Dedicated linux based jamma solution question

kruuth

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There was some discussion on the boards about hacking some of the multiboards out there to actually run something worthwhile.

If this is the wrong forum, please let me know...but..would an honest-to-god 1-board mame solution be something anyone is interested in?

I work with embedded linux quite a bit, and there are bootable solutions out there that would be reasonable for this. Try to visualize a standard jamma board with a dedicated ARM processor, keyboard matrix, sound, and video output running a very stripped *nix kernel. Since certain companies are already manufacturing these I was wondering if there was enough enthusiasm out there for a project like this.
Just want some feedback.
 
There was some discussion on the boards about hacking some of the multiboards out there to actually run something worthwhile.

If this is the wrong forum, please let me know...but..would an honest-to-god 1-board mame solution be something anyone is interested in?

I work with embedded linux quite a bit, and there are bootable solutions out there that would be reasonable for this. Try to visualize a standard jamma board with a dedicated ARM processor, keyboard matrix, sound, and video output running a very stripped *nix kernel. Since certain companies are already manufacturing these I was wondering if there was enough enthusiasm out there for a project like this.
Just want some feedback.

Raspberry Pi would probably be a good platform for what you want to do.
 
There was some discussion on the boards about hacking some of the multiboards out there to actually run something worthwhile.

If this is the wrong forum, please let me know...but..would an honest-to-god 1-board mame solution be something anyone is interested in?

I work with embedded linux quite a bit, and there are bootable solutions out there that would be reasonable for this. Try to visualize a standard jamma board with a dedicated ARM processor, keyboard matrix, sound, and video output running a very stripped *nix kernel. Since certain companies are already manufacturing these I was wondering if there was enough enthusiasm out there for a project like this.
Just want some feedback.

Would this be a solution that you would have to add a front end, etc. to? Or would you have a default set up that you just add roms to?
 
Mame is terrible on Arm and raspberry pi is terrible with mame.

The x86 based jamma boards they use for the assorted 2xxx in 1 multiboards would be just perfect for this sort of thing, which is exactly why they use them for that sort of thing.

And if you care at all about the hobby then the last thing you want to do is to make it easier for any schmuck to make a decent multigame. The 60 in 1 board by itself has done incredible amounts of damage to the collecting hobby. Something that actually worked well would be even worse.
 
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I was thinking aboutit from another perspective, that of the fact that there are, I think we can agree on, boards which just aren't available, or are just too pricey for people. I beat my head against a wall trying to find q*bert's Qbes. What happened? Well, I'm still trying. I don't think running multiple games is my focus, but actually being able to put some of these back out there for people to enjoy would be really great.

I was intentionally thinking unix to raise the barrier a little bit, but having these config'd to handle just one game at a time and do it RIGHT and not have bad timing, bad music, etc. would be nice.
 
And if you care at all about the hobby then the last thing you want to do is to make it easier for any schmuck to make a decent multigame. The 60 in 1 board by itself has done incredible amounts of damage to the collecting hobby. Something that actually worked well would be even worse.

You make an interesting point but I think the cat's out of the bag on that one already, serious collectors whom are purist about gameplay wouldn't butcher a cab perminantly for the sake of a multi, and those whom aren't will already be satisfied with the price and gameplay of the available multis, so I think any improvements at this point aren't going to make any difference in those regards.

You can also look at it from this perspective too, there's a lot of games out there that are next to impossible to get working boardsets for, such as DECO cassette systems which are damn near ALL dead at this point, games that suicide with acid damage or things with unreliable floppies like Sega System 24 boards, so a few cabs might actually get saved if something more flexible was available that could be adapted to replace them.
 
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Thanks. That's the perspective I'm thinking of as well. Besides, what good are some of these games if nobody was playing them? A friend of mine build a multi from a DIY kit cabinet and had totally forgotten about phoenix, congo bongo, and shao-lin's road.

If it was something like a deco-emulator or a system 24 emulator exclusive or locked somehow then would that be ok?
 
I love MAME but I hate messing around with computers and setting everything up. I would gladly pay for something like this.
 
The problem with some of the current crop is that they're just slapped together. I'd like to do it right if I did it.
 
You make an interesting point but I think the cat's out of the bag on that one already, serious collectors whom are purist about gameplay wouldn't butcher a cab perminantly for the sake of a multi, and those whom aren't will already be satisfied with the price and gameplay of the available multis, so I think any improvements at this point aren't going to make any difference in those regards.

You can also look at it from this perspective too, there's a lot of games out there that are next to impossible to get working boardsets for, such as DECO cassette systems which are damn near ALL dead at this point, games that suicide with acid damage or things with unreliable floppies like Sega System 24 boards, so a few cabs might actually get saved if something more flexible was available that could be adapted to replace them.

