Pandora Box 3 Multi-Game 520-1 PCB

Electric Grave

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Dude, there's a lot of cabs like that. My favorite Dynamo has a nasty angle but it's my favorite Dynamo 'cause everything else is more streamlined and more functional than the others. So...it's a give and take, take the good with the bad sorta thing, like my posts.

Edit: Hope you're liking the PB so far.
 
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ShootTheCore

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Since I'm not the biggest fighter fan I sold my cps2 multi to someone who'd appreciate it more and use my Pandora. A big factor was your (Dark Jaguar) opinion of how it handles cps2 games. I'm using it in my Capcom cab that you're not fond of the cp angle.

Funny, the opposite happened for me - the Pandora 4S pushed me over to getting a CPS2 Multi. I picked up a Pandora because I'd heard good things, but I'm sensitive to VSync and the screen tearing on all the games was a total deal breaker. Now the Pandora is off to a different loving home, and I'm going the original hardware route where I can for now.
 

Electric Grave

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I love my PB and I love the original hardware, wouldn't mind a multi as well, 3 sets of ST for a mean tourney at home?!
 

Xian Xi

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Although none of the included games use it, the KOA is still wired like the PB (and other Chinese boards) using the next to last pins as button 6 for P1 & P2 that are always ground/common wires on a standard JAMMA setup. Unfortunately you'll need to do a bit or rewiring or get an adapter if your harness is actually using them as grounds.

Ah I see, in that case, I'd just cut the pin for button 6 and tie it to ground to make it JAMMA.
 

Syn

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Funny, the opposite happened for me - the Pandora 4S pushed me over to getting a CPS2 Multi. I picked up a Pandora because I'd heard good things, but I'm sensitive to VSync and the screen tearing on all the games was a total deal breaker. Now the Pandora is off to a different loving home, and I'm going the original hardware route where I can for now.

I'm using 3 sometimes 4. Might get a 4s for stereo.

I just wasn't using the cps2 multi and I'm trying to move stuff on if that's the case. One less thing to dust ;)
 

Azathoth

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Annndd now the Pandora's Box 4S+ is released with 815 games. Looks like they added a mostly vertical screen titles, plus you can now get your dose of Pit Fighter and the first Mortal Kombat.

I don't know if the hardware is the same as the 4/4S, but if it is I'd assume MK won't be running that well.
 

donluca

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Also, the original Pandora's Box 3 520-in-1 is now as low as 25€. Was there a way to add/replace games in that version?
 

donluca

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Alright, while doing research I've discovered that Retroarch has been ported to the Pandora's Box.

https://github.com/sebastian404/aus_japb_retroarch/releases/tag/0.1a

http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/fo...ID=753457&title=pandoras-box-4-hacking#753457

This is awesome news, I've been looking forward getting a raspberry pi and a Rpi2Jamma, but you can't really beat a 30€ box which comes loaded with Retroarch. If they manage to hack in resolution switching so that it switches resolution upon starting a game we may very well have the best low cost solution for an arcade cabinet.
 

aoiddr

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Alright, while doing research I've discovered that Retroarch has been ported to the Pandora's Box.

https://github.com/sebastian404/aus_japb_retroarch/releases/tag/0.1a

http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/fo...ID=753457&title=pandoras-box-4-hacking#753457

This is awesome news, I've been looking forward getting a raspberry pi and a Rpi2Jamma, but you can't really beat a 30€ box which comes loaded with Retroarch. If they manage to hack in resolution switching so that it switches resolution upon starting a game we may very well have the best low cost solution for an arcade cabinet.

Is it still only a very specific version of the board (the L-shaped one?) that allows images to be loaded or do even the square HDMI-enabled ones allow it also?
 
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Xian Xi

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The thing that I want to check out is how well Numan Athletics runs on the hardware since last I remember that it wasn't 100% emulated.

I got notified two weeks ago about this new version. I can get them pretty cheap but I'm not sure how many units are on hand.
 

donluca

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Is it still only a very specific version of the board (the L-shaped one?) that allows images to be loaded or do even the square HDMI-enabled ones allow it also?

On github the guy says that it will work in any Pandora version which has the AUS logo, it has been tested on two boards, one L shaped and the other square.
 

Demitri1983

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The birthday is coming up and i have been tossing around the idea of getting one one of the HDMI/VGA models (4S+). I think i have a grasp on what most of the problems on these are but i am curious about a few items i cant seem to find. Would anyone who has on be so kind as to clarifying:

1. Does the VGA output support 640 X 480 60Hz?

2. Does the Quality Optimization turn off the filter completely? A picture of it off vs on would be awesome if possible as i cant find it anywhere.

