Arcade cab: Mission Impossible???

steviebg · 18-11-2011 11:48AM #1

Alright lads been reading the the threads on this forum with great interest and its got me wanting to build a cab and play all my old favourite arcade games the way they were meant to.Now the problem i face is not the construction of the cab, it's the computer side of things i don't know jack! I suppose i'm asking is it worth going ahead with this? If it is then where can i find a guide that will explain what needs to be done in basic terms, such as whats the difference between an ipac and a jpac?What spec computer do i need,and how to put it all together.
Well thanks for any help and i do hope this is possible and i'm not out of my depth!

Pyongyang · 18-11-2011 11:54AM

As per the other thread. The lads you really need to speak to are Keith 'I'll Have My Cab Finished By July 7th 2018 I Promise' Geo or Adultappleflavouredbeveragemale.

What those two don't know about cab building is probably worth knowing.

:pac:

Myrddin · 18-11-2011 11:58AM

Pyongyang wrote: »

What those two don't know about cab building is probably not worth knowing. :pac:

Lets be fair to them

What type of games will you be looking to run on it op?

Pyongyang · 18-11-2011 12:00PM

EnterNow wrote: »

What type of games will you be looking to run on it op?

Darius? Darius II? Darius Burst? Darius Gaiden? G-Darius? G-Darius Rev 2.0? etc...

steviebg · 18-11-2011 12:52PM

EnterNow wrote: »

Lets be fair to them

What type of games will you be looking to run on it op?

Hey all i'll mainly looking at street fighter, mortal kombat, x-men, sunset riders and maybe darius!! Basically games of that generation and maybe some snes games and my first computer the atari 2600 which had some great games like joust and H.E.R.O

Pyongyang · 18-11-2011 12:55PM

steviebg wrote: »

maybe darius!!

Myrddin · 18-11-2011 12:58PM

steviebg wrote: »

Hey all i'll mainly looking at street fighter, mortal kombat, x-men, sunset riders and maybe darius!! Basically games of that generation and maybe some snes games and my first computer the atari 2600 which had some great games like joust and H.E.R.O

The likes of SF2, Sunset Riders etc will run on very low specs, you could just dump a low end pc still in its case into a cab in that instance as cooling it won't be an issue.

Install Mame, a nice front end, a JPAC is using a real arcade CRT, & your set.

Pyongyang · 18-11-2011 11:12PM

Just to make an anchor point here, he said he's playing Darius on it. Of course photos and video evidence will be mandatory.

Oh, and buy an Iron Horse PCB too. Just to complete the goodness.

CathalDublin · 19-11-2011 12:12PM

If you want to run a nice frontend such as hyperspin, a Dual core and 2GB ram is a must

Of course it will run on a lower spec PC but for full performance

steviebg · 20-11-2011 11:56AM

Cool stuff thanks for the replies lads, as i said i don't have much of a clue about the computer side of of things so it's nice to know i can stick in a basic pc and get it running:D

I'll post some pics when i get the show off the ground, damn work and famliy stuff getting in the way of gaming.

steviebg · 01-08-2012 10:13PM

All right all i've been tipping away at this for a while,got the cab put together got the pc with front end and emulator's set up, i picked up an old black diamond tv and one of these:

http://wp1114205.wp150.webpack.hosteurope.de/xtcmodified/index.php?cPath=15&XTCsid=6ulibfjhchpvu325tcvea9n685

I've downloaded soft15khz but when i go to install it a message pops up saying
"intel drivers don't allow more than 5 resolution definitions"

So i suppose my question is what happens next how do i get my frontend to display on the tv? By the way im running windows7 not sure if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any help.

Jack burton · 01-08-2012 11:54PM

Personally I'd run windows XP lite on a machine, windows 7 its a bit of a fiend for memory etc

Myrddin · 02-08-2012 09:17AM

Soft15 isn't compatible with Windows 7. Use XP for a Mame cab unless you have >4GB ram & an Arcade VGA.

