my first cab

[jipp]

im convince.. its not if you will wreck a bike.. it just when.

I hear that.  The goal is to limit damage done to you/bike on the eventual crash/fall.  When I had my first kid I gave my bike to my brother.  When I got divorced I got it back again, then gave it away to a friend with new marriage & kid.  Now I moved to an old Mustang which gives me much more protection for similar enjoyment!

But helluva leg and story there jipp, glad you made it!! 

thanks, sometimes i wonder why i bothered to crawl that day if i knew the life i would end up having ( living off narcotics for so many years... blah ) , i was gonna get married but she left me in the hospital etc..  laughs. i do not blame her.. but her parents do.. and i still speak with them.. life is a trip.  mustang sounds fun.  keep on having fun, life is to short not too.

chris.

[Funnel]

Your wife left you at the hospital?! Damn dude sorry to hear that... in times like that we have to be strong and cut through all the crap life throws at us. I admire you sir Jipp!!! You're still standing.

[Donkbaca]

Wow, all this and you are building the cab for your sister! Not even yourself!

To give a little advice:

I looked into aimtracks vs. Top guns, decided aimtracks because from what I read the force feedback on the top guns isn't that great, and you have to mount these two huge sensor bars on the outside of your cab, plus you have to stand pretyt far back for it to work.

The aimtracks are easy to set up, there is just one little light bar.

As for which guns to put the aimtracks in.  I followed this tutorial:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=101016.0

and got the guns here:
http://www.vpgames.com/p-6290-ps2-psx-mini-light-gun-w-usb-port.aspx

If you paint the guns black, they look pretty good.  They have these little motors in them that vibrate when you press the trigger, they add a good heft, and the vibration is pretty cool, not as cool as the arcade ones that kick back but I think its better than nothing. Its about the same amount of vibration as an xbox 360 controller, and there is a little switch on the bottom that lets you turn it off if you don't like it.  I don't think you can find better looking gun shells that have some heft and will give you force feedback for less than 12 bucks each.

Plus, that would be a good project to keep you off your feet. soldering all those little wires and such...

[jipp]

thanks for the feed back.. i ordered the aimtrack today the main thing that convince me was seeing how involved Andy was.  he is working on a firmware update to add feedback..  no promises he can make it work, but the fact he would even try says he is in this for more than just a buck..  so i ordered the item on the spot.  .. will check out the links.  you guys rock. yeah, i was a good boy and did not even try to work on the cab today.

so yeah solder sounds like something i can do on my seat. heh. 

have a great night

chris.

[Donkbaca]

That tutorial on the guns rocks and the guns are cheap and good looking when painted. You won't be disappointed, I love mine

[jipp]

found this gun on youtube.  would be pretty cool to find another.

i like the blow back.. hell with feed back.. just teh slide would be more than enough feed back for me.


chris.

[jipp]

im tinkering with my cab.. just setup the smart power strip.  plugged in the marquee light, tv and cleaning the inside out and gonna arrange the bass speaker and drill whatever hole is need to mount the volume pod. etc.   im leaving the pc out of the cab to work on it with a spare monitor ( that's the plan much easier to work on it that way in case i have to replace any hardware on it ).. however, i cant find a spare monitor vga cable.. so ill have to buy one..  so no big deal.. im going slow anyhow.. while doing this mindless stuff we all have to do as part of the cab building process..  i was thinking about my monitor angle..

  what angle should this monitor be at or roughly.. whats a good angle... be it a average or whatever. anything to work with from your experience with vertical cabs or heck horizontal mounted monitors for that matter.. i need to learn both as my next cab will be horizontal unless i fall in love with vertical. right now its at about 6 degrees.. pretty strait.. seems to me i would want it at more of a angle.. so before i box it in.. i thought i would ask you guys expert opinions.. thank you so much.

chris.

