Swapping out hardware on an old X-Arcade Stick

[RedDog]

I have a single-player X-arcade stick that was designed using the old PS/@ keyboard wedge design (USB 1.1). It sometimes feel sluggish in games, so I do not use it much. I think it's the old USB 1.1 interface that is causing the lag. I have been considering swapping out the innards for more modern hardware to make something I will actually use.

X-arcade offers a USB2 upgrade PCB and cable assembly for $35.00. That feel a bit pricy for a so-so product and it only improves the interface. I am assuming I can get better results with better arcade hardware at a similar price. I have built a fair number of desktop PCs, so I am not too worried about putting the hardware together once I have the parts. What I do not know alot about is arcade hardware.

The least I would like to do is make the unit USB2 compatible and upgrade the buttons (12). I prefer less 'clicky' sticks and buttons and I do not want to enlarge any button holes. Extras that I may consider is if there is a PCB to make it PS3/PS4 compatible, adding additonal small buttons for COIN, PLAYER1, and EXIT, and upgrading the stick (though I don't mind the x-arcade stick that much). I am a casual gamer, so I don't need super high end components.

I'd like to see what I can do with $50.00 plus shipping costs. Any more and I would think it may be better to buy a new entry-level fighting stick. Hopefully $50.00 is not too little to work with. Anyone have some advice?

[tthurman]

FTR, I have no experience with X-Arcade, but this seems to be a somewhat common concern.  

Based on some serious "quake" days, I recall the ps2 utility that took your mouse/key up to 60 hz (IIRC).  Given that, and the original design in mind for arcade controllers, I believe usb 1.1 may not be the weak link here.  Given the age of the technology, I can understand you desire to upgrade though, but  I'd recommend an I-PAC over any "X" solution, albeit at a premium.

You may get a better results with a small amount of modding, and just switching to real happ controls.  With so many options these days, even happ isn't the be all to end all, but their gear still retains that "industry standard" sort of stamp.  Places like twisted quarter on ebay, and resellers on other gaming community sites are often better alternatives to buying direct, as direct purchasing from suzo is a bit tailored to the re-seller more so than the individual.

Worth considering at the very least I believe.  

Good luck man!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kustom Kid]

I recommend the ipac board. It's pretty amazing. As for parts I've been happy with Focus Attack. They run a sale every 3 months (next one is August or September) called Attack on Wakeup where they offer 10% off the entire store. That being said you should be able to get the board for $35, Buttons for  $2-$3 each, and sticks for $9-$12 each. They also sell quick disconnects, wire, and all that stuff of if you want or need it. 

[RedDog]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Those suggestions really helped me to start looking. I had looked at Focus Attack before posting. It's good to know that site is a good choice...and the Twisted Quarter has some cool stuff beyond the normal upgrade stuff. I am starting to get a sense of things. I now know that $50.00 isn't going to get me too far...maybe a PCB and wiring to start.

I assume this PCB is the way to go for a single (or two) player setup:
Ultimarc I-PAC-2 2 Player USB Pushbutton and Joystick Interface PCB
This is the entire setup if you are insterested.

In total, it would be about $105.00 to get all the parts through Focus Attack. Miscroswitches would be the standard ones (ie no cherry). This also includes shipping. It's a litte more than I wanted to spend, but I may decide to piecemail it together. I will watch for that sale at Focus Attack and maybe that will inspire me. 

[Kustom Kid]

That parts arepretty close to what I built for myself instead of buying the X-Arcade Tankstick. I think you'll be happy with the end result. The ipac is an amazing board. 

[tthurman]

My ipac (2) is an older version, still with the ps2 interface on one side, and I agree with Kustom Kid, awesome piece of hardware!

 

 

[RedDog]

Thanks again. Your direction helped me go from knowing very little to having a solid place to start. Gotta love this community!  

[tthurman]

One thing worth mentioning, and perhaps Kustom Kid can chime in here if he has done this, is there is a bit of programming on the IPac product

Jack at Arcades R Fun built my panel years ago, shipped it to me pre-programmed, and it's been flawless.  That said, there could be a bit of a learning curve there, but I would think it would be pretty straight forward.

