but the correct female U-HID type 2 harness from Ultimarc. I'll probably go Ultimarc as that should be a bit more plug-n-play and less chance of me causing more confusion.

Thanks for your replies and help

[EssexMame]

Ok, I've got the harness from Andy and it's working when plugged into the Minipac Opti and that to the PC (via USB)
It works like a mouse, moving the cursor on PC.

However, I can't get it working in the emulator/front end I'm using - Batocera (like recalbox, from RetroPie but for PC's).

Has anyone got this setup (MiniPac from pre 2015, UTrak and Batocera (or Recalbox/Retropie)? There's a weird way (https://wiki.batocera.org/ipac2_usb_controllers) to setup the joysticks which does work but loses the P1+P2 ESC sequence and I wonder if the Utrak simply won't work in this way?