Unofficial Pi Position Q&A & Support Thread

[ctcomputers]

I've never had any luck connecting over the network, but you can plug in a USB keyboard and exit the emulator with alt-F4. It will prompt you for the login which should be "pi" / "raspberry"

I was able to use alt+f4 but I still can't login using the default pi / raspberry. Are you able to login using that method? I'm wondering if my Pi was somehow locked with a different account or something? I had a somewhat earlier purchase direct from Jason prior to arcadeshop.

 

[ccie38296]

Alright so I tried a new Raspberry Pi board and it has the same issue, which is...

When you're playing the game, it will reset, but it's not resetting as in the power is falling off now that I think about it, it's just switching to the next game in the list. So Pole Position 1 will turn into Pole Position II.

I've seen it do it with all three games (I also have Championship Sprint on it)...

If I unplug the service button (which switches games) it will still do it so it's not the actual switch.

Looking at the Pi Position board, the service switch which moves you to the next game in the software list, is ran through the edge connector and straight to the Pi, so there's no pull up capacitor or a resistor or anything to be wrong, and nothing appears shorted.

If I unplug the arduino USB cable, I can't really test play it but I just went and tried to credit up Pole Position 1 (the first game) and the game reset, and switched to Pole Position II when I coined it up.

I could see if it was resetting and having to reboot everytime, but it's just switching through the games when this happens, and the credit button is unplugged. The Pi is brand new, and the software I reburned and lots of other people don't have problems with it so I don't think that's it.

So i'm thinking bad ground or something, but I don't know how that could be without it resetting the whole pi (and making it reboot).

Hmmmm.

I've had a similar, but not identical, experience. I have found that often if I open the coin door while the game is running, without touching the Service button, the game will switch to the next rom in the list. It doesn't happen spontaneously for me, only sometimes when I'm opening the coin door.

I have also assumed it's a flaky ground somewhere but haven't gotten around to digging into it. I did install an AC power switch for the cabinet in the same panel where the service button is, so I was thinking maybe that had something to do it with. Perhaps not.

 

[JohnV]

I was able to use alt+f4 but I still can't login using the default pi / raspberry. Are you able to login using that method? I'm wondering if my Pi was somehow locked with a different account or something? I had a somewhat earlier purchase direct from Jason prior to arcadeshop.

It could be a difference in how you write the image to the SD card. I use the Raspberry Pi Imager from https://www.raspberrypi.com which lets you set the username & password before writing.

 

[ctcomputers]

It could be a difference in how you write the image to the SD card. I use the Raspberry Pi Imager from https://www.raspberrypi.com which lets you set the username & password before writing.

Ah! I was under the impression there was something special or customized with the Pi since my version of PiPosition uses a non-removable Pi. It makes sense that the Pi is not unique as the modern version is a separately purchased/added Pi. Its all managed by the software/image on the SD card and the board simply interfaces it all together (CRT, power and cabinet controls). I could configure and use the Pi with any software and not fear "breaking/bricking" the PiPosition as I just reinstall the original SD card image correct? I am completly new to Pi, Arduino and arcade hardware in gerneral and very much appreciate the clarification and information!

 

[LyonsArcade]

I've had a similar, but not identical, experience. I have found that often if I open the coin door while the game is running, without touching the Service button, the game will switch to the next rom in the list. It doesn't happen spontaneously for me, only sometimes when I'm opening the coin door.

I have also assumed it's a flaky ground somewhere but haven't gotten around to digging into it. I did install an AC power switch for the cabinet in the same panel where the service button is, so I was thinking maybe that had something to do it with. Perhaps not.

I mentioned it to a dude I know who's more into modern electronics (my favorite stuff is from the 60's to the 80's!) and he thinks it might have something to do with the Pi running off 3.3 but I don't know. So the theory being, it triggers a 'ground' at a different level than a 5v device would, so if you have a flaky ground going to the main board or the gas pedal, or something, that the ground may float up enough to 'ghost trigger' one of the 3.3 inputs (or all of them). I'm not sure if that part runs on 3.3 anyways or if that could be a thing.

So it may be that it's not triggering the credit switch (on the board, not through the actual switch) but it's actually triggering all kinds of switches as the ground raises up to the level that it triggers a 3.3v device.

I just looked it up, a 3.3v device is low at 0 to .8, and high at 2 to 3.3

On a 5v device ground is 0 to 1.5, and high is 3.5 to 5.

So theoretically, there is only 1.2 volts difference between high and low on a 3.3v device. On a 5v cmos device, there are 2 volts difference.

So if one of the voltages (perhaps the ground) gets wonky something might lift up and trigger something that isn't actually triggered.

Obviously I'm not great with electronics but that's the theory we're operating off of, maybe someone could comment who has worked with 3.3v devices before and can tell if that argument holds any merit.

