Author Topic: My serial LCD for displaying directions (Read 30661 times)

mr.Curmudgeon · « **Reply #160 on:** December 02, 2004, 02:25:12 pm »

Quote from: Industen on May 04, 2004, 07:24:01 pm

Industen,

Great work!

Any progress with the GBA tutorial...I'm drooling over this option and I imagine people in this scene could help automate the GBA ROM creation process so it'd be easier to create the screens. The sooner you release the tips, the sooner we can get started on improving the function!!

mrC

SirPoonga · « **Reply #161 on:** December 02, 2004, 03:40:30 pm »

Before I read through many pages of this thread again, is there a website setup for this? I know it uses controls.dat and I'd like to link to it from the website.

Silver · « **Reply #162 on:** December 02, 2004, 07:29:45 pm »

Well I don't think anyone ever actaully put together a website for either the LCD or the GBA.

LCD:

maraxle has some info on his project page for his cabinet at:

http://www.jhanson.com/aquajack.shtm

The LCD setup is easy if you use a PJRC one (as maraxle and several others, including me have) - you just hook it up to a com port (it has a RS232 interface) and copy txt files out to the com port. The txt files can include instructions for font/scrolling etc...

There were a couple of programs knocking around that used controlsdat (and listinfo) to generate the txt files. You can download mine at

http://www.silverfoxy.plus.com/LCDGen.html

It pulls the info from controls dat, and if there is no entry it gets the info from listinfo (which is ovbiously less useful). I'm also working with someone who wants to use it for a BetaBrite sign, so it should support those in the future too.

GBA:

No idea, but would love to know what it was done with, I've got a USB link to my GBA but would like to know how to communicate to tell it about game changes etc... Not sure if its done with a rom per pic or what....

wj2k3 · « **Reply #163 on:** December 03, 2004, 12:55:11 pm »

You can use the attached program to turn an image into a GBA ROM. It is actually meant to create a slide but for this purpose we would just use one. (change the extension from TXT to ZIP)

If have created several to test and can verify they work with VisualBoyAdvance but I am unfamiliar with hot to send them to the GBA.

Can you send roms to your GBA via the USB link? I suppose you would use a batch file to send the rom and then launch MAME.

I don't have a GBA to try this out but have been thinking about picking one up.

What do you use the USB link for now?

wj2k3 · « **Reply #164 on:** December 03, 2004, 12:57:04 pm »

Here is a sample GBA rom I created with this program. (change the extension form TXT to GBA)

SirPoonga · « **Reply #165 on:** December 03, 2004, 01:23:17 pm »

Ok, then, I'll just point to this thread.

mr.Curmudgeon · « **Reply #166 on:** December 03, 2004, 01:51:06 pm »

SirPoonga,

Industen has a page for the GBA hack: http://joelsgadgets.com/gba.html

It doesn't have any additional info, but I imagine this is where the instructions will be posted.

mrC

JoyMonkey · « **Reply #167 on:** December 03, 2004, 01:58:11 pm »

Doesn't it look like he PhotoShop'd out his GBA, leaving only the screen on that page (see the blurry bit on the bezel to the right of the GBA screen).
I imagine that the GBA would need to be left in-tact for this to work, I won't have to tear my GBA apart, will I?

wj2k3 · « **Reply #168 on:** December 03, 2004, 02:37:33 pm »

Per his page:

Quote

Ripping the GBA is an easy process just be careful with the internals and everything should be a piece of cake. You could figure other ways to mount it without removing anything. I really didn't want to be bothered and the ability to mount the screen vertical makes the "whole" install harder then say a horizontal or reverse horizontal install.

Sounds like he did take his apart, but your right, it does look like a photoshop job.
It probably all depends on how you want to mount it. If/When I do this, I am thinking of putting it behind my tinted plexi so I should be able to leave it in one piece. (not that it matters to me)

I sent Industen an e-mail to request info. I will le you know what I hear.

-wj2k3

Hoagie_one · « **Reply #169 on:** December 03, 2004, 02:52:48 pm »

i sent hima PM months ago about this and he replied ot me....when he gets around to it

mr.Curmudgeon · « **Reply #170 on:** December 03, 2004, 04:02:11 pm »

Quote

....when he gets around to it

Ugh!

I'm sure he's benefited from someone else's time, as he's using MAME. The least he could do is 'get around' to sharing the details of this hack with the community. A lot of people are looking to add this feature to their cab. My fingers are crossed...

ChadTower · « **Reply #171 on:** December 03, 2004, 04:26:22 pm »

As I'm working on my cab, I'm seriously considering adding this. When I do you can be sure I'll share the details as I don't see his having done anything that hard here.

Silver · « **Reply #172 on:** December 03, 2004, 09:33:37 pm »

Quote from: wj2k3 on December 03, 2004, 12:55:11 pm

Can you send roms to your GBA via the USB link?

Trimoor · « **Reply #173 on:** December 04, 2004, 08:18:08 pm »

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just use an LCD that takes composite video?
A GBA costs $70-80, while you can get a 5" video display for ~$50.

It would be cheaper, have a bigger screen, a backlight (unlike GBA original), and be infinitely easier to drive.

Something like those portable playstation LCDs would work nicely.

Silver · « **Reply #174 on:** December 04, 2004, 09:22:21 pm »

I imagine most people considering this already have a GBA so the cost is negligible.

