Ultimate MAME Cabinet Blogs

Updated Control Panel Layout

2006-05-29T22:30:00.000-06:00

I get so many emails asking questions about the Control panel (more than anything else), so I took some time and updated my Control Panel page (at the bottom) with more details of how the buttons are arranged (and what they do).

XBox MAME

2005-10-05T19:53:00.000-06:00

I've recently got into hacking my old XBox game console (essentially a Celeron 733 with 64MB RAM, DVD, and 8GB HDD). Well, this is a freaking HUGE universe with tons of mod options (chips, cases, controllers, etc.). It also has a great support cummunity: XBox-HQ, XBox Scene, XBMC, and The MOD Chip.

One of the coolest things I've found, is that once hacked, you can pretty much run all sorts of stuff, from Linux and music/DVD/MOV/AVI/WMV players to custom older console emulators. Namely, MAME, and Nintendo 64. Now, There is also the cool aspect that an xbox controller, while it has proprietary connectors, is essentially just a USB device. Well, that has allowed a couple add-on developers to create a PS2 mouse/keyboard plug adapter (and there are plenty of USB to XBox adapters as well) that will work in Linux. The SmartJoy FRAG adapter is the first/best out there. I'm not sure if you can bring a PS2 keyhack (or hagstrom controller) into this PS2 adapter and have all the normal PC keys recognized for use as a control panel interface, but it seems reasonable.

Some of the MAME roms are a bit much for the XBox hardware to run at reasonable speeds, but it is pretty cool (and about as cheap as you can get for a MAME PC).

Installed Side Art Pictures

2005-08-21T20:09:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of the new side art from Mame Marquees on the MAME II Cabinet. I still need to take the LCD out and pop the bezel off and paint it a nice glossy black to make it fit with the cabinet better.

New Side Art Graphics

2005-08-17T18:12:00.000-06:00

I have really been wanting to put some nice side art on my cabinet ever since I finished it over 2 years ago. I've just never found anything that does a good job of showing off all the classic arcade games in a way that seems to fit. Well, I finally found MAME Marquees, and picked some nice images:

The top one is picture of the two large images made by DK (I don't know real name, but it is listed all over the web as DK's MAME side art). I don't know who to credit the bottom one with, but it is perfect (and a GREAT job by the original artist) for a classic oriented MAME cabinet. I ordered two of them as well, and while they are technically marquee prints, and meant to be sandwiched between plexiglass, I'm going to try to get them put on the side of the cabinet as well with some spray adhesive.

I'm getting it all put on the cabinet right now and will post pictures when it is done (I need to get some 3M 77 Spray Adhesive to help tack down some of the side art corners a little better, as well as the marquee "posters"). Scott, at MAME Marquees, seems like a really helpful guy and willing to work with you and get you what you want. Thanks for all your help, Scott!

New Hardware

2005-08-15T19:24:00.000-06:00

I've been fighting stability problems with my USB ports (the ABIT KT7-RAID board is notorious for having problems with the onboard USB). So, I popped in an IEEE-1394 firewire and USB PCI board I had laying around, and that seemed to really fix the problem. I also took the opportunity to swap out the twin 30GB IBM drives (running as RAID-1), for a new 200GB 7200RPM UATA Maxtor, since I needed the space to fit all the .CHD files from MAME 0.98 roms. Well, I reinstalled all of Windows XP, and all was good, for about 2 days. Then, I couldn't get it to wake up out of sleep mode one day, and had to reboot. That started all sorts of problems (missing DLL's, and hung boots). I reverted to last known good windows, and that helped a couple times, but I even got a failed post a couple times with BIOS errors.

So, I figured it was time to get rid of the aging KT7-RAID board and AMD 1.1GHz CPU. I had just upgraded Sarah's computer to a new Dell, and had her ABIT KG7-RAID with AMD Athlon 2100 available. Popped that in, reinstalled Windows XP, and things seem to be running just splendidly so far, and I have the power to run some of these newer games.

Quick update

2005-07-18T15:14:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to update some pretty cool links. Plus I am planning to pain the bezel of my new 30" LCD (which I still love, btw) black. And, I figured I'd mention that my web site was put into PC Intern, a German PC magazine!

