Powerstrip/VGATV

[Chazz]

Hey everyone!

A ongoing topic I've been looking at is using Powerstrip or VGATV to run Windows on a arcade monitor, but I still have yet to find any good info on this.  Has anyone else here looked into this?  Maybe a few of us who are interested in getting Windows going on their arcade monitors could work with these two programs.  

I've been trying to get Windows going for ages, but still searching for answers...  what video cards work with Windows, would Powerstrip or VGATV even work for us?

~ ChaZz

[John]

hey chazz,

i tried both powerstrip and vgatv tonight with 2 vid cards (ati rage pro 128 and geforce 256 (both agp))  and i didn't have much success with either one.   I have to say powerstrip seems to work better and I was able to produce a temperory stable picture using the geforce at 640x480.

using jpac's split mode, mame worked fine (of course it's not really playable)  I think I'm going to pick up one of those Averkey scan converter at compUSA tomorrow.

there's the averkey imicro for $99, the 3 plus for $144, the averkey 300 gold for 179 and the 500 pro for $290.  I may pick up both the 300 and the 500 to see which one performs better.  

I'll post again when I get results.

[John]

Well, another night.. another failure

I did end up buying both the iMicro ($99) and the 300 Gold ($200) from AverKey.  Both of them seem to work well when outputting to a TV (composite) but I cannot get it to work with RGB out to the JPAC.

A brief email from Andy over at ultimarc tells me to remove the Cypress  CY7C63231.  Then I used the VGA cable that came with my JPAC and plugged into the 15-pins DSUB on the converter's RGB out.  Nothin  and JPAC doesn't even register sync (no lights) but I suspect that's because the cypress chip was pulled.

So my theory is maybe the RGB out on the Averkey boxes are not the same as the DB-15 JPAC was expecting?  is this possible?  I've sent an email to averkey to see if I can get their RGB pinout.  

Last resort is to hack a VGA cable and try other 15 pins RGB pinouts I found online to see if it'll talk to the JPAC or my arcade monitor directly.  

and very very last resort, return both scan converters to compusa and buy another Vidcard and more test.

*sigh*

[SNAAAKE]

dude...how about an hybrid vga arcade monitor...not a bad idea after all heh  

[Davestar]

Right now I know of about 3 ways to get windows on your cabinet.  From easiest to hardest:

1) SVGA monitor-  I have a WG3100.  This is the best solution, and as usual probably the most expensive.  Why does it always work that way?

2) Cards that support 15mhz display-  From what I've read, Matrox G400 and Trident Blades support 15khz with special drivers.  I recommend doing a search for these.  Power strip in combo with these cards might be a good option as well.

3) If you have more patients and knowlege than money, you may want to try using advancecab at http://advancemame.sourceforge.net  Some have reported the ability to use windows loading these drivers, but setting them up may be complicated.

Hope this helps.
------------------------