Problem with IPAC 4

[macca38]

Hi
I purchased an IPAC-4 for my cabinet, which was a Streetfighter 2 Champion Edition, with 4 player setup.

I am pretty naieve, about the technicalities of these games and cabinet specs, so took It on faith that as there were 4 player buttons, It was a 4 player machine, with only 2 joysticks and that the joysticks would swap between players 1 and 3, and, 2 and 4

So purchased the IPAC-4 for 4 players, but upon wiring of the control panel to the IPAC, It has connections for 4 seperate joysticks.

My question Is this.....

Is the Ipac4 capable of handling a 4 player 2 joystick setup........could I simply loop wires from joystick 1 to joystick 3 and map the same keys, and do the same with 2 and 4, or would this cause problems. Or Is It a case of you must have 4 seperate joysticks?

Also, I have a setup, where I have an adminisrator account, with a password. This Is required for my LAN.

Now I realise Its probably not normal practise to have your cab hooked up to the LAN, or possibly It Is a common practise, but the reasons for me doing this, were simply for updating of romsets and such, as well as the fact that this machine also plays movies and captures.....the lot. So a LAN connection was practical to transfer larger files.

Anyway, I have been forced to make a seperate account, which I have called "Mame" for want of a better name, and this account I have no password on. I am using a wireless mouse, so a simple click of the Icon and Im In. Ive also set this account, to hide all desktop Icons, Auto hide the XP Taskbar, and Ive loaded Mame32XT In the startup folder, so It also autostarts maximised. I also managed after much stuffing around, to get the *.ipc profile to load automatically

The thing Is this....Ultimarc state that no drivers are needed for the IPAC. Why then do I see a very quick message when this account first starts, ststing that drivers are loading.

I am using the PS2 to USB connector, and as I am unable to type my password to log Into the admin account, on bootup, then this says to me, that something Isnt loading before windows loads, and even the passthru option will not work.

I am forced to use the mouse, to login to the Mame account, I se the WinIpac drivers loading message, and then I can change to the admin account, and the IPAC works fine. I think Its USB drivers needed for the USB that are not loaded before the login screen, and only load upon windows start.

Is there a workaround for this, or have I missed something, possibly a dos mode USB driver or something that preloads before windows?

Anyway, everything else works....Its just these couple of niggling things.

Any help In any way with my cabinet, Is very much appreciated.

Cheers

[paigeoliver]

Um, there is no such thing as a 4 player 2 joystick setup. The scant few four player games that use two joysticks are wired exactly as if they had 2 players. Everything you are saying is based upon an incorrect assumption.

[ArtMAME]

You need 4 joysticks for the four player games.  If you want 4 simultaneous player games (Simpsons, Ninja Turtles, Gauntlet, etc.) you will have to either add 2 more joysticks and some buttons to your existing control panel, or make a brand new control panel.

Just wire all four joysticks separately.  You have the IPAC4, so you have enough inputs. 

If you desire to make a new 4 player panel, Player 1 and 2 will support 6 buttons each for Street Fighter type games.  But Players 3 and 4 will only support 4 buttons each.  Even though the IPAC4 has more than 4 button inputs each for player 3 and 4, they are not functional.  As far as I know, there are no 4 player arcade games that need more than 4 buttons each for all 4 players.

I do not know what to tell you for the login troubles. 

[paigeoliver]

Also, if this is a mame cabinet then you need to set it up where you don't have to type anything at all to log in, or at the very least change your password to a series of keypresses, such as all the player 2 buttons.

[northerngames]

yeah you could wire all 4 like normal and then if your using mame you can go under the tab button and select the inputs for all games at once or do that specific game only and assighn it 2 joysticks per player on that specific game the ipac see's the joystick switch the same as buttons and you can assighn any of them to any key wether it is a joystick or button.

[macca38]

Thankyou all for the advice.

Yep...thats exactly as I thought.

If you look at my cabinet, on my web page, It has 2 joysticks, yet has 4 player buttons. Obviously a generic cabinet.

Thats what threw me, and i had trouble getting my head around It.

Ok.........so Its a 2 player machine............thats fine by me. Could have saved a few dollars on the IPAC Is all, I guess.

Its a learning experience, and what better way to learn, than when It hits you In the hip pocket.

As for the login problem....well, I made a ps2 male to male extension.....and will try that In the morning. Im sure Its the USB driver not loading before the login screen......and If It Is, I think Its something Ultimarc should look at. I consider the fact that the keyboard Is totally unuseable In this situation, as a design flaw, and It also makes their claim of not requiring drivers, and of the keyboard passthru working regardless, well frankly, a little bit of BS.

Still and all, I have to say, The IPAC works flawlessly, once the drivers have loaded, and Im pretty stoked with It. Ultimately, Ill be installing a clean OS, and using It as a dedicated Mame machine, so no need for the Admn login

Anyway, final test today, when I try my new lead I made. That will confirm my suspicions on the USB drivers.

Cheers

[SavannahLion]

I-Pac requires drivers? Are we talking about the same I-Pac?

Straight off of the Ultimarc website:

#   No special drivers needed. USB drivers are generic Windows. On many motherboards USB will work in DOS.

It also specifically mentions that, while in USB mode, that you connect the keyboard directly to the PC instead of through the I-Pac.

I don't understand what kind of leads you're trying to make.