Recent Posts

Yes, I have the ultimarc u trak as well and would agree that this problem isn't fixable. I've opened it up and it's clean and smooth rolling inside. I've used it for years and it's never fixed itself by some magic roller break-in. I suspect the wobble is a design issue. I would have to assume that they had to make sacrifices to make it installable in wood panels without a mounting plate.

The U-trak trackball is good enough for "roll forward" bowling and golf games, but not great for "roll all around" games like missile command or centipede, as some directions will make the ball jump and resist and others will be smooth. In short, it doesn't function at what I would call arcade quality.

I have the same trackball - and the exact same issue since day one until today.
So I don't think any cleaning will help with this issue. (Though cleaning all parts, especially the bearings is still a good advice!)

It is said, that after an hour of heavy use the ball will groove itself into the bars. That did not happen for me.
The issue comes with its design. The ball needs allowance (wording?) to roll fast but because of the high friction and angle (movement relative to bars) it cannot transfer the full force to the bars in some directions so it goes up.
If the ball had less allowance it would not wobble but touch the case or other parts than the bars -> more friction less spin.
The ideal design would have two bars above the canter point of the ball to keep it in place.
Anyway..
So in your case to lower the friction use a bit (very small amount) of lube on the ball. I used mlking greas since we have that at home and it works wonders.
While this is not permanent, it is a good solution for some gaming sessions.

I really would like to try out other trackballs like the ones pbj (mentioned) but they are probably to expensive to just test them.

Hi Rick, I hadn't heard you'd shut down. I hope you are doing well, but it's always sad to hear when these pillars of the community fall :/ SEem like you're not giving up the hobby though?

This forum has been really slow of late, but i'm sure Grant is still around somewhere.

Joey as in Jomac? If not, you might add him to the list? He does a lot of Nanao stuff.

Namco put 25" monitors in them and that is WAY too big for the cabinet -- it just looks clumsy to me

I can't imagine shoehorning a 25" into my Galaga or Pac cabinets.

Cheers.

Hi. Quick question...If I were to put a new OLED monitor in my cab *only*  for vertical orientated games like Pac-Man, Galaga, etc, I'd obviously install and rotate it for "TATE" mode. So with that mind, what size monitor would you recommend for this purpose?

I have been pretty happy with the ASUS ProArt 24.1" monitor I have. Been using it rotated with a Mister hooked up to it and the Pacman timing for the patterns with my Sanwa joystick and 3lb spring has been spot on.. I mean, I have not made a kill screen or anything, but have broken 750k. I bet an OLED would be amazing, have not really seen any smaller than 27" on Amazon.

Hi Mike,

I have a Force 2003 (LCD) that I would like to save the key for, do you have a solution for that model?

Thanks

Thank you

all great food for thought, Ill let you know how it goes!

Thanks!
 
Owning that wheel for several years  - why didn't I know that?
I've might seen this interface for controllers, but I'm sure not for a wheel.
Pretty sure this will help me in the future.

Vic

Hey guys, i am new to all of this and made me a 4 LED Setup with my 58 Inch TV. It is to big, i have to stand behind the Couch and point to the TV. sitting on the couch, i am way to near. So i ordered a Fisheye-Lens and hope this will fix the problem with the distance.

BUT i have antother problem. When I calibrate the gun with 4 LEDs, the Wiimote has to be rotated a little bit to make all 4 Points inside the zones.
I made pictures and put my phone on the wiimote so you can see how angled i have to turn the wiimote to make it horizontal.

The slight rotation is fine. As long as the software signals that it's correctly positioned, proceed with the calibration process. 

Keep in mind though, fish eye lens is not programmed yet for definitive line-of-sight tracking. If you plan on using a crosshair (ie Teknoparrot games) on-screen, it'll be fine. Otherwise, don't depend on it.

Use a "Wide" angle lens instead. They usually come in the same pack as the fish eye lens.  Hopefully a wide lens will let you game on the couch while maintaining good tracking.

Thank you for  the response. Yeah there was a wide-angle lens in the pack and it really is better. With the fish-eye lens the IR-LEDs start to flicker. With wide-angle its good. I don't get as much distance cut but its better.
I will do a calibration and try with games today. Hope i can play when this is done.

Also one or two other things i saw happening last time i tried:

1. Sometimes the aim jumps around in game. Mostl in the same 2 spots. left and right top.
2. Also the aim is not aligned corretly. I tried house of the dead 2 remake for Wii (Doplhin) and the aim always was off for 10-20 cm on screen.

Perhaps you also have a tip to fix those two, too 

1. Sounds like a distance issue, if I had to guess. The corners are the "furthest" away from a tracking perspective so the software can't see at least 3 of the 4 infrared.

2. In house of the dead 2 Wii, there's a calibration screen in the main menu options. Calibrate the gun in house of the dead 2 and try again.

MAJ 01/18/2026


Download on GitHub:

(release and sources)
https://github.com/HardCade/hardcade/releases

================================================================================
CRT-MAME-ARCADE-2D Perceptual Sync 0.168 V2.1
================================================================================

Development Version — December 2025
© 2025 Hardcade — Olivier Mileo

================================================================================
DESCRIPTION
================================================================================

CRT-MAME-ARCADE-2D Perceptual Sync is a specialized version of MAME 0.168 optimized for
2D arcade on 15 kHz CRT monitors under WINXP-32 with ATI or NVIDIA graphics card +
crt_emu drivers or soft15khz.

Three complementary approaches for CRT video synchronization and selection are
offered for total control of your display:


  INI Option auto_refresh_sync = 0

→ MANUAL PERFECT SYNC MODE: Precise tuning of the Refresh Rate Slider up to
  4 decimals (±0.0001 Hz) for total timing control. Ideal for purists
  who want to calibrate each game individually and achieve strictly
  authentic hardware timing with quasi-invisible fixed tearing.


  INI Option auto_refresh_sync = 1

→ AUTOMATIC PERFECT SYNC MODE (DDRAW): The real CRT refresh rate is measured automatically
  at game launch, after the video screen has produced a sufficient number of stable frames.
  The calculated value is applied dynamically to the video engine and user slider in memory
  only (no writing to CFG file). Ultra-smooth scrolling even on atypical modelines
  (57.45878 Hz, 58.25494 Hz, 60.61575 Hz…)


  HARDCADE SWITCHRES CRT (Built-in)

→ OPTIMIZED 15KHZ MODE SELECTION: A deep rewrite of the DirectDraw algorithm.
  Unlike standard MAME, this version prioritizes fluidity (Hz) over exact
  resolution through a ±24 line vertical tolerance. It allows using your best
  240p modelines for the entire catalog (224p, 239p, 256p...) to guarantee
  always complete, centered display, and perfect vertical synchronization without stuttering.


Choose your philosophy: absolute manual control or automatic fluidity without effort.
Both methods eliminate mobile tearing and guarantee an optimal CRT experience.
If your modelines are close to the original game timings, activating this
option will offer you the ultimate experience.

If your modelines are far from the original timings, you will only perceive a slight
increase or decrease in game speed, while maintaining perfect timing in terms
of smooth scrolling, tearing elimination, and overall visual fidelity.