Jason's Arcade Cabinet Build

[Jason Carr]

Next I tackled the artwork for the side pieces:

Thankfully the artwork for these went on clean and everything looks great on both pieces. I still don't know what the difference was between what I did on these side pieces and what I did on the wings, but I'm very grateful that the biggest artwork applications worked out well.

Applying the T-molding to the big side pieces was a small challenge, but nothing too bad. I did find it very important to have a pair of flush-cutters on hand, though, which I had to order before I could finish the job. It also might be worth noting that you'll want to watch a tutorial before attempting it, because there are some gotchas.

And finally, I mounted the side pieces on the cabinet:

The side pieces went on fairly easily, but I did have to screw in quite a few screws (some of them pocket hole screws) in order to really bring them in flush with the rest of the cabinet in all spots. Otherwise, there were areas where light was shining through, such as on the edges of the bottom angled front piece. It did turn out quite well though.

I then did a test-fit of the controller board with the rest of the cabinet:

Looks nice, doesn't it? I did change up the controller board slightly later on though (this was before putting the artwork reprint on the controller board). Continued in next post.

[Jason Carr]

Now it was on to mounting the monitor (TV). I started by purchasing some glass from https://www.onedayglass.com/. I had used them previously to order some glass for my Rec Room Masters cabinet (to replace the plexiglass that it comes with). Then all I did was add a couple of small pieces of wood to keep the glass in place from the back:

For now, ignore the four blocks of wood on the bottom. I was just using those as spacers while trying to measure out where to put the TV. I put the two pieces of wood on the sides back just a little bit, so that the front of the glass would be flush with the black painted edges of the frame. For now, the glass was basically just resting there.

Next, I grabbed a piece of plywood and rigged it up to the vesa mount on the back of the TV. Then all I needed was some pocket holes on the left and right edges of the plywood piece to attach it wherever needed to the sides of the cabinet:

 

I played around with the placement of the TV a bit, but I found that the picture was best if I jammed the TV right up into the glass. So the TV is literally pressed up against the glass, and I'm amazed how well that looks. The screen looks a ton better than the screen on my Rec Room Masters cabinet, which was a couple inches back from the glass. No idea why they did it that way, but oh man, this arrangement looks amazing. So anyways, now we have a mounted TV that is secure in place, with the piece of glass resting in front of it:

Now the only thing missing was a frame to cover up all of the ugly parts, and keep the glass in place. This was admittedly a little difficult because I wasn't using plans for any of this, and I had to learn how to make cuts with miters on two different sides, and similar things. It was also a lot of trial and error, making things slightly too big on purpose, test-fitting them, making them slightly smaller, testing-fitting, etc. over and over again. Eventually though I had the pieces of my frame done and glued them all together:

After painting the frame and finally putting it in the cab, it all started really coming together:

Continued in next post.

[Jason Carr]

I haven't shared anything about the computer in the back yet though. I ended up just using a small drill bit and some normal standoffs to mount a motherboard directly in the back:

Note that I also drilled a couple of holes next to the motherboard in order to be able to mount the video card. I could have used a PCI express riser cable and mounted the GPU horizontally on the plywood as well, but I've had issues with those in the past and just didn't want to deal with it (nor did I have one). So I mounted the video card normally and added a block of plywood for support:

You can also see the power supply mounted with a simple friction fit of a piece of plywood in the back right, and the same thing with the subwoofer for the speakers in the back left. This all works rather well and nothing is moving around while I move the cabinet around, though they might come dislodged if I was ever to ship the cabinet...but I don't ever plan on doing that, so that all works for me.

Here's a pic of the upper part of the back of the cabinet:

You can see the monitor mount, the marquee monitor above it, and the speakers. I did build some simple resting pieces out of plywood for the speakers up top as well. Continued in next post.

[Jason Carr]

At this point, the only things left are the control panel and the side wings. The control panel was a major fiasco, and I had to order more parts from Ultimarc several times. Honestly, Ultimarc does not at all do a good job explaining to you what you need, what you get, how to install, nothing. They seem to make decent products, but installing their stuff is a recipe in frustration. The biggest issue I had is that the wiring harness that you get with the $100 I-PAC Ultimate IO is nowhere near big enough for a 32" cabinet (the cables just aren't long enough to reach all of the buttons). They sell an extension kit, but it really sucks, because instead of just giving you a longer wiring harness, they expect you to have a specialized tool to remove wires from the existing harness and put in the longer wires. Good luck with that. I ended up doing a combination of using some existing connection pieces that I had and basically breaking wires out of the harness. It was honestly a mess.

