Author Topic: The candy files... (Read 4337 times)

Ummon · « **on:** April 07, 2009, 12:26:03 am »

Okay. In troubleshooting a video issue I've been having on my candy with a PC connected, via a JPAC, I disconnected that and connected back the Tetris board that came with the cabinet. The power supply started up. What? Why? I dunno. Okay, I guess it works now.

While I was thinking about it, I disconnected the audio coupling from the 'stereo' jack and reconnected it to the 'mono'. Audio! Well, okay, now I know the audio amp works. Great. Controls work, too. Well, that's always nice.

Now's where the juju gets weird. Half-way through a game of Tetris, the graphics start to go wacky - the image turns to sort of like a half silhouette - the power supply fan runs faster, and then the graphics gets jumbled and the game resets.

question 1: does this just sound like a funky PS?

question 2: okay, the audio amp works. Apparently the JPAC doesn't make it turn on, though. How do I easily bridge that gap so's I have sound for Mame?

swamprat96 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 07, 2009, 01:19:13 am »

Re sound

from ultimarc
What about sound?

The JAMMA standard is for only one speaker, mono sound. This is one of the reasons the J-PAC does not contain a sound amp. Other reasons are:
There is no readily available 12V supply. Using the available 5V supply would not enough power.
Using a separate mains adaptor would create issues with local line cord types.

How do I wire for sound?

There are several easy ways to do this:
Use a sound card with an on-board amp. Either wire this to the speaker connectors on the J-PAC to use the cabinet speaker via the JAMMA connector or by-pass the J-PAC and wire directly to one or two speakers in the cabinet.
OR: Use a set of mains powered PC speakers. Either remove the speakers from their cases and mount in the cabinet or simply place inside the cabinet. This will give the advantage of power stereo sound.

Ummon · « **Reply #2 on:** April 08, 2009, 02:03:07 am »

You're not understanding what I said. This cabinet has a special stereo amp that has rca plugs for a board that has stereo sound coming out of it. Or, you can not connect them and get mono through the edge connector.

Anyways, I'm still not sure what's going on with the power supply, and I'm following that in my old audio amp toasted thread. So I guess this thread isn't necessary.

Ummon · « **Reply #3 on:** May 22, 2009, 05:45:47 am »

Well, I finally got this mostly done, front end set, games playing, instant shelled (yes, this is the absolute last thing you want to do if you can help it). Looks pretty good. Here's a (rather long, but perhaps enlightening...maybe evening amusing) video on my recent efforts. (By the way, it's a little NSFW due to expletive language.)

Um, yeah. New (and tamer) one below.

Malenko · « **Reply #4 on:** May 22, 2009, 08:02:04 am »

your video was removed by youtube because it was more then 10min long

Ummon · « **Reply #5 on:** May 22, 2009, 05:44:43 pm »

Yeap. Pqr for the course, eh? Here's a fresh one:

- edit: youtube account no longer existing

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #6 on:** May 22, 2009, 05:54:25 pm »

I like that mame background. Got a link?

Ummon · « **Reply #7 on:** May 22, 2009, 07:03:47 pm »

---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, where did I get that? I thought I picked it up at wincustomize, but I can't find it (and there ain't no easy way to find it, as I can see). I guess it'll have to wait until files are uploadable again.

Also, seems I've figured out my JPAC controls issue. I had jumpers on both 'usb' and 'kbrd', so I guess it took some time or a restart for it to figure out which to use. Took off the usb jumper and good to go.

And, for that weird-ass video jiggle....well, maybe this video card helped it. Although it still gets trippy at interlace resolution(s), all smaller resolutions are SOLID. Thank goodness.

Not to just fix the audio amp deal (though I do have other speakers in the mean time).

Ummon · « **Reply #8 on:** May 24, 2009, 01:08:36 am »

Note that with the pci/onboard dealie, you can have a cable attached so you can just bring up a monitor. Then boot into safemode, so you can access Windows from that output.

And, unfortunately, the JPAC controls issue resurfaced. Hmmmm. I do notice on first boot-up sometimes theres a bios message talking about some kind of ps/2 error or something. Still working on that. It doesn't display it long enough to read.

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #9 on:** May 24, 2009, 01:27:27 am »

Have you tried setting it to halt on keyboard error?

Ummon · « **Reply #10 on:** May 25, 2009, 06:53:56 pm »

If that's something in the bios, this doesn't have it. It only has 'report errors'. I managed to get a snap of the error message: '8602 auxiliary device failure'. It's interesting, because it only does it if it hasn't been turned on for a bit. If I turn it off and cold restart, no error or issue.

Ummon · « **Reply #11 on:** May 25, 2009, 10:31:33 pm »

Today, I decided to add some games that the monitor won't handle - some vertical games, but especially games like Bonanza Bros, MK, or Paperboy/720. I set them to hwstretch (switchres 0). While the vertical games have some artifacting, as expected, interestingly the higher res games actually look good to great. I'd post pictures, but, well...

