LeapinLew: Galaga Themed Small Bartop -COMPLETED

[MazzMn]

As for gutting the laptop. I took the LCD Panel, battery, CD Rom, and much of the case apart. I soldered 2 wires to the power button. I was a little worried the machine wouldn't boot without the CD Rom or monitor, but it didn't have any problems. The biggest issue I had is trying to figure out how to power on the laptop when the power is turned on. The eventual solution was to add the red power button on the back that turns the laptop on.

First off let me congratulate you on a great looking machine...very, very nice! 

Thanks for posting info on how you power on your laptop...This is a problem I haven't solved on my cocktail machine project. I want to rig up in this fashion but I'm reluctant to crack the thing open and start soldering on it.

I've seen some folks use Wake on Ring or Wake on Lan techniques to wake up a laptop. If anyone has doen this successfully I'm still looking for details. 

[psychotech]

Yes, that's a great build. Lew rules 

Still, before trying anything too radical with your laptop you could just try and take all the batteries off it. Just shut it down and remove all the power. Wait a moment (Your definition of a moment is as good as ...). Then, plug the power cord back to the wall socket... (Still without the batteries, naturally.) ................................................

So, what happened? Didn't explode

Anyway, Tomatocade starts up as soon as it senses power.. (shutdown is thru software) I never touched anything on Tomatocade BIOS as far as memory serves ..it's just a... power on on power available solution Removed all batteries and it tries to power on as soon as it sees any power at all.. ?

Anyway, if this seems just like another too simple a solution to really work  ...I'd still suggest you to try it 

psychotech - it's in the name. (it's all in the name )

[MazzMn]

Still, before trying anything too radical with your laptop you could just try and take all the batteries off it. Just shut it down and remove all the power. Wait a moment (Your definition of a moment is as good as ...). Then, plug the power cord back to the wall socket... (Still without the batteries, naturally.) ................................................
...
Anyway, if this seems just like another too simple a solution to really work  ...I'd still suggest you to try it 

Thanks for the idea...I've already found a software solution to "turn off" the laptop, by going into suspend mode...I'd like to speed up the boot time by using suspend and I think power is required to use suspend...hmm, maybe if I use hibernate mode power is not required for hibernate

[opt2not]

My favourite bartop ever. Even has a crt! Just superb.

Here's mine.

#makeBYOACgreatagain

[leapinlew]

Appreciate it!

Honestly, this was always meant to be an inexpensive build using as many of the parts I had as possible. In this case, I had controls, a laptop, 10" CRT's, and time on my hands.

I took short cuts and made some poor material choices. I wish I used smaller buttons for player 1 and 2 and a different coin up button, but I must have had them already. I really regretted the 1/2" MDF and paint instead of laminate. It was a fast build with the purpose of making it nice enough on the outside, that it could be in my office at work.

I will say, out of all the bartops I've made, it has the right size to be put on a bar/desk and not be the dominant feature. This cabinet needed a replacement computer and CRT and is still alive and kicking.