HOW TO CONVERT A JAMMA CAB TO MAME- 3 EASY STEPS!

Hey folks,


So you want to convert a JAMMA cab to Mame eh?


Stop right there!


Understand rule No1..


A JAMMA CABINET IS 100% MAME READY- IT REQUIRES NO CONVERTING! That's right, a JAMMA cab needs no conversion, no trickery, no fiddling with monitors, no soldering or any of that.. provided it is a "working" JAMMA cab, it is 100% completely and utterly MAME ready to go..


Understand rule No2..


IT IS YOUR PC THAT NEEDS "CONVERTING" FOR MAME!


Get it? it is your PC that needs the ALL the work!


LETS MAME THE PC..


Ok.. this is real EASY! Here is your checklist of items..


HARDWARE

*a suitable pc running windows XP- (we'll discuss basic spec later)
*suitable graphics card (list also at bottom of this post!)
*a J-pac
*a JAMMA cab with a real arcade 15khz monitor.



SOFTWARE AND UTILITIES

*Mame (and your choice of front end)
*Roms (don't ask here!)
*Quickres
*Soft-15khz


Thats it!.. that is all you need!


THE PC.. You'll want to use a decent spec pc if you want to use some of the flashier front ends like Hyperspin, but I recommend paying the $25 fee and downloading the full version of Gameex, it is the EASIEST of all front ends to set up and it configures everything for you and is great to use. Minimum PC spec would be.. a P4 with 1GB ram, but I recommend using a dual core cpu and 2-3GB of ram for best results. also, as the j-pac will not carry stereo sound, you will need a couple of pc speakers to put inside the cab or hack onto the cabs orginal speaker(s).


Graphics card.. No need for an "expensive but low spec" arcadeVGA card when a normal Nvidia or Ati card will do the job!! we will use free software to make the gfx card output 15khz to the arcade monitor for a 1:1 pixel perfect retro old skool picture- just like it should be..


Choose your gfx card from this list.. List of supported cards , you probably have one already!! Personally, i've had success with..


Nvidia7600gt
Ati Radeon HD4350


Both miles better than an arcadeVGA which costs three time the price lol..!!


Ok.. lets assume you have got the JAMMA cab, the pc, and the j-pac, you have mame installed and working with your roms and front end if you are using one. proceed..

The mame'ing of your pc to work in JAMMA cab is real easy and takes 10 seconds!

Follow these easy steps..


*Open Quickres, A galaga icon appears on bottom right of your taskbar.
*Click the galaga icon- select "640 x 480 32bit"- your desktop is now the correct resolution for the arcade monitor.
*Open Soft-15khz.
*Select ONLY the 15khz option to install.
*Shut down your PC.


The next time you boot up the PC it will be in 15khz mode! this means it will no longer work on your 31k lcd monitor (for now).


*Unplug the lcd monitor.
*Plug the vga cable you took from the lcd, into the j-pac*+.
*Plug the usb cable into the j-pac and your PC
*Set ONLY the 15khz jumper on the j-pac.

*+ Use the DVi out on your gfx card if it has one- soft-15khz will choose the DVi if your card has one and will not work through VGA! if you have no DVi out, no worry!, if you have DVi out- use it! -still no worry!


Now, back on topic- lets "convert" that JAMMA cab to Mame lol..


HOW TO CONVERT A JAMMA CAB TO MAME - IN 3 EASY STEPS.


1. Open control panel of your 100% standard untouched JAMMA cab and unplug that bubble bobble pcb the misses was playing last night.
2. Plug in the j-pac.
3. Switch on the JAMMA cab and boot up the PC.


WELL DONE..


You have just mamed a JAMMA cab.


To UNMAME your jamma cab, all you need do is unplug the j-pac.. it really is as simple as that. It need be no more complicated or however more complicated you desire to make it.. the main things is, doing it "my" way, you can be assured your cab won't end up in here..


Also, and more importantly, your JAMMA cab is still JAMMA, it still has its original monitor etc, you can still play JAMMA pcb's in it. The only thing you have mame'd is your PC, the JAMMA cab is intact! great!!



Now, lastly, if you want to use that PC with your lcd monitor ever again, you will have to do this.. while the PC is connected to the arcade monitor, you need to open soft-15khz and un-install 15khz mode. The next time you boot, it'll be in normal 31k vga again. and ofcourse, to put the machine back in the jamma cab again all you need do is install soft-15khz's 15khz mode again.


