Building my IKEA cab, a story of pain....

CiDeRmAn · 26-01-2011 04:01PM

Success!
Popped in a new theme for Mala and a complete snapshot as well.
Now it all works as It should, awesome!
Next step, de-hinge the screen and install an external power switch, I hit maplins yesterday for the parts.
All I need now is my brothers time to help me do it!
Then off to Ikea!

Optimus Prime · 26-01-2011 04:14PM

Im thinking about doing this cocktail myself, i have a spare laptop sitting around doing nothing thats actually wasted because its fairly new. so i may be asking you some questions about how you setup mala working etc!

CiDeRmAn · 26-01-2011 06:14PM

To be honest I'm not to sure how much help I can be, I just read the readme and checked out the various build your own mame cab sites out there for help.
No matter what the enthusiasts say there is no easy way to do it but a major time saver is an up to date romset, sample set, snap, marquee and cab photo set too.
It helps to figure what you want your cab to play, horizontal, vertical, classics, everything? Then cut that installed romset down to size.
Thats what i did and it made things a lot easier, certainly meant I was updating 30 roms instead of 300!
Anyway not there yet, have some carpentry and a wee bit of soldering to do yet, this has plenty of scope to go pearshaped yet!

Optimus Prime · 26-01-2011 06:21PM

Im thinking of just putting classics in it. interested to hear what way you are planning on doing the joysticks and buttons. are you going to leave them in the drawer to slide out or put them on the top of the desk?

CiDeRmAn · 26-01-2011 07:29PM

Well, you see that's were my genius comes in

Some peeps have wired in professional quality sticks and buttons.
Others have wired in PS2 or PS1 arcade sticks.
So, I'm like a lazy bum and have zero tolerance for necessary wiring, so I decided to use a PS3 tekken 6 fighting stick.
It has an arcade quality stick, microswitched.
It has 10 arcade quality buttons.
It is wireless and comes with a dongle for your PS3 which also has the PC drivers built in do any pc can use the stick with no other purchase of adaptors.
And its made my Hori who build professional set ups.

Oh, and it only cost 40 euro in Gamestop, and came with a copy of Tekken6, since traded in!

Now, hopefully they'll fit in the drawer and can be taken out when required.
At some point I may take it apart and mount it elsewhere, we'll see.

The provision of an external power button for the laptop also means no awkward reach arounds ( he, he, he)...

CiDeRmAn · 26-01-2011 07:31PM

Going to dehinge it this evening and install the external power button, hopefully.
Stay tuned for photos!

batari · 26-01-2011 09:21PM

The more I watch this thread, the more this looks like a very tempting cab to attempt..

eddhorse · 26-01-2011 09:26PM

Following this with great interest

Bye bye old laptop with Backtrack on it !

CiDeRmAn · 26-01-2011 11:07PM

Some serious surgery going on, commanded by Kerbdog himself.

Hopefully the machine will still have some life in it at the end.
More work than one would imagine.
Don't assume that your laptop has enough cable to allow the screen to be folded back.
A bungled attempt will mean you are buying another screen....

weeder · 26-01-2011 11:08PM

was going to build a mame bartop before but lost interest, this has rekindled that interest so stay tuned for my own project log

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 02:15AM

Well the laptop is unhinged, looking good, touch and go as far as the connecting ribbon between the screen and motherboard are concerned.
Everything seems to be fine, installed some cabinet scans as well.
Can't wait to put this thing together.
A few points of concern, not sure the drawer is deep enough to take the controller and still leave room for the laptop above...
I have also got to finish wiring the on/off button and sort out the power cable, make everything neat and tidy.
I have to get the photos up with a timeline.
If it all works out it'll provide some inspiration, If It all goes belly up it'll give you food for thought!

ondafly · 27-01-2011 09:24AM

what are you going to do about cooling for the laptop ? I have an old inspiron I was considering using, but with the screen folded back on itself, it would end up blocking some of the fan vents - and Dell laptops always seem to run hot !

