ARCADE LEGENDS owner thread - Page 8

Lee please post more!

I just picked up a nice Arcade Legends with the computer crashed, would rather run MAME on it

thanks for the good work!

Cheers!

Ok - today's lesson was solving the USBLinx NUMLOCK heartbeat issue.

Background-
The USBLinx resets every 29.183 seconds unless it gets a NumLock toggle from the PC. Ultracade had a 'virtual keyboard' command sent to keep the system from resetting. This feature was implemented to ensure that the PC and USBLinx would reset together in the event of a PC Crash.

I had a program mentioned above that would flash the numlock led's and that works great but it needs user intervention which was causing me grief (cause ultimately i want the thing to boot to a frontend and be all accessible without keyboard and mouse)

I'm so proud of my feeble programming skillz!!!

Ok so I needed a NUMLOCK toggle every 30 seconds to avoid USBLinx reset, and I didn't plan on having a keyboard. What? I like to do things the hard way, what can I say?

So

Downloaded numlock.exe from this link-
Sorry but i'm too new to post links

This program can be run from command line and just add on' or off' to the end to specify

Downloaded sleep.exe from this link-
Sorry but i'm too new to post links

This will add a delay for a specified number of seconds (integer added after sleep.exe)

Then put that into a batch file by copying to notepad and saving as NumLockLoop.bat the following- (you have to change YourDirectoryHere path to wherever you put the numlock.exe & sleep.exe programs)

:BEGIN
C:\\YourDirectoryHere\
umlock.exe on
C:\\YourDirectoryHere\\Sleep 5
C:\\YourDirectoryHere\
umlock.exe off
C:\\YourDirectoryHere\\Sleep 5
GOTO BEGIN

This creates an infinite loop which toggles our NumLock but also opens a very annoying dos window.

So I asked the all mighty interweb

again too new to post links - hope to give credit to these sources after i gain URL posting privledges

And Voila!!!

Put this into a text file and save as NumLockLoop.VBS (you need to change the path to wherever you put the numlock.bat file - note that I haven't figured out how to stop this program once it is running in background besides reboot

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
obj = WshShell.Run("C:\\YourDirectoryHere\
umlockloop.bat", 0)
set WshShell = Nothing

The NumLockLoop.VBS then gets a shortcut created and sent to the windows startup file (so it starts when the computer boots) and thereafter I have my Num Lock Command sent at my chosen interval.

The only thing to keep track of is that -

Numlock.exe
Sleep.exe
NumLockLoop.bat

all have to exist and you have to keep the directories correct (don't move them or the VBS program won't work).

OOPS-

when creating the NumLockLoop.bat file the sleep command needs to be specified with the .exe extention - sorry...

:BEGIN

C:\\YourDirectoryHere\\Numlock.exe on
C:\\YourDirectoryHere\\Sleep.exe 5
C:\\YourDirectoryHere\\Numlock.exe off
C:\\YourDirectoryHere\\Sleep.exe 5

GOTO BEGIN

Again, this file gets created by you pasting the text into notepad and saving (dropdown all files) as NumLockLoop.bat

AHHH! My favorite part - the play testing!

Well, i still have issues but we're past the biggest ones. At a point now where system is functional enough to play games and endure some rigorous play testing.

While testing for a few hours last night I'm coming up with plenty of ticky-tack issues that I'm sure the MAME community could tell me how to fix quickly and for free, right? Although I'm afraid many of my issues will be Arcade Legends specific.

First of all some of my games won't exit properly.
It seems like the executables sometimes get the full attention of the PC and the front end is not getting the commands to exit (letter J in my case corresponds to the exit button). I have tried setting the background priority (high and low) also tried configuring numerous keystrokes for exit and even tried to VNC into the system from a laptop and give an ESC or ^C and still nothing. And the problem (while close) is not absolute - occasionally it WILL exit those games - sometimes on command and sometimes after multiple tries. I'm using Maximus as a frontend but a former industry leader told me to try hyperspin (so it might be frontend specific and i might try another FE).

Second is the trackball/mouse conflict.
Seems that the Arcade Legends uses the PS2 for all joysticks/buttons and USB for the trackball. If I connect a mouse (ps2 or usb) then the usb trackball doesn't get recognized AND if I connect the USB trackball then I seem to be losing my ps2 joystick & button inputs. Right now it works fine with a PS2 mouse plugged into the ps2 mouse port and the joysticks/buttons plugged PS2 to the keyboard port. At some point i need to make their trackball work happily with their joysticks/buttons. As for now I'm not playing trackball games.

Also unusual was that with the USB trackball plugged in I also seemed to lose my NumLockLoop program effectiveness and the system goes dark in 10 to 30 seconds. AND it seems that since running the NumLockLoop in the background my FrontEnd is not the default ACTIVE application. In other words my FE comes up full screen and ready but you need to 'click' somewhere on the screen before it is the 'Active' window or application being handled by windows.

No wonder Ultracade used their own OS.

