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Linux on a XXXX-in-1 device


canussie

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I did a bit of a forum search, couldn't find a similar topic, so here goes...

 

I have a 1500-in-1 unit, I am interested in seeing if I can get a linux distro with MAME working with the cabinet and all the JAMMA IO boards and joysticks etc. I am wondering if anyone else has tried this and had any sort of success?

 

My plan is to post on here as I go along with any success/issues etc along the way. Any help would be appreciated. I had a look at this forum however that seems to be concerned with preserving the original Win2k image.

 

 

Customised HDD image for xxxx-1 systems inc Laserdisc Games - anyone want one ? - Aussie Arcade

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I got a start on this last night.. First off I ordered a IDE -> CF convertor. It arrived, I stuck a 32G CF card in it, which just so happened to be the last one available at JBHIFI. Started off my testing a distro I found Groovy Arcade. https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...FZXTWJfbHpzUlE I had to install the 32bit version, since these XXXX-in-1 boxes have 32bit CPUs :).

 

To my surprise, the XXXX-in-1 box booted from USB by default, I got GroovyArcade installed and booting on the CF card pretty easily. From here, I ran some basic config, however I think at this point I miss configured something. I tested a couple of the MAME front ends, but each of them, when I launch a ROM confines the game to a small box taking up about a quarter of the screen. It seems that the resolution of the monitor isn't being automatically switched on game launch.

 

 

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I spent a sigificant amount of time setting up a new Linux build for my arcade machine. I feel like I am about 80% of the way to having it working.

 

I started out by reading this article:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/inde...topic=156122.0

 

My 1500-in-1 machine is a 32 bit arch (i386) machine using a CF card in a CF->IDE adapter purchased online. I downloaded a Ubuntu 16 server i386 iso image, made a bootable USB pendrive using the iso. I then used the pendrive to run through the Ubuntu installation as described in the article linked above. I stopped at step 10, after encountering 2 issues on first boot.

 

Issue 1:

Grub tries to start using a graphical splash screen, which makes my VGA throw out a NO SIGNAL message.

 

Issue 2:

USB keyboard is not working when it does eventually get passed issue 1.

 

I had to do 2 things to get beyond this initial issue. Upgrade the kernel and modify the grub configuration to disable the splash screen and specifiy a specific resolution to use within grub.

 

Now I had another new issue, my arcade box has no NIC. First a I tried a Linksys AC600, sadly there is no linux drivers available. I dug around in some of my nerd boxes and found a Raspberry Pi that had a USB wifi adapter..

https://www.canakit.com/raspberry-pi-wifi.html

 

Next with this wifi adapter connected to my arcade box, I booted from my Ubuntu 16 usb pendrive, selected Rescue mode. I went through the keyboard setup, configured the wifi card (detected automatically with no additional config required), connected to my wifi then dropped to a shell.

 

Next you need to chroot to the installed OS to upgrade/update and modify grub configuration.

 

You will need to know the partition infomation on the HD the OS was installed to. I had /boot on /dev/sda1 and / on /dev/sda5. To check the table:

 

$ cat /proc/partitions

 

Mount up the partitions. / should go to /mnt and all other partitions underneath /mnt.

$ mount /dev/sda5 /mnt
$ mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/boot

 

Next you need to bind mount the psuedo devices, then run chroot.

$ mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev &&
$ mount --bind /dev/pts /mnt/dev/pts &&
$ mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc &&
$ mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
$ chroot /mnt

 

Upgrade to 18 (Can skip this step..)

$ apt-get update
$ apt-get upgrade
$ apt install update-manager-core
$ do-release-upgrade

 

This will take some time. Once it is done, update the kernel. I used the install point option, this updaes the kernel to the latest version available for your current kernel version.. ie latest 4.xxx version.

 

$ add-apt-repository ppa:teejee2008/ppa
$ apt-get update
$ apt-get install ukuu
$ ukuu --install-point

 

Now update the grub boot loader to disable the graphical splash.

 

Edit /etc/default/grub, changing the following lines:

 

#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

 

Unhash this line so it looks like this

GRUB_TERMINAL=console

 

Save the changes:

$ update-grub

 

Reboot the device, boot into the OS, you should have a working USB device and no grub splash screen. Next you will need to setup the wifi connection to install packages:

 

I went through thr following 2 guides and ended up with a working WIFI adapter.

 

https://www.linuxbabe.com/command-li...wpa-supplicant

 

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1439...etwork-at-boot

 

With working wifi, I went through the remainder of the tutorial:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/inde...topic=156122.0

 

I then copied some ROMS across.

 

​​​​​​​At the end I had a working mame. On launch I tested Donkey Kong and found it was a big sluggish, that is far as I have gone thus far... will post next time I get a chance to play more :).

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Cool posts. Are you just trying to make the best out of some sluggish hardware? Or intended to do linux specific PC arcade games?

