Push/Pull Spinner Success?

[bankshot]

Just wondering if anyone has had any luck getting a push/pull spinner working right in MiSTer for the games that originally used them (Discs Of Tron, Forgotten Worlds, Eco Fighters)? I haven't seen any discussion on these since end of 2021.

The GRS version comes with its own USB interface and it can configured in 2 modes:

1.) The push and pull functions of the spinner send a mouse left click and a mouse right click.

2.) The push and pull functions of the spinner send regular button output, but require an additional encoder board (Arduino Pro Micro?).

Please let me know if you've had any success!

[thorr]

Just wondering if anyone has had any luck getting a push/pull spinner working right in MiSTer for the games that originally used them

There were a few versions of this, and I helped GRS make the changes so it would work with the MiSTer. The version I have is not the latest. Essentially, the way it works is you use an Arduino for the Tron Joystick and the up/down connections on the DOT spinner that are wired to the Arduino (connected to the MiSTer via USB) and programmed as joystick buttons, and you connect the DOT spinner also via USB to the MiSTer for the spinner function. I have not yet completed my DOT arcade panel because I am waiting for the DOT joystick to be available on Amazon so I can save on shipping costs.

[bankshot]

Thanks thorr! It's a bit of a crazy kludge to take button presses from the spinner and tack on to the joystick USB board, but hey if it works, it works Appreciate you helping GRS find a solution. Fortunately I waited long enough to buy mine so that the breakout button board was included in the box.

I would love to see the code if you don't mind sharing it so I don't have to reinvent the wheel. (I have a couple of Pro Micro boards and a couple of Teensy boards in hand.) Theoretically, any flight stick that has trigger and hat buttons should do the job. That being said, I too am waiting on the DOT sticks from GRS, hopefully they are on sale by summer.

[thorr]

I would love to see the code if you don't mind sharing it so I don't have to reinvent the wheel.

I haven't developed it yet, but probably I will just use the daemonbite code and connect the Tron joystick and buttons, and the DOT up/down to it. https://github.com/MickGyver/DaemonBite-Arcade-Encoder

Also, it might have changed later, but my work in progress DOT spinner up/down had polarity to it, meaning you couldn't hook the two pins backwards. The ground pin on the spinner's up/down had to go to ground.

[tnk]

I received the GRS Push / Pull spinner some weeks ago and first I tried using it on MiSTer, but it looked like MiSter didn't even detect it. Then I connected it to my PC, downloaded MAME and started using it with Forgotten Worlds and I haven't tried it with MiSTer again. Anyway, finding the "correct" sensibility is being quite hard on MAME, and I imagine that if somehow I manage to use it on MiSTer it will be even harder to configure the sensibility.

[MikkyTee]

I have the ultimarc spinner and it works very well with coinops/mame. Never tried it with mister. There is a site which gives the right settings for mame, I also added some felt to the bottom of the spinner to make it feel like it was geared as the original machines were. That did make a huge difference to the feel overall.

[UrkelMoeDee]

I use the GRS push/pull spinner (v1) in my MiSTer setup with no additional hardware. In most games, both the pull and push actions register as button 1 presses, but in Jotego’s cores, a pull registers as both button 1 and 2, which has the unexpected side effect of an infinite spin + fire action in Forgotten Worlds and Eco Fighters. I wonder if MiSTer reads the push and pull actions as separate buttons with the v2 spinner.

[tnk]

I use the GRS push/pull spinner (v1) in my MiSTer setup with no additional hardware. In most games, both the pull and push actions register as button 1 presses, but in Jotego’s cores, a pull registers as both button 1 and 2, which has the unexpected side effect of an infinite spin + fire action in Forgotten Worlds and Eco Fighters. I wonder if MiSTer reads the push and pull actions as separate buttons with the v2 spinner.

From Capcom Fandom Wiki:

"The controls in the original coin-op version consists of an eight-way joystick for moving the character in the air while flying and a unique rotatable button known as the Roll Switch (ローリングスイッチ Rōringu Suitchi?). Rotating the switch left or right allows the player to adjust their character's aim in one of sixteen directions, while pressing it causes the player character to shoot his gun. This allows for the player to move their character anywhere while keeping their aim in one direction. Pressing the switch rapidly will cause the character to perform a Mega Crush (メガクラッシュ Mega Kurasshu?) attack which will destroy all on-screen enemies, but at the expense of a portion of their vitality gauge."

Maybe Jotego added a shortcut to activate the Mega Crush when pressing Button 1 and 2? Anyway, the Roll Switch is not supposed to be pulled. Disks of Tron may be a better game to see if works properly or not.

I do have the V2 of the GRS Push/Pull Spinner, I will have to try it again. Did you have to configure anything on MiSTer to be able to use? I remember enablig the spinner on the individual cores but not being able to use it at all.

[Flandango]

I use the V2 of the GRS Push/Pull Spinner and the only thing I had to do was add the spinner_vid and spinner_pid in MiSTer.ini.
I use the default configuration for the spinner (i.e. didn't use the Spinner Configuration Tool) and Mister reads it as a Left/Right mouse button press when you push/pull the spinner.
I use it mostly with Forgotten Worlds along with a joystick for movement. I push the spinner and it shoots as expected.

[tnk]

I use the V2 of the GRS Push/Pull Spinner and the only thing I had to do was add the spinner_vid and spinner_pid in MiSTer.ini.
I use the default configuration for the spinner (i.e. didn't use the Spinner Configuration Tool) and Mister reads it as a Left/Right mouse button press when you push/pull the spinner.
I use it mostly with Forgotten Worlds along with a joystick for movement. I push the spinner and it shoots as expected.

Thank you Flandando! I didn't even know that I had to enable it in MiSTer.ini

Could you please share the values you entered on spinner_vid, spinner_pid and specially on spinner_throttle?

I will try with 0xFFFF on vid and pid, but if you already found a throttle value that works for you in forgotten worlds, I would like to start trying with that same value.

Thank you again!

[Flandango]

Could you please share the values you entered on spinner_vid, spinner_pid and specially on spinner_throttle?

I will try with 0xFFFF on vid and pid, but if you already found a throttle value that works for you in forgotten worlds, I would like to start trying with that same value.

If you use 0xFFFF for the spinner vid/pid, it will use all your mice (and in my case, Trackballs) as spinners...but I then issues with cores that I just wanted to use the mouse and it will act erratic.
My vid/pid values are : 32be/1521....but to make sure they match yours (just in case there are variances), get onto the Mister Terminal (F9 from Main OSD or SSH into it), log in and then type this command:

Code: Select all

lsusb | grep Baolian

You should see something like this:

Code: Select all

Bus 001 Device 007: ID 32be:1521 Baolian industry Co., Ltd. TS-DOT-02

As for spinner_throttle, I kept the default value and for the most part is suits me on Forgotten Worlds.

[tnk]

Thank you! I will try it this saturday.