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4 Player Cab/Dual Screen Project-Photos-Now need some KVM Tech Opinions!
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slapaham:
The KVM switch sounds a good idea... I think I'll pick one up but also consider getting a VGA switch so that I can quickly and easily switch from PC to Xbox and vice versa in the second cab (the Xbox uses VGA as well).

I will build 2 player's controls into each cab. This means that the second cab can be used in conjunction with the first cab for the dual screen and also as a standalone Xbox cab when you switch the VGA signal... The only problem with this is that when you want to siwtch over the controls from PC to Xbox (or vice versa) you will have to do it manually by unplugging the PS/2 wire from the PC and transferring it over to the Xbox... There may be a way that I could split it so that it remains plugged into both but something tells me this would compilcate things and probably not work (especially with some of the wiring I'm considering already with the Xbox!)

Thanks for the input guys, I'm quite excited about this new project idea! :cheers:
severdhed:
do you already have the encoders?

if you had an xarcade encoder, all of the adapters connect to it via 9 pin serial cables.  i had a cabient witha  pc and dreamcast and i used a 9pin serial switchbox to toggle the controls between the systems...it would work the same with an xbox
slapaham:
I don't use my X-Arcade in my cab - the encoders I use are premade PS/2 keyboard hacks. I think if I plan to do the dual screen idea I may have to use another encoder in one of the cabs as I'm guessing the button layouts are exactly the same for each encoder (meaning that players 1 and 3 and players 2 and 4 will have exactly the same key presses - any ideas of how to get around this?)

Basically, the way I'm interfacing the encoder with the Xbox is via an adaptor that converts keyboard presses and maps them to the buttons of an Xbox controller.

Hope this makes sense! :dizzy:
slapaham:
I suppose the KVM switch may solve the problem of the 2 same keyboard hacks though? I've never had any experience with these switchboxes so I'm not 100% sure how they function!

EDIT - Done a bit of research and from what I've gathered a KVM box would not solve this problem. From what I've figured out - players 1,2,3 and 4 would all need different keys to each other as they are running on the same computer - it is only the signal that is split across the 2 screens... god, without playing with one of these its a bit confusing... :dizzy: Anyone suggest the kind of KVM box which would be best for what I want so I can (hopefully) pick one up cheaply and see what it's capable of!!
TheShanMan:
If you don't anticipate 3 or 4 players playing at the same time happening too frequently, you could do what I did. I installed DB9 connections on the cab, and then made control boxes to sit on your lap for player 3 and 4.
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