A Mame machine in an antique buffet - USB probs solved (I think!)

[Aceldamor]

Wow.....if this doesn't win a MAMEY I will be astonished....I love this machine. Steampunk is my favorite genre and you did an amazing job at it here.

If I might make just one suggestion?  you have got to find a way to hide the monitor bezel, that is the only thing that takes away from the aesthetic.

Something like this would be killer on that cab (minus the base of course)

[drventure]

Hehe. I've had datamancer's page bookmarked for ages 

That monitor definitely isn't staying that way. Actually that whole area to either side of the monitor will be steampunked in some mannerr or another. Just haven't figured out exactly what/how yet.

But I've got 12 fake nixies that are +dieing+ to come to life, plus a great big ol' frankenstein knife switch for power.

it'll get there...

[DashRendar]

Yep, I'm loving this project.  Maybe it's the whole thing about it transforming into something that the GF would approve of, while still having the gaming functionality there.   

Nah, it's just the creativity that can (and is) going into this project.  It's just unique as hell and you're really doing a great job with it.

Although I'd still like to see a spark regulator on there somewhere!

More ideas here:  http://www.oobject.com/category/diy-frankenstein-lab-items

[drventure]

I got some pointers to some local swap meets from a guy last week, so I'll definitely be checking them out.

That spark regulator is on my "short list" of inspirational pics!

[drventure]

Well, no pics this time, but a handy little trick, in case anyone else runs into this.

I've put everything in my cab on one of thosesmart strips (mentioned it a few posted back) andit works +great+.

BUT, I noticed that when I powered the PC down, my CP didn't power off. (at least, I had 2 USB lights that I was using to light the trackballs and they stayed lit).

Sure enough, when I opened it up, all the hubs I'm using (they're those hubs with the ridiculous blinking leds all over inside them), were ALL lit up and flashing!

Ack! and this is with a supposedly "green" motherboard.

The thing is I'm SURE that this is meant for that "Wake on USB" feature where if you have a USB keyboard or mouse, doing something with it will power up the PC.

But here's the rub. This MOBO doesn't support Wake on USB!

So the leave the power on, but don't actually support anything that would make use of it (other than maybe a phone charger or something, sheesh!)

Anyway. I played around with splicing a relay into the 5v line on the USB, or possibly replacing that 5v line with one from a harddrive power plug. But those all seems like dicey solutions (I read online in a number of places that delivering, or dropping, power to usb devices can be tricky to perform at the hardware level like this and still have everything work right.

Then i remember I had an old PCI USB/Firewire card from an old server that didn't have USB ports (it's since gotten a new mobo, so that card went in my scrap pile).

Cut up the case a little to accommodate it. Slapped it in, and plugged it up. Viola! When I shut the PC down, anything attached to THAT CARD does indeed completely shut down!

Since my keyboard is PS2, and this ASUS mobo DOES support wake on PS2, I can still power things up just by pressing any key on the keyboard (unfortunately, buttons on the CP don't work, because they all go through an IPAC which is connected to usb). Minor point, cause that's not the way I'll eventually power up anyway.

Moral of the story: A little 10$ cheapy USB card can fix mobo's with USB ports that won't shut off.

[severdhed]

very cool.. a nice easy and cheap solution.  i ended up powering my trackball and buttons lights directly from the 5v on the power supply, instead of drawing it from the USB...that way it turns off when the pc shuts down. 

it is good to know there are several solutions to this problem.

[Vebbo]

Hopla, this is really an original project  , fun to read about your progress and solutions also. Keep up the good work 

[drventure]

@severedhed

Yeah, I considered that, but I had so many hubs that that wouldn't have helped really.
However, I realize now it was a mistake not to wire up at least 2 buttons as "mouse buttons" attached to one of the trackballs. LOTS of cab management can be accomplished with just a mouse and it's buttons. I've got a little rewiring to do there 
Oh well. live and learn.

@vebbomania
Thanks!


