Clean Up

Had a friend over on Saturday and managed to power up the MAME and get in about 15 minutes of play. It isn't much, but it was fun none the less.
With MAME on the brain Sunday I managed to get downstairs and clean up the cabinet, zip tie the wires, and mount the power bar onto the back of the cabinet.

I also put the keyboard and mouse inside the cabinet feeding the connections out the back into the PC. The PC is simply tucked behind the cabinet for now. I don't think it will ever make it's way inside the cabinet.

Concept Work

I created these quickly in photoshop using the color sample from the Krylon page.
Obviously this is a very rough, but it illustrates the look I'm going for.
I'm excited to get working on these.

This N' That

So today I picked out the paint I'd like to use on the counter top arcades.
Krylon Gum Drop, Pumpkin Orange, and Sun Yellow. I paired each color up with buttons and a Sanwa ball top that would match. If all goes well and the price is good each cabinet will also feature some classic side art.

Cabinet one features Krylon Sun Yellow along with a transparent yellow ball top and 24mm yellow Sanwa buttons. I'd like to feature the art from Donkey Kong one on this cabinet.

Cabinet two features Krylon Gum Drop along with a transparent purple ball top and 30mm black Sanwa buttons. On this cabinet (which I plan on keeping) I would like to use the art from Donkey Kong Jr.

Cabinet three features Krylon Pumpkin Orange along with a transparent orange ball top and 30mm orange Sanwa buttons. For this cabinet I would feature the art from Donkey Kong 3. I think this cabinet could look the best to be honest. The side art has various pops of orange throughout. All in all I think the elements of this cabinet will work really well together making for (what I hope) to be an amazing finished product.

http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/

Next Project

So now with the MAME project done I've moved onto my bar top's and jukebox.
Two of the three bar top's will be for resale and one to keep.
I've picked up brand new jamma harnesses, hori buttons and joysticks, 48-in-1 boards, and just today picked up the spray paint. I'm thinking of printing out side art depending on the cost involved doing so. As is it's looking like I will go with the art from Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, and Donkey Kong 3.

Moving On!

The MAME project is done, well %99 done.
A few small things remain like cleaning up some wires, going into the BIOS to stop the RAM check the PC does upon power up. It's Thanksgiving so there is a lot on the go, but as is it's %100 playable. I would expect Monday I would take care of these few small things.

I've moved right onto my jukebox project, which I'm excited about.
I've added the link :

http://www.thebossbox.blogspot.com/

DONE !

It's late, I'm pissed off, and I want to smash my brothers IPOD.
Moving over 2000 songs for his trip to Poland is anything but fun.
It's 10:33 and I think I started f**king around with this thing at 6 or so.
Anyway with the help of my brother I completed the MAME cabinet today.
I'll post more pics and info later, but I'm proud to report it's done.

We cut out a portion of the cabinets rear, that allowed us to seat the monitor in the ideal position. Using some wood we shimmed the monitor into place. It's pressed nicely up against the back of the bezel and looks really good.

Anyway more to come later !

Final Stages

So I can finally say (and feel good about it) that this project is finally in the final stages. I'm still waiting to get my hands on a jigsaw, but other then that its pretty much done. I had a few connections on the IPAC that were loose, but I fixed them today. I also had a problem with the audio being super quiet. I rewired the speakers and the audio is great now. Perhaps a little too much bass, but I should be able to easily adjust that. I've decided as mentioned prior that the PC will simply remain tucked behind or beside the cabinet. And the keyboard kept on top of the PC for easy access. I do have one PC issue that I am yet to fix. When I had major PC issues sometime ago when it was repaired it would do a check of the RAM every time. Pressing escape will void the process. However now running MAME I don't want to wait every time for the test to complete. And with the keyboard stashed behind the PC hitting the escape key isn't going to convenient. Other then that I feel good. I've sent out an email to price some side art. I've designed an instruction card as seen in this blog and I'm going to look for a move set sticker similar to the ones found on Tekken cabinets.

