Arcade Talk 24/7/365

If the res is in range yes,
Im no pro by a long shot.
i need to test the trysinc in my blast too and I had similar results the time I tried

The Last Bandit

Are they 'auto' multisync monitors though ? Or do you need to set a jumper or flick a switch on them.

o1s1n

Cider's one should be auto, I think the 'ledge's Blast is manual though?

mine is manual allright,
but the res still has to be right.

Steve X2

If it's a windows 7 pc your hooking up have you enabled "No GUI boot" and "Base Video"?
Run msconfig and it's in the Boot tab.

TechnoFreek

Do you have the pc resolution set to 640*480 at 60hz. This is needed to produce at 31k image.

Plus the jumpers on the Jpac set to 31k.

Are you using an arcadevga?

TechnoFreek

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I'll check, but shouldn't the PC just run the monitor as is, given it's a trisync?

No. See my previous post about resolution.

TechnoFreek

The Last Bandit wrote: »

Are they 'auto' multisync monitors though ? Or do you need to set a jumper or flick a switch on them.

AWSD is auto but you need to connect the pc Vga directly to cab Vga and not through Jpac to run the pc at 31k and switch to 15k for mame. That's what I had to do with my AWSD anyway.

Anyway get the desktop displayed first and then worry about mame. The desktop at 31k will work no matter what way Vga is hooked up.

Andrew76

As Techno says, your PC resolution has to be max 640 x 480. Any higher and you'll damage the arcade monitor. That clicking is not healthy.

Trisync just means it supports 3 different resolution frequencies, 15, 25 and 31KHz, not that you can plug a PC of any resolution into it. The 31K is what allows for 640 x 480.

There's a handy tool called QuickRes you can use to set the PC output resolution to lower values, while testing/to be safe etc.

TechnoFreek

Yeah. Quick res should install as part of arcadevga drivers if you're using that. Generally Windows won't let you select a low resolution like that without quickres or similar.

Steve X2

TechnoFreek wrote: »

AWSD is auto but you need to connect the pc Vga directly to cab Vga and not through Jpac to run the pc at 31k and switch to 15k for mame. That's what I had to do with my AWSD anyway.

Anyway get the desktop displayed first and then worry about mame. The desktop at 31k will work no matter what way Vga is hooked up.

Yep, egret 3 is the same. Connect directly to monitor and skip the jpac.

CiDeRmAn

Right,
I popped the Arcade VGA into the PC and then installed the latest drivers for the model, and it seems to be working fine now.
A few tweaks to the various Mame directories and it seems to be doing what it should be doing.
I must add Hyperspin to the start and we're good to go.
Thanks for the help everyone!

TechnoFreek

You need to make a few adjustments to the mame ini to get the best out of the arcadevga.

http://www.ultimarc.com/avgainst.html

Are you going to use mame at 15k or stick to 31k

So what do you think was wrong with your setup ?

Andrew76

Curious, Cidey do you have the ArcadeVGA connected to the JPAC or going straight to the monitor VGA?

I'm trying to remember back when I had a mame PC in my cab - I think I had issues with the ArcadeVGA/JPAC combo - if I plugged the card into the JPAC the image was split in two (regardless of jumper settings) which was only supposed to be on boot up - but the image was nice and bright (because the JPAC has a video amp). When the card was plugged directly into the monitor then there was no split in the picture but it was a bit dim, because the card only outputs 1V rather than 5V preferred by the monitor. Not an issue using PCBs ofc.

CiDeRmAn

Previously the pc was just too damn old.
Now it's still old, but with less damn.
Seems to be working fine and any issues ongoing with Cave shooters is probably down to the Mame edition.
Which version is the best for these particular titles?

Also, I have learned today the evils of shelling before you have set everything in windows up right.
Oh yes.
A frantic half an hour just now trying to figure that one out

TechnoFreek

Cave works again as of mame 154.

What are you doing with the shell?

