The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: bleargh on April 04, 2007, 03:10:11 pm
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Figured I'd finally post some pics of my project to be... bought controls a few years back for a MAME cabinet but didn't get around to getting the cabinet built. Bought a house, had some kids, and I'm finally getting around to the MAME cabinet. With kids in the house and my not being power tool inclined (she owns all the power tools), I figured that it'd be easier/quicker for me to buy a cab and modify it rather than building a cab from scratch.
Managed to find a whopping two arcades on the island here, both of which were stocked with nothing but Dynamo cabs, and even then they'd want several hundred for an empty one of those. :-[ One of the owners said he had a sweet looking Gauntlet Legends cab in his warehouse which'd basically sat there for the better part of its life. He said that he had regular problems with the monitor not working and so the game never saw much rotation at all.
A few calls later, I'd managed to convince him to sell me the cab. Yay! Ended up being more than I originally wanted to pay, but he'd include everything except the dead monitor and PCB, and he'd deliver it to my door and help me get it set up in the house. Ok, now I was sold; it'd save me from having to buy a bunch of extra bits that I'd want to put into a skeletal cabinet, and delivery to my door would save me from having to rent a truck to go pick it up.
Delivery was a cinch; he drove his truck right up to the front door of the house (gotta love living in the country), and we loaded all 300 odd lbs of the cabinet down into the basement. He walked me through what he considered the finer points of the cab, and we both died laughing when my 3yr old came running into the room with his stool, dropped it in front of the machine and yelled "Dad! Dad! Plug it in! Plug it in!". Gee... apple doesn't fall far from the tree. ;D
So, now I've got a Gauntlet Legends cab. Here's the plan....
I'm NOT going to strip the artwork, change the marquee, the bezel, or repaint it. Its a sweet looking cab and it'd be a crime to change any of that. Heck, my wife even agreed that it'd be a shame to take the artwork off..
I am going to build a new CP to put on it. The original CP is in good shape, but I'd like a few more controls than just the four sticks. My plan is to go with a 3" trackball, a spinner, a pair of U360s, and 6 buttons per stick. Also plan on putting some buttons on the sides of the new CP for pinball. I'm keeping the original panel and will probably try to get the 49way sticks hooked up at some point, if I can get RandyT to send me some docs so I can build a Linux driver for the GP-Wiz49. Hmm... suppose I'll need a set of GP-Wiz49s too..
The in-laws were over last weekend to visit, so I had a chance to grill my father in-law about some of the finer points of woodworking; he's a master wood carver and, uh, knows just a little bit more than I do about woodworking. Ok, maybe a lot more, but that's why I figured I'd talk to him about my plan.
After an hour or so of questions and discussion, he looked at me and said, "Ya know, for you this is a serious project, you could be weeks putting this panel together in your spare time. For me, its just a box with a fancy lid. Why don't we take some measurements, and I'll phone you when its finished." At this point, I'm more thrilled than disappointed... sure, I'd love to build the CP myself, but I know it'd take me a whole lot longer and wouldn't turn out anywhere near as good as if he built it. So, we took some measurements and I sent him home with a bag of buttons/sticks/controls to use for measuring things out. Gawd, you gotta love it when family helps out. :notworthy:
Now... I want the panel to look as authentic and original as I can get, but need some help finding some artwork to put on the panel. I've dug around looking for a replacement CP overlay that doesn't include any of the text on it but have come to the conclusion that there is no such beast. At this point I'm left to conclude that I'm going to have to redo all of the artwork for the top of the CP myself, and hope that I can get it close to the original. I'm also having trouble finding the stickers that go on the front+sides of the CP, and would appreciate any pointers/leads if anyone knows someone that has them available.
WTB:
- sticker for front of CP (third image)
- stickers for sides of CP (fourth image)
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That sounds like it will be a cool project. I realize that you father-in-law already started the project, but have you thought about replacing only the top of the factory CP? it should be able to unscrew/bolt from the box that has the art you are looking for on it. If you did that you could build only the top and mount it exactly the same way as the stock CP. Seems like there should be enough room for you to fit your setup on there if you plan carefully.
