Taito Egret II Mini Rollerball/Spinner Controller

[holaplaneta]

Hi, with the help of Jimmy Stones 400% mod on centipede core, I did a 800% version core:
https://github.com/funkycochise/Insert- ... ntipede.7z

Thank you so much for this. I am really enjoying this neat spinner/trackball controller but as others mentioned, Centipede is too slow. I downloaded this fixed core "Arcade-Centipede.rbf" and the .mras and placed them in their correct folders. However, even after running Updating All, I must confess that I can't find this version of the game on my OSD.

I know, it is a very simple and beginner-like question. I looked online and could not find an answer.
What else do I need to do for the MiSTer to list this patched core?

Thank you for your guidance.

[AmintaMister]

Hi there, my Taito Egret II Mini Rollerball/Spinner Controller just arrived today. What about the wonderful Crystal Castles? Even at 200% is a bit slow to play with trackball, it would be possible to change globally the value or to make a special Crystal Castles .rbf?

And what about Breakout and Missile Command?

Thanks in advance,

Davide

[jaffa225man]

Hi, with the help of Jimmy Stones 400% mod on centipede core, I did a 800% version core:
https://github.com/funkycochise/Insert- ... ntipede.7z

Thank you so much for this. I am really enjoying this neat spinner/trackball controller but as others mentioned, Centipede is too slow. I downloaded this fixed core "Arcade-Centipede.rbf" and the .mras and placed them in their correct folders. However, even after running Updating All, I must confess that I can't find this version of the game on my OSD.

I know, it is a very simple and beginner-like question. I looked online and could not find an answer.
What else do I need to do for the MiSTer to list this patched core?

Thank you for your guidance.

I was having the same problem, until I looked in the _Arcade\cores\ directory and saw the Arcade-Centipede.rbf that I'd copied from the modified version didn't match the other files for the naming. After renaming my original Centipede_$DATE.rbf to Centipede_$DATE.rbf.bak (replace "$DATE" with yours) and renaming the modified Arcade-Centipede.rbf to the old file's original name (before the ".bak" was added) it works! Then I was able to skip right from 400% to 800% in the OSD for the Centipede cores by moving to that setting and pressing the "Ok" button setup on any controller.

I didn't try running "Update All", thinking that it could replace the modified version with the latest official/unmodified version.

[froggy]

I got the Taito Egret II Mini standalone arcade stick while it became somewhat reasonably priced. It's the closest in design to what I'd consider my ideal arcade stick, hardware wise. I am really into the switchable square gate / + gate.

Found this thread while searching for info on it. I may resolder all the hardware with a universal brooks board-- I had no idea it works with absolutely no device other than the egret II mini.

I imagine there's a likelihood that drivers for windows, mister support, and brook adapter support could be added for the stick as well as the rotary/trackball controller, but it could take quite some time-- the install base is still growing.

Even if it's functionally a potato until I swap in a universal board, it's got great arcade hardware inside a beautiful chassis, and I don't see the price going any way but up, so it's worth holding on to for modding.

Does anyone here have the Taito EGRET Ⅱ Mini - Control Panel as well? Any experience using it for anything besides the Mini console itself?

[this is my first post on the forum, hello! I've been around the block, just haven't had the need to discuss on this specific forum yet hehe. Mostly when it comes to mister I am discussing it elsewhere, on IC forums, and smokemonster's discord which no longer exists.]

[PikWik]

I got the Taito Egret II Mini standalone arcade stick while it became somewhat reasonably priced. It's the closest in design to what I'd consider my ideal arcade stick, hardware wise. I am really into the switchable square gate / + gate.

Found this thread while searching for info on it. I may resolder all the hardware with a universal brooks board-- I had no idea it works with absolutely no device other than the egret II mini.

I imagine there's a likelihood that drivers for windows, mister support, and brook adapter support could be added for the stick as well as the rotary/trackball controller, but it could take quite some time-- the install base is still growing.

