Griffin Powermate - EXPLODED!!

[whammoed]

OK, not literally like kaboom, but here's an exploded view of one of these devices:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/5ca2/
These have come up in discussions on this forum before.
I wanted a volume knob for a jukebox I'm planning and this thing happens to control system volume as one of its functions.  I want to mount it on a metal panel though, so I took it apart.  Turns out you don't need to take off the bottom clear plastic piece off (its glued on).  The two main aluminum pieces to the housing are not glued together, but boy are they put together tight!  I marred them both up good separating them with pliers...but I will be throwing them away anyway.  As you can see, the rotary control is the standard setup...you can mount it to metal by drilling a couple holes and attaching the nut.  Panel mounting negates its blue led which provides some visual feedback at times, but thats life eh?
(I have no idea if this device works well as a spinner, sorry)
Anyway, hope this helps someone else with a similar application in mind.

[Fozzy The Bear]

(I have no idea if this device works well as a spinner, sorry)
Anyway, hope this helps someone else with a similar application in mind.

They work fine as a spinner..... Been there tried that got the T-Shirt...

The resolution isn't high enough for Arkanoid or for Revenge of Doh though. Only the TurboTwist2 manages that.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[rockin_rick]

That's a mechanical rotary encoder not optical, right?  Any idea on how many PPR it has?  I'm guessing 24-36, huh?

Rick

[whammoed]

That's a mechanical rotary encoder not optical, right?  Any idea on how many PPR it has?  I'm guessing 24-36, huh?

Rick

I don't know actually.  I don't feel any "clicks" as I turn it so I couldn't tell you...maybe it is optical?

[patrickl]

(I have no idea if this device works well as a spinner, sorry)
Anyway, hope this helps someone else with a similar application in mind.

The resolution isn't high enough for Arkanoid or for Revenge of Doh though. Only the TurboTwist2 manages that.

Why wouldn't the Spintrac be able to play those? The difference between 1000 and 1200 is not that huge.

[leapinlew]

(I have no idea if this device works well as a spinner, sorry)
Anyway, hope this helps someone else with a similar application in mind.

The resolution isn't high enough for Arkanoid or for Revenge of Doh though. Only the TurboTwist2 manages that.

Why wouldn't the Spintrac be able to play those? The difference between 1000 and 1200 is not that huge.

Not sure, almost 20% though... that can make a difference.

All I know is, try it with Arkanoid. Thats one picky game.

[Crowquill]

I remember looking into those a while back. I was reading all of the mac info, but I was sure that I read it just sends multiple keystrokes as you turn the knob. I was thinking at the time that with the push-down feature I might be able to simulate the controls of Forgotten Worlds with it.

Thanks for the pic.

BTW, in the category of unusual PC peripherals, I saw this at the Apple store the other day:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/productlistns/US/EN,crid=2764,categoryid=554

[Hoopz]

I remember looking into those a while back. I was reading all of the mac info, but I was sure that I read it just sends multiple keystrokes as you turn the knob. I was thinking at the time that with the push-down feature I might be able to simulate the controls of Forgotten Worlds with it.

Thanks for the pic.

BTW, in the category of unusual PC peripherals, I saw this at the Apple store the other day:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/productlistns/US/EN,crid=2764,categoryid=554

Maximum PC had a review of it in there last issue.  Could be useful in some applications.

[Teebor]

I picked one of these up not so long ago.  I found it worked ok'ish on Arkanoid but not ideal.  Still was playable though.

they seemed pretty strongly built but I didn't have the idea of tearing it apart completely, I just needed to remove the foam ring so it span better, only problem is mine didn't have the plastic part that attached to the spindle glued properly, so I had to clean it and re-glue it.....  And I screwed up, its not quite level, its off a tiny bit   musta missed some of the old glue or something 

[Angry_Radish]

I saw the same results using it as a spinner, however it works great as a volume/mute controller on my Jukebox 

[whammoed]

Update:
The wires for the USB cable are soldered directly to the PCB on the unit.  This seemed a little flimsy given the small gauge of the wire.  The holes used for the wires are 2 mm apart so I ordered some 2mm pitch right angle headers, connectors, and pins.  I desoldered the wires from the board, soldered on the header, crimped the pins on another usb cable, and I now have a nice sturdy detachable cable.  All of which is not really necessary, some hot glue on the wires would secure them fine, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist. 

[urbecrisch]

Any ideas how to mount this thing flat or on the side of a CAB/CP without taking it apart?  Do you think some sort of glue or tape would hold it's weight?  Also, how dependable is it powering up the PC like the website states? http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/5ca2/

[Moose13]

I hate to hijack this but I need help with my Powermate.
I'm trying to use it just for volume control in windows XP.
If I plug it in after the PC is started, it works fine. But if i cold boot, the PC usually hangs up during the boot, when it is detecting drives, and if it doesn't hang, when Windows boots up, the controler does nothing unless I unplug it and plug it back in.
I troed different setting in my Bios, like turning off USB storage divices in DOS (I actually don't know if this would do anything), it seems that it crashes less, but still does not work correctly unless I unplug it and re-plug it.

