Ultimarc TB Problem

[eyal8r]

ok- got the 2.25" TB here. Actually, I have 2 of them. Player 2's works GREAT- spins fast, freely, etc.  Player 1s, well, sucks right now. I have to apply some pressure downwards on the ball for it to register the spin. Otherwise, if I try to give it a Golden Tee spin (hehehe- well, not slam it, but you know, give it a good spin), it just creeps across the screen, if not stops completely. But, if I gently apply downward pressure on the thing with my hand, and while pushing down move the ball, it works fine. The second I release pressure and try to let it spin freely, it stops. I have it adjusted away from the top of the CP so it's not interfering with anything- just sitting there with the top half of the case open- so there's nothing getting in its way. Can someone tell me what's going on here, and how to fix it?
Thanks
D

[Lilwolf]

Things I noticed in the past.

1) is the control panel flat or at a decent angle?  This made a difference for me... I didn't do anything about it but I did notice a difference.

2) did you disable mouse accelleration?  Also reduce the speed of the mouse..  What it sounds like is that its skipping / jumping.

3) next... look under your control panel.. and spin it up/down and see if the encoder wheel is physically moving.

4) are you using a hacked mouse?  how about the encoder?

Anyway, after all these, hopefully you will either know your answers... or have more info that might help others find a solution for ya

[Popcorrin]

I have actually had the same problem with the Ultimarc trackball.  To be honest I personally haven't had much luck with the ultimarc trackballs. 

What it sounds like is that your trackball is actually sliding on top of the roller instead of making it rotate.  That's why when you press down on the ball it seems to work better.  You can try a couple of things.  Clean the trackball and rollers off to make sure there is the proper amount of friction and also try thinning out the grease that is in the bearings so they roll more freely.  Good Luck!

[Tiger-Heli]

Lots of people have recommended spray/soaking the bearings in WD40 to eat the initial grease, and then lubing them with 3-in-1 oil or similar.

[whammoed]

Lots of people have recommended spray/soaking the bearings in WD40 to eat the initial grease, and then lubing them with 3-in-1 oil or similar.

Yes, they come packed very tight in thick grease.  You need to loosen them up.  The will loosen on their own over time also.

[mahuti]

When I first got mine, it needed some breaking in (all trackballs need some) It didn't get really good and broken in until after my first party with it, and lots of guests beating it up. The next day we noticed a big difference during play.

[eyal8r]

hmmm- ok- here's some more info...

CP is mounted at a slight angle. But, this is the left/right roller having 'issues', and I would think that the problem might be with teh up/down roller when it's at an angle.  But I'm open to being wrong about it.

mouse speed/acceleration?  Is that the setting in windows xp itself, or, a special setting within Mame Analog+? Since the other TB is working great, will disabling this effect that as well?

Encoder wheels do move (when I push down on the ball a little bit)- but no interference with anything tho.

Using the ultimarc TBs, no mouse hacks, etc. They come with encoders built in.

Other than that- I noticed right when I got the thing that it's much 'tighter' than the other one. The other one is definitely spinning freely. I know it's been mentioned before to do the 3-in-1 oil thing, but, how do you specifically do that? Where do I get that oil from? I know where to get WD-40, I just have never heard of 3 in 1... would Lowe's or Home Depot carry that?  How exactly do I go about doing it?  Just soak the silver/ball bearing/spinner parts in WD40, then pack in the 3in1 after that in the ball bearings, or, do I need to completely dismantle the ball bearings, etc?  Any help is MUCH appreciated!  And yes, now that you say it, it does seem like it's spinning on top of the rollers and jumping around. 
Thanks guys!
D

[Lilwolf]

mouse speed / acc is in windows XP.  What happens often with skips and move backwards is that the trackball is going faster then windows can handle.. and it looks like its moving really slow or backwards.  Dropping the windows speed (and ALWAYS disable acceleration or the speed will ramp and give some weird results) and increasing it in mame worked for me.  Gave me more 'detail'

So the optics in the trackball are hooked up through an Optipac then? 

3-in-1 oil is sold at every hardware store.  its a very basic do everything light oil for bike tires to power tools and door hinges... IE almost everything.

[eyal8r]

cool- I'll give that a try. Im just a little hesitant because the other TB is working great. So I'm worried that if I do something to adjust an overall mouse thing, it'll effect the one TB that's working good. I will try it anyways and see. I agree that I need to turn off the acceleration tho.

Yes, the Oscar Model 3 spinner came with the optics- and I just hooked those up to the Opti-Pac.

I'll go buy some 3in1 today and do a search on this forum to see if I can find someone giving specifics on how to 'pack it in' and soak in WD40. Its early and I haven't had my Dew yet, so I'm sure I'm making this more complicated than it needs to be. LOL!!!!  Thanks guys!  You guys all rock!
D

[eyal8r]

ok- a couple more things here.  XP doesn't have a mouse acceleration feature (although I could've SWORN seeing it before!)- I don't see it ANYWHERE in the mouse control panel. Hmmm... but I DID slow it down a little.
Question-

Where in MAME do I speed up the mouse/mice?

[Tiger-Heli]

ok- a couple more things here.  XP doesn't have a mouse acceleration feature (although I could've SWORN seeing it before!)- I don't see it ANYWHERE in the mouse control panel. Hmmm... but I DID slow it down a little.
Question-

>In Win2K - Start - Settings - Control Panel - Mouse - Motion . . .  (Might be under My Computer in XP?)

>Where in MAME do I speed up the mouse/mice?

Tab - Analog Controls

[dabone]

XP mouse acceleration is under control panel, mouse, pointer options, enhance pointer precision.

Uncheck that.


Later,
dabone

[eyal8r]

ahhh- now I did see the pointer precision thing- didn't know that was considered acceleration.  Tiger- I'll check into that and get back to you.  Thank you!!!
D

[eyal8r]

Yup- found the settings for the analog controls in the tab menu. THANK YOU!!!

[seibu]

XP mouse acceleration is under control panel, mouse, pointer options, enhance pointer precision.

Uncheck that.


Later,
dabone

Urgh! Why does XP have to obfuscate *everything*?

[Tiger-Heli]

Urgh! Why does XP have to obfuscate *everything*?

Job insurance for Microsoft's Tech Support staff!