[ISSUE] Ultimarc Trackball Connected to Ultimarc Ultimate I/O Not Registering/Producing Results

[nreinhart]

@nreinhart Somehow haven't seen this thread until now -

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/25073/is-it-better-to-just-reinstall-retropie-trackball-works-but-not-with-retropie/13?_=1583719012079

Looks like maybe I need advmame? Which apparently is not supported on retropie 4.7 on pi4?

[stoney66]

@nreinhart I could be wrong but pretty sure advmame 3.9 is supported. It was at least in 4.6 just needed some changes for video and input (sdl).

advmame .94 and 1.4 were not supported in 4.6 which might still be true in 4.7

I never got mame2003 to work with my trackball so I went the advmame route long ago and it worked out of the gate.

https://retropie.org.uk/stats/pkgflags/

[mahoneyt944]

@nreinhart do you have the mouse enabled? Load a rom in the core then retroarch quick menu -> options-> mouse device -> mouse

[nreinhart]

@mahoneyt944 - Yes - it is enabled.

[nreinhart]

@stoney66 @stoney66 - Awesome. Let me go take a look and see if I can get it installed.

[mahoneyt944]

@nreinhart hmmm, it truly sounds like an index issue. Saving your mouse index value so it loads on boot with the correct setting is important. Switching it after launch may or may not work.

[mahoneyt944]

here's how I set mine to load properly over network. Test with all values though.

configs-> arcade-> retroarch.cfg

# Settings made here will only override settings in the global retroarch.cfg if placed above the #include line

input_remapping_directory = "/opt/retropie/configs/arcade/"
input_player1_mouse_index = "2"
input_player2_mouse_index = "2"

#include "/opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg"

[stoney66]

@nreinhart

I think these were the lines that needed to be edited from advmame.rc file

device_keyboard sdl (default raw)
device_mouse sdl (default auto)
device_video sdl (default fb)

[nreinhart]

@mahoneyt944 Thanks for the detailed write up. Went through and did what you suggested. In Retroarch the values now show the right value, but the trackball is still not working in the game.

[nreinhart]

@stoney66 so it looks like the installation for advmame 3.9 did the trick. My Centipede wont load in it, but Golden Tee does swing the club now. Thank you so much for suggesting this. I'm going to do some more testing tonight and follow up with an all clear or additional questions. I guess that mame2003 just is missing connective tissue to the trackball to make it work?

Where are you updating the advmame.rc file?

[mahoneyt944]

@nreinhart mame2003 does work with trackball which makes this topic puzzling.... Have you tried "mame2003-plus" to see if the trackball works there for you? Mame2003-plus is similar to mame2003 but has loads of improvements to inputs, games, and more.

In the mean time I'll dig into the mame2003 input code to see if I see anything. Hopefully we can resolve this even if you decide to use another emulator.

What's odd is if the trackball works in retroarch then it's just not communicating with the emulator. Have you tried higher indexes than 2? I'm not entirely sure how the multiplayer io board is selecting player indexes for each device. For example it might set:
player 1 as index 0
player 2 as index 1
player 3 as index 2
player 4 as index 3

But the trackball could be its own index
Trackball 1 as mouse index 4

It's a guessing game without having that particular board to test with.

[nreinhart]

@mahoneyt944 Sorry for the delay - my wife made we walk away from the cab last night because of the "red in my eyes" lol. I installed mame2003 plus this morning and all of the retroarch configurations are there, but still the trackball is not working. tried indices up to 8 and still the trackball wasn't showing up in either mame2003 or mame2003 plus. Verified that advmame 3.9 is still working. Let me know what else you need me to try!

Also wanted to say thank you so much for digging into this issue - I really appreciate it.

[mahoneyt944]

@nreinhart looking through some of the documents for the IO board, what configuration are you using? It specifies Example configurations include: 2 player with trackball/spinner. 4 player without trackball/spinner. claiming that the trackball will not work in 4 player mode.

[nreinhart]

@mahoneyt944 that was actually my first hurdle I ran into - the trackball wouldn't register AT ALL. Spoke with the manufacturer and we switched it from four player mode to two player mode with spinner/trackball support. That's when it started showing up in Retroarch.

[nreinhart]

@nreinhart well - Golden Tee 2 is the only one I've gotten the trackball working with. I'm going to keep puttering around with it, but it's feeling a little hopeless lol. I'll keep this thread alive for a little bit longer. Thanks again for everyone's input.

[mahoneyt944]

@nreinhart hmm well golden tee is a trackball game. Try centiped.

[nreinhart]

@mahoneyt944 No dice. The manufacturer makes a USB conversion piece - I think I'm going in buy that and see if attaching it as a usb improves the situation.

[stoney66]

@nreinhart So is centipede loading but trackball not working but GT works fine? Earlier you said centipede wont load on advmame so just checking. If thats the case, make sure you are using 0.106 rom files as centiped is different than the 0.078 one.

I have the ultimarc track and all trackball games in advmame work for me but I am using the mini-pac to connect it up.

[nreinhart]

@stoney66 This was a good call out. I had set it back to mame2003. Just did the switch back to advmame and it wouldn't load. Which indicates I need to find the .106 rom. This is admittedly one of my weak points - I'll do some googling and see where I can find a .106 of centipede. Thanks for the nudge in a different direction.

[nreinhart]

@stoney66 well - switched the roms and now they work. Centipede, Missile Command, Golden Tee 2 are all working now under AdvMame. Marble Madness is still unhappy, but I would assume that's still just a rom issue. I think this issue is likely resolved now. Thank you everyone for your help! @mahoneyt944 and @stoney66