84 replies to this topic

[Rook]

I bought one of the original backglasses a few years ago when I originally thought about making a cabinet, but because I recycled an existing cabinet instead of scratch building one, the original backbox didn't have the same dimensions. The Capcom backbox is wider than the ones made by Bally/Williams.

[Rook]

Realized I hadn't updated my build in... forever.

The new LCD tray...

 lcdtray1.jpg   65.32KB   134 downloads

Painted.

 lcdtray2.jpg   213.02KB   149 downloads

Also have the DMD monitor mounted in place.

Still a lot more to do but I've been busy with other projects.

And Mass Effect 3.

[mameman23]

Looking good, I understand the one I built last year is now for sale

Hurry up and finish this will ya

[Rook]

Looking good, I understand the one I built last year is now for sale

Oh yeah? How much? LOL! I can't help it you're such a bloody fast builder!

I'm working on different projects too at the moment. Resin casting some Anime weapons, modding a nerf gun into a
Morita rifle from Starship Troopers, scratch building an SMG from Mass Effect... I really need to learn how to focus on ONE
project at a time.

It took me a while to get the rail placement correct in the cabinet, but now she's set and it doesn't bind up. That
was a great concept and design, thanks for solving one of the biggest engineering hurdles I had in this project! I just
need to add support blocks for the front end so the tray can rest IN the cabinet and not on top of the front panel.

Just curious, how large of panels can your CNC machine handle?

[mameman23]

Just curious, how large of panels can your CNC machine handle?

right now 4'x4' but will be expanding it to a full 8'x4' later this year.

[Rook]

Nice! Lots of room for fun there!

[Rook]

Finally... after a year and a half of delays... I finally decased my 42" LCD last weekend.

 visio1_1.jpg   115.11KB   50 downloads

 visio2_2.jpg   112.87KB   66 downloads

The decasing was actually very easy. The Viso's come apart pretty fast. What took the longest time was
removing the speakers, which are stuck to the screen with double sided foam tape.
I unplugged the speakers from the main PCB and just put them aside since I won't be using them.

I made some supports for the sides, but didn't have any long screws to actually mount them in place.

After I get the side supports situated, I'll need to cut a hole in the bottom to allow access to the video plugs.

Slowly moving ahead...

Maybe I'll have it done before Armageddon on 12/12/2012.

[Rook]

Haven't done too much, but have done some.

Got the access holes cut in the monitor tray...

 monitortray.jpg   189.8KB   114 downloads

...got the OEM power wiring lines (from the power cord through the on/off switch box) wired up
so I can use the original power switch with the rest of the hardware.

And also mounted the playfield monitor to the monitor tray.

 open.jpg   151.58KB   128 downloads

Still haven't powered it up though.

Also mounted the plastic guide rails and put the glass on it to protect the monitor from the animals.

 monitor_testmount.jpg   159.53KB   139 downloads

Bondo-ed the holes in the cab from mounting the monitor tray rails and some splintering at the back from
cutting the computer door. Still need to sand that smooth to prep for painting again.

Been working on my Tron upright cabinet, so pin work has been slow.

[Rook]

Got the PC laid out on the pull out tray, powered it up... and nothing.
Wouldn't even show the Bios info. Power turns on the fans for about 3 seconds, then they shut off.

At first I thought the power supply might be bad, so I took it in to a local PC repair place and they
tested it and it came up good. Hmmm...

Took the PC down to the shop and had one of our techs look at it. After messing with it for a while,
we've pretty much determined that the CPU is shot. So, it looks like I'm looking for a new Motherboard/CPU
set.

Ah well, nothing in life is easy, right?

And speaking of stuff that doesn't work... just picked up a 1987 Sega Thunder Blade video game in
"working" condition... yeah, working in 1987 maybe. Main fuse on the monitor chassis blows, no audio... yay.

More work ahead for certain...

[Rook]

Lol, buying additional computer parts has pushed the cost of my build over $2k.

Spread out over 3 years, that's only like $55 a month.

*sigh*

[nickbuol]

Stumbled across your build today. Keep up the good work. It is taking a long time, but like you said, life doesn't stop so that you can build your cabinet. You will get there.

*Subscribed*

[MTPPC]

That playfield monitor is going to run pretty hot with no ventilation. If I used an LCD tray like that, I'd cut a hole for a 120mm fan on one end and an exhaust on the other. My playfield is is tight to the glass, so I can feel the heat through the glass. My 39" westinghouse is an LED so it runs cooler than a typical LCD too.

[Rook]

Strange, I thought I'd updated this... well, let's fix that problem.

 

Well, got busy with OTHER projects, including a Tron Arcade cab restoration

which is ALMOST FINISHED! I just have to slightly resand the sides, repaint,

mount the "T" moulding and put the new side art on it, plus sand and repaint

the back doors, and it will be pretty much done. Even in it's 90% state it looks

pretty sweet all lit up and plays perfectly!

 

 troncab2.jpg   87.37KB   35 downloads

 

 troncab1.jpg   108.38KB   38 downloads

 

Yep, that's a Tron Legacy film Encom marquee on it instead of the old Bally Midway one.

My progress on the pincab in the last year has been...

Mounted the playfield monitor guide rails (supplied by Mameman!) and

monitor tray. Mounted the 42" LCD on the tray. Did some bondo/sanding

work on the screw holes and other damage from the PC tray cutting.

Got the 17" LCD for the Dot Matrix panel mounted.

Ran into some PC issues with my Pincab, and had to spread out replacement

parts buying for half a year.

