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6 Switch 2600... Running Windows XP! ;)


PacManPlus

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I know this has been done before, but I kind of got this idea when I was cleaning, and happened to put a broken 6 switch next to an AOpen Core Duo Mini-ITX motherboard... I kind of stared at them next to each other for a sec... I knew I could fit the motherboard in there (albeit without a DVD drive) so I got to working... The difference with mine is that I wanted to have a non-keyboard stand-alone console unit (that the switches and 2600 joysticks will work from), so I knew it would have to include an I-Pac.

 

You can see the issue I had with the case easily cracking (at the A/V connectors and over the ethernet connector). I had to use a lot of Crazy Glue to get it back. I know better now for next time. :( The annoying thing is after I went searching the internet for an ethernet connector that can screw in to a plate, not finding one, and ended up using the one you see in the picture (gluing it in place). I then came across this site while looking for something completely different: http://www.datapro.net/catalog/panel-mount-cables.html (It's the third item up from the bottom) :x

 

I also replaced *all* switches with the momentary ones (like the 'Start' and 'Reset' switches). This way I can use them all connected to the I-Pac for emulator functions.

 

The last thing I have to put in are the fans. I ordered three 20mm fans that I will fit in the cart port (covered by black mesh screening). I also added the LED by the power switch.

 

Specs:

AOpen Mini-ITX motherboard (MoDT Flex 945) with 1.6Ghz Intel Core Duo CPU

80Gb Hard Drive

1.5Gb Memory

Windows XP Pro

I-Pac connected to joystick ports

2 USB external connectors

Ethernet connector

S-video / Composite, Audio connectors

 

I am running MAMEWAH with MAME, Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800 emulators, Odyssey2, Visual Pinball, and Vectrex emulators as well. I can also surf the web with it (If I use a USB keyboard & mouse) :)

 

Here are the pics: The first three are taken without the hard drive mounted (front, back, and top)

The next two are taken with the hard drive and all cables mounted (front and back)

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Edited by PacManPlus
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I haven't set up the emulators just yet, but:

 

Front End:

Select: Scroll through games

Reset: Select game

Color-BW: next system

Difficulty (left): Page Up

Difficulty (right): Page Down

(The joysticks will also do some of these functions)

 

MAME:

Select: 1-Player Credit

Reset: 1-Player Start

Color-BW: Pause

Difficulty (left): 'F3' (game reset)

Difficulty (right): 'Shift' function for Select & Reset so they become 2-Player Credit and Start

 

Atari 2600 & 7800:

All switches will be pretty much their native functions.

 

Atari 5200:

Select: the 'Reset' button on the player 1 joystick

Reset: the 'Start' button of the player 1 joystick

Color-BW: the 'Pause' button on the player 1 joystick

Difficulty (left): the '*' key

Difficulty (right): the '#' key

 

Vectrex:

There's only one console button: Reset, although the missing three buttons on the controller might come into play here

 

Odyssey2:

Haven't decided yet, although most likely 'Reset' will be mapped to the '1' key

 

... so far :)

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Very cool project! The IPAC is a nice little interface board. I've been considering doing something like this for quite a while. Just can't find the time.

I'll be interested to see how you interface the difficultly switches w/ an emulator like z26.

 

~telengard

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How did the case get all cracked where the ports are?
It happened while drilling the holes for the connections - it just shattered. :( I keep forgetting that I'm working with 30 year old plastic...

Plastics can be tricky, but 2600 cases aren't usually that brittle unless you're working in sub-freezing temperatures. You need a drill bit that's not too sharp, or it will grab and try to cut too much material at once. But it can't be super dull either, or you'll have to push too hard (usually not a problem with plastics unless the bit's so dull that it would be useless on metal).

 

If you have a step drill (a.k.a. Uni-Bit, Cobra Bit, etc.), use that instead of a regular steel twist drill, and drill from the inside outward if possible. Step drills don't grab like twist drills can in soft material. But they do tend to bevel or gouge the edge of the hole on the side you're drilling into when the next step above the size you want the hole to be touches the surface.

 

If you don't have a step drill, try clamping some thin scraps of wood or other thin, soft material on both sides of the piece you're working on.

Edited by A.J. Franzman
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Thanks for the tips, A.J.

 

I don't have a step drill, but maybe I'll pick one up if they are not too expensive...

If I should do another one I will definately take your notes into account. And I may actually do just that (at least for the bottom half), because I'm not happy with the cracks in this one. :)

 

Bob

Edited by PacManPlus
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@Crunchsuperman - thanks, maybe I'll try that as well

 

@Dauber - It was a non-working unit, but all is not lost; I was able to use the cpu, TIA and the other chip for the tiny 2600 clone that 8bitdomain put out a while back. :)

 

@telengard - You've picked up the fact that they have to work a little differently because I replaced them with momentary switches :) I'm pretty sure I'm using the Color/BW switch as the 'shift' key for the I-Pac, so I'll have the difficulty switches 'unshifted' as 'B', and 'Shifted' as 'A'.

 

Bob

Edited by PacManPlus
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Thanks :) - The three small fans are going to go in the cart port (the heat sink next to the CPU gets pretty hot). I will then cover the cart port with some black mesh (not sure eactly what yet) to 'hide' the fans somewhat.

 

:)

 

Myself, for aesthetics, I would consider heavily venting the bottom side of an empty cartridge, covering the vent holes with the aforementioned mesh if necessary then attaching it as though it were a plugged-in functional cartridge. I'm assuming that there's not enough heat anywhere to affect the plastic cartridge shell.

 

Regarding the black mesh: a sound engineer once told me that a good rule of thumb for speaker grille cloth is that if you blew cigarette smoke at it, the smoke would go through. That statement leads me to believe that speaker grille cloth might work to cover your vent without too much restriction.

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