Jumping into my first MAME cabinet. Possibly a bit too deep, Im a bit lost...

[DiskTwo]

So I got a Machine today, and am wanting to make a MAME machine, once I opened it up, I realised im a bit over my head. 

At one point it was MK2. It was converted a couple times. Everything was still intact when I got it, minus the PCB. All other wiring is still there. The plan is to build a new CP, slide in a PC, convert the Monitor with a Jpac and boot her up. Now that im actually inside one of these machines... Things are a lot different then I expected.

The Marquee, the Coindoor, the sound (which I can remove, ill put in my own later), The monitor and some other wires i need to trace, all go into the Jamma plug and to what I assume is the Power supply. Pretty much all the wires seem to tangle together and go to multiple places.

Now I'm not sure what to do from here. I just want a pc mame setup with a real arcade monitor. Im still waiting on my Jpac, but I assume the Jamma connector plugs into that, and a VGA cable comes from that, into the PC, but what about all of this other wiring? do I run two seperate power cables? One for the PC and the one thats allready there to power the existing system? Let the Monitor, Marquee, sound etc just stay connected as is and power as is?


Sorry for my ignorance, Like I said I expected a lot different and now im thoroughly confused. I can take pictures or anything needed if it will help.

[Bender]

if it were me, I'd take everything out, except the monitor, save all the parts you want to use and put it back together as if you were starting from scratch, that way you can follow saint's book, one step at a time and it will be a lot less confusing

good luck

[Jack Burton]

You could also just remove all the wiring and leave just the powersupply and transformer.  Then buy a new JAMMA harness to work with from scratch and it will probably make things a lot easier and cleaner for you.  The old harness can be kept as a back up.  Some of these old harnesses have been hacked up pretty good.

[Flake]

Ah yes I was in your shoes a couple months ago.  I purchased a cabinet from an auction that turned out to be a Killer Instinct cabinet (which is probably the same cabinet as you are using).  Its a great cabinet style for a MAME conversion.  Anyway it had a monitor that didnt work, no game board but the power supply and all the wires were still in there.  I simply gutted the entire cabinet - I took everything out including the coin doors and the coin door box that housed the quarter depository.  I really had no interest in using the existing power supply that came with it because I had already planned to use a smartstrip so that everything would turn on and off automatically by powering up and shutting down the computer. 

I'm not sure what condition your parts are in but if I were you I would just gut your entire cab and start from scratch.  If you have any intention of doing any restoration on the cabinet (sanding, bondo repair, painting) you will have to do this anyway.  I wouldnt worry about using your existing power supply either, look into that smartstrip - it really works nice and is only about $40 with shipping online.  All your electronic parts in the interior of your cab will plug into this so you dont need to worry about any other power needs. 

As far as connecting your arcade monitor to your PC I cant help you there as I am using a 27" Toshiba TV connected with component (albeit through an multipin adapter - #$&&*!! Nvidia cards!).

As far as Saints book - I bought it but only after I was well into my project so its not necessary to have.  But it is a good reference tool if you get stuck somewhere.  However, there is more than enough good info on this site alone to solve most if not all your problems.

Good luck man....its a time consuming project but extremely fun!

[ArtMAME]

I think you are better off starting clean.  I am not a big fan of the JAMMA harness, so I prefer to build my cabinets with an IPAC or KeyWiz. 

I just put together a MAME cabinet that was pre-JAMMA-wired using an JPAC for a friend of mine.  It was not terribly difficult for me but it was a pain in the butt because of having to sort through all the wires and such.

[DiskTwo]

Thanks for the help. I think I understand where to go from here. I ordered a new Jamma harness and found some guides that may help, Ill have a better idea once it gets here.

Ty for all the help