New Vizio 30" LCD installed

2005-06-12T16:38:00.000-06:00

Update!! Just put in a new 30" Vizio LCD 16:9 flat panel display. It fits (barely) with the speakers on the bottom (one of the few that I've found like this). And, it is using a DVI input from the new ATI Radeon 9200. I also installed my Xbox in the cabinet with wireless 2GHz controllers from Logitech and a hidef pack (this LCD supports up to 720p natively!!!). The Windows picture is excellent and has tons of more room than the old 800x600 (at 1280x768).

Stupid Princeton Graphics HDTV!!!

2004-11-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I've spent $850 originally, $190 in repairs the first time, and now another $30 just to have the repair shop say that they can't fix it, get parts or a service manual for this Princeton Graphics AR2.7AV (serial number 991212232 for my own future reference). Shop said the TV is actually manufactured by Mitsubishi, and that the fly back is dead and probably took out the HV circuitry as well.

I'm sick of this. I'm going to give it a couple months, while I try to contact the manufacturers, but I may have to try to find another TV...Sigh...$1000 down the drain.

Son of MAME!

2004-08-01T14:58:00.000-06:00

Heheh. Here are a couple pictures of my son, Riley playing my MAME machine.

My MAME Cabinet featured in Orielly hardware hacker book

2004-02-10T15:40:00.000-07:00

About 2 years ago, I got an email from a guy (Scott Fullam) asking for permission to write a chapter in a hardware hacking book he was doing on my Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME) cabinet I built. I said sure, as long as I got credit for any photos or plans. Well, it is finally out! And it is a pretty good book.

www.oreilly.com -- Hardware Hacking Projects - for Geeks: "From building a home arcade machine to creating a cubicle intrusion detection system, Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks offers an array of inventive, customized electronics projects for the geek who can't help looking at a gadget and wondering how it might be 'upgraded.' The book begins with less complex hacking projects then moves into more advanced hacks. Clear step-by-step instructions allow even those with no formal electronics- or hardware-engineering skills to hack real hardware in clever ways"

New project plans: Flight Cockpit PC

2003-01-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I've put much new content up here (I get thousands of emails every month and lots of questions, and I should probably put them all in a FAQ or something, but I'm too lazy...grin). I still have my beloved MAME 2 that I finished almost a 18 months ago, and I still love it (though I just had to spend $90 to get the Princeton Arcadia 27" Hidef monitor fixed). I've also gotten a 55" HDTV and XBOX now in my main living room to spend some time with, now that I have a 4 month old to watch over.

But, of late, I am really getting ancy to begin working on my latest "vision". The project is basically a flight cockpit for PC games like MS Combat Flight Simulator 3 and some good old classics like MechWarrior 2/3 and Descent 2/3 type games. One with the full setup of the Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS sticks and rudders (which I have used in one form or another for over 6 years now, but they are too cumbersum to have setup all the time at my main computer desk). Plus, I have some ideas of my own about putting in a roll axis on the throttle. That is where this new "cockpit" PC project comes in. I plan to have a flight yoke and rudders setup for both flight sim programs AND it should work great for driving sim games like Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. Plus the rudders, programmable F16 joystick and throttle with thousands of hats and buttons (and the roll axis on the throttle that I'll add) should make it VERY immersive. I'm going to have it fully enclosed and probably use a flat screen 17" or 19" monitor and will also have a track ball mouse and lots of "buttons" that can be keyboard programmable scattered around the cockpit, all using the Hagstrom Electronics USB 36 encoder again. I'll have 5.1 surround with speakers just behind the flight chair (or right in it by my head) and up near the monitor, plus a big sub woofer. I may even try to support twin monitor support somehow, just incase a game finally takes advantage of being able to have two monitors (but that may slip in time).

I really can't explain it too you if you have never played MechWarrior with a full joystick/throttle setup and rudders, but the simulation experience is awesome. Same goes for a really good flight sim, when you have all the controls. The cockpit will just finish off the experience and give me some place to have all of that equipment setup to play without cluttering up my main desk. The only thing that is really holding me back from doing it right now is space. I don't have anywhere to put it. This might take longer than I think, just waiting for somewhere to put my cool invention (like waiting to buy a new home with a bonus/game room that is big enough to fit my 4 computer network, the MAME 2 machine and this new behemoth). Oh, yea, and I need to begin working on my wife to slowly get her use to the idea...grin. I'll keep you all updated here.

When it's done!

2001-10-09T22:17:00.000-06:00

So, here is the new MAME2 cabinet finally pretty much finished. There are a full set of pictures of the new one here.

More Old vs New

2001-09-24T22:24:00.000-06:00

Old cabinet is in the middle. New one is on left and right.

