NinjaWarrior Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 (edited) An adapter like to play all NES Pads on the 7800... button left would be B button right would be A Would anyone get it?? Edited October 17, 2009 by NinjaWarrior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 http://www.atariage.com/2600/faq/index.html?SystemID=2600#nes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaWarrior Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 I don't want a NES 7800 Pad, I just want a Converter allows me to play any NES Controller on a 7800 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I don't want a NES 7800 Pad, I just want a Converter allows me to play any NES Controller on a 7800 Oh, I see. That is a lot more complicated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aftermac Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I don't want a NES 7800 Pad, I just want a Converter allows me to play any NES Controller on a 7800 Not possible... maybe you can find some schematic for a digital circuit on the Internet that you can build, but there is no simple way to convert the signals, because the NES pad uses a microchip and the Atari uses 5 simple on/off buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaWarrior Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 like this..but with a 9 pin for the 7800 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseboy Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I don't want a NES 7800 Pad, I just want a Converter allows me to play any NES Controller on a 7800 Not possible... maybe you can find some schematic for a digital circuit on the Internet that you can build, but there is no simple way to convert the signals, because the NES pad uses a microchip and the Atari uses 5 simple on/off buttons. This is the 7800 forum. We are talking 6 buttons, not 5. Not that that makes the job any easier. For the record, I would buy one in a heartbeat. I have been looking for a way to use an unmodified NES pad on a hacked Dreamcast controller, and this thing would likely aid me in that quest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aftermac Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 This is the 7800 forum. We are talking 6 buttons, not 5. Not that that makes the job any easier. Same difference... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaWarrior Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 Well someone to program it like the NES retroport..it could be done.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Well someone to program it like the NES retroport..it could be done.. It is definitely possible with a micro controller but probably not worth the trouble when you can simply mod the controller to work with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswhit Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 (edited) like this..but with a 9 pin for the 7800 I built this I know its not exactly what your looking for but it beats spending 300 or more to invent an adaptor. I can build you some if you like. the controller extensions I use are $8.95 then I put in two resistors and modify the original board in the nes controllers. Good controllers run me about $10.00 could sell you one for $35.00 shipped. Or I'll be a nice guy and give you a link to the mod and you can build it your self but that route you wont have the sticker to easily pick out your atari 7800 controller from the others. I can build them fast so you wont wait long for them. PM if interested. I can also build with new controllers but it would run about $10.00 more Edited October 17, 2009 by chriswhit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseboy Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 This is the 7800 forum. We are talking 6 buttons, not 5. Not that that makes the job any easier. Same difference... I know. Just saying... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aftermac Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 This is the 7800 forum. We are talking 6 buttons, not 5. Not that that makes the job any easier. Same difference... I know. Just saying... No problem... just the way you phrased it hit me the wrong way. I've had my 7800 for 16 years now... I was just making the point that this adapter isn't going to happen (without a lot more hassle than the project is worth). Really, what he should do if he wants a 7800 gamepad, is just buy the Atari gamepads from Best Electronics and save the time, money, and hassle. I did quite a bit of research a while back on an NES to 7800 adapter, and then just did the conversion. I've done a few controller conversions and this isn't as easy as just switching a few wires around. I'd still like to pick up the Atari gamepads myself at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseboy Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 This is the 7800 forum. We are talking 6 buttons, not 5. Not that that makes the job any easier. Same difference... I know. Just saying... No problem... just the way you phrased it hit me the wrong way. I've had my 7800 for 16 years now... I was just making the point that this adapter isn't going to happen (without a lot more hassle than the project is worth). Really, what he should do if he wants a 7800 gamepad, is just buy the Atari gamepads from Best Electronics and save the time, money, and hassle. I did quite a bit of research a while back on an NES to 7800 adapter, and then just did the conversion. I've done a few controller conversions and this isn't as easy as just switching a few wires around. I'd still like to pick up the Atari gamepads myself at some point. Yeah, sorry. After reading it again it did look like it came out wrong. It was not intentional. I agree with you about this project 100%, it probably isn't worth the expense. But like I said, I would love to see it done. It would