A Few More Options

Revised Instruction Card

Just made a few revisions. I've added both the Dynamo and Capcom logo's.
I added the plus (+) symbol in each instruction line to indicate a combination of buttons/directions are required. Other then that I just changed the spacing ever so slightly. I'll send this off to Wal-Mart this week and see how the final printed instruction card looks.

About to play a lil Street Fighter II

Progress, progress, progress ! It feel's good to say that.
I need a little more time to fix some things I overlooked, but the end is near.
I can say that, most importantly I can mean it!
I hooked up the control panel to give this puppy a little test drive.

Up & Running

Some pictures I took during the testing process.
For now I've decided to keep the PC on the side of the cabinet.

It Works, It Works!

I think the s-video wire is the source of the problem. I'm getting a new one on Monday. Today I decided I would go downstairs and fiddle around again and see if I could make any progress. I made sure the s-video wire was as straight as possible, it seemed as if that did the trick because I got the image to display on the PVM.

As I make progress I noticed some mistakes I've made and things I've overlooked.
I love the flat black paint as its really easy to work with, but it marks easily.
Having certain elements (control panel & bezel) painted for as long as they have been, and left lying around it was no wonder they've picked up a few scratches along the way.
Looking back now I wish I had clear coated the items. Its no biggie, but something I will know for next time. I MIGHT clear coat the bezel, but I will not do the same for the control panel.

Working with what I have, specifically the X-Men vs. Street Fighter I decided to do an instruction card that would follow suit with the other elements. Having not played for a bit I forgot how to select the game. This is most certainly a good idea to have with this cabinet !

I'm so pissed off! Since getting these monitors every single time I've gone downstairs to mess around on MAME I've had no issues. I turn on the PC, I turn on the monitor and away I went. It's like the second the monitor was placed into the cabinet something decided not to work. But not only did not work on one of the monitors, its the same thing on all three. It just really upsets me that I have encountered yet another set back. The installation of the PC shouldn't be all that hard. Cutting the back of the cabinet to make room for the monitor shouldn't be all that hard. Wiring everything up should be relatively easy also. But this stupid monitor or video card or whatever it is such a pain in the ass. I've spent so much time trying different configurations and nothing. The last thing I'm going to try is to bring the PC upstairs again and try on the 32". But even if that works what does it tell me ?

Shocking.............. Still No Luck

So I brought the PC monitor downstairs. I powered up the PC and the PC monitor displayed the images with no problems. I shutdown the PC, started it up, only this time hooked up to the PVM monitor. But this time I got no image, I plugged the PC monitor back in and it was still working. I powered down and powered up the PC on a second PVM monitor but still no image. I tested the monitor via an X-Box playing a DVD and the monitor was working. The only thing I can think of is the s-video signal is not strong enough ? Oh I also got shocked trying to move the monitor, that was fun.
I've included images of MAME playing on the PC monitor and my newly damaged and shocked finger!

Some Oversights

As the project comes together I have noticed some oversights in the planning.
Some and easy fix, others not so much. I'll need to drill a hole in the monitor shelf that will allow the s-video cable to run down into the PC. The same hole will also allow me to run the speaker connections into the sub-woofer. The monitor depth isn't working well with the cabinet and I will need to cut a pass thru in the back of the cabinet. As is the monitor is sitting too far forward. I need to move it backwards and angle it into place. By cutting out a portion of the back cabinet I should be able to seat the monitor in the desired position. Lastly I miss measured my PC case, its about 1" to wide to fit into the cabinet now that the monitor is in place. I'm thinking that I will have to remove the components of the PC and mount them onto a board that I can fit inside. I'm thinking this could also help with the heat issue as it would have no case.

Anyway I'm off to "try" and solve my monitor issues.