 

Bit of both. Bought the machine, don't like the crappy Windows 2000 build on it, want to see if I can do one better :). Also want to enable emulation of different devices like N64 etc. I am a linux guy, and I am curious :).

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My latest status on this.. I have ubuntu running, with AttractMode as a frontend for mame. I have been able to run a few games but I notice that the screen refresh rate is running kind of high, somewhere in the order of 60-70. Also I noticed that by default only the 1P controller works, all directions seem to map to the arrow keys, button one to 'o' and button 2 to 'k', but no other mappings exist for the other buttons.

 

I have to deal with these 2 issues, resolve the refresh rate problem and map the controller buttons to keys.

 

I had a look at a post in which a gentlement replaces the xxxx-in-1 OS with XP, https://www.aussiearcade.com/forum/a...-win2000-to-xp he talks about 2 tools to change the res/refresh rate using 2 apps. If I could find something like this for linux, that would be awesome. As for the key mappings, haven't spent a lot of time on this, but I will attempt to use the standard joystick kernel modules.

 

 

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This morning I had some success mapping P1 controllers (3 button in vert, 6 in horizontal) using the gamecon kernel module. Will attempt to detect and configure the P2 controls next time I get some time.

 

I looked inside the cabinet and noticed that the LCD monitor is plugged directly into the PC motherboard VGA port, so I am not sure how the JAMMA 1/2P board does any sort of video manipulation. I sure wish there was more documentation on this JAMMA board :). I believe it is a PC to JAMMA converter.. but I could be wrong... learning as I go here!

 

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Hit a bit of a brick wall with this. I think there are some kernel modules/drivers that I might be missing. If anyone knows anything about the old Jamma 1/2p boards and getting them to work with any OS except for windows, please PM me.
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Well for those who followed this..... I have had success.... I bought myself a Raspberry PI with a JAMMA board, pulled out the crappy PC that came with my XXXX-in-1 device, plugged the pi/jamma in and away I went. I put Arpicade on it, and with a bit of tweaking I have haven't looked back. It is has solved all the annoyances I had with the chinese win 2k build. Now it runs a version of linux, saves highscores and NVRAM files etc... I can scp ROMs across, I have full control of the device AND all the controls work. Very happy... I had to spend about $230 odd bucks, but it was worth it.
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Also I noticed that by default only the 1P controller works, all directions seem to map to the arrow keys, button one to 'o' and button 2 to 'k', but no other mappings exist for the other buttons.

 

I appreciate your journey here. My wife got me a 2100-in-one cabinet a little over a week ago, and I have been furiously working at hacking the thing. My journey is not too different, and our systems sound virtually identical in terms of hardware.

 

In my case, I was able to quickly access its HDD via a bootable thumb drive into Mint. From there and after a couole days of cursing the thing, I discovered that it actually had some 3000 ROMs on it. I managed to edit its list files, config files, and general ini files (it runs 'Babystar.exe', which is evidently an ugly front-end for MAME), and got my favorite games to show up, and all was good, other than the stretched screen (landscape monitor, vertical games look atrocious).

 

I ended up grabbing an old IDE HDD and plugging it in, instead. I installed Mint, and got a newer version of MAME installed, and my ROMs are working -- but like you, the buttons are not working, other than P1 stick, P1B1 (o), P2B2 (k), and additionally the P1 start button (enter), and the coin-in button (1). Curiously, when I set the DIP switch on the P4-4P board (what was originally the setup mode), the coin-in button remaps to 5, and the P2 start button gets mapped to F10. Disabling that DIP switch returns things to 'normal.' Mine also came with a control board with several buttons, which are mapped to a handful of other keys, but that board is not suitable as a player control. The trackball is also detected as a mouse, which is nice.

 

Like you, I had hoped I could just boot into Linux and have everything detected and ready to configure. Somewhere in all the tweaking, I seem to have borked the original HDD's boot record, as it will only boot into safe mode (Chinese XPSP3). I will tinker a bit more, as I may have edited boot.ini, but regardless this is all probably moot as I have a pair of USB controllers with new buttons and sticks. I also busted out one of my kids' old desktops (Lenovo ThinkCentres), and booted up Windows 7 on it. I have four versions lf MAME (to accommodate my mismatched ROMsets), but with 6GB of RAM compared against the 1GB on the junk P4-4P board, and plenty of USB support (compared against legacy IDE, PCI, PS/2, and only two USB ports, probably 1.1 or something), it runs smooth even with the Windows overhead.

 

I trust my wife doesn't hate me for taking apart the toy (and maybe partly bricking it), but the cabinet itself, the mounted monitor, the built-in speakers, the power supply, and the control panel are all worth it -- another $100 or so for goodies won't be an issue. As a bonus, the Lenovo is *much* quieter than the original board.

 

---------------

 

Anyway, thanks for the updates, and I expect our similar solutions will result in similar happiness. Cheers.