[RandyT]

I hate to hijack this but I need help with my Powermate.
I'm trying to use it just for volume control in windows XP.
If I plug it in after the PC is started, it works fine. But if i cold boot, the PC usually hangs up during the boot, when it is detecting drives, and if it doesn't hang, when Windows boots up, the controler does nothing unless I unplug it and plug it back in.
I troed different setting in my Bios, like turning off USB storage divices in DOS (I actually don't know if this would do anything), it seems that it crashes less, but still does not work correctly unless I unplug it and re-plug it.

I don't have one of these devices, but I have dealt with my share of USB devices.

A general rule of thumb in dealing with USB problems is to try starting over with the device.  Once you do what you need to do in order to have the device be recognized, go into the hardware manager and uninstall the device, then unplug it from the system.  This should remove any drivers from the system and allow you to start fresh the next time the unit is plugged in.

Check for newer versions of the drivers and try using a different USB port if you have others available.  If you are using a hub, try going direct.  If the software has a driver install executable, you should probably run this before you do a fresh plug-in.  Some devices are very finicky about having the drivers in place before the new hardware detection process is initiated.

RandyT

[urbecrisch]

So back to my question...(don't worry about the hijack, I've done my share --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type--  )

Any ideas how to mount this thing flat or on the side of a CAB/CP without taking it apart?  Do you think some sort of glue or tape would hold it's weight?  Also, how dependable is it powering up the PC like the website states? http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/5ca2/

[shorthair]

Some epoxy should work just fine, if the cab surface underneath is unfinished. Still, someone knocking it too hard, and depending where you put it that it might get that kind of treament or accidental bump, it might pop right off. As for power-on, it's a usb device. You set that feature in the bios.

Oh, and maybe Fozzy had a different model or something, but I tried this as a spinner and it didn't quite have the resolution, regardless of driver sensitivity settings.

[urbecrisch]

I personally am only interested in the knob functioning as a volume control and powering off the PC.  My TT2 works great!  I wouldn't settle for anything less!

[RandyT]

Any ideas how to mount this thing flat or on the side of a CAB/CP without taking it apart?  Do you think some sort of glue or tape would hold it's weight?

You can also use 3M automotive tape.  It's gray and has a red backing.  It's not cheap, but it holds like crazy. 

RandyT

[whammoed]

I hate to hijack this but I need help with my Powermate.
I'm trying to use it just for volume control in windows XP.
If I plug it in after the PC is started, it works fine. But if i cold boot, the PC usually hangs up during the boot, when it is detecting drives, and if it doesn't hang, when Windows boots up, the controler does nothing unless I unplug it and plug it back in.
I troed different setting in my Bios, like turning off USB storage divices in DOS (I actually don't know if this would do anything), it seems that it crashes less, but still does not work correctly unless I unplug it and re-plug it.

The controller not working without unplugging/plugging in is a known issue:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/support/article.php?artnum=47
I haven't had any issues with booting the pc while its plugged in though. 

[shorthair]

You can also use 3M automotive tape.  It's gray and has a red backing.  It's not cheap, but it holds like crazy. 

RandyT

Or, if different, gorilla tape, stuff like that.

whammoed: I think he wants to turn it on with it - like one would with a mouse click or movement.

[Crowquill]

Any ideas how to mount this thing flat or on the side of a CAB/CP without taking it apart?  Do you think some sort of glue or tape would hold it's weight?

You can also use 3M automotive tape.  It's gray and has a red backing.  It's not cheap, but it holds like crazy. 

I'm not sure if it's the exact same stuff, but 3M also offers an "Exterior Mounting Tape". It's a gray, almost putty-like material with a red plastic backing. The package actually shows someone sticking brass numbers onto a brick house. Be careful not to use too much or you'll never get it off. I sometimes used this stuff when I installed security systems. Never had a problem with anything coming loose. I was picking it up for like $4/roll at Lowe's or Home Depot.

I know the power-on feature works with almost all pre-G5 PowerMacs and iMacs. I'd be surpised if it works at all in Windows. Apple had to eventually drop the power keys from the keyboards after switching them to USB because it required a trickle charge of power to sense when the button was pressed. This doesn't conform to USB specs and standards. Maybe some motherboards would still have power to the USB devices, but even then I doubt that it would know what to do when the device is pressed. The ThinkGeek description states "PowerMate supports remote power on for compatible computers." I'm wondering if those compatible computers would be Macs. Griffin was mostly dedicated to Mac peripherals and adapters before their iPod accessories took off.

Griffin's webpage doesn't even mention the power-on feature anymore. One thing that I did notice when looking at the info for the latest Mac driver: it now supports more than one PowerMate. I wonder if the Windows driver will ever get this function.

[urbecrisch]

Yeah, I'm just as confused and curious as you Crowquill.  Is anyone out there using this device on their CP running windows OS?  Does it work well with the volume and powering off?

[davieboynj]

I can definitely vouch for that stuff.  it holds anything to anything, as long as the surface is clean. 

You can also use 3M automotive tape.  It's gray and has a red backing.  It's not cheap, but it holds like crazy. 

RandyT

[shorthair]

Yeah, I'm just as confused and curious as you Crowquill.  Is anyone out there using this device on their CP running windows OS?  Does it work well with the volume and powering off?

Volume it's great. I haven't tried the latter.