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How to get working Player 2 Controller in this Homemade Arcade?
PL1:
--- Quote from: Selxion on June 02, 2024, 12:00:01 pm ---I connected it to a windows 10 based Laptop, it worked perfectly for both controllers, what does this means?
--- End quote ---
The good news is that the Xin-Mo encoder is working correctly. ;D
That means that the problem you describe is probably either with MAME configuration or it is with the relay circuit tapping into one or both of the Xin-Mo's daisy-chain grounds.
Let's start with MAME configuration.
1. Launch a game in MAME where both players can play at the same time and many (preferrably all) of the buttons are used -- maybe something like Street Fighter 2 which has two players with a "Joy + 6 buttons" layout.
1 2 3
Joy
4 5 6
2. Press TAB to open the MAME menu.
3. Use the arrow buttons to navigate to the "Input (general)"--"Player 2 Controls" menu.
- This menu sets the MAME defaults for Player 2.
- These defaults can be overridden for individual games in the "Input (this game)" menu.
4. Highlight "P2 Up".
- It should show the input currently mapped to something like "Joy 2 Up"
5. Press ENTER. (The input goes into mapping mode -- shows "<>" while waiting for a control to be pressed/moved.)
5. Press Up on P2 Joystick. (Maps that control to that input.)
- Did the Joy # change? If it did, remap the rest of the joystick inputs, the button inputs, Coin, and Start. (You'll need to scroll down a bit to get to them.)
- P2B5 and P2B6 aren't mapped in MAME by default so map them if they show up as "none" or "n/a".
- If you make a mistake, press DELETE to clear the current mapping and press DELETE again to return the input to the MAME default mapping.
- If MAME won't map joystick or button presses to these inputs, something is causing problems with your Xin-Mo encoder -- probably the odd wiring. Skip down to that part of troubleshooting below.
6. Check if the Player 1 controls are mapped properly. Remap as needed.
7. Try the various games on the system. Remap controls as desired for the current game in the "Input (this game)" menu.
-------------------------
If something went wrong with mapping inputs in MAME, it's time to check wiring and fix whatever is causing the encoder to not work.
See if there are any wires connecting the relay to the Xin-Mo and what voltages are on them.
- I think you described here that there are some connections to the Xin-Mo's daisy-chain grounds.
--- Quote from: Selxion on June 01, 2024, 08:07:12 pm ---One of these cables goes to Player 1 Start Button COM (Based on the image you sent me) and the other to the Player 1 USB Interface.
The other two cables that are connected to the back buttons; one is divided in two; one goes to Player 2 Joystick Left COM and the other one goes to Player 2 Button A COM, and the other cable that does not divide goes to Player 2 USB Interface.
If I connect both that go to the USB interface and both that go to COM, will work? (I think no cause the USB already has power for both of the players and they worked without doing that)
--- End quote ---
Scott
Selxion:
--- Quote from: PL1 on June 02, 2024, 05:44:53 pm ---
--- Quote from: Selxion on June 02, 2024, 12:00:01 pm ---I connected it to a windows 10 based Laptop, it worked perfectly for both controllers, what does this means?
--- End quote ---
The good news is that the Xin-Mo encoder is working correctly. ;D
That means that the problem you describe is probably either with MAME configuration or it is with the relay circuit tapping into one or both of the Xin-Mo's daisy-chain grounds.
Let's start with MAME configuration.
1. Launch a game in MAME where both players can play at the same time and many (preferrably all) of the buttons are used -- maybe something like Street Fighter 2 which has two players with a "Joy + 6 buttons" layout.
1 2 3
Joy
4 5 6
2. Press TAB to open the MAME menu.
3. Use the arrow buttons to navigate to the "Input (general)"--"Player 2 Controls" menu.
- This menu sets the MAME defaults for Player 2.
- These defaults can be overridden for individual games in the "Input (this game)" menu.
