Re: using num lock LED and 15 sec delay is a bit crude...

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: Hi Andy : A different solution instead of using the num lock LED and the 15 sec delay would be to change the code of MAME and AOS a bit... : One could ask the authors to add a command line switch or so that would make the application send a command to the keyboard controller (just like it is possible to send a keyboard echo request, but you already know all that is to know about the communication between the on board controller and the keyboard controller, so I really don't have to explain it to you ;) to indicate the status (left AOS, end of self test etc.). The command could then be read and processed by the keyboard encoder at the right time... : Special compiles of both AOS and MAME might be made to support this kind of functionallity in a keyboard encoder if the authors don't want to add it them self since it is open source :) : A bit harder but in my opinion, a cleaner and better solution... : / EmuMannen : : Hi all, : : I have written a modified version of I-PAC code which enables a machine to be used in full Arcade mode. This is how it works: : : The PC boots up into ArcadeOS. Player then moves cursor over selected game using joystick. Insert a coin. The first coin inserted sends a "1" which kicks off the emulator and starts the selected ROM. This and all subsequent coin inserts are now counted but not yet sent to the PC. : : After a 15 second delay (to allow the ROM self-test to finish) all the stored coins are sent to the PC by sending a string of "5"s and are therefore credited in the game. Now any coins inserted are immediately sent to the game in the normal way. The player plays and after using all the credits then presses "esc" (start1 + start2) and goes back to ArcadeOS. The cycle then starts again with coins stored as above. : : I am not sure whether to offer this version or not, I have written it but not tested fully. There a couple of drawbacks: : : First, the way the code knows that we have gone out of AOS into the emulator is by noticing that the "num lock" LED has gone out. That works fine but rules out using any games that use the LEDs. : : Second, ROMs have varying length self-tests so we have to cater for the longest, which means a game with a quick self-test waits for a while before getting the credits clocked up. : : Third, Although it will count any coins that are inserted before the game starts, there is a "dead" period when quitting a game when any inserted coins could be lost, although it is only a couple of seconds. : : Any comment/feedback welcome! Is there any demand for this?

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