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #12 on:** May 25, 2009, 10:38:09 pm »

You could always upload the pics to another site instead of attaching them, then link to them.

Ummon · « **Reply #13 on:** May 25, 2009, 10:39:54 pm »

Yeah, that's a hassle I haven't decided I'm interested in yet. Any other ideas on the keyboard deal?

Ummon · « **Reply #14 on:** May 26, 2009, 02:51:49 am »

You know what, I bet I know what the JPAC issue is. A friend of mine watching the vid I made said he thought the driver wasn't starting right away - and I bet it's cos the thing isn't turning on until Windows starts up, because it isn't being fed any signal until then. Duh.

Ginsu Victim · « **Reply #15 on:** May 26, 2009, 08:34:39 am »

Ah.....so you mean the video card trick is causing a problem? Can't hurt to try it without it and see if the prob goes away.

Ummon · « **Reply #16 on:** May 27, 2009, 06:56:27 pm »

Well, I wish it had. I thought it might, but it didn't. Actually, for some reason, then the JPAC stopped allowing controls input regardless of reboot. Okay. So I asked Andy....and shortly after I sent, the damn thing started working! I didn't do anything, I swear.

By the way, I just couldn't deal with how ruddy the lower res games looked with hwstretch, so, though they are cut off some, the ones that are playable look so much better native. I'm also considering adjusting the geometry and the FE layout for 352x264, but that may be too much for the bulk of horizontal games.

Ummon · « **Reply #17 on:** May 29, 2009, 06:09:21 pm »

Here are some new photos of what I was talking about regarding using hwstretch at 336x240. The Rampage and R-type 2 look pretty good. The Dig Dug looks worse than the photo lets on. Notice in the second Dig Dug that the reflection of the ceiling lamp is clear, and that the game text is that blurry.

Ummon · « **Reply #18 on:** May 29, 2009, 06:16:42 pm »

And some more vids:

Ummon · « **Reply #19 on:** June 16, 2009, 05:41:14 pm »

Strange news, but not unwelcome.....

Ummon · « **Reply #20 on:** July 09, 2009, 09:28:30 pm »

Okay, so the amp and speakers are working, but I'm getting a 60hz hum through them. Anybody have an idea where I might start?

Ummon · « **Reply #21 on:** July 14, 2009, 03:39:38 am »

Welp, I took back that Sears auto-power-turn-on unit. They didn't really have a means to test it, so they exchanged it. They didn't even require a receipt...which I have but wasn't able to find before I left....it's actually been almost two years, so hey. Anyways, this unit doesn't work with my computer, either. Oh well. Two buttons to turn on. Not a big deal.

Also, still not sure what the deal is with the JPAC not working through PS/2 on initial boot, but using the same extension cable and a PS/2 to USB adapter cable, it does. So I'm guessing the cable is good, and that works so fine.

Ummon · « **Reply #22 on:** September 27, 2009, 06:29:54 am »

I finally got off ---my bottom--- and got a new-model JPAC. I wanted to see two things:

- would the video amp make it nice and pretty?...or over-saturated? I didn't think this monitor needed an amp, as the picture brightness was the same with a game board....

- would the controls issue be resolved? Now, I already resolved this with using a PS/2 to USB adapter, but since I was getting the thing anyway, it'd be a small bonus.

The answers, in reverse order were:

- Yes - controls issues resolved, at least the first and only time I've turned it on. Note: the keycode set on the new version JPAC is slightly different...I think I now remember Andy saying this.

- and yes, the picture is BRIGHT. Not over-saturated...but so bright it's either showing the convergence to be slightly off - or there's phosphor bleed or something, cos with some graphics it's so bright I can't see the natural scanlines, and you might notice that cninja screen isn't the most defined...not as defined as it seemed to be with the old model JPAC.

I did turn the brightness on the monitor down a little, and messed with the color drives; the former was helped, but the latter just messed it up. Would the video amp compensate for old caps?....is it over-driving the monitor?

AndyWarne · « **Reply #23 on:** October 01, 2009, 01:48:27 pm »

If the monitor is designed to work with the standard game board signal levels, then the J-PAC amp will drive it slightly under this level. Its not capable of over-driving since the supply to the J-PAC is 5 volts so the signal cant go above this level.
The old and new J-PAC have exactly the same video amp IC.

Ummon · « **Reply #24 on:** October 04, 2009, 03:35:17 am »

Quote from: AndyWarne on October 01, 2009, 01:48:27 pm

If the monitor is designed to work with the standard game board signal levels, then the J-PAC amp will drive it slightly under this level. Its not capable of over-driving since the supply to the J-PAC is 5 volts so the signal cant go above this level.
The old and new J-PAC have exactly the same video amp IC.

Okay, thanks. Also, my old JPAC is so old it doesn't have an amp; you told me that in another thread a few months ago.


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