Monday 23 August 2010

Powered by Ubuntu (2)

Still have to get the side panels sorted, but a couple of final changes before I do that.

I was concerned that the cabinet was too short, as the angle of the screen and the angle I had to tilt my head to play, wasn't the best.

As such, I've bought some cabinet legs - the kind you put on kitchen cabinets, and have attached to the base.  They lift the unit up by about 6 or 7 inches and that makes all the difference.  I'll be able to clip a cover to the cabinet legs as per "kick boards" on kitchen cabinets.

Also, I've whipped out my paintbrushes and made a stab at putting a big ubuntu logo on the front.  I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I think it looks ok.

3 comments:

  1. Hello,
    I've followed along on your build over the last month and was really concerned about the software end. I belong to a local Linux group and plan on building a MAME cabinet with Linux as its backbone. I'd love to build a distro dedicated to MAME as well. I built my father a cabinet running DOS (he just loves Ladybug). I mimicked the cabinet located at http://www.arcadecab.com/Projects/BarCade.htm His plans were awful but I Photoshop'd the profile for the measurements required. There is practically no difference from the photo of his finished product to what mine looks like. Guess I should draw up plans for others to use. A lot of planning went into fitting the components inside the cab. As I said, it runs DOS with ArcadeOS as the frontend. It's loaded with about 150 games and looks awesome. Most people think I bought it. The finishing is the key to making a 'manufactured product' appearance. The original guys end result had flaws I did not want to see. Especially the visible circuit board for his volume controls. Anyway, The only issue I have with your cab is the display. I feel it should be inset a bit with a bezel and plexi in front. It's amazing how professional a sheet of back painted plexi looks. It just makes the machine shine. You did some great work and would love to know a bit more about your setup/computer. Email me or just reply on your blog. Love it, man! Great job!

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  2. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I'm very grateful for the contribution.

    I couldn't agree with you more on ALL of your comments.

    Linux is the way to go for everything you want to do with a pc. There used to be a MAME distro - Advancemame(?) - I had a look a few years ago, but it stopped being developed.

    Couldn't tell if you were looking for pointers with your Linux mention?! If you were, there are two ways to approach this - build from scratch or customise something pre-built. From scratch gets you your perfect fit, but requires more knowledge, takes more time, etc. Customising is easier, but the software might contain bits you don't need. I would recommend installing Ubuntu desktop to get started, then removing what you don't need before adding what you do. That's what I did. Ubuntu is very good at recognising all your kit out of the box. Maybe something lighter like XUbuntu if your kit's a little older.

    If you weren't looking for advice, sorry for any patronisation. :-)

    Very happy to do some step-by-stepping if you need any help - uowmag@gmail.com if you want it private, or we can blog here for others if you don't care.

    Happy to help build a distro if you want to pursue this? A repackaging of Ubuntu might be a place to start? I've repackaged Ubuntu for a number of projects in the past.

    As for the build, I've gone for the polished look in the past, with previous build attempts, and the Perspex cover over the screen is a must for the polished look. I've deliberately avoided the polished approach this time, for a load of reasons, personal and cosmetic, but I agree with you completely about the quality look making a world of difference.

    I would love to see your work - ever thought about blogging it?

    So thanks again for the contribution - very much appreciated.

    Keep MAME-ing!!

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  3. hi,
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