help me tremendously with another project I am working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prodos8 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I made one for myself that uses a microcontroller to read the shift register inside the NES/SNES controllers and pass the data to the Atari port. I set it up to use SNES controllers because I had a broken SNES, at the time, and pulled the socket from that. It would work just as well with NES controller if I made a little dongle type adapter with a NES and a SNES controller extension cable or installed a NES socket. The controller will function as a two-button 7800 controller or one button on the 2600/C64/Atari 8-bits. It will basically work on any system that uses the Atari controller pinout as long as it provides +5vdc on the port. It doesn't work on the ColecoVision for that reason, it would need a battery or external power source for this system. All in all the parts cost was around $10, but labor wise was several hours. I could see it costing more if I had to hack up NES/SNES controller cables as they seem to be about $5 each -- and the NES ones seem htf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jferio Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 All in all the parts cost was around $10, but labor wise was several hours. I could see it costing more if I had to hack up NES/SNES controller cables as they seem to be about $5 each -- and the NES ones seem htf. Try this for the NES console side connector: http://www.parallax.com/Store/Components/Other/tabid/157/CategoryID/32/List/0/SortField/0/Level/a/ProductID/522/Default.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frunobulax Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 (edited) Just found this thread with a search. I've been working on a project and thought I would see if anyone had tried anything like it before. I figured I should post this here. Is this possible? NES controller to 7800? YES! Is it too hard? NO! Does it ruin your NES controller so that it can't be used on an NES ever again? NO! Does it require a doner controller to provide an Atari compatible cord? NO! Can I hook up the NES controller start and select buttons to the Atari 7800's select and reset switches? YES! Here is little thing I came up with using on-hand parts (not ideal). (The LED displays and a chip or 2 are just for debugging. The small 7 segment display is used to display the counter state and the other display is used to show the state of the output register going into the 7800 controller port.) When I get the right parts, I will be able to implement 2 NES compatible controller ports with functioning select and start to my 7800 using only 5 chips some perf-board and a couple NES connectors. The clock signal is provided from pin 11 on the 7800 expansion port (J2). This clock while running 2600 games was slow enough to put directly into this circuit, but in 7800 mode it was too fast for my make-shift shift register to completely load before it's output was latched. To solve this I had to use an additional counter chip to halve the clock. Hopefully the proper parts will allow it to run at full speed. That's not to say it's less responsive now than it would be with a faster clock. It's plenty fast enough. It is actaully far more accurate control than any 2600 or 7800 joystick I have ever used even when I had the circuit clocked at a rate that was audible ( <20Khz). I absolutely tore up PITFALL with it. But being able to run at fully 7800 clock speed would eliminate the need for the extra chip to divide the signal. It's basically a just a counter cycling though 9 states, an 8-bit parallel-out shift register, another 8-bit register for the output to the Atari and the associated logic to reset the counter and send the latch signal to the controller. Since there is a standard 7400 series chip that contains an 8-bit shift register with separately clocked output register adding a second controller only requires one more chip once one has the counter in place. The 7800's Select and Reset are hooked up to the 'Select' and 'Start' register bit of the NES controller internally. I'm probably going to mock up 2 versions when I get the right parts. One, will be internal to the 7800 adding NES ports to the front or sides. The other is going to be a converter box that attaches to the 7800/2600 ports externally, providing 2 NES ports and an output plug that would carry the Select and Reset signals via a cable to a 2600 or 7800 that has been optionally modified with an external port (possibly mini DIN or even a stereo audio jack). The external version would require it's own oscillator... or to have an additional port added as described that would offer a clock signal along with the Select and Reset lines. Edited October 24, 2010 by frunobulax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frunobulax Posted October 24, 2010 Share Posted October 24, 2010 (edited) I don't want a NES 7800 Pad, I just want a Converter allows me to play any NES Controller on a 7800 Not possible... maybe you can find some schematic for a digital circuit on the Internet that you can build, but there is no simple way to convert the signals, because the NES pad uses a microchip and the Atari uses 5 simple on/off buttons. This is the 7800 forum. We are talking 6 buttons, not 5. Not that that makes the job any easier. For the record, I would buy one in a heartbeat. I have been looking for a way to use an unmodified NES pad on a hacked Dreamcast controller, and this thing would likely aid me in that quest. You are correct about that. Once you have the NES to Atari circuit. You could connect the output from the same circuit directly in parallel to the contacts on the the dramcast controller board (at worst you would need an additional inverter chip) and add a 9 pin DSUB connector that this 'converter' could plug