Part of the problem is this whole replacing old boards with new boards is kind of new ground if you think about it. Nobody does it much with other electronics, it's kind of unique to the arcade collecting field.

 

[nucade]

Post #320 in this thread. To connect the wiring to the A & B harness connectors, I crimped ordinary .093 female terminal pins to the wires, and plugged them onto the appropriate male pins of the connectors. I wrapped the pins in electrical tape first. I made up one wire pair for the 5V & ground (with spade connectors on the other ends), and 2 more pairs for the L&R audio (with RCA plugs on the other ends). Then it's just a matter of adjusting the power supply output so that you get a nice 5V at the Pi Position board. These pics should give you the idea.

Thanks for that. Out of respect for this thread I have created a new thread where I hope to salvage a Pole Position I found at our local land fill. I'd like to use a Pi Position in it. I have asked for a little assistance with the wiring. I was hoping you could help as it's difficult for me to tell which wires go where...

Pole Position Dump Find to Pi Position

I know I shouldn't. My wife says I'm a sucker for punishment. But I found this poor little Pole Position at the dump. I have restored dump finds in the past and found it rewarding. The PCB and the ARs are missing. I do have a Pi Position (from Arcade Jason) and was hoping to get this unit...

forums.arcade-museum.com

 

[troubydoobydoo]

Hello folks. I just bought a Pi Position. I had to buy an SD Card from Amazon, along with the Raspberry Pi.

How do I get the software onto the SD card? I know rom files need to go on it, but do I need any other software on this card? Its completely blank at the moment as I just unpackaged it.

Thank you.

 

[JohnV]

Hello folks. I just bought a Pi Position. I had to buy an SD Card from Amazon, along with the Raspberry Pi.

How do I get the software onto the SD card? I know rom files need to go on it, but do I need any other software on this card? Its completely blank at the moment as I just unpackaged it.

Thank you.

I use the Raspberry Pi imager from https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

You can download the latest image from the link in the comments of this video.

 

[troubydoobydoo]

I use the Raspberry Pi imager from https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

You can download the latest image from the link in the comments of this video.

Ah yes, I forgot to check the comments in the You Tube video... Thank you.

Ok, couple more questions.

1. The link in the video goes to a 2021 file for the board. But where are the images that he puts out new? So if there is a 2023 update, where do I find them? I remember reading one where the fire sounds are fixed.

2. What is the difference between a Namco cabinet and an Atari cabinet? I have an empty Pole Position 2 cab I got from a guy recently and its in great shape. But I have to populate it with some items, such as a monitor, a brick, upper coin door, marquee, etc...it came with the AR2 board, bottom coin door, and wiring harness already. Steering wheel, gas pedal, etc all there and good. (The PCB looks toast, hence why the Pi Position was attractive. )


Thanks for answering this. Arcade Jason is a special kind of electronics guru.

 

[JohnV]

Ah yes, I forgot to check the comments in the You Tube video... Thank you.

Ok, couple more questions.

1. The link in the video goes to a 2021 file for the board. But where are the images that he puts out new? So if there is a 2023 update, where do I find them? I remember reading one where the fire sounds are fixed.

2. What is the difference between a Namco cabinet and an Atari cabinet? I have an empty Pole Position 2 cab I got from a guy recently and its in great shape. But I have to populate it with some items, such as a monitor, a brick, upper coin door, marquee, etc...it came with the AR2 board, bottom coin door, and wiring harness already. Steering wheel, gas pedal, etc all there and good. (The PCB looks toast, hence why the Pi Position was attractive. )


Thanks for answering this. Arcade Jason is a special kind of electronics guru.

As far as I know that 2021 version is the latest Pi Position image.

I'm not an expert on the US vs. non-US versions of the game, but I remember reading that Atari manufactured the cabinets for the non-US market in their Ireland facility and all those cabinets used the Namco-made PCB, and the cabinets they made in the US used the Atari-made PCB.

For the power supply, I converted mine to a switcher and eliminated the original power brick & AR boards.

 

[troubydoobydoo]

As far as I know that 2021 version is the latest Pi Position image.

I'm not an expert on the US vs. non-US versions of the game, but I remember reading that Atari manufactured the cabinets for the non-US market in their Ireland facility and all those cabinets used the Namco-made PCB, and the cabinets they made in the US used the Atari-made PCB.

For the power supply, I converted mine to a switcher and eliminated the original power brick & AR boards.

Interesting. Would you mind showing me photos of your power setup in your cab? I have plenty of switchers but need to understand the audio piece as the AR board is also a sound amp.

My cab is a pole position 2 cab and the side art does not say Atari. It's different. Big graphic of a race car driver and his helmet says Namco.

So, I'm not sure what I have. It comes down to the wiring harness I guess because I'm going to use my new pi position.

