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Author Topic: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie  (Read 1179 times)

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yrrkoon

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BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
« on: December 18, 2022, 10:21:11 pm »
    Hi All!

    I'm trying to get these two devices working. They're connected to Ultimate IPAC boards (2 boards). Currently at the windows 10 level, they work. More specifically, If I spin the spinner the mouse cursor goes up and down (Y axis). When I spin the trackball, the mouse moves (X and Y axis although for some reason reversed from what I'd expect. Would be nice to swap the X and Y axis somehow for the trackball but perhaps it doesn't matter).

    The problem however is getting them to work in game. I'm using Tempest and Missile command as two initial games. From what I understand, I should be able to load MAME, hit tab, go into general input menu, select player 1, find and select analog paddle, hit enter to change it, then rotate the spinner and it should register as MOUSE Y. But when I do this, when I rotate the spinner the mouse cursor moves up and down like usual but MAME does not change. The same happens if i try to set TRACK and rotate the trackball as i've seen in other videos.

    I've tried running MAME from the directory it's installed in.
    I've tried running the actual game after BigBox was loaded, then tabbing and trying to change it.
    Frankly, i'm not sure whether it makes a difference which way i do it.. I'm not entirely sure if you change inputs per game, or if it changes for all games when i do this. Or wha the proper way is.
    But in the end it doesn't let me change it and both games continue to use the joystick as input rather then the spinner or trackball.[/li]

Looking for help for this noob getting this working :)
Thx so much!

PL1

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Re: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2022, 12:05:40 am »
    They're connected to Ultimate IPAC boards (2 boards). Currently at the windows 10 level, they work. More specifically, If I spin the spinner the mouse cursor goes up and down (Y axis). When I spin the trackball, the mouse moves (X and Y axis although for some reason reversed from what I'd expect. Would be nice to swap the X and Y axis somehow for the trackball but perhaps it doesn't matter).
    To swap the X-axis and the Y-axis, swap the two 4-pin connectors on the trackball X-axis pins and Y-axis pins.
    - Be sure the 5v wire stays on a 5v pin and the ground wire stays on a ground pin.



    If you have a single 4x2 connector, swap X1 and Y1 then swap X2 and Y2.



    If an axis is working backward, swap the data lines for that axis.
    - For example, if you roll the trackball right and the cursor moves left, swap data lines X1 and X2.

    The spinner is usually on the X-axis so you might as well move it from the Y-axis pins to the X-axis pins.

    The problem however is getting them to work in game. I'm using Tempest and Missile command as two initial games. From what I understand, I should be able to load MAME, hit tab, go into general input menu, select player 1, find and select analog paddle, hit enter to change it, then rotate the spinner and it should register as MOUSE Y. But when I do this, when I rotate the spinner the mouse cursor moves up and down like usual but MAME does not change.
    1. If you haven't already done so, generate a "mame.ini" file using the "-cc" (create config) software switch. "mame.exe -cc"
    - You only need to do this once.  If you run "mame.exe -cc" again, it will overwrite any changes you have made to mame.ini with default settings.

    2. Open mame.ini in Notepad, scroll down to "CORE INPUT OPTIONS", change mouse from "0" (disabled) to "1" (enabled), save, and exit.

    [/list]
    Code: [Select]
    #
    # CORE INPUT OPTIONS
    #
    coin_lockout              1
    ctrlr                     
    mouse                     1
    joystick                  1
    lightgun                  0


    Scott

    yrrkoon

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    Re: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
    « Reply #2 on: December 23, 2022, 08:50:36 pm »
    Brilliant, thank-you! I managed to get both devices working and the X/Y axis sorted.

    I notice in missile command, the cursor is rather slow. It takes a lot of trackball rolling to move around. Is there a place to edit this sensitivity?

    PL1

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    Re: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
    « Reply #3 on: December 23, 2022, 09:46:30 pm »
    Brilliant, thank-you! I managed to get both devices working and the X/Y axis sorted.
    Glad to assist.   :cheers:

    I notice in missile command, the cursor is rather slow. It takes a lot of trackball rolling to move around. Is there a place to edit this sensitivity?
    Hit TAB to open the MAME menu system.
    - Go to the "Analog Controls" menu and adjust "Track X Sensitivity" and "Track Y Sensitivity" as desired.

    Another standard change to the defaults is to set all of the "Inc" and "Dec" inputs in the "Inputs (this game)" menu to "none" so the "Digital Speed" settings in "Analog Controls" are not relevant.
    - MAME uses "Digital Speed" to turn microswitch joystick/button presses into fake analog inputs.


    Scott

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    Re: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
    « Reply #4 on: December 24, 2022, 05:25:43 pm »
    awesome thank-you! That made all the difference in the world.

    Unrelated but I tried getting a 4 player game to work. I chose Gauntlet 2 as my test. For some reason, only players 1 and 2 work. Not 3 and 4. Any idea why that might be? technically, 1 and 2 are on two different ultimate i/o boards. Also i've gone throught and mapped all 4 player controls and buttons to match mame's default's so I wouldn't think this would be a problem. I guess I should be more specific. When I hit the coin button for player 3 and 4 (the outer most joysticks on the control panel), nothing happens. Unlike when I hit player 1 and 2's coin button and it inserts a coin. Weird. Maybe i should try some other 4 player games..

    PL1

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    Re: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
    « Reply #5 on: December 24, 2022, 07:57:01 pm »
    Unrelated but I tried getting a 4 player game to work. I chose Gauntlet 2 as my test. For some reason, only players 1 and 2 work. Not 3 and 4. Any idea why that might be?
    You're probably running one of the two-player versions like "gaunt22p" instead of the four-player version "gaunt2".
    - If you only see info for two players on the right side of the screen, you're running a two-player version.

    gaunt22p:


    gaunt2:



    Scott

    WlkThruMyMind

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    Re: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
    « Reply #6 on: January 21, 2023, 12:26:37 am »
    I made a similar post just now about my trackball working in Mama with some of the games. (Mostly trying to get golden tee, centipede, and a few others to work). My trackball is built into my atari fightstick that I bought and loaded with tons of emulators. What do I need to do to make it work? Let me just clarify I am not very well versed in much of this stuff so will need detailed step by steps. Id be super grateful if someone could help me.

    yrrkoon

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    Re: BigBox/MAME Spinner & Trackball No workie
    « Reply #7 on: January 21, 2023, 07:46:06 pm »
    You're probably running one of the two-player versions like "gaunt22p" instead of the four-player version "gaunt2".
    - If you only see info for two players on the right side of the screen, you're running a two-player version.

    Scott

    That was exactly it. I just change the default to use gaunt2 and viola everything works. Thx again!!

    Gerald