Now, the next time someone goes on about "converting a cab to mame" you can tell them, their cab is ready for Mame- and point them in here!





HOW MANY BUTTONS?


Due to request and the for saviour of many a control panel, we'll discuss control panels and buttons..

Firstly, you have to decide what YOU want from the cabinet. what games do you/will you play most? me- i'm a street fighter man, so i like to use (or make) a 2 player 6 button JAMMA cab. You may only play games with 3 buttons or less, or you may be a neogeo man and prefer the 4 button games.


Whatever you decide, it is vitally important that we dont forget rule No1. which was? A JAMMA CABINET IS 100% MAME READY- IT REQUIRES NO CONVERTING!


That's right, there is NO need for any more buttons than what you have on the JAMMA cab already!


But what about, pause, tab or credit?


All these controls and mame functions are controlled by the j-pac. For example- you do not need a credit button- to insert coin, you will press and hold p1 start and press p1 button 1. To escape, you press both 1p and 2p start together. All these functions- and many more- are PRE CONFIGURED in your j-pac. You do not have to set these functions, You do not have to add another 15 buttons to your control panel.


I have a 2 player 6 button per player jamma cab. There are a total of 14 buttons on the cabinet. (6 per player and 2 start buttons), using these 14 buttons, I have FULL control over the cabinet and even mame itself (same applies even if you have only 3 buttons per player,). It is ideal for 2, 3, 4 and 6 button games.


If you find this limited for some games, you may be excused for adding a trackball, but ONLY ONE, lol, and you can also be excused for adding a small spinner. But any more than that- and your in here again ok?

Lastly, if you find that you need to add more buttons to your 3 button cabinet, or another joystick to a 1 player cabinet, there are some top tips on how to do it properly right here!


GETTING THAT OLD SKOOL 15Khz PICTURE FROM MAME


To get the best from our old 15khz arcade monitor, we need to set mame up accordingly..


In the mame.ini... (c:\\mame\mame.ini)


If this file does not exist- make one! (start>run>(type) "MAME -CREATECONFIG" >now go to mame folder and open the .ini with notepad, edit as follows..


# VIDEO OPTIONS
#
video ddraw
numscreens 1
window 0
maximize 1
keepaspect 1
prescale 1
effect none
pause_brightness 0.65
waitvsync 0
syncrefresh 0
#
# DIRECTDRAW-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
#
hwstretch 0
#
# FULL SCREEN OPTIONS
#
triplebuffer 0
switchres 1


..Now you will have a proper old skool 15k picture with beautiful scanlines- just like you remember!


Lastly, because mame roms run at many different resoultions, we will want to find a generic screen size position that will suit most games.. for this, I like use a Capcom cps or cpsII game (Final Fight for example).. if you load this rom, adjust your monitor to the height and width of the game (using the pots on the monitor remote board), this screen size will suit the majority of horizontal games.