Even if it's functionally a potato until I swap in a universal board, it's got great arcade hardware inside a beautiful chassis, and I don't see the price going any way but up, so it's worth holding on to for modding.

Does anyone here have the Taito EGRET Ⅱ Mini - Control Panel as well? Any experience using it for anything besides the Mini console itself?

[this is my first post on the forum, hello! I've been around the block, just haven't had the need to discuss on this specific forum yet hehe. Mostly when it comes to mister I am discussing it elsewhere, on IC forums, and smokemonster's discord which no longer exists.]

hey there!

if you were thinking about swapping the internals with a UFB, id also consider swapping it with a much cheaper option of a daemonbite or a GP2040. both are ~$5 and will cover so much for the exact same input latency as the UFB (i have a couple UFBs and a couple daemonbite adapters)

https://github.com/MickGyver/DaemonBite-Arcade-Encoder
https://github.com/OpenStickCommunity/GP2040-CE

[Lightwave]

I got the Taito Egret II Mini standalone arcade stick-- I had no idea it works with absolutely no device other than the egret II mini.

This isn’t true, the stick works just fine with MiSTer; there are several people in the MiSTer discord using it.

Make sure you map it in the MiSTer main menu before using it with any of the cores.

[froggy]

Apparently the arcade stick works on PC as well, but it doesn't seem to work straight out of the box for me, and I'm not sure what else needs to be done for it to work.

[KnuckleheadFlow]

That’s weird, the egret II stick worked right away for me too, just have to map it like all other controllers. Pretty sure PC too but it’s been more than a year since I tried.

[offset]

thought about the Egret II trackball and spinner for the holidays, but not sure if it works with mister or not. Can anyone confirm its functionality with mister (or mame). Thanks!

[Lightwave]

thought about the Egret II trackball and spinner for the holidays, but not sure if it works with mister or not. Can anyone confirm its functionality with mister (or mame). Thanks!

I can confirm the controller works with MiSTer (after a settings change in mister.ini).

One thing to note is that the track ball is slow by default, though there are settings for certain cores that can mitigate this to a degree. The spinner works fine and its sensitivity is easily tweakable.

[offset]

thought about the Egret II trackball and spinner for the holidays, but not sure if it works with mister or not. Can anyone confirm its functionality with mister (or mame). Thanks!

I can confirm the controller works with MiSTer (after a settings change in mister.ini).

One thing to note is that the track ball is slow by default, though there are settings for certain cores that can mitigate this to a degree. The spinner works fine and its sensitivity is easily tweakable.

Thanks for the info.

I have a full size Centipede arcade (and hoping Millipede will make it to Mister one day). Using my x-arcade tankstick with my mister and centipede trackball at 400% it seems pretty close. Not sure how the egret trackball speed will feel, just looking for a smaller trackball for my desk setup with Mister.

[Lightwave]

centipede trackball at 400% it seems pretty close.

There is an unofficial Centipede core build with an 800% option, which is pretty much required (along with mousethrottle=0) to get Centipede playable with this controller.

I'm hoping that mouse acceleration (negative throttle) gets added to MiSTer at some point, which would resolve the issue.

The spinner does work well for Arkanoid, which is my primary use for the controller. (Puzz Loop 2 is great as well)

[Bristles]

We need mouse support for the Tron games, as it is at the moment only working with actual spinners, not spinners seen as mice. I have a lot of affection for the Tron games, and it saddens me that it gets no love.
Also, can mousethrottle be set top 0 ? I thought it had to be from 1 - 100 ?

[Lightwave]

Also, can mousethrottle be set top 0 ? I thought it had to be from 1 - 100 ?

I was going from memory but you are correct, 1 is actually the minimum value (according to mister.ini)

[Newsdee]

Can anyone confirm its functionality with mister (or mame). Thanks!

Yes it works after a few tweaks.

The controller is recognized by default by MiSTer only with the trackball.
You will need to change some INI settings to get the spinner to work as well.

