My first project: PiCade, low cost arcade emulator.

[wussie]

So not too long ago I was doing some research into possible emulators I could run in my car for the kids during long trips.  I came across the Raspberry Pi.  For those of you who don't know, long story short it's an ARM based computer for $35 ($25 if you get the model A).  I ordered one and am expecting it in a few months.  While brain storming what I was going to do with my slice of Pi, it came to me I ought to do something with it when I'm not on long road trips with kids in tow.  It occurred to me if I was going to already have it setup with a front end to be able to run emulators, it'd be simple to set up an arcade cab using it.  That impetus has spurred me to create what will possibly be the lowest budget arcade cabinet ever.  I'm trying to decide between $100 and $150.  The purists in here may want to turn away now.  It aint gonna be pretty.  To keep it under budget I've decided (unless someone can point me to a seriously low cost source of arcade control sticks and buttons, and a cheap easy encoder option) to go with cheap USB joysticks.  How cheap depends on what budget I want to stick to, and how long I want it to last before I get fed up with the controls.  For everyone that didn't turn away, I'd welcome your input at this point.  I have a few months to wait till I get the computer itself.  My boss at work has an extra CRT TV he's giving me which will serve as the monitor and speakers for the rig (I really hope it has last channel power on) and a friend has some extra wood laying around.  I've got everything for the computer aside from powersupply.  I've only spent $44 so far.  I can either order cheapo USB joysticks (the kind with suction cups on the bottom) and possibly keep the budget under $100, or I can go with something better, like a mayflash USB joystick for $25 each and keep the budget under $150.

Thoughts?

[P-chan]

Plenty of budget (real)sticks out there, even under $10....

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=290

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=371

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=370

[capsule]

Hi Wussie,

"Real" sticks and buttons are cheap and a cheap way to connect them is to use an hacked USB gamepad. I'm pretty sure you can find an old one at some garage sale for a few bucks.

I personally used (btw, hello there, I will present my new projects very soon ;-)) "Thrustmaster Firestorm Digital 3" gamepads, bought them for 8 euros each. They are easy to hack (nice wide tracks to solder on).

You could go for a keyboard hack too but new keyboards have tiny tracks, it's very hard to solder them. BUT, keyboard hack IS the cheapest way to connect arcade controls, you can always find a dead keyboard somewhere.

I also think buying a used cab is cheaper than building your own. I had mine for 50 euros (the monitor was dead but as you said, people are giving CRT TVs or monitors away, that said a friend was moving a gave his 19" CRT monitor to me). Don't forget to consider the tools cost, you need a bunch of tools to build you own and your budget will explode immediately if you don't already have them.

I've been thinking about using a Rasperry Pi computer too in a cab, I think that's the future of retrogaming ;-)

Anyway, good luck with your project, I'm curious to see how a Pi can handle mame or other emulators.

[johncl]

Great idea, I am also expecting a R-Pi and is also planning to use it either for C64 emulation or Mame. I have always wanted to do a real full standup Donkey Kong machine, but I am tempted into making a small bartop one instead using the Pi and a cheap and used 4:3 15" LCD. If you get Mame compiled and running well for the R-Pi, please keep us posted here as I would love to get hold of some compiled binaries for that. For controls I was thinking of dismantling/mounting some old digital joystick for an 8bit system (one with microswitches), preferabely something with a low stick (like the Donkey Kong one). The CP would ofc be shrunk as well, but wide enough to still be able to play it well.

[JayB]

I personally used (btw, hello there, I will present my new projects very soon ;-)) "Thrustmaster Firestorm Digital 3" gamepads, bought them for 8 euros each. They are easy to hack (nice wide tracks to solder on).

Sorry to hijack but, when you say easy to hack, how easy on the thrustmaster? Looking for an alternative to the minipac and have seen hacks on joypads done but some require drilling or a bit more work than others do. Was it just a case of soldering wires to LRUD and then buttons?

