2 Player Bartop

caver01

Nicely done! I like that panel--carbon fiber?

I believe Andy at Ultimarc has shared firmware that allows an IPAC to be recognized as a keyboard instead of a joypad, or so I have read. My IPAC 4 is several years old (still has PS2-to-USB adapter) so mine is a keyboard. I wish I had a link to something more official. I would contact Ultimarc for the real story and firmware options. Maybe the latest configuration utility (windows) can set this.

rbaker

@caver01 Thanks, yes it's Carbon Vinyl, Matt, 3D effect. It can make anything look like authentic Carbon. It matches the ES Carbon theme quite well too. Is it a bad thing that the ipac is set as joypads? It's working!

caver01

@rbaker No, I don't think it's bad. If anything, it's more consistent with modern designs that use game console controllers. We keyboard interface users are becoming "old school".

thedudester80

Beautiful just purely beautiful. Always wanted to make one but I don't have the wood working tools needed. Goals for the future I suppose. lol

edmaul69

Love it! I just wish you had put the usb ports on the right side and not in the middle of the logo though.

Gee

It's a very nice build ! I like the idea of the USB port in the front. Can you tall me where you get the space invaders stickers for the side panels ? Thanks !

rbaker

@Gee Thanks! Yes , it's http://rockstarprint.co.uk for graphics. They are really good quality and I can see them lasting for a very long time with all the bumps, leaning and scratching that my kids have done already!

rbaker

@edmaul69 Thanks! Yes, quite a few people have commented on that usb. The fact is that I had carbon vinyl from the control pad all the way over the front but it looked wrong and I needed more blue. The monitor bezel graphics had that logo on after I'd trimmed it and it fit with just 1mm overhang! I had to go for it due to the high cost of graphics. It was a trade off in the end because I needed more blue but the hole was already there...but not in an ideal place for logo use.

GreenHawk84

@rbaker , awesome cab my friend. Now I know why you have all this knowledge while I build mine. I will share here soon.

rbaker

@GreenHawk84 Thanks, spent 6 months configuring and 6 months off and on building, learning as I went. Still lots to learn!

mediamogul

@rbaker

The whole build is fantastic, but the pop top USB port cover is an especially inspired idea.

GtBFilms

That's the neatest wiring job I've ever seen in a cab. Makes me a bit embarrassed at my spaghetti rats nest to be honest.

Very nicely built cab!

Concat

Very slick and looks like good craftsmanship! What joysticks and buttons did you use?

Have you tested the SNES controllers? Any trouble using them for player 1 and 2 since your ipac is permanently hooked up and gets auto configured to port 0 and 1?

GreenHawk84

@Concat said in 2 Player Bartop:

Very slick and looks like good craftsmanship! What joysticks and buttons did you use?

Have you tested the SNES controllers? Any trouble using them for player 1 and 2 since your ipac is permanently hooked up and gets auto configured to port 0 and 1?

@rbaker, this is what I wanted to know since I use the Xin-Mo but I would also like the capability if someone requests to play with a controller vs. a joystick. I haven't tried that yet.

Concat

Ya... I heard of one way which requires you to configure the IPAC as a keyboard (XIN-Mo is unknown to me). Otherwise every time you start a rom you have to switch the ports to the SNES controller :/

Maybe he has figured something better out tho.

rbaker

@Concat Thanks! The joystick is this one. I chose the dx44 micro switches to avoid that horrific clicky noise that has it's place only on fruit machines. These are the buttons. I desperately wanted these for the front but they are out of stock all of the time. I'll bet you can get these in the states though @GreenHawk84 .

Now to the Ipac question. Have a read of this. This is the only way I have managed to get it working in two player mode. I am really interested in what you said about it automatically configuring to port 0 and 1. I have found that it doesn't automatically configure properly. If you have it connected, it detects as a joypad one player (2015 model). When you then try and configure player 2, nothing happens. I emailed Ultimarc. They said that it doesn't work with Retropie in auto configure mode. They emailed me a firmware upgrade (or downgrade depending on your point of view) that makes the device look like a keyboard only. This is what I wanted when I purchased it! I haven't tried it yet as my system currently works. I get messages that tell me that the Ipac is not configured but they are hidden away from view now. I then went ahead and configured a buffalo controller using auto detect and all was well. I edited the configs so that I could plug in another to those usb ports on the front by just copying the relevant bits of the config for adding two player. Rebooted and my two ibuffalo controllers were working AND so were the joysticks and based on what you said, probably due to the ipac NOT being configured! Seems like I got this far by not configuring a thing correctly but it works. My main reason for using the ipac is that the shifted functions (the feature where an input can be assigned to a shifted secondary keycode but the shift button can still have it's own function too so no need for a dedicated extra control panel button) are great for on screen configs without having to plug a keyboard in. With this @GreenHawk84 , you can have your scenario if someone requests to play with a controller vs. a joystick.

Finally, the maddening thing is that I have not recorded fully every tweak that I have done in order over the past weeks to get exactly where I am. It's one massive learning project and my 7 year old loves it! Good luck guys, any other questions, fire away.

rbaker

@GtBFilms Thanks!, 30 years experience with fault finding electronics have taught me to be tidy for an easy life! An extra week on the wiring is a month less fault finding!

rbaker

@mediamogul Thanks! But....I can't claim the idea. When researching the build, I saw a few with it on and it was an instant must have for controllers. The problem was finding one. You have to google dashboard usb mount in your searches. It took a month to find!