The Pinball Project, pt. 1

As referred to in my last post, I warmed up my cold feet and charged ahead getting the virtual pinball kit. Frankly, it’s about time. After ordering the kit, I went through my list of all the other parts I have and mail-ordered the rest of the parts I needed. That’s when the fun started.

It’s all the little things that make things work that you tend to forget. For instance, the computer I’m using for the vpin (a Dell Optiplex 790) isn’t staying in its case; just the motherboard is needed. The cabinet I’ve ordered isn’t deep enough to have the whole computer inside. Fine. On removing the motherboard, a couple of things made themselves clear: both the chip cooler and power button were secured to the case. Those were two things I didn’t really think I needed. I did some research on chip coolers and found one on NewEgg for about $20. Yes, it’s inexpensive, but I’m only running pinball sims on this machine. It shouldn’t stress out the processor that much. It arrived a couple of days ago. It installed without a lot of drama, but things can’t go smoothly (what fun would THAT be?) as I discovered that the plug for the cooler is different than the plug on the motherboard. MOAR RESEARCH! Found a 4-pin to 5-pin adapter made just for Dells and chip coolers on Amazon for another $8 (plus shipping).

Now, for the power switch. The original plugged into a socket on the motherboard, but I’m not going to look around online just for that. I know that shorting the green wire on the power supply to ground turns the machine on and removing that short turns it off. A SWITCH! and I don’t mean Nintendo. Rummaging around in the basement turned up a usable old push button on/off switch. A little cleaning and a little continuity testing found it in fine working order, and is by far the oldest component used in this build (probably from the 1950s or 60s).

I’m expecting the last two component parts of the build today (the 24” monitor and the chip cooler adapter) so I can finally test the system to see if it’s still working. The actual cabinet will get here either on Tuesday (15th) or Wednesday (16th), and then the fun can *really* begin.

The Pinball Project, pt. 2

Both playfield monitor and fan adapter were delivered without a problem. Now, some of the testing begins.

Hooked up the necessary cables to the motherboard, got a mouse and keyboard, connected the monitor, plugged everything into a power strip, and gave a test run. Things work... slightly better than expected (a.k.a. "Holy Crap! I caught a break!"). Turns out I didn't need a switch for the power supply. As soon as I switched on the power strip, the computer turned on. Shutting down the machine as normal (Windows 10) powers everything down. I knock off the power to the power strip, and the next time I turn on the power strip, it powers up the computer again. Nifty!

The playfield monitor is lovely and sharp (using the VGA connection as a test; it'll probably be better when I connect it using HDMI). Unfortunately, I was caught in Windows Update Hell, as I hadn't powered on that machine in a few weeks. I really should have done it before i took it apart for this build. Oh well, live and learn.

Next, tested the amplifier and speakers. Y'know, I didn't know what I was expecting when I ordered the parts. Of course, the amplifier came without any cables (save for the power adapter), and the speakers came without wires. Fortunately, I had a spool of speaker wire and a soldering gun (even though my soldering skill is very iffy at best).

Anyway, connected up the amplifier and attached the speakers and it all works. Rather well, actually, and it'll probably sound better when I mount the speakers in the cabinet... after I get some screws, that is.

The only thing I haven't tested is the small back glass monitor, as I realized that I don't have any spare HDMI cables around the house. *heh* *sigh*

So, that's all the testing and whatnot for tonight. I know what I'm getting tomorrow; a pair of HDMI cables. I already have a lot of wood screws here, and I'll need to know if there are any pilot holes on the cabinet for the speaker screws before I figure out what size screw to use.

The next major event is getting the cabinet on either Tuesday or Wednesday (it was originally scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, but recently it's saying Tuesday. Either day is fine, frankly).