[not_so_handy]

I have never heard about this r-pi but it definitely looks interesting.  I may have to get on the bandwagon

[DrChek]

What about a ZD Encoder. Less than $15.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=114744.0

[kahlid74]

I love the idea, but you've got some serious issues to work out.  The first is running MAME on the arm set.  One version of MAME exists for ARM and we've gotten it working on the Pi Dev kit, but it's kooky.  Additionally we've yet to see how games actually emulate out.  Then you've got your USB control pads.  This ain't no easy thing.  You've got to remember that you'll be running a version of Linux on the Pi that is probably super streamlined and won't have any USB drivers and again, most of those cheap USB game pads are windows compatible and may not work in all Linux builds.  So you're probably going to have to compile some custom USB encoders so you can get those plugged in and going.

Here's what I'm trying to say.  I love the idea, and I love that everyone is super excited about the Pi but realistically it's going to be a while before we have a working model.  If you can wait a year then this is the way to go.  But if you want to do this now, go with a cheap ITX build or a Netbook off ebay.  Super cheap, can run Windows XP and it'll stay somewhere close to your price range.

Again, I love the idea, I just think we as a community are moving way to fast on Pi when it's a complete unknown.

[wussie]

What about a ZD Encoder. Less than $15.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=114744.0

I looked at the ZD and the iPac VE, I'd probably go with the iPac VE, since it looks like I'd need 2 ZD encoders.  I want this to be a 2 player cab.  I've looked into the controls aspect for a bit, if I buy an ipac VE for 37 and a 2 player stick and button package for 40 that leaves me with less than 30 bucks for paint, power supply, and anything else that may come up.

I also think buying a used cab is cheaper than building your own. I had mine for 50 euros (the monitor was dead but as you said, people are giving CRT TVs or monitors away, that said a friend was moving a gave his 19" CRT monitor to me). Don't forget to consider the tools cost, you need a bunch of tools to build you own and your budget will explode immediately if you don't already have them.

I've got the tools, minus the slotter bit for tmolding, though I've yet to decide if I will use any on this build.  It'd be nice to have that extra little bit of appearance, but only if the budget will allow it.  Aside from that I have access to chop saws, router, jig, circular saw, and a multitude of hand tools for woodworking and an entire machine shop where I work for metal.

[Nephasth]

The trick to staying within budget is to not have one.

[Santoro]

The trick to staying within budget is to not have one.

This has always worked for me. 

[wussie]

Great idea, I am also expecting a R-Pi and is also planning to use it either for C64 emulation or Mame. I have always wanted to do a real full standup Donkey Kong machine, but I am tempted into making a small bartop one instead using the Pi and a cheap and used 4:3 15" LCD. If you get Mame compiled and running well for the R-Pi, please keep us posted here as I would love to get hold of some compiled binaries for that. For controls I was thinking of dismantling/mounting some old digital joystick for an 8bit system (one with microswitches), preferabely something with a low stick (like the Donkey Kong one). The CP would ofc be shrunk as well, but wide enough to still be able to play it well.

I'll keep you apprised as I go.  I like the cheap lcd idea, be careful though the pi doesn't have VGA out.  Just hdmi and RCA.  If I get it running well I'll offer tars of my emulators and an image, sans roms of my entire OS.

[wussie]

I love the idea, but you've got some serious issues to work out.  The first is running MAME on the arm set.  One version of MAME exists for ARM and we've gotten it working on the Pi Dev kit, but it's kooky.  Additionally we've yet to see how games actually emulate out.  Then you've got your USB control pads.  This ain't no easy thing.  You've got to remember that you'll be running a version of Linux on the Pi that is probably super streamlined and won't have any USB drivers and again, most of those cheap USB game pads are windows compatible and may not work in all Linux builds.  So you're probably going to have to compile some custom USB encoders so you can get those plugged in and going.

Here's what I'm trying to say.  I love the idea, and I love that everyone is super excited about the Pi but realistically it's going to be a while before we have a working model.  If you can wait a year then this is the way to go.  But if you want to do this now, go with a cheap ITX build or a Netbook off ebay.  Super cheap, can run Windows XP and it'll stay somewhere close to your price range.

Again, I love the idea, I just think we as a community are moving way to fast on Pi when it's a complete unknown.

I've looked at atom based itx builds in the past.  If I were to do this the way I really want to that would be the way I'd go.  I realize that I'm jumping in early in the pi game.  Sound drivers are still alpha.  I don't mind compiling my own from source, and if I can blaze a trail for others, I'll feel as though I could contribute in some small way to the hobby.  Turn key solution this ain't, but a cheap time sink it is.

