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Hardware

Building An MP3 Jukebox From An Arcade Machine 80

Posted by timothy from the appropriate-technology dept.
Bigbird504 writes: "This one geek's frustration turned into this huge project of building an MP3 Jukebox out of an arcade machine. Why? He said, 'The problem was, my non-computer friends always had trouble selecting songs, creating songlists, deleting songlists, etc.' So he got to work building such a machine, providing the steps in case you would like to as well. Pictures are included as well. Pretty spiffy if you have a game room!"
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Building An MP3 Jukebox From An Arcade Machine More

Building An MP3 Jukebox From An Arcade Machine

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  • Is that there is enough money in the couch to keep the tunes coming.

  • In case it gets slashdotted.... (Score:3, Informative)

    by joshki ( 152061 ) on Sunday April 14, 2002 @10:28AM (#3338829)


    I collect arcade games. Arcade games and pinball machines. Like many people that do this, I also have a dedicated game room. For quite a while, I had a computer in the gameroom that was
    filled with MP3's. The problem was, my non computer friends always had trouble selecting songs, creating songlists, deleting songlists, etc. I don't know how many times I had to clear songlists before a party, or how many hours I have spent at a party just showing people how to use the thing. Basically, I got tired of doing this.

    While working on a MAME cabinet (which isn't yet finished, and I'll post here when it is),
    inspiration struck. I could build an MP3 jukebox for my gameroom. Something that was as easy to control as an arcade game, and had all of the features I needed to simply play music.

    I started out with the intention of writing my own MP3 player. I got so far as to have an actual player written, and only needed to work on the interface and songlist abilities. While surfing the net for inspiration on my interface, I
    stumbled onto a program that was written specifically for a MAME machine by Mark Schwartz.
    In fact, the program was even named Arcade Jukebox . Mark apparently went through the same frustration I went through, and wrote a program himself. It was exactly what I was working on, so my development stopped after I tested his software out and found it to be exactly what I needed. His program gives the look and feel of an old-time jukebox while providing only the necessary features for such an application. Simple, and perfect. Step one completed!

    The next step was to find an arcade cabinet that I could dedicate to a jukebox. I wasn't interested in sharing it with my MAME cabinet, as it was to be my main source of music for my gameroom, and therefore would be constantly accessed throughout any given night.

    I was originally going to use a full sized, regular arcade game cabinet. I had a couple in the garage that weren't doing anything. Unfortunately, when you collect arcade games and
    pinball machines, you find space to be your largest restriction. I could easily fit
    another regular sized arcade machine in my gameroom, but I didn't want to waste so much
    space for a simple jukebox. So, I decided I would use a mini-cabinet. Unfortunately,
    my search for a mini-cabinet was difficult. I couldn't find one in my area to save my life! Then, one day, a fellow collector alerted me to an ad in the paper. There was a guy nearby that had 4 mini-cabinets for sale, $25 each! I visited him and found that his cabinets weren't quite the standard mini-cabinet size. His cabinets were, in fact, a medium size. They took up the same footprint as a mini-cabinet, but were much taller. I bought two of them. (I later bought a larger machine from him and got the other two for free!) Step two completed.

    I already had a computer to use for this project. The one that noone could figure out how to use. Before putting it into place, however, I upgraded it a little. It is an Athlon 1.2Ghz machine, 128 Megs ram, and a 20 gig harddrive. Step three completed!

    Time to start working on the thing. I removed the coindoor, and contemplated reusing it later, but decided against it as the hole it created was perfect for internal speakers.

    I filled all the holes that I could find on the cabinet with wood filler, and sanded those repairs down. I didn't like the dark woodgrain of the cabinet and explored various ways to replace it. I settled on contac paper. Yes, the stuff you line shelves and kitchen drawers with. I found a couple rolls of a nice pine grain at the local hardware store, and painstakingly cut sheets to fit the cabinet. Wherever sheets
    would overlap each other, I didn't want lines to be visible. My solution was to cut the paper along the 'grain' whenever it overlapped. This masks the overlaps much better than I ever expected. I have to point out the overlaps in most places. Step four completed!