Here’s a quick pic I cobbled together in Sketchup (I +suck+ at Sketchup, btw)



I'm trying to work out the details of what will be going on the top panel (to iether side of the monitor).

I kind of like the oculus effect going on here, though I'm not exactly sure how I'll get walnut to play along with my ideas  . Those subtle curves would be interesting to work out. I guess I'll need a steam bender now.... Hehe, steam.....bender.... Hey Bender, got any cousins?

I found the Dell widescreen model online, just replaced the girly pic that was on it with my Mala background, so nope, that wasn't my doing...

[Bender]

you Just need a length of PCV pipe that the wood will fit in but a little hole in the bottom and hook it up to kettle(with some rubber house) and your all set
oh, a form to mount it to till it dries is good too
A friend, not a cousin , of mine made a canoe and a toboggan that way, he spent less than $10 to make the steam Bender

[drventure]

I like it! Definitely a cheap way to go. Since the pieces might have to be 4 inches wide, I'd potentially need a fairly big piece of PVC, but it wouldn't have to be long.

Thanks!

[gryhnd]

very cool.. a nice easy and cheap solution.  i ended up powering my trackball and buttons lights directly from the 5v on the power supply, instead of drawing it from the USB...that way it turns off when the pc shuts down. 

I'm always hesitant to put unneeded loads on the PC power supply, and to allow another route for shorting if something goes whonky.

My first build I used an old AT PS to power all the gizmos. In my latest build I used one of the many orphan wall warts I had laying around, a number of which were 5V (LEDs) and 12V (fans). Either way, when they are plugged into a Smartstrip type of affair they all go off when the PC shuts down, of course.

[drventure]

Good point

Right now, the LED's in the cab (there aren't many) are all powered via the LEDWiz USB 5v.

BUT, once I get to the point of hooking up my fake nixie's (if I get there, space being the real question), since there will be some additional circuitry involved to switch the 90v AC generated by the ELWire transformer, I was planning on using the LEDWiz bank voltage select and supplying the 5vdc from a wall wart.

The good news is, with a little help from digitaldj and my dad, I've got a nice little cheap solid state relay circuit to do just that, no inductive relays required!

[drventure]

Well, a little success and a little fail 

First the success.

With a little help, I found some schematics for simple circuits to

1) convert a constant contact switch to momemtary.
2) silently switch AC voltage via standard 5vdc (Like say, from an LED Wiz)

First, the constant to momentary switch.

I got the circuit from here
http://www.simprojects.nl/toggle_to_momentary.htm

Here's what it looks like


Change the 12v supply to 5v, and change the 12v relay to a little 5vdc relay you can get at radio shack
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062480

Keep the 330mfd capacitor and bam. There you go.

I prototyped this up and it works the treat. Slam the great big ol' frankenstein switch ON and you get a click on the PC power switch.

Pull it back, and you get another click to power off.

This click is really quick with a 330mfd cap, supposedly, you can increase it to 400-470mfd for a longer click, but I didn't get a bigger cap in my "assorted caps" grab bag, so I'll have to go back to the store tomorrow.


For the AC switching circuit, I found this at, of all sites, a Christmas tree light fan site!
http://computerchristmas.com/christmas/link-how_to/HowToId-7/How_to_build_a_triac_switching_unit_SSR

Here's the circuit


I couldn't find these exact parts but Fry's did have an NTE5603 (triac) and NTE3409 (optoisolator).

Now, I'm no Electrical engineer and if I was ACTUALLY switching household AC, I wouldn't be playing with any of this. But the output from the ELWire transformer, while high enough voltage to make you sit up and take notice  isn't enough current to actually do any real damage, so it's pretty safe to experiment with.

At any rate, buying the components from Fry's isn't cheap. I could get compatible components at digikey for pennies a unit, so I'll be ordering the rest from there (i've got 12 to wire up).

But, they work!