CiDeRmAn

The PC is Vista and I wanted to boot straight into Hyperspin.
But you have to be careful it seems to only do this once everything is setup just right, or you'll be rooting around to undo the changes.
via Imgflip Meme Maker

Myrddin

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The PC is Vista

That really has to be sorted dude

CiDeRmAn

I'm not buggering around with it any more today!
I've poured a few hours in already!

TechnoFreek

I have Windows 7 and just have Hyperspin set to launch on start-up. Not completely clean but not too far off it.

I always seem to be tinkering with it so wouldn't risk shelling.

Myrddin

TechnoFreek wrote: »

I have Windows 7 and just have Hyperspin set to launch on start-up. Not completely clean but not too far off it.

I always seem to be tinkering with it so wouldn't risk shelling.

Same here, Win 7 & HS set to autolaunch. It never really appealed to me to go to mad extents to hide the gui. Plus as you mention, there's usually always something to be tinkered with so it's handy being able to minimize etc

Steve X2

Instantsheller does a decent job of hiding everything and picking an app to auto launch. Dead easy as well.

TechnoFreek

I also run those other pieces of software which give me full control of Windows audio through button mapping to the Jpac and in turn control panel. Especially useful if you have young kids and playing when they're in bed. And also to manage the difference in volume from game to game.

Automute which mutes Windows audio on shut down and start-up. It also lets you map keys to manually mute or unmute.

3vrx. This lets you increase or decrease Windows main volume through mapped keys/buttons.

These features may be already in Windows but I found them easy to setup.

So I have mame volume at 100% and physical speaker volume cranked up. Just use the aforementioned audio key mappings to control the rest.

TechnoFreek

Steve SI wrote: »

Instantsheller does a decent job of hiding everything and picking an app to auto launch. Dead easy as well.

Does instant sheller work with Windows 7?

Steve X2

Instantsheller does indeed work with Win7 since version 0.8
But, it doesn't hide everything, check out the link.

http://www.gameex.com/Community/InstantShellerandShellingGuide.aspx

On another note, something clicked with me earlier when I think andrew mentioned the 1v/5v thing that the jpac does for video. When my PC is hooked up I have to switch the chassis control panel(the one that sits under the cpanel) to 75ohm1v otherwise the screen is way to dim if left at Kohm3v. Now, I was planning on picking up a video booster thing that does indeed change the 1v to 5v(or is it 3v?) and didn't realise the jpac does just that until today

So, as soon as I got in the door earlier I connected the VGA out on the PC to the jpac(instead of directly to the monitor), left only the 31Khz dip switch/jumper in the jpac and like magic my screen is super awesome and sharp at this Kohm3V setting. On the 75ohm1V setting it looked good, but I always had to play with the contrast and brightness as it was a little too much. But now it looks even better

Andrew76

Excellent stuff. Yeah that ohm switch barely makes any difference. It's the video amp on the JPAC that makes the picture nice and bright - it's emulating the 5V you get from a proper PCB which the monitor is expecting.

Like you, I always had to have the brightness/contrast set higher than I wanted - not healthy for the monitor in the long run imo.

Steve X2

Andrew76 wrote: »

Excellent stuff. Yeah that ohm switch barely makes any difference. It's the video amp on the JPAC that makes the picture nice and bright - it's emulating the 5V you get from a proper PCB which the monitor is expecting.

Like you, I always had to have the brightness/contrast set higher than I wanted - not healthy for the monitor in the long run imo.

Looks awesome now, the pixels seem extra sexy

Andrew76

Steve SI wrote: »

Looks awesome now, the pixels seem extra sexy

Too late to charge consultancy fees? :pac:

TechnoFreek

Interesting. I always thought that the 75 ohm setting was for 31k. 1k ohm for 15k.

The Last Bandit

Its about correct impedance (resistance) matching. The input impedance of the monitor should match the output impedance of the video driver (VGA card, Jamma board etc) for proper power transfer.

VGA output impedance is typically 75 Ohm, whereas Jamma boards output impedance is a few KOhm. The JPac is obviously doing the impedance matching for you.