What else? Um, game lists in the frontend need tailoring. My jukebox skin needs to work at lower resolutions so i can read the songs (probably need less intensive skin). Some games need screenshots added and resolution settings tweaked. Hard to stay focused now that it will play games.

Many of my issues probably go away if i start using a more common Jamma interface and stop trying to dance with this USBLinx card.

I will try to post some URL's to see if I can give some credit to where i found these things...

USBLinx Info-
http://service.globalvr.com/download...r_Doc_v02H.pdf

Numlock.exe-
http://www.rjlsoftware.com/software/utility/numlock/

Sleep.exe-
http://www.computerhope.com/dutil.htm

Fixed my trackball/mouse issues.

The USBLinx doc in the previous page says when available DON'T use the ps2 port. Use the USB only for everything.

That didn't seem to work before but again, not sure what I was smoking cause it's working now. I simply connected the video, audio, and USB from the USBLinx and it works for the trackball (as mouse cursor) and joysticks and buttons. (I also disconnected my keyboard and mouse)

I used a free program called AutoHotKey-
http://www.autohotkey.com/

I downloaded and installed and was able to use it to create a text file which gets saved with the .ahk extention. I think the program went something like this

^1::LButton

^2::RButton

There was more to it from the example in the tutorial program but these lines that I added made the Left and Right mouse buttons click when I press Control+1 (left click) and Control+2 (right click). These buttons map to the Player1 Action button1(Control) and the 1player(1)/2player(2) start buttons. The text file with the .ahk extention gets compiled (right click, compile) and becomes executable (.exe). Then this executable gets put into the startup folder so it starts with windows. Goodbye Mouse, Hello Trackball.

Now at this point I have these apps (among others) running in the background and set to start when windows starts:

NumLockLoop.VBS - to keep USBLinx from resetting by toggling NumLock
Cntrl2_LMouse.EXE - my autohotkey program to give me left/right click ability
VNC.EXE - this is a (free) program that allows me to remotely control the PC
FrontEnd program - to boot to the front end and become the only thing you see when the system boots

Heartbeat issue with trackball? Got rid of the NumLockLoop shortcut in the startup files and simply put the NumLockLoop.VBS program there. That seems to ensure that it starts up and keeps my heartbeat issues from allowing a USBLinx reset.

So, my only issue left is that my frontend isn't the active window after booting up - but I just give a mouse click and it becomes the active window. After that you'd think things would go smoothly? Think again...

Coming up next... why does the trackball work as the mouse in all applications except MAME?

Again, it was me... not the machine.

My trackball was working great as a mouse AND the joysticks and buttons were all doing great - so why wasn't i able to use the trackball on my MAME games?

I edited the MAME.ini file in the MAME folder and changed the line

mouse 0

to

mouse 1

So why wasn't it still working?!!!

Cause that's not the mame.ini file I needed to edit, thats why!

The REAL MAME.ini file is in the ini directory! Sure enough, there were .ini files for all the games in there and when I got down to mame there was the mame.ini file. And sure enough it said

mouse 0

So I changed it to mouse 1 and saved it and immediately played trackball games!!! Oh god, I can finally die in peace!! This damn thing works! Again!
BETTER THAN EVER!!!

If anyone else is using Wincab Jukebox (DWJukebox) I created a 24 track skin that solved my resolution issues with the Wells Gardner Monitor. If anybody's interested just let me know and I will try to hook you up.

Hi all,

Well this is my first post but I have been an avid onlooker for a while. I hope I'm asking this is the right place. I currently have an Arcade Legends 2 with the add on pack. So it has 145 games. The system and cabinet are in mint condition. In fact if I still had the box I could post as new in box. (I wouldn't really do that seeing its not new) I just don't play it very much. I'm more into pins then arcade. So I'm curious what a fair asking price would be? I do have pictures but won't bother with them until I post for sale. Just curious on everyones thoughts.
Thanks!

Great thread. Good info. But, I never got the key to my Ultimate Arcade. Anyone willing to copy theirs for me and send it to me.? I have never been in my machine and would like to see whats inside. Can anyone help PM me.

We were at friends' house l couple of weekends ago, and tried to play their Arcade Legends game. It sounds like they haven't played it in a while, and everytime you spun the trackball, it would reboot to the game selection screen. Is this a known issue, or does anything jump out at you experts out there?

I've upgraded our custom built Aracade Legends MAME PC that is set up to boot into MAME (Maximus Arcade Front End + all of the MAME ROMs) using the Arcade Legends Cabinet, controls, etc. Anyone intersted in buying it, PM me. Just drop it in the back, hook up the monitor and USB connections to it, and you've got one kick ass MAME, with Jukebox, etc.

Also have the original Arcade Legends PC with all of the standard games + PacMan, MsPacMan, DigDug if anyone is intersted. Just PM Me.