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 10:15AM

Ah, cooling....
Now, there's a problem.
The fan in the laptop is knackered so as regards cooling....
there is none

But I may be able to install a fan in to do the job, or maybe a USB device is out there, sitting on a Maplins shelf to save me trying to solder!

o1s1n · 27-01-2011 10:17AM

You could always make it into one of those hybrid arcade machine/beer keg systems.

That'd keep her cool :pac:

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 10:25AM

So here we are,
step by step, kinda...

Here's the wireless Tekken 6 Fightstick, for PS3, 40 euro including a copy of Tekken 6!

The soon to be repurposed Dell Latitude C600,

Here's the Mala front end, looking lovely and orientated the right way, took a while to set up, I have added cabinet shots since,

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 10:32AM

This is the combined lappy and stick with a game running, all is well.

It was surprisingly hard to get it this far.
Getting Mala to work properly and then using a combination of Clrmame Pro and Romchecker to sort out my collection, not to mention a nice little .bat file that sorted my horizontal games from the vertical.
Then it was a matter of using Malalist to create a custom gamelist for the front end that had only the games I wanted.

Here is the now detached screen from the laptop, dear gods, could this work???

Here is Kerbdog soldering away, creating an external power button for the cabinet, this was one awkard bugger as the internal switch had all its points below on a mini-board of its own, so there was much swearing, cutting and more swearing, this was probably the most time consuming part of the evening!

If you are a sensitive soul look away, here are the splayed open guts of the Dell!

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 10:41AM

So, I had bought a roll of carpet tape, a really strong double sided stick tape, from B&Q, on my way over.
This was applied to the old base of the laptop.
The ribbon cable between the screen and motherboard was wound around the hinge joint but this was very hard to unravel, always waiting for that "crack" of a snapped circuit and a bolloxed project.
Thankfully it was all ok there.
The screen connection was restored and then folded back over the rear of the laptop.
It *just* fitted, very tight indeed though.
And then the moment of truth, would it work???

Hurrah!
It worked!

Fantastic!

I am a very happy bunny!
And thanks to Kerbdog for all the work he put in.
Overall, the de-hinge and powerbutton took about 2hours, so not too bad.

So, now to Ikea and we'll see what other disasters await.
As I said I have a feeling that the drawer may not be both wide enough for the controller or deep enough, either way much modifications may be needed to overcome them.
The first may require the controller to be either stored on the little shelf in the unit, not the tidiest idea and not the desired one, or perhaps the controller may be cut down, superfluous casing cut away to let the device sit neatly into the drawer.

As for the depth of the drawer, there I could be buggered, not sure how that is going to play out, just have to buy the unit and see....

Fingers crossed!

Optimus Prime · 27-01-2011 11:59AM

Excellent guide! Im going to get the table myself and do this, but i think i might change it so the drawer is constantly out and install a control panel into it instead. great job though! are you going to put speakers in the side of the table? also, did you say you where putting some sort of lightly smoked cover over the glass? Where do you get something like that from?

Cheers!

Myrddin · 27-01-2011 12:17PM

The Kerb in the modding position

I remember doing my jtag sitting like that, at the end I thought my legs were gonna have to be amputated

Nice work Kerbdog :cool:

Cider, where is the base of the laptop? Is if folder 180 degrees now aitting at the back of the screen? As mentioned above cooling now becomes paramount. Would you consider decasing the laptop base & exposing the innards. The at least ad a small fan directly onto the innards

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 03:12PM

Well most of the interior of the laptop is now naked, and pointing down, so a fan could be easily got to sit in there, pointing up!
Will figure something out if needed.

I was in Ikea and picked up the table, smaller than I imagined, but the drawer is the right size, everything should fit (famous last words!).

There seemed to be around 11 other ones on the shelf so I say go for it!

Regarding the speakers, I will install a simple set later on, pop two holes in the side of the cabinet and put a pair of car speaker grills over them to neaten it all up.