LIST OF SUPPORTED AND NON SUPPORTED SOFT-15KHZ CARDS

*credit to venom

ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 (HP nc6000
ATI Radeon 7000 AGP
ATI Radeon 7500 AGP
ATI Radeon 9200SE AGP - "MSI RX9200SE-T128"
ATI Radeon 9250 AGP
ATI Radeon 9200SE PCI - "Sapphire RADEON 9200SE Atlantis
ATI Radeon 9500 PRO AGP
ATI Radeon 9600 All-in-Wonder AGP
ATI Radeon 9600 Working
ATI Radeon 9600Pro AGP
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AGP
ATI Radeon HD2400Pro PCI-E
ATI Radeon HD3450 PCI-E
ATI Radeon HD4350 PCI-E (ASUS)
-First Radeon to support real 320x240!
ATI Radeon HD4650 (Gigabyte HD4650 OC PCI-E - GV-R465OC-1GI
ATI Radeon HD4670 PCI-E (GIGABYTE model GV-R467ZL-1GI
ATI Radeon HD4850 PCI-E
ATI Radeon HD4870 x2
ATI Radeon Mobile X200
ATI Radeon X1650Pro AGP
ATI Radeon X1650Pro PCI-E
ATI Radeon X600 PCI-E
ATI Radeon X800 PCI-E
ATI Radeon XPress 1250 - "ASUS M2A-VM|HDMI
ATI Radeon XPress 1250 - ASRock 4Core1333-FullHD
ATI Radeon XPress 200 - "Gigabyte GA-8TRC410MNF-RH
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (AMD 780G / Radeon HD 3200
HIS Radeon 2900GT PCI-E
Matrox G100 AGP
Matrox Millenium PCI (Retail)
Matrox P650 AGP
Msi radeon 4850 hd 512 mb, gddr3
NVidia 6100 onboard
NVidia GeForce 6150
NVidia GeForce 6600GT AGP
NVidia GeForce 6600GT AGP #2
NVidia GeForce 7100 OnBoard
NVidia GeForce 7300GS PCI-E
NVidia GeForce 7300GS
NVidia GeForce 7600GS AGP
NVidia GeForce 7600GT AGP
Nvidia GeForce 7950GX2 PCI-E
NVidia GeForce 8600GT PCI-E
Nvidia GeForce 8800GXT
NVidia GeForce 9500GS PCI-E
NVidia GeForce 9600GSO PCI-E 768MB DDR2
NVidia GeForce FX5200 AGP
NVidia GeForce2 GTS AGP
NVidia GeForce2 Pro AGP
NVidia GeForce4 MX 420 PCI
NVidia Quadro4 NVS AGP
NVidia Riva TNT2 AGP
NVidia Riva TNT2 M64 AGP
Palit Radeon 9550
Radeon HD3850 AGP



RESOLUTION SET UP - FOR ADVANCED USERS

As noted above, setting your monitor to the screen size of Final Fight is a good way of playing a variety of games without needing to adjust the vertical and horizontal size pots. But it can be and is a compromise. To have your favourite roms running pixel perfect, follow SanwaNinjas guide to adding custom resolutions below!

Credit: SanwaNinja


First set your desktop resolution to be 640x480 and adjust the monitor using the pots on the back so the desktop fills the screen.

You should now find that all the games with a resolution of 320x240 (exactly half of 640x480) also fill the screen and are pixel perfect.

Your wells gardner 19" monitor has a vertical resolution of 240 lines so games that are "nnn x 240" will fill the screen.

Games with a vertical res greater than 240 (like R-Type) will be cut off top and bottom,

Games with a vertical res lower than 240 (like Ghouls 'n Ghosts) will have black bars top & bottom.

This is perfectly normal without using the vertical size pot or artificial stretching in mame.

There simply is no "one size fits all" resolution with arcade games and there are a lot more games in mame that have a resolution of 240 lines or less than there are with more than 240.

To get all the other games to look perfect you'll have to learn how to add and adjust modelines properly. It's not as complicated as you might think though.

Read the section at the bottom of this page under the heading "Adjustments"

http://www.geocities.ws/podernixie/htpc/modes-en.html

You see the part about "horizontal resolution doubling"? that is VERY important if you have a graphics card with a minimum pixel clock like we do.

You'll have to learn how to add your own modelines to soft15khz using the "usermodes.txt" method.

Here are the default (non-interlaced) resolutions built into soft15khz (The modelines in bold are the ones using a pixel clock of less than 7.12MHz)

