The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls

Main => Everything Else => Topic started by: cdbrown on November 12, 2002, 08:04:35 pm

Title: PC and OS help?
Post by: cdbrown on November 12, 2002, 08:04:35 pm
Hi all,

Just starting to think ahead and try to plan the PC that will be going in the cab.  I will try to get the bigger faster components for the system.  I like the midway games like the NBA Jam series, mortal kombats and such which really slow down on my current pc.  NBA games are very difficult to play as it's either way too slow or the number of auto frame skips is too high.  So if someone can give me some tips on a good fast pc.  Will need s-video output, don't need a flash soundcard just one that has front and rear jacks.

The problem is that I need to have W98SE on it to be able to run to serial trackballs.  I was thinking of having a dual boot system with XP and 98SE and only use 98SE for those few games that require the dual trackball input.  I have been told that 98SE can't handle cpu speeds over 2.1GHz without having to call microsoft support for a fix (which will cost money. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q312108 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q312108))

The machine will be for arcade and console emulation and MP3.  May have a few PC based games which are easy to use with the panels and that's about it.  Can someone provide some tips for a system or let me know of a way of not having to use 98SE and still be able to use 2 serial trackballs.

Thanks in advance
-cdbrown
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: SNAAAKE on November 12, 2002, 08:24:39 pm
There are things that will converter your serial devices to USB.I just saw one on EB games yesterday.I am not sure where you can get one :-\(i know where you live).
http://www.pccables.com/cgi-bin/orders6.cgi?action=Showitem&partno=70607&search=USB&rsite=goto.usb_serial

http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=1501&sku=26886&source=overture

I do not know how exactly you can run 2 serial devices at once in Win 98 but this cable is a good solution if you dont find any other solution.
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: cdbrown on November 12, 2002, 08:33:15 pm
Thanks Snaaake.  I have seen DB9-USB converters when I was first looking at this problem and they do exist at some shops down under.  It's just they're fairly expensive (come to think of it the cab itself is damn expensive and I haven't plugged anything in yet  ::) ).  With 98SE I was told by Tiger-Heli I think that you leave the second serial unplugged during boot up, plug it in and run the optimous driver which is on the mame.net site.  That is supposed to make it work.  Thanks again Snaaake - so what would you recommend as a good pc.  AMD +2?00, 1GB DDR, 333 FSB, ?

*edit* how about something from this list no prices though http://www.ieci.com.au/products/comm/usb_index.asp (http://www.ieci.com.au/products/comm/usb_index.asp) * end edit*

Cheers
-cdbrown
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: u_rebelscum on November 12, 2002, 11:51:14 pm
[snip]
With 98SE I was told by Tiger-Heli I think that you leave the second serial unplugged during boot up, plug it in and run the optimous driver which is on the mame.net site.

This works for dmame (dos mame).

Not my Mame:Analog+ :(
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: cdbrown on November 13, 2002, 12:38:44 am
Silly question but:

Does dmame work in the dos command window of 98SE and not in XP?
If I had the usb converters in 98SE I wouldn't need to use dmame?
Does ME have any limit on the memory and cpu speed like 98SE?
Any reasons to keep with 98SE and stay away from ME (considering they will be used not very much)?
Is dual boot with XP and ME possible?

Thanks again in advance
-cdbrown
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: SNAAAKE on November 13, 2002, 01:13:11 am
from what i know..ME doesn't have any limit.Just wait till someone confirms for sure.
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: u_rebelscum on November 13, 2002, 08:41:07 pm
Silly question but:

Does dmame work in the dos command window of 98SE and not in XP?

correct
Quote
If I had the usb converters in 98SE I wouldn't need to use dmame?

Yes, but you would need to use analog+ (see sig for link).  I know at least one person was able to use usb converters for multiple mice in analog+.  However, one person e-mailed me that using two usb converters did not get two mice in analog+, and I was not able to help him. :(   Sorry, I can't remember which converters they used.
Quote
Does ME have any limit on the memory and cpu speed like 98SE?

not sure about cpu speed.  ME does have a memory limit, but IIRC it's higher than 98se.
Quote
Any reasons to keep with 98SE and stay away from ME (considering they will be used not very much)?

I use ME, and it's okay.  Others have said 98se is faster/better for gaming in general than ME, some have complained about ME crashing more than 98, especially with older hardware, but I haven't compared the two side by side.
Quote
Is dual boot with XP and ME possible?

AFAIK, yes.

