Uzebox JAMMA

Topics regarding the Uzebox hardware/AVCore/BaseBoard (i.e: PCB, resistors, connectors, part list, schematics, hardware issues, etc.) should go here.
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D3thAdd3r
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by D3thAdd3r »

Another one comes to life!(at least I assume so)
uzeboxjamma.jpg
uzeboxjamma.jpg (66.15 KiB) Viewed 12258 times
Kit came quickly but didn't have time to build it until recently. I do not have a cabinet yet and am still determining what I actually want to do on that end..to build or not to build..LED monitor or not..So not the most impressive picture from me just yet, heh, just wanted to pass some love at Uzebox JAMMA!

Kit is very reasonably priced and good quality, comes with a nice printed build manual, and also a collectors card with it's serial number. I'm a radical video game collector of all kinds, so I found that a cool touch in particular. More to come when I have time to bust out the table saw.
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uze6666
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by uze6666 »

Cool, looking for progress on this one! :)
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Jubatian
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by Jubatian »

Could anyone give me some guidance on how the Jamma's coin slots and related soft DIP switches should be handled properly?

I see the Wiki entry for the pin allocation, showing two coin slots (Coin 1 and Coin 2), and there are also 1 player and 2 players start buttons. Reading the manual didn't help me much either on this matter, which only describes coin/credit options.

Possibly my problem is that I can't imagine how starting a game actually works on an arcade (my idea was that just toss a coin in, and the game starts), I only faintly remember one from my childhood in the early 90's (with some effort by memory I could trace it back, it was a Phoenix or some derivative set up maybe near a small restaurant in a public swimming pool, probably it got there after it was sold on the West where it was already a decade old). Ridiculous as it is, but nowadays the law here essentially prohibits any such machine, so I would have to go abroad to actually check one unless I knew someone storing some in his attic (they closed down an organization operating a museum of arcades and flippers years ago, I only got to know about it from the news).
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L4rry
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by L4rry »

Jubatian wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:34 am Possibly my problem is that I can't imagine how starting a game actually works on an arcade.
In general terms, adding a coin in a coin slot would increase your credit count. Pressing a start button would validate the credit amount to be greater than 0, start the game and decrease the credit count. Credit counts you would manage in game software by detecting coin and start switches.

I'm not too familiar with the JAMMA interface specification, but I'm pretty certain insert coin and start signals can just be viewed as normal button presses. It's up to your game software to handle what those mean.
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Jubatian
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by Jubatian »

L4rry wrote: Sat Jan 13, 2018 2:05 pmIn general terms, adding a coin in a coin slot would increase your credit count. Pressing a start button would validate the credit amount to be greater than 0, start the game and decrease the credit count. Credit counts you would manage in game software by detecting coin and start switches.
Thanks, now I would just have to find a byte somewhere in FoaD where I can store a credit count :lol: , anyway, I am starting to get the idea. The coin inputs are fine, they are bound to button presses in the pin allocation proper, but there are two coin inputs (labeled "Coin 1" and "Coin 2"). What could they mean? Maybe there were arcades with separate coin slots for Player 1 and Player 2? For me by this Jamma pinout it somewhat feels like so.

When a coin is inserted, for how long are those inputs high? Maybe doesn't matter, certainly it was designed so that they could be safely sampled 60 times a second (corresponding with the frame rate).

Does anyone have a working Jamma around to test if I release a Jamma version of Flight of a Dragon?
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D3thAdd3r
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by D3thAdd3r »

Maybe this source could help. I have some arcade levels to VGA, and a VGA to HDMI adapter as well as the joysticks, but I never set it up and it is buried in boxes for now. It would be cool to see FoaD as a JAMMA game!
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L4rry
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by L4rry »

Hey guys. The recent activity on this forum and Jubatian's FoaD port got me interested in porting my games to the Uzebox JAMMA too. How I can I get my hands on either a kit or, preferrebly, a pre-assembled kit of the Uzebox JAMMA? I've sent an email to BasementHobbies but not sure if that is still an active channel. Any advice?
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D3thAdd3r
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by D3thAdd3r »

Let me know, work is my life now, but I would pass mine on if someone actually used it. I bet you will get a response, but otherwise we should analyze and provide a community board file. I noticed a lot of the flash/SD carts for ancient systems go in and out of production, but often anyone can start a batch, because the authors provided board files.
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L4rry
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by L4rry »

D3thAdd3r wrote: Sun Jan 21, 2018 4:55 am Let me know, work is my life now, but I would pass mine on if someone actually used it. I bet you will get a response, but otherwise we should analyze and provide a community board file. I noticed a lot of the flash/SD carts for ancient systems go in and out of production, but often anyone can start a batch, because the authors provided board files.
Thanks for the offer :) I'm hoping I'll be able to figure something out without having to buy your board, but If I hit a wall, I will DM you to see if we can work something out.

I see there are actually board (.brd) and schema (.sch) files for the Uzebox JAMMA revision C. I attach them here:
Sources.zip
(188.98 KiB) Downloaded 560 times
So would this be enough to get a service provider to manufacture a few boards? I must admit, I am way out of my depth here. I'm no electronics engineer. If I could take these to a local manufacturer and get them to print and assemble a few units, I would definitely do so. I'm just not sure if it's that simple. If you guys have any tips for this process, I'd appreciate it.

My bar top JAMMA cab should be arriving soon, so I'm getting pretty pumped about porting some games and charging my mates to play them :mrgreen:
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Re: Uzebox JAMMA

Post by CunningFellow »

I am going to guess the .brd and .sch files are from eagle. You should be able to go to eagle and open the .brd file and export gerbers from there.

Gerbers are what you would send/email to a PCB house in China. Also give them about $50..60 worth of money units and they will send you back via some very slow postage 10 copies of that PCB. You will need to specify ENIG*. Also the PCB looks like it will be greater than the 100x100mm you can get on the cheap services hence why it will cost you $50..60.

Go here https://pcbshopper.com/ to get a page full of quotes from many of the different PCB services around the world.

You can open the .sch file in eagle and export the BOM (Bill of Materials) and then use that to make up a digikey shopping list.

Wait for parcels to arrive, solder together and Roberts your aunties husband.


*ENIG = Elecroless Nickle Immersion Gold. It is the gold PCB surface rather than solder tinned. This is not the ideal surface for the JAMMA edge connector. You SHOULD have "hard gold" for that but its "good enough".
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