The only solution i found to the problem was to recompile the Linux usbhid module and mark the Mamepanel as quirky.
This is how I did it on Debian Lenny:
as root:
Get the source
aptitude update aptitude install linux-source tar jxvf /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.26.tar.bz2 linux-source-2.6.26/drivers/hid cd linux-source-2.6.26/drivers/hidAdd these lines where they fit in /usr/src/linux-source-2.6.26/drivers/hid/usbhid/hid-quirks.c. The USB_DEVICE_ID_WIKIDOT_MAMEPANEL32 device id should probably be changed to something else if an ATMEGA8 is used (can be checked with lsusb).
#define USB_VENDOR_ID_VOTI 0x16c0 #define USB_DEVICE_ID_VOTI_MAMEPANEL32 0x05df { USB_VENDOR_ID_VOTI, USB_DEVICE_ID_VOTI_MAMEPANEL32, HID_QUIRK_MULTI_INPUT },Build and load the new module (It's probably a good idea to check that usbhid.ko exists before rmmodding the old one)
make -C /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r) M=$(pwd) modules cd usbhid/ rmmod usbhid && insmod usbhid.kohope for the best.