lostintwilight Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I've tried the eraser and foil tricks. Nothing. I've wiggled the connection as I pressed random buttons. Nothing. Absolutely nothing on either of the two controllers. I've also checked if there was corrosion inside the box arounf the port connections. It looked clean. I'm beginning to wonder if the problem isn't the controllers at all but in the console itself. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Dart Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Possible. Could be the cords and/or connectors, too. Try shorting two pins (NOT at random) on the console's controller ports and see what you get. Here's the pinout from pinout.ru and a visual aid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Could also be the IC that controls the ports and signals from the joystick to the rest of the system? Each controller port has a small IC close by. Those I suppose can go bad like anything else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) Could also be the IC that controls the ports and signals from the joystick to the rest of the system? Each controller port has a small IC close by. Those I suppose can go bad like anything else? I've had issues with that chip, but it didn't impact all functions at once. I don't think one chip failure would cause every button on every (both?) ports to fail. I guess somehow multiple multiplexers could have gone south at the same time. But, I'm in favor of eliminating variables by shorting pins as suggested above (though a little more direction might be required for the uninitiated). This is where it would be great to have a diagnostic cart so every function is being monitored simultaneously rather than relying on what one game is looking for. Edited July 16, 2014 by BigO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7800 Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 If both controllers don't work at all... I would guess it's console related. Too much of a coincidence that BOTH controllers have zero functionality. For my own curiosity, is it a 2 port or 4 port? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ataritard Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 I like where Rex Dart is going with this. Touching pins 3 and 4 with a small screw driver should start a game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bohoki Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 haa i am so embarrased about that pinout diagram it was just intended for me for a quick note now its like top of the goog search pin 4 i should have done vertical pin 9 is the pot common and pin 12 is only used by the trackball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostintwilight Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 To touch base: My console is a 2-port. Touching pins 3 and 4 with a screwdriver didn't start the game. I tried touching random pins with the screwdriver and got nothing more than a slight bit of static on the screen. Is this what was meant by shorting two pins? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 To touch base: My console is a 2-port. Touching pins 3 and 4 with a screwdriver didn't start the game. I tried touching random pins with the screwdriver and got nothing more than a slight bit of static on the screen. Is this what was meant by shorting two pins? That is what was meant by shorting pins. But, you do need to short appropriate pins. Random could have some, uhm, less than optimal results. It does sound possible that the 4052 multiplexer/demultiplexer chip(s) could be bad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostintwilight Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 That is what was meant by shorting pins. But, you do need to short appropriate pins. Random could have some, uhm, less than optimal results. It does sound possible that the 4052 multiplexer/demultiplexer chip(s) could be bad. So if the chips are bad, is it worth replacing them, or should I look for another console? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 So if the chips are bad, is it worth replacing them, or should I look for another console? You need to touch pins 4 and 7, pin 1 being the top left looking into the port. Put a match book cover or paper over the bottom row of pins so nothing touches those. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostintwilight Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 So whether I need to touch pins 3,4 or 4,7 I get nothing. What does this mean? The chips are bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+playsoft Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 That is what was meant by shorting pins. But, you do need to short appropriate pins. Random could have some, uhm, less than optimal results. It does sound possible that the 4052 multiplexer/demultiplexer chip(s) could be bad. Just to say thanks for that advice. I had the same column of keys not working on port 1 with all 4 of my controllers. Swapped the 4052s and now all is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atari-dna Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I've found a great resource for modern equivalents of the multiplexer chips, if anyone is interested. Very inexpensive too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atari-dna Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Here is the part information from Digikey for the multiplexer, these are pretty cheap 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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