 

[troubydoobydoo]

Also, the board the guy gave me when I got the cab is an Atari board. Don't know if someone just stuck it in the cab or if it's the actual original though.

 

[Braydun]

thanks for starting this thread glitch i don't have much time lately.
now that these boards are being tested in many cabinets i have been able to learn about some new issues.

issues and fixes:
1. screen is too wide
so far 3 people have told me there screen is too wide. when i originally tested the board i found that this was the case on my own machine but the picture looked fine on 9 other machines. i chalked it up to my personal monitor. in fact you can see that my screen is too wide on the piposition video. A future update will decrease screen width if desired

2. pedal reverses direction after next boot.
this can be caused by a noisy gas pot. your original pcb may work fine with a bad pot but the piposition uses an auto calibration program that senses max limits. this program can get confused if your pot is bad. this has been fixed by swapping the outer pot wires but it really is best to clean or replace a noisy pot.

3. volume is too low.
yes in fact it outputs 75% the original volume of an original pcb. i thought this was acceptable but people have told me that its just not loud enough in an arcade environment. this will be fixed on the next update. but if your impatient with me r13 and r14 on your ar2 boards can be swapped for 4.7k resistors.

Hey Jason, hope all is well. Got my Pi Position working flawlessly and I've been very happy with it. Yesterday when I fired it up for a quick game, all controls were not working.

Upon inspection, I found that the micro USB port has detached itself from the micro controller. I'll be honest this has happened to me a few times and I've soldered it back on myself each time but this time it is completely pooched. I will have to switch to a longer data transfer cable to reduce the pressure on that port.

Just wondering if you can send me a pre programmed micro controller? I found the exact controller you used for the build for $10 online I just don't want to mess around with programming it. Please let me know, will be happy to pay for your time. Thank you

 

[scacace]

thats ok it will still work even if you get the out of space message. the actual files are around 600 mb the rest of the space is all zeros so if you run out of space for the last few zeros it doesn't matter. by the way some sd cards will show that error and others will not why? because not all 16 gb cards are the same size. when errors are found on the sd card at the factory they just disable that block which slightly lowers the capacity of the card. if your sd card has less errors than the imaged card you will not see this message ect

Never been able to get Win32Disk
Imager to work on Win11. But have used RPI Image tool under custom image. Lately however it has errored with insufficient sd space (My Mr Burns 8gb RPI3 image too, as the newer microSD format only to 7.3-7.4gb...are we getting ripped off or are they using some secret hidden double probation security partition trick)

Saddened to find Partition Magic gone. Been returning SDs to Amazon, and finally just used larger. Here is an explanation but looks like I need a Linux rig to do it . Any Win11 ideas? or am I digging out an old Win32 box.

How to BackUp and Shrink Your Raspberry Pi Image

How to BackUp and Shrink Your Raspberry Pi Image: Foreword So why all the hullabaloo you may ask? Surely all I need to do is use Win32DiskImager and take a read of my Raspbian Image and zip it right? Job Done! Well, unfortunately that's not the whole story. Read on... Have you ever noticed…

www.instructables.com

 

[troubydoobydoo]

I finally got to the point where I am trying to get my Pi Position to boot. I have a new raster power brick, 2 rebuilt AR boards from AndrewB, and the Pi Position. All connections are hooked up except for a monitor.
So I should have sound.

LED's light up on the Pi Pos boards and marquee lights up.

I have no upper coin door still but I have the service panel where the volume controls, etc are.

For a screen, I am trying to get either a VGA monitor working or a HDMI tv working. (i will put in a k4900 later..have to cap it and test it first...)

Unsuccessful so far with that.

But I just ordered one of those $30 vga converter boards...two different types actually.
One is the same as you see all over..with the RGB pins on it, and the 4 push buttons, composite connections, etc.
One is a strict RGB to VGA little board..I am trying it. It uses the same pinout as the game connector and converts direct to VGA.
The other $30 amazon converter has its own connector and thus, I have to do some splicing and guesswork. And thats where I am stuck.

I am not sure my Pi Pos it booting at all. I dont hear any sounds at any time after power on.
I do know the SD card is imaged and looks ok from trying it in my MAC and reviewing.
While there, I did the HDMI config update, posted here on page 9. So I am going to see if that works next...
BUT, if its not booting, I will need some help.
I have the normal cable provided that Jason gave me and he was the one who burned the image on the SD card for me, prior to shipment.

Is there any advice on what to check? I am working on the screen piece. I also will plug into the audio port of the Pi Pos and see if sounds comes out of there. Has anyone else tried that? Would sound work from the port but not from the main cabinet speakers?

Thank you.

 

[troubydoobydoo]

Solution found if you want to display Pi Position on and LCD using the HDMI port....