Keep us posted, it's going to be a great looking cab. :applaud:
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I'd thought about just replacing the top of the CP, but then I'd end up with it being a pain if I ever wanted to put the original one back on. I could be wrong, but I think it'd be a whole lot easier to just bolt on/off the whole CP than to try to take just the top off of the hinge and replace it with a new one.
I'd also have to drill holes in the factory CP so that I could get pinball buttons in, and I was hoping to avoid having to do any damage to the original parts. That, and, uh, the original CP has a steel plate that wraps around from the front which sits right where I'd want the buttons...
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Take off the original CP, and scan all the artwork on high res. Then build yourself a new CP, start up whatever editor you like, and edit the artwork until you have something new. Euh. Easier said than done though 8)
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Yeah, easier said than done... the original artwork is printed on to the steel CP that the sticks mount onto. The whole panel is basically a giant mounting plate for the 49way sticks.
I suspect that I'll end up having to take a few high-res photos of the panel using a tripod and then stitch them together and edit from there.
Damn it Jim, I'm a programmer, not an artist! :cry:
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That cabinet looks stunning in it's current form! Sooooo envious!
Just curious though...you mentioned you didn't get the PCB with it - so that means you couldn't play the game even if you had a monitor, right? Does Gauntlet Legends even come in ROM form so you can play it MAME-style? (I'm asking because I've never seen it offered on a PC platform, only Playstation.)
Good luck with the project.
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Great looking cab! But why linux? :S
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Correct... no PCB, so even if I had a monitor to put in it I couldn't play the original game. The original game came with a PCB and a HD, neither of which I have. I believe that MAME does have a CHD for it, but I'd imagine that you'd need a pretty beefy machine in order to get it to play well. Not too concerned about that myself; I'm more interested in playing my old 80s games all over again...
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Why Linux?
Because I've never had a Windows machine in my house. Ever.
I'm one of those really rare beasts that's had a computer in the house for the last 30 years, but has never had Windows on any of them. Yes, that was right... 30 years; my first computer was a TRS-80.
Right now I've got 6 Linux machines in the house, and I can't see any reason to not put it in the cabinet too... sound, gfx, and usb support are all there, and I can tune the OS to include only the apps/pkgs I want. For me its somewhat of a no-brainer; I've used Linux as my day-to-day OS for eleven years now. I just couldn't envision a machine in this house that didn't have Linux on it.
Only thing that I've encountered as an issue is that the GPWiz-49 doesn't yet have a Linux driver. I'd like to be able to hook up the original panel at some point, but can't do it without this. I've e-mailed RandyT about getting me specs so I can write a driver, but I haven't heard back from my last note to him about it (I think he just got bogged down and it slipped through the cracks).
So, instead of the 49way sticks, I'm going with a pair of U360s. I e-mailed Andy about Linux support, and he pointed me to a different thread here that had a .Net app to program the U360s that's supposed to work on Linux. I asked the author about it and he said that it used to work, so even if I run into problems it shouldn't be too much effort to get it working (or to rebuild a new Linux app to do it for me). I'm a programmer by trade, so that's not a big deal for me.
Gee... me'sa thinking I should just start a thread offering Linux dev to any of the H/W guys here.... send me specs, I'll send you a driver.. all it'll cost is one unit of H/W.... ;)
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Randy has been concentrating on other things the past few weeks. I heard from him last night via PM. Shoot him a PM, RandyT is his handle here.
TTFN :cheers:
Kaytrim
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The Linux drivers definately have my attention there.
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IIRC that version of Gauntlet is in there, but it needs a helluva machine... My Amd64-3500 couldn't run it.
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Yeah, figured RandyT had been tied up with other things... after seeing the NovaGem CDR buttons I knew he was just off doing other things and keeping busy. I'll ping him again and see if he's got a chance to chat about it further...
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Realized that I was a bit behind on updates to my own thread, so I'll fire a few notes in here with some updates...
First, the shopping extravaganza...
- Leaf switches I'd ordered from Ponyboy arrived several weeks back. They're awesome!
- Ordered a pair of U360s and a Tornado Spinner off of Divemaster127, which should be here whenever Canada Customs releases them.