But, as of 2 weeks ago I finally have my Pincab PC running!

I FINALLY got both Visual Pinball/Pinmame and Future Pinball running

on the PC with Hyperpin.

I've spent the last week adding Full screen tables and tweaking the directories

and art (Playfield/Wheel art) libraries.There's a few tweaks that need to be

done including finding full screen tables to replace the desktop
ones in my collection, and when I get it back in the cabinet I'll probably have to retweak
everything again to reflect the changes in the display monitors I'll be using, compared to my smaller
desktop test monitor I've been using to get it set up.

Getting closer to being done!

Edited by Rook, 25 January 2013 - 07:56 AM.

[Rook]

So... Superbowl Sunday saw the install of the PC in the cab!

 

Apparently windows 7 decided it was time to install 5 billion updates and service pack 1...

 

 alive1.jpg   71.49KB   50 downloads

 

An hour later we got to this stage...

 

 alive2.jpg   135.52KB   74 downloads

 

And this...

 

 alive3.jpg   154.27KB   61 downloads

 

Things "left" to do...

 

Hook up the ipac keyboard encoder. I'm getting MAJOR flipper lag that I understand is coming from the wireless

keyboard I'm using at the moment. It REALLY SUCKS and its making table setup kind of a pain in the...

 

keyboard.

 

Figure out how to rotate the DMD on some tables. Some people's full screen tables have the DMD turned correctly,

others... do not. WTF?

 

Sound! I NEED SOUND! I remember like 2 years ago somebody used some sort of off the shelf (Logitec?)

speaker system and wired it into a regular pinball speaker. Have to search the forums to find the info.

 

There's more to do, but it's getting there... kinda.

Edited by Rook, 05 February 2013 - 06:41 PM.

[Shakenbake]

Any 2.1 speaker system with sub will work fine.

 

 

DMD rotation is done in the table script.

[Rook]

yep, figured DMD rotation it was done in the script... someplace. Just haven't narrowed it down yet.

 

 It still amazes me I've gotten this far.

 

I have real pinball speakers mounted in my cab at the moment. Just need

to interface the PC hookups to the real speakers. Can't wait to hear what I'm

SUPPOSED to be hearing.

 

I hope to upgrade to the control upgrade with motion control. Ipac works fine, but pinball ain't

pinball without being able to nudge.

Edited by Rook, 05 February 2013 - 07:17 PM.

[Rook]

In the last 3 weeks I have Hyperpin "running" (still occasional crashes/freezes with VPM) and have most of the wheel images/table graphics working.

 

Got one of the Amps they use in the Virtuapin, and after a couple hours of "Why don't you work!" finally got it sorted out!

The stupid win 7 software was trying to use the PF monitor's speakers (through HDMI) as the default sound source. Had to go into the

windows config to force it to use the "regular" PC speakers. Sooooo very cool to have sound again and the sound out of the

OEM pinball speakers I recycled is just fine! I keep having to turn the sound DOWN because it's so dang loud!

 

Spent another week tweaking all the DMD settings and doing the DMD flip (ROL = 0) that some tables require to display properly.

 

Got my Ipaq hooked up and it (finally) seems to work okay. I don't recall what the issue was that I was having before, but the flipper lag

issue has pretty much disappeared. You exit a table by holding down the start and buy in buttons. Easy!

 

What's left to do?

 

all cabinet graphics

backbox hinges (have them, just not installed)

nudge mechanism

exhaust fan

rails (have to wait until side art is installed)

PF monitor bezel of some sort...

 

also need to secure all the wiring properly and run the power cable out the back of the cab instead of out the

coin door like it is now. Still need to wire up the coin door as well.

 

Still thinking of upgrading to a 3rd monitor (backglass) and really tempted by the DMD driver board currently being offered, but the DMD panel

is a bit high cost for me right now.

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how its turning out. I wish I could figure out why VP likes to crash so much when exiting a table, but overall

it works pretty well.

 

[Rook]

Just a minor update.

 

Last spring My Pincab PC downloaded a windows update which completely FUBARed the entire system.

I was eventually able to use a Linux boot drive and save all my databases and files to a USB HDD.

 

And in September, I was downsized, so I haven't had any spare cash for parts or upgrades.

 

So I was then forced to reinstall Win7, and after that... I was so frustrated I didn't look at the thing

the rest of the summer... until this week.

 

I started messing with the settings again, and reinstalling all the core VP/FP/Hyperpin files. What a pain!

 

On the plus side, I DID find ROM's Tron Legacy FP recreation, so that made me happy.

 

This week I policed all the wiring, FINALLY ran the OEM power plug and bolted it to the back of the cabinet.

I also recessed and drilled a push button on/off switch for the pinball PC. It's located just behind the main

power toggle switch.

 

I still need to wire up the admin buttons, and coin switches in the coin door. To add credits now I'm still

using the wireless keyboard.

 

Now I just need to figure out WTF is going on with Hyperpin causing the mouse pointer to go invisible

after the program is exited, and why FP crashes after exiting and selecting another table.

Edited by Rook, 31 October 2013 - 06:26 PM.

[zebulon]

Now I just need to figure out WTF is going on with Hyperpin causing the mouse pointer to go invisible

after the program is exited, and why FP crashes after exiting and selecting another table.

 

Maybe it's too much for that brand spanking new 486 computer you built when you started this build....

[Rook]

LOL! Yeah, but it was a 486DX!

 

I'm actually running a 3.3ghz Core i3 now. What's wierd is it doesn't seem too much faster than the

dual core 2.? gig in my laptop.