34 replies to this topic

[Doug_C]

Hey guys, Long time lurker / supporter here. Great site.

Well, I'm really into the whole emulation thing. Have built my own Mame arcade, converted a pole position to run over 100 driving games and now building my own Mini Pinball machine.

I'll be using a 24" Sony LCD for the playfield and a 19" LCD for the backglass... Running Future Pinball, Visual Pinball and Ultrapin.

I have a theme going on... It's my "Redneck Arcade" the mame machine is "Monster Mame - the Redneck Arcade" the Pole Position is "Redneck Racer 1" and the pinball is "Mini Redneck Pinball" LOL I guess it all stemmed from building the arcade machine. The darn thing stands almost 8 feet tall by 4 feet wide and 5 feet deep... LOL Yeah..... Oh, and I drink a ton of beer while working with power tools.. Yeah, not smart...hehe. Usually you can spot an "Easter Egg" beercan in each picture.

Oh, and if you want to check out the rest of my builds, look through my gallery: http://www.therednec.../e107/zenphoto/

On with the pics... Let me know what you think.


It's running a Pentium 4 motherboard, 3.0 GHZ processor, 2 gigs of ram and a 1 gig Nvidia 250gs video card.

Here's the prototype:






The Computer system




Sound system will be a Dell 2 speaker setup with Sub... It's made by Polk Audio





And this nifty little device is a Pigtail... It takes all the inputs and outputs from the computer system so you can have easy access. Even has a 4 port USB hub built in. $6.99!!! What a steal! http://www.geeks.com...nvtId=80699-H17 The quality is top notch!!! (I use them in all my arcade conversions)





and now the build....

I laid out all the dimensions first... Measured 3 times cut once....

The side panels:









Got some new clamps!! These things are a lifesaver!






Now mocking up all the cut pieces... Really should have used my table saw... But was too much hassle to move from my shop to outside (don't do wood cutting in the shop.... Too messy)











Backglass mount cut and mocked up






Got a ton done today! Thanks to my buddy Glenn for his help.

After getting everything cut I found I made a huge mistake in the overall width of it. I had it exactly right on my drawing, but for some reason when cutting the bottom, I did it an inch to narrow (1/2" for each piece of wood.) Don't know what I was thinking, but I ended up having to recut the bottom, back and other various pieces.

Anyway... Here are some pics.





I used 1x2 runners which worked perfect!





Going to use this 120mm fan to vent the heat out of the box... It's a silent one. 14db at full speed!!




Now, from this point on... There is an easter egg hunt... Try to find all the beer cans...LOL Yeah... we got buzzed...





Cut the holes for the Power Supply and Exhaust fan... Turned out great!



Test fit of the computer rack



Bracing





Continued on next post...

Edited by Doug_C, 11 May 2010 - 07:50 PM.

[Doug_C]

Guess I had too many pictures... Hmmm...


Palm rest



Power supply installed... Trick!






And finally, the test fit of the monitor... I could not believe how well it fit!! Freaking perfect!!






My buddy Glenn







And the Redneck who makes it all happen.... Yeah, I'M A REDNECK!! Or is it TechNeck? Hmmmm....





Got the pieces cut for the backglass... Mocked it up to make sure everything fits.









Use lots of carpenters glue... Helps make it really sturdy...




Got this cool little device to help hold the corners straight and true while you drill and screw it.







Outer box built... I used cabinet grade 3/4" MDF for this.






Test fit of the box on the playfield




With the scrap piecies I had to rip off the main box, I used them for outer trim on the backglass... The plexiglass will mount up into here also...

Here I have it clamped down to tack it together with a nail gun. Then I move it out about an inch and tack it into place.











Then I built the stand the the backglass sits on to raise it off the playfield






Set the backglass up there to see what it looks like... I LIKE IT!! Starting to look like a real pinball machine...

Edited by Doug_C, 11 May 2010 - 07:47 PM.

[Noah Fentz]

---Topics Merged---


Looking great, man!

We try not to get too buzzed when building my cab, but it just seems to fit the occasion!

[Rawd]

Looks great Doug!

One thing I noticed, is you are going to need to flip your TV (Hope I caught you in time). VP9 only likes 270 degree rotation, and not 90.

I tried a ton of software fixes and none worked. I ended up having to re-route my completed cabs, and cut the bezel on my TV.

I see you had it setup properly on your prototype, but then you flipped it.

[Doug_C]

Looks great Doug!

One thing I noticed, is you are going to need to flip your TV (Hope I caught you in time). VP9 only likes 270 degree rotation, and not 90.

I tried a ton of software fixes and none worked. I ended up having to re-route my completed cabs, and cut the bezel on my TV.

Thanks guys!!

Actually I was able to get it to flip around either way with the Nvidia software.. But the TV goes in either way.

I put a lot of thought into how the main playfield goes in. I made it covered on both ends, but the side under the backglass has a small hatch that pops up so I can scoot the LCD back then grab on either side to pull it out. (In case I need to work on the computer) But the LCD will be in the other direction when installed.. I was doing a test fit. The LCD itself is not mounted down but rests on 1x2 runners and a 1x1 stopper at the palm rest. Monitor edge recesses about 1/4" under the palm rest.

Not bad for 2 days of work?


Oh! And thank you so much for merging my topics... I generally take lots of pictures when doing a project (That was about 1/4 of them so far)

I know it clogs up the forums, but if your like me... You'd rather look at the pictures then read a 10 page thesis.

[epthegeek]

I know it clogs up the forums, but if your like me... You'd rather look at the pictures then read a 10 page thesis.

Heh. My build thread over at hyperspin's forum more resembles the thesis variety. Offense taken! (Just kidding)

Your build looks great.