So anyways, I'm not really sure what other options are out there, but Ultimarc needs some serious feedback on communication and product design, in all honesty. What a mess, and most of the issues were completely unnecessary if more thought had been put into things. I can't decide if things are the way they are because they want to nickel and dime everyone, or if it's just because they're stuck in the past, or what. I don't get it. Regardless, everything did come together eventually, but I had to wait an extra week or more because of missing parts and gotchas that no one would have been able to expect in building the controller board. So if you're building something similar, work on it early in full expectation that you'll probably have to wait and revisit later. You'll probably also need more parts than what Ultimarc has on offer. I would make more recommendations here, but I had never done arcade wiring before, so I'm anything but an expert on any of it.

One last note on the controls: the Mag-Stik Plus joysticks that I bought are just okay. I'm not sure if I would recommend them for anyone's next build. I'm getting used to them, but initially I had issues with them sticking and I still have trouble switching one of them between 4-way and 8-way modes. I will say that standard joysticks do seem to be a lot more reliable. I am sticking with them for now, though, partially because I don't want to modify that controller board for a very, very long time if I can help it.

Regardless, it did finally all come together. The controller board is in place, all the buttons and lights work perfectly, and lastly I attached the side wings. Here it is in all its glory:

It's not perfect, but it's very, very close. I'm super happy with it, and very glad I went through the process. I don't want to do it again though. Gonna stick with my day job.

I'm planning on doing a tour video of the cabinet here very soon. I'm far from a videographer but hopefully I can get that done well enough with my phone. Thanks for following along with the process!

[Jason Carr]

Oh, one last note that I completely forgot about: I added a button to the control panel above the 1st player buttons (it's red in the cabinet photos above). I wired that button up directly to the headers on the motherboard for the power button and the power LED. I just wired the power LED into the red channel. This way, that button acts exactly like a power button on your typical PC, and lights up when the computer is on. So I have an easily-accessible power button for the computer.

Even better, I ordered one of these:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08LSXXG7R?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I can connect the computer up to the "master" plug-in, so that the monitors, speakers, etc. all turn on and off with the computer. So it will truly be one button on the control panel to turn everything on and off.

Edit: It will really only turn the computer on. I've disabled the shut down functionality for the button in Windows for obvious reasons. So I'll just use Big Box's shut down functionality to turn everything off.

[Mr. RetroLust]

Congrats Jason with finalizing your cab, it looks amazing! Happy gaming man 🕹️

[Retrofrogg]

Looks awesome And useful info.

[kmoney]

Looks good, It really came out nice.

[Boz1978]

Awesome fella!!!

[JaysArcade]

Hey it came out nice Jason. Congrats on finishing it up. 

[Rincewind]

Fantastic job on the build @Jason Carr let me know if you need a hand installing BIgBox 🤣

[Jason Carr]

19 hours ago, Rincewind said:

Fantastic job on the build @Jason Carr let me know if you need a hand installing BIgBox 🤣

Hehehehe.

[Jason Carr]

Just to update everyone here, there will be a video coming out soon on the YouTube channel to show off the cabinet a bit. But also, I'm happy with pretty much everything on the cabinet, other than the Mag-Stik Plus joysticks, which are finicky and can often be very hard to switch between 4-way and 8-way. Therefore, I'm gonna take @Headrush69's suggestion from earlier in the thread and replace them with ServoStiks from Ultimarc instead. Apparently, LEDBlinky will automatically switch those sticks from 4 to 8 ways (and vice versa) depending on the game being played.

Also, I wanted to note that I ordered two different master/slave power strips:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08LSXXG7R?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I started with that one and it works just fine to turn on/off the monitors and such with the internal PC, but it takes like 15-20 seconds for them to turn off after the PC turns off, so it makes for an ugly shut down process. I then ordered this one and lucked out:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B002K8S2J6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

The APC immediately turns off the monitors and speakers and such once the PC is shut down. So it's super smooth.

One last note, I'm using the cab to improve the Big Box experience a bit regarding startup, shutdown, etc. The next version of Big Box will have an option to automatically use Big Box as the Windows shell, which makes for a much cleaner startup experience. I also fixed an issue where volume control bindings did not work when using Big Box as the Windows Shell. A beta should be out soon with those new features. Oh, and I also improved LEDBlinky performance.

