Candy Cab Mame Project

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Gary

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Hi guys!

i had a NAC for around 6 months now. I bought it from Neo Legend along with an arcade box (Mame running on linux). its a great set-up and boots quicker than any previous windows based mame i have created myself. it seems like a no-frills set-up - the result is a simple menu and controls that DON'T require a keyboard (something I'm really plead with).

This set-up is geared towards horizontal games and when i rotate the monitor it makes life a nightmare.

Therefore, i am going to buy another NAC and go about building a vert specific mame set-up geared towards shmups. Its been a while since i did this and something I've never done in a cab before (although i understand the basic of the connections.) so here's a few questions i'd love to get some simple answers to (or pointers in the right direction.....)

1. soft 15khz or an actual 15khz card? advantages/disadvantages?

2. i want it to boot straight to mame in the fastest time possible... whats the best version of mame to use? (I'm gonna want to emulate mainly the 90's shmups and as much as possible onwards. i.e.: naomi based shmups - i realise i may need to upgrade my NAC monitor to a tri-sync for namoi - is this correct?)

3. I need to be able to run the mame OS in vert mode and would want to create filters to narrow down game selection. so the version of mame needs to be flexible and controlled via joystick only.

4. linux or windows (and if windows, which version)

cheers for any help with this.

Gary
 
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ZedEx48K

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1. soft 15khz or an actual 15khz card? advantages/disadvantages?

soft15 means you will have the wrong frequency to your monitor during
boot up, 15K card (arcade vga) = expensive, that's about the
differences.

2. i want it to boot straight to mame in the fastest time possible... whats the best version of mame to use? (I'm gonna want to emulate mainly the 90's shmups and as much as possible onwards. i.e.: naomi based shmups - i realise i may need to upgrade my NAC monitor to a tri-sync for namoi - is this correct?) & 4. linux or windows (and if windows, which version)

The version of mame doesn't matter, it's the OS you chose, that boots into the frontend of choice, however you also speed all of this up by shelling, personally I chose WinXP whcih is fast enough with a clean install (and if you stick it on an SSD it' will be bloody fast) also Naomi games were 15K too, but that's no real difference when emulating.

3. I need to be able to run the mame OS in vert mode and would want to create filters to narrow down game selection. so the version of mame needs to be flexible and controlled via joystick only.

Again, this isn't really a mame thing (though it can handle it), it's how you set the OS/frontend up, as windows can be rotated or a frontend can do it too (Mala for example), Joystick only set up is also easy, anyone who has a keyboard hidden in a cab is living in the stone ages!
smiley36.gif
 
G

Gary

Newbie
Credits
24CR
Cheers for the help on this.

I've nevernplayed with mala.... When installing, I'm guessing there is an option to shell? Had a quick read and it looks like it does everything I need.

Soft 15k sounds fine.

My only concern is XP. I'm just sick of windows over the years..... If I shell mala, is windows almost invisible?

Cheers
Gary
 
cools

cools

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Naomi in MAME doesn't run quickly or well.

Don't use XP on an SSD, it's not a wise choice. If you're using an SSD use Windows 7 or Linux.

Don't use Soft15khz or an ArcadeVGA, use CRT_Emudriver and GroovyMAME.

As for frontend - Attract Mode.
 
cools

cools

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Indeed, however you've got to deal with it and find a drive that has a TRIM tool. And know that you've got to do this.

Safe to assume anyone asking the OPs questions doesn't know this, so more straightforward to say "for SSD use Win 7" as it'll just work.
 
G

Gary

Newbie
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24CR
Hi guys, thanks for the feedback.

I have a stock NAC on the way! I'm planning to use an arcade VGA card for the video. Seems like the most solid way to go....

For the OS i have a spare copy of vista... Is it possible to use this and make it completely invisible on boot up, or can I only do this with XP?

Cheers, Gary
 
minwah

minwah

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Gary said:
Hi guys, thanks for the feedback.
I have a stock NAC on the way! I'm planning to use an arcade VGA card for the video. Seems like the most solid way to go....
Click to expand...

Probably the easiest, but I would also say Soft15khz is just as good - especially if you already have an old suitable video card.

For the OS i have a spare copy of vista... Is it possible to use this and make it completely invisible on boot up, or can I only do this with XP?
Click to expand...

It's probably possible, but I would very much recommend XP over Vista if you can get a copy.
 
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ZedEx48K

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You can shell Vista/W7 but if just using MAME I would go with XP, it's so easy to acquire these days, and if you really must go legit I prob have a key somewhere, you can also use the likes of Nlite and make it a really fast/tiny OS install with un-needed features removed.
 
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Gary

Newbie
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Ok, I've never heard of tinyxp, but I have an install on the go right now. Fingers crossed (as I had a few "can not copy such and such a file to disc" but all seems to be going ok since.
 
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ZedEx48K

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shrunkenmaster said:
Could also try TinyXP, I have it running on a couple of cabs, no problems.
Click to expand...

I've found nlite to be better as you know what has been removed, plus you can add files to be pre-installed for you too like DirectX and vid card drivers etc.
 
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