[kahlid74]

I love the idea, but you've got some serious issues to work out.  The first is running MAME on the arm set.  One version of MAME exists for ARM and we've gotten it working on the Pi Dev kit, but it's kooky.  Additionally we've yet to see how games actually emulate out.  Then you've got your USB control pads.  This ain't no easy thing.  You've got to remember that you'll be running a version of Linux on the Pi that is probably super streamlined and won't have any USB drivers and again, most of those cheap USB game pads are windows compatible and may not work in all Linux builds.  So you're probably going to have to compile some custom USB encoders so you can get those plugged in and going.

Here's what I'm trying to say.  I love the idea, and I love that everyone is super excited about the Pi but realistically it's going to be a while before we have a working model.  If you can wait a year then this is the way to go.  But if you want to do this now, go with a cheap ITX build or a Netbook off ebay.  Super cheap, can run Windows XP and it'll stay somewhere close to your price range.

Again, I love the idea, I just think we as a community are moving way to fast on Pi when it's a complete unknown.

I've looked at atom based itx builds in the past.  If I were to do this the way I really want to that would be the way I'd go.  I realize that I'm jumping in early in the pi game.  Sound drivers are still alpha.  I don't mind compiling my own from source, and if I can blaze a trail for others, I'll feel as though I could contribute in some small way to the hobby.  Turn key solution this ain't, but a cheap time sink it is.

That's the spirit to have.  I just wanted to be sure no one was expecting a turn-key solution.  We'll be toying with Pi for a year or two before anything comes to fruition.

[jammin0]

from a driver standpoint, wouldn't it save you loads of time to hack an old keyboard for the encoder and then use joystick controls.  If not then you are trying to get your gamepads working which is one more step.  USB only on the raspberry pi right?  No ps2?

[wussie]

The more I think about it, the more I want to go with a keyboard hack.  If I can get a usb keyboard for free I'd stay in budget.  Yes, the pi is usb only.  Think of it more like a smart phone than a pc really.

[jammin0]

I have mame on my ipad and iphone which the specs of the raspberry pi are closer to my older iphone.  It does however have a pretty decent NES, SNES, and Mame emulators already.  Can those port over from IOS?  I bet you could make a pretty cool handheld with the right software.

[wussie]

I've got a few emulators on my phone and tablet as well.  Either porting those or compiling from source it should all be possible.

[johncl]

While I wait for my R-Pi I got a Via Epia CN13000 board that I hope to dust off and run mame on. Anyone got any experience with this? I only need it for older vertical games like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man etc. I am going to try Puppy Arcade now but I guess I would prefer an installed OS of sorts, preferably something free (Linux) that runs well on the Via board. I guess if they get Mame running on R-Pi, the Via board shouldnt have any problem on it. I was surprised at how well it run on my Asus Transformer Android tablet so it should work fine for older games I hope.

[Drnick]

You could always try freedos on it. superfast boot times. Not sure what frontend would work best with it though, haven't had to go near a dos based machine in about 10 years    The only one that jumps to mind is ArcadeOS.

[AlanS17]

Considering the size of the board and the fact that it has HDMI out, I think its a prefect candidate for building directly into a portable control panel that can be plugged into any TV at will. I like the idea, but I'm waiting to see how the software side of things shapes up.

Edit: oh! I just had a thought. The base unit could be single player and then additional players could plug into the base unit. So you're never playing with more than you need!

[kahlid74]

I have mame on my ipad and iphone which the specs of the raspberry pi are closer to my older iphone.  It does however have a pretty decent NES, SNES, and Mame emulators already.  Can those port over from IOS?  I bet you could make a pretty cool handheld with the right software.

This isn't really possible and kind of not smart.  You would look to "adapt" something from the Linux world, which the iOS world has no ties too.  So if it doesn't exist in the Linux world, you'd then need to write it from scratch.  Additionally we're talking about ARM here, and not the latest ARM, but an older version of ARM which has compatibility problems with stuff in the Linux world.  I will say however the Linux world is really stepping up around the Pi trying to help compatibility.

