GT Fore Complete + SSB 2007 = Drunken Gamers Paridise

FrizzleFried

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GT Fore Complete + SSB 2007 = Drunken Gamers Paridise

This is what I've been working on the last couple days... and boy was it a trek...

FORE-SSB_DONE1.jpg


I was debating on whether or not to convey this story as, ultimately, it paints me to be a bit of a "dumbass"... territory I really try to avoid but, unfortunately, a path I happen upon from time to time none-the-less...

First off... for those of you unfamiliar, what you are looking at is a Golden Tee Fore Complete + Silver Strike Bowling 2007 combo cab. Both kits are installed through a JAMMA switcher (well, it's a JAMMA + trackball switcher)... I've had the cab (an IT approved "home" model that is just a hair smaller than the IT manufactured "commercial" model) for a few months now running Golden Tee Fore Complete and I love it. I happened upon a fellow KLOVian selling a SSB 2007 kit w/switcher and I jumped. I absolutely love World Class Bowling... it's easily the #1 played game on my MAME cabinet, getting used constantly during parties, gatherings, etc. Add beer to the equation and inevitably you end up with great drunken fun. I figured Silver Strike Bowling would be as much, if not more, of a hit.

Well, I get the kit in the mail and unpack it. I wanted to test it out to make sure it worked before installing it "permanently" in the cabinet. After taking some time to go through everything I get it all in the cab haphazardly and fire it up. The good news is that GT Fore came right up... and the switch changed from GT Fore to Silver Strike Bowling as intended. The bad news was that SSB was missing all "green" colors. After checking connections... no go... after switching from EGA to CGA mode... no go... I decided to remove the switcher from the equation and plug directly in to the SSB I/O board. Nope... still no green. SHIT. I figured it was time to bust out the PC monitor and try VGA/SVGA (video goes through the I/O board to the JAMMA harness for CGA/EGA but goes straight in to a VGA/SVGA monitor... I removed the video cable going from the I/O board to the SSB "PC" (yes, it's just a PC + I/O board) and plug in the monitor... switch to VGA mode and the monitor output looks FANTASTIC.

Well... I figured that meant that either (A) the I/O board had issues or (B) the video cable that was attached to the I/O board was bad. I then noticed that the monitor I was using had a detachable video cable. Nice... I simply removed it from the PC monitor and moved it over to the I/O board (after removing the other video cable of course) and switched over to EGA mode.

I fire up the cabinet and go to the front anticipating a screen. None came up. WTF? I then made my way to the back of the cab... it was about this time I start smelling what no one wants to smell (and I don't mean my dogs fart). Yup... I get to the back and there is smoke POURING out of the back of the cab. >>>AAAAARRRRRGHHH!!!<<<

Of course I immediately power down and start looking for the issue. I found it. During the course of switching video cables etc, I managed to knock my haphazardly placed switcher board over a bit and it was sitting on the metal hard drive cage for GT Fore. A cursory look showed what looked like multiple traces burned to hell. A closer look showed a single trace that went all over the place to be burned to hell... and by burned to hell I mean one part burned just about all the way through the PCB.

I sat there horrified for a minute. I killed the switcher... and possibly my GT Fore for all I knew! DAMNED IT!!! What to do? Well, I immediately removed the GT Fore from the switcher and tested it directly to the cab harness... WHEW... it worked. I then took a look at the switcher. As luck would have it, the damage was limited to an area of the board that had no chips... I cleaned it up and figured I'd give it a try. After installing it I fired up the cab and GT Fore came up as usual... nice. I then tried to switch. No go. It just sat there (actually, the switch "light" would fire when I held the button down but that is it). SHIT. I pulled the switcher again and took a closer look and metered a few things out. I discovered a break in the trace (well, a melt it looked like) and went about the task of soldering in a jumper. After my handiwork I re-installed with about as much faith as I had before. I just KNEW I blew a chip at least...

I fired her up... GT Fore came up... I push the button to switch to SSB and.... >CLICK< IT SWITCHED! I managed to fix the switcher!

LESSONS LEARNED: Haphazard installations are just asking for trouble and electronics smoke smells like shit and hangs around for a LONG time (my garage STILL smells like burned electronics)...
 
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Nice! glad it worked out in the end! I currently have my GTComplete setup with ShuffleShot on a switcher...havnt made the $$ plunge into a SSbowling kit yet.....
 
I don't consider what you did worse than when I attempted to cut the AC chord off a game when it was still plugged into the wall. :eek:

Glad to hear you made your dream come true.
 
Do you know if the cabinet is more narrow than a standard?

I still have this marquee box and brackets in my junk pile...

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Oh... and the top marquee box I had sitting around (I actually bought 2 from Bob Roberts about 3 years ago). I figured it would look good with the SSB marquee in it. I may paint it black or white though.
 
Do you know if the cabinet is more narrow than a standard?

I still have this marquee box and brackets in my junk pile...


Bummer... I'd have been all over that. Unfortunately I had to trim the SSB marquee to get it to fit in the box I have.
 
No worries AR... if you look at the GT complete marquees... it appears mine is cut slightly thinner than yours so I am guessing my cab is a hair thinner.
 
Hey Frizz, you mentioned the switcher for this switches the trackball also. Do you know if the trackball can be split to both without switching... I know it can to WCB as I have already done that project. I have a SSB coming and will be doing a switcher (Mikes) project with GT2005, my project is a little different as it is my home-made cab hooked to my 42" lcd in my bar. The switcher will basically just be switching the buttons as my a/v connections will be seperate inputs to the tv. No big deal I can easily make a relay circuit to switch the trackball, just wondering if you know it has to be switched.
 
Hey Frizz, you mentioned the switcher for this switches the trackball also. Do you know if the trackball can be split to both without switching... I know it can to WCB as I have already done that project. I have a SSB coming and will be doing a switcher (Mikes) project with GT2005, my project is a little different as it is my home-made cab hooked to my 42" lcd in my bar. The switcher will basically just be switching the buttons as my a/v connections will be seperate inputs to the tv. No big deal I can easily make a relay circuit to switch the trackball, just wondering if you know it has to be switched.


Not sure if the TB "has" to be switched. I can't imagine why I would "have" to be switched.... thought the "official" IT switcher (it's called "The Perfect Solution"... how lame, huh?) does switched the TB as well.
 
Yea I believe that switcher costs big bucks from IT. I know that the trackball splits well to most boards, hoping it does to SSB also.
 
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