I use XP 64 in mine so I can use the full 4GB ram, Soft 15 runs perfectly under that.

LoGiE · 02-08-2012 10:30AM

EnterNow wrote: »

Soft15 isn't compatible with Windows 7. Use XP for a Mame cab unless you have >4GB ram & an Arcade VGA.

I use XP 64 in mine so I can use the full 4GB ram, Soft 15 runs perfectly under that.

What Resoultion are you running your monitor at for windows? I seem to rememeber you saying you have a hantrex Polo in your cab.

I've had to rebuild after a disk failure and am toying around with front ends again.

Myrddin · 02-08-2012 10:33AM

LoGiE wrote: »

What Resoultion are you running your monitor at for windows? I seem to rememeber you saying you have a hantrex Polo in your cab.

I've had to rebuild after a disk failure and am toying around with front ends again.

Hantarex Polo 25", Soft 15Khz & XP 64.

I think the desktop resolution is 640x480, I'd have to double check that for you but I can't at the minute as the chassis is borked. On the lookout for a replacement, as the HT voltage is leaking from the flyback & cable so I can't use it.

But I'm nearly sure its 640x480 for windows, & then HS takes care of everyting esle

LoGiE · 02-08-2012 11:01AM

EnterNow wrote: »

Hantarex Polo 25", Soft 15Khz & XP 64.

I think the desktop resolution is 640x480, I'd have to double check that for you but I can't at the minute as the chassis is borked. On the lookout for a replacement, as the HT voltage is leaking from the flyback & cable so I can't use it.

But I'm nearly sure its 640x480 for windows, & then HS takes care of everyting esle

That's the standard monitor in a Midway Cab I reckon and that's the resolution it's running at currently but I get that flicker that give's you a headache after about five minutes. I've used the arcade resolution tool to create ini files so the games all display correctly so it's not to bad.

I'll mess around with HS and Maximus Arcade this weekend to see which works best.

I'm concerned about my monitor giving up the ghost although I was speaking to a guy recently and he suggested going to my local old school tv repair man. He should be able to fix those kinds of problems as they where his bread and butter at one time or another.

o1s1n · 02-08-2012 11:26AM

Finding an expert repair person for a CRT monitor is most of the battle really! If you have a local guy you can bring it to then I doubt the problem won't be anything he cant fix, especially if it's something as generic as a Hantarex monitor.

Even if it does break, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of replacements at the moment. That guy Jeff at Digitalsystemsdesign seems to have loads of monitors in stock.

Myrddin · 02-08-2012 12:37PM

LoGiE wrote: »

That's the standard monitor in a Midway Cab I reckon and that's the resolution it's running at currently but I get that flicker that give's you a headache after about five minutes. I've used the arcade resolution tool to create ini files so the games all display correctly so it's not to bad

Does the flicker persist in games too? The desktop does grain in on you on my cab a bit at that res, but once HS is running or a game its perfectly smooth.

Maybe try different drivers for your video card? Or use quick res to try even lower resolutions maybe for the desktop?

If its flickering in game, then that could be a HS setting I think

LoGiE · 02-08-2012 06:11PM

No in game resolution is fine. I just need to play around with it again. I might even try and document it this time...

Digitalsystemsdesign doesn't look bad. Has anyone ordered off them?

o1s1n · 02-08-2012 08:32PM

If you buy something from them, their support is meant to be great, as well as the quality of their gear.

Pyong got an astro for them and was really happy with it.

Contacting them in the first place is the problem! Jeff is very hard to get hold of.

Pyongyang · 05-08-2012 10:19AM

Yep my Astro cab is still running great, although I have made some changes to it. Bought a new CP, stick, buttons etc. But that was done over a period of time, plus I knew exactly what sticks/buttons I wanted to populate the CP with.

I recommend using Jeff for your cab purchase, however Jeff does appear to be difficult to get hold of sometimes, which is a shame. But when a deal is on, he won't leave you hanging.

