ArcadeVga on Old style Monitor advice

Optimus Prime

Right, so im building a Mame cabinet and i have the pc setup etc. I have had awfull problems trying to get a decent Monitor\Tv\screen going.

Initially i set it up on a 19"lcd and everything is great, working away fine displaying everything etc. But i know its not retro arcade looking graphics.

I bought two tvs off adverts and tried out a vga to scart cable. One tv just flickered all over the place and the other cut the top and bottom off most games.

I then went off and bought a 19" old skool monitor which is where i am now. I have a DVI to VGA Converter on arcadevga with the vga monitor plugged into that.

Heres the latest problem you might be able to help me out with! Basically it boots up fine until it hits windows then the monitor goes into standby mode or something, even though i can hear windows etc logging on.

Safemode works fine, displays correctly etc no problems at all. I connected back up to the lcd and changed the resolution in windows to 640x480 16bit colour, shutdown the pc and reconnected to the old monitor and once again when it gets to windows off it goes into standbye. I didnt get a chance last night to mess around with it much but if any of you guys have any ideas i would appreciate it.

I feel like throwing the 2 tvs and old monitor out the window!

CiDeRmAn

Not to hijack the thread, sorry Keithgeo, I need a nice step by step to setting up a windows pc to run Mame on startup, as I'm putting a lappy into a cocktail cab Ikea thingy.
Keithgeo, you yourself might have this end of things well in hand, any info or links would be gratefully received.
Also, because of the wireless nature of the arcade stick going into it, I find I'll be able to play vertically and horizontally orientated games, is this a good idea as I thought a vertically only setup would be more "authentic", but having both means more games!
Decisions, decisions!

Optimus Prime

Heres the guide I wrote up for GamersIreland.ie i think it pretty much covers the setup of the pc to boot into a frontend.

Edit; On a seperate note how about if we each setup a thread dedicated to our arcade cab projects? Could be good as a reference point for people going forward??

Edit 2 - Moved the guide to here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=70165619#post70165619

Retr0gamer

Are you running the PC in a screen resolution and refresh rate that the TV can handle?

Optimus Prime

yeh, well the second tv worked ok-ish, but it was cutting the top on bottom off some games, eg you cant see the score on pacman. Im guessing though its because each game runs at different res and the tv isnt able to just flip between resolutions like a monitor can?

Retr0gamer

Yeah the TV can only support a small number of resolutions and all these reolutions are in 60Hz, some old PAL TVs won't run in anything but 50z. A lot of old games only run in resolutions that are native to a monitor and aren't supported by TVs.

Optimus Prime

any idea why i cant get the pc monitor to show anything once it gets into windows?

Retr0gamer

keithgeo wrote: »

any idea why i cant get the pc monitor to show anything once it gets into windows?

Could be that it's so old it doesn't support 16-bit colour? I'm not sure.

Optimus Prime

I dont think its that old to be honest, ill have a mess around with it later and see if i can at least get into windows with really low colours. it goes into safemode fine which is whats throwing me. maybe i should plug it into the standard graphics cards vga port and see if it works that way, maybe its not being picked up plug and play plugging it into the dvi and its still trying to use the lcd screen... hmm..

LoGiE

Hmmm... I think you're a little confused.

Your arcadeVGA has two outputs.

• One for a modern computer monitor
• One for an arcade monitor (Unless Tri-sync this produces resolutions lower the 640x480. Example Mortal Kombat 400x254

The reason your monitor is not displaying is because you old CRT monitor does not support resolutions lower then 640x480 and you've plugged it into the arcade output.

The ArcadeVGA is designed to be used with arcade monitors, not with old tv's and not with CRT computer monitors.

If you want to enjoy the benefits the ArcadeVGA has to offer then you need to get yourself and arcade monitor and power supply. Otherwise you can use the Computer output on the card or any graphics card for that matter to produce an image as you would on a normal pc.

If you decide to buy a arcade monitor there are people that post here that sell them or you can buy one online.


