Converting Sega Megadrive pads to 7800

[paulvonscott]

Hi Folks. I have an Atari 7800 without any controllers. Arg! I've tried using standard ones but the 7800 games are greedy and want two fire buttons. I also cannot get hold of any suitable joysticks locally. However I can get Sega pads cheap locally and I saw on the Atari FAQ plans to convert these, or produce an adapter (even better!) However I have the electronic knowledge of a pumpkin. So I was wondering if one of you guys had done this operation and could send me a labelled picture to explain it. I have a soldering iron and a local electronics store to get the parts from and, by Atari, the will to try it. Love to hear from anyone who have tried it! All the best. Atarion innsmouth@netscapeonline.co.uk

[Osbo]

the pads should work just fine without any modification

 

Osbo

[paulvonscott]

But they don't. In fact sega megadrive pads seem to really feak out the 7800 and everything goes weird. I'll plug it all in tomorrow and get the actual facts as to what happens. I'm not familiar with the Sega Genesis, but I assume (perhaps wrongly) that it has similar controls to the megadrive. If anyone has used sega megadrive pads succesfully on the 7800 I'd really like to know.

[Ze_ro]

I've heard that SMS pads are bad for Atari systems, as they try to pull the lines high instead of low (or maybe it's the other way around). Since I get the idea that you're not into all this electronics stuff, that won't make a lot of sense to you... however, I have been able to get my Genesis (Megadrive) pad to work on my 2600, C64, and ColecoVision, so I see no reason it won't work on the 7800.

 

--Zero