    I removed the existing monitor from the cabinet as computers don't like arcade monitor refresh rates. I could have made it work, but didn't want to go through the special wiring I would have to construct, and finding just the right video card that would output the correct refresh rates. So, instead, I bought an Eygo 19"
    VGA arcade monitor. I bought this from eBay, and haven't seen any more available anywhere else in that size. What this monitor meant was that I could slip it right into the jukebox without any modification, and attach my computer to it. I was limited to 640x480, but that was ok as I was only running the jukebox program. Step five completed!

    Along the edges of the cabinet is something called t-molding. This stuff is purely
    decorative, and isn't necessary. I could have papered over it, or wood filled and painted
    it, but I chose to simply replace the t-molding with new t-molding. One problem with this. t-molding has teeth that grip the wood, and keep it from slipping out of place. When I removed the t-molding, the slot that it inserted into became wider as it pulled some of the old wood out with it. The new t-molding I got wouldn't fit right.
    Luckily, I had heard of this problem before and knew exactly what to do. I broke out my
    trusty hot glue gun and started gluing the t-molding into place. This worked really well,
    although, I may never be able to remove the t-molding again! Step six completed!

    I needed a marquee for the top of the machine, to tell people what it was. This was going to be difficult, i suspected, but it really wasn't.
    I was tempted to print up my own marquee on transparencies, but figured that when I printed
    black, light would shine through too much and look washed out. Screen printing wasn't
    an option as it was quite costly. I found a place called Photo Arts nearby which used a very large HP plotter to print with specialized UV resistant ink. The black was solid. That was important. They could also print it in one piece, which was another plus. On top of all that, I was able to supply my own artwork to them, so I didn't have to pay any design charges! The total cost for this was $28 for two of them. I bought a piece of plexiglass at my local hardware store and had them cut it to the correct size. I mounted the marquee behind the plexi, and put it into place. The light was already in the cabinet, and worked, so didn't
    need to be replaced. Worked like a charm. Step seven completed!

    Next step was to get the controls. I used a 4-way joystick and 4 buttons from Happ Controls . I already had these items in my inventory (I collect and fix these games, so I have a lot of this stuff laying around.) I installed the joystick and 4 buttons into the control panel. Step eight completed!

    Ok, everything is ready. All I need now is a way to tie it all together. That is where
    a device called the i-Pac came in. This is a very well designed device that allows me to hook up arcade joysticks and buttons, and program them to work as regular keypresses. It connects to the standard keyboard port, and allows me to connect a keyboard as it has a passthrough port, but a keyboard isn't needed once it is programmed. Programming the thing is a very easy process with the programming
    software included with the device. The device itself is printed with wiring instructions,
    and connecting it all together is VERY simple. Don't be intimidated by the wiring. You don't even have to do any soldering! Just crimp on some connectors to slip onto the joystick/buttons, and at the other end, they just screw right into the i-Pac using a screwdown type wiring block. It really couldn't be much easier. And since I don't need a mouse, this solution works perfectly. If I did, however, need a mouse, I could use an arcade trackball and an optipacdevice from the same company. Step nine done!

    I used a 5 piece set of Altec Lansing speakers as my speaker system. There are two satellite speakers, two surround speakers and a subwoofer. Believe it or not, they sound GREAT. The subwoofer sits on the floor of the cabinet. The two satellites are run up the cabinet and are visible hanging above the monitor area. The volume control is on the right speaker. The two surround speakers are in front of that big hole that the coin door created, sitting on top of the computer case. All of the speakers are held into place using double sided tape, and thus far, no movement has occurred, except for the internal speakers as I have reached in many times playing and tweaking the unit. I didn't want that big hole there, so I bought a large picture frame and covered it with speaker grille fabric I found at Radio Shack. I screwed the frame into place from behind so no screws are visible from the outside. Step ten done!

