Im doing a REVERSE arcade machine Rpi conversion !

[CurrentlySober]

So, my old arcade machine was showing its age... Slow to boot, ran hot, very heavy etc... Time for a change... So i've taken off the back door completely. The back door held the motherboard / hard drive etc, so basically that was the PC part of the system... Stripped the power unit for the PC out the back from behind the screen, so Ive got some space...

So, plan is to use the controls that are wired to an iPac, to go into my pie via usb. Audio, to go to a powered speaker (Legacy of the arcade cabinet) via another usb and 3.5 audio out from the pie... Vision will hopefully go via an HDMI to VGA adaptor (arriving tomorrow) to send the signal to the 19 inch old style 4.3 square monitor inside...

Now I can power shit from the 4 plug gang thats inside it, no problem, but I run into an issue straight away. Im not sure how Im gonna power on the monitor? Monitor used t be connected to a power signal from the PC board - But thats gone... But I'll have to work that out tomorrow when I have the adaptor to play with...

Finally, the light in the marquee is no longer gonna work, cause that took power from the motherboard too, but I guess I can power that from the pie if need be... Its only a small LED...

So hopefully, if I can get it all playing nicely with itself, I can hide it all away inside, instal the safe shutdown mod to the pi, and then put the back door back on its hinges, minus the motherboard etc... Then, *hopefully* I'll use the original 'power up' button on the back, to power on and power off the cab whenever I wana poo it...

I'll poost pics later if anyone's interested - Just not much to poost at the moment, as its just bits of wood and cables that don't go anywhere !

Anyhoo... Wish me luck !

[2MuchMark]

Was this a real arcade machine with original parts? Or was it a PC running MAME? If the latter, why not switch to a Raspberry Pi 3 or new 4?

[CurrentlySober]

It was a proper build, with sanwa sticks and good quality buttons etc. It had a PC built onto the inside of the back door, but not only was the entire thing extremely heavy, it was noisy and got hot very easily. It was actually cosmetically finished more so than in that pic, but I removed a lot of it and it looks more like it does in that pic now...

So the plan is to put a Pie 3B+ under the front control panel - It lifts up for easy access - and run stuff from that instead. Should give me a better build, with a nicer interface, and give me the ability to actually move it, or put it away when not using it, which was virtually impossible with it being the weight that it was...

I never liked the original interface that came with the mame setup on it, so I switched out drives and did my own, which was acceptable for a while, but with some of the builds for pie that are designed for putting into an Arcade1Up Street Fighter machine with the square screen, I thought... Why Not?

So I've pulled it apart and am awaiting the hdmi to VGA converters arrival - Thats the only input I have on the monitor - Hopefully I'll be running this image on it by tonight - I particularly like the groupings, the 'by year' groupings and above all the fact that its all ARCADE and not consoles...



As I'm sure you prob know, most pre-configured flashy images are for HD 16.9 screens with bezel packs to format correctly etc - Great if you are using a HD screen, but pointless for my more (intended to be) 'original' experience

[CurrentlySober]

Well that went really well. Much easier than expected - I didn't even need to edit the .config file in order to force VGA out

Only problem is lack of sound in the games themselves - Fine in the snaps in the menus etc, but nothing whatsoever in the games themselves...

Never mind - Off to search for help elsewhere !

[blackmonsters]

I'm not in the mood for high tech talk; but this is some good stuff.

[CurrentlySober]

Sound is sorted ! instead of running the 3.5 to the wired speaker direct from the pie, i ran the speaker to the audio adaptor on the hdmi to vga adaptor which seems to have done the trick...

I'm currently a happy bunny Now, only to work out individual game settings to set specific controls I'm totally done

[CurrentlySober]

Originally Posted by CurrentlySober

I'm currently a happy bunny Now, only to work out individual game settings to set specific controls I'm totally done

I'm done Sorted the last part by plugging in a keyboard, changing settings then unplugging it - Im 100% done now...

