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Zebidee:
We all know what you get if you pay peanuts. You may need to upgrade to some hot chips or even some nachos :dunno

I was looking at the Windows 7 "Ribbons" screensaver just now, and to me it seemed sorta vector-ish. I guess what I'm getting at is random bright lines and squiggles, of different colours, on a black(?) background. You could go Jackson-Pollock-crazy with some paint. Reminds me of some of your approaches to getting that marshmallow cab looking good, though that was fibreglass.

bobbyb13:
It is going to require some kind of copy or graphic on the side of it or it will just look stupid.
I do like the idea of a resin splash of sorts- in a kind of warp speed sort of look I guess.
The damn thing is still going to need to be called 'something' no matter what though.
I wiSH that I had any skill with this sort of thing.

Well FINALLY now, after spending an amount of time on this wherein I could have actually built the frackin' cabinet, I have succeeded in sorting out the damn yoke.
You know what it was?!
The stupid cord.

Who the hell makes a bleedin' USB cord that only charges and won't transfer any data?!?!
FFS

By the time I had figured out how to:
1. Stumble onto opening the GUI in a sideways fashion (bear in mind, the AdvanceMame USB-DVG disk image- which really is brilliant by the way- boots straight into the menu to run the vector games, completely skipping on anything that resembles a computer. Awesome- unless you are trying to use the damn Pi as a computer temporarily.
2. Get a USB dongle because I need to have entirely too much crap plugged into this imp of a computer.
3. Give up on getting any wifi happening and just carry all this crap into the dining room zone where I can plug the thing right into the router.
4. Download what I need onto the thing from the Alan-1 site (which I am not kidding- when I tried to do it last night I kept getting a "Can't establish connection with database" or other some such trash last night. Cue losing more hair.
5. Score this evening somehow and get the files needed.
6. Get the joystick test bit loaded on finally.
7. Get dfu-util loaded onto the Pi too- and then after sorting out how to use it (in command line no less!) and figuring out where the hell the damn .dfu file was on the Pi and after a dozen times of typing stuff over, finally figuring out that the silly stuff is case sensitive...

I get an error message that there is no dfu capable device connected.

Well... wtf?!
I can see the damn board is plugged in, and it has a pile of LEDs lit on it, so what the hell are you talking about?!

So I tried a different cord, because I had lost all hope otherwise, and guess what?

Next time I booted the thing up again I got-

Holy crap- it's there. And nice deadzone, yeah?!
My word.

So for giggles I tried to run through the dfu utility again to see if I could flash the stupid board and lo and behold that worked too.

And when I tried to open the joystick test utility I saw the most glorious thing.

And the controls even respond the way they should.

Another day of this and I might have been putting it all out in the road for the next passing steamroller to take care of for me.

I'd like to kick the guy who came up with a 'charging only' cord right in the jimmy.
HARD.

Zebidee:

--- Quote from: bobbyb13 on April 23, 2023, 03:45:09 am ---I'd like to kick the guy who came up with a 'charging only' cord right in the jimmy.
HARD.

--- End quote ---

Before you get too excited, there are indeed USB charge-only cables. Like the USB 2.0 to USB-C charge cables used for many modern devices such as phones... and GreenAntz too. These cables carry no data. If you use a full USB-C to USB-C cable, there will be a termination signal at the device which tells the PC "5v charge only, no data please".

As for normal USB2.0 cables, they have only 4 wires in them: 5v (red), 2 data lines (green, white) and GND (black). It is not unusual (said in my best Tom Jones baritone) for one of the wires to get damaged, especially as many USB cables are cheap n flimsy. Unlike with USB-C, no signal termination is required for your PC to supply 5v via USB2.0. Point of this story is, if a USB data wire is damaged then your device can/will receive power, but be unable to communicate with your PC 8) I've hacked many USB2.0 cables for 5v power.

If it makes you feel any better, I also spent all last night chasing after "signal ghost bugs" in my arcade cab :'( (IPAC went wonky again when reprogramming it, think I've sorted it now)

bobbyb13:
Did you check your data cables?!
;D

So, supercharged by my entirely unanticipated ability to get the silly controller working, I figured it was time to sand out the panel.
Bonus to this today was I had an epiphany about the last color and icon details for the panel, the finish, and even the basic concept idea for the rest of the cabinet as a whole.
It isn't perfect, but I am satisfied at this point that what I built carries the theme of the original controller decently, even if a purist or two may gag.

The other thing I had done the other night was to go through the sketch I had for the cabinet - which began life planned as a mini cabaret actually- and blow it up to full size and sort out all of the dimensions so that I can template it up and get cutting.

It is a good fit for the loft as regards height and angles and has a feel to it that I like for this machine.

Toughest part now will be getting the feel of this kind of thing in a minimalist sort of way without it being tacky.

I had a 1000 piece puzzle of this exact image when I was 8 it was I think.
Wish I still had that. Wonder what ever happened to it.

javeryh:
Bobby - this is looking great. I wish I had your determination. I have a ton of things I want to build in my head but always find an excuse to just do it later instead of right now. I need to work on that.

--- Quote from: firedance on April 22, 2023, 04:22:20 am ---I also use pencil n paper for designs, would take me years to learn design software :D I've also designed a side profile on a sheet of MDF before then cut it out, saved on paper.

Great work as always 8)

--- End quote ---

Add me to this as well. I scribble on paper until it looks right and like porn I know it when I see it.

--- Quote from: Mike A on April 22, 2023, 07:08:07 am ---Javyerh didn't use my concept for his bartop.

It was his loss.

--- End quote ---

One of my many regrets but it's never too late as there is always the next one...

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