MAME Monitor Button from Dan Price on Vimeo.

Hiccup.

While we were moving the CP panel off of the box to prime it (the box), the PS/2 cable got caught and ripped from the interface, leaving the connector still in it, and the cable on the floor. I won't go into detail on the expletives used, but they were bountiful.

"I'll just pick up another cable." Dumb.

Unfortunately, male-to-male PS/2 cables (PS/2 being a connection of the past anyway) are impossible to find in a store. Sure, they sell them online, but this thing is going to be finished by the weekend.

Thanks to Dave at work, who "lent" me 2 male-to-female PS/2 cables, I able to have at it with an old Weller soldering gun. Clip-clip go the female ends and strip-strip go the wires. Then strip-strip-strip-strip-strip-strip (x2) go the wires inside...PS/2 has 6 shielded connecting wires and 1 unshielded ground wire. Thankfully they were color-coded and matched up easily. Here was my set up.


Two battery clips to hold the two cables in place, and two clamps to hold the clips upright. I had a wet sponge to keep the gun tip clean. The first 4 or 5 went swimmingly, the solder melting like a champ, me breathing in all that glorious lead smoke.


Then, the gun decided to give out, and I resorted to soldering the that last two wires using my cigar lighter. Not the cleanest connections, but it worked! I electrical-taped everything together, and used the clamps (now zip ties) to keep any undue pressure or pulling away from the new connections.


ALSO:
Alex figured out what was wrong with Player 3 controls! It was just a break in one of the ground lines. One re-crimp and we were back in business! Now ALL the controls work, and we are happy.

Up and Running! (for the most part)

We finished wiring the CP yesterday. All in all, connections and grounds, it maybe took 3 hours total. Not bad. Here's the orgy of wires that resides under the buttons and joysticks (black is ground, red, the connections):


And hooked it up to the monitor (X-Men vs. Street Fighter):


Going CRT for the monitor can't be beat. It looks like the real deal, and not distorted like it would on an LCD. Here's Rambo:



(Note: "for the most part" means that the Player 3 controls, as well as 4/6 Admin buttons don't work yet. Not sure why; we haven't done any troubleshooting (too busy playing :). Hopefully it's a quick fix.)

Cut, Strip, Crimp (Repeat)

We began wiring the CP last night, specifically daisy-chaining the ground wires. It was much of the same process, but we got it down to an assembly line sort of, and it really didn't take that long. Cut wire to length, strip both ends, stick into quick connect, crimp. Repeat 54 times. (Pro Tip: get GOOD wire strippers, it will make your life easier).


Half of the CP is daisy-chained together and goes into one ground on the interface. The other half? You guessed it.


All buttons and joysticks are grounded.