Harmony Cartridge Lightgun control

[orion1052003]

Is there a way to navigate the menu with the lightgun? If so, is this an add-on to future firmware updates? I have a BEST electronics lightgun playing Sentinel. I have to switch ports so often, joystick to navigate the menu to Sentinel, then unplug and plug in light gun...Will eventually mess up the ports. One solution is to get the real cartridge. Another would be to navigate with the lightgun, if that is possible. When I click the button, it moves through items, but does not have a way to select one.

 

Orion

[MAC-42]

Another solution, which I use, is an extension cable. You can swap out controllers all day long and do no damage to the joystick ports that way.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I doubt lightgun support in the menu will ever happen. Sorry.

 

Supporting a joystick in the 2nd port seem much more feasible.

[+batari]

Another would be a second SD card with a single file: sentinel renamed to autorom.bin. The game will automatically start, bypassing the menu.

[orion1052003]

Oh, good lookin out, nice idea. Also, extension cable good idea, too, where do u get that?

[orion1052003]

Thanks for all the responses. I found an old, extra 1 GB SD card in a broken camera at home, and copied Sentinel to the mac desktop, renaming it to autorom.bin. I copied that file over the empty SD card, put it into the harmony cart, and voila!

 

 

The "autoboot" method worked!! When I tried to select Sentinel, the light gun just kept switching from sentinel and the root directory that comes with the Harmony Cart, the one that shows the credits and stuff. I thought it would just automatically play as the only file on there for some reason. So, I thought I couldn't start the game, just move between the 2 selections. However, I pressed reset when selecting 'Sentinel', and it worked! I think I had to press reset again after that, and the game started. Being able to leave the gun in and still get the game going will save a lot of wear and tear on a port. Thanks a lot!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Yes, you can navigate the menu with the console switches too. IIRC that should be described in the manual.

[orion1052003]

I'll have to read it again to see if that (console switches control) is in there. That autorom.bin trick should be listed in any new versions of the manual, as it is pretty cool and helpful. I didn't see that in there when I read the manual, anyway. Sentinel is tough, but fun.

[MAC-42]

Also, extension cable good idea, too, where do u get that?

Sorry I haven't replied sooner. Seems I lost track of this.

 

I happened to get a pair of them with a 2600 I picked up on the Evil Bay. They weren't even part of the listing, which was an uncommonly nice thing to happen with an Evil Bay purchase! But you can get the cables themselves over there; there's a seller out of Titusville, FL that usually sells them. Might be other sellers, too.

[orion1052003]

Ok, thanks. What do you usually have connected to them?

[7800]

Just be careful with the cable extenders. One of the ones I bought from ebay (Titusville) had a weak pin and it broke. Not sure if it was my fault, random thing, or if it's just a reflection of the quality. However, I DO recommend them, they work great... just be cautious when plugging in controllers. Also, most of my controller plugs fit loosely in the extenders. Not a bad thing but in the right circumstances your plug can easily unplug from it... in other words, it's not a snug connection.