[skizzosjt]

Thanks for sharing Jason! I think it looks pretty darn nice! I'm soaking in all the info and it will surely make any full size cab building experience of mine go smoother being able to learn from your challenges. I've been worrying a little about the cable length of that same iPac Ultimate I/O board too. They are only 13 inches. Even if you can get everything connected there is no way it is going to be "cable managed" well like that. It would be like a rat nest with most cables stretched tighter than a banjo string I bet.  I also missed the extension harness isn't a separate longer harness or simply plugs into the main one to make it longer as a whole....you gotta do some manual surgery to change the individual cables. Good to know. I'll have to email them for an answer about which size pin removal key is needed. Another tool to add to that list of "not 100% required, but surely nice to have". And good tip on the master/slave power strips. I didn't know such feature existed.

 

[Jason Carr]

Hey all, the cabinet video is live:

 

[MickeyDee]

Great build, just curios , what does it weigh?

 

[Jason Carr]

On 12/6/2022 at 2:22 PM, MickeyDee said:

Great build, just curios , what does it weigh?

 

I don't exactly have anything that can weigh it lol. It doesn't seem significantly more heavy than my previous Rec Room Masters cabinet, but I really don't know. I moved it to the destination room before final assembly.

[andyco47]

you need one of these to finish it off lol

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CERRXIAN-Wireless-Computer-Remote-Control/dp/B0876LZQK9/ref=dp_fod_1?pd_rd_w=srj2Y&content-id=amzn1.sym.369ca2df-1521-4fdf-a041-ad143e02ddad&pf_rd_p=369ca2df-1521-4fdf-a041-ad143e02ddad&pf_rd_r=TB8Q41YYSB7HX4TAW0JZ&pd_rd_wg=E2nUP&pd_rd_r=5866413f-f441-4a1a-b1eb-d4bce9ed2fb5&pd_rd_i=B0876LZQK9&psc=1

[AndyWarne]

Hi, this is Andy from Ultimarc. 

Just chiming in here as a couple of customers mentioned the post above which states a special tool is needed to replace the harness wires. This is not correct. The wires in the housings can easily be removed without any special tool. The tab on the side of the black housing is lifted slightly using a modelling knife or similar then the wire/pin slides out.

We have never received any direct negative feedback about our design of harness which has the ability to support both small and large panels (with the extension wires) without all the wiring being unnecessarily long. The player 3-4 harness pack consists of all longer wires. We are always open to feedback from customers though by email but cant react unless we receive any.

[Jason Carr]

8 hours ago, AndyWarne said:

Hi, this is Andy from Ultimarc. 

Just chiming in here as a couple of customers mentioned the post above which states a special tool is needed to replace the harness wires. This is not correct. The wires in the housings can easily be removed without any special tool. The tab on the side of the black housing is lifted slightly using a modelling knife or similar then the wire/pin slides out.

We have never received any direct negative feedback about our design of harness which has the ability to support both small and large panels (with the extension wires) without all the wiring being unnecessarily long. The player 3-4 harness pack consists of all longer wires. We are always open to feedback from customers though by email but cant react unless we receive any.

Thanks, Andy. I did finally figure that out (about replacing the wires in the wire harness), but only after searching around online for hours. I think my biggest complaint about everything has just been a lack of documentation. To some extent, I understand, because I write software of course and people are always asking for documentation, so I'm getting a taste of my own medicine there. Having an email address available for support is great, but honestly, no one wants to wait to hear back on an email when they're building a cabinet, because of the excitement involved. For that reason, it would be much better to provide those answers via some kind of documentation on the website, because I'm sure there are a lot of common questions that are asked.

But anyways, per the wiring harness, the main issue is that initially I had no idea what to search for to figure out how to replace those wires. For the longest time I couldn't even figure out what those plastic pieces are called, so it took forever just to find any instructions on how to replace them. I did finally figure it out, but only after breaking pieces, and I ended up having to buy another kit. Maybe I just missed it, but I could not find any relevant documentation for any of that on the Ultimarc website. In fact, it seems like Ultimarc is just letting various YouTubers make tutorials and linking to them. Those videos have been helpful (and I wouldn't have been able to do anything without them), but digging through various YouTubers content and relying on YouTube's search algorithm is rather difficult when all you need to know is the order of parts to place on a joystick shaft (for example).

