OK, after a month of nothing I think I'm back. We have settled into our new routine with the baby so I think I'll be able to get this thing finished over the next few weeks. Anyway, all the parts for my computer have arrived and I was able to put it together - it's a freaking miracle!
I had trouble with the video card because if it was installed in the motherboard it would default everything to the DVI-out port so I had to buy a DVI-VGA plug converter thingy. I installed Windows XP Professional and it seems to be operating pretty fast (much faster than my old Gateway).
Anyway, I'm having one issue that's probably a simple fix but I can't figure it out. Whenever I reboot, I get a screen that forces me to either hit DEL to enter setup or F1 to continue. Hitting F1 boots XP and everything is fine but I'd rather skip this step obviously and boot straight to XP (and eventually to MaLa). Is there a setting in the motherboard set-up that I need to change to bypass this? Any help would be much appreciated.
The good news is that I loaded up MAME and MaLa really quick last night, tweaked the settings for a vertical layout and the games seem to be running in full screen!!!! FINALLY!!! Tonight I plan to finish setup on the cabinet. I have to:
1. Compile a version of MAME that can save high scores and disables the warning screens
2. Get the fatfingers MaLa plugin working properly (for the U360)
3. Create a solid gamelist (I'm stealing theCoder's list for starters
)
4. Figure out how to get rid of the "Get Ready To Play" screen that flashes when I select a game on my gamelist
Once this is done all I'll have to do is:
1. Cut the hole in the back of the cab to run the smartstrip wire out to the wall
2. Put the computer and everything inside the cab
3. Touch-up with black paint
4. Wire the power button to the outside of the cab
5. Wire the coin door
6. Figure out a way to control the volume of everything
That's only like an afternoon's worth of work!