Quote
Thanks again in advance
-cdbrown

No prob. 8)
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: Smack on November 14, 2002, 12:11:26 am
Are you using an Optipac?

If so, hang in there, Andy from Ultimarc will have the USB version out in a bit once the beta testing is done. I'm testing it now, it was just a matter of swapping out a chip. With analog MAME + Win98SE it works great...

I would imagine he'll be doing an upgrade kit for opti-pac owners. (Don't quote me though! ;D)

I don't know anything about 98 and the processor speed being over a certain amount thingy though...

My 2 cents.
Smack
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: cdbrown on November 14, 2002, 01:06:14 am
Are you using an Optipac?

If so, hang in there, Andy from Ultimarc will have the USB version out in a bit once the beta testing is done. I'm testing it now, it was just a matter of swapping out a chip. With analog MAME + Win98SE it works great...

I would imagine he'll be doing an upgrade kit for opti-pac owners. (Don't quote me though! ;D)

I don't know anything about 98 and the processor speed being over a certain amount thingy though...

My 2 cents.
Smack

Yep have the optipac.  Problem is the trackballs (or genius kidsball) have serial plugs so will require to hack to the optipac or if I want to use usb just use usb converters and hope they are the ones that work.

If I use 2 serials then I will need dmame and the additional mouse driver under 98SE or ME.  If I use 2 usb converters I will be able to use u_rebelscum's Analog+ under 98SE or ME.  If I only want to use one of the trackballs then I can just run it under XP.

My main concern is that I get a great PC that runs the games well but isn't supported by 98SE or ME.  They both have the problem of being limited to 1GB or ram but apparently there can be more in there but the system.ini has code in it to only read 1GB which I can live with.  The other problem is the chance the cpu is too quick and crashes continually.  If ME doesn't have this restriction then I guess that's what I'll use.  And by the looks of .62 I'll need a pretty fast computer to play the games I want.

Thanks for the tips and how about some info on some good setups or a couple of sites with info.

Cheers
-cdbrown
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: Mike on November 14, 2002, 04:26:24 pm
Just so you know. I don't think there is anyway to use a gig of ram in mame. As of yet I haven't found any that require that much but I could be wrong. If I were you I'd look for something affordable that will run pretty much everything. I think if you went with an Athlon XP 1800 and 256mb of ddr ram on Win 98se you should be fine and that will only cost you $180 off of pricewatch. You could boost that up to 512mb if you really want to just to be certain. I personally haven't found any games that won't run at full speed on my celeron 1.1ghz and only like 3 games that don't run at full speed on my P3 600. Also from what I've seen most of the games that require a lot of processor power are still works in progress that seem to get faster with newer versions of mame.
Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: Ghoul on November 14, 2002, 06:19:16 pm
It's a matter of time and money on the comp

Some of the prices you see below seem very cheap. All parts are new and retail, you just have to keep your eyes open for deals.

My arcade comp is ending up like this (shipping included):

Antec SX830 case: 80
ATI all-in-wonder 8500: 100
Maxtor 30GB 7200 RPM hard drive: 30
512MB Crucial PC2100 DDR: 65
Asus 52x cd-rom: 30
Athlon XP 2000+: 100
MSI KT3 Ultra 2: 100
(Motherboard and proc were a 200 combo and I would rather spend an extra 10 or 20 bucks to get it locally than buy online)

Grand total: $505 US

This is a great comp that will run any game up to .61 great (afaik, I have a p4 1.7ghz with 256mb of rdram currently, and it runs every game I've thrown at it with practically no slowdown, even with stuff like filesharing and mp3s running in the background).

I myself have to make the OS decision soon. I've had experience with every MS OS and I think I am going to go with XP.

ME and 2000 seem to have the most compatibility problems.

Title: Re:PC and OS help?
Post by: cdbrown on November 14, 2002, 07:43:04 pm
Thanks for the tips.  At the moment with duron 700 and 512mb sdram and games like nba jam are slugs and can't be played.  I like these games and want to make sure it will run.  I'm just trying to get ideas from people and some prices (so thanks for that) so I can work out what I'm expecting to be paying.  I'm also trying to look ahead to when you need a really good pc to run most things on the latest version of mame so I'd like to get something fast now with a fair amount of ram so I won't need to worry for some time.

I like your setup Ghoul but will be having a much larger HD (80GB) for all the mp3s and a faster cpu (which will need ME).

Thanks again
-cdbrown