The smoked glass stuff is easily bought in Halfords, just get some window tinting film, that should do it I think.

Problems I reckon could be putting the power wire somewhere it can't be fouled by the transit of the drawer.
Also getting the hole cut in the top panel should be no problem but I have a feeling getting a template just right for the cardboard bezel could be a pain!

The devil is in the details!

I'm going to get a cheap usb mouse as well, stick it to the underside of the laptop with some of that velcro stuff, so it can be got at when you alter/add stuff.
While the front end is now *just right* there are some cabinet scans missing, I also want to alter the start up screen and the windows wallpaper that you are forced to see momentarily as the machine powers up.

I reckon I can look forward to doing it again in a year or so when the ancient laptop goes to silicon heaven (that's where all the calculators go).

Optimus Prime · 27-01-2011 03:17PM

sounds cool, didnt think of getting that stuff in halfords.

the bootscreen and the windows logon screen background can be changed easily, steps for doing that are in my guide i posted on the other thread.

gymman39 · 27-01-2011 04:11PM

excellent work ciderman...

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 04:36PM

We're not quite there yet...
The biggest obstacle is yet to be surmounted.
The one that could bring the whole project to a shuddering halt.
My videogame hating spouse!

I, somehow, don't think this is going to wash,
there's hedges to be clipped, work to be done about the house, and instead I am peering into the innards of a laptop, spending time on yet another device to facilitate gaming.

She has yet to see the fruits of my labours and I have a feeling there's an argument in my immediate future, followed by a prolonged silent episode...

Oh Dear...

jimi_t2 · 27-01-2011 04:52PM

Funnily enough I just found a C600 with a broken hinge and borked keyboard on top of my wardrobe last night....

Hmmm...

jimi_t2 · 27-01-2011 04:55PM

Oh, actually, does anyone know if there's a *NIX liveCD with a MAME frontend? Might speed up my protoyping

CiDeRmAn · 27-01-2011 05:29PM

jimi_t2 wrote: »

Funnily enough I just found a C600 with a broken hinge and borked keyboard on top of my wardrobe last night....

Hmmm...

Go for it!
Its a robust bugger though, made to last.
So, if you can stick a usb keyboard in and everything works go for it.
Just don't expect the state of the art games to run, but for a classics machine like mine it should be perfect!

Assuming the wireless stick I have works out I would recommend finding one.
An alternative is to pick up any PS arcade stick and use a PS-PC adaptor, then use that xpadder to make it dance to your tune!

CiDeRmAn · 29-01-2011 09:40AM

So, used a large sheet of white paper and did an outline of the now folded laptop, ok its Christmas wrapping paper, and now the hole making is in the hands of my brother.
He'll get to it over the weekend.
Then I have to make a support to hold the laptop in place without taking up too much room in the drawer, where the controller is stored.
In the original project he used timber but that uses space.
In a French version he used metal L plates, but these were drilled into the chip board and unlikely to last very long.
I may use some long metal strips, they can be bent into shape and drilled into the underside.
I may put the laptop psu into the drawer as well if there is space, then I'll drill a hole and put the power button in.
I just have to run the cable past the drawer mechanism, we'll have to see how much room I have to play with in there.

Sorry too, I thought I'd have it completed for the retro night tonight but its not to be.
Ah well.

I will post more photos when its finished!

weeder · 29-01-2011 12:54PM

any chance of a link to the french example?

CiDeRmAn · 29-01-2011 01:26PM

Here you go,

http://mamenetbook.blogspot.com/

This guy put a huge amount of effort into his Ikea cab, the controller is especially well done.

CiDeRmAn · 30-01-2011 10:12PM

The top of the unit has been cut to size, I have an idea of using cable ties and a staple gun to provide flexible support for the laptop, as I can't use timber (too thick) and I can't use metal plates with screws (chipboard+screws=disaster and metal conducts dumb-ass!).

Hoping tomorrow will see it all come together and my wife will be converted to the law according to DoDonpachi!

Building my IKEA cab, a story of pain....

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