J-Pac PS2 Adapter Problem?!

[Jockel]

Hi.
I recently got my PS2 > Jpac Control adapter and the fitting video adapter per mail.
Picture is working perfectly fine (i am surprised how good it looks!), but the controls are not recognized at all.
Perhaps i'm doing something wrong?
I seem to have hooked up everything correctly (PS2 > PS2 pad adapter > ps/2 cable > ps/2 input [labeled PC KB / USB] in jpac)
but it just won't work.
Any suggestions?

[emphatic]

Is this the Ultimarc adapter you're reffering to? If it is, does it have the little green sticker on the main box? If not, you might have gotten the Dreamcast edition, that looks exactly the same, but does nothing with a PS2.

[antron]

plug a ps/2 keyboard into the adapter and see if you can control the PS2 with the arrow keys.

also, does the JPAC work with a computer?

[jonny5]

what kind of PS2 do you have?

verify that you have functioning rumble capability on a dual shock with both ports

the adapter draws its power from the force feedback circuit.....without it the adapter wont work

[Jockel]

Yes, it's the one from Ultimarc.
No, there is no green sticker anywhere. (But i ordered it directly from Ultimarc, i'm quite sure they know which one is which)
It's a Slim PS2, V14 i think.
Yes, the J-Pac draws power from the control ports (cause it amps the video signal if the ps/2 cable is plugged in).
Haven't tried the keyboard method yet as i am not sure i have a PS/2 keyboard laying around :s

[Jockel]

Oh still had one. Didn't work with the keyboard.

[emphatic]

When I bought my adapter kit for Dreamcast, the info page said it WOULD work with PSX as well. This is however not the case, and when I pointed that out to Andy at Ultimarc, he promptly sent me a new adapter to use with PSX.

[Jockel]

Thing is, i ordered the PS2 one.
Luckily i have a total control adapter here, i will try to control my dreamcast with the j-pac...

[Jockel]

didnt work with DC either...

[stuntman]

The DC adapter should have a sticker on the back (at least mine does) which reads:

"Warning! Dreamcast only!
Do not connect to
a Playstation otherwise
damage will occur"

I was using mine with a Total Control, and it worked for a bit until it stopped recognizing the VMU. I tried another Total Control, with no luck, so assume it's the Ultimarc adapter that's at fault. I now use a hacked pad instead.

Before that I had a PS2 adapter which arrived faulty (kept triggering pause) and so I got a replacement which worked fine (still does). It would seem these adaptors aren't without their faults, but at least Andy responds quickly to sort things out.

[brokenhalo]

shame you didn't search around before buying. lots of people have had problems with the psx adaptor (me included). i wound up just hacking up some ps1 pads and wiring those up to my control panel.

[jonny5]

no you misunderstood what i meant....the control adapter draws its power from the force-feedback....the jpac draws its power from the jamma harness

make sure your force-feedback works

[Jockel]

shame you didn't search around before buying. lots of people have had problems with the psx adaptor (me included). i wound up just hacking up some ps1 pads and wiring those up to my control panel.

That's not a route i want to take.
Because i only have one cab and don't want to cripple it.

@Jonny: the J-Pac doesn't amplify the picture with just jamma voltage, it needs the additional power from the ps/2 or USB to do that.
So i am quite sure on that. And Force Feedback works.

[antron]

Oh still had one. Didn't work with the keyboard.

when I had problems (twice) Andy had me test with a keyboard and they worked (but both paused randomly like w/ the jpac)

he returned my money and I hacked a PSX pad to a jamma fingerboard so I wouldn't cripple my cab, as you say.

[Jockel]

But i still can't solder

[jonny5]

But i still can't solder

its not as hard as you think....

just learn already

[Jockel]

No i've got a better idea!
I get this fucking adaptor to work, which i paid for!

[jonny5]

No i've got a better idea!
I get this fucking adaptor to work, which i paid for!

the only problem is even with the most recent revision of the main chip in the adapter you will still experience occasional loss of control(joystick stops responding for a sec)

quite annoying when playing shmups

[neorichieb1971]

How does the audio work on the J-pac if using a PS2?

I find the ultimarc website really confusing. It says you need this, you need that. It hardly explains what anything is for.

[jonny5]

How does the audio work on the J-pac if using a PS2?

I find the ultimarc website really confusing. It says you need this, you need that. It hardly explains what anything is for.

no audio circuitry on the JPAC....the A/V cable that goes to the JPAC has a headphone jack on it.....you just line the audio into some PC speakers or amp your cab speakers

not too sure why they dont work an audio amp into the JPAC design so people dont have to mess around with their jamma speaker wiring or installing PC speakers in their cabs...then people could just have mono sound off the jamma harness right out of the box without any hassle

[emphatic]

How does the audio work on the J-pac if using a PS2?

