Omega Drive Installation Guide

Omega Drive Installation Guide

Version 1.0.3 — Last Updated: 5/28/2022

This guide will help you install and set up your Omega drive(s) for your Extreme Home Arcades machine. A big thank you goes to the whole Omega Team volunteers that worked for months to develop the Omega drive!

Video Reference: Arcade Adam — First Time Setup for the Omega Drive — covers most of the steps in this guide.

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📥 Download the Full PDF Installation Guide

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Overview of Steps

1. Remove your old boot and hard drives from your EHA machine.
2. Install your new Omega boot and hard drives.
3. Power up your EHA machine and connect to the Internet.
4. Determine your motherboard manufacturer/product/version.
5. Update the drivers for your motherboard.
6. Update the drivers for your video graphic card.
7. Confirm your drivers are installed correctly.
8. Confirm your display settings/resolutions.
9. Set the NVIDIA control panel refresh rate.
10. Install your licenses.
11. Load LaunchBox and make setting changes.
12. For users without an active marquee — check sound settings.
13. Set I-PAC map for users with 3/4-player EHA machines.
14. Setup custom active marquee and startup video.
15. Load Big Box.

I. What You Need

This guide assumes your Omega hard drive and boot drives have arrived. The large drive is the Omega hard drive and the small drive is the Omega boot drive.

• If you ordered completely new drives — remove your old drives first, then install the new ones.
• If you sent in your old drives and had EHA erase and copy Omega onto them — skip to Section III.

II. Removing Your Old Drives

Note: Screenshots in this section show an EHA pedestal machine. Your machine may differ, but the general steps are the same. A wired or wireless keyboard is strongly recommended for later steps.

1. Turn off and unplug your EHA machine. Remove the access panel. Take a photo of the inside before doing anything — you will thank yourself later.
2. With a screwdriver, unscrew the 2 screws holding the brackets to the boot drive.
3. Carefully pull out the blue or black SATA data cable from the boot drive (cable marked “1”). Gently wiggle it out. Note the L-shaped connector inside.
4. Carefully pull out the black SATA power cable from the boot drive (cable marked “2”). Again, note the L-shaped connector.
5. Carefully remove the boot drive from the metal clips — it should slide out with some effort.
6. Remove the hard drive in the same way: pull the blue SATA data cable, then the black SATA power cable.
7. Some hard drives are held by yellow, blue or black rubber holders — carefully remove them. Some are on the backside of the drive.
8. Use a screwdriver to remove the brackets from the old hard drive and reinstall them on the new Omega hard drive exactly as they were.

III. Installing Your New Omega Drives

1. Install the Omega hard drive using the yellow rubber holders in the same manner you removed them. BE SURE THE PORTS ARE FACING UPWARD so you can connect the cables.
2. Use a screwdriver to install the 2 screws in the bracket of the Omega boot drive. Again, make sure the boot drive ports are facing upward.
3. Plug in the blue SATA data cable into the Omega hard drive, then plug the other end into the boot drive. REMEMBER TO MATCH THE L in the cable to the L in the hard drive port.
4. Plug in the black SATA power cable into the Omega hard drive, then the other end into the boot drive. Again, match the L to the L.

The hard drive and boot drives are now installed. Reinstall the access panel and plug in the machine.

IV. Powering Up and Connecting to the Internet

Note: Connecting to the internet is highly recommended — it allows you to update Omega when bugs are fixed.

1. Press the power button to turn on your machine.
2. Let the machine boot up. Allow the Omega startup video to play for 30 full seconds before proceeding — Big Box needs time to fully load.
3. After 30 seconds, press Player 1’s START Button to go to the Big Box main wheel.
4. HOLD Player 1’s START Button and Press Player 2’s START Button to reach the Big Box Unified menu.
5. Navigate to “Exit” and press P1’s START Button to reach the Windows Desktop.
6. Click the Internet access icon in the lower right of the Windows Taskbar, select your Wi-Fi network, and enter your password.
7. Verify internet access by opening Google Chrome from the Taskbar.

V. Determining Your Motherboard

You need to know your motherboard to install the right drivers.

1. At the Windows Desktop, right-click the Windows Start Menu and click Device Manager. Yellow exclamation marks indicate missing drivers.
2. To find your motherboard: click the Windows Start menu, type System Information, and click Open. Look for:
   • BaseBoard Manufacturer
   • BaseBoard Product
   • BaseBoard Version
3. Alternatively, open a Command Prompt and type: wmic baseboard get product, manufacturer, version then press [ENTER].
4. Make a note of this information — you will need it in the next step.

VI. Updating Motherboard Drivers

1. Open Google Chrome. Search for your motherboard manufacturer and product name plus “drivers” (e.g., “Micro-Star International H510I Pro WiFi drivers”).
2. Click the result from your manufacturer’s official website.
3. Navigate to their support/download center, enter your motherboard model, and select Driver & Tools.
4. Select OS: Windows 10 (64-bit).
5. Download the Intel IMF drivers or Intel Chipset drivers.
6. Open the downloaded zip file with 7-Zip, click Extract, then run the .exe installer (e.g., AsusSetup.exe).
7. Click Finish when done.
8. REBOOT YOUR MACHINE via Windows Start menu > Power > Restart.

