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Complicated question about the Mini-Pac

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Avrus:

I'm starting up my first cabinet project and I'm still in the 'planning phase'.

I was set on the Ipac2 and an Opti-Pac but the value of the Mini-Pac has stopped me in my tracks.  I've read the FAQ over several times, but I have a unique set of questions that doesn't seem to get a clear answer.

First question -- Since the recent revision of MAME it now supports multiple 'mouse' interfaces.  Does that mean I can use one Opti-Pac board for two trackballs and use both trackballs in a game, eg:rampart.

Second question -- Since the Mini-Pac incorporates basically an Ipac and Opti-Pac and a wiring harness, that means you can hook up both a trackball as well as two joysticks and the x number of buttons to one single Mini-Pac, correct? 

Third question -- Here's the deal breaker.  If the above is the case, and there's a concurrent keystroke restriction in USB of 16 keys, are you able to use two Mini-Pacs to support 4 joysticks, x number of buttons and 2 trackballs?  Is the 16 concurrent keystrokes across the whole USB bus or just each USB device?  That is, you'd be limited to 16 keystrokes per Mini-Pac.

I realize those are a lot of questions, but again there doesn't seem to be a clearly defined answer to any of them.

Thanks in advance, sarcasm is greatly appreciated.

Tiger-Heli:


--- Quote from: Avrus on July 20, 2007, 04:57:46 am ---First question -- Since the recent revision of MAME it now supports multiple 'mouse' interfaces.  Does that mean I can use one Opti-Pac board for two trackballs and use both trackballs in a game, eg:rampart.
--- End quote ---
I believe so - it depends on how MAME sees the Opti-Pac (as one mouse or two separate ones).  I don't know for sure - You can do it with two Mini-Pac's.


--- Quote ---Second question -- Since the Mini-Pac incorporates basically an Ipac and Opti-Pac and a wiring harness, that means you can hook up both a trackball as well as two joysticks and the x number of buttons to one single Mini-Pac, correct?
--- End quote ---
And a spinner - and I would consider it an I-Pac and half an Opti-Pac (only one trackball and spinner) and the wiring harness is additional. 


--- Quote ---Third question -- Here's the deal breaker.  If the above is the case, and there's a concurrent keystroke restriction in USB of 16 keys, are you able to use two Mini-Pacs to support 4 joysticks, x number of buttons and 2 trackballs?  Is the 16 concurrent keystrokes across the whole USB bus or just each USB device?  That is, you'd be limited to 16 keystrokes per Mini-Pac.
--- End quote ---

16 per device, not per bus (and that is debatable, not a hard and fast rule, depending how the device is configured).  That would be a lot of traffic on the USB bus - I don't know if it would have noticeable lag or not, but it would work fine.  You would want to re-program the 2nd Mini-Pac (with the first unplugged) so it sent different keystrokes than the first one.  Also, I don't think you can specify USB ID's on the mini-pacs, so you might have problems with trackball 1 becoming trackball 2 on re-boot unless you plug each one into a different pair of motherboard USB ports.  Also, with the latest MAME (0.117u1), they might be seen as separate keyboards, so you could actually avoid re-programming one and just map MAME to Keyboard 2 - Left Ctrl, but I suspect you might also have keyboard inputs swapping positions if you plugged them both into the same motherboard pair.



tomsurfnj:

I used a minipac for my control panel. I had to swap two wires on the harness for my trackball to work correctly. The wiring harness is nice but I think they used .250 ends instead of .187. I just crimped the end after they were in to make a good connection. I also had to extend some of the wires on the harness to reach my buttons. I tried to replicate a slickstik with the asteroid layout. My spinner is usb and does not go through the minipac. I have it 90% finished and tested.

I hope some of this helps

Tomsurfnj

Avrus:


--- Quote ---16 per device, not per bus (and that is debatable, not a hard and fast rule, depending how the device is configured).  That would be a lot of traffic on the USB bus - I don't know if it would have noticeable lag or not, but it would work fine.  You would want to re-program the 2nd Mini-Pac (with the first unplugged) so it sent different keystrokes than the first one.  Also, I don't think you can specify USB ID's on the mini-pacs, so you might have problems with trackball 1 becoming trackball 2 on re-boot unless you plug each one into a different pair of motherboard USB ports.  Also, with the latest MAME (0.117u1), they might be seen as separate keyboards, so you could actually avoid re-programming one and just map MAME to Keyboard 2 - Left Ctrl, but I suspect you might also have keyboard inputs swapping positions if you plugged them both into the same motherboard pair.
--- End quote ---

Bleh.  Well I'm back to my original layout idea then which is 1 Ipac2 and an OptiPac and I'm just guessing as to whether the two trackballs will work.  I'm surprised with all the 4 player control panel designs no one has referenced how they got 2 trackballs to work.

The stuff I read say that the MameAnalog+ stuff was built into MAME a few revisions ago but ... again looking for definitive answers before I pull the trigger on a pile of equipment.
 :banghead:

Avrus:

I sent an email off to Andy to get an answer from 'the source' as it were.  I'll post the response here and maybe it can be incorporated into the FAQ.   ;D

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