Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Software Support => GroovyMAME => Topic started by: aj8302 on April 07, 2016, 01:42:01 pm
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So I have started my very first arcade project and the arcade I got came with a 15khz monitor. I have seen a lot of forums talking about how if you don't run an arcade monitor at the proper kHz that it can ruin it. So after more research I found out that people would use an Arcadevga card from Ultimarc that was programed to run at 15khz even during booting. That sounded like an easy way of doing but they are out of stock and have not gotten a respond of when they will be back in stock yet. I have also read of people using Soft 15kHz with a compatible card but that using that method it did not boot windows in 15khz like the Ultimarc video card did. While doing more research I found this post http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1052#p1052 (http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1052#p1052) but I'm not sure if that method solves the booting problem. I guess I'm just confused and don't understand completely on what I need to do to run my arcade monitor safely. Can anyone help or send me to where I can get an answer or help me understand it better. Thank you.
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Yes, if you output an out-of-range signal to your arcade monitor, it could damage it.
Assuming your cabinet is wired to the JAMMA specification, a good hardware solution is the Ultimarc J-PAC (https://www.ultimarc.com/jpac.html).
It's an interface board that allows you to easily connect a PC to a JAMMA wired arcade cabinet. It has a circuit that will protect your arcade monitor from out-of-range signals.
As you know, the ArcadeVGA has a custom BIOS that prevents out-of-range signals. There is a also a tool called Atom-15 (http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=64) that can modify the BIOS on certain ATI/AMD cards to produce the same results.
I'm a big fan of the J-PAC hardware solution if you already have a JAMMA wired cabinet. It simplifies a lot of the process of hooking up your PC.
Once you have that problem solved, you'll still need a way to get your PC to output a 15KHz video signal. This can be accomplished several ways:
1) use an ArcadeVGA card (which comes with custom video drivers)
2) use Soft15KHz and a supported video card
3) use CRT_EmuDriver (modified ATI/AMD video drivers) and a supported ATI/AMD video card
In this forum, most of us favor option 3 since it's designed to work hand-in-hand with GroovyMAME.
The page you linked to was a guide for installing CRT_EmuDriver 2.0 with ATI/AMD Radeon HD 5xxx video cards...
http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=301 (http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=301)
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I would add that option 3, plus flashing a suitable card with Atom 15 will give you a full 15khz signal from bootup. Then in Windows the CRT-Emu Drivers take over and allow your monitor to match the low resolutions required. You're essentially creating your own ArcadeVGA.
EDIT: Just re-reading, realised I haven't actually added anything. Do what he said.
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I would add that option 3, plus flashing a suitable card with Atom 15 will give you a full 15khz signal from bootup. Then in Windows the CRT-Emu Drivers take over and allow your monitor to match the low resolutions required. You're essentially creating your own ArcadeVGA.
Just to be clear, you either need a custom video card with a custom BIOS (ArcadeVGA or Atom-15), or a hardware solution like a J-PAC. You don't need both. Though having both doesn't hurt anything.
Since my motherboard has a UEFI BIOS and my arcade monitor is 15MHz (not multi-freq) and I have a J-PAC anyway, I don't think I'm going to bother messing with Atom-15 because I don't think it adds anything to my setup (unless I'm mistaken).