    I also wanted to be able to connect this to my home network to easily add songs, and
    use it as a music server if I ever chose to. So, I made a cat 5 cable with an RJ45 connector on one end, and a port on the other. I mounted a 4 slotted plate to the back of the cabinet, and put the port into place. This extended the network port to the outside of the cabinet, and allows me to connect it to my network. I also wanted to be able to connect it to an external stereo system, so I used a 'Y' adapter for the speakers. The speakers connect to one side of the 'Y', while the other side goes right into one of the four slots. This allows me to connect the cabinet to an external stereo if I choose to at a later date. Or, I can transmit the sound, wirelessly, to my stereo in the house.
    I also ran the MIC jack to the outside, too. Not sure why yet, though I could use it as an input at some point for another audio device if I needed to. Step 11 completed!

    I also purchased a really cool power strip (sorry, I don't have the URL) that when it senses power on one plug, it powers the other plugs.
    This was good because I plug everything into the other plugs, and the computer into the power sensing plug. I then ran a pair of wires from the POWER pins on my motherboard to a momentary switch mounted on the top of the cabinet. One press and everything comes on.

    All that was needed now was to set up the software, which was as simple as editing
    an ini file, and put the thing in the startup group. I am using Windows 98 for this
    machine as I don't need anything more than that. After that, I used a different contac paper to define the control panel, and printed up an instruction sheet.

    To control the player, you move the joystick up/down/left/right. This will highlight the next song in the list, or move to the right side
    (as the list is displayed in two columns.) Button one queues a song, button 2 removes the currently playing song, button 3 removes
    all songs from the queue, and button 4 has a dual purpose. Pressing it alone will go down the list to the next letter in alphabetical order, and pressing it up while holding the joystick UP will move up the next letter in the list alphabetically. People have been able to use this thing rather easily with very little instruction from me. This has allowed me to drink more beer at my parties. Now you understand the need. :) As an added bonus, I can play many MAME games on it, though I only installed mostly classics which require less than 4 buttons.

    Overall, this was an easier project than I expected it to be, and I recommend it to anyone that wants to try it out. It isn't terribly expensive, except for the computer. You can easily use a regular computer monitor if you wanted to.. I just wanted it to be more authentic.

    Feel free to post any questions and I'll be happy to help out!

    Below are a few pictures. Before and after shots of the cabinet, and a shot of the inside
    looking down from the front. It's pretty packed in there. The whole front lifts up to allow easy access to the inside, as well as the back comes off of the cabinet.

  • Jubei (Score:2, Insightful)

    by vandemar ( 82106 )
    I still think cmdrtaco's mame cabinet [cmdrtaco.net] looks better. As far as I know, I doesn't play MP3s just yet, but that can be worked out in the software, right?
    • Perhaps it does look better... but I didn't build it to be a MAME cabinet.. it is dedicated to MP3 playing... it CAN do MAME (and has it installed), but generally, it isn't used for it. My mame cabinet I am building is similar to cmdrtaco's...

  • For my mom.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by doubtless ( 267357 ) on Sunday April 14, 2002 @10:43AM (#3338853) Homepage
    I think I will start a project to build an mp3 player out of a microwave, since she doesn't play video games and have no clue how to operate a stereo.

  • Lame friends (Score:1, Funny)

    by wrt ( 530301 )
    make you do mame things.
  • I thought that they are suppose to get smaller. I'd say that this is a step backwards. Unless you can get some nice visual plugins going on the arcade screen :P

  • Someone should MAME this guy... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Caractacus Potts ( 74726 ) on Sunday April 14, 2002 @10:54AM (#3338876)

    ...for putting N-Sync on such a cool machine.

    • for putting Win98 on this machine..

      I am using Windows 98 for this machine as I don't need anything more than that.

      Wonder how long it will be before he adds another button programmed with "Ctrl-Alt-Del"..

  • Welcome to my comment! (Score:3, Funny)

    by barole ( 35839 ) on Sunday April 14, 2002 @10:56AM (#3338879)
    Check slashdot for new stories. See a new story about homebrew mp3 player. Step one completed!

