cabinet with scrolling LED marqee and LCD instructions panel

[Netcat]

Hello to all, I am n ew to this forum.

I have been working on my arcade machine for the past 10 years.

I own one of 2 working prototypes in the world running a modified version of ArcadeOS that is able to "Simultaneously" send the name of the game to a scrolling LED sign on the top of the cabinet and send Button instructions to a 4 line LCD screen incorporated into the machine.



the main reason for using ArcadeOS  was bootup speed and relatevly low powered machines this long ago.

Now. I am rethinking my strategy and am considering upgrading my machine with either Windows 98 or XP (LITE)

I did spen a whole bunch of time and research way back yay tracking down people and convincing them to help me with the LED & LCD simultaneous output and would like to know if this is something any other WINDOWS dfrontend is able to currently do ?


Thanks

Tony

[EightBySix]

Ooo interesting!

I am hoping (one day!) to use an LCD panel like that under the glass and hooked to some buttons as a game selection 'front end' - similarly in DOS due to a low power machine. How do you currently interface it with the PC?

I develop software for the day job, so might be able to help you convert whatever you use in DOS to a windows environment...
 

[Netcat]

bot devices led and lcd plug into serial ports (which is a problem in itself, as my optipac also uses a com port)

finding Motherboards with more than one standard serail port is next to impossible nowadays

and by standard I mean

           COM1   3F8   IRQ4
           COM2   2F8   IRQ3
           COM3   2E8   IRQ4
           COM4   2E0   IRQ3

(those whom existed before PnP know whom you are)

I also have the machine interfaced to my TCPIP network (DOS CLIENT)
Sound is comming from a PCI SOund Blaster Live

getting a motherboard that has what I need and allows the devices to play well with ine another in DOS is nowadays nearly impossible and since MAME is no longer compiled for DOS, the whole sense of it all is quickly fading.

I am very close to switching to a WIndows environment possibly TinyXP (TIny/hacked version of XP), only thing that hurst me is that it actually took me several years to track down one of the ArcadeOS Programmers (Carlos Santillon) and another while to convince him to help me with this project only to have DOS support for Mame dropped about a year later.

I also deviced a means by which control panels could be swapped in the cabinet by using Spring loaded centroniccs connectors, my next project was to have Carlos help me program into ArcadeOS the ability to detect what kind of controller was plugged in, joysticks, Drivign wheel, roller ball etc and have it display the list of according compatible games only.

needless to say this never came to fruition.

ALso if anyone out there knows whom is maintaining the ArcadeOS site/links, I still have a copy of the previously unreleased (ArcadeOS 2.53) with support for multiple serial ports. I would like to get out there before it is lost forever with Permission from Carlos Santillon of course.

[drventure]

As long as it's output only (ie you just need to send output via serial port to those devices) you should be able to use a serial to USB adapter. Under WinXP and above, they end up looking like just another com port to the system, so they're pretty easy to code against.

Cool cab btw, I love that marquee. Can you send anything animated to it? I could see a little pacman chomping across it, or an asteroids ship, etc.

[Netcat]

Yes. I am well aware in "WINDOWS" I can do most anything with the com ports problem is... ArcadeOS runs in DOS, same reason I had to add a PCI SoundBlaster Live card.

[drventure]

Oh, Sorry, I'd just read this

Now. I am rethinking my strategy and am considering upgrading my machine with either Windows 98 or XP (LITE)

And thought you were considering a move to windows.

Or, maybe your thinking running arcadeos is a dos box under winxp? I could definitely see that being a prob.

Maybe it's time to move to a win based front end too?

[Netcat]

no. You got it right.

I wast stating these factors as further reassons to go into a windows environment deffinetly NOT intending on running a ODS box from within windows but to switch over to a windows based frontend that will hopefully allow me to continue using multiple serial devices

perhaps Hyperspin?

[drventure]

Not sure, I don't believe many of the frontends have "direct" support for devices (other than, say, the LEDWiz).

But most support "plugins" that you can do just about anything with. I know Mala does, Pretty sure most of the others do as well.

but that'll mean at least a little programming.

[Kevin Mullins]

Which LED sign are you using ?

[Netcat]

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