[jipp]

grr, had a huge update typed out, and i normally copy and paste to note pad and delete after words but this time i did not even tho i had a bad feeling thinking i should.. but man i was feeling good getting tinyXp running on this PC i had to fix.  Fixing this.. saved me from having to buy a new computer and the specs are not to bad. and the price was free. its plenty good for Mame etc.. and of course the internet died right as i hit send... so, i will keep this short.

iv made progress, compiling mame with the hi_139.diff patch.  hooked the computer up to the tv using a vga cable, i originally tired to use s-video cable to no avail.  read the documentation to the tv, told me that was for video..  hence, vga..

and now im gonna be learning how to use MaLa, and hypsin.. at this point ill focus on MalA..  i think it will suit me better..however, my sister liked hyperspin from the video i sent her of it.. so i signed up to the forum just to download it.. I may have to learn that.. but we will see once i learn how to get mala setup ill let her use it and see what she thinks.

umm, still waiting for the aimtrack guns, should be here next week..

i can say next cab will be a horizontal.. lot of my pc games wont work vertically.. go figure.. annoying.

umm, i need to get a sheet of plexi as the one i cut is to short now as i originally planed on horizontal monitor.

so ill box it in and do the plexi glass st uff down the road.. and before i box it in ill be able to adjust the tv angle to what i like.. as the vesa adapter i used is so configurable this will be way easy to adjust the angle etc.... on my next cab ill use tinted glass also will not waste money on a nice marquee so will use my paper/marker for now.  the only thing i know for sure is my next cab will be wide enough for this tv to sit proper all horizontal and such..   This cab is a temp for now.. and the plexi will work and its cheap.  when i build the replacement..  I hope ill be able to give this cab away to someone.  minus the hardware.  if not ill tear it down and store it i guess.  or maybe a bond fire to the arcade gods   after all its only cheap OSB.   my stupidity for not using MDF.   

now the fun.. learning to configure and use Mala +mame.. and other emulators and hope the front end will do everything i need..

once the aim track guns get here ill have to learn to configure them too.. 

my only regret is making my cab so skinny.  would of loved to have a horizontal monitor.  but, you know beggars cant be choosers, and this tv was not being used for anything, so ill use it!!  grandma use to say if its free its for me

ok my friends, rock on..



chris.

[jipp]

well i got mame installed today. and playing with MaLa now..  however, iv tried to play a few games and i cant play them.  the joysticks are happs competitions.  anyhow,  the motion is all jerky with them.. when you push to the left i would exect it would go all the way to the left side smoothly.. all i get is jerky 2" movement, sometimes more sometimes less.  any ideas?    i have a different kind of stick for the 4 way and its jerky too.  so, i do not know what the problem is.  any ideas?

chris.

[Ond]

What an inspiration you are Chris!  Despite living with strong pain from a disabling injury, and coping with various illnesses and medical inconveniences you are building arcade cabinets and sharing the journey. 

I enjoy reading your posts because you describe how you work through each problem and document your learning as you go.  You have enthusiasm that reminds me of why I’m in this hobby in the first place.  It’s pretty sweet satisfaction when you wire up your first CP, fire up your favorite arcade game and see your hard work take on a life of its own. If you search around in the ‘Reviews’ board you can find long running debates on the pros and cons of different switch and button types, joysticks etc (I even have a few posts in there for for some joystick mods I did).   There is an excellent review Epyx did on the GGG Spinner as well.  Look for some of his other reviews and tutorials for a source of great info.
 
Keep going with your build and your update posts Chris.  Don’t worry about comparisons or mistakes or the learning curve etc,  everyone is learning here.   



Ond

[jipp]

Morning Ond.  Thank you for the kind words.  Yeah, sometimes we take the simple things for granted. being healthy is one i can recall before my accident. Like with anything we have choices, we can throw the towel in, or grin and bear it and see where it takes us.  i choose the ladder.  however, each year i get older i question the sanity in such a way of going through life. Laughs.  but i just remind my self..  "enjoy today, tomorrow could be worse"  and what not.

when i read on topics and threads, i always wonder why someone did it like X instead of Y.  thats the main reason i have no problem showing where i messed up.  granted i am hard on my self.. probably to the point not so good for one self esteem, but im from a small logging town we did not know we were suppose to have any anyway..  so i just say it gives me character hyeh. 

ill have to look into the joystick topics you mention of.. cause its unplayable right now.. just pisses me off.  even tho i found a few shooters i like.  but with such jerky joystick motion its really hard to get very far with out adding a dumb amount of credits. heh

also, i did make one mistake so far iv  notice in my first wire cp.. i wired the left to the right and the right to the left. oops.

could of been way worse.  so ill rewire that and see if that helps with the jerkyness i doubt it.. but it needs to be done anyhow. 


also im still working on sound.  i had it working when it was directly hooked up to the monitor i used to fix the computer.  the monitor had built in speakers.. so i know the sound works in the computer.  i took the old laptop and hooked the speakers i am using for the cab.. and thats working.

so,  i dunno..  will play with that. 

so to do,  get sound working.

fix these dang jerky happ joysticks.  ( maybe i assembled it wrong.  i put the bevel edge up for that square piece that goes on the joystick shaft.. maybe ill try to switch it around see if that helps any, but logic says no )

still learning mala.. not got the videos to work yet. and get a proper theme going.  and I need to add some other game software to mala that is not related to mame. 

waiting for the aimtrack guns.

i have two months to get this cab working before i start on the next cab.

the first things on my list, get the joysticks working right, and MaLa configured 100%.

have a great day. 

chris.

