Thursday, May 29, 2003
Spent some time last night doing some "finessing" on the MAME arcade box. I still have to wait for a free weekend from Peter to install the playboard, but that doesn't mean I can't do further work on the box in the meantime. I decided to remove the coin mechanisms since I figure my knowledge of electrics is not sufficient to make it workable. This also means I don't have to build an extension platform for the PC to rest on, as it can just rest on its side (as it does now) while easily providing access to the on/off switch and the CD-RW and DVD drives. Turns out that the little plastic coin slots are missing the washers that would hold them in place securely to the door, removed because they weren't needed when attached to the coin mechanism. I've used electrical tape for the moment to hold them in place, but will have to find some washers of the right size to do it right.
The WinFast TV card installed on the machine came with a remote control and an infrared receiver on a cable. Problem was: how do I string up the IR input so that I could use the remote? Solution: I strung up the cable so that the receiver rests within one of the translucent plastic coin slots. I was afraid the red plastic might act as a filter against the infrared light coming from the remote, but when I tried it, it worked like a charm. The TV signal is crisp and clear (there's a cable feed in the basement) and when I played a DVD in it the other day for the kids, the picture was as sharp as could be. Sweet. ;-)
I used some black electrical tape to cover part of the white bezel of the monitor. This is so that it will blend in more smoothly with the existing black plastic arcade bezel that came with the original arcade screen. I had hoped to get a black used monitor, but buying a white monitor and using some black electrical tape proved more economical. For the moment I am keeping the black plastic arcade bezel and glass off of the machine until I figure out a good way to be able to turn the monitor on and off easily – it would be hard to turn it off when its on/off switch is behind glass.
I decided to place the place the rotary on/off switch for the speaker system on the current playboard, attached using some double-sided tape. This will have to be removed when the new playboard is installed, but it works well and I will probably keep this feature.
Since remotes in our house sometimes go on walkabout, I got some Velcro and attached some to the back of the remote, and some more to the top of the arcade box. This way, it is pretty much out of sight when not needed, and away from little hands.
Hardware is only part of the deal. I installed Apache and got PHP and MySQL up and running on it, so I have a nice little test Web server in the house. I was originally planning to run all of that under Linux, but then I discovered that the Linksys wireless networking card I bought has a chipset that is currently incompatible (read, there is no driver for it as yet) for Linux. I also installed MAME Arcade Jukebox on the system and gave it a test run with the MP3s I've got stored on the box. A fun program, and a "cuter" front-end that what you'll get from Winamp. If only it played music videos... And while the system is not working as an entertainment unit or a Web server, it chugs away processing data for SETI. So far, all of the computers in the house have processed about 450 or so data units for them.
There's still more finessing I could do. Ideally I should bolt down the CPU case to the bottom of the arcade box, string up some wire to keep the monitor from wobbling during play, and set an on/off switch for the fluorescent light. But installing the playboard is the next big thing.
I had the ocassion to call Dallas at the Toronto Pinball Exchange, in order to have their repair-guy finally come in to look at my pinball machine and give it a fix/tune-up prior to a big laneway party that's happening here next month. She told me that they have moved to a new location in Oakville (438 Kerr Street in Oakville).
I boggled at the prospect of them moving all of that stuff from their warehouse to a new location, and she told me: "yes, if I could have gotten a nickel for every pound we had to move, I'd be a rich woman". ;-)
The other interesting thing is the new popularity of the MAME boxes since I wrote those articles (and mentioned Dallas and her company). She figures she's sold about 20+ of them now, and has an equal number tucked away for future customers. So I hope I am in their good books!
True story...
I talked to Erika late last night and asked: "Isn't tomorrow our wedding anniversary?" Startled, she thought about it and said, yes, tomorrow must be out wedding anniversary. Our 12th to be exact. She'd forgotten about it too. Neither of us stand much on occasions, as you can tell.
So today I go out and get Erika a bunch of flowers. I also give Vanessa a twooney to create an anniversary card for her Mom.
Erika comes back in the afternoon after spending lunch with her mother. She mentioned the anniversary to her Mother. Her Mother ends up correcting the both of us – we're both a month off.
Guess I'll have to buy another bunch of flowers next month. ;-)
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