So You Want to Add Fix It Felix to An Original Nintendo Cabinet...

Just so kaboom doesn't get confused, while the SLG is super awesome, it's only really needed for use with a LCD. Since kaboom is trying to use an original arcade CRT, it isn't necessary.
 
Well fun stuff... so I was right in the middle of doing a system restore on the PC to give it a fresh install and the house lost power...... lol

So now the PC is bricked. lol

Just my luck.
 

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I have 3 boxes running CRTs via Calamity's handiwork, and I can say from experience that you want to begin with a fresh windows install anyway.
It works, you just need to follow his directions word by word (and it still may take more than one shot.)
MY easiest times of getting it working was using a graphics card with dual outs so you can have a screen running through the whole process, no matter where you happen to wind up in resolution never-neverland.
His documentation is awesome.
Man is the pc-> arcade monitor thing a rabbit-hole.
 
Who's Calamity's?

I have 3 boxes running CRTs via Calamity's handiwork, and I can say from experience that you want to begin with a fresh windows install anyway.
It works, you just need to follow his directions word by word (and it still may take more than one shot.)
MY easiest times of getting it working was using a graphics card with dual outs so you can have a screen running through the whole process, no matter where you happen to wind up in resolution never-neverland.
His documentation is awesome.
Man is the pc-> arcade monitor thing a rabbit-hole.
 
Who's Calamity's?

Calamity is the creator of CRTemudriver (the thing that can make modern GPUs output 15khz), the driving force behind Groovymame (a version of mame meant specifically to work with CRTs and CRTemudriver) and Switchres (a piece of software that will dynamically switch the resolution of your computer on a per game basis to whatever is a best match for that game and your specific monitor).
 
Ok so after the disaster of fixing my borked pc. Got a fresh Windows 7 install on it and now I'm back.

So CRT Emudriver next? Guessing I should grab a J-Pac as well?
 

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I would get the jpac first before installing CRTemudriver. And as mentioned earlier, if possible, have an lcd and the crt hooked up at the same time so you can troubleshoot if needed.
Once you enable the 15khz mode on that output port, most LCD screens can't show that image so having two screens really helps (don't have to move cables back/forth a bunch).
 
Is this needed as well? I-Pac

 
Nope, not needed. An ipac is like a jpac but without video or an edge connector. It's for people building their own control panels or harnesses, typically.
 
I put mine together back in the old days right after sjaak finished that version (I actually like it better than the Disney version). It's running on an Asus M2N-VM DVI board with an Athlon 64 proc mounted directly to the side of the cabinet. Soft15k works with the onboard Nvidia GeForce 7050. Windows XP is installed on a 16 GB SATA SSD and has been weeded and stripped of nearly anything useful. Explorer.exe is swapped out for the Fix-It Felix Jr. exe so it boots directly to the game in about 20 seconds. I used a combination of GhostEvent (to combine res switch and exe launch) and InstantSheller to accomplish this. BIOS is set to power-on after power loss. Controls and WG K4900 monitor are connected to a JAMMA harness and interface with the computer via a J-PAC.

The only wonky thing is that sync is whacked during boot before Windows starts the game. I could get around this with an ArcadeVGA card but it's only during boot so I don't care.

The cabinet also does double duty with a BitKit installed. Swapping the power and JAMMA connectors via the coin door will change games.
 
Impressive set up.

So far I've got my set up to boot in about 31secs. I'm going to grab a SSD drive and clone the harddrive have already set up and see if that cuts down on the boot times. I've got @DonPanetta helping me figure out the Hypersin set up right now. Ideally I'd like to have FiFJ, FiF3, Wreck it Ralph and my DonkeyMe all running on a simple frontend when the PC boots.