Until tomorrow !

[CurrentlySober]

Todays job - Expand card. I'm using a 32GB image on a 128GB card, however because it's a 32GB image, it only thinks its a 32GB card. - So gonna run this command to update the config to allow me to use the remaining space on the card ( 96GB ) that the system currently doesn't recognise...

This isn't so as to fill it up with other stuff - Just to give me some wiggle room for a few different versions of MAME. lr_mame configs dispose of the tab key access to the menus and force me to use retroarch instead.

I need access to alternative none librato (LR) versions of mame to give me tab key access to setup my dual sticks for Robotron...



The above video explains why I need to be able to use the 'Tab' control... This is because all my controls go via a 'minipac' from Ultimarc, and as such it just sees a single keyboard based input, as opposed to two or more controllers...

Anyhoo - Updates y'all later XXX

[Mickey_]

Ah, yes, arcade machine conversions. The most effective contraceptive known to humankind.

[CurrentlySober]

Well there we have it - 2283 Fully Working original arcade games from my youth It's the controls that make it - It's just not the same trying to play them on a PS4 controller.. Proper Sticks + Proper Buttons = Proper Sorted !!!

Finally one last image...

Playing the game it was built for ROBOTRON 2084 - BEST ARCADE GAME EVER!!!

EDIT: Sorry for the weird dark images - Its just that the screen is VERY bright and that's how my phones interpreted it

[CaptainHowdy]

Originally Posted by Mickey_

Ah, yes, arcade machine conversions. The most effective contraceptive known to humankind.

. . .

[VRPdommy]

Still on that...
Thought after i pointed you last year you lost interest by now. LOL

You might want to bump up to the rpi 4b and get some more ram(2g) and speed 1.5mhz.
have not tried it yet myself but looks promising. Winter project for me.
Good luck and keep us updated. I still want to do a asteroids machine.

[CurrentlySober]

Originally Posted by VRPdommy

Still on that...
Thought after i pointed you last year you lost interest by now. LOL

You might want to bump up to the rpi 4b and get some more ram(2g) and speed 1.5mhz.
have not tried it yet myself but looks promising. Winter project for me.
Good luck and keep us updated. I still want to do a asteroids machine.

Yeah, this is just in a different league since using the Pie - So much more satisfying. The old system took an age to boot up, ran hot, was noisy from the fans etc, required a mouse and keyboard present for occasional use and was far away from a 'Switch on, play game, switch off' situation like it is now... It's a totally 'elegant' experience

I was playing Asteroids last night actually. I mapped the keys to the controls and it felt pretty authentic... I used the bottom row of 6 keys across both sides of the panel. Left had was keys 1 and 2 as left and right, key 3 and 4 hyperspace (so as you have the button available with both hands) and the last 2, 5 and 6 are thrust and fire...

As for the pie 4, I'm holding off on that atm. Retropie isn't working on the 4 yet, and as such I don't need the extra 'umph' for what I'm doing, which is 'Golden age arcade machines'

That said, 6 months down the road, I'll probably get a pie 4 for console emulation, which Im not using on my arcade machine... The 4 should run N64 and Dreamcast better than the 3, and there are rumours it will be able to handle PS2 games as well, so Im happy to wait...

I wanted my arcade machine for arcade game, and as such, its perfect !

[lock]

I nearly bought a Pandora but figured I better spend time actually working.

[CurrentlySober]

Originally Posted by lock

I nearly bought a Pandora but figured I better spend time actually working.

Yeah, they are good, but you get stuck with exactly whats on them and the interface it comes with...

Grab a decent controller like an xarcade tankstick, put a pi inside it, and grab a free image of your choosing from Arcade Punks.

Then you get something fully optimized and configured and ready to work straight away... and then you can change games, add systems and change the interface whenever you want And its still in an 'all in one' that you can move easily, put away in a cupboard for storage, or take round a friends house etc...