in to with a few mods. the dreamcast controller would also still remain usable as long as you could keep the added port out of the way. Maybe put it on a dongle.. Heck the DC maple bus is serial so it already has a nice clock signal that I know is probably suitable to run this circuit and easily available from the controller board. something like this perhaps? NES CONTROLLER -> NES TO ATARI CONVERTER CIRCUIT -> DREAMCAST CONTROLLER WITH ATARI PORT -> DREAMCAST Man... you really got me thinking now. (BTW you could do this all with a Genesis controller too. Not just getting access to the one button you get by simple plugging it in, but full function of all buttons. It should take only 3 very basic chips for 2 Genesis compatible controller ports to be installed. I might implement this in the future too when I get time and motivation.) Edited October 24, 2010 by frunobulax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frunobulax Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 New version. This one isn't rigged up out of left-overs this time. Half as many chips used as a result. I also added a NES controller jack. The version on the breadboard has only one controller port because I ran out of space to fit the 2nd controllers register chip on. This chip will fit on, and be added to, the final circuit board. The whole thing will easily fit inside the 7800 shell and provide 2 NES controller compatible ports that will be hooked up in parallel with the external 7800 ports, so I can still use them too. It's really nice to have the working SELECT and RESET right there on the NES controller and the overall control is very sharp: Way sharper than any Atari-type controller I currently own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAtarian Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Just found this thread with a search. I've been working on a project and thought I would see if anyone had tried anything like it before. I figured I should post this here. Is this possible? NES controller to 7800? YES! Is it too hard? NO! Does it ruin your NES controller so that it can't be used on an NES ever again? NO! Does it require a doner controller to provide an Atari compatible cord? NO! Can I hook up the NES controller start and select buttons to the Atari 7800's select and reset switches? YES! Here is little thing I came up with using on-hand parts (not ideal). (The LED displays and a chip or 2 are just for debugging. The small 7 segment display is used to display the counter state and the other display is used to show the state of the output register going into the 7800 controller port.) When I get the right parts, I will be able to implement 2 NES compatible controller ports with functioning select and start to my 7800 using only 5 chips some perf-board and a couple NES connectors. The clock signal is provided from pin 11 on the 7800 expansion port (J2). This clock while running 2600 games was slow enough to put directly into this circuit, but in 7800 mode it was too fast for my make-shift shift register to completely load before it's output was latched. To solve this I had to use an additional counter chip to halve the clock. Hopefully the proper parts will allow it to run at full speed. That's not to say it's less responsive now than it would be with a faster clock. It's plenty fast enough. It is actaully far more accurate control than any 2600 or 7800 joystick I have ever used even when I had the circuit clocked at a rate that was audible ( <20Khz). I absolutely tore up PITFALL with it. But being able to run at fully 7800 clock speed would eliminate the need for the extra chip to divide the signal. It's basically a just a counter cycling though 9 states, an 8-bit parallel-out shift register, another 8-bit register for the output to the Atari and the associated logic to reset the counter and send the latch signal to the controller. Since there is a standard 7400 series chip that contains an 8-bit shift register with separately clocked output register adding a second controller only requires one more chip once one has the counter in place. The 7800's Select and Reset are hooked up to the 'Select' and 'Start' register bit of the NES controller internally. I'm probably going to mock up 2 versions when I get the right parts. One, will be internal to the 7800 adding NES ports to the front or sides. The other is going to be a converter box that attaches to the 7800/2600 ports externally, providing 2 NES ports and an output plug that would carry the Select and Reset signals via a cable to a 2600 or 7800 that has been optionally modified with an external port (possibly mini DIN or even a stereo audio jack). The external version would require it's own oscillator... or to have an additional port added as described that would offer a clock signal along with the Select and Reset lines. Unfortunately, this setup won't work for most of us because not all 7800s have the expansion port so it will be much more difficult, if not impossible, to pull the required clock signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frunobulax Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 (edited) Just found this thread with a search. I've been working on a project and thought I would see if anyone had tried anything like it before. I figured I should post this here. Is this possible? NES controller to 7800? YES! Is it too hard? NO! Does it ruin your NES controller so that it can't be used on an NES ever again? NO! Does it require a doner controller to provide an Atari compatible cord? NO! Can I hook up the NES controller start and select buttons to the Atari 7800's select and reset switches? YES! Here is little thing I came up with using on-hand parts (not ideal). (The LED displays and a chip or 2 are just for debugging. The small 7 segment display is used to display the counter state and the other display