need help with my minipac

[rockmes]

Hi guys,

Got a small problem-

Currently l have my control panel connected all to i-pac4 - 2 x 8way joysticks ,1 x 4way joystick, 7 button layout plus admin buttons. l am using a homemade spinner with a mouse hack to serial port . And l also have a 3 inch Betson Imperial trackball which is connected to a mouse hack to a ps2 port. l am using winXp home edition and havent had any problems with this setup, apart from the usual backspin problem of the trackball with the mouse hack. l now got my hands on a mini-pac and would like to install the trackball to it but nothing else.

How would l go about hooking up the mini-pac with the i-pac4? would l use the mini-pac connected to usb, then i-pac4 to the pass-thru ps2 port of the mini-pac. And the keyboard connected to the pass-thru ps2 port of the i-pac4?

 l have tried this but nothing works, and l have made sure that the mini-pac is grounded to my i-pac4.

l have the trackball connected to the mini-pac's 5v power on header pin 7, and ground to pin 5. then l have mouse buttons right and left to the appproriate pin and the y and x's as well, just like the diagram shows on the Ultimarc website .
When l plug in the minipac to the usb port of my computer it shows the green light.

What do you think l am doing wrong?

[markrvp]

The minipac should not be connected to the Ipac at all.  The minipac plugs into a USB port all by itself.  It will show up in XP as an HID keyboard, and two mice.  All you need to do is hook your trackball to the minipac and you'll be off and running.

Don't worry that you XP will show you as having 3 keyboards and 2 mice.  It treats them all the same no matter which you use.

[rockmes]

are there different version of the mini-pac? l just noticed that there are 2 types -1 with opti  and 2 -just for joysticks and buttons. How can l tell the difference? Maybe thats why mine isnt working

[markrvp]

There are different harnesses.  My understanding is that their isn't any difference in the actual hardware.  If all the pin headers do not have wires connected to them through the connectors then you will need to make the appropriate harness to connect the trackball.

Important note:  the minipac must be connected through USB for the trackball/spinner to work.  When connected by PS2, only the keyboard encoder part shows up to the computer and the trackball/spinner would not work.

If this still doesn't get you going, then e-mail Andy at Ultimarc and he will talk you through it.

[rockmes]

l have made my own harness using the end of usb cables but modifying it and leaving the wires l need just for the trackball.
As you see in the photo l have left (in the yellow harness) pin 2 for 5v, and pin 5 for gnd
In the black harness l have pins 31 & 32 for mouse buttons, pins 35,36,37,38, for X & Y axis, and also pin 40 for gnd foe my mouse buttons.

Anything wrong here?

[markrvp]

You're wiring seems to be correct. 

Troubleshooting:

1.)  Verify that when you plug the minipac in via USB that it shows up in Windows-Control Panel-System-Hardware-Device Manager.

2.)  Use a regular mouse to position the pointer and then check to see if the microswitches connected to the mouse button inputs work.

3.)  Use a voltmeter to verify that you are getting 5v out of the Minipac.

4.)  Use a voltmeter to verify that you are getting 5v to the trackball encoders.

[rockmes]

l verified it in windows device manager- it comes up as Hid keyboard and under mouses as HID mouse.
l seems probably that theres no power to the trackball., but l havent a multimeter to test it . what else can l do?

[markrvp]

Well, the computer sees it okay then, so it must be a wiring issue.  Without a multimeter I don't know what to tell you.

You can try a 6v light connected to the +5v and ground for the trackball and see if it lights up.  That would verify that you are getting power through the minipac.

Did the mouse buttons work?

[rockmes]

na, and l have even pull the wire of the harness and connected them directly to the minipac. Did you check the photo l posted to see if there is something. Thanks heaps for your help

[markrvp]

Everything in the photos looks good.  I'm all out of ideas.  Contact Andy at Ultimarc.

[cholin]

Every now and then theres the odd chance that a board came out wrong for some reason.  If youve tried *everything* then you didnt check hard enough   (its a saying...)  Seriously, borrow a meter, plug something else in to verify, but you have to make sure before you contact Andy.  If you are sure though, he'll end up sending you a new board... thats how he does business and thats why I personally love it.  Its like a 50 year guarantee!

[rockmes]

but when it is plugged into ps2 port of my computer and go into notebook l can test the inputs and eveything seems fine. but of course it doesnt allow you to test the inputs for trackball or spinner. l think i better get a meter and test if l am getting power.
Thanks guys , and l will keep you guys posted.

[markrvp]

but when it is plugged into ps2 port of my computer and go into notebook l can test the inputs and eveything seems fine. but of course it doesnt allow you to test the inputs for trackball or spinner. l think i better get a meter and test if l am getting power.
Thanks guys , and l will keep you guys posted.

Do the keyboard keys not work in notepad when you plug it in USB?  If it does not then it definitely has a problem and should be returned to Ultimarc.

[cholin]

Then again, you gotta make sure the jumper on the board is set to USB rather than PS2

[rockmes]

yes when its in ps2 port keyboard works. in usb nothing. if you have a look at the photo
l have no jumpers to set it, so l am not sure this is the right board, cos l thought l saw 2 versions on the Ultimarc web site saying 1 has optics and the other just for butttons and joystick. you can see this on there ordering page. l dont know, and until l get that meter to test 5v l wont be happy

[rockmes]

l just tried something else. l connected the 5v and gnd from my trackball to the 5v and gnd of my ipac4, cos l am thinking that maybe theres something wrong with the minipac. and of course the minipac has power thru usb to the comp. But still it failed. l reckon the minipac is faulty. what do you guys reckon? not even the mouse buttons are working from the minipac. Mate l'am fustrated.

[rockmes]

ok you wont believe it. l bought a multimeter and everything was fine with the minpac . it showed 5.3v .
Anyway l went out and  l bought another usb adaption cable for the ps2 cable that came with the minpac, cos l thought that the one that came with the original cable was faulty, cos l tried it in initilally, and it didnt work. So all this time l have been testing, l have been doing it with the new adapter.
So l decided to plug back in the old one and guess what? it bloody worked. l couldnt believe it. And l have been doing my head in for days, always checking to see if someone as posted to the forum.

Thanks heaps to all the guys that responded, and it has taught me that l should be helping alot more to those that require help from this forum, cos l have been around in the mame community for years but have always stayed in the background.
Thanks again and you'll been seeing me more often.
Ciao

[markrvp]

I'm glad it works.  It seems faulty cables are a culprit more often than not, but I can't ever remember to check that first.