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I'm currently using the iPac 4 in keyboard mode. I've also connected an iPac 2 via USB, and I'm aiming to integrate an extra set of 7 buttons into the system using the iPac 2. Unfortunately, I've struggled to find any resources on this besides using two UIO boards. 

I have been adding pc racers as of late; redout 2, smurfs, horizon chase, etc and using the joytokey or antimicro x apps to map the games keyboard controls to wheel. And it works brilliantly. Except ffb does not work. Ever. On any of these games. For unsupported games I use the 64 bit spring effect from Boomslangz pack and have copied the files over and setup the guid but no ffb applies. I don't understand why. Does anyone have any ideas?

the second stick won’t calibrate reliably. When plugged in to a second encoder board the windows calibration tool either doesn’t detect the stick and when flipping the 5 pin around detects it but it’s as if the crosshairs for the axis calibration is stuck in the right where it only moves when 2 of the direction microswitches are pressed (holding joystick in a diagonal manner) this again, translates to in game and is completely unusable. I’ve tried swapping out boards and using different cables both one way and another and nothing. The stick looks fine, no damage and was brand new. Trace/pcb look fine and microswitches look ok as far as I can tell. Just don’t understand why it won’t calibrate.

Are you sure that nothing's shorting to the joystick PCB and that you've got the connections right?
-  Sanwa and Seimitsu harnesses use different wire colors.
Related thread: https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,156710.0.html

If those two possibilities are not it, it's time to troubleshoot.

In this case, an easy first approach is referred to as "swap-tronics".

You have a known good system (Joy1 + Encoder1) and a known bad system (Joy2 + Encoder2)

Try swapping the Joy1 and Joy2 connections so Joy1 is on Encoder2 and Joy2 is on Encoder1.
- If Joy1+Encoder2 is good, the problem is probably with Joy2 or the wiring/connections.
- If Joy2 +Encoder1 is good, the problem is probably with Encoder2 or the wiring/connections.
- If both are good (or both are bad), there was (or currently is) probably an error in the wiring/connections.

Another approach is often referred to as "divide and conquer" -- you take measurements or break the circuit in the middle so you can test part of the circuit.

In your setup, you have 3 parts to the circuit.  A is the joystick.  B is the wiring.  C is the Encoder.

    A--B--C

Try unplugging the joystick from the wiring harness so you can use a jumper or piece of wire to test if the wiring and encoder are good.
- Bring up the encoder in Control Panel -- Devices and Printers.
- Touch one end of the jumper to the harness ground wire and the other to the Up, Down. Left, and Right wires in turn.
- if the encoder test window shows Up, Down. Left, and Right as you ground each input wire, you know that the wiring and encoder are probably good and the problem is either with the joystick or the order of the wires.

You can test the joystick microswitches using a multimeter set to continuity.
- Black lead on ground.  Red lead on the Up, Down. Left, and Right pins in turn.
- The meter should indicate open when the joystick handle is centered and continuity when the actuator presses the microswitch that the red lead is connected to.


Scott

I use an iPac 4 in my system that is full. Does anyone know if there is a way to add more controls by adding an iPac 2.

Depends on which mode you're using it in and what controls you want to add.

If you're using your IPac4 in keyboard mode, then yes, you can add more controls with either another IPac or some other encoder like an Arduino with a keyboard firmware.
- There are a number of keystrokes that are still available.

If you're using your IPac4 in dinput or xinput mode, you won't be able to add buttons to the four existing gamepad devices created by your IPac firmware, but you should be able to add more gamepad devices/buttons with another IPac.

Everything up to this point assumes that you want to add more microswitch-style joysticks/buttons to your current setup.

If you want to add optical controls (trackball, spinner, etc.), analog controls (potentiometers), a mechanical rotary joystick (Ikari Warriors), or some other type of specialized control, you'll need an encoder that works with the type(s) of control you're trying to add.


Scott

There are more and more toxic ingredients in online games

This is my first time working with CRT emudriver and I'm having a bit of issues. I'm using a consumer Trinitron and I setup my geometry prior using a SNES and 240p test suite. Consoles all look about the same. Connected my PC via an ultimate vga to scart cable and I'm getting an image no problem however it is shifted right. More than I can correct in the service menu. ArcadeOSD allows me to correct this, however what's happening is I'll change geometry settings, click test, see the changes, and then all further changes from then on out will not display on the screen until I change modes and change back. I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding something or if it's a bug in ArcadeOSD?

Also I'm having an issue where white balance shifts when there's a large amount of white on screen it shifts to blue. This does not happen when connecting consoles and displaying a full white image. Any ideas for that?

Thank you.

I use an iPac 4 in my system that is full. Does anyone know if there is a way to add more controls by adding an iPac 2. What does the "enable expansion interface" check box do?

Hi.

Building a new cabinet using 2x seimitsu ls-40 01 joysticks. Got one hooked up to the pc running mame through a usb encoder using the 5 pin cable, works fine, configured in windows fine and this translates to use in my front end and games.

Problem I’m having is that the second stick won’t calibrate reliably. When plugged in to a second encoder board the windows calibration tool either doesn’t detect the stick and when flipping the 5 pin around detects it but it’s as if the crosshairs for the axis calibration is stuck in the right where it only moves when 2 of the direction microswitches are pressed (holding joystick in a diagonal manner) this again, translates to in game and is completely unusable. I’ve tried swapping out boards and using different cables both one way and another and nothing. The stick looks fine, no damage and was brand new. Trace/pcb look fine and microswitches look ok as far as I can tell. Just don’t understand why it won’t calibrate.

I’ve got in touch with the retailer but was wondering if maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong here? As the first stick was just plug and play. I’ve tried even removing all other buttons from that sides encoder board to just have the joystick but to no avail.

Any help would be appreciated, I’m pretty new to this!

I’ve tried searching the forum but can’t see anything close to what my problem is, and I’m at a complete loss!

Thanks for your time in reading this, appreciate any replies.

Dan.

Has anyone used UV prefinished plywood to build an arcade cabinet? How does vinyl do on it?

Hi there!

 Unfortunately, my mind is a bit hazy regarding my hard drivin' fix/hack but will try and help as best I can.

A few things off the top of my head:

1. My fix was to make hard drivin’ play ok with mouse/spinner, rather than a SteeringWheel/Joystick (that has a fixed centre). So I’m a bit concerned that porting whatever I did back in 2013 might not help much.

2. You’re probably already aware of this, but I’ll mention it anyway - My fix only worked for the Compact British version of hard drivin’ roms (That expects optical encoders for steering, and did the weird centre point latching thing). The full cockpit versions of hard drivin’ & race drivin’ used potentiometers for steering. I am guessing when you say hard drivin’ & race drivin’ are working fine for you, that you must be using the cockpit roms? I don’t suppose there are any street drivin’ or airborne roms available for cockpit cabinets are there?

I have to say, I am fascinated to know what’s going on with this steering/latching stuff again, so at some point soon I’ll get building mame again and try to recreate what you are seeing (I’d also like to have go at street drivin’ and airborne too 😊)!