So far I tried it successfully with:

• Apple II core (set "Paddle as Analog" to "X")

• NES core (set controller type to "Vaus")

• arkanoid core (set "Pad Control" to Spinner)

The spinner is activated by editing the INI.
I've done it per core, but you could it centrally:

[arkanoid]
spinner_axis=2
spinner_vid=0x0ae4
spinner_pid=0x0701
spinner_throttle=100

[NES]
spinner_axis=2
spinner_vid=0x0ae4
spinner_pid=0x0701
spinner_throttle=100

[Apple-II]
spinner_axis=2
spinner_vid=0x0ae4
spinner_pid=0x0701
spinner_throttle=100

[offset]

Thanks for the information, got this today and have been playing arkanoid with the spinner

Going to download the 800% centipede rbf and see how I like it. 400% on this smaller trackball does seem a tad slower than it should be. The trackball is definitely smaller and lighter than my x-arcade game trackball. Took me a bit to get used to not being able to use the trackball weight for momentum. This trackball basically stops spinning as soon as your hand leaves the trackball due to being much lighter.

I figured out that for each Config I need to add the extra per game ini settings listed earlier. Forgot to populate the .ini settings to each of my profiles that I'll be using (ie. television, ipad screen, pc monitor).

Curious if there is a way to include the .ini settings in the mra file so that it works independent of screen output.

[offset]

The 800% Centipede rbf works great with this controller. Where is the github link to the modified Centipede? Has anyone requested a PR to get it merged with the mainline Centipede core?

[jaffa225man]

The 800% Centipede rbf works great with this controller. Where is the github link to the modified Centipede? Has anyone requested a PR to get it merged with the mainline Centipede core?

I relinked to it before, although it's funkycochise's work: https://github.com/funkycochise/Insert- ... ntipede.7z

You can find the original post here: viewtopic.php?p=69652#p69652

I don't know if there was an effort to get it merged.

[ptiphl]

Hi, with the help of Jimmy Stones 400% mod on centipede core, I did a 800% version core:
https://github.com/funkycochise/Insert- ... ntipede.7z

with CPS1 and CPS2 cores of yesterday evening, it's working with these games. Tested OK puzzloop 2, forgotten worlds, eco fighter

@funkycochise, Any hints on how you managed this mod? The 800% Centipede works great with the GRS Trackball. Missile Command and Crystal Castles need the same treatment.

[Stinky]

It would be better to have a global accelerator setting, like mouse_throttle but the other way.

[Krathoon]

Yeah. I am going to have to get this controller. Can't pass up the dragon game.

[Flottenheimer]

Months later.

I'd love to set up my Taito Mini trackball/spinner on the MiSTer. Updates that affect this device might have happened to MiSTer in the meantime...

What is the current/easiest method? (Step by step)
Will I need to become a theypsilon Patreon for this to work?

Any guidance would be much appreciated.

[killersquirel]

I read on the MiSTer Facebook group that this controller is officially supported. I tried plugging mine in and trying arkanoid and nothing happened. What is the easiest way to get this controller working on a MiSTer?

[jamespo]

I read on the MiSTer Facebook group that this controller is officially supported. I tried plugging mine in and trying arkanoid and nothing happened. What is the easiest way to get this controller working on a MiSTer?

put the conf in as above

[Fredpoulpe]

Arkanoid 2 - revenge of Doh (Jotego Core) feels weird with the spinner. Feels like the movement is neither smooth or realtime. I tried multiple settings but none seems good. What are yours? or is that an issue with the spinner hardware itself?

[mukiex]

Arkanoid 2 - revenge of Doh (Jotego Core) feels weird with the spinner. Feels like the movement is neither smooth or realtime. I tried multiple settings but none seems good. What are yours? or is that an issue with the spinner hardware itself?