[Uncle Monkey]

Considering the size of the board and the fact that it has HDMI out, I think its a prefect candidate for building directly into a portable control panel that can be plugged into any TV at will. I like the idea, but I'm waiting to see how the software side of things shapes up.

Edit: oh! I just had a thought. The base unit could be single player and then additional players could plug into the base unit. So you're never playing with more than you need!

This is EXACTLY my plan, project thread is in my sig. CP will be usable on PC, PS3, NES, SNES, Gamecube, Wii and......the raspi for on-the-go gaming.....

[jammin0]

I have mame on my ipad and iphone which the specs of the raspberry pi are closer to my older iphone.  It does however have a pretty decent NES, SNES, and Mame emulators already.  Can those port over from IOS?  I bet you could make a pretty cool handheld with the right software.

This isn't really possible and kind of not smart.  You would look to "adapt" something from the Linux world, which the iOS world has no ties too.  So if it doesn't exist in the Linux world, you'd then need to write it from scratch.  Additionally we're talking about ARM here, and not the latest ARM, but an older version of ARM which has compatibility problems with stuff in the Linux world.  I will say however the Linux world is really stepping up around the Pi trying to help compatibility.

Makes sense.

[wussie]

I have mame on my ipad and iphone which the specs of the raspberry pi are closer to my older iphone.  It does however have a pretty decent NES, SNES, and Mame emulators already.  Can those port over from IOS?  I bet you could make a pretty cool handheld with the right software.

This isn't really possible and kind of not smart.  You would look to "adapt" something from the Linux world, which the iOS world has no ties too.  So if it doesn't exist in the Linux world, you'd then need to write it from scratch.  Additionally we're talking about ARM here, and not the latest ARM, but an older version of ARM which has compatibility problems with stuff in the Linux world.  I will say however the Linux world is really stepping up around the Pi trying to help compatibility.

there is already talk of getting android gingerbread running on the pi.  Also source code from the android emulators might br able to be used in debian or fedora both have rpi varients.  Simple it won't be.  I'll let everyone know

[Uncle Monkey]

I volunteer for BETA testing, my raspi is expected to ship 18 September 2012.....

[yotsuya]

I got an email that my Pi will ship the week of June 18th.

[404]

FYI linux is already available for the pi and more will be on their way including ArchLinuxArm. ChromeOS has also just been ported to the pi but not available to the public along with a few stand alone games like quake.

I stopped keeping up with the raspberry pi mainly because i couldn't get one. Apparently, only "l33t kewl c0derz" were able to get one first. I guess i wasn't cool enough to get in line. From what i can remember, The issue with mame has nothing to do with it actually being able to be compiled, rather being able to run efficiently. The 2D drivers for the SOC processor uses is proprietary and last i remember, it was pretty poor. A demonstration of The Gimp was shown with some awful results in terms of 2d performance. Perhaps older builds of Mame for *Nix can run decently however, newer builds using SDL may not. Either way, a proper, third party driver implementation may be required.

[wussie]

Many of the drivers are still in alpha stages.  Sound performance is pretty poor at the moment.  Hissing and crackling, and if you change volume too quickly it crashes the system.  I expect by June/July when I am supposed to receive my pi that many of the driver issues will be somewhat addressed.

[wussie]

I managed to snag a keyboard for free for the build, bonus is that it has a built in USB hub!  It's almost a shame I'm going to rip it apart to wire the CP together!



Not bad for a free keyboard, build is still at $44 spent.

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Let us know when you guys actually have a Pi in hand.

 

3 guys in my office were playing with theirs today.

they look pretty cool. We had them running the LXDE desktop. I'm impressed. 

[P-chan]

Let us know when you guys actually have a Pi in hand.

 

3 guys in my office were playing with theirs today.

they look pretty cool. We had them running the LXDE desktop. I'm impressed. 

I got the go ahead to order mine last week, should be here in late June.  I'm planning something similar to what AlanS17 mentioned, a portable MAME CP with the RPi integrated into the unit, a single player CP with a couple external USB ports for gamepads for players 2-4 to plug in.....

[wussie]

I ordered mine without the go ahead, their website says it should ship middle of next month, but my last email from them said september...  I'm not holding my breath, but I am getting pretty excited to get this thing!

