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Irken (MiSTer) JAMMA Expander

Can I ask, is it possible to use a raspberry pi instead of a DE10 Nano?
 
Beaps said:
Can I ask, is it possible to use a raspberry pi instead of a DE10 Nano?
Click to expand...
In theory yes, but I think you will struggle a bit to get the PI to output 15khz via HDMI like the DE10 does. Not tested, nut supported and not recommended - but could be fun :)

You would need a type A extension cable between the Expander and the PI, and some kind of cable hack to actually power the PI - check out the diagram here:
https://irkenlabs.com/jamma-expander/hardware-details/
 
There are a few 15khz builds out there for pi already. I think you have to use the IO pins for the output. Maybe some kind of IO to HDMI might do the trick?
 
Not sure where this is going - what's the point of using a Pi with this? I thought the whole idea was you would want to use a FPGA on your cab. If you want to use a Pi, aren't there other ready made options for that?
 
I’m just thinking to play games that ain’t available on MiSTer yet, a stop gap if you like. Sure there are similar devices like Pi2Jamma but if you could leave the DE10 in it’s place and hook up a Pi temporarily I think that that would be awesome
 
To be honest, I think getting a JAMMA 2-in-1 switcher would accomplish what you would want more easily than trying to shoehorn a Pi into the JAMMA Expander, but it's your money and free time lol...
 
Hi, I've been trying to display vertical games rotated on my horizontal tri-sync using the jamma expander but it does not look like the "vga_scaler" works with direct video.
I was able to rotate the output using the VGA port on an analogue IO board though using that "vga_scaler" option.
Is there a way to do that with the expander?
Maybe setting the output with "video_mode=6" (640x480) and not using "direct_video"? Would the expander accept that HDMI signal and output on 31kHz ?
 
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neokoen said:
Hi, I've been trying to display vertical games rotated on my horizontal tri-sync using the jamma expander but it does not look like the "vga_scaler" works with direct video.
I was able to rotate the output using the VGA port on an analogue IO board though using that "vga_scaler" option.
Is there a way to do that with the expander?
Maybe setting the output with "video_mode=6" (640x480) and not using "direct_video"? Would the expander accept that HDMI signal and output on 31kHz ?
Click to expand...
Best solution is to rotate the actual monitor 8)
 
Well, I don't disagree that's the whole point of getting as accurate emulation as possible but there are cases where rotating the monitor is not an option :P

I tried with just setting the "video_mode=6" and the expander OLED display states 31.xkHz output and the SyncGuard states OK (set to trisync) but I get no image on the monitor. So apparently the expander recognizes the HDMI signal. Could there be something with the sync signal ?
 
neokoen said:
Well, I don't disagree that's the whole point of getting as accurate emulation as possible but there are cases where rotating the monitor is not an option :P

I tried with just setting the "video_mode=6" and the expander OLED display states 31.xkHz output and the SyncGuard states OK (set to trisync) but I get no image on the monitor. So apparently the expander recognizes the HDMI signal. Could there be something with the sync signal ?
Click to expand...
Probably not, I presume the sync is OK but that the actual output is not ok (from mister) - or try another core with those settings (the nullobject cave cores leave a little to be desired..)
 
New firmware with new USB stack, which in turn have allowed me to remove a few artificial delays in the code. In the process I've also updated the entire build environment, updated vendor libraries etc so bugs may have snuck in. I've tested it a bit but would be fantastic if you guys could give it a go and report back before I announce.

https://irkenlabs.com/firmware/jexpand-2023-08-31.zip
 
New update for all Jamma Expander revisions : https://irkenlabs.com/jamma-expander/firmware-update/

Super easy update procedure :happy:

F6JxMUCWMAAiwqI.jpeg
 
I forgot that I took a pic of this during EVO. I saw a JAMMA Expander V1 in the arcade area that used the 3D printed case I designed for it. I typically don't really get much feedback from people when I release designs, so I'm glad that I can see someone out in the wild who finds some use out of them.


IMG20230804120042.jpg
 
invzim said:
Anyone have P1/P2 issues with the expander in gamepad mode? If so, I may have a fix that doesn't include messing with ini files..
Click to expand...

Hi @invzim, do you have any solution for this particular problem ?
I'd like to assign permanently P1 and P2 in gamepad mode but it's not consistent with mister.ini

I thought I solved the issue with this setting :

; Permanently assign specific controller to specific player.
; Normally you don't need to use this option, but if you use arcade cabinet with integrated controllers then
; you may want to use it for specific player regardless which controller is used first.
; To assign it, you need to provide unique part of this controller ID.
; In USB debug log you may see list of input devices right after core has been loaded.
; For example:
;
; opened 0( 0): /dev/input/event8 (1915:0040) 0 "7c:10:c9:15:22:33/df:47:3a:12:44:55" "Flydigi APEX2"
; ...
; opened 7( 7): /dev/input/event3 (1997:2535) 0 "usb-ffb40000.usb-1.6/input0" " mini keyboard"
; opened 9( 9): /dev/input/event0 (046d:4024) 0 "usb-ffb40000.usb-1.2/input2:1/4024-19-a2-39-0a" "Logitech K400"
;
; following part is unique identifier in system ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
; So you need to provide part of this string identifying exactly this device. Don't include inputX part as it may change after reboot.
; Wireless devices usually have format MAC/MAC, wired devices use usb-... format.
; UPDATE: you may define up to 8 devices to the same player. Use player_1_controller in several lines to assign multiple devices to player 1.

; Example of such unique part of strings:
;
player_1_controller=2087388B344E/1
player_2_controller=2087388B344E/2
;player_3_controller=
Click to expand...
But it seems it doesn't work anymore.

And for the life of me, I can't begin to remember how I ended with these values :
player_1_controller=2087388B344E/1
player_2_controller=2087388B344E/2

I know they used to work and I managed to get them while messing with putty, but hell now I'm at loss.

Any help here please ?
 
New limited batch in the works! Who knows which FPGA gaming solutions will actually ship, or when, or how they will turn out - with MiSTer you know what you're getting. I too was tricked into thinking something was pretty imminent about a year ago, so I didn't make more expanders - but as I've gotten a few requests from operators to make more board, I'll give it a go.

I should be getting the boards just before I leave for a 6 week trip mid June. If you miss the first 'window' sales will reopen in August, pending availability.

I may do a hidden purchase link for those on the notify list, and even if I don't, the order window will be very tight - so if you're thinking about getting one I recommend signing up for a notification at https://irkenlabs.com/product/jamma-expander/

These are of course the rev 2 with USB hub and fancy cables (that also does a seppuku if connect the JAMMA connector upside down - so please use a JAMMA key...)
 
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