iPac/Zero Lag Spinner Setup

[chijb55]

My goal is to replace my PC-driven arcade with a Pi4 version.  I've got two different Pi4 builds - one with RetroPie, one with the newer Batocera.  Both work great on their own with a Joystick.

My issue is my Tankstick controller.  Two joysticks, one Trackball, one Spinner, and the usual host of buttons.

It's always been a bit of a challenge to the Tankstick fully operational even in a "pure" Windows 10 environment.  Buttons/joysticks are easy, trackball/spinners work but needed some work to make fully functional, and some of the side buttons I like to use for coins/escape/etc seem to come and go as far as working.  So my Pi4 arcade runs great, but doesn't 100% recognize Tankstick.

Enter the iPac vs. Zero Lag, and my questions:
1.  Am I right that the Zero Lag does NOT support a spinner/trackball?
2.  True that the only iPacs that support spinners is the iPac2 & iPac4 Ultimate?
3.  If there is an add-on board  allowing spinners with Zero Lag, is that a better option than iPac?  (I know I'll get differing opinions here.)
4.  If it's iPac as I think, am I better going with two iPac2 (one for Player 1, one for Player 2) vs the iPac4 Ultimate?
5.  I see how to program the iPac using Windows.  Easy.  Is there any issue with programming the board on Windows and then moving the board to my arcade/Tankstick system?  Or do I have to program it withing the RetroPie/Batocera environment somehow?

The iPac looks like a terrific system, and everyone speaks well of them and their support.  But the documentation on their boards is a little thin to me.  Your help, appreciate.

[PL1]

1.  Am I right that the Zero Lag does NOT support a spinner/trackball?

If you're referring to the "Zero Delay" gamepad encoders, then you are right -- they do not function as an optical (mouse) encoder for spinner/trackball inputs.

2.  True that the only iPacs that support spinners is the iPac2 & iPac4 Ultimate?

Sorry, but there's no such thing as an "iPac4 Ultimate".
- You can use two IPac Ultimate I/Os if you need a 4 player setup with trackball spinner inputs.  IIRC you either need to program them one at a time with different ID numbers or load an alternate firmware for the second board.
- Trackball/Spinner are not supported if you use the Player 3-4 connection pack for I-PAC Ultimate I/O Interface.

Ultimarc's IPac2, MiniPac Opti, Optipac, IPac Ultimate I/O, and the dedicated optical encoder that you can get with the UTrak or SpinTrak all support spinner/trackball optical inputs.

The IPac4 does not.

3.  If there is an add-on board  allowing spinners with Zero Lag, is that a better option than iPac?  (I know I'll get differing opinions here.)

Just like having separate USB connections for your keyboard and mouse, you can use a separate USB optical encoder for your spinner/trackball.

You can use any optical encoder mentioned above, an Opti-Wiz3 from GGG, or an Arduino with a mouse sketch/firmware.  The Leonardo series Arduinos are very easy to make into Human Interface Device (HID) mouse/keyboard/gamepad.

4.  If it's iPac as I think, am I better going with two iPac2 (one for Player 1, one for Player 2) vs the iPac4 Ultimate?

For a two player setup you should only need one IPac2 (no LED buttons) or one IPac Ultimate I/O. (LED buttons)

5.  I see how to program the iPac using Windows.  Easy.  Is there any issue with programming the board on Windows and then moving the board to my arcade/Tankstick system?  Or do I have to program it withing the RetroPie/Batocera environment somehow?

The IPac shows up as a composite HID device.

The computer sees it as a composite keyboard/gamepad/mouse and the default Windows and RasPi device drivers should work.

The only thing you might need to change on the IPac is whether it is in xinput or dinput mode.

You might need to configure your emulation software to recognize the programmed keystrokes/buttons/mouse axes.


Scott