4. Highlight "P2 Up".
- It should show the input currently mapped to something like "Joy 2 Up"
5. Press ENTER. (The input goes into mapping mode -- shows "<>" while waiting for a control to be pressed/moved.)
5. Press Up on P2 Joystick. (Maps that control to that input.)
- Did the Joy # change? If it did, remap the rest of the joystick inputs, the button inputs, Coin, and Start. (You'll need to scroll down a bit to get to them.)
- P2B5 and P2B6 aren't mapped in MAME by default so map them if they show up as "none" or "n/a".
- If you make a mistake, press DELETE to clear the current mapping and press DELETE again to return the input to the MAME default mapping.
- If MAME won't map joystick or button presses to these inputs, something is causing problems with your Xin-Mo encoder -- probably the odd wiring. Skip down to that part of troubleshooting below.
6. Check if the Player 1 controls are mapped properly. Remap as needed.
7. Try the various games on the system. Remap controls as desired for the current game in the "Input (this game)" menu.
-------------------------
If something went wrong with mapping inputs in MAME, it's time to check wiring and fix whatever is causing the encoder to not work.
See if there are any wires connecting the relay to the Xin-Mo and what voltages are on them.
- I think you described here that there are some connections to the Xin-Mo's daisy-chain grounds.
--- Quote from: Selxion on June 01, 2024, 08:07:12 pm ---One of these cables goes to Player 1 Start Button COM (Based on the image you sent me) and the other to the Player 1 USB Interface.
The other two cables that are connected to the back buttons; one is divided in two; one goes to Player 2 Joystick Left COM and the other one goes to Player 2 Button A COM, and the other cable that does not divide goes to Player 2 USB Interface.
If I connect both that go to the USB interface and both that go to COM, will work? (I think no cause the USB already has power for both of the players and they worked without doing that)
--- End quote ---
Scott
--- End quote ---
Got it, I will try that, if I want to reinstall the whole system (Software) I just need to search for MAME tutorials and files?
PL1:
--- Quote from: Selxion on June 02, 2024, 08:56:21 pm ---if I want to reinstall the whole system (Software) I just need to search for MAME tutorials and files?
--- End quote ---
Before you consider that, make sure you've got the hardware working right and that there isn't some minor tweak you can do to the current setup to make things work better.
There's quite a bit more to a full system install than just a quick-and-easy reload of the OS and MAME.
- It's a steep learning curve and a big time investment.
- You may want to consider keeping the current system as-is while you set up a fresh system on a new computer. (newer OS, newer MAME/ROMset, N64 and PS1 emulators like you mentioned in the OP, your choice of Front End programs) Once you get the new system working the way you want, transplant it into the cab.
Most users prefer using a Front End program for selecting games instead of MAME's built-in game selection menu.
- Configuring and tweaking the Front End can be a major time investment, depending on the program and how picky you are about how it looks and operates.
- PROTIP: Get MAME running correctly BEFORE you mess with any Front End programs.
If you're re-using the old computer, it's better to stick with the same version of MAME.
- Newer versions of MAME require more computing power so you might run into performance issues during gameplay.
- ROMsets change over time (better dumps, name changes, device driver improvements, etc.) so you need to have a ROMset version that matches the MAME version. Finding a ROMset for a specific old version of MAME can be quite difficult. Many people find it easier to get the ROMset first then download the matching version of MAME.
If you want to do a fresh re-install of the same version of MAME, try an approach like this:
- Figure out what version of MAME is on your system.
- Download that version of MAME from https://www.mamedev.org/oldrel.html.
- Rename your current MAME directory from "mame" to something like "mame_original" so you can reuse key files from your old install like ROMs, BIOSes, drivers, etc.
- Install MAME.
- Generate a mame.ini file by running "mame.exe -cc" (create config) one time. Every time you run MAME with the "-cc" software switch, it will create a default mame.ini file that will overwrite any edits you've done to mame.ini.
- Copy all of the ROMs from "mame_original\roms\" to "mame\roms\".
- Copy the sound samples from "mame_original\samples\" to "mame\samples\".
- Run MAME and check configuration as covered in the earlier post. At a minimum, you'll need to map P2B5 and P2B6 since they are not mapped by default.
- If you try to run a game and it tells you a file is missing, copy it from "mame_original".
Scott