I could really see some cool stuff happening using ELWire with an LED Wiz to control multiple segments. How about lit tmolding, or inlaying the wire underneath your cabinet side art so that the art is outlined in glow when the lights are off?


And now the fail

Remember all that great gold "leaf" stampwork that really made the cp pop?
Well, turns out, that ink doesn't quite hold up as well as I thought it would to sweaty gamer hands

This is what has happened after only a few days of my 5 year old playing



that's not a shadow, it's worn down, not completely, but very significantly.

Doh....

Well, it's all one big experiment.

I did do a little test with some matte spray acrylic and it SEEMS to hold up pretty well and protect the design, plus it doesn't make the formica look weird. But it DOES make it like slightly blacker, so if I spray, I gotta do the whole CP.

Gack. Haven't decided what I'm going to do about this yet...

Ok, some additional counteracting good news. Those painted buttons I fretted over? Still look perfect. No issues whatsoever and we've been pounding them pretty good. I'll just have to wait and see how they hold up long term.

[Ond]

I could really see some cool stuff happening using ELWire with an LED Wiz to control multiple segments. How about lit tmolding, or inlaying the wire underneath your cabinet side art so that the art is outlined in glow when the lights are off?

Heh heh, guess whose been thinking exactly that with my 'Mark II CP" design.  And for the really good bit the EL supplier here not only has wire but flat panels that can be cut to any shape - boggles the mind just thinking of the possibilities yeah?  Sorry to hear about the gold art coming off, it's gonna have to be coated with something.

[drventure]

Right, I forgot about those sheets, but yes, they could definitely be used for some good effect too.

And the el stuff is relatively straightforward to work with (if not a big pain in the a$% because of the tiny little wires involved)

[drventure]

Another concept I thought I'd throw out here and see if anyone has any input.

I've got an old Sidewinder ForceFeedback Wheel (the OLD OLD kind, game port and not USB).

The wheel is great, and as far as I know still works fine, but... trying to use a Gameport ANYTHING under XP or vista is a bit like trying to mow the lawn with boiled spaghetti.

Anyway, I've put it up on CL and ebay a couple times with no takers, so.... I was thinking, why not hack it, take the motor out and use that to drive my rotating screen? Or something else?

Or is there someone here that would actually +want+ a gameport ff wheel?

Or alternately is there a way to actually use one of these under XP or vista?

Any thoughts?

[martoon x]

Yes, those a sewing machine lifts. I'd originally wanted to automate the whole folding process, but pricing linear actuators kind of forced me to reconsider that.

I was actually thinking the same exact thing for my cab. But then I found these http://www.firgelliauto.com/product_info.php?cPath=110&products_id=134 but I don't think I could get away with just using one. You definitely could though.

[drventure]

Hey Martoon

Thanks for the link, but I think someone had already suggested Firgelli. I've got em bookmarked anyway. Yeah, those would probably have worked quite nice. Actually, I may still do something like that, just replace the gas strut in the sewingmachine lifts with linear actuators. But then again, probably not for this cab. As it is, I'm pretty tight on space, and to have the lifts be automated but not the lid or the doors just seems like "going halfway".

But If I can find a bigger antique the next time..... 

[Franco B]

How the --Papa Smurf-- have I missed this thread?? 

I frigging love it, Love It, LOVE IT! 

Awesome work dude, love the theme.

If I can help out in anyway just give me a shout 

[drventure]

A little side project I started on with this build

I'd posted elsewhere about playing an MP3 file +WHILE+ windows boots.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=96222.0

It takes about 50 seconds for my cab to boot up, so I thought it'd be nice to have something happening other than some more or less static screens popping up.

So, why not play an mp3?

Of course, the computer proper can't play it, because it's booting. So, I pulled an old MP3 player out of the junk heap to have a go at wiring it up.

So far so good on the test bench. Next step is the crack the shell.

[drventure]

Doh.

Just stumbled upon this

http://www.globalsources.com/gsol/I/Sound-module/p/sm/1004747135.htm

Which led to googling "Recording sound module"

Hell, there are piles of devices out there that'll do this sort of thing. Maybe no full on MP3 players with lineout, but pretty dang close.

