Welp, I bought a cabinet

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Ho
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Ho » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:18 pm

That test is always like that and is not indicative of in-game performance. I'm sure Brandon can get into the details if you're interested, but it has to do with the fact that the test is addressing the sensors individually using a different method rather than a whole panel (4 sensors) as it does in the game. It's purely for diagnostic purposes, so it doesn't really matter that it's not fast.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Fluffyumpkins » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:18 pm

I think Supernova gives immediate feedback. Not sure about other post-Extreme mixes.

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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Merk » Wed Mar 05, 2014 2:53 pm

Well that's good to know - thanks!

Are the little clasps that latch the actual sensor to the stage I/O supposed to be the God damn most impossible thing in the world to remove? I literally snapped the wires trying to pull one of the damn sensors out.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Ho » Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:59 pm

I'm not sure which clasps you're talking about, but it sounds like you're not squeezing the release tab enough. It shouldn't require a tremendous amount of force to disconnect any of the connectors in the cabinet and you should always be pulling on the housing and not the wires anyway.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by MonMotha » Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:35 pm

Fluffyumpkins wrote:I think Supernova gives immediate feedback. Not sure about other post-Extreme mixes.
Supernova doesn't scan all the sensors continually like Extreme does. It sets things up to show whatever you want (all 4 sensors or just one sensor) then shows you that until you change it. You can run the polling quite a bit faster than they do, which is why the PIU IO test screen is so much more responsive, but there's no compelling reason to.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Merk » Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:29 am

I'm getting closer to having a playable machine! The I/O board is in and working but here are some things I noticed yesterday:

I am missing a brace plate that holds the two pads together (this part: http://www.coinopexpress.com/products/p ... _8713.html), how can I go about replacing it? It really is just a piece of metal, is there a place I can go to or order from that will take a piece of metal and drill holes in it for me?


Also, the picture of my monitor very noticeably shakes at the slightest vibration. A strong bass note during the song will cause the picture to shake and get a little fuzzy. The game is playable but when selecting a song and going through the options menu you'll notice the picture shaking and it makes me worry. I'm guessing that maybe the neckboard isn't secured all the way, is there a way to safely secure it so that it doesn't move around?


Anyway, my pads are definitely from two different cabinets! Not only is the bar on the 2P side worn down to the metal but the inside of the 2P side is significantly filthier than my 1P side and I am having a hard time getting any screws out.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by MonMotha » Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:23 am

Merk wrote:I am missing a brace plate that holds the two pads together (this part: http://www.coinopexpress.com/products/p ... _8713.html), how can I go about replacing it? It really is just a piece of metal, is there a place I can go to or order from that will take a piece of metal and drill holes in it for me?
Any metalworking shop should be able to make that given either a good drawing or, probably easier, one borrowed off another machine. I don't know of any near you specifically. Carmel Welding (in Carmel, appropriately) can probably do it.
Merk wrote:Also, the picture of my monitor very noticeably shakes at the slightest vibration. A strong bass note during the song will cause the picture to shake and get a little fuzzy. The game is playable but when selecting a song and going through the options menu you'll notice the picture shaking and it makes me worry. I'm guessing that maybe the neckboard isn't secured all the way, is there a way to safely secure it so that it doesn't move around?
Probably a bad solder joint somewhere. Hardest part is finding the problem. Fixing it takes all of 10 seconds with a soldering iron. Sometimes the bad joint is obvious. It's usually on a big, heavy part or a connector.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Merk » Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:28 am

Welp, MonMotha if you want to come over sometime and work on the machine I will give you all the moneys you need. Currently the things that need fixing:

* Marquee connectors need to be remade. If you could provide your extras that would make me very happy
* We need to take a screw impacter to the majority of the screws on the 2P side
* A front bracket plate that connects the two pads needs to be made / ordered. This is something I'll have to take care of by my lonesome
* Monitor needs to have a solder joint re-soldered. I have an iron and solder but like you said finding it is the hard part
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by JzN » Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:57 pm

Bad luck on the GN845-PWB(B) board.

I got quoted in Aus and they said it was going to be $400+ and at the time no listings were on ebay.

You've done well for $130US. How much has this machine burned into your pocket now? Also if there are any spare GN845-PWB(B) boards floating around, i'll be interested in the price. =]

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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by MonMotha » Tue Mar 18, 2014 10:07 pm

A normality test:
+++ATH
If you are no longer connected to the internet, you need to apply more wax to your modem: it'll make it go faster.
If you find this funny, you're a nerd.
If neither of the above apply, you are normal. Congratulations.

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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by JzN » Tue Mar 18, 2014 10:11 pm

I put in an offer for $130US and see what they say.

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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Merk » Wed Mar 19, 2014 9:54 am

JzN wrote:Bad luck on the GN845-PWB(B) board.

I got quoted in Aus and they said it was going to be $400+ and at the time no listings were on ebay.

You've done well for $130US. How much has this machine burned into your pocket now? Also if there are any spare GN845-PWB(B) boards floating around, i'll be interested in the price. =]
Yeah I guess I got lucky (or unlucky since really I shouldn't have had to buy a new I/O board)!

