My first cabinet. I have afew questions.

[Sir Headless VII]

I want to make my first cabinet and I have  a few questions. Ideally it would house my PlayStation 2 and my old laptop running MAME. The problems I can see are:

1) My laptop has no ps/2 ports so all the connections will have to be through USB.

2) The specs of the laptop are:
         Pentium 4 2.80 GHz cpu
         768 MB of RAM
         ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9000 IGP video card
So far I have been testing games and the only one that didn't work was Mortal Kombat 4. Do you think I will be ok with this laptop? What are some other games that I should test (ones that strain the computer, I will probably be playing mostly fighting and shooting games)

3) I definitely want to have 2 lightguns but every lightgun available seems to have some sort of drawback. ActLabs ones don't work with terminator 2 and other games where you need to hold down the trigger. TopGun guns you have to stand far back. I am currently leaning towards ActLabs. What are my options?

4) Switching between the Playstation2 and the laptop will be a real trick and I'm not sure how I will pull it off (or if it is really even possible without opening up the cabinet and manually rewiring every time). More specifically if I use an I-PAC 4 (how much harder can wiring 4 sets of buttons be than wiring 2) and the Ultimarc PS2 adapter I would need the I-PAC in PS/2 mode for the PlayStation but in USB mode for the  laptop. I was thinking I might be able to feed the I-PAC to a keyboard switch and use that to switch between the PS2 and the laptop with a PS/2 to USB adapter on the end. I will that work? Is there an easier way?

5) I will need to hook the laptop to the T.V. using S-video with I'm pretty sure hijacks all the other inputs and won't allow you to use any others without unplugging it physically. I am thinking of splicing in a switch to the cable to try and get around this. Does that seem like a good idea? do you have a better one? Really I think i might have to wait until I get back home ( I am currently working in Saudi Arabia) and have access to the TV again to test its exact behavior before I plan this one. Also anyone have ideas about changing the input on the tv (ie what you would normally do by pressing Tv/Av on the remote)?

If I could borrow some of your experience for this that would be great.

[mrclean]

I don't think MK4 is even emulated properly yet, So It doesnt matter what PC you have it won't run... at least last I was told.

[Sir Headless VII]

Well that's a relief.

[Turnarcades]

I'm a fan of simplicity when it comes to planning cabinets, so I think you might be trying to run before you can walk. You may be better off trying to get either one or the other working alone first, then trying to integrate the other once you are more familiar with the parts and work required. I've tried to answer your questions nevertheless;

1) No PS/2 port is not a problem, most interfaces can be had in USB anyway. Just make sure you have enough ports for expansion.
2) That spec is plenty to run everything worthwhile. Aiming to emulate everything is an impossible task so find a happy medium and don't set your sights too high. It seems too many people are aiming for 5th-generation+ game emulation which is still just being ironed out. Remember the more advanced PS1-era arcade games are usually available on other platform emulators which perform better at low specs (ie pSX for Playstation 1 is cool even at 1.8Ghz) so forget trying to get them all working in MAME. Laptops usually need a slightly higher spec to perform as well as a slightly lower desktop PC, but as I've benchmarked 2Ghz desktops as more than capable of high-end emulation if done right, your spec laptop is plenty. MK4 is pretty good on Playstation.
3) Getting light guns to work to the level you expect is a difficult task as probably the best available are the LCD Topguns and I know they are a pain to set up even half well. You currently don't have many options with this, and may do well to hang fire as there are some interesting new technologies in the works that may be much better.
4) This is a question for Andy at Ultimarc really, but I think you should wait til you have one or the other working individually first. Bear in mind your monitor choice will be limited if you run both a PC and console unless you are ---steaming pile of meadow muffin----hot at wiring. I had both a PS1 and a PC running in my first cab and had to use a TV to simplify connection.
5) This will depend on the TV. Some will have 'forced AV' where a specific input will override the others, and also the individual device can have forced AV built in. You will really need to experiment with a few TV's and cables to find the best setup first, considering the finer points as you go along. I'm in the UK where SCART is the norm, so I plugged the S-Video cable into a SCART connector block, then plugged both that and the PS1 Scart connector block into a 2-way switchable SCART cable. This was mounted just inside the coin door so I could switch it as needs be. The trade-off though is that an S-video picture for the PC is not fantastic on a lot of TV's and is further compromised through the SCART conversion.

[ctozzi]

i have a pc version of mk4 that is almost perfect in play, if your intersted $ 7.00 shipped

[dreamakuma]

If you're not hardcore(which is fine, not an insult) you could just look on ebay for a vga connector for the PS2, or a composite to vga box, then get a vga switchbox, all hooked up to a vga monitor. my dreamcast/xbox/ps2 cab is like that right now. easy as hell. 

[Sir Headless VII]

I am not hardcore but I am cheap and I already  have an old T.V. that I want to use as the monitor so VGA is out. How long a wait would I be looking at for better lightguns? My current plan is to take a week or two of when I get home from Saudi Arabia (where I am working now) and put this thing together and that will be in about a month. I feel like if I wait to get the light guns until significantly after I am done the rest of the cabinet I'll just never get around to putting them on and I really do want them on there. I'll think about that pc version of Mk. Are there front ends that will allow me to launch a MAME game and a regular PC game without exiting (I really haven't looked into the front ends at all)?

[dreamakuma]

use a composite or svideo switchbox then...

[Sir Headless VII]

Yeah, I really should have been able to think of that on my own shouldn't I.