- Ordered a pair of coin mechs off of SithMaster, which should also be here shortly.
- Ordered some t-molding samples from http://www.t-molding.com/. Their Yellow 13/16" is a perfect match for the t-molding already on this cabinet. I'd always thought that 3/4" was more or less standard for cabinets, so I was a bit surprised to find out that this one was 13/16".
- Ordered a set of NOS side-art off of eBay. Stuff on the cabinet is in good shape, but the price was right and its always nice to have spares.
- Steering wheels that I'd ordered on eBay arrived last week after spending ~2.5wks sitting at customs. They're a bit sticky, so I asked for some tips on cleaning them off (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=65805.0). No idea how I'll build a temporary mount for these yet, but I needed the wheels first.
[edit]cleaned up link URL[/edit]
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Got a few calls from my father-in-law this week, regarding the CP that he's working on for me. I'd e-mailed him a set of PDFs that printed out the CP to scale, but he wanted to double-check with me before putting the drill to the wood.
And damn, does he work fast... heard from him Wednesday saying that he was out buying the wood, and on Thursday morning he'd written to say that he already had the "box" completed and was just about ready to start drilling. He picked up some Lucite over the weekend, and phoned during dinner tonight to double-check on the mounting required for the Tornado Spinner before he drilled that. He's making a trip over to the island on the first weekend of May, and plans on bringing the completed CP by so that we can put it together and I can start to wire it up. Hmm.... I'm going to have to get in gear about drawing up my artwork to put on the CP.
Speaking of which... I've come to the conclusion that there just isn't a source for the original "Gauntlet Legends CPO" without the text. Sucks, but such is life. I'd considered taking some hi-res shots of the CP and trying to fill-in the missing bits, but I'm not an artist so I gave up on that idea. Instead, I decided that it'd be easier for me to just re-model and re-render the whole damned thing in Blender. It'll never be exact, but I think I can at least come up with something pretty close to the original. Textures might be off, but the models should be pretty close. I've already modelled the "crossbow bolts" and the "sword" and am pretty happy with the results. I'm working on the "battle axe" right now, and then have to figure out what I'm doing with the "wizard wand"... If any of you use Blender and feel an inkling to help get my textures closer to the originals, I'd appreciate a hand.
Oh... here's what the CP is going to look like:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=72828;image)
2-player w/U360 and 6btns each. A 3" trackball in the middle, and a Tornado spinner and start/command buttons up top. Each of the sides of the panel will have 3 buttons arranged in a similarly swooshy shaped pinball cluster; flipper, tilt/knock, and plunger.
Everything will end up being lit w/LEDs too; I spoke with RandyT about the lack of Linux support for the LED-Wiz and we've come to an agreement where I'll help build up a driver/app to get the h/w running on Linux in exchange for some h/w to test with. Woot! When I get started on the driver/app I'll post more info in a new thread.
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I'd have your father-in-law wait on drilling the CP holes until you finalize the artwork. It is MUCH easier to drill the holes to match the printout than the other way around.
You mentioned two wheels? Will you be going with a second CP? I'm about to machine a custom bracket for the wheel on my current driving cab project. I'll post pics when ready. Whatever you eventually come up with, make sure to take lots of pictures.
Regarding artwork, you may be able to trade some of you software skills (or money) to get someone on this site to do the CP art for you. There are a lot of awsome Photoshop artists around here.
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I'd have your father-in-law wait on drilling the CP holes until you finalize the artwork. It is MUCH easier to drill the holes to match the printout than the other way around.
I'm actually not worried about that part; I don't plan on putting any rings/bling around the controls, and instead plan on just putting them right through the artwork. Otherwise, yes, it'd definately be wise to drill the holes to match the artwork. That said, though, he's also a perfectionist; he's sent me back measurements on where every hole got drilled, down to 1/16".
You mentioned two wheels? Will you be going with a second CP? I'm about to machine a custom bracket for the wheel on my current driving cab project. I'll post pics when ready. Whatever you eventually come up with, make sure to take lots of pictures.