is used to show the state of the output register going into the 7800 controller port.) When I get the right parts, I will be able to implement 2 NES compatible controller ports with functioning select and start to my 7800 using only 5 chips some perf-board and a couple NES connectors. The clock signal is provided from pin 11 on the 7800 expansion port (J2). This clock while running 2600 games was slow enough to put directly into this circuit, but in 7800 mode it was too fast for my make-shift shift register to completely load before it's output was latched. To solve this I had to use an additional counter chip to halve the clock. Hopefully the proper parts will allow it to run at full speed. That's not to say it's less responsive now than it would be with a faster clock. It's plenty fast enough. It is actaully far more accurate control than any 2600 or 7800 joystick I have ever used even when I had the circuit clocked at a rate that was audible ( <20Khz). I absolutely tore up PITFALL with it. But being able to run at fully 7800 clock speed would eliminate the need for the extra chip to divide the signal. It's basically a just a counter cycling though 9 states, an 8-bit parallel-out shift register, another 8-bit register for the output to the Atari and the associated logic to reset the counter and send the latch signal to the controller. Since there is a standard 7400 series chip that contains an 8-bit shift register with separately clocked output register adding a second controller only requires one more chip once one has the counter in place. The 7800's Select and Reset are hooked up to the 'Select' and 'Start' register bit of the NES controller internally. I'm probably going to mock up 2 versions when I get the right parts. One, will be internal to the 7800 adding NES ports to the front or sides. The other is going to be a converter box that attaches to the 7800/2600 ports externally, providing 2 NES ports and an output plug that would carry the Select and Reset signals via a cable to a 2600 or 7800 that has been optionally modified with an external port (possibly mini DIN or even a stereo audio jack). The external version would require it's own oscillator... or to have an additional port added as described that would offer a clock signal along with the Select and Reset lines. Unfortunately, this setup won't work for most of us because not all 7800s have the expansion port so it will be much more difficult, if not impossible, to pull the required clock signal. Fortunately the circuit can be run off it's own clock. Taking it from the board is not necessary. It's just easier and cheaper than using a separate oscillator. The external version I'm planning on making will incorporate it's own clock generator. The whole thing seems to run best at around 500KHz - 1MHz as it stands right now. I've even run it off a clock signal I could easily audibly hear through a speaker (meaning it was less than 20KHz) without a noticeable loss in performance. That all being said, there is nothing stopping anyone from tapping a wire off thier motherboard even if the expansion port is installed on your system. The fact may be that there might even be a better place for me to grab the 7800's clock. As I mentioned, the current circuit isn't fast enough to run at full 7800 speed. The signal has to be divided first anyway. Perhaps there is somewhere on the board I could grab an already divided clock. I haven't looked into it that much. But simply having an expansion port installed isn't going to stop you from making this mod in any one of it's forms I'm contemplating. EDIT: Oh I see... you were saying you -don't- have the external expansion port! The 7800 in the picture doesn't have one either. I've never personally seen one that had the external port installed actaully. However, all 7800 motherboards have the connections for the port on the actual board. This is what I used. I Soldered my new clock line for this circuit to the actual 7800 motherboard where the expansion port would have gone had it been an expansion port model. All 7800's have these internal taps regardless of whether or not they have the external port. Edited October 30, 2010 by frunobulax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 However, all 7800 motherboards have the connections for the port on the actual board. PAL versions don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frunobulax Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 (edited) However, all 7800 motherboards have the connections for the port on the actual board. PAL versions don't. Thanks for the correction. I should have started that sentence with the phrase: "I'm new to the 7800", and ended it with: "...that I'm aware of". It's still not an issue for this project even if one doesn't have access to the system clock somewhere else. A separate clock generator is actually more ideal for many reasons. One, is that it allows the controller adapter to remain completely external to the 7800, requiring no internal connections at all unless one wants to have "Start" and "Select" function. It'd function like the micro-controller based one the person above made, just constructed with 74-series logic chips instead. Edited October 30, 2010 by frunobulax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 An adapter like to play all NES Pads on the 7800... button left would be B button right would be A Would anyone get it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Vendel Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 (edited) The NES controller is not a straight on/off digital controller like the 7800 controllers, using an ATtiny or ATmega48 a converter could be made to allow stock NES controllers to work with a 7800 Edited October 30, 2010 by Curt Vendel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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