ZVG Configuration on DOS

Problems...

I almost hit a wall last night on my project. I was all excited to show how to set up an ATX power supply to come on when the power comes on. I took apart the power supply and soldered a wire from the "Start Button" wire to the ground like numerous posts on the internet suggest and the power supply comes on but the machine won't boot. Doh! So I luckily had a 2nd power supply and I put it in and the PC works normally. I looked in the BIOS for the PC and there is a setting for "What to do in the event of a power failure". I choose "Power On". Now, when the power is applied, it boots. When the power is pulled it stops fine because it's DOS and DOS machines don't have to deal with multi-tasking. I'll be showing both things in the video in case anyone runs into the same problem. You never know until you try I guess...

Update 10/20/11: I shot the "BIOS Change" video late last night. Looking good for a Saturday release for part 3.
 
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Video 3 in Edit

I started editing Video 3 last night. Usually they go fast but I was really tired so I quit early. I should have it up tonight. I would do it today, but I'm heading out to pick up another game today. 2 in one weekend - just like the old days!

-Al-
 
Part 3 (of 4)

I finished part 3 of the video on YouTube and it's at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE17YOZ8cYc

I've had to go a couple of different ways than I originally planned to do this project, but I think it will come out OK. I also want to add, that you may find better ways of doing what I'm doing, especially at this part of my series. I'm just putting out a way to do it that might work for others.

I picked up a Gravitar that's a little rough. It is complete except part of the coin door. It didn't do anything when plugged in but i haven't even opened it since I got it.

The cabinet is on the edge for me, it's fixable, but, I'm not sure it's worth all the work. I guess the decision will be made after I try and get it working.

As always, please comment on the video. I like hearing good and bad.

-Al-
 
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Great stuff Al! Nice video..

For those of you who have gotten Vector mame working..

What Brand/Model Computer with what processor and memory?

I'm still not having any luck getting the software running right.
I'm thinking its hardware incompitability issues with dos/VM.
 
Very nice video Al.

Just as I was thinking: "cool tune, wonder what it is"... you say "Russian rap music"... nice.

Does the delay in the signals to the monitor (the time at power up during which the PC is booting before the ZVG is outputting signal to the monitor - when the spot killer is on)... will that be harmful to the monitor over time?

I like your amplifier circuit. My son is in an electronics class in HS right now and I think it would be cool to have him build that for me. I can certainly do it but getting him involved in building the game would be fun.

Looking forward to part 4!

--- Gravitar is a nice pickup. I sold one to Alan E. (mnrocketry) 10 years back and haven't come across one since.
 
The spot killer's job is to stop the monitor from burning a hole in the phosphor if there's no signal. If the spot killer is functioning properly, it should protect everything. If the circuit fails, well, it should be fixed. The only other thing you could do is put in some sort of delay board that turned on the monitor after a certain point. Interesting Idea, but I don't know how to do it (I bet I know someone who does though).

The song is called Zlo by Diskoteka Avariya.

The computer I'm using is either a Gateway E4100 or a E4000 Deluxe. I thinkit's the 4100 though.

-Al-
 
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Part 4 of the video will take a little while. I have to work out how I'm going to do the control panel. I'll have all the parts this week, I just have to make some decision on how to do it.

I can't wait to actually play this thing though!

-Al-
 
awarner said:
Part 4 of the video will take a little while. I have to work out how I'm going to do the control panel. I'll have all the parts this week, I just have to make some decision on how to do it.

I can't wait to actually play this thing though!

-Al-
Click to expand...

I have to make a space in the apartment for the Space Duel... then I will identify a PC and get all my pieces together. So I have lots to do before your control panel wisdom finds its way to me.

Winter is almost here in the great white north so this will be a fun winter project. Looks like Black Widow is headed out to the garage!

Thanks for the motivation and the 'de-mystification'.
 
Great series of videos. Thanks.

I do have one question on the power supply. You had trouble and said, "All power supplies are not created equally". Then went on and adjusted the BIOS and everything appeared to work. So was the problem in the power supply or the BIOS? Can one just short out the wires as shown on an ATX supply? I have seen a capacitor used to do this but never a direct short.
 
fa001 said:
I do have one question on the power supply. You had trouble and said, "All power supplies are not created equally". Then went on and adjusted the BIOS and everything appeared to work. So was the problem in the power supply or the BIOS? Can one just short out the wires as shown on an ATX supply? I have seen a capacitor used to do this but never a direct short.
Click to expand...

I saw a reference to using a resistor, and I even have video of that attempt and it didn't work. I shot the video in the order you see it so for continuity, I did the BIOS 2nd. The BIOS method IS the way to go IF it's an option. It all depends on whether the BIOS supports it. So look there first.

If you can find a link to how to use a capacitor, I'll try it out with my 2nd Power supply and make a video showing it in action (in part 4). PM me the link if you find it.