Just in case anyone's interested....

[Bender]

this is a great idea!
why didn't I think of that
I'd love a sound file to play when the Brenderama unfolds (and then while it's booting up)
can't wait to see what you come up with

[drventure]

Hey Bender

Yes, pretty cool. I could easily see something like that in the Benderama

Here's another link to a module that's a tad more $$ (about 40$) but has Line Out already there.

http://www.quasarelectronics.com/3189-120-second-message-recorder-isd17120.htm

In your case, closing up, you can handle via the internal PC itself (cause it'll already be on when you close things up, right?)

So you'd only need module for the "Open Up" sound.

I'm still leaning to the "use any old MP3 player you can find for cheap" idea, cause there are piles of old ones with 16mb or 32mb that would be perfect for something like this.

[severdhed]

this is a great idea!
why didn't I think of that
I'd love a sound file to play when the Brenderama unfolds (and then while it's booting up)
can't wait to see what you come up with

that would be awesome...and you need to use this sound...

[drventure]

That sound is great. Needs to be longer, but it could be remixed....

Ok bender, the glove has been thrown 

[Bender]

I'm waiting for you to solve this one....              then I'll steal it

[drventure]

A little more progress
I posted about the wearing that was happening with the gold stamping several weeks ago.
You can see it here.


Finally took the time to pull the sticks and mask everything off.


Even decided to give my spinner knob a little aged brass treatment


The spray didn't go on 100% even, but, after looking at it a bit and getting the masking off and controls back on, my wife and I both agreed that, at least for this particular cab, if it'd been a "perfect" finish, it wouldn't have looked right. As it is, it's just flawed enough to look like it's been around since about 1850, just well taken care of

At least, that's what I'm telling myself 

I've also got an idea as to how I'm going to run the monitor power and Video cables. Right now, they're just draped about, but I found this nifty bell shaped pipe mounts and Lowes.

After a few hours in an ammonia vapor bath, they end up looking nicely patina'd with a brown cast and just the right amount of greenish-blue.



Should be interesting!


Also, I just saw the thread about Ultimarc's new Gun module! Oh yeah!

I'll be picking up a couple here soon and doing a couple more steampunk nerf guns, this time with these modules.

Here's a couple guns I did about a year ago, just to see what kind of success I'd have. I think they turned out pretty good, though, for an actual cab gun, I certainly wouldn't want to put all the embellishments on them 




And finally, you can see in that last picture the "stick boot" I've put together for my flight stick. It turned out quite nice, but, I really need a brass bezel to go around the lip. Leaving it bare doesn't look good, but the bezel can't be too thick or it'll impede the stick movement (even more than it already is <sigh>)

I cut a bezel out of thin .005 brass sheet, but, whew! that's just too thin. It's way to dentable and I can't get it to lay flat.

So I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that yet.

[Epyx]

What I love about the No 18 Arqadium project is picturing how comfortable it would be to just sit around it and game.  Does it have that cocktail cabinet ease of sitting around it that I am picturing or do you need to stand?

[Benevolance]

I totally agree with Epyx. I could just see rolling up to the arcade in a nice, leather chair and playing for hours.

[Epyx]

I totally agree with Epyx. I could just see rolling up to the arcade in a nice, leather chair and playing for hours.

And on Halloween this would have to be done in Victorian garb...complete with monacles and pipe...

[Benevolance]

And you can doff the top hat, roll up those shirt sleeves when Ms. Pac Man starts to get intense.

[drventure]

Well, no pics just yet, but suffice it to say, I'm cryin'

 

Take it from me, DO NOT try to seal formica with clear enamel spray.

I knew it was a tad risky, and, well, for about a week, it looks fantastic.

But then, everywhere where sweaty hands touched it, the enamel has discolored, turning a chalky whitish gray.

I thought at first it could just be wiped off, but no go.