[kahlid74]

Received my Pi from Element14.  The other guys have confirmed it's been shipped too so I should have the second by Monday.  As soon as this Sev 1 is resolved I'm going to plug it in downstairs and get it rolling with MAME.  I'll let ya know what I see.

[kahlid74]

I paid $35 bucks flat.  Shipping was free for some reasons from Element 14.  Shipping from the other dudes was like $2 bucks.

I already came across a bunch of gotchas with it so I'll create a post in the main forums with it's info.

[CoryBee]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110687176621

[P-chan]

I paid $35 bucks flat.  Shipping was free for some reasons from Element 14.  Shipping from the other dudes was like $2 bucks.

I already came across a bunch of gotchas with it so I'll create a post in the main forums with it's info.

[img width=640 height=856]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t54/Kahlid74/GAMKEPi/pi1.jpg[img]

[img width=640 height=856]http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t54/Kahlid74/GAMKEPi/pi2.jpg[img]

I have one that should be arriving any day now, please post some details or link to the new thread!

[404]

I've pretty much given up immediate hope of getting one in a timely manner. I think I'll just stick to using miniITX boards for now. You can get an older, second hand ITX unit for just as cheap and twice as strong these days. They would still fit a vast majority of projects.

The pi would be awesome with one of the tiny minimus powered encoders though.

[kahlid74]

The Pi's performance in Arch Linux is fantastic.  Snappy and responsive but the performance in Ubuntu with a GUI can be challenging sometimes.  Running Advanced MAME on Ubuntu is hit or miss with most games and it's been done a bunch of times by people.

My current forward momentum with the Pi is to use Arch Linux with MAME(Advanced/SDL/X/Etc.) on OpenGL to make use of the graphics processor.  If this can be done, it should be able to play 99% of the games reliably.  If it can't, Pi isn't really an option for MAME machines if you want consistency with any game played.

[Uncle Monkey]

I'm so happy that LINUX-smart people are blazing this trail. So now work really hard and try and get it figured out by September.....when I get mine.

[johncl]

Still havent received my RPi but its just around the corner. I see people have some success with the Pi and Mame. I guess older games like Donkey Kong will run fine? My only problem with the RPi is that it doesnt have VGA output and most older (and cheap) 4:3 LCD panels only have a VGA input.

I finally got xubuntu to boot up on my Via Epia CN13000 (CN700 chipset) and although xubuntu works fine, I tried to run sdlmame on it which was absolutely a terrible slideshow of a thing when trying to run Donkey Kong on it. Dunno why really as I sort of thought the CN13000 was on par with the RPi performance wise. I guess will try Puppylinux again some day although i had problems getting that to boot at all on the machine. I'd love to give the old Via board a life in my Donkey Kong bartop project.

[johncl]

I really would love to void a lenghty boot to run Mame so I found AdvanceMame (which doesnt seem to be supported anymore?) and a nice AdvanceCD setup where I was able to make a bootable USB stick. Unfortunately when I boot it on my Via Epia CN13000 it stops telling me that the it cannot find any graphics mode supported. - It seems the Via chipset is really not supported well, although I think I have read someone running AdvanceMame on an old Epia 5000 fine. Some advice on how to get AdvanceMame booting up on my Via board would be great.

[johncl]

I was able to boot FreeDos from a USB stick so I tried copying AdvanceMame DOS onto it but with no success, it is able to run the initial config procedure, but when I try to run e.g. dkong with it the screen scrambles up with no result. According to the AdvanceMame pages the Via Unichrome chipset should be supported so I dont know what could be the problem unless I need to configure something to get it going and using the right video card driver or something?

I am able to boot puppy linux on the Via board but the Mame performance is too bad using the vesa graphics options. It runs at 50% speed or thereabout. I got a small speed improvement if I change the resolution on the desktop to the lowest (640x480x16) before starting it, but setting PAMame to 320x240 does nothing to improve the speed (it seems to scale the game up to desktop resolution). SDLMame seems to base its settings of mame.ini in the user folder but I have not been trying to tweak that... perhaps that could make it run better? I'd love to use the old Via CN13000 board for something useful like playing Donkey Kong!