[Rawd]

Actually I was able to get it to flip around either way with the Nvidia software.. But the TV goes in either way.

I was also able to get VP9 to flip with the Nvidia software (and iRotate) on my 8800GT. As soon as I upgraded to my 250GTS, it wouldn't play nice anymore. FP was also a bit of a problem. Nice to hear that it can go in either way, as you will want the bottom of the monitor on the left hand side.

[Practicedummy]

Is that Banzai Run you got in the garage?

[GeorgeT]

I see you're in Oregon...can I come pick one up from you when you finish?

[Doug_C]

I see you're in Oregon...can I come pick one up from you when you finish?

LOL.. Sure thing! That'll be 1000 easy payments of $19.95... But wait!! There's more! LOL

Nope, no Banzai run. Just a Williams Defender, Space Invaders, Pole Position and my monster Mame.. Oh and an EM pinball machine I'm repairing for a friend. Should have never sold my other pinball machines. I had a Theater of Magic, Medieval Madness and Alien Poker. Oh well.

I should have this thing pretty much wrapped up by the weekend.

[Doug_C]

Finally getting time to work on the Mini tonight. Wow. I had my mame machine go down on me and spent the better part of 4 hours last night trying to get the operating system running again (boot, bluescreen flash, reboot loop) Gotta love windows.

I downloaded a Linux distro of Knoppix on Live CD to boot the machine and pull critical configuration files off. Love that CD, great for diagnostics: http://www.knoppix.net/

Anyway, I still have to paint and attach the backbox then install all the equipment. Shouldn't be too long. I may have a few questions about setting up Hyperpin with FP and VP.

[Practicedummy]

I'm glad you mentioned Knoppix! I completely forgot about that utility. Went ahead a bookmarked it.

[Doug_C]

Kinda funny, But I often use Linux to fix Windows... If half of the cool stuff for Windows ran reliably on Linux, I'd make the switch. Like VP and FP. A Linux Electronic pinball machine would be kick arse. And as an added benefit, you would have a lot more resources available to run the game. Windows is a pig.

Yup, knoppix is cool, throw the cd in, boot to it, mount the drives and fix what you need to.

Quick question... Where's a cheap place to buy legs for the pinball machine?

[FredBear]

Really nice build - a bit unusual having the backbox raised like that but I'm sure it will all come together and look sensational!

One word of advice though - test the BenQ monitor for its reaction ot power down then being powered up again as it will probably not power up! I have used the exact same model in a MAME cab and I had all my devices connected to one wall socket via a simple powerboard so I could then turn it off at the wall once the PC had shut down. The PC was configured to auto start up on power recovery so when I turned the cabinet ON at the wall the plan was for everything to turn on and away we go.

I ended up jamming the power button so it is always "closed" which forces thit to turn on when power is restored to it. This works fine, however I'm screwed if I want to make any adjustments to the monitor as none of the other buttons work.

Just something to be wary of - you may already have a solution for it.

[Doug_C]

I was actually going to leave them powered on all the time. Just let them go to sleep mode when the PC is off.

[Harakiri]

I can't see the pictures right. Maybe you should try scaling them to a bigger resolution!

[Doug_C]

I can't see the pictures right. Maybe you should try scaling them to a bigger resolution!

Yeah, I thought about that, but I figured a 5 foot by 8 foot pic was big enough.

In the next day or so, I'm going to change them to 800x600, just been too busy building my cabinet.


I got the backbox mounted, the 19" monitor is now installed via a back plate mounted to the inside on the backbox... Doesn't use a stand. Turned out really good!! Got the two speakers in place and all the wires tied up nicely.
Got the flipper buttons installed and the mini coin door ready to cut. It's a over and under coin box, but I'm going to cut the coin box off and just leave the coin door. About 1/3 the width of a standard coin door. Should give me enough room to install admin buttons down the side.

oh, and I also sanded the whole thing getting it ready to paint.

My goal is to have it functional for tomorrows VW get together in my arcade. Should be fun!

Edited by Doug_C, 08 May 2010 - 04:06 AM.

[Harakiri]

Needless to praise your fine job crafting the cabinet...

...instead of redimensioning the pictures you can upload them to imageshack and then use their BBCode to display as thumbnails.

[Doug_C]

Needless to praise your fine job crafting the cabinet...

...instead of redimensioning the pictures you can upload them to imageshack and then use their BBCode to display as thumbnails.

I hate Image Shack... That's why I have my own gallery here: http://www.therednec.../e107/zenphoto/

Maybe I should have just used the link instead.... Actually, the cached image is in 800x600 format. Perfect for forums. I'll change them out when I get a chance.

Got the machine up and running!!! The guys in my club really had a great time with it! As a matter of fact, I'm posting from the machine right now.

I'll shoot a video of it working.

And one last question. Future pinball went in and worked perfectly, but I'm having issues with VP 9 and getting it to display correctly. Is there a how to out there? I found one awhile back, but forgot where it was. Seems like the DMD is on the main playfield and nothing else. How do you get it to work? I have the DLL file that was suggested in place, and it's set for arcade mode.

[Rawd]

There is lots of info on this site..

To start:

- Make sure your playfield is monitor #1 and plugged into the first output.
- Make sure monitor #1 is to the left of monitor #2 in your Windows display settings
- Nvidia drivers 182.08 or 182.50.. nothing else works
- Have the cabinet version of pinmame.dll
- In your pinmame settings, make sure your are set for 'default' monitor.
- You need to run FS tables, and not 4:3 or spanned
- You need HyperPin and/or UVP to display your backglass


I thought you already had this working with the bottom of your monitor on the right hand side? I hope you flipped it.