Fixed my spinner, now it's possessed

[rhoelsch]

I had fixed my spinner last week (bridged broken traces), and finally got it working again after I thought all was lost...BUT, it's acting really fickle now:

Tried it out in Tempest first...my Optipac seemed like it defaulted to my trackball first...the spinner would just start working, then stop...it wasn't the 5 sec. delay prob, and I wasn't bumping by other mouse at all...last night I was playing around and discovered that the spinner would start working normally after a few really hard spins, then would work normally for the rest of the time...so I moved the Optipac USB plug from the ports on the front of my case to the back, and it solved the Tempest problem, but it still happens in Arknoid...nothing, then spin hard a few times, and it works like a champ for the rest of the time, until I die and start a new game, then I have to do the process all over again...tweaked the sensitivity in Mame(32), and doesn't seem to help...

For some reason, I thought it would work in Gyruss, but it doesn't at all (nor the trackball, think I might be mistaken about the controls on that one, though...)

I tried using it in DX Ball, (pc Breakout-style game)-- the trackball works like a champ, but I get nothing from the spinner...

I'm using Win2K with a USB mouse and USB Optipac connection...could do further tests, but not sure which games to test it on...please help!

[BobA]

Sounds like you still have a bad solder joint somewhere.  Physically moving the spinner gets it working.  Leave it alone for a while and it dies.  Sure sounds like an poor connection somwhere.

BobA

[rhoelsch]

Agh!  I'm not entirely sure it is a connection, since it stays working as long as I "continue" my plays in Arknoid, but as soon as I die and I have to start from the beginning level, I have to move it fast again...

Without having to re-solder (yet), I'd like to try to get it working moving the windows mouse and in DX Ball...theoretically, the same problem should have the same fix in any application if it's a mechanical issue, right?