3. Anyone try to use an SL generator on these?

Any information would be helpful. Thank you.
 

HDRchampion

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Alright, while doing research I've discovered that Retroarch has been ported to the Pandora's Box.

https://github.com/sebastian404/aus_japb_retroarch/releases/tag/0.1a

http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/fo...ID=753457&title=pandoras-box-4-hacking#753457

This is awesome news, I've been looking forward getting a raspberry pi and a Rpi2Jamma, but you can't really beat a 30€ box which comes loaded with Retroarch. If they manage to hack in resolution switching so that it switches resolution upon starting a game we may very well have the best low cost solution for an arcade cabinet.

Is there a step by step on how to put retroarch into pandora?

*edit*
My pc cant read the memory card, is there a program for this?
 
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donluca

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You need something to read EXT2/3 filesystem, but I'm not sure you really need it.

AFAIK, you download the image, slam it on an SD and slap it into your Pandora. The SD has a FAT32 partition where you put the games, so you don't need any special software to write into it.
 

HDRchampion

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I tried & all i get is a black screen...Tried putting back the original files & now im just getting a complete black screen nothing. Is it FUBAR?
 

donluca

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Make sure you have properly written the image on the SD, I have a friend over at an arcade italian forum who's been using it for days and is really happy about it. I'm waiting for my Pandora to arrive as well.

Remember this only works on AUS Pandoras (there's an "AUS" logo on them)
 

HDRchampion

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Make sure you have properly written the image on the SD, I have a friend over at an arcade italian forum who's been using it for days and is really happy about it. I'm waiting for my Pandora to arrive as well.

Remember this only works on AUS Pandoras (there's an "AUS" logo on them)

What are the steps to properly write to sd card? You can't just copy and paste?
 

Azathoth

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I tried & all i get is a black screen...Tried putting back the original files & now im just getting a complete black screen nothing. Is it FUBAR?

If you have an authentic PB and you deleted the original files with no backup, you've got a paperweight.

I know nothing about the Retroarch image, but on the original SD no game files are on the FAT32 partition.
 

HDRchampion

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Nope, because of filesystems and what not. Use an SD image writing program like SD Imager to write the IMG file to the card.

Thanks i got retroarch to boot up but how do you play games on it? How do you add roms to the files? Will i still be able to play Pandora Box games & King of Air?
 

donluca

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If you put the SD in your computer a readable/writeable partition should pop up and you can put in games. I don't remember the exact folder, but if you look at the author's website it should be noted there somewhere.
 

West

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Anyone have any of the the latest Pandora's Box(s)? Particularly the 4s+, 4sx, and the 5? I was having a look at what's on Highscoregames.com and figured I'd see if anyone had any experience with the latest editions.

https://www.highscoresaves.com/multicade-pcb-and-conversion-kits.html

Thanks to anyone with a thought on it. Might just go with a RaspPi solution but I approached that road once and there was an overabundance of configuring and fuckery that went along with it. The PB's for all their inaccuracies and faults do just kinda work.
 
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donluca

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Just to let everyone know, I've recently bought a Pandora's Box 3 for 28€ (~30$) and modded it to use Retroarch on it and it's the almost definitive solution for a super cheap multi game arcade board for your cabinet. I even went a bit further and modified the retroarch image to improve some small bits here and there.

The only thing missing is automatic resolution switching for when you change the game, so you don't have black bars added. Other than that it's an almost pixel perfect solution.
 

FilthyRear

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Just to let everyone know, I've recently bought a Pandora's Box 3 for 28€ (~30$) and modded it to use Retroarch on it and it's the almost definitive solution for a super cheap multi game arcade board for your cabinet. I even went a bit further and modified the retroarch image to improve some small bits here and there.

The only thing missing is automatic resolution switching for when you change the game, so you don't have black bars added. Other than that it's an almost pixel perfect solution.

can we see some pictures of some of the games, UI, etc.? What "changes" did you make?

I have a PB4 (the first one, the one that looks like a PS4), and I want to see if it would be worth the headache.

It's one thing to say that "you did it", then tell everyone that they should do it, and its another to show us the end result so we know what we're working for.
 

JoeAwesome

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Good points. Share the info if it helps, before it gets lost.
 
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