[yotsuya]

Chris-

Flip that square piece over. That's probably your issue.

[jipp]

hi, from the diagram on happs webpage i do not think thats the  issue.

i did not assemble the stick im using for a 4way and it has the same jerky feeling too.. why do i mention the 4way stick.. well they are both using the same input on the Ipac-2.  i have both sticks wired to player one.

here is a picture of my stick. 

shrugs.   really is to bad.. the games really are unplayable as it is.

maybe its the ipac2.. i am using a ps2 to usb adapter maybe the Ipac dose not like such.   i tried to search for similar problem and found no threads.  maybe i should try one on the main forum.. since a lot of people only read the main..

thanks for the feedback.

chris.

[Donkbaca]

Is the problem the physical feel of the joystick?  Those happs sticks are the same bat top joysticks you will find in most arcades.  I am guessing that maybe the spring isn't set properly, or that the little grommet thingy under it is upside down.  I say take it completely apart and put it back together according to the exploded view here

http://www.happ.com/joysticks/competition_joy_e.htm

If its a physical, jerky feeling, its probably something mechanically wrong with the stick

[jipp]

no its not the physical.. its when i push to the left for example.  i would expect the ship for example to smoothly go all the way to the left.  it dose not.. it goes from 1 - 5 characters.  i checked this using note pad.  and its happening to all the sticks, i have three.

2 happs, and 1 zippy stick.

chris.

[Spock]

I know it's a broken record by now, but you're the man for dragging yourself that far for help.  I broke my femur in a skiing accident, and I can tell you dragging yourself 5 feet is nearly impossible due to pain.  I'm glad you've found such a rewarding outlet to look forward to every day.  It goes to show how rewarding of a hobby this is.

[piecesof8]

I'm betting your problem is the ps2-usb adapter you're using with the ipac - I'm fairly certain I've read about that problem somewhere before. Can you connect the ipac directly via USB and do away with the adapter?

[jipp]

I know it's a broken record by now, but you're the man for dragging yourself that far for help.  I broke my femur in a skiing accident, and I can tell you dragging yourself 5 feet is nearly impossible due to pain.  I'm glad you've found such a rewarding outlet to look forward to every day.  It goes to show how rewarding of a hobby this is.

yeah, broken bones hurt period.  5 feet, mile and half.. all the same if you ask me.  thanks for the kind words.  guess just goes to show you,  the human mind is capable of almost anything once you set your mind to something.   mind is a true super computer   hopefully our computer/robot overloads will not hook up skynet anytime soon.. even tho Watson, the IBM super trivia computer is gonna make watching jeopardy obsolete

chris.

[jipp]

I'm betting your problem is the ps2-usb adapter you're using with the ipac - I'm fairly certain I've read about that problem somewhere before. Can you connect the ipac directly via USB and do away with the adapter?

no, my Ipac only came with a ps2 cable.  when i tried to hook it up to the ps2  mouse port on the laptop i got nothing.  so i figured i needed the USB adapter.

now, maybe the laptop was the issue.  i will try to use the PS2 on this and see if i get the same problem. 

if the ps2 wont work..  i guess ill have to see if i can buy a usb cable for my Ipac and try that.  thanks, im thinking the adapter sounds like a good cause as its happening to all three sticks.. and two different brand of sticks.. even tho the 4 way and 8 way are hooked up to player 1..

chris.

[jipp]

I'm betting your problem is the ps2-usb adapter you're using with the ipac - I'm fairly certain I've read about that problem somewhere before. Can you connect the ipac directly via USB and do away with the adapter?

yeah, thank you so much man.  im a idiot i spent way to much money for this USB adapter.  if i would of thought about why it did not work with the laptop, i would of never bought the adapter.. duh.. i was trying to use a keyboard with the mouse port on the laptop...  so, i plug the Ipac into the keyboard PS2 port, the track ball into the mouse port, and the keyboard im using the adapter for it.. everything rocks now.. you rock.

now i have to fix sound.. then onto configuring mala. and trying to find the 139 control.ini and cat*.ini:)

but i think im gonna go play some satins hollow :d

chris.

