X-Arcade Tankstick - Raspberry Pi PC mod

[Draco1962]

I have have considered how much real estate a cabinet occupies, which has led me towards exploring a more HTPC oriented option. I got an X-Arcade Tankstick a few years ago, but, due to its size, it doesn't quite fit neatly into an HTPC world as does a wireless Xbox controller

Then I started thinking about how much computing power has increased while their components have decreased almost to the same extent. Again, back to the size of the Tankstick. It is a full-sized CP with trackball in the middle on a very generous base. I have yet to open mine up as of yet, however,

I am thinking that a Raspberry Pi may actually fit inside. Of course, it will require cutting into my Tankstick additional holes for air circulation, power, etc.

Take a look at this blog, another blog, and article and tell me what you think.. This will dedicate the Tankstick to the Pi but how cool would that be?!

[ClassicGMR]

Oooh... I love this idea. How much usable space is in the tankstick? This would be a great mod!

[Draco1962]

Not sure, but even if not enough inside there are external enclosures that could be used to attach the Raspberry Pi to the outside of the back of the Tankstick, as well as a combo USB Hub/SD Card reader for additional files storage or access to an external HDD. Lots of possibilities!

[hansolo77]

That's actually a really cool idea. I'm starting to think I need to get me one of those little guys for just such a project. I wonder what the filesize limit is for the SD card, like if you can get a 32gb card in there and have it still work?

[Draco1962]

I am not sure but my guess is that the SD card is being used to store the OS (and emulators, etc). There is an option to have USB take over after initial boot so you could have it run things from a USB attached HDD. The FAQ on the Raspberry Pi site gives more details.

One of the things that I find attractive is its simplicity and the fact that you can have ready backups of your OS SD card and if for some reason one becomes corrupt, you can replace it quickly. Also, if you are using it for multiple purposes, you can have custom cards to swap as needed.

[DazzleHP]

So, you'll basically have an all-in-one "portable" arcade stick emulation machine?! Sounds like a winner to me man! I've GOT to see this if you go ahead with it

-EDIT- Although i don't see why all the nonsense ftp'ing your roms over, why not just copy them to the card from your main PC? Or is it assuming a non Linux main PC? Glad i have dual boot main

[Tempest]

Yes, the sd is for the OS. All storage is through the usb port.

[hansolo77]

I don't know jack squat about Linux... I tried to build a Linux machine so I could make an HTPC that ran MythTV. That was before Microsoft released Media Center. I was so overwhelmed and lost I just gave up, and about a year later MCE came out and I was up and running real quick because I knew Windows. The only hurdles I can see with building something like this on that Raspberry device would be compatibility with hardwares. That was where my biggest problem was with the MythTV thing, because I didn't know how to get drivers and stuff for my devices. The nice thing about the Raspberry though is that everything is onboard except for the external USB stuff, and theoretically being USB it should auto-detect those said devices. But I don't know if Linux works that way or not.

If you could get it all worked out though, I could easily see this being a great project. Maybe even have a Linux version of GameEx and then have all kinds of artwork and stuff built right in. You make me drool.

[celly]

Draco, this is a go! Do not hesitate to pop the lid off the back of the tank stick and check it out. There is a ton of room inside it for a tiny little Pi. On top of it running Linux and other emulators, you can also install XBMC onto it and still have some HTPC aspect to it. Get a big SD card though.

[Draco1962]

I was telling my wife about it and she thought it was cool. I have a birthday and Dad's day just around the corner.. what to ask for?

[DazzleHP]

Yes, the sd is for the OS. All storage is through the usb port.

Ahhh! thanks for clearing that up - i haven't looked at the Pi in detail yet and just glanced over Draco's links before i went to bed last night but i will def look into it more now as it looks like an impressive bit of kit - for £30!

I don't know jack squat about Linux... I tried to build a Linux machine so I could make an HTPC that ran MythTV. That was before Microsoft released Media Center. I was so overwhelmed and lost I just gave up, and about a year later MCE came out and I was up and running real quick because I knew Windows. The only hurdles I can see with building something like this on that Raspberry device would be compatibility with hardwares. That was where my biggest problem was with the MythTV thing, because I didn't know how to get drivers and stuff for my devices. The nice thing about the Raspberry though is that everything is onboard except for the external USB stuff, and theoretically being USB it should auto-detect those said devices. But I don't know if Linux works that way or not.

I understand where you're coming from, as a few years ago you needed to be a Terminal King (command line guru) to get anything worthwhile done in Linux but things have changed! There are distro's out there now designed for ease of use and have a UI for everything - Mint is one such distro and is targeted @ Windows users (has a very similar layout) and it's so fast! You should check it out - you may be pleasantly surprised

Maybe even have a Linux version of GameEx and then have all kinds of artwork and stuff built right in. You make me drool.