[Jigenjuke]

I was able to boot FreeDos from a USB stick so I tried copying AdvanceMame DOS onto it but with no success, it is able to run the initial config procedure, but when I try to run e.g. dkong with it the screen scrambles up with no result. According to the AdvanceMame pages the Via Unichrome chipset should be supported so I dont know what could be the problem unless I need to configure something to get it going and using the right video card driver or something?

I am able to boot puppy linux on the Via board but the Mame performance is too bad using the vesa graphics options. It runs at 50% speed or thereabout. I got a small speed improvement if I change the resolution on the desktop to the lowest (640x480x16) before starting it, but setting PAMame to 320x240 does nothing to improve the speed (it seems to scale the game up to desktop resolution). SDLMame seems to base its settings of mame.ini in the user folder but I have not been trying to tweak that... perhaps that could make it run better? I'd love to use the old Via CN13000 board for something useful like playing Donkey Kong!

Hey there johncl,

I am using an older version of a VIA board the M10000.  This runs great with MAME 32 1.32 under windows XP.  I am using 256megs of ram and onboard video.

Jigenjuke

[Jigenjuke]

Sorry, you can check out the rig here, and I guess I upped it to 512 megs...

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,106894.0.html

[johncl]

Hey there johncl,

I am using an older version of a VIA board the M10000.  This runs great with MAME 32 1.32 under windows XP.  I am using 256megs of ram and onboard video.

Jigenjuke

Hi, and thanks that good news to hear. I seem to recall reading many using these old Via boards for mame so I was really at a loss at how to achieve this. But you know, I'd rather avoid XP alltogether as I really wanted to have a free OS on this thing, and preferably something that boots much faster directly into mame. It sounded to me that AdvanceMame would be the thing, but the only bootable distro they made of that was AdvanceCD which has very limited hardware support it seems. The pure AdvanceMame DOS builds seems to support the Via chipset but alas I have had no luck running that from FreeDos at least. Perhaps I need MSDOS for it to run? Perhaps some memory issues that need to be adressed (I recall that as being a problem in MSDOS when I tinkered a lot with that 20 years ago). Or perhaps it simply some configuration I need to do to enable the Via chipset drivers to run? Also I have found OpenChrome which should be Via drivers for linux, perhaps I need to install or compile and configure these in some way (both of these are things I have no knowledge of as I am very green in the linux world).

Ah I also read that maybe I need to use an old mame build as the latter ones are too CPU intensive? Perhaps I can get an older one running on puppy arcade? Any idea how I would go about getting that? I will only run the classics like Donkey Kong and Pac Man on this arcade project.

Also if anyone has a bootable image of a linux/dos distro for Via chipset with a working mame I would be eternally grateful!

BTW Jigenjuke, fantastic mini arcade projects you are working on, amazing that you are making so many of them at the same time. My current project which I will make a thread about here soon is a classic Donkey Kong Bartop similar to this one. I am quite sure I tried this exact bartop on R3Play 2010 in Blackpool and perhaps even had a short chat with the creator. I got some free 11mm MDF which could work very well for this project although I will have problems fitting white t-molding to it, but more about that when I start my own thread.

BTW2: Sorry for "offtopic'ing" this thread, please continue with the PiCade work/chat! I just got my RPi in the mail yesterday! If that works fine for DonkeyKong I might even try to find a 4:3 LCD with a video-in port since the RPi has that output (imo the RPi sorely lacking a VGA port).

[johncl]

To bring this thread back on topic I thought I'd ask you all (since I now have my RPi), what screen options for an arcade DIY'er is there for the RPi? I feel a decent arcade project needs a 15-17" screen and preferably one that is 4:3 aspect. From what I have seen, almost all older LCDs only have a VGA input and the RPi only has RCA and DVI output. My older 20" Dell Ultrasharp 2001FP however has both SVHS and composite input (is that the same as RCA?) so this might work although that screen is too big. I think I have seen these screens very cheap used now.

The only 4:3 screens with RCA input I can find are small 7" things which is too small for at least my arcade project.

Perhaps there even are some real (and cheap) arcade screens with RCA input? Or even some 15" inch old LCD tvs to be found? Or for that sense new 15-17" screens with DVI input (assuming these are all 16:9 I guess one would want to go 17" and just centre the picture and make a frame/cover on the top and bottom for portrait mounting)?

