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MiSTerAddons MiSTercade - MiSTer for JAMMA cabinets

ShootTheCore

ShootTheCore

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The MiSTercade add-on developed by MiSTerAddons makes it straightforward to connect a MiSTer FPGA retro gaming system to a JAMMA arcade cabinet. Several AP forum members including myself have been beta testing this add-on and the final product will begin shipping very soon. This thread is for discussion and support of the MiSTercade product as well as its future add-ons.

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I've developed a Setup & Configuration Tutorial video for the MiSTercade, as well as a Quick Start Guide and a Full Manual. Feedback and corrections on these materials is invited and welcome. :thumbsup:

MiSTercade Ordering Page
https://misteraddons.com/products/mistercade

MiSTercade Quick Start Guide
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lPvx3XtTYk8y5mSuSqekgqvjRgXXst6IelePJjc-qrc/edit?usp=sharing

MiSTercade Complete Manual
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UjkAZYI64kOb1BBOPBQpC4kbLPz9o5LEmcAAOpQNcuI/edit?usp=sharing

MiSTercade Setup & Configuration Tutorial Video
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veZFxTawDJ0

WARNING: Do not connect a CPS2 Player 3 & 4 harness to the MiSTercade directly - damage to the MiSTercade could result! If you must use a CPS2 Player 3 & 4 harness to get kick inputs for Players 1 & 2, disconnect the Pin 5 wire.
 
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I've been testing the release candidate Mistercade, been pretty problem free. Honestly wasn't hard to set up, the most 'work' was just learning the Mister side of things, getting my SD card formatted and everything downloaded etc.

The two things that I ran into were really problems on my end, but just to document:

1) The final beta board uses an HDMI cable as a connector for something that might not even be in the release board, but I did find it mattered which cable I used. Apparently there are 14 and 19 pin versions of HDMI cables? That might have been the problem. Easy swap. And maybe not even something people need to think about at launch.

2) Everything runs off the 12v of your power supply, the board converts to 5v for the Mister. I tested in two cabs, in one everything was fine. In another I was getting low 12v and some crashes on more demanding cores (like Cave). I recapped the power supply and haven't had an issue since.

Your PSU is probably fine! I think I'm the only tester who ran into this issue. If you're at all unsure and it's old never hurts to do a recap ahead of time. But I wouldn't worry about it. Just noting in case someone else sees similar behavior.
 
Aurich said:
2) Everything runs off the 12v of your power supply, the board converts to 5v for the Mister. I tested in two cabs, in one everything was fine. In another I was getting low 12v and some crashes on more demanding cores (like Cave). I recapped the power supply and haven't had an issue since.
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Interesting. I didn't realize this. What does the MiSTercade do with the +5v JAMMA rail? Just leave it hanging or does it go to a dummy load? Reason I ask is a lot of arcade PSUs expect some kind of load on the +5V rail. A lot of older late 80s/early 90s PSUs only do about 1 amp on the +12v rail. Just enough to power the audio amp and not much more. How many amps does the MiSTercade draw on the +12v rail?
 
The load issue was addressed early on. The voltages all have a load on them.

There’s a list of cabinets the board’s been thoroughly tested on in the manual. No one ran into issues and this was the only edge case.

Regarding the HDMI cable, this is not related to the actual MiSTercade itself but for the remote which is a separate device to be released later on. You do not need a HDMI cable for this device and there’s no need to worry about that until its released or finer details are announced.

If your cabinet can run a CV-1000 PCB you’ll have zero issues running the MiSTercade. And you need no extra cables to hook up.

The fantastic manual and video that @ShootTheCore so kindly put together outlines almost every single piece of information that you could ever need to know, both novice and expert, and I believe it was released before the units shipped so people could take their time to study it.
 
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Aurich said:
1) The final beta board uses an HDMI cable as a connector for something that might not even be in the release board, but I did find it mattered which cable I used.
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The HDMI connector you refer to is no longer present on the release boards. The only HDMI port now is the one on the DE-10 Nano.
 
djsheep said:
Regarding the HDMI cable, this is not related to the actual MiSTercade itself but for the remote which is a separate device to be released later on.
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Yeah, I was being a bit coy about it because I wasn't sure if I should mention the remote or not. Probably ended up creating more confusion than help on that one.
 
