Recent Posts

Update:

I got in my crimper tool. It took a few extra days to come, but it did finally come and wow, is it sooooo much better then trying to crimp wires with a needlenose plyers. For those that may one day need to know what crimper to use (because there are many different sizes), I found this one to be the cheapest that would do the deed:

iCrimp SN-28B

After I prepared all my LEDs I then attempted to install them in the buttons. My first plan was to drill right down the middle of the button under the microswitch. This failed completely because the microswitch got in the way or the wires got in the way of microswitch (depending on placement). It was at this point I realized the importance of drilling holes in the switch to allow for the wires to pass through. BUT, that would necessitate a LOT of work on my part after attaching all the dupont connectors on the ends and I wasn't convinced it was necessary.

Instead I ended up drilling for the LEDs in the side of the button at an angle. That worked incredibly well and was much easier to deal with. Here is how that looked:





The light is probably not quite as even as it could be at the button tops, BUT it still lights up the individual buttons and it honestly does look good. So I am calling that one a win. Here is how my control board looked all wired up:



At this point I installed the controlboard and began working on the software side of the LEDs.

I downloaded LEDBlinky and started configuring it. And here I ran into a problem. I stopped configuration part way through and then later came back to it. BUT MAME would never light up more then the coin buttons and 1 player button. The pause button, and the rest of the player buttons never lit. I tried a bunch of different things but have not gotten any farther with that issue. I suspect it has something to do with a save state of some kind with LEDBlinky installing a config file somewhere that it never overwrote once I finished the configuration. Bigbox had no trouble lighting the correct buttons and the buttons would cheerfully go through animations, but not stay lit once the games started.



That said... this is small potatos compared to what happened next.

While I was spinning my wheels on the LED software issue I decided to go ahead and install the ventilation into the cabinet. To that end I bought some 3" soffit vents. I decided to pull my computer out of the cabinet for the drilling since I knew it would produce a lot of sawdust I wouldn't want to fall into my computer. I drilled the holes and installed the vents:



I cleaned up the sawdust and then went to push my computer back inside. And that.. that was when I noticed my mini-usb cable that connects my IPAC Ultimate to my computer just kind of laying on the floor of the cabinet......... It would seem that my cable was a bit too short and I didn't even notice the tug when I pulled my computer out. But that tug would be when my too short cord ripped apart the usb port on the ipac ultimate... /le sigh.

I watched some videos of how to desolder and re-attach a usb port but it looked beyond my skills. So now I have to wait for a new ipac ultimate before I can move further along on this build. I also ordered a longer mini-usb cable....

Ballooning is something else again. I did it once..very tranquil. It blows mind that balloonists basically steer by going up and down to find the right direction of wind. An understanding of weather far beyond the average pilot I reckon.

Mines still not flying yet, but I did taxi it around the airfield on the weekend..it looks really nice on the ground 😊

Thanks, minorhero! Very kind.

My number one tip for a vpin would be to use Windows instead of Linux. My #2 tip would be to plan your build around standard PC parts with a discrete GPU instead of a mini-PC. Basically, do everything exactly opposite to what I've done and you should be golden 

I had asked a similar question here in the software forum when I was in the planning stages for this one, but it ended up more a monologue in which I answered my own question and gave some reasoning for it.

Why use Windows? Because 97% of the visual pinball speaking world is pretty sure that you're using Windows, and that's where all of the software, utilities, features and toys are located.

Why use standard PC components? Because you won't be artificially constrained by hardware and have greater upgrade potential.

A third consideration would be to have clear target for your goals before budgeting for a machine. A 4K resolution build will cost (at least) an order of magnitude more than a 1440 or 1080p build due to the PC hardware and display required, and for that reason it doesn't really make a lot of sense to try to build a 4K mini - you're much better off going full size at that point. 

I don't regret the hardware or software choices made for this build one bit, and quite the contrary, I'm really stoked on this machine. But, it was more an exercise in learning and hacking which I find to be enjoyable in a kind of masochistic way, and it enabled me to build the machine for astonishingly little cost (less than $75 USD in direct costs, and well under $200 in total if repurposed existing parts are taken into account).

Hope this helps in some way! 

This is super helpful! Thank you! The final pictures look great, congratulations on an awesome build!

This is beautiful. It's a really compact design too - perfect if you don't have room for a full sized machine. How does it feel to play?

You have to post a video of it in action - boot up, game select and some demos! 

Beloved Rapture

Steam

GOG.com

Native res is 426x240

426x240









In loving memory of Sergi Clara (psakhis)

Except for a couple of minor parts that will never be seen, it's finished! Here's some pics:


Playfield glare is not as bad as it appears in photos, but maybe I'll take some nighttime pics soon.




Functional lockplate with updated control panel






Volume control at top, AC cord exit at bottom, both finished with 35mm desk grommets





I've really enjoyed this build, even though it has been frustrating at times. It's a ton of fun in action.

Thanks for following along!

That matching keyboard 

It lives...

RIP psakhis. Thank you for all the joy you bought to others you will be greatly missed.

Thanks, minorhero! Very kind.

My number one tip for a vpin would be to use Windows instead of Linux. My #2 tip would be to plan your build around standard PC parts with a discrete GPU instead of a mini-PC. Basically, do everything exactly opposite to what I've done and you should be golden 

I had asked a similar question here in the software forum when I was in the planning stages for this one, but it ended up more a monologue in which I answered my own question and gave some reasoning for it.

Why use Windows? Because 97% of the visual pinball speaking world is pretty sure that you're using Windows, and that's where all of the software, utilities, features and toys are located.

Why use standard PC components? Because you won't be artificially constrained by hardware and have greater upgrade potential.

A third consideration would be to have clear target for your goals before budgeting for a machine. A 4K resolution build will cost (at least) an order of magnitude more than a 1440 or 1080p build due to the PC hardware and display required, and for that reason it doesn't really make a lot of sense to try to build a 4K mini - you're much better off going full size at that point. 

I don't regret the hardware or software choices made for this build one bit, and quite the contrary, I'm really stoked on this machine. But, it was more an exercise in learning and hacking which I find to be enjoyable in a kind of masochistic way, and it enabled me to build the machine for astonishingly little cost (less than $75 USD in direct costs, and well under $200 in total if repurposed existing parts are taken into account).

Hope this helps in some way!