The wrinkle I have is that I want to put this on the 4th slot on my Vector Labs set up in my Donkey Kong cab. Once I get the PC set up where I like it am going to tackle that side and see how it goes. So let the PC set up and boot and just ready when the VL switcher activates the 4th slot? I can't seem to find a easy way to power up and shut down the PC setup effectivly in order to keep it powered down when the other boards are being used in the cab.
I put mine together back in the old days right after sjaak finished that version (I actually like it better than the Disney version). It's running on an Asus M2N-VM DVI board with an Athlon 64 proc mounted directly to the side of the cabinet. Soft15k works with the onboard Nvidia GeForce 7050. Windows XP is installed on a 16 GB SATA SSD and has been weeded and stripped of nearly anything useful. Explorer.exe is swapped out for the Fix-It Felix Jr. exe so it boots directly to the game in about 20 seconds. I used a combination of GhostEvent (to combine res switch and exe launch) and InstantSheller to accomplish this. BIOS is set to power-on after power loss. Controls and WG K4900 monitor are connected to a JAMMA harness and interface with the computer via a J-PAC.

The only wonky thing is that sync is whacked during boot before Windows starts the game. I could get around this with an ArcadeVGA card but it's only during boot so I don't care.

The cabinet also does double duty with a BitKit installed. Swapping the power and JAMMA connectors via the coin door will change games.
 
Well I have the PC up and running and everything works fine.

I have the following exe games working

Fix it Felix
Fix it Felix 3
Wreck it Ralph
DonkeyMe

Now the next issue I'm having is to find a simple frontend program that will allow me to switch between games. Hyperspin seems like a real pain in the ass so far and attrackmode looks like you have to learn programing. I just want a simple set up....... not sure why this is so hard.
 
LOL, I warned you AttractMode can be tricky. It's not bad once you get used to it but I understand the frustration. This long and old thread has all sorts of people discussing favorite front-ends: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,84933.0.html

Heads up that some of it is out of date. The consensus is that LaunchBox/BigBox is the easiest to setup. BUT it's not really designed for CRT use. It also costs money.

Maximus Arcade is pretty easy to setup but it's no longer updated so can't personally recommend it.

I would send you pics of my settings and stuff but they won't really be relevant to you since my file paths and everything will be different than yours. Others may have different advice.
 
Well maybe just a few screenshots of a working attrack mode game emulator settings so that way I can see what I'm missing in my settings....
 
I just made you a short video but I'm sorry, no matter what I try I can't get the text legible to my camera recorded. It's fine in person but the camera just won't properly capture it.


The gist of it is this though - you tell AttractMode what type of emulator you're setting up (in this case, you're doing PC Games) and then where the roms are (in this case, the .exe files for the games).

I typically create a shortcut to each .exe file I'll be using and put them all in one folder. That way attract mode only needs to have one path for all PC games, simplifying things. You tell it to generate a list, set that list as your default display, and you're set.

There are lots of other videos on YouTube that will do a better job than I just did. They also have decent documentation here: https://github.com/mickelson/attract/blob/v2.6.1/Readme.md
It looks complicated but for Windows it's probably safe to skip down to Step 2 and go from there. Take it slow and I'm sure you can figure it out! I've seen you do way more impressive stuff than set up a frontend.
 
Well maybe just a few screenshots of a working attrack mode game emulator settings so that way I can see what I'm missing in my settings....

I know @meyer980 put quite a bit of work into that clip just above my response but if you decide to have another crack at getting hyperspin and rocket launcher to properly execute then just let me know.
 
Thanks for this.

Did you create your PC Emulator inside of attrackmode settings or was it a preconfigured option? Also what Layout are you using in your Displays settings? I dont dont show anything like you have?

Thx

I just made you a short video but I'm sorry, no matter what I try I can't get the text legible to my camera recorded. It's fine in person but the camera just won't properly capture it.


The gist of it is this though - you tell AttractMode what type of emulator you're setting up (in this case, you're doing PC Games) and then where the roms are (in this case, the .exe files for the games).

I typically create a shortcut to each .exe file I'll be using and put them all in one folder. That way attract mode only needs to have one path for all PC games, simplifying things. You tell it to generate a list, set that list as your default display, and you're set.

There are lots of other videos on YouTube that will do a better job than I just did. They also have decent documentation here: https://github.com/mickelson/attract/blob/v2.6.1/Readme.md
It looks complicated but for Windows it's probably safe to skip down to Step 2 and go from there. Take it slow and I'm sure you can figure it out! I've seen you do way more impressive stuff than set up a frontend.
 
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