[stuckpixel]

Look at HDMI to DVI adapters. Most monitors will have a DVI port you can use. Should only be a couple bucks.

You can also get a HDMI to VGA adapter -- but you need to actually have some electronics doing that to go from the digital to analog signal I believe -- cost of that would be about what the pi cost you.

[javeryh]

The only 4:3 screens with RCA input I can find are small 7" things which is too small for at least my arcade project.

Where are you seeing 7" monitors that are 4:3 with a VGA port?  I'd be very interested if the price was right.

[stuckpixel]

Look at like the car lcd monitors - there are a bunch out there-- most aren't 4:3 these days though.

[johncl]

Where are you seeing 7" monitors that are 4:3 with a VGA port?  I'd be very interested if the price was right.

Well, as I said I can find several 7" screens with RCA (video in) input, not VGA input (which is no good for RPi). Neither can I really find 15" LCDs with DVI or HDMI input to save the day. Most cheap 4:3 ones you can find have a VGA input. Which again baffles me a bit since obviously the cheap RPi can be used for hooking up old monitors which all have VGA ports. Most monitors I can find today with DVI (which could have worked with a HDMI->DVI adapter) are 16:9 which really isnt the best way to go for a Donkey Kong machine. - The more expensive HDMI to VGA adapters will naturally work (I guess there are some cheap ones from China you can buy on ebay) so I might even go that route if I want to use the RPi for my project.

As for 4:3 7" screens you can find some used ones from e.g. Liliput around, but I feel almost all these have exceptionally low resolution for an arcade. I'd rather have a 1024x768 LCD for this to emulate some raster lines as well. 

[Jigenjuke]

Hey there johncl,

I am using an older version of a VIA board the M10000.  This runs great with MAME 32 1.32 under windows XP.  I am using 256megs of ram and onboard video.

Jigenjuke

Hi, and thanks that good news to hear. I seem to recall reading many using these old Via boards for mame so I was really at a loss at how to achieve this. But you know, I'd rather avoid XP alltogether as I really wanted to have a free OS on this thing, and preferably something that boots much faster directly into mame. It sounded to me that AdvanceMame would be the thing, but the only bootable distro they made of that was AdvanceCD which has very limited hardware support it seems. The pure AdvanceMame DOS builds seems to support the Via chipset but alas I have had no luck running that from FreeDos at least. Perhaps I need MSDOS for it to run? Perhaps some memory issues that need to be adressed (I recall that as being a problem in MSDOS when I tinkered a lot with that 20 years ago). Or perhaps it simply some configuration I need to do to enable the Via chipset drivers to run? Also I have found OpenChrome which should be Via drivers for linux, perhaps I need to install or compile and configure these in some way (both of these are things I have no knowledge of as I am very green in the linux world).

Ah I also read that maybe I need to use an old mame build as the latter ones are too CPU intensive? Perhaps I can get an older one running on puppy arcade? Any idea how I would go about getting that? I will only run the classics like Donkey Kong and Pac Man on this arcade project.

Also if anyone has a bootable image of a linux/dos distro for Via chipset with a working mame I would be eternally grateful!

BTW Jigenjuke, fantastic mini arcade projects you are working on, amazing that you are making so many of them at the same time. My current project which I will make a thread about here soon is a classic Donkey Kong Bartop similar to this one. I am quite sure I tried this exact bartop on R3Play 2010 in Blackpool and perhaps even had a short chat with the creator. I got some free 11mm MDF which could work very well for this project although I will have problems fitting white t-molding to it, but more about that when I start my own thread.

BTW2: Sorry for "offtopic'ing" this thread, please continue with the PiCade work/chat! I just got my RPi in the mail yesterday! If that works fine for DonkeyKong I might even try to find a 4:3 LCD with a video-in port since the RPi has that output (imo the RPi sorely lacking a VGA port).

