MiSTerAddons MiSTercade - MiSTer for JAMMA cabinets

misteraddons · Mar 31, 2023

Quick update on MiSTercade v1.2 so far:

Hardware issues:
1 Suspected solder bridge on ESD package causing intermittent button presses (P1B5 and P2B5). The customer is in France so I haven't closed the loop but I've seen this once before.
1 Solder bridge on the top plate. The factory didn't solder these this time so I had to hand solder every single one

Replacement top plate sent

User issues:
1 SDRAM module plugged in backwards
1 JAMMA harness wiring issue causing bridged colors
1 Cable not fully inserted causing issues

This isn't to dismiss user issues - I sometimes trip myself up too. It's to say that the MiSTercade hardware is extremely solid. MiSTer itself has a learning curve, but it's not extreme. I'm here to help but mostly am on Discord, Twitter, my site's chat and email.

Thanks for the love!

nassekova · Apr 3, 2023

Finally got my MiSTercade and this is pretty much how it went!

Day 1. Package game. Judging by the look it was RIP this project from the start...

But against all the odds everything was just fine inside

It was so well packed with foam and bubblewrap it made it even it looked like that!

Day 2. Build the burger! Thanks for the video, made everything much easier!

Day 3. I used RetroRGB Bobs video to create TATE only setup. Install all the stuff on my microSD card just to find out that it corrupted the card on the middle of the process and it's now permanently in "read only" state...

Day 4. Install all that shit again. This time use 8GB SD card which came with De10Nano. Now it seems to work (via HDMI, not tested in Blast City yet).

Day 5. First time test with Blast City AAAAAND

Sync is all fucked up.

I guess Bob forgot to mention in his video, that you need to download 15khz MiSTer.ini file from Github! After I did that it was VICTOLY!

After rocking some Batrider I was all smiles and decided to try some CAVE stuff. I mapped buttons so that 1 is shot, 2 is bomb, 3 is "formation", 4 is pause and 5 is coin. After 60 seconds playing Dodonpachi it just froze

I rebooted the whole thing and same thing happened again. I then tried some Guwange and after buttonmappin SAME THING! I was pretty angry at this point but then I noticed that menu works just fine, so the whole MiSTer is not hanging, just the game. Then it came to my mind to push that "pause" button I mapped just under my shot and BEHOLD it unfroze immediately

I found out that the microswitch on that button 4 (which is never used in this TATE cabinet) is super loose and if I hit my button 1 bit harder it will also push that button 4

I guess I need to get that button new microswitch. Anyways after that everything was smooth sailing!

To not get paused all the time I mapped the pause on this super convenient remote which had dedicated button for it anyways.

Streaming via HDMI while playing also worked just fine, so no need to use BetsuBetsu with this. Some games even portrayed in YOKO while HDMI and in TATE with the cabinet. Others switch to TATE also in HDMI so just need to pick my OBS profile depending on what game I'm streaming.

Batrider has this smart HDMI.

Anyways could not be more happy with the product after a bit bumpy start! Contra is the only core that flipping the screen does not work and I was looking forward to play that with my friend but hopefully they get it fixed (I tried the flip menu AND dip-switches). All other games have worked just fine after orienting the picture and mapping the buttons. Now it's all about tuning all the games and setting the favorites etc.

misteraddons · Apr 4, 2023

nassekova said:
Finally got my MiSTercade and this is pretty much how it went!

Day 1. Package game. Judging the look it was RIP this project from the start...

But against all the odds everything was just fine inside It was so well packed with foam and bubblewrap it made it even it looked like that!

Day 2. Build the burger! Thanks for the video, made everything much easier!

Day 3. I used RetroRGB Bobs video to create TATE only setup. Install all the stuff on my microSD card just to find out that it corrupted the card on the middle of the process and it's now permanently in "read only" state...

Day 4. Install all that shit again. This time use 8GB SD card which came with De10Nano. Now it seems to work (via HDMI, not tested in Blast City yet).

Day 5. First time test with Blast City AAAAAND Sync is all fucked up.

I guess Bob forgot to mention in his video, that you need to download 15khz MiSTer.ini file from Github! After I did that it was VICTOLY!

After rocking some Batrider I was all smiles and decided to try some CAVE stuff. I mapped buttons so that 1 is shot, 2 is bomb, 3 is "formation", 4 is pause and 5 is coin. After 60 seconds playing Dodonpachi it just froze I rebooted the whole thing and same thing happened again. I then tried some Guwange and after buttonmappin SAME THING! I was pretty angry at this point but then I noticed that menu works just fine, so the whole MiSTer is not hanging, just the game. Then it came to my mind to push that "pause" button I mapped just under my shot and BEHOLD it unfroze immediately I found out that the microswitch on that button 4 (which is never used in this TATE cabinet) is super loose and if I hit my button 1 bit harder it will also push that button 4 I guess I need to get that button new microswitch. Anyways after that everything was smooth sailing!