And it's steadily getting worse.

I even tested it on a spare sample and let it sit for a week. That test piece still looks great 

Oh well. It plays and I've still got the bottom panels and monitor to frame out and finish up.

In the meantime, maybe I'll figure out some way to salvage the cp...

[Ond]

No way! that's a damn shame  .  I'm thinking about how to rescue it.  Maybe try to remove the clear enamel and go back to the formica surface, I would try acetone (the stuff in nail polish remover) it should dissolve the enamel without wrecking the formica surface, you could try it out on the sample first and even leave it for a while after it's clean to be sure.  It will probabaly take off the gold work with the enamel though.   Paint thinner is also an option but I would try Acetone first and only on the sample to start with.  I've had to go through the pain of stripping back and starting again it's infuriating and frustrating to say the least, I did something else for a bit until I was ready to tackle it again.  You've come way to far to let this ruffle you for long though.

[drventure]

Hey Ond

Yeah, I'm going to concentrate on some of the other finishing touches, and getting all the LED and ELWire elements operational (LED Blinky is some kinda fun!)

Maybe it'll all just flake off on it's own 

I suspect if push comes to shove, I could use paint thinner or similar, but that'd almost certainly wreck all the stamping, and getting that right the first time was a chore. I guess it'd likely to be much easier the second time around though.

I've also thought about possibly having a vinyl overlay printed, but getting all the holes lined up now would be a whole world of pain.

And I know all about stripping. After I'd re-veneered the cabinet doors, I stained them, and got the color too red (even though I'd tested it too, sigh). So I had to grind them both back down to below the stain. No big deal except I sanded +through+ the veneer in one small spot before I realized I'd done it.

Fortunately, a horse hair brush and a little ebony stain, and I emulated (hehe) the maple grain good enough that you can't even tell now. Still, that was a little disheartening too.

So, I'll do something else for a few weeks and see where it goes.

BTW, have you seen this guys PC case mod?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/steampunkfrankenstein/



The thing's almost 8 FEET tall!

Unbelievable detail, and he says he got virtually everything off ebay.

It's a tad TOO "steampunky" for what I'm doing but wow. Lots of ideas for small elements I hope to incorporate.

[Ond]

I'm looking forward to playing with LED Blinky myself.  Step back from it as you say and give youself time to think it through.  That case (case ) is nuts.  One thing though it's loaded with fodder for design for your animation I'm doing, valves, brass nuts, tubes etc, I'll go check it out more.  Hmmm I might have to find some parts in the anime to do in timber too. 

[Epyx]

Lol looks like a server rack case mod

The detail is amazing though.

[drventure]

Just came across some cool stuff. Might not be terribly applicable to many cabs, but in cases where you want to tidy up cabling and you can't slide a sleeve around the cable (like with a DVI cable or anything with large end plugs on it), I found this stuff.

It looks like braided expandable sleeving but it's actually split, so it'll slip onto cabling from the side.

Nice looking, not too many colors, I was really hoping for some brass or gold look, but , no joy.



http://www.computercablestore.com/12_FlexoWrap_100FT_Beige_PID17868.aspx

[Epyx]

Yes they also have them in UV:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=34503&vpn=SKIT2-UVG&manufacture=Mod/Smart

So you could use a blacklight and light them up

[drventure]

I looked at some of that kind of sleeving a while back, but it didn't look like it would expand out enough to go over a DVI plug (the Flexowrap is actually split, so it doesn't have to go over the end plugs on the cable).

I'd bought some gold mylar sleeving thinking the same thing (it's 1/2" unexpanded, biggest I could find), but it just barely won't fit over a DVI plug 

Sucks too, because that stuff looks great.

[Billy_Goatfeet]

  I like the way your cp looks with the pattern being a little worn off and faded, it would be better if you had a bit more of it going on in random places.  Makes it look more weathered, like a true antique.  Worn in.  Problem being of course that if it all eventually comes off of course....