NEED HELP - Nintendo Vs Unisystem (SMB & RBI) to MAME

[rolandcs]

First post, first project...Newbie all around. This is a FANTASTIC forum & website. The majority of my google searches have all referenced something from this database!

THE STORY:
I grew up playing RBI baseball with my father. There is a bond between that game & I, that has given me many father/son memories *sniff* *sniff*. Grown up now, my housewarming gift to myself was to purchase an RBI arcade upright. I found a local eBay auction that sufficed, and also included a Super Mario Brothers PCB. Not more than 4 months later, the RBI just stopped working.  SMB works just fine, so I know something happened to the RBI PCB. I've kept an I on eBay auctions, quarterarcade.com, but the rarity of the PCB always raised to price more than I would have liked. 2 years later, my poor arcade has been accommodated only by dust bunnies. The victim of neglect. I once again scour the internet for a PCB. Then, a thought hits me. Convert to MAME! I have almost everything I need: The monitor is in great working condition, the cabinet is complete. I even have an old PC sitting around doing nothing. So now you know how I got here.

THE GOAL
I'm only 27, but I value the importance of nostalgia. I do own modern gaming systems, including PS2 & Wii, but even with all the graphics, sound effects & gameplay in our modern world, nothing ever simulated the experience of 8-bit, identical looking, fat men running around the bases. I'd love to keep the arcade intact as much as possible. I want to keep the original two-button controller, original monitor, original sound, original lighting & cabinet. The only thing I want to add is the CPU; not only for more game additions, but for longevity. I feel if I purchase a new PCB, I'm spending just as much $$, but have no idea if it will go bad in a month, year, or what. MAME it is.

THE MONITOR
As I mentioned, I plan on using the monitor equipped in the cabinet. To be honest, I have not wanted to come close to that thing after reading some of the 'high voltage' warnings I've come across, so I can't tell you what size or model it is. I'm fairly certain it is the standard 19" that came with the Unisystems. My first order is to purchase an ArcadeVGA card. I've come across some posts & other guides that give me a pretty good understanding on how to hook the monitor to the PC. Even still, I'm certain from here on out, I'm talking out my a** and honestly would accept any and all advice.

Questions:
1. How do I power the monitor?

THE CONTROLLER
Again, I want to use the original 2-button controller with the system. Now, I've seen guides & posts for making NEW controllers, but I haven't found much in the way of converting an existing one. The only thing I may want to do is add a button(s) for MAME control. I've never used a MAME system and don't know front-to-back how it works, but I'm sure there is  the need for a 'home' button, that takes you to the main interface. Unless I could use a combination of buttons. Pressing the Player 1 & Player 2 buttons simultaneously, for example. Again, I'd love to use the controller as is, so any ideas would be more than welcome.

Question:
1. How? I have no idea how to hook the existing controller to a PC.

SOUND
You guessed it. I want to use the supplied audio to hook up to the PC. I have NO CLUE how to do this.

SYSTEM POWER
Right now, the Unisystem is powered by a single plug. Plug it in, everything turns on. I suspect this is how most vintage arcades are powered, but again, that could be the a** talking. With the addition of a PC, I'm sure power is a bit more challenging. I don't want to unplug and take down the PC along with the monitor. When the system is not in use, my ideal setup would be to power down everthing BUT the PC (monitor, marquee, lights, etc.). I would love even MORE, if it was possible to put the PC in sleep mode. And I would be thrilled if all of this was controlled by a single button...easy huh? I've seen posts about the smart strip, but will that accomplish what I'm looking for?

ASTHETICS
Once I can get everything working, I plan on refinishing the cabinet. It's quite dinged up and most of the artwork is missing or damaged.

I thank you all in advance. I'm the living definition of a newbie, so please have patience with me! I will certainly post pictures of my progress!

-E

[javeryh]

Welcome to the boards!  I'm not sure about how to power your old monitor but you can use an encoder like the ipac or keywiz to connect the controls to your PC.  They are very easy to wire up and relatively cheap ($30-$40 or so depending on what you choose to use).  I'm also not sure what you mean by "supplied audio" - do you just mean that you want to use the speakers that are already in the cab?  If so I imagine all you have to do is splice the two speaker wires from each speaker to the proper plugs for your PC or audio card.  You might want to spring for a new set of speakers though.  The ones I used on my last cabinet were only $10 brand new and it was a 2.1 set.   

[rolandcs]

Welcome to the boards!  I'm not sure about how to power your old monitor but you can use an encoder like the ipac or keywiz to connect the controls to your PC.  They are very easy to wire up and relatively cheap ($30-$40 or so depending on what you choose to use).  I'm also not sure what you mean by "supplied audio" - do you just mean that you want to use the speakers that are already in the cab?  If so I imagine all you have to do is splice the two speaker wires from each speaker to the proper plugs for your PC or audio card.  You might want to spring for a new set of speakers though.  The ones I used on my last cabinet were only $10 brand new and it was a 2.1 set.   

Thanks! Yeah, I was thinking of hooking to the original speaker, but it makes a nasty hum, so maybe upgrading wouldn't be a bad idea...especiall for $10. Can I ask where you bought yours from?