On delivery day he rang the driver to make sure where he was and followed up with me. He also answered his mobile phone after hours to help me with some technical stuff getting the cab in to the house and switched on. You get a 30 day no quibble warranty too.

Well worth it I thought, just remember you are never going to get a mint cabinet and a lot of people sell on scrapped cabs. Doesn't matter really so long as the cab is working and in good enough nick. The price usually reflects this.

o1s1n · 05-08-2012 12:05PM

I contacted Jeff twice via Digitalsystemsdesigns, twice via ebay and I'm pretty sure I tried to contact him via Arcade Otaku too - he didn't reply to a single email.

So I went with Ronnie instead, who replied instantly!

Steve X2 · 05-08-2012 12:31PM

o1s1n wrote: »

I contacted Jeff twice via Digitalsystemsdesigns, twice via ebay and I'm pretty sure I tried to contact him via Arcade Otaku too - he didn't reply to a single email.

So I went with Ronnie instead, who replied instantly!

Aren't you having issues with your arcade monitor

o1s1n · 05-08-2012 01:13PM

I'd rather have my cab with this minor thing then still be waiting for Jeff to reply to my emails!

Ah it's nothing to the extent of what was happening with yours - I'm pretty sure I'm only seeing it as I put the colour pots and brightness too high (seems to be what the test screen is saying).

Other than that, the monitor has zero burn, lovely a clear picture and is probably one of the best condition first generation candy cabinets knocking about the western world. It's in better condition than a lot of newer cabs I've seen about

Going back to Jeff though, if you CAN get in contact with him, then that would be ideal. Less distance for your cab to travel to you too.

I did have a chat with him last year or so and he's a really nice guy. Just a shame I didnt buy a cab from him when I had his full attention!

steviebg · 16-08-2012 10:45PM

All right all i've been tipping away at this for a while,got the cab put together got the pc with front end and emulator's set up, i picked up an old black diamond tv and one of these:

http://wp1114205.wp150.webpack.hoste...u325tcvea9n685

I've downloaded soft15khz but when i go to install it a message pops up saying
"intel drivers don't allow more than 5 resolution definitions"

So i suppose my question is what happens next how do i get my frontend to display on the tv? By the way im running windows7 not sure if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any help

Well i installed xp and have everything running but im still getting the same message when i istall soft 15, im at a loss as what to do next. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Steve X2 · 16-08-2012 10:51PM

steviebg wrote: »

All right all i've been tipping away at this for a while,got the cab put together got the pc with front end and emulator's set up, i picked up an old black diamond tv and one of these:

http://wp1114205.wp150.webpack.hoste...u325tcvea9n685

I've downloaded soft15khz but when i go to install it a message pops up saying
"intel drivers don't allow more than 5 resolution definitions"

So i suppose my question is what happens next how do i get my frontend to display on the tv? By the way im running windows7 not sure if that makes a difference.

Thanks for any help

Well i installed xp and have everything running but im still getting the same message when i istall soft 15, im at a loss as what to do next. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I don't think soft15khz supports Windows 7, or maybe its Windows 7 64bit.
What version are you running.

steviebg · 17-08-2012 07:41PM

I was running windows 7 but i installed xp instead but im still getting that message about the drivers. I'm only guessing but would it be my graphics card?

I have the desktop version of this:
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/optix/en/opti_745techspecs.pdf

CathalDublin · 17-08-2012 08:07PM

Soft15 doesn't support support intel onboard graphics
Its gotta be a nvidea or ATI see the wiki

smliv · 18-08-2012 04:33AM

If your using a black diamond tv as display you shouldn't need soft15khz just video card with tv out

CathalDublin · 18-08-2012 12:08PM

To get 15khz RGB you will

steviebg · 18-08-2012 05:05PM

Just had a look at graphic cards and oh crap! I've no bloody idea which ones will fit my pc, don't suppose anyone can link me to the cheapest one that can do the job thanks.

I have the desktop version of this:
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global...5techspecs.pdf

Arcade cab: Mission Impossible???

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