So, a couple points to keep in mind:

1. This is a rotary encoder behaving like a potentiometer. A pot basically hands out a ratio of 0-100 of its total turn, whereas a rotary encoder basically just sends "I'm going left" and "I'm going right". While a rotary encoder can feel like a pot, it's possible there could be some loss in the translation.
2. The Egret II trackball controller actually sends out the mouse scroll wheel output rather than actual rotary encoding on its spinner dial, so this might muddy things up further.
3. That said, arcade Arkanoid should actually be a rotary encoder, so you're basically turning a rotary encoder into a potentiometer into a rotary encoder. Check to see if NES Arkanoid feels better in that regard. SNES Arkanoid is mouse-based, so I'm not sure if you can use a Mr. Spinner there.
4. Because they're natively mice, 2 controllers won't work at the same time. The buttons will work, but the spinner axis won't work on the 2nd controller. That makes me kinda sad.

I've tried messing with the throttle. 50 felt too fast and 100 felt too slow. Gonna try 75. That said, Puchi Carat on Playstation with the controller set to neGcon (set the left Egret button as "neGcon Start" and the right button as "neGcon A") felt surprisingly good even at 50, and I have a Namco Volume controller (along with a real neGcon) so I had a good point of comparison. Just add a [PSX] section to MiSTer.ini with the same settings as the others.

Also BIG HUGE thanks to Sorgelig for adding this. It made my day to find out about it after kinda sleeping on this thread for months.

[mukiex]

Okay, I've tried OG Arkanoid, NES Arkanoid, and PSX Puchi Carat, all with the Egret II Mini spinner controller with a throttle of 75.

It feels PERFECT. Will try Akranoid II next but if it's funky, it's probably not the MiSTer end of it.

edit: Yeah, it's the Jotego core. I added a [jtkiwi] section with the same settings as the others. I don't know what he's doing when Mr. Spinner type input comes in, but it's really odd. The Arkanoid arcade core doesn't have trouble with this and neither does Puchi Carat or Arkanoid Returns on Playstation (which admittedly are all pot-style/spinner controls with the neGcon protocol).

There's multiple sensitivity options between Lowest/Low/High/Highest on the Arkanoid II core and they all feel like playing through jelly. I would check with Jotego to see if he's implementing some kind of movement/speed curve, because that's the first thing you would basically wanna disable for this core to feel right on this controller with these settings.

What's funny is that with the spinner trick disabled, the trackball on this controller works with the core PERFECTLY.

[LeftEmpty]

It would be better to have a global accelerator setting, like mouse_throttle but the other way.

I totally subscribe to this point of view. With the per core ini setting, would make it very sweet for everyone to customize the sensibility to their taste too.

[Stinky]

It would be better to have a global accelerator setting, like mouse_throttle but the other way.

I totally subscribe to this point of view. With the per core ini setting, would make it very sweet for everyone to customize the sensibility to their taste too.

I put in a feature request but sorgelig said it wasn't practical.

[mukiex]

A potential, albeit messy solution for some:

There exists an RP2040 app that lets you remap a mouse, called HID-Remapper. I programmed mine to turn the egret controller into a useful mouse, insofar as the spinner moves the X axis, the trackball sensitivity is much higher, and the left/right buttons are their respective mouse click. Also the mini buttons are 5/1/F1, because the original idea was to fix RetroArch for the F3 core.

The hardest thing, really, is making the device. It’s not trivial without soldering and while Adafruit makes a Pi Pico with a USB host port, it’s probably like $25 after shipping and doesn’t come with a case or even a micro USB cable.

I’m legitimately surprised that nobody makes a “Brook adapter”-like version.

However:

1. On Arkanoid 2 arcade core this “fixed” mouse works much more reliably than the spinner hack, probably because the arcade machine didn’t use a pot but a rotary encoder, if I were to guess.

2. On Puchi Carat for PlayStation, you can use the Spinner hack for a vanilla controller, with player 1 set to neGcon, and this “fixed” controller set to PlayStation mouse. The biggest pain tho, is tweaking the throttle/mouse speed so they both feel the same for a fair play session.

Anyhoo, this hardware would both make it use this controller as a mouse, and to use two of these controllers on 1 MiSTer. Also if I find a throttle/spin speed tweak that feels fair across both, I’ll post them here.