If there was a native Linux GE then that'd be it - byebye Windows! Not that i particularlly dislike Windows - i just like Linux much more

[hansolo77]

Looks like there might be a Linux version of GameEx. Tom just released a new version that specifically mentions Linux and Mac.

[nullPointer]

I believe that GameEx runs through WINE on Linux, which is itself a Windows emulator platform.

Yo Dawg ... I heard you like emulators? Now you can run your emulator frontend through an emulator so you can launch your emulators while you're emulating.

A smashing good time was had by all.

Oh hey, back on topic > this project looks like a really killer idea. Keep us posted Draco!

[Tom Speirs]

I was playing with running GameEx on Ubuntu recently and it runs super fast albeit lacking the features removed to run under WINE. It was running under VMware workstation under the new Ubuntu and again it was super fast on my system although its quite beefy.

Do you know what WINE stands for - "Wine is not an emulator."

Its not actually an emulator, it just provides a rewrite of windows APIs that run on Linux. So basically its just kind of like the library files required to run windows. Again its not an emulator.

[nullPointer]

If it quacks like a duck ...

No, That totally makes sense actually. I retract my previous comment regarding my dawgs and their propensities towards emulation. Thanks for dropping some knowledge on me.

[hansolo77]

Still seems like a lot of fun to try and actually get working. I don't have an arcade cabinet, or a control panel like the Tankstick, or the Raspberry Pi. But if Draco can some how manage to actually pull this off, I'd be very much interested in building my own as well. It would be ideal to just Plug in the control panels USB into the PI, and then just have a plug for the tv and a plug for the power and be off. Kinda like those all-in-one Atari joystics with 20 games, only for arcade machines. I want one. hehe

[Draco1962]

Well, it appears that it is using some older versions of MAME and there is an FE of sorts available - very basic. Not sure if it will have the firepower to handle GameEx except possibly on a very basic level (I would be using it for MAME only so a possibility). Would be cool if we had a stripped down basic version to float on the interwebs to draw more people to GameEx.

[hansolo77]

You could design a simple GameEx theme without all the crazy bells and whistles for just such a project..

[Tom Speirs]

I don't think its x86 so GameEx is not likely to work.

[Draco1962]

You have a valid point, Tom. It's based off ARM architecture, but would be cool if GameEx version could be run on it.

EDIT: I found this while "googling" for more info:

The Mono project supports ARM, so one should be able to build and use MonoDevelop on the Raspberry Pi. At least that's what I'm hoping!

2012-05-16

I got my Raspberry Pi yesterday (yay!) and can confirm that it is possible to compile and run .NET code (I tested with C#) using Mono and its MCS compiler module. This was all done via the shell and not a GUI. It would be great to get the MonoDevelop IDE running if at all possible though.

site URL http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9547047/monodevelop-armv6-on-raspberry-pi

Apparently .NET code can be compiled for it.

[hansolo77]

Going way over my head. I hope it all pans out for you though.

[Draco1962]

I have decided to back out of this project for now, mainly due to price. As alluring as it sounds - $35 for a computer, by the time you purchase the SD card for the OS, a properly rated mini-USB power supply, a compatible powered USB hub, cables, a case for the Pi, external drive of decent size, etc., I was staring at over $200.

I still have my Toshiba Satellite P25-S520 laptop which is still plugging away and actually has much faster clock speeds than the Pi. It is slow now, having the original 512 MB RAM installed, but, for $80 I am upgrading the RAM to the max supported 2GB. I will still have need for external storage and my daughter is buying for me at around $100 a WD Elements 2TB External HDD for my birthday/Dad's day True, it is only USB 2.0 but it is externally powered and will be used mostly with the Toshiba anyway for ROM and image storage and should work. The NVIDA GeForce FX Go 5200 (64MB) GPU is not all that fast, but with the RAM upgrade, I should be able to play most MAME games and a few older systems just fine. If I decide to go strictly MAME, I can run GameEx in Arcade mode!

Call it laziness, but I also didn't want to have to go "retro" on my ROMs versions to accommodate the requirements for the lower end AdvanceMame or PiMame, learn Linux (while not that difficult, time is not on my side at present to learn what I need in addition to studying for my AT and MS Win 7 certs), learn a new FE, etc.

EDIT: One consideration that I did not mention above is the ability to optionally use the TV as a primary display and the laptop display as a secondary to leverage some of the various apps and plugins to display game and CP info on the secondary, smaller screen!

[hansolo77]

Bummer, maybe somebody else will attempt to tackle this project. I would, but I don't have a tankstick.

[Draco1962]

I may give it a go eventually and it does seem pretty neat. In the end, I couldn't justify buying another gadget when I have a perfectly good one sitting about collecting dust that could be put into play.