Ignore previous posts. I finally figured it out. I am not a programmer and don't know Rasp Pi language but got lucky and found a post on a thread and you have to add a command "framebuffer_priority=2" to use the HDMI port to connect to an LCD through a VGA converter and still have the sound come through the cabinet wiring connected to the Pi Position. Here is the config file that worked for me:

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=30
#overscan_right=30
#overscan_top=10
#overscan_bottom=30

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=16

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d

dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt
dtoverlay=disable-bt
dtoverlay=vga565-3

framebuffer_priority=2

dpi_output_format=421907
enable_dpi_lcd=1
display_default_lcd=1

dpi_group=2
dpi_mode=87

dpi_timings=320 1 16 30 34 240 0 2 30 22 0 0 0 60 0 6400000 1

dtoverlay=pwm-2chan,pin=18,func=2,pin2=19,func2=2
dtparam=audio=on

dtparam=i2c_arm=off
dtparam=i2s=off
dtparam=spi=off

I know this is an old thread but I can not get HDMI output. Even with these settings.
So, to help triage, I burned a new image with a "recalbox" emulator image on another SD card.
I used the settings on that card and was able to get that one to display on my HDMI monitor here on my desk.
But the sd card with the Pi Position software on it, it will not output.

I have a Raspberry Pi 3b+ sitting on my desk plugged in via USB and HDMI. As mentioned, I know this works as the emulator image works.
So on the Pi Pos image, I have all these settings setup in the config.txt file. Nothing comes up on screen. Not even the splash.
It acts like it might not be booting BUT I do see LED lights blinking..green and red...so I dont know that for sure.

I need HDMI as I dont have a working CRT display yet and I want to ensure I have a working, bootable game board.

Hope this makes sense.

Robbie

 

[troubydoobydoo]

Ok, I am fighting major battles with SD CARD issues. I am learning more and more as I do this desktop trial and error. I have been trying to get this Pi to boot for 3 days now.

1. I use the Raspberry Pi imager software on my Mac. I do have a Windows laptop but I hate Windows. I can use it if needed but others got this working with the RP Imager so I should be ok.
2. I burned a Raspberry Pi image with Desktop onto a separate SD Card just to see if that worked, and it did. It booted up and worked with my HDMI monitor. That was good to see. This proves my little desktop setup is fine.
3. Powering the Pi 3b+ via the micro-usb port.
4. HDMI direct into the monitor. HP brand. Probably 2 years old.
5. The cables are probably around 3 ft for the usb and 6 ft for the hdmi but these work fine with the non Pi Position image.
6. I am using the 2021 version of the Pi Position image. I know there is an update. I have not tried the update yet. Looking for advice on how to install the update then test it.
7. I went into Config.txt and set force hdmi setting. That worked on the desktop image. Not on this one. I also tried the safe mode setting.
8. I have LED flashes when the Pi Position tries to boot. I count 4 flashes slow, then about 6 very very quick flashes right after. Doing some reading, it seems the start.elf isnt being read? Still unclear on the flashes but that is what it seems to be.
9. I reimaged the Pi Position software several times. I am using the zip file. Is there a .img file somewhere???
10. I ordered a little touchscreen 7" Raspberry Pi monitor just to ensure compatibility. But I have had issues on two different HDMI monitors so far. (with Pi Position image, desktop image is fine)
11. I dont have a CRT that I can test with just yet. But my HDMI issues seem to be from the Pi not booting, as opposed to an actual HDMI problem. That is my guess. Why it is not booting, I dont know.
12. What is the operating system that the Pi Position uses? I see references to arcpi.txt, etc....does that help anyone ID the OS? I was trying to find further documentation.


Long set of posts that I have.

Trial and error.

Thank you.

Robbie

 

[troubydoobydoo]

Ok, some progress. I copied the start.elf file from the working Raspberian OS Desktop image and pasted it on top of the one in the Pi Position card.
NOW, it boots enough and I see a Rainbow Splash screen on my monitor...the LED's go a few more seconds then they stop..no more green...just the red power LED.

So I was stuck at that start.elf file.

No HDMI if that is broken.

Ok, so, whats next?

I also took a look at that zip file I downloaded...for some reason, its a zip within a zip.....and inside that, is the missing .img file I was looking for.
So now I am trying to reimage the SD card again, using the .img file now.

The zip zip file DID work in the imager...but whatever...just need a process here.

 

[troubydoobydoo]

ok, a reimage using the .img file did nothing. Whatever the problem is, its not booting at the start.elf file. I am going to hack this further from the working image set and see how far it gets. Will copy over the kernel file next.

On a side note, I got Pole Position working using Recalbox. (my test image). I used the roms from the Pi Position and copied them over to the Recalbox image and played a game.

 

[pinballdirec]

Are the 2 ROMS the only thing needed to download? Any other files needed? thanks Kevin