Mini-Pac problems

[snewo]

HELP!!! 

Here is some info on what I'm building:

- Mini-pac kayboard encoder (PS2)
- Happ buttons
- Happ trackball (USB)  - So this is not involved in the below
- Tornado Spinner (USB) - So this is also not involved in the below

I finally got the time to put all of the pieces together and make my arcade cabinet.  In doing so I ran across the following problem    I hooked everything up and went right into notepad to see how it was working.   I saw some letters coming to the screen with my button presses, so I downloaded WinIPAC to finish the Mini-PAC programming.    In there I did what I was supposed to do by laying out the control board and I went into table mode to see my keypresses.   All keys showed up just fine, though 2 were mapped as the wrong letters (for my usage not wired wrong).   Me being impatient I still launched a game via Mala and everything worked fine.   

I was finally playing a game with my cabinet - AWESOME!   

So I went back to remap those 2 keys and then I attempted to program the Mini-PAC.   It reported back with a timeout.   That seemed strange, I double checked my config in the tool and made sure I thought I was doing it right.    I attempted a few more times and continued to get timeouts.   I then went to the table view and none of the keypresses registered anymore.   I figure this was due to a partial programming of the chip or something - since I WAS getting a timeout.  I decided to go old school and program it via the pass-thru keyboard.   (I'm using a laptop so I haven't needed the keyboard in the past)   The keyboard doesn't work at all in pass-thru mode.   Any idea what's going on?

Here are other things to note:

- The Mini-PAC does light up it's diode
- The laptop I'm using has a PS2 that is supposed to support keyboard & mouse via PS2...does that matter in this case?
- If you go to this picture http://www.ultimarc.com/minipac.html of the Mini-PAC there is a definite short across the bottom righthand-most leads of the IC.  Is that ok? 

My next plan is to attempt to program the Mini-PAC via PS2 on my main desktop PC to eliminate the laptop as part of the problem.   Right now I'm thinking something is wrong with the Mini-PAC.  Can anyone verify that I'm doing this right, or does anyone have any ideas of what else I might try?   I really wanted to get this working over the holiday, but now I'll have to wait until Jan 5th at the earliest due to Ultimarc's vacation.

Thanks in advance for your help everyone!


Snewo

[AndyWarne]

No need to wait, we are not away yet and even when we are, email support will still be there.

The PS/2 ports on laptops are very problematic as they share the signal with the mouse. You should be OK on the desktop. If not, drop me an email.
I would always recommend using USB more on a laptop rather than the shared PS/2 port.
Andy

[snewo]

You are correct.   The desktop successfully programmed the board with no problems.  I was able to program it on my desktop and then bring it over to the laptop too.   There are two remaining problems however.

1st - I have to launch WinIPAC and then mess with the button in order for them all to start working.   Sorry for the vague troubleshooting description, but that's as far as I've gotten in that area.   Once I do this I'm good for the duration of the game playing.

2nd - I can't program this on the fly.  I'm using Mala as the frontend, so this would be nice.

You are correct in your assessment that I have a laptop that has one shared port for both mouse and keyboard PS2.   My questions for you:

Can I disable anything in BIOS to remedy this situation?  I already disabled the legacy and USB keyboard items you recommend.

Can I purchase a PS2 to USB cable/converter that would remedy this situation?


I choose PS2 over USB because I had this port available, I guess I'm trying to make lemons out of lemonade due to my, apparent, wrong choice in Mini-PAC purchase.  Any other ideas?



Snewo

[AndyWarne]

These are the kinds of problems you may get with the non-standard PS/2 shared port on a laptop. They are designed to be used with a Y adaptor.

The Mini-PAC is already a USB device so you dont need a converter. You just need either the cable we sell or a small adaptor plug of the type which is used with dual-interface keyboards or mice, usually green in color. The Mini-PAC will switch to USB mode.

If you drop me an email I can put a cable in the mail.
Andy