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I appreciate your journey here. My wife got me a 2100-in-one cabinet a little over a week ago, and I have been furiously working at hacking the thing. My journey is not too different, and our systems sound virtually identical in terms of hardware.

 

In my case, I was able to quickly access its HDD via a bootable thumb drive into Mint. From there and after a couole days of cursing the thing, I discovered that it actually had some 3000 ROMs on it. I managed to edit its list files, config files, and general ini files (it runs 'Babystar.exe', which is evidently an ugly front-end for MAME), and got my favorite games to show up, and all was good, other than the stretched screen (landscape monitor, vertical games look atrocious).

 

I ended up grabbing an old IDE HDD and plugging it in, instead. I installed Mint, and got a newer version of MAME installed, and my ROMs are working -- but like you, the buttons are not working, other than P1 stick, P1B1 (o), P2B2 (k), and additionally the P1 start button (enter), and the coin-in button (1). Curiously, when I set the DIP switch on the P4-4P board (what was originally the setup mode), the coin-in button remaps to 5, and the P2 start button gets mapped to F10. Disabling that DIP switch returns things to 'normal.' Mine also came with a control board with several buttons, which are mapped to a handful of other keys, but that board is not suitable as a player control. The trackball is also detected as a mouse, which is nice.

 

Like you, I had hoped I could just boot into Linux and have everything detected and ready to configure. Somewhere in all the tweaking, I seem to have borked the original HDD's boot record, as it will only boot into safe mode (Chinese XPSP3). I will tinker a bit more, as I may have edited boot.ini, but regardless this is all probably moot as I have a pair of USB controllers with new buttons and sticks. I also busted out one of my kids' old desktops (Lenovo ThinkCentres), and booted up Windows 7 on it. I have four versions lf MAME (to accommodate my mismatched ROMsets), but with 6GB of RAM compared against the 1GB on the junk P4-4P board, and plenty of USB support (compared against legacy IDE, PCI, PS/2, and only two USB ports, probably 1.1 or something), it runs smooth even with the Windows overhead.

 

I trust my wife doesn't hate me for taking apart the toy (and maybe partly bricking it), but the cabinet itself, the mounted monitor, the built-in speakers, the power supply, and the control panel are all worth it -- another $100 or so for goodies won't be an issue. As a bonus, the Lenovo is *much* quieter than the original board.

 

---------------

 

Anyway, thanks for the updates, and I expect our similar solutions will result in similar happiness. Cheers.

 

 

 

Awesome :).. sounds exactly like my journey. While I was a bit aprehensive about pulling out the shitty computer that came with the cab, since I put a pi inside it with the JAMMA card I can say that I am so much happier with it and don't regret my actions :). In my case I probably spent an additional 200 - 300. I bought a new pi, the jamma adapter and a few other bits and peaces to make a custom case for it... Now it is mounted on the inside of the cab. The last thing I want to do is get some better speakers to replace the shitty cab speakers. I plugged an amp into the PI and I have a JBL speaker sitting on top of the cab at the moment.

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Well, I ended up ripping out damned near everything. My twin zero-delay USB controllers with 20 buttons (four each of red, yellow, green, and blue, two 'coin' buttons, and two player buttons, all LED backlit) arrived, and an old friend is coming over to test his mettle in a Street Fighter II (whichever version he chooses).

 

I kept the transformer that powers the monitor, and I was pleased to discover that the trackball is actually USB (or PS/2). I tried to save the speakers (the unit has monitor control buttons and a volume knob), but after removing the JAMMA board, they gave an annoying hum. Losing the speakers meant losing the monitor controls, but I'll get by.

 

All that remains is deciding whether to stay with Windows 7 or to switch to Mint, and choosing a front-end (because vanilla MAME is great with a mouse and keyboard, but fucking hell with just a joystick and arcade buttons, even with adjustments to the UI). I found an old pair of shitty USB desktop speakers, and they do the trick (plus they fit in the hinged hollow under the control panel), but at some point I may try to salvage the speakers that came with the cabinet -- they really aren't bad. I'd really like to get the system to boot directly into [MAME or the front-end], but there's plenty of time.

 

I am also considering getting a ServoStik, because, well, that's just cool, and I hate changing the restrictor plate.

 

Anyway, it's a shame that these systems aren't easier to manipulate, but I am not at all unsatisfied with my wife's gift -- whatever its faults, it got me to tinker. I suspect that if she's at all perturbed by my tinkering, she's happy to hear me giggle or complain while playing.

 

---------------------

 

To other who stumble here looking for help: pretty much any PC from 2010 or later can handle the load, and you'll get to customize things the way you like. Yes, you might spend a bit more in the process, but also yes, you'll end up with a better system.

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Great topic to read. I too also have a 4 player cab with the 2019 Games family P4-4P that's been a headache for the past 3 years. Looking at different options as I just want to throw the board out. Haven't tinkered with Raspberry Pi yet but think this is where I might head but still stumped on the 4 player bit.
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