HELP!

[jammadave]

....when there is no other hacked button or otherwise on the CP at all?

let me splain - it's my emu-converted star wars, with the flight yoke wired through the joystick port of the PC inside.  at this point it only plays ESB and SW, and i have to pull the keyboard out to change them up.  if i add a frontend, like arcadeOS, to switch between
games, i can do everything from the yoke except, you guessed it, exit a game.

So if i want to just add a small button to function as "esc", what options do i have?  BESIDES popping the key off and hacking just that part of the keyboard.  if i did that then i'd not be able to pull the keyboard out easily for other things.

NOTE:  remember i am dealing with just X control, Y control, common triggers and common thumb buttons.  There are no player start buttons, coin buttons, nothing i can use to remap a button combination, etc.

going to scream.
thanks!
dave

[Lilwolf]

Well, you can change the keys to UI exit in mame.

But I don't know what you have access to that you aren't using.

If you already have a button for this, GREAT, go with it.

If not, you might want to hack a keyboard quickly, or thumb pad or something for a few extra buttons, or a set of mouse buttons.

the mouse will probably be the cheapest and easiest.  But then you can't pull out a mouse later to use (unless your running windows... and get a usb mouse to use, and hack a serial port mouse).

You might even want to hacka  thumb pad so you can in the future add a 8way joystick control panel in the future.

[jammadave]

But I don't know what you have access to that you aren't using.

There's nothing I'm not using =0(

If not, you might want to hack a keyboard quickly, or thumb pad or something for a few extra buttons, or a set of mouse buttons.

as anybody who has seen me around this board can tell you, i couldn't hack a popsicle stick.  I didn't do this myself as I have no idea or ability to do anything but play the games.  The stuff i can do is the cabinet stuff, keep me away from solder or electricity lest the whole house go up in flames.  

You might even want to hacka

[delta88]

If you want to keep the cp looking clean than you will need to hide a button some where on the cab....yeah hacking a kbrd will work or a joypad will do....Idrilled a small hole in the side of my mame cab(vf) and mounted a microswitch on the inside....it is hidden pretty well cause all I do is stick like a nail or a paper clip or whatever in it and it exits the game ..normally i leave the pin in the hole and it stays but  ican remove it if I want to leave a certain game on..........
good luck!

[SirPoonga]

What interface are you using?  hacked keyboard? IPAC? Hagstrom?

I assume there is a player1 start button on the cabinet??

Then you can do any one of these without adding a button.
Map in mame or the ipac the player1 start and a fire buttons on the yoke pressed at same time is exit.
not sure about hagstrom, no experience.
keyboard hack, you can wire the button so both of the above buttons when pressed are wired to escape, or when pressed by them selves their normal actions.

You could also make a button out of one of the coin door return buttons.

[Howard_Casto]

as anybody who has seen me around this board can tell you, i couldn't hack a popsicle stick.

[jammadave]

alrighty then - howard, i must apologize for sounding like a true lamer here, and in this regard I may well be.

(note: it's *not* a confidence thing, it's something along the lines of "been there, done that, almost killed myself."  there are things on this planet i cannot do, and i accept that with great humility.)

but to recap, the fact of the matter is, simply:

1. there is no ipac, jpac, no keyboard interface, nothing of the sort.    the XY yoke with two buttons (common triggers and thumbs) is wired through the guts of an analog joystick with just x, y, and again, two buttons, into the joystick port.
(thus, a lot of occurrences of both buttons being hit at the same time during games eliminates the combo-exit option)

2. there are also no start buttons, coin buttons, not a single interface outside the yoke itself.  Which is why I want to install a button and do something magically with the other end of its wiring to make the computer think it's the escape key.  that's all.  

I would love to do this myself, actually, but i'm going to need the assistance, which is what i'm looking for here, of each and every little thing to do.   i mean, if indeed popping the escape key off and soldering a wire to someplace on the circuit board to be strung across and onto a button that i'll install somewhere on the cab will work, then just tell me how to do that.   That said, if i can do something else then tell me that.    You guys can tell me *what* to do all day, but if i dont know how....

Note: I *have* another control panel that I am not using at the moment, wired through a KE24.  I could yank all the buttons off it and start cramming them into the star wars for various functions, BUT can't figure out how do get the KE24 to see the PC.  do i need drivers or anything?

[JustMichael]

I would recommend a keyboard hack.  You will need to figure out what line from each side of the matrix will make the ESC key.  Once you know this, connect a NO (normally open) switch between the two points.  Now when the switch is pressed it will be like pressing the ESC key.

[delta88]

well...If this cab has no coin door...what does it have....if nothing get one and use the return as a button.. or it'll just look ghetto so add a button to the cp and or just leave it hangin'

[SirPoonga]

OH, just a joystick interface.  
You could do a keyboard hack.
OR a joystick hack and hide the button on top of the case.

[JMDickson]

 Your joystick port has 2 more buttons available.  You could tap button3 (stick 2 button1).
 If your controls are already connected to a 15 pin sub-d connector, you can find a joystick y cable, plug your controls into the player 1 side, attach a pair of wires to ground and button 1 of the player 2 side.  Run those wires somewhere you can hide a button.
 Then set joystick button 3 is UI Exit.

[OzStick]

I *totally* agree with JMDickson - you have another 2 buttons available via the joystick port that to me would offer the most simple solution to providing you with an escape button.

This is of course dependant on HOW you currently use the joystick port - have you wired everything up to an extension cable or similar yourself, or have you simply pulled apart a 2 button analog stick and rigged up the pots to your yoke?

If it is the latter, you could simply purchase a joystick extension cable and splice in a couple of wires somewhere along it to provide your 1 or 2 extra buttons. This to my thinking is far less sacrificial that hacking a keyboard, especially when you consider that all keyboards are different and require a fair bit of nutting out to hack just one or two buttons, whereas all joystick cables are wired the same!

Hope you find a solution you're happy with.

ChrisW

[jammadave]

ChrisW - bingo, just pulled apart an analog joystick to rig the yoke to.

if indeed i have 2 more buttons to play with, then that sounds like a decent solution to me!

so i'll go get a joystick y-cable, and plug the one 15-pin into one side, and then i guess how do i know what pins/holes/etc to use in the other female connector of the Y?  

thanks!

[JMDickson]

.------------------------.
\ 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 /
\ 9  10 11 12 13 14 15 /
  --------------------

This is what the joystick port should look like.  When you plug in a Y-adapter, you will have 2 of these connectors.
 The yoke will use the joystick 1 plug.  If you are lucky, one will be marked as joystick 1.  If not you can test it by plugging your yoke into one of the plugs, and trying to play a game.  If it does not work, switch the yoke to the other.
 Now you have the yoke connected to the joystick 1 plug. Take the other plug and connect a wire from pin 2 to the NO contact on your button, and another wire from pin 4 to the COM contact.
 It's probably a good idea to pick up a '15 pin male Sub D' connector (NOT HD/High Density!) from Radio Shack or where ever you can get one.  There are crimp types so you don't need a soldering iron to use it.  That would give you good contact, and make sure the wires don't slip loose easily.

 For a few extra bucks, you could buy an extension cable, hack the end off, and figure you which wires go to pin 2 and 4, and attach these to your button.  Then you would already have the 15 pin connector to plug into the y-adapter.

[SirPoonga]

Either that or get the dual strike and hack according to the writep 1UP did.  It's usb:)