What I've finally ended up with on my controller board is great, but there have been many iterations and fixes at this point, most of which could have been avoided with proper documentation and some improved design:

• I'm sure the wiring harnesses are big enough for smaller cabinets, but they're definitely not big enough for 32" widescreen cabinets, which these days I'm guessing are likely more common for hobbyist cabinet builders. The extension kits are helpful for this, but:
  • It should likely be more obvious when and where they are needed when purchasing
  • It would be very nice if they came assembled with all longer wires already in a wiring harness, to avoid the finicky process of having to replace the wires
  • As an alternative, some documentation is at least needed on how to replace the wires
• Originally I purchased Mag-Stik Plus joysticks, which were somewhat of a disappointment for me, because they're so difficult to manually switch between 4 and 8 ways. I ended up replacing them with ServoStik joysticks, which have been a massive improvement and are working great. Some feedback:
  • I would consider retiring (or at least recommending against) the Mag-Stik Plus joysticks, because the ServoStik joysticks are better in pretty much every way, and the cost difference is minimal. Reducing the confusion as far as what is recommended to order would be a significant help in this regard.
  • It would be nice if there was a package that contained the two ServoStik joysticks and the control board for purchase. I understand why it's a separate product, but as it stands, it leaves the possibility of purchasing the joysticks and forgetting to purchase the controller board. This is a common theme though with a lot of products when purchasing.
  • I purchased the LED balltops for my ServoStiks, and I really like them. However, I've had some issues with the LED connector (that looks like a headphone jack) becoming disconnected during extended/rough play. I've since wrapped the housing up in electrical tape and so far I haven't seen that issue happen anymore.
  • I've had one of the ServoStik joysticks completely disassemble and fall apart when one of my more heavy-handed friends was playing on the cabinet. I'm not positive, but I think this was because I didn't tighten the screws on the restrictor plate enough. After reassembling it and tightening the screws, we haven't seen any further issues (yet). Documentation on this would have been helpful.
  • The LED balltops themselves screw on, and I feel like I'm constantly having to tighten them during gameplay. Part of this is caused by the fact that I don't know how to tighten them other than by hand. Perhaps there's a good way to use a tool to tighten them? Some documentation on this would be helpful as well.
  • There's a lack of documentation on assembling the ServoStiks with the LED balltops, other than buried in various YouTube videos, and it's really hard to find and relatively confusing. More documentation on this is needed.
  • Putting the little metal piece on the shaft of the ServoStik joysticks is rather difficult (the piece that holds all of the pieces onto the shaft). Maybe some documentation would be helpful with this, or a tool, or something. It's definitely a struggle during assembly.
• I also purchased the U-Trak trackball. Some feedback on that:
  • I used the included mounting mechanism so that nothing shows up on top of the board. Unfortunately, after about a day of normal play, the gold pieces that are pushed into the plywood ended up falling out and the trackball fell into the cabinet. I've superglued them back into the plywood, and so far it's holding.
  • It would be nice if there was a better mounting mechanism for 3/4" plywood, so that there isn't the double-lip (I'm using the optional trim bezel).
  • I had to use extension wires for the trackball as well. This also wasn't obvious what I needed to purchase to extend the wires, and it's an especially difficult pain because the wires are all separate (instead of being inside of a longer harness).
• Finally, some feedback on the GoldLeaf RGB buttons:
  • I purchased the RGB logo cap packs. I didn't know it at first, but I ended up having to purchase three packs at $7 each. I used the Start1, Start2, and Coin pack as normal, but bought two of the Pause, Exit, Run, and Volume packs so I could repurpose some of the graphics for other buttons (I used the Pause one as a Menu/tab button for MAME and just rotated it horizontally). I would have loved to have additional logos for a Power button and left and right mouse buttons for the build.
  • Also with the RGB logo caps, after assembling the whole board I noticed that they were randomly rotating after use. Eventually I was able to solve this by putting a very small drop of super glue on the cap inserts so that they don't move around inside of the buttons. To my relief, the super glue is not visible through the LEDs and they don't move around, so that was definitely a successful fix. Some documentation on this would definitely have helped. Without the glue they don't stay oriented, so it's definitely a necessary step, and I couldn't find any documentation on this anywhere online, so it was just a stab in the dark.
  • The buttons themselves are wonderful; they were the most straightforward and immediately successful part of the build.

Hopefully all of that is helpful feedback. All in all, I'm very happy with my controller board (which is really all Ultimarc); it just took me a lot of trial and error to get there. Thanks Andy.