[jipp]

Update:

Well, iv been in the hospital last week.. could not stop throwing up.. they have no clue whats going on. ( am waiting to get referral to a GI doctor etc ).  anyhow, i felt well enough to assemble the aimtrack gun from ultramarc.com.  It went together real easy.  I hope the instructions are as good for install it onto the mame computer.

Snapped some photos fro those who are considering buy the kit,  it seems well made.. however, i think i want it to be a little heavier.. will wait till i get it figured out and installed onto the computer tho.. if i do, i figure ill add some modeling clay.  should not hurt anything, lots of places to put a few pieces with out interfering with the electronics.

with my list of things i needed to get fixed glad to say i got a couple of them done.

A, hey i got sound to work.  I had to download the latest high def sound driver from realtec..  was harder finding the right driver/software package that getting it to work with tinyXP.

B, i got the .avi's to work in MaLa.  downloaded the codec recommended from MaLa wiki page.  I really wish MaLa had a readme file i could print out, feeling like im gonna throw up and trying to sit at the computer and clicking each link to learn how MaLa works just aint doing it for me.

whats left to do:

Well, i need to keep learning MaLa so i can get the trackball to work in Mame.  right now i can get the trackball to work as a mouse in Mame..  but if i try to use it on a game that is a trackball game, it dose not do anything, and you can only get joystick feedback.. marble madness is the game im trying to get to work with the trackball/MaLa.

I also need to figure out how to get MaLa to show the history of each game.. not sure how that works yet.

and last but least.. add other emulators to Mala..  again, i wish it had one nice .PDF for a sick person i could read in bed..  running to the toilet to puck and trying to type this out sucks.  LOL

and I have to figure out how to install the aimtrack gun.  not sure how you suppose to attach the tha led sensor to the monitor and where.  hoping i could use veclro  I have some of that.

Once i get the above figure out, it will be time to box in the monitor, and buy a tinted sheet of Plexiglas.  also i have decided to ditch the .25 mech.. i will use that for my sisters project.. i suck, and need the credit button, id go broke.

the logictec 2.1 speaker setup sounds nice in the cab.  been rocking out to pantera cowboys from hell. ( R.I.P Dime.  )
while being ill.  heh, i had portable speakers for my ipod and was jammin to pantera in the hospital..  lots of cute nurses like heavy metal.. who would of thunk.

well ill throw a few pictures of the aimtrack gun for others who may be interested in it and maybe it help them see how it goes together

this project is getting closer to being finish, so i hopefully can start on the next cab. take what iv learn from this and build a even better mame cab.

O yeah, on the next control panel.. i like all the buttons and what not for the basic configuration i guess its called the classic setup.  but i do not care for the strait buttons they hurt my wrist after a while.. so i will def want to have them in a arc on my next control panel..  will test that on the bartop.. as ill be building it at the same time as thin line cab.  let me sis decide which she likes.

heck, sorry im all over the place..  next month i need to buy a spinner..  so spinner and full sheet of tinted plexiglass are the last two items i need to buy next month.

and instead of trying to cut the plexi with my bandsaw, im gonna try the score method..  you know yardstick, exacto knife or maybe a old flathead ground to a edge..  run it down the yardstick.. then tap it underneath and it should break, or so iv read.  anyone know for sure?

stay healthy.  sorry i throw my health into this so often i know people have there own issues.. but, its part of the build.. so what the hell.
rock on.
chris.


P.S

ok, my kit came with 3 cables, USB.  and it would appear i installed to short of one for the gun..  there is a 8 footer that should be installed in the gun it self.  after looking at the pictures and realizing how short the cable was i messed up.. you see i also have a extension USB that came with the kit.. and i thought that was for the gun.  but, the USB cable coming of the sensor that mounts to the TV.  is like only 3 feet and i need much more than that to reach from the top of the TV to the mame computer.  So, now i have to take the gun apart and switch the proper cable out.  So, be sure you measure you setup before you screw the gun together.  if this gun was for a bar top the 3 foot cable would of been fine.  Sometimes i wonder wtf am i doing.  anyhow, did not want anyone else to make the same mistake i just notice i did. im hoping i can mount the pcb board with Velcro but instructions dose not say what to use to mount.. silly, would think they would offer a recommendation you know.  for idiots like me.  so, i plan on mounting the pcb board to the upper left side of the tv.  and we will see what happens.  will update if i fail or not.  worse case, i have to spend another 50 bucks for a pcb if i totally mess up. laughs. 