Also - how would you connect a second screen up? You would either need a 2nd graphics card or a dualport - and in my experience that has a detrimental effect on performance, and restricts resolutions. I could be wrong though.....

GBA's (USB probably) and LCD's (serial port) have the advantage of not messing with te gfx output of the pc....

ChadTower · « **Reply #175 on:** December 06, 2004, 05:05:43 pm »

Okay, forget the LCDs. I am working on independently controllable CRT displays... I'm actually not too far off right now.

LordDamo · « **Reply #176 on:** December 06, 2004, 05:31:23 pm »

Quote from: ChadTower on December 06, 2004, 05:05:43 pm

Okay, forget the LCDs. I am working on independently controllable CRT displays... I'm actually not too far off right now.

I am also considering doing it this way, I have a second hand LCD with its own special video card. Its second hand from the commonwealth bank. I was thinking of mounting it above my TV in my cab, and using it to display game instructions on. Can you let me know Chad when you've got yours working? I might be able to do something similar to yours, thanks in advance.

Trimoor · « **Reply #177 on:** December 06, 2004, 05:52:37 pm »

Let me know too. I have dual 15" monitors in my cab but no way of driving them.

ChadTower · « **Reply #178 on:** December 07, 2004, 12:53:09 pm »

That's *if* I get it working.

It may not be that quick, though, as that isn't the highest priority for my MAME project right now.

JoeB · « **Reply #179 on:** December 07, 2004, 04:34:33 pm »

Doesn't the arcadeVGA have a 2nd video out port? If that's the case, then why not use that to drive the 2nd LCD screen??

Buddabing · « **Reply #180 on:** December 07, 2004, 05:02:27 pm »

Quote from: JoeB on December 07, 2004, 04:34:33 pm

Doesn't the arcadeVGA have a 2nd video out port?

Silver · « **Reply #181 on:** December 08, 2004, 05:34:10 am »

I'm sure there are lots of cards that can output to two monitors. The Matrox Dual-Head cards have been around for ages.

Also I've used the tv-out on my radeon as a seperate monitor - I was sending full-screen video to the tv-out and had the desktop on the vga working at the same time.

This works absolutely fine for testing/development/general use - however, as I mentioned previously, it DOES impact performance both in speed and what resolutions/refresh rate is available on each. Not perfect for a Cab IMHO.

Lilwolf · « **Reply #182 on:** December 08, 2004, 07:45:36 am »

One of the advantages of using a GBA would be sending the image before launching mame and your done. No worry...

If your going to have a second monitor running on your PC. I would consider going with a specialized frontend. I considered converting my frontend to run 100% in one screen, always having a game running in the other. Having the controls and history displaying, until you tried to change games. But I never figured a way to get the controls to work right.... And I don't have a second monitor on my cabinet. But thought it would be cool to plug my little car TV (that my kids fight about so we don't put it in the car anymore) in for that. Put it up in the marquee or something).

LordDamo · « **Reply #183 on:** December 08, 2004, 08:55:00 am »

Lilwolf, what front end can do what your seggesting? Im using a Nvida geforce MX 420 64 mb vith TV out to go to my TV, and was waning to use a LCD monitor that has it own seperate card, as it has a special plug. Its a second hand one from a bank. Im just needing to know how to send the apprprate image to the spesific monitor. Im using Windows 2K. But can run anything from Win ver.1 through to XP.

Hope this helps answer my question

ChadTower · « **Reply #184 on:** December 08, 2004, 08:58:12 am »

Yeah, the trick here is going to be figuring out how to separately address each monitor... mame running in one, something else displaying directions/etc in the other. I'm going to look into two video cards, one an Avga and the other something else.

Lilwolf · « **Reply #185 on:** December 08, 2004, 09:03:03 am »

None right now.

I thought I might convert JFront do it. It would have been easy..... but for the major trouble of not being able to capture the keystrokes. There is a chance I could do it through java, but I thought it might slow things down...

but in the end, I didn't get the go ahead from my wife... And that was the real problem. So without a second monitor on my cab, the development stopped...

Aceldamor · « **Reply #186 on:** March 05, 2005, 03:14:19 am »

I just thought I would bump this to see if anything is going on....been a long time since i've been here, been stuck in a place where I can't work on my arcade

Acids · « **Reply #187 on:** June 11, 2005, 11:03:03 am »

Quote from: Aceldamor on March 05, 2005, 03:14:19 am

I just thought I would bump this to see if anything is going on....been a long time since i've been here, been stuck in a place where I can't work on my arcade

Thndrbug · « **Reply #188 on:** June 11, 2005, 11:44:47 am »

I use a CrystalFontz 634 usb 20 x 4. I have two, one above each joystick.

They are very nice, well lit too.

Thndrbug

CJK · « **Reply #189 on:** June 11, 2005, 04:21:43 pm »

Quote from: Thndrbug on June 11, 2005, 11:44:47 am

I use a CrystalFontz 634

JoyMonkey · « **Reply #190 on:** June 11, 2005, 04:27:45 pm »

Incase anyone missed it, there was a thread related to this over on the software forum a while back:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,34870.0.html

CJK · « **Reply #191 on:** June 11, 2005, 11:26:14 pm »

I missed that thread -- thanks for the pointer!

-- Chris


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