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The Irritating Maze - Controller - Open for all (release)

pierpa86

pierpa86

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Hello Dude !
As I promised after the spinner release, here is my trackball solution!
I hope everyone, young and old, enjoys it! <3
I put my heart in it, and I don't care what you do with it, it's free for everyone.
Just make one and press like button to share love with me :D
Thanks to everyone who shared their information with me and allowed me to create this project.
I love this community, the best in the world.

Now for the interesting stuff, the motor doesn't work because the signal, P2 Output 3 2P DB-15 Pin 9 NEO-D0 Pin 9 Air Jet, doesn't come out of the unibios.
but if you want to try to understand what happens to this signal, everything is set up so just connect the pin to the RPI... (check in the project)
for the rest everything is great, try it and if you find something to improve please do so.
There is a good chance it will work on AES too but I haven't tested it since I don't have it
To make it work with MVS you need OUT signal so check in mahjong thread how to put out signal if you have consolized console.
Or use MV2F and other MVS that already have controller port.

Sunday is a funday

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Hello Pierpa !

First of all i would like to thank you for this project, you achieved something started in 2005 by Raz when he put the trackball support inside the unibios .

So I followed your tutorial and I can say that it works just as well on MVS (tested on MV4F) as on AES.

I received 5 PCBs from JLCPCB, I only need 2 : one for my AES and one that I will put in a panel for one of my cabinets.
I'll probably built the 3 extra and sell them .

About my trackball i used a aluminium enclosure and made a sticker inspired by the original arcade panel .

About that, there are two completely different official looks : one from the arcade cabinet and one from the MVS kit.
panel.jpg

20260517_172624.jpg

20260517_114342.jpg

The first PCB i built was not installed in a case; I'm keeping it for my arcade panel.

I encountered a problem with the second PCB; for an unknown reason compared to the first, very often it booted to the memory card menu
(that issue formatted my card, damn it!;(), probably due to interference during power-up, the system detects activated keys.


If LE pin on the 74HCT573 is high at startup (wiring, capacitive coupling), these random values are latched and presented to the NeoGeo → parasitic key combinations.

I took the liberty of making some modifications to the circuit and the firmware:

I added a 10 kΩ pull-down resistor between GP9 (LE) and GND, thus the 573 remains in latch mode (LE=0) throughout the Pico startup phase.

WIN_20260517_16_27_04_Pro.jpg


For the firmware :

- setup() is reordered so that the GP0-7 bus, the LE, and the latch at 0x00 are initialized first.

-New function added: `bus_latch()` — refactors the code and pulse LE, used both in the setup and the main loop (replacing the duplicate code that existed in `loop()`).

-`blink_startup()` — simplified, it no longer configures the pins (this is done beforehand), and is only called after the bus is stable.

I hope this helps:), I haven't tested it very long, but it seems to work.
 

Attachments

Greatfunky said:
Hello Pierpa !

First of all i would like to thank you for this project, you achieved something started in 2005 by Raz when he put the trackball support inside the unibios .

So I followed your tutorial and I can say that it works just as well on MVS (tested on MV4F) as on AES.

I received 5 PCBs from JLCPCB, I only need 2 : one for my AES and one that I will put in a panel for one of my cabinets.
I'll probably built the 3 extra and sell them .

About my trackball i used a aluminium enclosure and made a sticker inspired by the original arcade panel .

About that, there are two completely different official looks : one from the arcade cabinet and one from the MVS kit.
panel.jpg

20260517_172624.jpg

20260517_114342.jpg

The first PCB i built was not installed in a case; I'm keeping it for my arcade panel.

I encountered a problem with the second PCB; for an unknown reason compared to the first, very often it booted to the memory card menu
(that issue formatted my card, damn it!;(), probably due to interference during power-up, the system detects activated keys.


If LE pin on the 74HCT573 is high at startup (wiring, capacitive coupling), these random values are latched and presented to the NeoGeo → parasitic key combinations.

I took the liberty of making some modifications to the circuit and the firmware:

I added a 10 kΩ pull-down resistor between GP9 (LE) and GND, thus the 573 remains in latch mode (LE=0) throughout the Pico startup phase.

WIN_20260517_16_27_04_Pro.jpg


For the firmware :

- setup() is reordered so that the GP0-7 bus, the LE, and the latch at 0x00 are initialized first.

-New function added: `bus_latch()` — refactors the code and pulse LE, used both in the setup and the main loop (replacing the duplicate code that existed in `loop()`).

-`blink_startup()` — simplified, it no longer configures the pins (this is done beforehand), and is only called after the bus is stable.

I hope this helps:), I haven't tested it very long, but it seems to work.
Click to expand...
This is awesome, thanks for your testing, I always appreciate someone who supports projects!

you did a really great job, I'm jealous of your aluminum case
 
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My mind is mush this week... is there a parts list put together? Going crossed eyed reviewing the schematics.

Edit: found some red DB15 connectors in my parts bin. Pointless, but I'm liking the esthetic.
1781199302256.jpeg
 
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Guys, this is wonderful! I wanted to ask about the ability to use a Suzo Happ 3" Arcade Trackball instead of the original trackball. Will that work? Will the case support it?

Many thanks
 
From what i see , Suzo Happ 3" is more or less the same as what we used (mine is coming from aliexpress).

Of course avoid any USB & PS/2 things, I would say as long as it's a analog trackball it should be fine.

I bet the original 4-1/2" Happ trackball used by snk should work too.

Pierpa can tell if I'm wrong.
 
The Suzo Happ 3" is what I was planning on using, just not gotten around to wiring everything up yet (and still hunting down a few components for the motor control).
 
Happy Friday to you all,
My PCB are scheduled to arrive in a few days and I cannot wait to put everything together and play.
I have a quick question, @pierpa86 you made fantastic 3D printer model that came out perfect. But I'm having trouble figuring out how to attach the trackball to the case. The standoffs do not align with the thru-holes that the trackball has. I can nwork around it somehow but before I'm altering stuff, I just wanted to reach out and ask because maybe I'm just missing something.

Many thanks!!
 
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