To not get paused all the time I mapped the pause on this super convenient remote which had dedicated button for it anyways.

Streaming via HDMI while playing also worked just fine, so no need to use BetsuBetsu with this. Some games even portrayed in YOKO while HDMI and in TATE with the cabinet. Others switch to TATE also in HDMI so just need to pick my OBS profile depending on what game I'm streaming.

Batrider has this smart HDMI.

Anyways could not be more happy with the product after a bit bumpy start! Contra is the only core that flipping the screen does not work and I was looking forward to play that with my friend but hopefully they get it fixed (I tried the flip menu AND dip-switches). All other games have worked just fine after orienting the picture and mapping the buttons. Now it's all about tuning all the games and setting the favorites etc.

I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or horrified by the experience haha. In the end, it works! Glad I package things well. I rarely see that kind of abuse

Beautiful setup you have there! Is that an original Tekken cabinet?

nassekova · Apr 4, 2023

misteraddons said:
I'm not sure whether to be thrilled or horrified by the experience haha. In the end, it works! Glad I package things well. I rarely see that kind of abuse

Beautiful setup you have there! Is that an original Tekken cabinet?

Yes, thanks again for the great product (and packaging)! That next to Blast City is original Tekken cabinet with Tekken 3 marquee/lightbox I got from Hammy since mine lacked that completely. Original lightbox would be red but other than that it's exactly the same.

nassekova · Apr 4, 2023

I just noticed that my button remaps are not saved for some reason? I start a core (lets say Guwange), then go to "guwange button remap" and set coin to the MiSTercade remote. Then I click "Save settings". Now the coin (and pause) works from the remote, but next time I boot Guwange coin button does not work and I need to remap it again

I use "Favorites" and start games from there, should it matter if I remap the game buttons from favorites or from original folder ?

tritanium1 · Apr 4, 2023

misteraddons said:
Quick update on MiSTercade v1.2 so far:

Hardware issues:
1 Suspected solder bridge on ESD package causing intermittent button presses (P1B5 and P2B5). The customer is in France so I haven't closed the loop but I've seen this once before.
1 Solder bridge on the top plate. The factory didn't solder these this time so I had to hand solder every single one Replacement top plate sent

User issues:
1 SDRAM module plugged in backwards
1 JAMMA harness wiring issue causing bridged colors
1 Cable not fully inserted causing issues

This isn't to dismiss user issues - I sometimes trip myself up too. It's to say that the MiSTercade hardware is extremely solid. MiSTer itself has a learning curve, but it's not extreme. I'm here to help but mostly am on Discord, Twitter, my site's chat and email.

Thanks for the love!

Yeah, I'm the Jamma harness guy.

I was using a new harness, but it seems to have had a manufacturing defect. Wound up building my own harness, and now colors look fantastic! Thanks for the support!

misteraddons · Apr 5, 2023

nassekova said:
I just noticed that my button remaps are not saved for some reason? I start a core (lets say Guwange), then go to "guwange button remap" and set coin to the MiSTercade remote. Then I click "Save settings". Now the coin (and pause) works from the remote, but next time I boot Guwange coin button does not work and I need to remap it again

I use "Favorites" and start games from there, should it matter if I remap the game buttons from favorites or from original folder ?

Hmm, that's strange. When you finish mapping, a .map file is created that links the controller to the specific game. "Save settings" is for other core options. Regardless, it should work fine. Grab all of the map files here and you'll only need to map new controls. https://github.com/misteraddons/MiSTercade-Config

"Favorites" is something I haven't looked at so I can't comment. It should respect mappings, but it's a third party script, so you never know

nassekova · Apr 5, 2023

misteraddons said:
Hmm, that's strange. When you finish mapping, a .map file is created that links the controller to the specific game. "Save settings" is for other core options. Regardless, it should work fine. Grab all of the map files here and you'll only need to map new controls. https://github.com/misteraddons/MiSTercade-Config

"Favorites" is something I haven't looked at so I can't comment. It should respect mappings, but it's a third party script, so you never know

It seems to take 15-30 seconds or so after the game starts and then those buttons work. So I was just too hasty hitting the "coin" button from remote.

erdrick1980 · Apr 6, 2023

Hi, I recently bought the mistercade and the pre-configured micro SD from the website. Still waiting for the DE10nano...

My question is, since it's pre configured all I have to do is just update the script all in one?

I'm assuming all that is already downloaded? Is it that simple?

raffy92 · Apr 7, 2023

skusuma said:
raffy92,
Did you fix the buttons issue? I have the same problem with my Sigma supergun when connected with mistercade as wells

Hi skusuma
Did you resolve the button problem with sigma supergun ?