Having another CP probably wouldn't go over well with the wife... I'm keeping the original Gauntlet Legends panel around and plan on getting the 49-ways on that hooked up with GPWiz49s at some point. Instead, I'm planning on coming up with some sort of mounting bracket/system that'll let me just mount/clamp the two wheels onto the existing panel for the odd times that I want to fire up a game of Super Sprint. Most of the wheels in the lot I picked up were 12" wheels, but there are two 10" ones in there that should do nicely.
Regarding artwork, you may be able to trade some of you software skills (or money) to get someone on this site to do the CP art for you. There are a lot of awsome Photoshop artists around here.
I'll keep that in mind... I finished the battle-axe last night and am pretty happy with the results. Axe/shaft textures came out pretty good, and the only thing I might adjust at this point is the red leather/fabric on the handle. Only the hard one left... the wizards wand...
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What size is your new CP? Wondering how pinball will be if it's still really wide like a 4 player...
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What size is your new CP? Wondering how pinball will be if it's still really wide like a 4 player...
Its exactly the same size as the original; the front of the CP is 30.5" wide. It is wider than a standard pinball machine, but I figure that's just something I'm going to have to live with. :)
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Oh, that's not bad. Whenever I hear 4-player, I envision an aircraft carrier.
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Oh, that's not bad. Whenever I hear 4-player, I envision an aircraft carrier.
I agree; most 4player CPs are HUGE.
IMHO, this one is a bit tight for 4-players. Back of the panel its 37" wide, but its skinnier at the front. Then again... Gauntlet Legends only had 3 buttons per player, so its not like they had to cram tons of stuff onto it. Its not like that 6-person X-Men cab that came up on BST a few weeks back. Now that was a big-ass CP...
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Good deal. So just let me know whenever your father-in-law's ready to start on mine... ;D
:cheers:
Chris
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Coin mechs from SithMaster arrived yesterday. Woo-hoo!
Ironically enough, I also found out that the tokens I had here were .900 and not .984 (mechs are .984). Doh! Guess I'll be off to the arcade to go spend 'em...
Anyone know of a good source in Canada for .984 tokens that won't charge an arm and a leg for shipping?
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Hmm... just noticed on the coin mechs that one of them doesn't have the screws on it and so it doesn't mount properly in my cab. Any idea where I can get a pair of these? Or, does anyone have a pair they can send me?
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Hi,
I've done a similar project two years ago.
Here's some pictures :
(http://www.dragonslairfans.com/gauntlet/dc18.jpg)
(http://www.dragonslair.be/gauntlet/fincpo19.jpg)
All the WIP right here : http://www.dragonslairfans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6
8)
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I've done a similar project two years ago.
All the WIP right here : http://www.dragonslairfans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6
I'd followed your WIP before, and liked what you did to the cabinet. I also remember hearing the groans/moans from people about the cab being MAME-ified; I've had several people go "oh no!" when I mention that I'm putting MAME in the cabinet because they think I'm ripping off all of the original artwork (which is not part of the plan).
Have to say, I was also envious to see that you'd managed to find additional CPs for yours; I haven't had any luck running across any myself, and can't bring myself to doctor up the original one. Instead, I'm keeping the original panel with the 4x 49-way sticks and am having a new CP built to match the size/dimensions.
Only thing I'm having difficulty/trouble with right now, is settling on the artwork to put on the CP. I'd love to have the original artwork (minus the text), but its just not available. Had considered doing a scan of the CP and then touching it up, but gave up on it after realizing that I'd also have to undo the highlighting around the letters. I'd started work on re-rendering the whole CP in 3D, and have most of the models done. They're close, but not exactly the same as the original; I'm sure that I'll be the only one who notices, but it'll pain me each time I look at it I'm sure. So for the moment I'm back to rethinking the whole artwork idea all over again, and am considering something medieval but not necessary Gauntlet Legends authentic. Dunno...
Tee-hee... had to laugh when I got to the last page of your WIP (which I don't think I'd seen before)... I ordered one of those keychains too... if nothing else, I'll at least know what those keys are for. :)
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Hmm... just noticed on the coin mechs that one of them doesn't have the screws on it and so it doesn't mount properly in my cab. Any idea where I can get a pair of these? Or, does anyone have a pair they can send me?