Hey there again Johncl,

As far as a 7 inch VGA monitor you could try a Lilliput 7 Inches VGA Tft LCD Monitor.  I have used these before and they work very well especially with the VIA chrome chipsets, but I don't think that you will find one to keep you in your price range.  I made three 3/4 size "bartops" DOnkey Kong, Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong Jr.  a few years back.   I started out using Fujitsu PCs but then soon switched again used the EPIA Via M10000 boards.  In these machines I was lucky to find some cheap 15-17inch 4:3 monitors on the Japanese Yahoo auction site.  Many of the 17 inch 4:3 displays here in Japan have the dvi input, but again it would be cost prohibitive to send one to you.  Look around I believe that the Iyama monitors have what you are looking for in maybe a 17 inch size.  These would fit beautifully in a DK replica "bartop".   If there is anything I can do to help let me know. 

Many folks here have suggested an adapter.  That's probably the best way for you to go.  The little 8.4 inch monitors I have in the Mini Pac/Ms. Pac replicas are point of sale touch screen monitors for the local shipping company here in Japan called Kuronekko.   These are great but I haven't seen anymore recently. 

You can check out the DK, DK Jr. and Mario thread here...  And thanks for the kind words.  Good luck!

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,85596.msg897800.html#msg897800

Jigenjuke

[johncl]

Hi and thanks for your reply. I guess I have been a bit confusing in my posts about what i am actually seeking.

I have a very nice HP 15" 4:3 LCD with a VGA port now that I planned to use in my 1/2 size Donkey Kong bartop (fits perfectly in the design with 30 cm width front). My original plan was to use a Via Epia 13000 board for this but so far I have had no luck getting 100% framerate on even simple games like Donkey Kong. Then at the same time I see some people running Mame games on the RPi (which I recently also got) and I wouldnt mind using that instead since its so small and possibly an excellent choice for projects like this. Now the problem is that the RPi dont have VGA output so I started hunting for 15" LCDs with either a RCA (video in) or HDMI, but the only ones I can find with HDMI at least are bigger than 15" and 16:9 format. Furthermore, the only ones I can find with RCA input are the car screens which normally are no bigger than 10" (mostly 7" or lower) - and these all have very low resolution.

And as you say you can find 17" 4:3 LCDs with DVI port, getting smaller ones like 15" with DVI is harder it seems since DVI was introduced as most screens produced were 17" or higher. The only 15" I have found with both DVI and even HDMI are all very expensive storefront touch screen things at $300+.

Basically you can find on ebay and many places today very nice used 15" 4:3 format LCDs for $25 (I got mine for about that) but they all have a VGA port. If my option is to buy a new screen for $150+ I might as well just get a mini-itx Atom based board with a VGA output and use my 15" for the project. Hope that clarifies.

Although my hopes are still to get Mame running fine on the Via 13000 which really should be faster than the 10000 or even 5000 which I know some people run mame on. To further complicate matters I dont want to run WinXP but Linux since I want a faster boot directly into the game if possible. I am just starting out on Linux really so perhaps I can build some older mame version that works fine for games like Donkey Kong (see my other thread about this question).

Again sorry for the offtopic chat, I'd be interested in following the OPs RPi project as it can be a very good discussion for using the RPi in arcade projects, both mini ones or bartops. If anyone find good suitable 15" 4:3 screens for the RPi then I am sure more people than me would love to know where to find them!

EDIT: Small update, I have been able to use Rufus 1.1.7f to make a bootable USB Stick with FreeDos AND install Dos Mame 0.90b which boots fine on a Thinkpad at work and Mame worked fine with donkey kong after installing a memory manager file that was missing. I found most info here which is a very nice site about Mame in DOS. The whole thing boots exceptionally fast from USB stick and Donkey Kong loaded immediately. If I can get this working on my Via Epia CN13000 at home I will  be very very happy. I see that it should support AC97 sound chip as well as it can emulate a soundblaster. Cant wait to try this at home as it will be a much cleaner solution than booting into WinXP or a Linux desktop to run Mame. It feels like a DonkeyKong on a stick ready to be played anywhere !

EDIT2: Jigenjuke, thats some amazing bartops you have made in that other thread. How could I have missed that. You also have a red DonkeyKong bartop just like the one I am making. I also notice you use 12mm MDF which is about the same size as i am using (mine might possibly be 11mm). I'd be very interested in how easy it was to cut the groove in that for the t-molding. I am a bit afraid that it might split up since the boards are a bit thin at 11-12mm. If it works fine I will surely get some of that 1/2" t-molding which I assume you have cut nicely with a knife after mounting it to make it flush with the sides?