More Old vs New

2001-09-20T19:51:00.000-06:00

MAME1 on the left, MAME2 on the right.

Old vs New

2001-09-19T12:38:00.000-06:00

Someone asked for "old" vs "new" cabinet comparison photos side by side. I'll try to keep posting others as I get to those stages in the new cabinet. Painting is next, then putting the formica on the control panel.

New Pics

2001-09-18T20:49:00.000-06:00

Two new pictures now that I trimmed down the angle of the flying nun control panel. The one in the middle is the OLD angle.

My New Cabinet

2001-09-18T06:41:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics of my new cabinet in the build process. I've been working on it for about 30 hours now. I went with a 27/29" HDTV from Princeton Graphics. I will try to have the new dimension cut plans up and a whole web page with the new changes up when it is done. This one is going to be a little more expensive due to the $850 price tag of the monitor alone. Also, I got a new coin door and will be putting in a spinner and blinking lights for the player 1/2 start, since MAME will toggle the keyboard CAPSLOCK and SCROLLOCK lights on the keyboard when coins are entered. Since I went with the Hagstrom USB 36 key encoder with trackball support, I will be sticking with only a two player control board, but I've added a couple more 4-way joysticks (for games like Karate Champ) and one of them is a trigger joy (for games like tron). I'm trying to build my own spinner out of spare bath fan parts, but I need a large knurled aluminum knob...can't seem to find one anywhere.

As you can see from the pictures below, there are a couple changes I made from my original design. I made it wider for one, to fit the new HDTV. I also made the monitor slant a little more aggressive and then beefed up the top marquee portion to be thicker. The depth of the main cabinet is actually 2 inches LESS than the old design, but the control panel sticks out about 6-8 more inches. The marquee area is larger and a few other slight changes. The control panel is larger at 3-foot by 4-foot (too big, I think in retro-spect). Also, after looking at it in the current form for a couple days (right pic), I'm pretty certain I'm going to try to cut the angle of the control panel down about 1-2" on the front. I think I made the skirt on the control panel a little too high, and the width of that bad boy is a bit much...looks like a dang flying wing... But we'll see.

Sold My Cabinet!!!

2001-08-06T06:54:00.000-06:00

I think my cabinet just sold. $1450 was the winning price on Ebay for item 1171497719. Kevin Lambert took the high bid, and I'm working out pickup now. Guess that means I have to start ordering all the replacement parts and stuff for a NEW cabinet. I'm actually a little bit sad. WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?

Friend's Cabinet Pics and my Cabinet is on EBAY

2001-08-01T22:12:00.000-06:00

I put my cabinet on Ebay under item 1171497719: Custom Built Full Size MAME Arcade Cabinet. Reserve is $1500. Take a look. Also, here are some pictures from a friend's cabinet that he borrowed plans from me on. It has the Princeton Graphics Arcadia monitor...

Also, I think I really like the looks of the Gauntlet: Dark Leagacy and Legends cabinets.

New Cabinet Plan scans

2001-07-09T23:56:00.000-06:00

I just put brand new HIGH resolution scans of my plans (with full dimensions and stuff) on the downloads page. Hope that helps some of you all have as much fun as I have with this.

Thinking about doing a NEW MAME Cabinet

2001-07-09T20:04:00.000-06:00

I'm SERIOUSLY thinking about selling my mame cabinet. I am sort of getting the urge to build another one. Don't know why, this one is great and works flawlessly, but I wouldn't mind trying to build a 32" HDTV unit..grin (too bad the cheapest display I can find is a 32" Princeton HDTV for $1400). Anyway, if you are interested, I'm asking $1500 (plus S&H) for everything except the PC. Basically, that includes the marquee, fourescent light, 27" RCA TV with S-Video inputs, power strip and switch, twin fans (too keep it all cool), KE-72 keyboard encoder (no ghosting), ME4 mouse/trackball encoder, control surface and keyboard drawer, two player 8-way joysticks with 8 buttons each (no ghosting), one 4-way joystick (wired in parallel with the player 1 joy for games like pacman and donkey kong) with 2 buttons, the 3" Happs trackball/mouse with 2 buttons, the two coin buttons, two player start buttons, and 5 control buttons (that is 29 buttons, 3 joysticks, and a trackball). All you would have to do is plug in a computer with S-Video out card and it would roll (provided you had ROMs and MAME...I can't sell that stuff). Email jmcclain@spro.net if you are interested...Not sure HOW you would ship something like that.