If they are the same screws I am thinking of, you can use generic PC screws. The same ones that hold your case cover on. I have some thumb screw ones on my mech.
Don
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If they are the same screws I am thinking of, you can use generic PC screws. The same ones that hold your case cover on. I have some thumb screw ones on my mech.
Great tip! Worked like a charm.
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My package from divemaster127 arrived earlier on in the week, with the joysticks and trackball mounting kit that I'd ordered, and my father in-law arrived yesterday with the new control panel. :woot:
So, had to put the panel through a dry-fit, just to make sure that the sticks/buttons all fit properly in the panel. :)
The new panel is a perfect match size-wise to the original panel, and fits like a charm. Base of the panel box is plain old plywood, with the four walls/sides and the panel surface being made out of Baltic Plywood (finer grain, and more layers than standard plywood). Father in-law had drilled all of the holes in the panel with a forstner bit, and then used his router to match the holes up in the arborite and lexan.
Yes, arborite... I'd said "hunh?" myself when he mentioned this, but after seeing it in place it actually works... his idea was that he wanted to make sure that the surface I put the artwork on top of was as flat as possible and wouldn't have any divots or sinkholes around any of the controls. Also meant that we could save a bit of time by not having to sink all of the t-bolts into the plywood to flush mount them. The arborite veneer is quite thin (no more than 1/32") so it wouldn't completely botch up or throw out our thickness calculations.
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Along with the dry-fit, I figured now would be a good time to test out the U360 joysticks with the "long handle" and "medium spring" options that I'd purchased. I put one stick in "as-is", and adjusted the other with the longer handle and tougher spring. After monkeying around with the two sticks a bit, I think I prefer the "short handle" with the "medium spring" combination better.
The longer handle would be great if I were bottom mounting directly to 5/8" or 3/4" plywood, but this had been routered out to a depth of 3/16" on the panel here (leaving 3/8" panel thickness) (it was supposed to be 5/8" thick plywood but turned out to be 9/16" instead). With the 3/8" panel thickness, the short handle feels like the right height. The stiffer spring also felt better, as I think the original one was just too loose. Hmm... guess that means that at the end of this I'll have a pair of "U360 Long Handles" to get rid of... (hint: PM if interested)
First photo here is of the "short handle", second is the "long handle".
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Had the damnedest time deciding on what artwork I wanted to put on the panel...
After much hunting and running around I've found that you just can't get the original CP artwork without the lettering.
I'd considered just trying to take the lettering off of the original artwork but decided that it'd be too much effort as I'd also have to undo all of the translucent highlights and flares that surrounded the lettering (which didn't sound like an easy task).
I'd also considered doing a full blown re-render of the original CP artwork, and actually got most of the way through getting some basic models done up in Blender for this. Looked pretty close, but knew that unless I could get it perfect then I'd always know the difference. My wife didn't see the differences until I started pointing them out, but to me they stood out like they had neon lights on them.
So, I tried a few mockups of some "fantasy/medieval" themed panels based on other artwork I found out there on the net. I was actually quite happy with a few of these, and thought they'd go great on a CP. Only problem? They didn't match the original colour scheme of the cabinet, nor did they have anything to do with "Gauntlet Legends" (and I'm trying to keep the new CP themed to go with the rest of the original artwork on the cabinet).
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In the end, I ended up digging out my old GL Playstation game and copying the artwork off of the front of it. Used the graphics from the original flyers (http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=archive&name=gauntlet+legends) over on the Arcade Flyer Archive (http://www.arcadeflyers.com/) as a basis, and then cut/coloured them to match the old cover art. What I ended up with wasn't as spectacular as some of the others I'd come up with, but it matched the rest of the cabinet (which in the end was more important to me).
Then came the fun part... the art in the original flyers was low-res compared to the 240dpi that I wanted to have the CP printed at. I (somehow) had to blow up the artwork from a dinky 588x250 pixels up to 9000x3840 without it looking like total crap. Found the most awesome tool for this... GREYCstoration (http://www.greyc.ensicaen.fr/~dtschump/greycstoration/). It took a few minutes to resize the image on my Opteron box, but the results were fantastic; no pixelation, smooth edges, actually looked better than the image that I'd started with. Woo-hoo!
