confusing about making pc to jamma arcade..

[alundra]

i started reading about this for the past few days, and there are something that i didnt understand enough and kind of confusing, hopefully some here can clear this up for me..

first, is the Jamma harnest, Jamma edge connector and fingerboard are the same?

second, every guide i have read, it said connect all the controls, speaker, and monitor to the fingerboard, but then where the fingerboard need to be connected to..is it Jamma PCB that the fingerboard need to be connect to? , ive try to search for the motherboard but all i found are the Jamma game boards(like pacman, galaga.ect..).. where i can buy this..thanks

[krick]

Generally, you hook your joysticks and buttons, speaker (mono), coin switches, power, etc... to the JAMMA wiring harness.

All the wires in the harness end at one big wide 56 pin connector (28 on each side) called (not suprisingly) a JAMMA connector.

[alundra]

im still confusing..what about the fingerboard for? the fingerboard and the JAMMa harness looks pretty the same..and why most guide ive read said the fingerboard was require instead of the harness..?
fingerboard


Jamma harness


and about the "real arcade game board"..so this is the common board on all the jamma cabinet? i want to know where to buy this thing...thanks

[krick]

The picture you posted of a "fingerboard" actually shows the fingerboard plugged into a JAMMA harness.

A fingerboard is just a small piece of circuit board with conductors in the right spot to mate with a JAMMA harness.

[alundra]

thanks..but more confusing...you said the fingerboard i posted was already plug into the jamma harness...but how come its cheapper than the Jamma harness alone..should it be more expensive than the Jamma harness because it has the fingerboard connected to it..

if i want to play all the mame and emulator games, then that mean i have to use the fingerboard? and i have to solder all the controlls and buttons input to that exposed pins on the other side of the fingerboard right?

and about the board, so i can buy any jamma game board to use it on my cabinet..and just plug the end of the harness connector into the edge of the board then i can play all the mame and emulator i want..?thanks

[Goz]

Here is a link to an ebay Buy It Now (not mine)  that is a completely pre-wired with all the right connectors already attached and ready to go.

Hope it Helps,

-Goz

[krick]

thanks..but more confusing...you said the fingerboard i posted was already plug into the jamma harness...but how come its cheapper than the Jamma harness alone..should it be more expensive than the Jamma harness because it has the fingerboard connected to it..

That picture is for illustration only.

[alundra]

thanks alot..thing get clearer for me from that picture to drew..so if i want to play mame and other emulator..then i just need to hook the Jamma harness into the Jpac..and if i want to play the real arcade..then i switch the the arcade game board (pac man) and plug into the Jamma harness...i always thought that the cabbinet itself is like a console system (which have main motherboard to read all the games) and the arcade game boards is like the game cardridges...

[krick]

Some systems like Neo-Geo and the Capcom CPS system actually are like consoles that take cartridges.  However, most are not.

[alundra]

if i buy one of the neogeo or cps system, can i connect my computer to it to play mame and other emulator? thanks

[krick]

The Capcom and NEO-Geo sytems are just like any other JAMMA game board except they have a cartridge system on them.  To change the game, you just swap the cartridge instead of swapping the whole board.

You cannot connect your computer to either of them.

[microwrx]

And remember that not all arcade game boards are JAMMA.  JAMMA is a standard that was devised some time after many of the older games were released and those older games (Pac-Man being one) have their own wiring setup.  Generally (but not always) each manufacturer had their own wiring standard until JAMMA came out.

[krick]

...those older games (Pac-Man being one) have their own wiring setup...

My bad.
I thought Pac-Man was in the JAMMA era.
Ooops!

[alundra]

i dont see how we cant connect our pc to a neogeo system, since the only difference between them is  the stereo and the and the -5V

[paigeoliver]

Generally games 1986 and newer are JAMMA.

There are some exceptions.
Almost NOTHING from Sega is JAMMA except for Clutch Hitter and Bloxeed.
Atari had a lot of "sort of jamma" titles. Like that pirate game (can't recall the name), worked fine in a JAMMA cabinet, unless you pressed the start button which would crash the game (it used the action buttons to start instead).

Don't trust any games without joysticks to REALLY be JAMMA. A lot of them fall into the category of "sort of jamma". A "sort of JAMMA" game will power and display in a JAMMA cabinet, but might have control pins different for NO REASON.

[alundra]

can u explain more about why those neogeo cabinet cabinet cant connected to the pc..cant i just wire all output from the Pc to the neogeo Harness just like the Jamma harness?

[RayB]

can u explain more about why those neogeo cabinet cabinet cant connected to the pc..cant i just wire all output from the Pc to the neogeo Harness just like the Jamma harness?

I guess what he's asking is, is Neo Geo JAMMA? I think so....

[iwillfearnoevil]

there is nothing on the computer to wire them directly too. you need a keyboard encoder. you will plug your harness right into the j-pac. not sure if you have to rewire sound (like will it work but not sound good). but your best bet is j-pac and arcadevga if you want ease of setup. the j-pac includes a cables that connect your keyboard (or usb port) into the j-pac along with a video cable to connect your computer's video card to the j-pac. you can skip arcadevga if you want to save money and do something like run advancemame in dos. see http://easymamecab.mameworld.net/html/hardware.htm for a list of older video cards that work fine.

[Goz]

Almost NOTHING from Sega is JAMMA except for Clutch Hitter and Bloxeed.

The STV Titan games run on SEGA hardward similar to the Sega Saturn and take carts similar to Neo Geo MVS and that PCB is JAMMA.

-Goz

[alundra]

these two pinout look pretty the same..http://solvalou.orgdns.org/tomsnew/pinout_jamma_mvs.html
so i guess connecting a pc to jamma cabinet is pretty much the same thing for neogeo cab..and just ignore the -5V

[Goz]

I recently acquired a NEO-GEO MV-1FZ PCB (the mini one) and I just plugged it into my JAMMA cab and works beautifully and has stereo sound. I've ordered a Multi-Jamma board from Clay. When it arrives I'll let you know how well it co-operates with my J-PAC in my MAME cab.

-Goz

[microwrx]

i dont see how we cant connect our pc to a neogeo system, since the only difference between them is