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X-Arcade Tankstick limited button presses (6 button limitation)

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unkpinball:
I'm going through other trials and tribulations with my new tankstick and have one quick newbieish question. If I switch out to the ipac, would it now be possible to map the directional arrow keys to the tankstick joysticks instead of only being able to (try to) map the numlock pad-directionals(8/4/6/2) for joystick control?

Getting the numlock keys to work and stay working with different emulators, and their menus, on the tankstick is driving me seriously bonkers. The arrow keys can't be mapped, and they're the mame and every other emulators in the world defaults. I've spent hours/days on this. Maybe it's just me.  :cry:

Thanks!

PL1:

--- Quote from: unkpinball on November 09, 2012, 10:04:26 am ---If I switch out to the ipac, would it now be possible to map the directional arrow keys to the tankstick joysticks instead of only being able to (try to) map the numlock pad-directionals(8/4/6/2) for joystick control?

--- End quote ---

You can program the I-Pac inputs to whatever keys you want (FAQ here) or use the default keycodes.


Scott

molton:
check out my old thread where I put an I-pac in my tankstick if you want, heres a link

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,120271.msg1275188.html#msg1275188

unkpinball:
Thanks for the ipac info. Always thought it was weird that the x-arcade couldn't be programmed to map the directional keys, but could map every other key on the keyboard. They confirmed it as true. Sure would have saved a lot of frustration instead of hassling with the numlock's.

edit: just ordered an I-pac 2, I've had enough of configuration files, kludging with other emulation programs, etc. Hopefully a Saturday afternoon with wire snips, strippers, solder gun and patience will solve all problems. X-arcade ought to just put in an ipac anyways.

Now to google 'how to rip off laminate from particle board without tearing everything up to replace ugly x with cool layout".  :laugh2:

unkpinball:
Finished installing the ipac2 in my X-Arcade Tankstick. Wish I had done this the first day I bought the Tankstick. Everything works perfectly now with all defaults to Mame, and hardly any configuring.

I did it without any soldering at all, though I might touch up some connections later just to be safe. I marked all the plugin connections to the X-Arcade circuit board on the connections themselves after downloading the 'schematic' from the site. Then unplugged the wires from the connectors using a small screwdriver to push down the tiny latch that sticks up. Did this one socket at a time, one wire at a time. Didn't have to mark wires that way.

It's a pia pulling the wire out of the little white connector, but can be done quickly once you get the hang of it. Then I squished the connector smaller with a pair of needle nose pliers, and inserted it into the proper iPac socket for that button/joystick and tightened down. Probably easier instead of stripping the wires and soldering the end to get a better contact. Only drawback is that if you need to get the connector back out of the iPac for some reason, the 'Chinese Finger Torture grip' that the iPac uses might hang up on the connector.

There were 3 or 4 connectors that weren't long enough to reach the iPac, but as noted elsewhere the trackball has scads of extra wires with multiple connectors on every wire, just snip off a few (make sure they aren't being used) and replace the stock wire on the button/stick connector. I also had to use some to run grounds to a couple far buttons.

Most of the ground wiring I just shoved the bare end connector into another ground 'socket' that was available and again squished with pliers to daisy chain them. After I finished I did a circuit check between the ground connectors of each button and joystick and the iPac two ground screw connectors.

I also realized that I could get two more buttons on the controller by using the now useless ones on the back. Drilled two holes in the upper left after measuring 23 times and installed the button. Using them for pause and escape. See picture.

I could probably do the whole thing in 3 or 4 hours now. Just have to go slow and not lose track of wires. I did one at a time, completing it before moving to next wire.

Then just screwed the iPac down with two screws, plugged it in, along with the trackball usb connector, and booted up. Had to boot twice to get the driver properly installed, after that it worked in Hyperspin, Mame first time.

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