peace. 
chris.







here are more pics of the assembly if needed:

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LGSZUREL2Z5MZSB3LEHT3JPX6E/album

[jipp]

I reinstalled the usb cable with the proper one this time into the aimtrack gun housing.   I also installed the aimtrack light bar thingamajig using Velcro.. worked just fine.  Now time to configure the gun and see what happens.  lets cross our fingers..  i feel so ill, but i want this gun to work.  so we will man up, and see what happens.  if the gun works, then i will start reading up on how to get the trackball to work in mame using Mala.. im assuming thats how it has to be done.. until tomorrows update  rock on.   and def need tinted plexi to hide that ugly light bar thing.  

just noticed, i need to get some cleaner that screen is DIRTY! heh. 

chris.

[jipp]

well anyone want to buy a gun?  im ready to throw the damn thing out the window. 

in windows it points like a mouse.... in mame tho.. it will move the game list and start a game.. but if you try to play a game like operation wolf it dose jack.  zero. 

i dunno, the read.pdf is not very clear. tells you to type mame roby and then goes into what seems to set it up.. but it says if you do not have a mame.ini to do this.   i have a basic mame.ini from Mala.  so, i dunno.. i should of just bought a spinner i guess as i needed one of them to complete my CP, i did not need a gun.  my head hurts.  anyhow, im just gonna call it a night. blah



 

[Donkbaca]

What version of mame are you using? I had the same problem and then I realized the name version i was using was too old

[jipp]

morning, im using 139.  thanks for any feed back.  i have a brighter look out on the problem today.  i guess sometimes taking a break from something clears the mind.  i have doctors appointment dis morning, then ill try again.

im thinking maybe i have to go through the mame.ini setup like in the .pdf even tho i have a mame.ini file. 
ill make a back up of it before i try that later today.


chris.

[Donkbaca]

Okay, so the version of MAME isn't the issue.  go to your command prompt, go to your mame directory and type mame-cc.  That instructs mame to "create config" a mame.ini file should appear in your root directory.

Let me know if that works.  I had a few issues setting up my guns, but I think its worth it.  I love the point blank series.  I just wish i could get model 2 up and running with 2 guns so I could play house of the dead.

[DirtyDachshunds]

I just wish i could get model 2 up and running with 2 guns so I could play house of the dead.

Me too!  HOTD2 with Demul doesn't work with 2 players either

[jipp]

hey guys.  well  operation wolf sees the gun now.. not very accurate.  i need to calibrate it.  and the problem i have by mounting the IR pcb board to the top.. and having such a large vertical monitor.  its not seeing the very bottom.  so i think i have to mount the IR board to the side in the middle of the TV.  i think this will allow the camera in the gun to see the whole monitor.  also i did use the colored glass that came with the gun.  so hope, we are suppose to use it.  i choose to use it to keep dust out.  but im on the right track.  and things make much more sense now i understand tab is to bring up the mame configure.  its starting to make sense, and it makes Mala much more logical.  so, tomorrow im gonna move the IR sensor to the side of the TV.. and try to calibrate.  but, at least operation wolf sees the gun and i can blow things up but its not accurate so i think by moving that IR board to the middle side.. things will be much better.  and with Velcro it will be easy enough to try.    I think im gonna have a blast once i get it configured.  crosses finger that putting the board in the middle of the TV on the left side helps for the gun to see the whole surface area.  its a learning process tho.. no doubt.  


i hope i do not have to calibrate every single game in mame.. or that be annoying.


just thought of something.. maybe im not standing back far enough?  i do not have much space in the current location.  i plan on moving this to the corner.. but i wanted to wait till i had it mostly finish.. so maybe ill have to hold off on the gun till i finish up the other stuff and distance is the problem for not seeing the whole screen.  so, i guess ill make some kind of gun holder for this tomorrow.  and then move on to getting the trackball to work in games that use it.. and now i know Tab key is to get into mame config should be easy to get the track ball working in marble madness. 

also..  i did not know what the function keys did so i have the tab key on player 2 side.. when it should of been on player 1 along with enter.   

so yeah.. thanks for letting me think out loud.