Wow, those sold out quick!
 
@ShootTheCore Awesome guide/video, thanks for making those :thumbsup:

What info can you guys share on the addons? Will there be an issue you think with having the addons plugged in and extra devices like lightguns, etc..? I know its not an issue with the mistercade more an issue with arcade psu sucking ass on the 12v rail.
 
Derick2k said:
@ShootTheCore Awesome guide/video, thanks for making those :thumbsup:

What info can you guys share on the addons? Will there be an issue you think with having the addons plugged in and extra devices like lightguns, etc..? I know its not an issue with the mistercade more an issue with arcade psu sucking ass on the 12v rail.
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Two MiSTercade addons have been announced so far, although neither is available for preorder yet. The features I list below for each addon may change for the final product.

The MiSTercade Remote lets you run a wired remote control unit to sit outside of your cabinet - ideal for mounting on the control panel or on the side. It provides four hardware buttons (P1 Coin, P2 Coin, MiSTer Menu, Reset), a volume dial, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a SNAC adapter for connecting a console controller or lightgun.
https://twitter.com/MisterAddons/status/1441264270369439745?s=20

The MiSTercade Versus lets you chain one or more extension harnesses over to adjacent cabinets so that you can drive up to 7 JAMMA cabinets simultaneously from one MiSTer PCB. A single HDMI cable connects each chained extension together, and the HDMI cable carries the RGB signals, controller signals, and audio for the extended cabs - all with less than 1ms of latency. Imagine chaining a row of 4 cabinets together for Gauntlet or SNES Super Bomberman, or even 7 cabinets together for Saturn Bomberman once the Saturn core gets finished.
https://twitter.com/MisterAddons/status/1443637141595033606?s=20
https://twitter.com/MisterAddons/status/1443638768389394433?s=20

As for power draw on the 12V line, in our testing as long as the PSU was healthy then there wasn't any power issues as long as the user isn't connecting power-hungry USB accessories. Testers have loaded up all 6 USB ports with USB keyboards, mice, flash drives, external 2.5" SSD hard drives, Bluetooth adapters, and WiFi adapters and not encountered power issues - these devices all draw between 100 mA and 500 mA a piece. However, 2.5" spinning platter mechanical drives are too power hungry as they spin up, and they had issues. So avoid USB mechanical drives and anything that draws as much power as USB mechanical drive and all should be well.

I'll update the written materials with that information. :thumbsup:
 
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Got a Mistercade inbound (PUMPED!!!) and just getting the SD card setup and was wondering what the preferred video setup would be? Using a Blast City should I run the video through the Dsub VGA at 31khz or through the JAMMA edge at 15khz?
 
thunderclap said:
Got a Mistercade inbound (PUMPED!!!) and just getting the SD card setup and was wondering what the preferred video setup would be? Using a Blast City should I run the video through the Dsub VGA at 31khz or through the JAMMA edge at 15khz?
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I'd run it through the JAMMA edge at 15khz - that's what pretty much all the console and arcade cores run at. 31khz requires the MiSTer to apply upscaling. MiSTer has a quality, fast upscaler but why use it if you don't need to?

That said, the upscaler will allow you to apply scaling & rotation to the output (run a vertical game on a horizontal screen) and apply video scanlines & filters, so if you plan on utilizing any of that functionality then use the 31khz connection.
 
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ShootTheCore said:
I'd run it through the JAMMA edge at 15khz - that's what pretty much all the console and arcade cores run at. 31khz requires the MiSTer to apply upscaling. MiSTer has a quality, fast upscaler but why use it if you don't need to?

That said, the upscaler will allow you to apply scaling & rotation to the output (run a vertical game on a horizontal screen) and apply video scanlines & filters, so if you plan on utilizing any of that functionality then use the 31khz connection.
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Thanks for the info!!! Definitely going to take your advice and run it off JAMMA edge in 15khz. Want to try and keep everything running native when possible... kinda the main reason I am so excited for the MiSTercade :D
 
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