Buddabing's LED controller

[gl.tter]

hmm, I might wait for all this to play out befor eI go on with my qbert knocker.

[SirPoonga]

hmm, I might wait for all this to play out befor eI go on with my qbert knocker.  Though doing hte serial route I plan will be simple and cheap, will do it just for the sake of doing it

There are some DLLs out there that make parallel port access transparent on any Windows OS - you could easily write a tiny light driver that just looks for the knocker signal, and sets a pport pin.  I've written a light driver skeleton that makes this very easy - let me know if you want the code and binary to test with.

I know, but the reason they aren't transparent in NT based OSes is because it introduces security holes.  And there are ways to access the port in both 98 and NT worlds, just a pain to do

Like I said in the qbert thread, not going parallel port since legacy ports are moving out and serial to usb convertors are cheaper than parallel to usb convertors, so in the future when my arcade computer doesn't have legacy ports it can still work.

I just realized the LED board is parallel porT?  argh.  I guess I am not getting that.  Parallel port does not fit in my future plans.  Especially since the mobo I am looking at only has USB and Firewire.

[gl.tter]

I know, but the reason they aren't transparent in NT based OSes is because it introduces security holes.

[Buddabing]

If you run Daphne, you are already running one of the DLLs which open up the parallel port.

After much experimentation, I decided to use the same DLL that Daphne uses. Why re-invent the wheel? Plus, Daphne includes the source code.

Sirp you must be looking at a small form factor box. Every motherboard I've looked at in recent memory has a parallel  port on it. I'm using the parallel port for ease of design, ease of programming, and low cost.

If you want a USB controller, get Randy's. He hasn't said so, but I would be willing to bet that he will make his controller work with gl.tter's LSE code.

[posicat]

Any news on the prototype boards?  I'm anxious to see how they turn out.

Some questions:
I read up on the controller chip, and I2C bus communication.  I now have some projects of my own in mind.

Will these boards have an exposed I2C connection where other boards will be able to be attached? 

Could these plug directly into the SMBus on a motherboard, instead of using the paralell connection?

[Buddabing]

Any news on the prototype boards?

[Gamecab]

Budda and I have pretty much gone over the prototype boards and picked out a few things that need to be changed.

[johnnysmitch]

Any new news on these boards?  I'm anxiously waiting to see this working together with mame to light up the buttons a game uses, attract mode, etc on a cab... so I can finish designing my next cab and integrate this wonderful, wonderful toy.

[Buddabing]

Any new news on these boards?

[Gamecab]

Any new news on these boards?

[gl.tter]

For my part, I have done a lot of work on the LSE and my own driver for it (gl.tterFX!), but I've had a v. busy summer so it's been slowed down lately.

[jdjuggler]

Hey, I'm still interested in the LED board and gl.tter's LSE.  Are there any updates?
Thanks,
JD

[Gamecab]

Nothing yet.  We didn't forget about you guys.

[gl.tter]

Still tied up in other things.  I'm waiting on some parts for my panel though, when they come I'll be back on it.

[jdjuggler]

Hey gl.tter,
Not that I'm impatient or anything, but would your LSE control other LED boards, like this one -
http://industrialcomponent.com/phidgets/philed64.html

[gl.tter]

I've been looking at this one, it looks great on paper and might be perfect for my driver.  If it pans out I will probably support it myself.

The way the LSE works is that it spits out signals about things that have happend, eg. 'key a was pressed'.  Then there's a 'light driver' that converts this info into actual light output.  So a light driver has to be written for every board.  I wlll provide code for anyone wanting to do this once I do a public release.

[posicat]

My own project hasn't gone so well, so I'm hoping your project is going better.  It looks like it's been a few months since anything was posted, and I was just curious if there was any news.

[Buddabing]

There haven't been enough pre-orders to justify my ordering the parts as the board exists now.

I've redesigned the board in Eagle to make it smaller and cheaper. It's just a matter of getting some prototypes made. Once that is done, I'll announce something.

Price target on the redesigned boards is $49. Anyone who has already prepaid for their board will get a crisp twenty in with their package.

[Crazy_Mack]

I didn't even know you were taking orders.

What do we need to do to order one? 

[Buddabing]

I didn't even know you were taking orders.

What do we need to do to order one?

[carazy]

Do you have any eta on when it'll be done?