Artwork went off to Staples for printing this morning, and with any luck I should hear back before the end of the day saying that its finished. Turns out that they're the only place in town that'll do large-size printing without charging an arm and a leg; most places wanted ~$100 to print that size and it'd take several days to turn it around, while Staples said that they could do it for ~$25. It'll be printed on glossy photo-paper, which should be just fine when sandwiched under the Lexan.
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Looks good! I like how you've done your best to keep it all as "original" looking as possible. With that in mind, though, are you going to round off those CP corners? ;)
Chris
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With that in mind, though, are you going to round off those CP corners? ;)
Although it'd be nice, I've got a feeling that we're not going to get that done to the panel; I'm suspecting that we just don't have the tools here to cut those corners off and do a clean job of it. If I let the father in-law take it home we could get it done, but that'd mean not having the panel until he comes back over to the island in a few weeks. :cry:
So, I'm suspecting that the corners are going to remain a little pointier than they were on the original...
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I just recently learned how to do this with a flush trim router bit and template. It's quite easy. But if you don't have a router.... :-\ I think it ends up looking really nice, though.
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Well, if it can be done with just a router, then we might be able to pull that off after all; I know he's got the router in the trunk... had that out last night to widen the routed out sections for the joysticks last night.
What kind of template did you end up using?
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I used a 1" diameter template for the 90* back corners and 1 1/4" for the front corners (which may be differently angled than yours). I've seen folks around here recommend using a soda can or something like that to build a quick template. Fortunately you have the original CP to model after, so you can probably make it fairly exact.
EDIT: radius, not diameter
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Spent the better part of the weekend holed up in the basement with my father in-law, getting the CP mounted onto the cabinet and mounting the TV. A few pics to tide people over...
I'm using a JVC AV-27530, which we decased in order to get it mounted into the cabinet. The screen is smaller than the original 27" monitor, so we used a few 2x2s to extend the mounting bracket a bit in each of the corners. We attached the 2x2s to the original mounting brackets, then attached the TV screen to the 2x2s.
We'd also created a shelf to put the TV electronics on, so they can sit just under the screen. This JVC model has "power return", and sets itself up to the last active input, so I shouldn't need to get any of the controls on the front of the PCB once I get it set up the first time.
FYI... the screen hasn't yet been bolted on in these pictures. I used the original bolts that held the TV screen in the case, drilling pilot holes into our 2x2s first so they didn't split when we put the bolts in.
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I've been expecting a package from RandyT to arrive with a bunch of Button Blaster LEDs, so I pre-drilled 13/64" holes in each of the buttons. I'd guessed on this size based on some other 5mm LEDs I've got around, and got really lucky; when my package arrived on Monday from RandyT they turned out to be just right. Whew!
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Had fun putting the artwork into place... Had four layers of stuff to line up just right (panel, arborite, artwork, lexan), so it took a while to make sure it was right where I wanted it. Sorry, but both my hands were full while doing this, so I didn't get more pics...
I took the artwork and laid it out onto a large piece of cardboard, put the lexan on top of it, and cut out the hole for the trackball in the center. Then, pre-drilled the Lexan, arborite, and CP where I wanted the screws to go in the corners to hold it all in place. Then came the fun part... putting it all together...
Laid the arborite on top of the CP and held that down with one hand as it wants to bulge slightly in the middle of the panel. Used the other hand to put the artwork on top, and lined it up with the trackball in the center. Holding both of those down I then got out the static duster and wiped the artwork clean as well as the underside of the lexan, then laid the lexan on top. Took a few minutes to get everything adjusted to exactly where I wanted it, and then sank the screws in place.
Once everything was screwed down, the t-molding was put on and holes for all of the other controls were cut with an x-acto knife.
Haven't got anything wired yet, but I'm really happy with the results. Considering that the artwork started out as only 250px high, it turned out damn good I'd say...
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Woo-hoo!