This DDR machine is definitely turning out to be an expensive little guy: $130 for the I/O board, $400 for the sensors, whatever it will cost to get a new pad bracket, and finally whatever it will cost to get MonMotha to replace the RTC-RAM and fix the wiring between the cabinet and the marquee.


With that being said, let me know when you think you'll have time to do whatever rewiring needs to be done, Mr. MonMotha, and I'll make time for you.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Merk » Fri Mar 28, 2014 8:11 am

PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE
* Marquee connectors need to be remade. If you could provide your extras that would make me very happy
* We need to take a screw impacter to the majority of the screws on the 2P side
* A front bracket plate that connects the two pads needs to be made / ordered. This is something I'll have to take care of by my lonesome
* Monitor needs to have a solder joint re-soldered. I have an iron and solder but like you said finding it is the hard part

I finally fucking got off my ass and got Chad's help to put my marquee on. Surprisingly, all the side lights and speakers worked without an issue. The fluorescent lights of course are not on since their wires got snipped but the fact that the top speakers just straight-up worked is a miracle to me.

I also took Brian's advice and found a bigger screw bit for my little screwdriver and I was actually able to get all the sensors replaced for every pad expect for the 2P down arrow. I gave the insides a nice little vacuuming too since they were absolutely filthy. I did an I/O test and all the arrows except the 2P down arrow were perfect - the 2P down arrow is okay but the left sensor is a little spotty. I didn't play any songs but I imagine that these pads are now probably in a state of "playable"

Finally, I took the front bracket plate for the pads off of Chad's cabinet and one of his co-workers is going to go ahead and weld a copy of it either this weekend or sometime next week. Once I have that I can put the casters down and actually legitimately play on this cabinet for funsies.

The RTC-RAM still needs to be replaced and the monitor still shakes. I'd really like to get the RTC-RAM problem fixed since it's a big inconvenience, to me, to not have my Oni scores saved and having to do the unlocks each time I turn the machine on. I will pay / do whatever it takes to get Mr. Motha to work his surgery magic on my little 573.
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Merk » Tue Apr 08, 2014 9:18 am

I ganked a vice grip from work yesterday and brought the casters down on my pads to see if that would stop my pads from being a death trap even though I am without my precious front plate. It turns out that those casters really do stop the pads from moving around and I can play to my heart's content without worrying about surfing around and killing myself.

With that being said I discovered a few things now that my machine is "in production"

* The monitor stops spazzing out after a good 20 minutes. My first couple of rounds the screen would flicker and shake at the slightest disturbance (like a loud bass note) but after a round or two it stopped completely. I could still bop the side of the cabinet and make it shake but actual gameplay appears to stop causing the monitor to shake after the monitor has time to settle.... or whatever.

* The right arrow on my 1P side is sticky as shit to the point where it strongly impacts gameplay. Case in point, I failed Soul 6 on the third song (which is Secret Rendevous.... standard) because the right arrow wouldn't register. I replaced all the sensors in this arrow, what's the best remedy for a sticky arrow? Should I loosen some screws? Thankfully all the other arrows on the 1P side are fine.

When I was replacing the sensors on the 1P right arrow I snapped one of the cable pairs from their connector that plugs into the actual sensor's connector. I shoved the frayed wires into the sensor's connector to see if I could salvage the situation and it appears to work just fine when I do an I/O test and I do not see any stickiness. Is it possible that I shouldn't have shoved the frayed wires into the sensor connector and that is what is causing the stickiness? Is there a way to attach a new connector to the frayed wires?
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Re: Welp, I bought a cabinet

Post by Ho » Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:08 pm

The Craftsman Clench Wrench is an excellent tool for adjusting the levelers on your stage.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-2-pack-r ... 930879000P

BTW, the feet are levelers and the wheels are casters. And yes, setting the levelers correctly should prevent the stage halves from separating even without the connecting plate...though the plate will make the whole assembly much more secure. Be careful on that vinyl floor though. I don't know if the weight and slight shifting during use will damage the floor. The carpet under the levelers of my DDR and Pump stages is pretty much flattened to oblivion. Maybe Chad doesn't care, but you might want to think about it.

I've seen monitors behave like that. It may be fine for a while, but it's probably going to get worse and probably eventually stop working until you actually find the problem and repair it.

I don't think loosening screws ever fixes anything. They're all designed to be screwed in all the way. If they're not meant to go in all the way, there are spacers to prevent it (as on the L brackets that sit over the sensors). Any moving parts should have all the space they need to move with all the screws securely fastened unless things have gotten bent or warped out of shape. If that's the case, you've got bigger problems. These parts are pretty darn tough and something terrible has probably happened if they actually are bent or warped.

In my experience, a sticky sensor is usually due to the screws on those L brackets being either loose, missing, missing the spacer, or the L bracket missing completely. Check those.

Are you saying the connector snapped off on the cabinet (stage) side, not the sensor itself? The connector can be replaced, but you may have trouble finding the parts or may have trouble finding them in small quantity (like, < 1000 :P). Mashing the wires into the sensor connector should work, but it obviously won't be all that secure. They could come out over time. Or, if you didn't mash them in all that carefully, they could touch each other and close that circuit behaving like the sensor was stuck on.
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