modeline '240x240@58,795' 4,83 240 252 276 310 240 243 246 265 -hsync -vsync
modeline '256x240@60,436' 5,3 256 272 296 336 240 244 247 261 -hsync -vsync
modeline '256x256@59,496' 5,36 256 268 292 330 256 257 260 273 -hsync -vsync
modeline '256x264@58,317' 5,35 256 268 292 330 264 265 268 278 -hsync -vsync
modeline '288x240@59,885' 5,84 288 296 328 368 240 243 246 265 -hsync -vsync
modeline '296x240@59,941' 5,95 296 304 336 376 240 243 246 264 -hsync -vsync
modeline '304x240@59,305' 6,2 304 320 352 396 240 243 246 264 -hsync -vsync
modeline '320x200@59,535' 6,2 320 336 368 410 200 216 219 254 -hsync -vsync
modeline '321x240@59,014' 6,45 321 336 368 414 240 242 245 264 -hsync -vsync
modeline '320x256@59,917' 6,68 320 340 372 416 256 257 260 268 -hsync -vsync
modeline '336x240@59,749' 6,83 336 352 384 433 240 243 246 264 -hsync -vsync
modeline '352x256@59,697' 7,28 352 368 400 450 256 257 260 271 -hsync -vsync
modeline '352x264@57,257' 7,35 352 365 405 452 264 265 268 284 -hsync -vsync
modeline '352x288@51,116' 7,4 352 368 408 464 288 289 292 312 -hsync -vsync
modeline '368x240@59,196' 7,47 368 384 424 478 240 243 246 264 -hsync -vsync
modeline '384x288@51,219' 7,85 384 400 440 496 288 289 292 309 -hsync -vsync
modeline '392x240@59,898' 8 392 408 448 504 240 243 246 265 -hsync -vsync
modeline '400x256@52,419' 8,08 400 416 456 519 256 268 271 297 -hsync -vsync
modeline '448x240@60,01' 9,16 448 464 512 576 240 243 246 265 -hsync -vsync
modeline '512x240@59,973' 10,68 512 544 600 672 240 243 246 265 -hsync -vsync
modeline '512x288@50,939' 10,68 512 544 600 672 288 289 292 312 -hsync -vsync
modeline '632x264@56,751' 13 632 664 728 824 264 265 268 278 -hsync -vsync
modeline '640x240@59,96' 13,22 640 672 736 832 240 243 246 265 -hsync -vsync
modeline '640x288@50,955' 13,1 640 672 736 832 288 289 292 309 -hsync -vsync

Here are the modelines I've calculated for my WG 19" monitor which cover all of the games I play regularly in mame.

modeline "240x192@60" 10.06 480 512 576 640 192 216 219 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "240x252@60" 10.08 480 498 560 640 252 253 267 278 -hsync -vsync
modeline "256x192@60" 10.74 512 542 592 684 192 216 219 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "256x224@60" 10.6   512 548 596 688 224 234 238 263 -hsync -vsync
modeline "256x240@60" 10.6   512 548 596 688 240 241 242 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "256x248@60" 10.80 512 528 608 688 248 250 258 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "256x256@60" 10.84 512 546 594 688 256 258 262 263 -hsync -vsync
modeline "280x240@60" 11.82 560 576 672 752 240 241 244 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "288x224@60" 12.02 576 606 670 768 224 231 234 258 -hsync -vsync
modeline "294x238@60" 12.34 588 614 684 784 238 239 240 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "304x224@60" 12.72 608 642 700 810 224 233 236 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "320x224@60" 13.32 640 673 737 848 224 233 236 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "320x240@60" 13.32 640 674 736 848 240 241 242 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "336x240@60" 13.66 672 697 761 866 240 242 245 264 -hsync -vsync
modeline "338x240@60" 13.66 676 704 768 866 240 243 246 264 -hsync -vsync
modeline "384x224@60" 8.04   384 405 442 511 224 232 235 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "384x240@60" 8.04   384 408 440 512 240 241 251 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "384x256@60" 8.04   384 409 441 512 256 257 258 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "392x240@60" 8      392 408 448 504 240 243 246 265 -hsync -vsync
modeline "400x256@60" 8.42   400 424 464 536 256 257 260 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "448x224@60" 9.43   448 468 524 600 224 233 236 262 -hsync -vsync
modeline "640x480@60" 13.15 640 671 729 836 480 483 489 525 interlace -hsync -vsync
modeLine "768x224@60" 16.632 768 825 897 1056 224 232 235 260 -HSync -VSync

As you can see..I've used horizontal resolution doubling to change those modelines with a pixel clock less than 7.12MHz and I've added a few resolutions like "256x244" (used in loads of games, why this isn't built into ArcadeVGA or soft15khz I'm not sure) and "768x224" (weird resolution that mame now uses in the latest versions for games like Frogger, Galaxian & Scramble etc) these were taken from SailorSat's massive list of modelines on this page:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=66402.320

So for example;

modeline "256x224@60" 5.42832   256 272 296 344 224 233 237 263 -hsync -vsync

5.42 pixel clock is too low for our gfx card...so all the numbers in bold had to be doubled, giving us.

modeline "256x224@60" 10.84   512 544 592 688 224 233 237 263 -hsync -vsync

This allows you to use the low resolution of 256x224 (which is very common in arcade games) with a gfx card that has a minimum pixel clock of 7.12, and it still looks exactly the same as if we hadn't doubled them. It's the number of lines that matter and we are still using only 224.