Package arrived from RandyT in yesterdays mail, and the wife picked it up for me this morning. :applaud:
2x LED-Wizs, a Key-Wiz, a handful of NovaGem pushbuttons (which I'm using for the pinball clusters on the side of the panel), and a slew of Button Blaster LEDs.
All I need now is some Linux drivers... ;)
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Gee, I'm behind on my updates again...
A few more things arrived since my last post...
Keychain. I'd ordered a Gauntlet Legends keychain off of "arcadetees" on eBay a while back and it (finally) arrived. Nice keychain, but took forever to get shipped. At least now I'll remember what that extra set of keys is sitting on my desk, though.
Tokens. I bought a bag of .984 tokens off of alank2 and they arrived yesterday. Had to make some adjustments to one of the coin mechs to get it to repeatedly accept all of the tokens, but that wasn't too hard. Used the info on this page over at Arcade Replay (http://www.arcadereplay.com/content/html/coin_contols_metal_mechs.html) to help figure out how to adjust the mechs. Have to say, though, that it was really nice to hear that "clunk, jingle" sound of the tokens going into the machine. Did feel kinda odd, though, stuffing 25 tokens into the machine again and again while testing it out. Had a flash of "oh gawd this game costs a fortune, it better be good" whiz through my mind.
Gfx card. Gave up on the ATI Radeon 7500 that I had kicking around and bought a used GeForce2MX board w/s-video. The ATI is a nice board, but has no TV-out support for anything under than Windows. PM me if interested; I'm willing to sell the ATI board.
Side art. Bought a replacement set of side art on eBay, which arrived last week. Its not like I need it as the art on the cab is in great shape, but I figured that it'd be nice to have a replacement set for when the time comes.
I've also started prepping for wiring up the CP here, but have found that father time stole my soldering mojo. Been a while since I last did any soldering of small electronic items (~10yrs), and I see that I'm, uh, not as good at it as I used to be. So, taking a bit of time to practice on some junk before I finish wiring up all of the LEDs for the buttons.
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bleargh-
I too desire to have a linux-only MAME machine and I applaud your desire to have a GPwiz49 driver for linux. I started working on this back in the day and I feel like I got pretty far (hacked the kernel usb code). It has been a while (life got in the way) I am interested in downloading the latest kernel and advancemame release and trying again.
be sure to check out my thread on the matter:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=46747.0
(although some info may be outdated - check which kernel this applies to)
I would love to get this accomplished, and I'm willing to help you. I did at one point get the control codes from Randy and I'm sure I have them on my MAME box somewhere. Just have to find them. How experienced are you with USB drivers?
Cheers,
MRH
(back in the saddle)
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I would love to get this accomplished, and I'm willing to help you. I did at one point get the control codes from Randy and I'm sure I have them on my MAME box somewhere. Just have to find them. How experienced are you with USB drivers?
Can't say I've got a dearth of experience with USB drivers, but I've got just shy of 30yrs programming background, the last dozen of so have been Linux/Un*x only.
FWIW, I'm actually working on some drivers/apps right now for RandyT to get LEDWiz support under Linux. Was soldering up my LEDs tonight and almost have them all done so that I can get the CP wired up. Once its all wired I'll be sitting down to have a run through the LEDWiz docs that RandyT provided me with.
As for the GPWiz49, I'd love to get that working, but don't know if I can be much help at this point; although I've got 4x 49-ways on the GL CP, I don't have any GPWiz49s to hook them up to. Feel free to e-mail me off-thread; I'd be happy to help out but am just not sure how I can be of assistance at this point.
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Randy will be releasing a new version of the GPWiz49 in the next month or three. So things will more than likely change.
TTFN :cheers:
Kaytirm
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Randy will be releasing a new version of the GPWiz49 in the next month or three. So things will more than likely change.
Been following the thread on that, and it does sound promising. RandyT is aware that I'm hoping to (one day) get my GL CP hooked up with 4x GPWiz49s on a Linux box, and I understand that he's made some firmware changes to help accommodate that (running more smoothly on Linux, that is).
That said, though, he doesn't have to rush on my behalf... I'm still working on getting the LEDWizs and KeyWiz hooked up and fully functional on my Linux box... now that my soldering is done for the LEDs things should start to speed up a bit.