    Click on the link and read the story. Step two completed!

    Read the article from start to end. Step three completed!

    Click on the link to read the slashdot comments. Step four completed!

    See that noone else made the same remark as me. Step five completed!

    Post sardonic comment about authors writing style. Step six completed!

    • That caught my eye when I was reading the article. Actually, it bugged me. In a way, it reminds me of the arcade games that would say something like Stage 4 Complete!! .

      Anyhow, a moderation of off-topic for his post is incorrect. It is commenting on the story. And frankly, I found it a bit funny. Player 2, Ready!!

  • Kinda neat (Score:3)

    by Sc00ter ( 99550 ) on Sunday April 14, 2002 @10:56AM (#3338880) Homepage
    but it would be much cooler if he hacked an real jukebox to play MP3s and use the interface of the jukebox :)

    Also, how do you even hear the music coming from that thing when you playing video games? wouldn't all his arcade machines, and the mame machine kinda drown it out?

    Still neat.

    • There's this thing called a volume control. With a good set of speakers (Altec Lansings should be good enough) he can turn the volume knob clockwise, (some go all the way to eleven) and make the sound coming out of the speakers louder. Really, really loud if he wants. I've got a couple of cheap Bose speakers at home and I can't turn the knob above 3 on my stereo (townhouse) without annoying the neighbors. I doubt you'd be able to hear anything short of a gun going off at close range if I cranked it up to around 8 or so.

      Seems like his problem is more in finding a good balance between the loudness of the music and people playing the games being able to hear what's going on. I can't remember too many arcade games that require you to hear them, though. In fact, I can't remember any. Of course, I stopped playing them around 1985, so perhaps the later ones required it.

      Actually, the article didn't mention how he controls volume. Good question. Never mind.

  • Consequences... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Linuxthess ( 529239 )
    RIAA will sue his ass faster then you can say CBDTPA.

    Funny, this law doesn't happen to help this consumer in any such way.

    ---------------

  • Mirror (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Here is a mirror [yimg.com]
  • I mamed [beimborn.com] a japanese Jamma cabinet, it was only time-consuming, not difficult. At the time I first did it, I used a dos/windows-based setup, but since then I've experimented with making a linux mame cabinet using the linux advance mame [sourceforge.net]. Works really well. The only holes I have left in my setup are getting a 640x480x15.75khz framebuffer console, and the same mode for an Xserver. Adding the ability to play mp3s is pretty simple once you have the whole OS in, I was worried about stuff like "What if someone cracks into it over the 802.11b link and changes my dip switch settings while I'm playing a marathon PacMan session" :)
  • info on the software he used: http://home.att.net/~mark.schwartz/ [att.net].
    • Everybody looking into building a jukebox or even just a web-based music repository should check out Andromeda (http://www.turnstyle.com/andromeda/).

      It's a single php-file that you just throw in with whatever web server you're using, and it'll show all files in a neatly organized tree structure and allow direct listening, playlist management, etc.

      //EPrime

  • No challenge here. (Score:3)

    by mj01nir ( 153067 ) on Sunday April 14, 2002 @11:43AM (#3339011)
    It is an Athlon 1.2Ghz machine, 128 Megs ram, and a 20 gig harddrive.

    Bah. Real men setup MP3 / Ogg players in 16 Megs of flash [ia1hacking.com].
    • I can't get to the page to see exactly what the functionality of this thing is so excuse me if this is a silly question.

      Does an MP3 box really need a 1.2Ghz processor and 128 megs of RAM? It seems a tad excessive. I know these things are pretty cheap these days but even so, it seems a bit overkill.

      Claric
      • I thought it was overkill, too. Later in the article he mentions using it as a MAME box sometimes. I don't MAME, but I imagine that's where the extra cycles go :)
  • My company actually build and sell machines like these here in Brazil (www.ponto-i.net - page in portuguese). It has only four buttons (A bit tricky to name musics, but the simpler the better), 1800 watt sound (much better than creative 5:1 speakers), can rip and store CDs, has visualization plugins and use normal 21" or 29" cabinets (no vga!) monitors. Its built on top of linux, with linuxbios (3 secon boot), and SDL graphical interface.
  • The neat reference in that article is Ultimarc [ultimarc.com], which sells USB interfaces for arcade game peripherals. That's useful for a whole range of kiosk applications.

