IPAC2 not working - no button presses registering - SOLVED

[DrHogie]

Hello again!  I ordered an IPAC2 to setup a P3/P4 on my arcade cabinet.  I have the IPAC2 installed and wired up, running firmware 1.55.  I am also using an IPAC UIO for P1/P2/LEDs — but during this setup process the UIO stays unhooked from the PC.

When I start the PC up, WinIPAC recognizes the IPAC2 as being in keyboard mode.  I can make changes to the configuration and the board keeps the changes.  However, none of the buttons hooked up and wired to the IPAC2 are registered by anything in Win10.  Win10 is showing the IPAC2 as a keyboard device, but none of my button presses are working.

I did think it could be a wiring harness issue (I connected the tips on my wires with the breadboard-pin connectors at first) — but I stripped out three cables to the bare wire, inserted those into the posts on the IPAC2, and these buttons still don’t register.  When everything is powered up, the light on the IPAC2 board shines green.

I’ve emailed Andy but I’m hoping someone here might have a quicker answer.  I’ve been working on this arcade machine over a month now, dropped $600 in Ultimarc equipment, and was really hoping to be done with hardware frustration at this point (and then moving onto software frustration ^_^ ).  Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated!


Thanks,
DrHogie

[DrHogie]

So every single bit of praise you read online about Andy’s customer service is true — he’s amazing.

Got an email back from him this morning telling me it looked like the second iPac board wasn’t grounded.  In my peabrain understanding of electrical wiring, I thought only the buttons needed to be grounded, and only to the first board to complete the ground.  As soon as I extended the chain to the second board, everything came to life and all buttons are responding for the iPac 2!

Now to learn why that board had to be grounded so I’ll know!