BroadwayJose · Apr 7, 2023

nassekova said:
Anyways could not be more happy with the product after a bit bumpy start! Contra is the only core that flipping the screen does not work and I was looking forward to play that with my friend but hopefully they get it fixed (I tried the flip menu AND dip-switches). All other games have worked just fine after orienting the picture and mapping the buttons.

Strange, because the flip screen option for that core works without issue for me. Only the dipswitch option is needed here. I have my monitor rotated ccw for reference and the default setup produced an upside down image prior to flip.

skusuma · Apr 7, 2023

raffy92 said:
Hi skusuma
Did you resolve the button problem with sigma supergun ?

No I haven't got the chance to investigate what's the issue.

nassekova · Apr 7, 2023

BroadwayJose said:
Strange, because the flip screen option for that core works without issue for me. Only the dipswitch option is needed here. I have my monitor rotated ccw for reference and the default setup produced an upside down image prior to flip.

I might actually have the wrong .INI file now that you mentioned CCW. I think I just took that CW file from Github. Need to double check that, thanks!

EDIT: Except that menu would be in wrong side if I got the wrong .INI file right? And now it's correct...

nassekova · Apr 7, 2023

And I found out the problem with my button mappings. There seems to be a "feature" that you need to push "A" after a core is loaded so it loads the button mappings and in my Blast City that button seems to be 1 Player Start. So I need to push 1P start first and after that all the button mappings will load.

Pretty weird feature if you ask me:

This is a weird change that's been included in the MiSTer framework abuot a month ago.
You have to press the "A" button while in the core (not its menu) to activate and assign a controller to a player.
See viewtopic.php?f=30&t=716&p=5352 for reference.

I hope the change will be reverted.

And I guess the bug with Contra is then only with CW-Tate setup since my screen does not flip at all even after dip-switch and reset

gamezer0 · Apr 7, 2023

nassekova said:
And I found out the problem with my button mappings. There seems to be a "feature" that you need to push "A" after a core is loaded so it loads the button mappings and in my Blast City that buttons seems to be 1 Player Start. So I need to push 1P start first and after that all the button mappings will load.

Pretty weird feature if you ask me:

This is a weird change that's been included in the MiSTer framework abuot a month ago.
You have to press the "A" button while in the core (not its menu) to activate and assign a controller to a player.
See viewtopic.php?f=30&t=716&p=5352 for reference.

I hope the change will be reverted.

Try adding these lines to the .ini file

Code:

player_1_controller=16D0:10BE.0001
player_2_controller=16D0:10BE.0002

I’m not sure it’s the fix for your issue, but I’ve been using these for a while and never had issues with the mappings since, so worth a shot.

BroadwayJose · Apr 7, 2023

@nassekova the screen flip stuff is a weird problem. Couldn't imagine this has anything to do with the rotation .ini - I thought the same in that this is meant for rotated display and control interface for the menu. I don't believe it has any game related impact, but maybe @misteraddons can correct me if I'm missing something here.

misteraddons · Apr 10, 2023

BroadwayJose said:
@nassekova the screen flip stuff is a weird problem. Couldn't imagine this has anything to do with the rotation .ini - I thought the same in that this is meant for rotated display and control interface for the menu. I don't believe it has any game related impact, but maybe @misteraddons can correct me if I'm missing something here.

Yeah, MiSTercade does 3 things: provide amplified audio, amplified video, and converts controls to USB. Anything related to individual cores is not related to MiSTercade, including the video timings/resolutions, a core's ability to flip videos, etc.

Specifically, the osd_rotate option in MiSTer.ini only applies to the OSD (on screen display) / menu, not the core gameplay. Each core needs to have flip enabled. You could for sure ask JT about Contra's flip settings.

erdrick1980 · Apr 13, 2023

This post is for people like myself that just wants it all said and done and are not very sabby on this stuff So, I purchased the pre-configured sd card.

https://misteraddons.com/products/pre-configured-sandisk-micro-sd-cards

After I got the nano it really is plug and play. all you have to do is, press f12 update all under scrips. Now, the thing is your roms that already come with the arcade core won't work right away.

So what you have to do is, when you start the update-all in the command prompt you will start seeing a countdown PRESS up on the keyboard and you will see a menu with all the options,
ENABLE roms and that's it! It really is that simple.

I freaking LOOOOOVVVEEE this mistercade thingy. Bad ass.

advans14 · Apr 13, 2023

it is really great. i haven't had much time to fart around with it. only thing i did notice was the standoffs snapped and now it rattles

... seems like the tolerance is ever so slightly skewed to line them up.

BroadwayJose · Apr 14, 2023

This note came with the Haunted Castle beta update, released today. Looks like a byproduct of this core development is that the Contra screen flip problem has been addressed?