Just in case your wondering my second cab uses a ArcadeVGA3000

LoGiE

Optimus Prime

I thought it would have worked though because of this off Ultimarc for the arcadevga

PC Monitors (including conventional or flat panel) MUST be connected tothe DVI port. If you connect to the VGA port you will get no picture.
Digital DVI monitors just plug in. CRT VGA monitors with a 15-pin VGA plug will need the DVI adaptor plug.

It works fine on the 19" lcd i have on the dvi port.

I have that vga-dvi adapter mentioned above on the older crt vga monitor i have and have it plugged into the dvi port.

The problem is i cant even get windows to display on the monitor unless im in safemode for some reason.

Its an arcadevga 3000 i have myself

LoGiE

keithgeo wrote: »

I thought it would have worked though because of this off Ultimarc for the arcadevga

PC Monitors (including conventional or flat panel) MUST be connected tothe DVI port. If you connect to the VGA port you will get no picture.
Digital DVI monitors just plug in. CRT VGA monitors with a 15-pin VGA plug will need the DVI adaptor plug.

It works fine on the 19" lcd i have on the dvi port.

I have that vga-dvi adapter mentioned above on the older crt vga monitor i have and have it plugged into the dvi port.

The problem is i cant even get windows to display on the monitor unless im in safemode for some reason.

Its an arcadevga 3000 i have myself

The DVI Port is the modern computer output.
If you plug it into the other port you will get no picture as this port is for arcade monitors only.

Double check you have your monitor connected to the right port.

If you are plugging into the correct port with your monitor and are having issues, reinstall the drivers from the cd and use the res tool to change the resoultion to 800 x 600

LoGiE

Optimus Prime

cheers ill give it a go later tonight, im thinking as well that maybe i need to let windows detect this monitor through plug and play because i dont think it did that yet. it may be trying to use the lcd i have and not able to find it. because it boots up fine and displays safemode no problem. It ony goes off once it hits normal windows.

Myrddin

Pc monitors expect 31Khz, your arcadevga is taking your 31Khz signal and changing it to be a 15Khz signal for use on arcade screens. If you want to use a pc monitor, you don't really need an arcadevga at all. If your using a TV, again all you need to do is connect via an s-video adapter (though the quality will be rubbish), afaik an arcadevga signal won't be compatible with a tv anyway.

I agree with LoGiE, save yourself the hassle & pick up a nice Arcade screen from Mitch or something. You'll thank yourself in the end. Not so many moons ago I too was seeking advice here re a suitable screen for a cab conversion. I went as far as purchasing a 19 lcd, had it all ready to go and all. But I said before I rip out a perfectly good monitor, I'll chance the jpac & see what it's like. Am I glad I did I can tell you, thanks to the great advice here, and I'm certain it was LoGiE's advice too!

Optimus Prime

suffering from some serious confusion here now! haha..

So.. my arcadevga card is only really going to be used correctly if i have an arcade monitor?

Other wise if i use a lcd or crt monitor then i have absolutly no use for an arcadevga card what so ever?

Myrddin

keithgeo wrote: »

suffering from some serious confusion here now! haha..

So.. my arcadevga card is only really going to be used correctly if i have an arcade monitor?

Other wise if i use a lcd or crt monitor then i have absolutly no use for an arcadevga card what so ever?

They have changed in recent times, & LoGiE has an updated one as far as I remember, so he'll advise you better. But in my own limited understanding of it, yes, in a nutshell

Optimus Prime

I managed to get the crt monitor working tonight, but running off the inbuilt graphics card on the pc not the arcadevga.

Ill try get it going on the arcadevga tomorrow.

Dont know what to do know in the long run.. not really in a postition to spend a bunch of money on an arcade monitor now!

LoGiE

Honestly an arcade monitor wont cost as much as you think! PM Mitchmagic and ask him. He has some new 19" monitors and probably some older ones too.

Optimus Prime

i might send on a pm, anyone know how wide they are? i only have 22inchs width inside the cab..