[MNMax21]

The iPac is very easy to program.  It has it's own windows program you can download from www.ultimarc.com and run.  This program allows you to assign key functions to whatever port you want on the board.  You just click the port on the screen and assign a key in the drop down (Post 2015 models).  The tedious part is the wiring.  

You can add many more than just the 56 inputs on the iPac, as you can make the Start 1 button the shift key (or any other button) and then assign a secondary key to any button.  Meaning, Player 1 Start + Player 1 Button 1 could be the Esc. key.  That gets you out of GameEx or the game.  I also have Player 1 Start + Player 1 Up and Player 1 Start + Player 1 Down controlling my volume for the computer.  It's beautiful.  Highly recommended it.  FYI for all, I've heard it can be somewhat difficult with Raspberry Pi though.

 

I would strongly suggest paying a little extra to get a joystick that can switch from 4 way to 8 way.  You'll love PacMan much more with this capability.  I have a couple of Mag-Stik Pluses from Ultimarc, but you can probably find something a little cheaper.

[MNMax21]

On 6/6/2016 at 6:42 PM, RedDog said:

"adding additonal small buttons for COIN, PLAYER1, and EXIT"

You would not need to add any additional buttons to accomplish this with the newer iPac models.  You just need to program a shift key.  So, you would make one button on your panel the shift key by designating it that way in the software.  Then you would press that button, plus another button to do a COIN input, etc.

[Kustom Kid]

Nice catch @MNMax21. I totally forgot about that since it's just so automatic now. I also have Player 1 assigned as the shift key. P1+ P1 Button 1 or P2 Burton 2 is add coin, P1+P2 is escape and the joystick directionals are assigned to the option keys in MAME. It is a thing of beauty.

[RedDog]

@MNMax21 Thanks for the pointer on the 4/8 stick. I found one for $35.00 that you can change without opening the case. I will keep it in mind.

Also, I did see the details about the Shift Key and the software. All I expected was that the controller would show up as a joystick and that's that. The programmable software is a very nice addition.

 

[MNMax21]

@RedDog  You may even be able to download the software and trial it a little without even purchasing the iPac.  I'm not sure on it's functionality without the device, but you could at least take a look.  I originally had solely 8 way joysticks for all 4 of my players on the panel.  I quickly realized that the 8 way would send left/up, right/up, etc. at certain points during a game.  A game like Pac Man does not seem to comprehend these diagonal options and just stalls Pac Man in a corner.  This sucks when you have Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde on your arse...    It seems to play a little better for me with the 4 and 8 way switch.  Trust me, I need all the help I can get!  They even have joysticks that do the switch automatically, based on the game you're playing.  Those are a bit pricey though.

@Kustom Kid You should totally assign volume to your player 2 joystick.  It's sweet.  I play a little Mortal Kombat and the audio is always way different in that game than the rest. (I believe it's a dump error on the overall build of that one).  This makes it nice to be able to quickly adjust volume in game.

[Kustom Kid]

I think I will do that, @MNMax21. It didn't even occur to me to do that. I've just turned the volume dial up and down on my speakers. And that's why I love this community .

[MNMax21]

I had been doing the same with a volume dial for the surround system built into my cabinet.  Now I just turn the dial all the way up and then control the volume from the computer, via the joystick.  It's awesome and allows me to hide that dial.

[RIP-Felix]

I wish I had seen this thread 2 years ago when I built my cab. Now I'm kicking myself that I didn't get an I-pac. I went with the X-arcade Tanksticks instead. They are built like..well...a tank! They can take a pounding, that's for sure. It was a great all in one package that just works out of box, that's why I got them (On sale). I've even had a PCb go out on my trackball that caused it to lose the ability to track left/right. They sent me the replacement at no charge as soon as they could determine what the fix was, no argument. They're great! Having said that. I've since changed the buttons to colored ones and am contemplating getting a 4/8 way joystick for pac-man and such games. I've kinda wanted to do the led buttons too. So, if I were starting over I would get the I-pac controller. It has more options for button assignments and expandability/compatibility than my Tanksticks do. Plus I could've got all of the peripherals I want from the start. Plus plus you get to make your own CP, that's always a fun project (but not cheap. At least not the way I want to do it).