    Selecting from a menu with a joystick is lame. A knob would be much better. I'm surprised that he didn't use a knob, after going to all that trouble to build a control panel.

    If you're going to go all the way, go with force feedback knob. [snibbe.com] It's more intutive than visual feedback, and thus better for kiosk systems. You can make the detents and limits feelable.

    • I chose the joystick for a couple reasons... 1. I had it in my mind that I was also going to do MAME on it.. it does it, I just don't use it for that as much as I expected. 2. The non-computer people are much more comfortable with moving a joystick up/down/left/right and having a similar action happen on the screen.. it was for ease of use.. I agree, however, a knob would be better.. and perhaps I will add a knob at a later date...
      • A joystick is a velocity input device. Mice, trackballs, and knobs are positional devices. For selection, a positional device beats a velocity device.

        Knobs are underused as input devices. People like knobs; they're intutive and fun to twiddle. And if you mount a servomotor on the shaft, you can give them detents and stops via software.

    • Maybe he could have used a trackball instead.
      At least one arcade machine has used a trackball before (Centipede?). And for many people it would be easier to use.
    • Ok, everything is ready. All I need now is a way to tie it all together. That is where
      a device called the i-Pac came in. This is a very well designed device that allows me to hook up arcade joysticks and buttons, and program them to work as regular keypresses. It connects to the standard keyboard port, and allows me to connect a keyboard as it has a passthrough port, but a keyboard isn't needed once it is programmed. Programming the thing is a very easy process with the programming
      software included with the device. The device itself is printed with wiring instructions,
      and connecting it all together is VERY simple. Don't be intimidated by the wiring. You don't even have to do any soldering! Just crimp on some connectors to slip onto the joystick/buttons, and at the other end, they just screw right into the i-Pac using a screwdown type wiring block. It really couldn't be much easier. And since I don't need a mouse, this solution works perfectly. If I did, however, need a mouse, I could use an arcade trackball and an optipacdevice from the same company. Step nine done!

      He thinks he doesn't need a mouse, I would disagree, but thats just me. I guess the idea is that joysticks are more intuitive to arcaders than meece are.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • How boring. When I saw the headline I visulized a _real_ jukebox, filled with CD's.
  • I wonder if Columbia house will start a 12 Mp3's for a penny campaign.
  • It is an Athlon 1.2Ghz machine, 128 Megs ram, and a 20 gig harddrive. a bit overpowered, [?understoraged?] for an mp3 box, no?
    • Actually.. it has the ability to do many different things from MP3 playback to mame to dvd playback.. but I didn't mention all that stuff as I don't usually use it for that... It is also an MP3 server for my network, when it is running... so.. no, it's not too overpowered.. then again, parts are cheap....
  • i was at a bar in sioux city iowa were they had a machine like this allready. it was just like a juke box self suffecint. for $5 you got 20 songs or so. on the box was a plaque claiming the mp3's were played for, i cant realy remember what it was called at all... i will ask my gf when she comes home and post a response

    it had speakers all pre built in and it was touch screen, fairly easy to use...playlist was simple, select what you want to hear in the order you want to hear it, just like a juke box only it was an mp3 player
  • Strange how he describes everything as if he pulled the research for this project right out of thin, thank-less air. Chances are close to 100% that anyone who has put together a MAME machine has spent many hours going over the countless examples and helpful websites listed at the mecca website for cabinet fanatics: http://www.arcadecontrols.com ...personally I consider it quite rude to URL out where you bought X piece and Y joystick without leading readers back to the places you found your information in the first place. Selective hyperlinks might make you look like an intellectual superior and give outstanding bragging rights, but it does very little to actually get answers in the hands of fellow enthusiasts.

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