Has anyone gotten around the issue with the USBLINX board?

if you run it with USB only connection and press a bunch of the buttons on the 2nd player the board will lock up and just keep repeating the keypress "a"

player one works fine.

it seems if you plug in both the ps2 and the USB like the folks with the origional arcadelegends OS running it will work, but I cannot get it working right in XP Pro with both usb and ps2 plugged in, anyone have any luck?

Interested in buying all game packs

Arcade Legends 1 Machine


please send me an email with price and game packs you have

thanks


craigslavegas@yahoo.com

Does anyone have any of the non-official game pack cd's that still worked in loading games on to the Arcade Legends machine? e.g., the posting below?

barhoram02-03-07, 05:13 AM
It was a floor room model that we talked them down on the price. As for the pac man pack, this was actually a old(er) microsoft cd-rom game pack for a pc that for whatever reason installs those games onto arcade legends machines. Actually, from what I have read, the games are aleady on the machine, something from the cd causes them to activate and show up in the menu....the dealer already had these on the machine (Ms Pack Man was what got my wife interesed in the machine) when we got it. You can find the cd's on ebay for around $100.00. The local dealer by me has a couple for sale for around that price as well.

I don't have the CD anymore, and have since converted my Aracade Legends to a Mame....I still have the arcade legends PC that i pulled out when I converted to a Mame. It's got the with the standard games and the ones that were added from the microsoft CD rom

I just bought an Arcade Legends table top on craigslist for my waiting room... I tried on google and ebay to find more game packs but having no luck.

Does anyone have any game packs for sale? please email me:

cmdrdave@hotmail.com

and thanks.

I think I actually saw this for sale at Cosco once when I went in.Online Games ,Free MMORPG and Free RPG are the best !

Edited by Sakina2011 - 1/4/13 at 7:27pm

I just aquired three new arcade legends machines. I am putting them in our fire dept, I put on a free game, movie food night for the kids in our town. Is there any downloads for the extra game packs etc. Does anyone have any they would email me. I am assuming you can put the games on a usb stick and plug into the usb cable inside the fron of the machines?

Thought some may benefit from these links - people like me who want an arcade system but don't want to spend $2000-$3000. Have been researching options that are less expensive and more flexible than the pre-configured units.

Have decided to get one of these cabinets for $399:

http://www.recroommasters.com/x_arca...m-xt-arc-t.htm

Also need to get the Tankstick controller ($199)

http://www.xgaming.com/store/arcade-...es-usb-cables/

Using an old laptop with Windows XP that I no longer use computer as my computer, and a used 19" Dell 4x3 LCD monitor I got on Kijiji for $60. Also need a $20 set of PC speakers to tuck up inside the cabinet.

Should be a good setup for very reasonable cost.



Only skills required are:

Assembling pre-cut cabinet
Installing MAME and a MAME front-end and configuring the settings on the computer. This will take some time but enjoyable for a techie type.

How's it going so I bought an ultimate arcade 2 machine with a 100 games on it, however I took the back off of the machine and have still be unable to locate the sd card so if anyone could help me with that it would be much appreciated. Second i was wondering where a good place to pick up gamepacks would be, that is once I locate the sd card.

I have a ultimate arcade 2 and am looking for game packs so if you could email prices and details on the games included it would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Salim

Nosdoumit@yahoo.com

If you have three Arcade Legend 1 machines, you are pretty much done with putting new games on it. Hundreds of games WERE available back in the mid-2000s. But the USB sticks that the games came on are few and far between, and any that are in the possession of previous owners are "locked/married" to that specific hard drive. Once you install them, they can't be installed to a different Arcade Legends machine. Those packs also cost AL1 owners hundreds of dollars back when they were offered. Sorry, no "free" email solutions are available. You're lucky to have three working machines, IMO.

I just recently got an UA2/AL2, and I was wondering if the monitor can be replaced with those new LCD 26" monitors from Wells Gardner or Vision Pro. It states that those LCDs were made as great alternatives for our 25" crt monitors.


Also, has anyone here converted their monitor to face upright rather than having it laid back into the cabinet? I'm thinking about converting the UA2/AL2 into a mame cabinet and by getting the monitor to be upright I can also add light gun games to it.

I have a 9500ur AL2 machine, with the Sports package added via USB. I really want to try to find the Pac Family package on USB. Anyone know any links? Is the USB de-activated for use on other machines after installation?

I have an arcade legends 3 game, looking for add on game packs (defender, stargate, etc). Anyone have any ideas?

So what cd that that Microsoft made puts the games onto the cabinet and how do you do it. Couldn't you just download the rom of the cd burn it then install if it can't be found?

Strange how there is no ,ore info on these machines anywhere on the net. How to's etc.

So did you get your system up and running? Also do you know where you can get the USB drives to add more games?

I converted my Arcade Legends cabinet into a full-blown MAME cabinet a few years ago. Just recently upgraded the MAME PC. If anyone is interested in buying the PC for their machine, shoot me a PM. Should drop right in and let you run all of the MAME Rom's etc from the cabinet. Wow the Neo-Geo ones are fantastic on this machine!