Whew..been a long time

2001-07-06T14:04:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry it has been so long since I posted an update in here. Really, there isn't much more beyond the guide I already have up (other than there sure have been a lot of interested emails and questions of late). I'm currently trying to finish a second control pannel for the machine and trying to figure out how to hook in a gun control that will work for things like crossbow on a TV. ACT Labs has a very cool gun system for the PC, but it only works with VGA monitors, not NTSC or S-Video TV's (Damn, I wish I had paid the $$$ and gotten a 27" Princeton Graphics Arcadia HDTV monitor).. Additionally, Hagstrom Electronics now has a USB 36 key encoder with trackball support and also has a VERY cool Header board for the encoders (this will save a lot of you the complex soldering and small proto-board I had to make on my own) for only $15.

I have really been using my machine a lot, for M.A.M.E. play and for PC games (Motocross Madness 2 is just too fun on this 27" TV) not to mention using it as a dedicated server for all of our Counter-Strike, Tribes2, and Diablo2 LAN games.

Updates

2000-12-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

I got my PIII-800 in as well as an ABIT VT6X (via apollo 133Mhz chipset) motherboard. I'm running the 800 in my main computer and swapped my old PIII-550 in to the Mame cabinet. New case, floppy, and a new 42x Sony CDROM. Picked up an AGP 32MB ATI Rage Fury Pro with TV out (much faster at OpenGL for the N64 emulators as well as Need For Speed III). Bought a logitech force feed back dual controller (looks just like a playstation controller with force feed back). I also installed Windows ME on the new system. Not sure I like it. I've already moved back to Win98SE on my main system (there were some problems with my ATA-66 drive). Did find the DOS box (they just put it further down into the start menu).

More Computer Upgrades...

2000-09-29T22:18:00.000-06:00

Now this is just getting plain ridiculous. Grin. I just sold the whole Celeron 566 computer core (minus OS and DRAM) for $250. Case, hard drive, CDROM, floppy, network, modem...everything. Ordered a new ABIT VT6X4 (via 133Mhz) motherboard, with a PIII-800EB (6x133Mhz), a new Sony 42x CDROM, and a much better ATI AGP video card, the ATI Rage Fury Pro 32MB with S-Video out. Also picked up a pretty dang nice little ATX case and floppy from a friend that runs a business. Finally, I got a cheap 10/100 PCI Ethernet adapter ($12) and I think I'm ready to rock and roll. I'm going to migrate my PIII-550 from my main computer into the MAME machine, and put the 800EB in my main computer. I also am going to put the 15GB ATA-66 drive in the MAME machine that I put in my second computer and trade back the 6GB that I originally stole from there. Might even swap cases, but probably not. Hopefully, I'll be able to play N64 games on the MAME machine now...

I also upgraded to Windows ME (Millenium) the other day for $49. So far, it is a toss up. I like some of the stuff, but a MAJOR killer is that Windows ME no longer has a DOS BOX that you can open, nor is "exiting to DOS" even an option on the shutdown anymore. This is sort of a cramp, since the KE72 requires you to be in true DOS (not just a DOS box) to program the encoder. Guess I'll break out my old DOS 6.22 and make a boot floppy. One other thing that sort of has me worried, is that Diablo2 play has gone to complete crap. This is on ALL of my systems (including the PIII-550 overclocked to 660Mhz). Weird stuttering happens throughout game play, sort of like server network lag, but I'm only playing in Single Player. It is COMPLETELY unplayable. On the plus side, UT and Crimson Skies doesn't seem to be affected, so I suspect it is a problem unique to Diablo 2.

Ultimate MAME Cabinet Blogs

Updated Control Panel Layout

XBox MAME

Installed Side Art Pictures

New Side Art Graphics

New Hardware

Quick update

New Vizio 30" LCD installed

Stupid Princeton Graphics HDTV!!!

More problems with the Princeton display

Son of MAME!

My MAME Cabinet featured in Orielly hardware hacker book

New project plans: Flight Cockpit PC

When it's done!

More Old vs New

More Old vs New

Old vs New

New Pics

My New Cabinet

Sold My Cabinet!!!

Friend's Cabinet Pics and my Cabinet is on EBAY

New Cabinet Plan scans

Thinking about doing a NEW MAME Cabinet

Whew..been a long time

Updates

More Computer Upgrades...