Display Issues

So I get help and I get the monitor into place.
I began testing the computer on each of the three monitors.
For some reason no image was showing on ANY of the monitors.
I brought the PC upstairs and tested via the video card on a PC monitor, I had no issue. I also tested the s-video and hooked it up to my 32" TV, again no issue.
I took the PC downstairs and started to test it running MAME on the installed monitor and no image. I don't know what the problem could be.

To save myself from running up and down the stairs I'm going to bring the PC monitor downstairs and continue testing. I have no clue what the problem is, but its really bothering me.

Monitor Is In

Today I began the process of testing all three Sony monitors using MAME.
However (just my luck) it seems the video card has kicked the bucket. I can no longer get an image displayed on any of the three monitors. I tested the S-Video cable via DVD player and it worked. I also tested the three inputs on the monitors also via the DVD player and the monitors displayed the picture. It appears I'm having RAM issues in addition to the video card issue. It never rains, it pores ! Such is my luck.

Anyway with the help of my brother and friend Andrew the monitor has now been lifted into place. It will require me to cut a little off the back of the cabinet to slide it into its final resting place. Also as suspected I will need to shim it into place.
I would expect to do that in the next week or so.

I also plan on tackling my PC issues this week. I'm rather upset, yet another set back.

Monitor Repair

When I purchased the 3 Sony monitors one of the three had issues. The picture was very bad, and very green. I began tweaking it by lowering all the settings only to find out I was unable to increase the settings. All the "+" buttons didn't work.
When I removed the casing from one of the Sony's I noticed what I thought was the wiring for the adjustments. I needed to remove the casing from a working Sony to add it into the Dynamo cabinet. I decided I would unplug the connection from the working monitor and plug it into the non working monitor. PRESTO ! IT WORKED ! I was able to reset the monitor to the stock settings and do my adjustments. I'm really excited that I've now salvaged this monitor I thought was a complete write off. In fact I thought the monitor looked great, perhaps the one I will use in the MAME cabinet. However Friday I will try running MAME on each of the monitors selecting the best one for the cabinet.

So Now What's Really Left ? And When Will It Be Done ?

OK so the shelf is built and installed.
So what's left to FINALLY chalk this project up in the finished column ?

I need to build a small shelf to house the PC sub woofer. It contains the volume control for the computers audio speakers. I've purchased L brackets that I plan on using, and I will house this shelf just below where the cabinets original power supply was. That will allow me to reach behind the cabinet and adjust the volume if needed.

Ill need to house the PC inside the cabinet resting on its side. Ill keep one end of the tower case off to help with cooling. I might add one of my USB cooling stations to the inside of the cabinet for the time being. But I do plan on purchasing a fan to store inside the cabinet and provide additional cooling.

Once the speaker shelf is installed and the PC contained its a simple case of putting the cabinet back together. I would expect (and this is honest) to have the cabinet up and playable for Saturday. It feels good to say that and mean it.

Shelf Is Done & Installed

My brother is coming over Friday to help me move around some furniture in anticipation of my new sectional coming. I thought it would be a good opportunity to get the help required to complete the MAME project. I've had the shelf built for a few weeks now but did have some issues on just how to install it. Browsing some of the projects over on the BYOAC site I noticed that someone using the same SONY PVM monitor simply installed a shelf level to the control panel. He then used wood to shim it up into place. I thought that was a great idea and didn't require the math and problem solving on my end. No secret I've had a ton of issues on how to install this monitor and get it perfect. Anyway today I thought I would find the time to install the shelf and drill the holes. I cut a 2"x4" to about 26" so it would rest just under the 2"x4" support of my shelf. I checked to make sure the shelf was level on both ends and from the inside (and underside) I started to drill through the cabinet. Once I felt I had gone past the 2"x4" to the cabinet itself I stopped. Once all 6 holes were done I removed the shelf to complete the task. After that I simply put the 2"x4" support back into place and began adding the bolts. With the exception of one bolt that goes in cooked as a bitch I'm glad it's done. And like most things on this project the task wasn't that hard and again I regret waiting as long as I did. None the less the shelf is in and I'm just about finished.