You can try using my modelines but they may not be perfect for your monitor.

1. Create a .txt file in the same folder as soft15khz called "usermodes.txt"

2. copy & paste my modelines into it and save.

3. run soft15khz and uninstall it...then instead of clicking on "Install 15khz" click "Install USER"

IMPORTANT

4. you will now have to set all the games resolutions manually, you can't just let mame "Auto" select them..so for games that use "256x224" you will have to manually set "512x224" and so on.

I recommend you use MAMEUI to go through your games and set the resolutions, I also suggest you have a fairly modest collection of your favourite games and not 20 billion roms including every single clone/non worker etc.

So grab a copy of MAMEUI (the same version no. as the copy of mame you have running now with hyperspin so your roms will still work)

First audit your games (File/Audit all games) and select the "Available" roms list on the left of the screen.

Click on options and then "default game options"

Set it up as follows :








Also, on the Miscellaneous Tab make sure you have "Skip Game Info" ticked.

You will probably find that with a desktop resolution of 640x480 that the OK, CANCEL and APPLY buttons are off the bottom of the screen and you cant click them.

Use ALT + A to apply and then ENTER for OK

Now when you right click a game and select properties in MAMEUI you can see what the resolution of the game is (lets use Ghosts 'n Goblins as an example)

Right click Ghosts 'n Goblins and select properties..

On the general Tab we can see it has a resolution of 256x224

So go to the "Screen" tab and change the resolution size from Auto to 512x224

You will now have a pixel perfect ghosts 'n goblins when you run the game, your monitor is 240 lines, G 'n G is 224 lines so you will have 16 lines blank..8 top and 8 bottom.

When you've finished setting the correct resolution for all your games you can then simply point your frontend to use the MAMEUI exe instead of mame and it should use the .ini and .cfg files that have been created within the MAMEUI directory.

Lastly, for another day Wink I recommend you learn to compile MAMEUI with the HISCORE DIFF (enables Hi Score saving and removes the annoying nag screens when you launch a game)

DIFF
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64298.0

GUIDE
http://mrdo.mameworld.info/compile.php


Enjoy!     

Edited by Shark™ - 10 August 2014 at 9:05pm

I wondered when you were going to do this Mark.

Nice one.

Andy.

Admin, sticky...

Nice one Mark

BTW, very good post. Should be made a permanent post at the top of the MAME category section. It would save a lot of repetitive traffic. I wish I'd been exposed to such thread two years ago when I first started on cabs and spent too much money and time to achieve something quite simple!

Nice one sharkfactor, good post!

LukeWells wrote: Hopefully you have just saved a few jamma cabs from having dodgy re-wiring jobs done on them. Please can you also add a section to your guide above explaining why you should not try and install 49 buttons and 3 trackballs PER PLAYER as so many people try to do

Now that's funny!

Nice info!

I have no experience with Soft 15KHz though. Does that work for all games assuming your graphics card is fine with the software? What if you tried to play a game that was designed for 25 or 31KHz? Or does it only depend upon the required resolutions being correct in the software? (I suppose you can always make .ini files for some games)

With the ArcadeVGA if an original resolution isn't available it can be set to auto select the nearest one. Just wondered how Soft 15KHz did it.

TheSharkfactor wrote: with your graphics card and soft-15khz toghther, you can still play higher res games on the low resolution monitor. the gfx card will scale the image down. example, i can play sega rally - a 24k game on my 15k monitor with soft-15khz. i can also play 31k games too- but all at a maximum of 640 x 480 res as the is the limit of the 15k monitor.

OK this software sounds cool then. But what if I have a tri-sync auto switching monitor? Like the one in a Blast City cabinet for example. Will it display the games as they should be without having to scale the image down? n00by questions I know.... but what is high res for 31 KHz mode? 800x600?

Great writeup.

Not a lot of love for the ArcadeVGA, people forget that when it first came out years ago it was a godsend for cab converters. I suspect an update is due soon, with a more powerful card, this happens every couple of years normally.

The J-Pac is made by the same guy and he's a true fan, suprised he's not on here TBH.

Hi, I've dabbled with this in the past.   How do you shutdown the PC from XP cleanly?   I take it you can't just power the whole machine off quickly like u can with a real jamma board in it?

I see so after all these years i leanrt somthing get a jamma cab heheheh