[javeryh]

Welcome to the boards!  I'm not sure about how to power your old monitor but you can use an encoder like the ipac or keywiz to connect the controls to your PC.  They are very easy to wire up and relatively cheap ($30-$40 or so depending on what you choose to use).  I'm also not sure what you mean by "supplied audio" - do you just mean that you want to use the speakers that are already in the cab?  If so I imagine all you have to do is splice the two speaker wires from each speaker to the proper plugs for your PC or audio card.  You might want to spring for a new set of speakers though.  The ones I used on my last cabinet were only $10 brand new and it was a 2.1 set.   

Thanks! Yeah, I was thinking of hooking to the original speaker, but it makes a nasty hum, so maybe upgrading wouldn't be a bad idea...especiall for $10. Can I ask where you bought yours from?

I got the no name set from CompUSA - I'm not sure they are around anymore but I imagine there are similar options out there... they were $20 originally but marked down to $10 when I bought them.  THIS SET from newegg is only $6 so if you look around I'm sure you'll find something...

[rolandcs]

Here's where I'm starting

[2600]

The pics are great in letting us help you.

First, you do not have the inverter board for the monitor.  You would need this if you want to hook up to a PC.  Or you can buy a replacement one from Mikesarcade.com.

Second, the hum isn't coming from the speaker itself, but the electronics so I would throw them out yet.

[Stobe]

Well, you've got your work cut out for you (as you know).

As 2600 alluded to, your monitor looks to be a Sanyo (20EV?) that was used in most Nintendo cabinets.  It uses inverted video, so you'll have to invert the video coming from the AVGA, if you go that route.  Another option (and I know this goes against your original convictions)... take out the working Sanyo monitor and sell it (they fetch good money if working) and mount in a cheap 19-20" computer CRT.  You'll profit from the sale of the Sanyo, and you wont need an AVGA (saves ~$100).

Controls:  Easy enough.  Keep your existing CP wiring harness, and cut the harness on the far side of the connectors.  This way, uoi can easily wire your CP to an encoder, and still be able to remove the CP easily if needed.  If you decide to ditch your nintendo joysticks (many don't like them), I've replaced mine with a J-stick with a black balltop from LizardLick Amusments (or buy the whole joystick from them with the black ball).  They also sell a nintendo replacement joy, but I like the jstick for its easy 4-8 way change, and true 4 way restriction.  The mounting plate will fit in the CP if you shave just a little bit off the metal, or off the routed wood area.

Sound:  simply amplify the mono speaker built in. 

Power:  I would buy a cheap power strip (or a smart strip if you want that extra functionaility) and cut off the 3-prnng plug.  Inside your nintendo cab, you should have a 2 plug connector coming from the power switch (white and black), you should also have a green ground running around the cabinet.  Be sure to double check all this, but for me, the white and black wires coming from the switch matched up with the white and black wires on my power strip, and of course the green goes to green.  Please double check all this, and if you need a procedure for checking, let me know.  With the power strip wired right to the switch, you can run your computer and speakers, and whatever else you needed from the outside switch.

Power (part 2):  to somewhat complicate things.  The nintendo cabinet uses 100VAC for the marquee light and monitor.  If you replace the monitor with PC CRT, no prob.  Then just replace the marquee light with a standard floro, and hook everything up to your new power strip.  One-switch operation then.

If you keep your monitor, you'll need to keep the 100V transformer hooked up to the incoming AC, and continue to use the little 2 plug AC plate you see in between your PCB cage and DC power supply.  Then you would be using the 100VAC for monitor and marquee, and 120VAC for computer, speakers, etc.

I'm more than familiar with all this, because I just finished a similar project.  So please ask any questions you may have.

-Stobe

[Stobe]

On a side note:

Where are you located?  I'd be more than happy to give you a more mame-friendly cabinet in trade for the nintendo cabinet   Make your life a lot easier

-Stobe

[rolandcs]

Thanks for the info Stobe & 2600. Very helpful. The more I think about it, I may in fact ditch the original monitor and put in a PC. Any good recommendations? Any good places to post the monitor for sale?

2600, you mentioned the hum was likely electronics. The sound is definitely coming through the speaker, but I wouldn't doubt if there's some interference from something...any ideas as to what specifically would do that?

I live in the Chicago 'burbs. As much as swapping the arcade would make my life easier, I'm actually looking forward to this project. I will, however, likely be selling many components including the PCBs, marquees and any other components I don't need.

I went ahead and ordered the I-PAC VE yesterday. I'm going to first see if I can properly wire the controls to the PC and if I can get that far, my next step will be the monitor & audio. I'm going to gut it, hopefully in the next weekend or two in hopes of the I-PAC arrival. My last step, before mounting in the cabinet, is to bondo, re-paint & re-do artwork. I'm likely going to keep the same blue paint with white T-mold. I plan on making this Atari plus NES, so I will add those as artwork.

Thanks again for all the advice. Please feel free to forward any and all ideas on to me! I love to hear them!

[2600]

The "Nintendo Hum" is pretty wide known.   Some people have been successful in minimizing the hum by recapping the audio amplifier board that is right next to the monitor chassis.  It can be eliminated by using a separate amplifier which you will have to use anyways.