I find the ultimarc website really confusing. It says you need this, you need that. It hardly explains what anything is for.

no audio circuitry on the JPAC....the A/V cable that goes to the JPAC has a headphone jack on it.....you just line the audio into some PC speakers or amp your cab speakers

not too sure why they dont work an audio amp into the JPAC design so people dont have to mess around with their jamma speaker wiring or installing PC speakers in their cabs...then people could just have mono sound off the jamma harness right out of the box without any hassle

I asked Andy @ Ultimarc why he's not put an amp on board, as the J-Pac is plugged into a JAMMA harness (carrying both 12V and 5V) and most small amps can be run on 12V, but he figured that since the new revision was so fresh off the factory line, he's not willing to incorporate such a solution. I just bought myself a JAMMA fingerboard, a female JAMMA connector and a 12V amp and built my own line audio->JAMMA adapter that I sandwich between my JAMMA harness and the J-Pac. There's another brand of PC->JAMMA that has on board audio actually, called JAMMA ASD: http://www.arcadeshop.de/Encoder-JammASD-v2_829.html

I'm a bit curious though if Ultimarc's console adapters would work with a JAMMA-ASD. It does have PS/2 input and can be reprogrammed so it should work.

Sorry for the (slightly) off topic.

[jonny5]

does it use a keyboard encoder?

[emphatic]

does it use a keyboard encoder?

Controls

All jamma control inputs are routed on a dedicated microprocessor which emulates a standard PS/2 keyboard encoder, then the OS no need special drivers (also works in DOS). To scan the inputs doesn't use matrix as a standard keyboard, this allows unlimited simultaneous key presses, no ghosting and no blocking. [...]


Audio

The board has a 2x2W stereo audio amplifier (12V required on jamma or on dedicated screw connector), with independent volume control for channels, which it can directly connect to sound card output and can be configured for mono or stereo mode.

[antron]

I'm a bit curious though if Ultimarc's console adapters would work with a JAMMA-ASD. It does have PS/2 input and can be reprogrammed so it should work.

the adapters do work with regular kayboards, as well as they work with the jpac at least.

[jonny5]

ahhhh.....i was supposed to click that link huh?

[neorichieb1971]

What parts do I need just for the audio and video from ultimarc?

The JPAC, AV cable and thats it right?

[jonny5]

you will need an audio amp for your cab speakers, but yes....that should do you

if you want the ps2 you will need the control adapters or hack your own....while hacking some pads to your cp is a bit of work it would be more reliable than the adapters....

[neorichieb1971]

I'm going to ask someone here for the PS controller hacks.

Basically I am just going to have 2 sets of buttons. The arcade ones and the console ones. Whatever is not in use will just go under the CP. The 5 pin joystick is just a disconnect anyway. Rewiring a cab seems pointless to me. I've got a AWSD where buttons 4,5,6 go off to the harness and a seperate molex connector.

So really I just need a loom from the PS2 controller port and i'm done.

Does anyone have an audio solution that is neat and tidy? I've got a Taito amp in my AWSD but it uses special connectors that only the AWSD has. I would need special wiring to use it another type of cab to give it 12v.

[jonny5]

doesnt the AWSD have the red and white phono jacks in it?

if so, just get one of these

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... &CatId=453

done and done

[neorichieb1971]

The set up I am wanting is for many different apps -

I have a AWSD with on board amplification (just bought from poolchamp)

For this my set up is as follows -

1 PCB amp
1 DC via VGA cable
1 PS2 via XRGB2

Controls will be hacked joypads.


But I also have 2 New Astro cities

I would prefer to have the astros work with the PS2 since I have verts and hori games and each astro is vert and hori accordingly. They also have 15khz monitors.

The amp won't work in the NAC because it doesn't have the right connections and needs to be modded etc. Which I don't really want to do.

I could use the JPAC for video, use the hacked controller bit for the NAC CP and i'd be on my way apart from sound. Using a PC speaker set up is retarded. This ultimarc guy has gone 98% of the way and relaxed on a bit that is crucial to the final set up. I only like using boxed solutions, I am not a modder/solderer or fixer upper. I end up ballsing everything up.

What we need is someone to come up with a preamp>JPAC solution.


I have to say I would have thought putting consoles into a cab would be tidier and easy than this. Considering its such an easy thing to do in theory people are making it very hard. I would have thought the JPAC idea would incorporate an amp as an add-on.