[RedDog]

Focus Attack is having a 20% off sale right now...so I have ordered my parts!

I eye-balled the Brook Universal Fighting Board for a few days, but didn't like the price. I stuck with the i-PAC2 instead. I guess I can always swap out later if I REALLY want to use it with PS3/PS4.

Anyway, thanks again for the advice peeps!!!!

[Kustom Kid]

Good to hear. Ultimarc sells an adaptor for consoles so you shouldn't need the Brook board. I'm not sure about PS4, but I know it works for XB360 and PS3. FA already has decent prices. The extra 20% off is just icing on the cake.

[RedDog]

I got my parts today! WOO Hoo!!!

...and they sent me the wrong quick connect wires...  

So now I probably have to wait another week.

[Kustom Kid]

Did you buy the wires with the quick connect tabs on them already? If you just need the tabs try http://www.sherco-auto.com They have about a 3 day turn around.

[RedDog]

Yeah, I bought prefabbed quick connects for the microswitch side. I only have basic tools, so anything I fashion manually would be shoddy.

I selected the right ones for the order. They just happened to throw the wrong ones in the box. Such is life.

I've already received a reply for the support case. They will be shipping the right ones.

Everything is mounted and I was at the point of determining wire routing when I noticed it.

[Kustom Kid]

I went to check the order I received today as well just to make sure I got the right size. I did. Yay! Sorry about your luck though. They were quick to correct the mistake at least.

[RedDog]

I got the quick connect replacements from Focus Attack today, so I wired this puppy up...I had zero problems with the physical work as it is pretty much plug and play, but one of the spots on the board isn't working.

I am wondering if you guys who are familiar with I-PAC might know of some nuance of the board that may explain it...I am hoping maybe, possibly the board is working as intended and I just have not figured out what is going on....maybe...otherwise, I will have to open a ticket with Focus Attack to troubleshoot and possibly do an RMA.

To test, I downloaded the WinIPAC app and assigned gamepad controls to the joystick and all the buttons. I then found the I-pac in my control panel and went into the gamepad control settings and then the properties so I could watch the button/joystick inputs respond. Everything except 1B responded. I swaped the ground wire and the main wire from a working microswitch and tested both. Still 1B did not respond, but the other would. I did do some individual swapping of wires, switches etc on the off chance that some wierd combo of hardware was causing the problem, but it still points at the 1B connection on the board.

Anyone got any suggestions. thoughts, prayers?  

[Kustom Kid]

On a lark in the WinIPAC software try switching the function to "Key" for that particular switch and change it to "7" or something like that. Open Notepad, or go to anywhere you can enter text, hit the button and see if it works that way. That should at least eliminate any weirdness with using Gamepad as opposed to Keyboard input. I won't be able to dig into my CP for a few days to wire up a switch to test my board, but when I get a chance I will absolutely check. Andy from Ultimarc ( [email protected]) is pretty amazing with support as well if you want to shoot him an email before you go through the RMA process with Focus Attack.

 

Thoughts and Prayers are with you and your PCB in these trying times.

[RedDog]

Thanks for the advice. I should have thought of that last night...but funny thing, I booted up today to start putting things together for the troubleshooting process with FA and it works fine now. I will just have to play lots of games over the next few weeks (for testing purposes only of course).

I played a few games last night and it feels good. No lag and the responsiveness FEELS like arcade controls.

So, here it is!

BEFORE (not so sexy) & AFTER (pretty darn sexy)...OK, so not so exciting. It really is all guts changes.

 

I still have a few holes in the back that need to be filled, and I would like a shorter USB cable from the board to the USB pass-through, but that's about it.