[Donkbaca]

Do NOT move the led bar! It supposed to be on the top of the screen, the little camera on the PCM in the gun is angled to look up to find themled bar. If you move the bar to the side, it will seriously confuse the gun. I it's not working near the bottom of the screen, use the aimtrak config tool to see I the camera can see the led bar while being pointed at the bottom of the screen. If it does , then calibrate the gun in windows and you should be fine. If it does not, then either move the pcb closer to the end of the gun barrel, or point the LEDs on the led bar downward, stepping a little farther back also helps.   As for setting it up in MAME, set it up in the global controls and you should be fine, there are a handful of games that you have to calibrate within the game itself, but you only have to do this once as long as you keep the guns plugged in.

It's a little bit of a pain, but a couple of games of

[jipp]

Do NOT move the led bar! It supposed to be on the top of the screen, the little camera on the PCM in the gun is angled to look up to find themled bar. If you move the bar to the side, it will seriously confuse the gun. I it's not working near the bottom of the screen, use the aimtrak config tool to see I the camera can see the led bar while being pointed at the bottom of the screen. If it does , then calibrate the gun in windows and you should be fine. If it does not, then either move the pcb closer to the end of the gun barrel, or point the LEDs on the led bar downward, stepping a little farther back also helps.   As for setting it up in MAME, set it up in the global controls and you should be fine, there are a handful of games that you have to calibrate within the game itself, but you only have to do this once as long as you keep the guns plugged in.

It's a little bit of a pain, but a couple of games of

Ok, thanks for the info.  i wont touch it.  will try to move the LEDs down a bit.  i have a feeling moving back a extra foot would help.  so, ill just have to hold off on configuring the gun for now.  but i have no doubt it will work fine.  as i got mame to recognize it.  

iv been snooping around the mame folder and the config files, and exploring the setup config for mame it self.  things are becoming much clearer on how mame works.  

cant sleep. so im playing around with adding another emulator to mala now. 3am blah.  i do wish mala had the emulator type separator that hyperspin appears to have.. hyperspin is heavy resources tho.. so cant be using it.  maybe when i build a new pc and mount the monitor regular ill try hyperspin.. it looks funny in vertical.. to stretched out.

one day ill sleep, one day
chris.


P.S

man im having so much fun.. been playing bowling, and some old school zaxxon.  i love this mame stuff.  so easy to take my mind off my pain.  so i got the trackball working in mame games now.  the gun will work once i get it move to the corner where i planned on from the start of the build.  and today i need to make some kind of gun holder.  

im so gonna need a stool tho. LOL.  im having fun.  now the basic configuration is done.. i need to pop the lid on the control panel and move the function keys around a bit.  also i need to figure out what buttons pinball uses as i do not have the pinball buttons hooked up was not sure what buttons to daisy chain them into.    MAME is FUN.  if you on the fence build your self a mame cab..  you will have so much fun.

i have some stuff to do yeah, and figure out but i got the basics figured out now and im having FUN!  wooot.  also notice other emulators no like vertical monitor.  fyi!  mame seems to handle it fine.  and thats good enough for me.  i want to get bejewel 3 to fire up via mala.  so today, is build some kind of holster for the gun.  and get Mala to fire up pc games.    then who knows maybe ill fire up paint and get rid of the generic rock vertical theme picture.  

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

added a report card of the mames computers hardware in the form of a MAME-CED14A6EEC.txt document to check out of the computer im using, found this program called cpu-z  gives lots of info. id recommended downloading it and checking out your system..  (  http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html ) if anything will help you buy the right hardware if you are unsure what you need to update your system.  i think ill update the video card to 1 gig nvida, as the computer sits now it only has 512megs and hyperspin runs like a dog, and ill buy a spinner too, and a sheet of tinted plexi..  and get this project finish up in feb.  and start onto the next project.   project thin line!   

well i bought a 3d video pinball game today on gogo.com to try and see how the pinball buttons i have in my control panel need to be wired.    have to love all the vintage games you can buy for cheap there..

so far i have wired the plunger button into the Enter slot on the Ipac.  and the left plunger into the first fire button on player 1 side..  button, B, and C seem to act as tilt.  cant get the right plunger to move yet.

i see gogo.com costing me a lot of money, buy offering all these 90s pc games i grew up with.  not sure how many will fold over to arcade controls but im willing to try  



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update ( 3:28pm friday )
and i think im addicted to world of goo been playing it all day on my cab. laughs

[DaOld Man]

+1 on CPU-Z. Been using for years.