VII. Updating Video/GPU Drivers

1. At the Windows Desktop, right-click the Start Menu and open Device Manager.
2. Expand Display adapters to see your video card (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER).
3. In Chrome, search for NVIDIA Advanced Driver Search and click the official NVIDIA result.
4. Enter your specific GPU — Type, Series, Product. Set OS to Windows 10 64-bit, Driver Type: Standard. Click Search.
5. Double-click the latest Game Ready Driver (do NOT select Studio Driver).
6. Click DOWNLOAD, then open the file.
7. Click OK to save to the default directory.
8. Important: Select “NVIDIA Graphics Driver” only — do NOT select GeForce Experience. It will interfere with arcade games.
9. Under Installation Options, select Custom (Advanced) and click NEXT.
10. Check “Perform a clean installation.” Make sure Graphics Driver, HD Audio Driver, PhysX System Software, and USBC Driver are selected. Do NOT select NVIDIA GeForce Experience.
11. REBOOT your machine when prompted or manually via Start > Power > Restart.

VIII. Confirm Device Manager Has No Yellow Question Marks

1. Right-click the Windows Start Menu and open Device Manager.
2. Confirm there are no yellow exclamation marks. If all clear, close Device Manager.

IX. Confirm Display Settings

1. If you have an active marquee, make sure it is turned on and plugged in now.
2. Right-click the Windows Desktop and select Display settings.
3. Set Display resolution to 1920 x 1080 and scale to 100%.
4. If you have an active marquee, make sure it is positioned to the right and its top is parallel with screen 1. Click Screen 2 and set its resolution to the native marquee resolution (commonly 1920 x 340). Set scaling to 100%.
5. Click X to close Display settings.

X. Set NVIDIA Control Panel Refresh Rate

1. Right-click the Windows Desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel.
2. Under Display, click Change resolution.
3. Set the Refresh rate to 60Hz for both your primary display and active marquee (if you have one).
4. Optionally, under “Apply the following settings,” click “Use NVIDIA color settings” and set Output color format to YCbCr444 for better picture quality.
5. Click Apply, then close the NVIDIA Control Panel.

XI. Installing Your Licenses

On the Windows Desktop there are shortcuts to where your licenses go:

• LaunchBox license — folder shortcut “LaunchBoxLicenseGoesHere.” License file is License.xml. Required to run Omega. Get it at launchbox-app.com/premium.
• Gun4IR license — folder shortcut “Gun4IRLicenseGoesHere.” License file is gui.lic. Get it from rpegelectronics.com.
• LEDBlinky license — folder shortcut “LEDBlinkyLicenseGoesHere.” License files are [youremail].det and reg.det. Get it from ledblinky.net.

Copy the license files from your email or downloads into their respective folders.

XII. Loading LaunchBox and Making Setting Changes

1. Click the LaunchBox icon on the Windows Desktop. If your license is installed correctly it will say “Licensed to [you]” in the upper corner.
2. Click the TOOLS menu in the upper right, then click Omega Settings.
3. Generally do not change Omega settings, with these exceptions:
   • Marquee Width/Height — set to your marquee’s native resolution (e.g., 1920 x 340). Should match Display Settings.
   • Marquee Stretch — choose Fill or Preserve Aspect Ratio.
   • Marquee Vertical Alignment — leave on Center for newer marquees; set to Top for older ones.
   • Adults-Only Wheel — toggle on or off as needed.
4. Navigate to Apply Settings and Exit and press [ENTER]. Allow 10–20 seconds for changes to apply.
5. REBOOT your machine for changes to take effect.

XIII. Sound Settings Check (No Active Marquee Only)

1. Right-click the speaker icon in the lower right of the Windows Taskbar.
2. Click Sounds, then click the Playback tab.
3. Make sure “Speakers — High Definition Audio Device” is set as the Default Device (green checkmark). If not, right-click it and select Set as Default Device, then click OK.

XIV. Setting the I-PAC Map (3 & 4-Player Machines Only)

This section is only for existing EHA users with 3 and 4-player machines that have the I-PAC board.

Note: Dave at EHA will provide a keymap file for the KeyWiz MAX Input Board.

1. From the Windows Desktop, open File Explorer from the Taskbar.
2. Click the Tools folder and scroll to the bottom to find the WinIPAC shortcut. Click it.
3. In WinIPAC, click File > Open.
4. Navigate to Tools > xarcade-xinput and double-click “EHA NEW MAPP NOCONFLICTS.ipc”.
5. Click File > Force Board Reconfigure.
6. You should see “Board successfully reconfigured” at the bottom of the window.
7. Close any open windows to return to the Windows Desktop.

XV. Custom Marquee Video and Startup Video

• Custom active marquee video — On the Windows Desktop find the folder “Startup Marquees go here.” Copy your marquee video file(s) there. This folder acts as a playlist — if you have multiple videos, one will be selected at random.
• Main startup video — On the Windows Desktop find the folder “Startup Videos go here.” The file must be named startup.mp4 to play in LaunchBox/Big Box. This does not operate as a playlist.

XVI. Loading Big Box

• With a marquee: Double-click the “BigBoxWithStartupMarquee” icon on the Windows Desktop (upper left).
• Without a marquee: Use the Big Box icon on the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of the screen.

Allow the startup video to play for at least 30 seconds before pressing P1’s START Button to go to the main wheel.

Note: Windows updates are turned off until 2049 to provide a stable environment. LaunchBox/Big Box updates are good and recommended.

XVII. LaunchBox/Big Box Commands Quick Reference

• Move Up/Down in Menus — Push P1’s Joystick UP or DOWN
• Select / Move Forward — Press P1’s START Button
• Move Backward / Quit Game — HOLD P1’s START Button + Press P2’s START Button
• Search by Letter — Move P1’s Joystick LEFT or RIGHT at a game wheel
• Search by Title — Move P1’s Joystick LEFT/RIGHT, then click the magnifying glass icon
• Global Search — Press P2’s CREDIT button at the Main Wheel
• System-Wide Pause — HOLD P1’s START Button + Press P1’s Joystick DOWN
• MAME Input Mapping — HOLD P1’s START Button + Push P1’s Joystick UP

For additional Omega tutorials: Arcade Adam’s YouTube channel