Help please - 15hz mon, G400, JPAC & win98

[graveyardjohn]

Hi guys,

I've got myself a 78-80 Japanese Space Invaders cocktail cab, no board, but the monitor in good working condition. This is to work in conjunction with a Matrox G400 (As recommended by your good selves and on the MonArc+ web pages) and a JPAC.

The problem is that I can't get an output of (what I believe to be) 15hz to go through the JPAC into the monitor. I can get a windows image at 31hz, (pins at 15 and 31), but it is the standard 'chopped in two' picture, as described in the Ultimarc faq. Running advancemenu and into advancemame gives me the same chopped up image.

Running advcfg.exe from advancemame gives me the error 'No video driver is able to program your video board', so I can't seem to configure my video settings this way.

As soon as I run MON ARC+ makescr command, the 'sync on' light goes out on the JPAC and no signal is allowed through, even after switching to 15hz using 'F1'. The same happens if I just run g400tsr.exe - my PC monitor becomes distorted, it says the output is 15hz, and goes into powersave after 20 seconds.

Can anyone offer any advice please?
Do I need a different set of Matrox G400 Drivers than that listed at the Matrox site (w9x_683) ?

Thanks,
John

[menace]

http://easymamecab.mameworld.net/html/mg400.htm

Been here yet?--I think it should meet your needs.

[graveyardjohn]

Hey, thanks for replying!
 I had a look there yesterday, and tried to follow some of the advice, but it seems like my setup doesn't want to run like theirs.

In straight DOS, (boot to command line) the JPAC sync-in light doesn't come on.

Is there a straightforward process? I can't find a step-by-step guide as to how to get 15hz through the JPAC.

Thanks!

[graveyardjohn]

OK, I've got a little further, thanks for the advice so far.

http://easymamecab.mameworld.net/html/advadv.htm

This place reckons its EASY to set it all up   .
BUT, I've got to  "Complete the advcfg utility."
And now I'm stuck - whichever format I seem to set won't be let through the JPAC. I haven't managed to even get a DOS command line through the JPAC yet, should I be able to? Anytime I go into DOS, or a DOS box in Windows, I can't get anything to the monitor.

[dabone]

Get a copy of advancecab.

http://advancemame.sourceforge.net

Later,
dabone

p.s. This is for dos.

You aren't going to get windows running on the 15k monitor with that card.

[tisurame]

I have the same card, and I can get 15khz (320x240 and 640x480) under Windows using AdvanceCab (Windows Version).

[desmatic]

Hi guys,

I've got myself a 78-80 Japanese Space Invaders cocktail cab, no board, but the monitor in good working condition. This is to work in conjunction with a Matrox G400 (As recommended by your good selves and on the MonArc+ web pages) and a JPAC.

The problem is that I can't get an output of (what I believe to be) 15hz to go through the JPAC into the monitor. I can get a windows image at 31hz, (pins at 15 and 31), but it is the standard 'chopped in two' picture, as described in the Ultimarc faq. Running advancemenu and into advancemame gives me the same chopped up image.

Running advcfg.exe from advancemame gives me the error 'No video driver is able to program your video board', so I can't seem to configure my video settings this way.

This is a bad sign.  It suggests that there is either a bug with the version of Advancemame you are using or your video card isn't a typcial matrox g400.

As soon as I run MON ARC+ makescr command, the 'sync on' light goes out on the JPAC and no signal is allowed through, even after switching to 15hz using 'F1'. The same happens if I just run g400tsr.exe - my PC monitor becomes distorted, it says the output is 15hz, and goes into powersave after 20 seconds.

Can anyone offer any advice please?
Do I need a different set of Matrox G400 Drivers than that listed at the Matrox site (w9x_683) ?

Thanks,
John

Download easycab from http://easymamecab.mameworld.net, burn it to disc, and boot your mame pc with it.  There is a 15kHz install option (default, just wait 30 seconds). Use this option to test your setup.  As long as your card is VGA compatible (and almost all are) then you should at least be to get a true 15kHz command prompt.  If you don't get a 15kHz command prompt then your setup is most likely goofed.  If you want, you can install advancemame using the disc as well.  The version of advancemame on the disc is known to work with Matrox's g400.

[graveyardjohn]

Thanks for the detailed reply - I shall give it a try.
I hope its a G400, it looks like one, its using the G400 drivers with no complaints, two vga outputs etc.

I will post back with my findings in a short while....  

{deep breath}......

[graveyardjohn]

 

OK. Now I've spent a whole day and two evenings thus far.

I burned off the CD, as suggested.
Put it in, and the monitor flicked to 15hz.

Got annoyed, then had a thought.

There was no picture in DOS at all, the output only kicked in on the arcade monitor when it got into windows. This lead me to think that the dual output was only supported by Windows drivers. ( I haven't got a manual, and didn't think I needed one - how wrong I was)

*TRY* *SWAPPING* *THE* *DUAL* *OUTPUTS* *AROUND*

One swap round of the leads, and I've got a stable semi-readable output on the cabinet.

I see a long evening of configuration ahead

Thanks everyone who replied to help. Hopefully I'll be able to return the favour someday!