I look at the first part and wonder how many cabinets have been saved and are out there because they have been converted to multi cades. Same with parts available because they have been pulled out of said cabinets. I get that some people want original perfection(this goes to the talk about people who don't like the reproduction cabinets). Many though are perfectly fine with multi boards. Personally I'd rather them be around, just wish they were better.

I see the second part a good reason for them as well. You have boards that are just really hard to get or expensive.

It would be good to have it be able to disable extra games like the multi's do so it could act almost like the real deal or have a menu for switching games. It might be nice to have a good setup to play a bunch of system 16 or 24 games for instance. I'd rather it be a slow process where the emulation is good and the board is upgradable vs a bunch of random games thrown on. Maybe a focus on x emulation and getting those games working good, then focus on another.
 
I am sure some cabinets that "collectors" have parted out have been saved because they got turned into multicades. However most builders of them will rip the boards right out of a clean, working dedicated game in order to put the 60 in 1 board in it.
 
I disagree tbbk. All of my cabs were complete salvage jobs requiring major woodwork, paint, filler, etc. My multicade lives in an old Qix cabinet that the warehouse owner was going to burn because he thought that it was just too far gone. No monitor, not even bolts inside. The CPO had barely any metal in it because of all the holes. When the dust settled I had a nice looking rebuild, unfortunately sans the original qix, but it's on the multi. Still working on the marquee, taito side art, etc.
 
I'll site my own personal example:

I got a Ms. Pacman cab a while back that had been horribly mistreated and had a Namco Classics 2 hacked into it (love that PCB though!), the sides were weathered, the original PCBs and harness were gone, the original marquee was gone, the artwork was totally shot and the control panel had a gazillion holes cut in it.

If I or anyone else wanted a MPM clearly would have been cheaper to just buy a whole other cab in better condition than to chase down all the parts and try to restore it, but I wanted a mutli of some kind in my collections so I went through hours of sanding, Bondo, repainting, recapping the monitor and rewiring the game from scratch. Now it looks and works like a million bucks, serves it's purpose well and all the repair work I did will only make it easier for someone in the future to return it to Ms. Pacman status if that's ever desired, so basically you can say that at least in this cab's case the existance of multis saved it from likely being trashed.
 
I personally know 3 of the guys who build the 60 in 1s / etc in my area and every one of them has absolutely no problem with ripping up nice dedicated working games to do it. They just use whatever cabinets they get off their WTB ads or that they can pick up at auction.

For every clean or respectful one that one of us does there are 100 more done by guys whose only concern in making a profit.
 
I personally know 3 of the guys who build the 60 in 1s / etc in my area and every one of them has absolutely no problem with ripping up nice dedicated working games to do it. They just use whatever cabinets they get off their WTB ads or that they can pick up at auction.

For every clean or respectful one that one of us does there are 100 more done by guys whose only concern in making a profit.

How many of those cabinets would have other wise been parted out or trashed though? Like it or not your average person is going to prefer the multi cade. Gives them more of an excuse to buy it.

For those that want the original boards how much does this drive the cost down as you have more parts out there?

I mean personally I prefer the real deal in many cases but I guess I don't dislike the multi cades when they are done nicely. If anything I dislike the crap level of some of the boards.
 
SO just thinking out loud here...would there be a market for something like this? My original thought would be something that would just boot a lightweight *nix and have the jamma edge connector, or cheat and have a breakout board for the raspberry pi through the GPIO port.
 
SO just thinking out loud here...would there be a market for something like this? My original thought would be something that would just boot a lightweight *nix and have the jamma edge connector, or cheat and have a breakout board for the raspberry pi through the GPIO port.
I wouldn't go with a RPi... that's REALLY underpowered. I'd at least get something with a Cortex A8 and 1GB RAM, or better. But, I've never tried MAME on an ARM, so I don't know how good the build is (is it a current version, well optimized, etc?). I do have a lot of experience with Linux on lots of different ARM boards though.

Also, would you do the buttons through GPIO, or USB? There are a lot of options if you do USB (like the MK802), but if you want GPIO, you'd need to go with a dev board style. What about the video output? A lot of boards only have digital outputs, or some have composite. It's not common to find one with VGA, or especially CGA.

I'd buy one at a decent price, if it came set up ready to plug into a JAMMA cab (I can add my own ROMs to an SD card or USB drive). I definitely like the idea of a fully customizable, but plug and play board. Wiring and setting everything up for a MAME cab is tedious (and if you're gonna do it right, you want sufficient controls for most games you'd want to play), but with a small plug and play board, I wouldn't feel bad about just popping it into any plain JAMMA cab and playing whatever plays with those controls and monitor rotation.

DogP
 
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