In a bit of a panic over IPAC

[fragasaurus]

Ok, so I've been working for a few months to build my first arcade for a party I'm having this weekend.  Friends flying in from around the country.  Arcade is the centerpiece, etc...

I'm using the IPAC4 but I have an IPAC2 I can switch to if needed (it's intended for a second panel to be made later).  I have 2 8-way joysticks, a trackball and turbotwist spinner.  Trackball is using PS2 Mouse Connection.  Spinner is using USB Mouse connection.  The other night I wired up Player 1 (4 joystick switches and 3 buttons) and did a quick test.  Player 1 joystick was sending the proper characters (up, down, right and left arrow keys) and the trackball and spinner both work.  I did some more work on the panel and wired up Player 2 as well as some admin buttons.  I plugged it in for another test and now Player 1 joystick is sending different characters (g is left 6 is up, d is down).  The trackball and spinner are still working.

I will review back threads and documention but I'm hoping someone might know what this is.  I'm trying to get this ready for my idiot friends for tomorrow and there will be big disappointment if it isn't working.

If it comes to it, I might wire up the IPAC2 in hopes that it might work.

Any help is much appreciated!

-Jonathan

[fragasaurus]

Posting some pics

[cw]

are you sure your not hitting some type of shift function?

have you pulled down the interactive panel designer?
http://www.ultimarc.com/download.html

double checked wiring?

[fragasaurus]

I don't think it's the shift because the characters I'm seeing don't match the Shift codes.  However, I didn't know about the LED blinking diagnostics so I'm going to look at that when I get home.  I hope it's just something in my wiring that got loose.

[NiteWalker]

Nice cab. I like the compact control panel.

[fragasaurus]

Thank you.  It's 29" wide but feels comfortable for all the junk on there.  That second P1 joystick is a dedicated 4 way.  I'm going to swap it with a Galaga/Ms Pac Man type.

[shorthair]

I think you may not be saving the configuration. Also, I think it defaults to Mame. I'd think it'd be easier to wire everything up, making a diagram of correspondence as you go, and then setting all the key codes, and trouble-shooting each one in succession. You'll probly get a lot more attention in the project announcement section.

[Zebidee]

Saving and loading ipc files isn't enough by itself - you have to click the 'program' button too.

[shorthair]

Saving and loading ipc files isn't enough by itself - you have to click the 'program' button too.

Right. I remember some time ago having some contention with the protocol.

[fragasaurus]

Well, I went home with ideas and diagnostic tools in hand.  I turned everything on and now it's working.  I'm wondering if there was a loose wire.  I had to move the CP a few times so it's possible one of the connections that was loose got pushed in or something. 

In any case, it's working now so I'm not going to goof with it until after the party.  But if there are problems, I at least know where to start searching.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[AndyWarne]

With this kind of issue the best way is to drop me an email. Let me know if you do run into it again.
Andy@ultimarc.com