Arcade update

So, I've started building my arcade again. Recent set backs have included:

 A nice big scratch down the side of the case. I just need to respray it.

 Hardware problems, the motherboard and screen have been in storage for 2 years and don't go any more. I've got a replacement board from an old work computer, but no screen yet.

A framebuffer issue with advmenu. The driver for the old board seemed to have a compatible framebuffer driver, but the current board doesn't. I did extensive research but was unable to find a solution.I believe the solution may be to either use svgalib or use an xwindows driver to allow advmenu to display. What I've done instead is install groovyarcade (after trying the advance CD distribution, which I couldn't compile). I've set up groovyarcade with all of my settings files, installed fceux and updated advmenu to the most recent version.
 Even on groovyarcade, you need to run advmenu under xwindows (using the 'startx' command) as it has the same framebuffer issue. I'll test it out with svgalib and see if I can figure out how to get advmenu going with windows, as a window manager.

My Cardboard Rift/Moculous/Boxulous

My Cardboard Rift/Moculous/Boxulous

So, I have a cardboard rift which I am going to use for Skyrim (I'm very excited!)

I bought a google cardboard from the internet. It needs modification as I wear glasses and they get smushed when I am wearing it. Just some padding to keep it off my face should be enough.

To get Skyrim on my phone, I've used:

This is mostly cribbed from this post, with Trinus VR replacing Kainy
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2bo4jx/google_cardboardbased_diy_rift_works_with_amd/

Trinus VR (http://trinusvr.com/) plus the android app: (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.loxai.trinus.full)

I'm just using the free version at the moment, it gives an hour of use for free.
The interface is kid of ugly, there was a version before called Trinus Gyre which looked much better, but whatever. Trinus has built-in screen splitting, so no need for a screen splitter such as Tridef. It also doesn't play the audio through the headset, so it will play through the computer speakers or headphones instead. Trinus will let you play over Wifi or USB connection. I haven't experienced any latency with it yet.

I played with the mouse input with Trinus (which involves turning off the Windows application, changing the option and then turning it back on) but nothing worked.

To get the mouse tracking woking, I used FreePie (http://andersmalmgren.github.io/FreePIE/) and this script:http://pastebin.com/GUVfrbu7

I had an issue with the mouse not moving when FreePie wasn't focussed, but running it as admin as per this post (https://github.com/AndersMalmgren/FreePIE/issues/40) fixed that nicely.

I have yet to play an actual game of Skyrim, but its looking pretty promising.

Other applications to look into ( I tried these, I liked Trinus and Freepie best, they were simplest):
Tridef: screen splitter (https://www.tridef.com/cart/product.php?productid=3)
Kainy screen broadcaster (http://www.kainy.com/)
Riftcat screen broadcaster (https://riftcat.com/)
vireio screen splitter (http://www.mtbs3d.com/new-vireio-site)
Kinovr kind of worked, but would only run backwards

Update:

I have played skyrim, it's quite good fun! Some tips:
Set your interpupillary distance. I found the video quite blurry until it was changed.
The resolution isn't great still, so I'm going to have a play with the compression settings, it's currently (roughly) 75%.
Use a mouse. I thought I could get away with a mouse replacement, but at least in skyrim I still needed the mouse for autocentring/centring the screen, as well as using the mouse buttons.
I also will need some foam, as the Google cardboard squashed my glasses into my face. I also have the 2nd version of the cardboard, so I taped over the conductive button.

On the road again...

Wow, so I'm back onto working on my arcade box again. I've painted the cabinet (except I've made a huge scratch down the side plus not spraypainted the top of the underside, oops).
 On the plus side, the keyboard and joystick still work. I've redone the wiring so its no longer all tangled up.
I've found the hard drive and creaked out, because my install is no longer on it, and I thought all of my configs and files were lost! it turns out I'd installed windows 10 on the drive so I could get MarI/O to work. But now I have to reinstall debian and copy over the config files again.
 And then check which key does what, so I can fix it all up. I'm not actually sure I got that far, having a quick look at the advancemame config, it all looks wrong. Hmm.
 However, another bonus is I got the marquee printed up, and it actually looks pretty good when it is installed in the case! Plus I have (really ugly brown) rubber feet for the unit, which I purchased from a hardware shop. Yay me.
 I'll have to make sure I take an image of the hard drive, so when it dies I can redo it more easily. The other option I was exploring was making a bootable USB. The current motherboard I'm using is so old it won't boot to USB (but it was free, so who cares, right?)  This way I can update it easily with new ROMs when I like, or do patching or remove ROMs I don't like etc...