Then we had the fiasco with getting the monitor out and stripped down. That where I stopped working on it. I went and started looking for a replacement monitor. I ended up using a monitor that I found a while ago.
I proceeded to strip it down from its casing and started to figure out how I'd get it mounted in the cabinet.
To get it as flush as I could to the monitor panel. To secure it to the panel, I used some T-Rex tape. I taped both the front and back of the monitor to the panel.
Along with taping the monitor to the back of the panel, I also used some scrap wood I had to securely mount the monitor to the cabinet. I used some angle brackets that I had for a different repair project to firmly get the monitor mounted in place.
I used my Raspberry Pi to test out the monitor, using a DVI to HDMI cable. I had an old Retro Pie image on it, so I figured it would just load up with no issue.
Nope...
I was greeted with an error saying that the image couldn't be displayed. Also, because the monitor that I was using had a auto screen rotation option, it was stuck rotated 90 degrees.
...
I thought I did something wrong with it when I stripped the casing off of the monitor. I did some online searching and learned that there are some options that I need to change in the configuration file to have Retro Pie to work with the cable I was using.
After changing the settings, I retried again. This time it loaded properly, even while the monitor's OSD was rotated still. I began testing some games, then this happened...
...I just realized that I was using a backup to the backup monitor to test the image. Anyway, the video setting was incorrect. It was very stretched out. I wasn't too inclined to figure out what to do to make it work, so back to searching for a prebuilt image that I could use with the Arcade 1up.
I managed to find a smaller image that was arcade games only. I burned the image to SD card and tested it with the monitor (that's already installed in the cab, not the backup monitor in the above pic.) I didn't get a pic of it, but it did run just fine. I used a USB controller to check that the image ran the game fine.
Moving on, I ordered 2 USB encoders for the controls. I didn't want to upgrade all the buttons and joysticks since it's really for my son to play with (since I already have the 3 arcade cabs in the garage), so the stock ones work just fine, albeit a bit loud and clicky. I also took the Raspberry Pi out of the Argon One case.
I wanted all PCBs mounted in the case using some sort of stand-off. I found a few good ones on Printables that worked perfectly.
I had a few miscellaneous screws that worked with the print. I'm also planning on getting a fan possibly installed that would regulate the temperature in the cab, mainly blowing on the Pi. I have a possible way of mounting the fan, but I'm not sure where I have the Pi currently position is where I want it to stay.
I printed the same stand-offs for the USB controller boards. Some of the wires from the stock buttons needed to be resoldered. After getting it all secured, I did some wiring management...because...
I didn't want it to look like this or know that I left it like this.
I was trying to design a button that would fit in the original power and volume switches originally were. I got a bit frustrated trying to get a decent design, so I decided to just drill out the holes to fit some extra arcade buttons that I had.
I first used my hole drill bit that I got to drill out the holes for the Atomiswave cab. As you can see in the pic, it tore out. The Arcade 1up panels are made of MDF. Using the drill bit ripped at the layers of the MDF, just making it look ugly. If I could do it again, I would use a stepper drill bit to get the hole bored out.
I redid the SD card with a different image and did the initial set up. So far, it works just right. I called it a day after doing some button reconfigs and getting the right screen shader up and running properly. I still have to finish getting speakers installed and getting some sort of clean power management system in the back of the cab. I have several things in mind, but I still need to plan for it.
I hope to finish this up soon, but I still need my son to finish cleaning his room before we get that thing in there.
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