Also, in my head, I don't know how this would work, because usually, holding down the power button also turns off the computer. So I'd really like to get a good working solution to this for people that can't do the BIOS thing.
 
Al glad to see this tutorial as I am hoping to start a Space Duel gutted to Multi Vector. For coin doors I recommend changing to LED lights that replace the regular bulbs. For my Dragon's Lair I just spliced a USB cable and tied the 5V directly to the 5V on the light sockets. With LED lights there is no risk of damage if bulbs blow to the PC. You could also tie 5V to the PC power supply which ever works with a quick connector.

Michael
 
mlenardon said:
Al glad to see this tutorial as I am hoping to start a Space Duel gutted to Multi Vector. For coin doors I recommend changing to LED lights that replace the regular bulbs. For my Dragon's Lair I just spliced a USB cable and tied the 5V directly to the 5V on the light sockets. With LED lights there is no risk of damage if bulbs blow to the PC. You could also tie 5V to the PC power supply which ever works with a quick connector.

Michael
Click to expand...

I was thinking of just cabling the 5V from the computer's drive power line to the coin door using a standard Molex connector so it'll be a plug in solution that won't require any splicing.

Now that said, I think I have some LEDs with bayonet ends on them that might work in the socket.

So far, I have 2 cut wires and that's too many for me. I kinda wish that the cabinet wasn't so nice.
 
I got this message from fa001:

fa001 said:
Here is the link to the article that I mentioned.
http://www.pealefamily.net/tech/captrick/
I have not actually tried this. I usually just use a switch. But it might work for you.
Click to expand...

This sounds awesome! I'm going to try it on the PC this week. If it works, I'm going to take the jumper wire video sequence out of the video and replace it with this one. That's the nice part about video editing. Nothing is permanant (until it hits DVD).

This sounds so much better than the jumper wire method.

Also, I talked to a friend who said that he has done the delay circuit for an arcade project he did so we might be able to make an elegant little circuit to make the monitor delay before powering on. It would be optional, but prolly a really good idea!

-Al-
 
I'm not sure I follow your reasoning for the vm.bat file - why would you want the menu to re-run if you exit it? It will reappear automatically once you exit a game. If you want to prevent being able to exit the menu, define a key for quit which you don't have on your control panel.

My setup is more like this (at the end of autoexec.bat):

cd \dvmame
vmmenu
atxoff

atxoff is a util to power off the cab (I think I used a different util in the end but you get the idea). This means once you exit the menu, the PC will switch off.

I should say I've powered my cab slightly differently - I have the mains extension lead coming out of the back of the cab, and the cabs own plug sits in the bottom of the cab plugged into it, along with the plugs for the PC and ZVG. The plan is to get one of those smart energy saving master/slave mains extensions with the PC on the "master" socket - that way when it's powered off (via exiting the menu and the execution of axtoff) then the cab and ZVG will also power off.

Cheers,

Chad
 
Greetings Chad (& others):

My intentions are to make this as close to a stand-alone video game as possible. All of my machines are connected to outlets that have wall switches to turn on the games. There is never a reason for the PC to exit to DOS. I wanted to be sure that there was no way to leave your menu by the occasional 6 year old who just likes to push buttons. Again, this is my solution, others may have other takes on it. And thanks for adding your comments so others can go that way if they want.

And thanks for doing the way cool menu! It's the best finishing touch that we could ask for.
 
fa001 said:
Here is the link to the article that I mentioned.
http://www.pealefamily.net/tech/captrick/
I have not actually tried this. I usually just use a switch. But it might work for you.
Click to expand...

I just tried this and it mostly works. The first time I applied power, the PC booted. There is a LED on the motherboard that shows when the button is pressed and it came on by itself when power was applied.

This is where the "Mostly" kicks in... Pulling the plug and re-plugging doesn't work. Why? Because the Capacitor is still holding a charge. Until the charge dissipates, the computer will stay off. This won't work for a reset. Now, that said, in my configuration, I think this would work fine if I couldn't get the BIOS to power it up.

I checked and 5 minutes isn't enough time. I'll try it tomorrow morning to see if the cap is clear or not by then.

-Al-
 
awarner said:
This is where the "Mostly" kicks in... Pulling the plug and re-plugging doesn't work. Why? Because the Capacitor is still holding a charge. Until the charge dissipates, the computer will stay off.

I checked and 5 minutes isn't enough time. I'll try it tomorrow morning to see if the cap is clear or not by then.
Click to expand...

Well... that's an interesting development ... ha.
 
Cap Cleared

I checked the computer this morning and the cap had cleared and plugging in the power cord turned on the machine. I'd call this a success but I'm wondering if a smaller cap will work better or not. I used a 10 microfared - 50V.

I'm still going to document it on video since it's a working solution.

So there we have it!
 
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