Project help needed

herb_fargus

@ortsac I'm against supporting people who rip off our image.

ortsac

@herb_fargus Sorry. Didn't know...I'm glad I didn't purchase my build from them, did it with an NES console instead.

TMNTturtlguy

@Luxous i just found your thread for the first time today and read through it. I am surprised that no one has suggested you use USB arcade controller setup. Easyget makes some Pretty good ones, they are available on amazon, eBay and other places on the internet as well. If your control panel is wood you will want the LED button as they have a screw tight button retainer. They also make non led but those snap into place on metal control panels like the old original donkey kong 3 cabinet for example. amazon link

If you do get the led buttons you have two options, 1 do not wire the lights to the buttons 2 get a powered USB hub. Here is what I recommend. pihut

This should be a quick easy install, you can get multiple colors for the buttons so each setup will look different. Hope this helps.

Luxous

@TMNTturtlguy thanks very much for your reply, im new to this so its a huge project for me.

I basically need assistance in all the hardware I need to buy to have a 2 player set up for arcade games, I will then replocate it 6 times so that I have 7 stations in total

essentially what I need is a shopping list so I know what to buy :)

any help much appreciated

similarly, if youre uk based I can reciprocate the gesture by cnc cutting or laser cutting any components you may need

TMNTturtlguy

@Luxous if this was my project I would buy this for the gaming system portion:

Pi 3b
8gb SD card
2.5power supply
HDMI cable
HD monitor of your choice
3.5m jack speakers
Set of easyget arcade buttons/joystick
Pi hut USB hub
Power toggle or power block

I would also get a USB keyboard for setup.

I have not used a power block so can't help there. I have wired my arcade cabinet to a surge protector and I wired an inline toggle switch to the power strip. This way I can properly select shutdown from the main menu, wait a Minute and then use the power toggle like the original cabinet had to turn the power off.

This list should get you what you need for 1 complete setup.

Luxous

@TMNTturtlguy Thanks for the info, I need the set up to have two player options, with dual controls.

do I just buy two sets of buttons etc

TMNTturtlguy

@Luxous I don't know what you mean by 2 player options with dual controls? Are you trying to have a 2 full payer setup (1 joystick and 4 t0 8 buttons per player)? Or are you saying you want to have 2 full sets of controls for each player (meaning 2 joysticks or each player, a total of 8 joysticks?)

If you are just trying to create a standard 2 player setup, you can purchase the easyget usb arcade controls from several places including ebay, amazon if available where you are at, and several other online re-sellers. They sell them in 2 packs, meaning you get 2 full player setups, so you buy 1 set and it gives you 2 joysticks, 2 usb encoders and 2 full sets of buttons.

Luxous

@TMNTturtlguy I just meant I wanted 2 full player set ups, so each station 2 people can play at same time.

so far ive bought 7 of these set ups, 7 raspberry pi 3 units, memory cards, power packs and 7 monitors

do I need power blocks also?

TMNTturtlguy

@Luxous You do not need power blocks, they are an add on. I do not use power blocks as i mentioned above in my earlier post. Power blocks can do a lot of cool things, however I choose to go with the USB arcade controls for ease of use and ease of multiplayer capabilities.

The main thing you need to consider is how you are going to power up and power down each pi unit. I use a toggle switch like the original arcade cabinet I rebuilt used. I wired the toggle to a surge protector. The surge protector powers my pi, my powered usb hub from PiHut, the lights on the arcade machine, my speakers and my monitor. When i switch the toggle on, everything is powered up at the same time. When i shutdown, I properly shutdown the pi through the menu, shutdown system. I wait about a minute and then i simply flip the toggle off, and the entire arcade machine is powered down.

Sorry for the long answer. No you don't need a power block. You just need to decide if you are going to use USB controllers with LED lights, you need to have a Powerd USB hub. You also need to figure out how to properly startup and shutdown your units.

Luxous

@TMNTturtlguy perfect, thanks. the controller set ups are all joysticks and buttons that will presumable be controlled via the usb block etc that comes with them, im sure they are led too so does that mean the hub will control all of that?

I was hoping that there would be a more simple way of startup and shutdown? ie a button possibly?

TMNTturtlguy

@Luxous said in Project help needed:

im sure they are led too so does that mean the hub will control all of that?

Yes, the Powered USB up from PiHut will power the buttons and joystick as well as the LED lights for the buttons. You will need this so that the buttons/LED lights do not draw power from the raspberry pi itself.

@Luxous said in Project help needed:

I was hoping that there would be a more simple way of startup and shutdown? ie a button possibly?

If you want to do something like this, you will need to look into the PowerBlock. I have not used one, so I cannot speak to it. PowerBlock Link

Luxous

So.....

yesterday all 7 stations arrived, ive installed retropie on them all and also various consoles and games, custom splash screen etc etc

my problem is that ive bought arcade joysticks and buttons, pair share the same "dual usb encoder" both joysticks and all buttons connect to this encoder then i plug in the usb. ive tried numerous times to have emulation station listen to controls yet when i start a game, most buttons dont work, when i hit start for exmple some characters jump - its driving me insane :)

any help much appreciated

Capeman

@Luxous What kind of encoder? Can you post a link to the brand and model?

pjft

@Luxous Just to confirm, did you remap the controllers in EmulationStation, and are you using the libretro (lr- prefix) emulators?

Luxous

@Capeman thanks https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XFSTZLK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Luxous

@pjft i reset controls, as i had assumed i had messed up, ssh in and ran script to wipe controls, ran emulation station, one set of controls work, the second set have no effect at all

with regards to the libretro (lr- prefix) emulators, im unsure how to do that?

thedeathstar

For your controllers:

First thing I'd do is start up your pi with only the non-working controller plugged in and see if it recognizes it as a new controller that you need to configure.

Second, there's a test you can do to see what controllers are plugged in, and see what button presses correspond to numeric inputs on the pi. I'm guessing this video is still applicable:

If the two controllers give different inputs you might need to rewire your buttons. If certain buttons or the controller aren't recognized I would suggest going over your wiring with a fine tooth comb to make sure you didn't miss anything.

For the power on/off:

One option other than the powerblock is shown here:

I haven't tried it, so maybe someone else would be able to tell you if that's as robust of a solution as the more expensive hardware. At least you can test that with one of your extra buttons, and not have to worry about spending more money for now.

Another option would be something like this: https://mausberry-circuits.myshopify.com/products/shutdown-circuit-use-your-own-switch

The benefit (in my mind at least) is that I think it fully cuts power to the pi, but it requires an on/off switch.

Luxous

@thedeathstar thanks for the info, the arcade set ive got is two complete sets of buttons and joysticks but they share the same double encoder, so there is only one usb into the pi, this is why i think its only finding it as a single controller

Luxous

SO ....

today i took one of the encoders off of the other button sets and connected the two separate sets of joysticks and buttons via two encoders, the pi then seen i had two sets of controllers.

i wipe the controllers settings and i go through emulation station programming joystick 1, everythings fine.

once in emulation station i then hit menu, configure joystick 2, everything seems to be working, only its not... it then throws off all controls for joystick one. only the bottons though not the joystick

Capeman

I recommend you switch out to using a keyboard based encoder like the iPac 2. Those cheapo chinese encoders that come in those bundle kits are usually pretty low quality, and with no documentation there's no way to easily troubleshoot them. The iPac is more expensive, but infinitely easier to work with since it's recognized as a keyboard and not multiple gamepads.