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Main => Main Forum => Topic started by: mlalena on March 26, 2009, 04:45:35 pm

Title: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: mlalena on March 26, 2009, 04:45:35 pm
I just got a MiniPAC and a SpinTrak but I didn't get the adapter:

(http://ultimarc.com/images/spintrak_minipac.jpg)

The Ultimarc site doesn't specify which pins on the MiniPAC are X1 or X2.
MiniPAC Wiring info:  http://www.ultimarc.com/mp_inst.html
SpinTrak Wiring info: http://ultimarc.com/SpinTrak.htm

Also, there are a couple of inconsistencies that scare me.
There is a "1" indicator on the connector that is hard to see above. That is how I am determining Pin 1 in the connector.

Is this table below right, or are the Blue & Green pins on the MiniPAC backwards?

Spinner color Connection MiniPAC Color
Brown+5VoltsBrown
YellowX1Green
GreenX2Blue
WhiteGNDBlack

And, is my MiniPAC harness wired backwards?
Can power/ground be swapped?
Can I damage anything by swapping X1 & X2 or Power and Ground?
If not, I know power/gnd are the outer connectors and the data is the inner 2 connectors, so I can experiment if there is no chance of damage.

Please help.
Thanks
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: BobA on March 26, 2009, 04:56:51 pm
See if this thread helps http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=90691.0 (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=90691.0)
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: mlalena on March 26, 2009, 05:05:48 pm
Thanks for the link but it doesn't look like it will help.

In both the pin outs table and the pictures, he refers to X1 and X2 as "Spinner Data" without identifying which is X1 or X2.
The post also doesn't really settle the question of which side is power vs. ground.
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: smalltownguy on March 26, 2009, 05:16:22 pm
On my minipac, the outside pins were power and ground. Pin 1 was power, pin 4 was ground. From there, you just need to 'play' with the X1 and X2 (and Y1 and Y2) leads until you get the right movement.

For the record, your colors do match my colors. I'm not using the spinner header, as I do not have a spinner. But both of my trackball leads had power and ground on the outsides.

No, it won't matter if you hook them up incorrectly. Just to be safe, though, don't have anything else hooked up to your minipac, and don't test your setup on an expensive machine -- use an old machine for your testing. That way you won't ruin anything on the off chance that something does go up in smoke.

Hope this helps!
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: BobA on March 26, 2009, 06:04:08 pm
As long as your have your power and ground OK then the spinner data connections can be reversed if the spinner tracks in the wrong direction.  Same thing is done with trackballs to get the direction right.  If still uncertain use a VOM to check the 5V and GND before connecting.
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: mlalena on March 27, 2009, 08:34:18 pm
OK. So I plug in the Mini-PAC and get "USB Device not recognized". I figure I am missing drivers, so I take the voltage measurements. Looks like the documented pins #'s are correct - colors are wrong. On the Mini-PAC, Brown is +5V and Black is GND.

So now back to my "USB Device not recognized" issue. Looks like you aren't supposed to need drivers for the Mini-PAC. It uses standard windows drivers.

In the dialog, it shows the "USB Root Hub (2 ports)" is detected with "Unknown Device" and "Unused Port" shown under that.

Did some research and already tried:

Nothing has worked. No LEDs light up on the MiniPAC.

Both computers are Windows XP Pro 32 bit. Have used USB mice and keyboards with both computers previously.

The problem occurred before I checked the voltage, so I didn't short the board when I did that. Based on the input from "smalltownguy" the voltage worked on the first pins I checked.

Any ideas?
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: smalltownguy on March 27, 2009, 09:24:54 pm
My guess is Windows probably attempted to install an incorrect driver on auto-detect, and now it's 'stuck' in the registry.

Send an email to Andy Warne, his email address is on the Ultimarc website. He's very good about getting back to requests, and very helpful. He'll be able to get you up and running.

http://www.ultimarc.com/ (http://www.ultimarc.com/)
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: BobA on March 27, 2009, 09:45:51 pm
Did you move the jumper to USB?   PS2 is the default setting.
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: mlalena on March 27, 2009, 11:06:32 pm
I see jumpers on the pic on the web site, but my board doesn't have them.
Just a couple of resistors and diodes instead. Maybe this is a new version.

I will email Andy.
Title: Re: MiniPAC to SpinTrak - Don't have adapter. Need help
Post by: mlalena on May 17, 2009, 06:29:52 pm
Final update: This was the wiring that ended up working (in case anyone doing a search finds this thread):

Spinner color Connection MiniPAC Color
Brown+5VoltsBrown
YellowX1Blue
GreenX2Green
WhiteGNDBlack