Danjovic Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 I have acquired a peculiar controller on a recycling facility but haven't found so far any information about which standard it uses. It has a cable ending on a male db-15 while at the controller the cable end on a hd-15. Can anyone help me to identify it? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serguei2 Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Can Windows detect it? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4513137 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 Haven't tried yet because I need a PC with a gameport and I have to put one of my old machines back to use. Nevertheless I have found that this controller was sold with a pair of cables so it could either be used on PC or in Sega Saturn. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4514240 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 What's on the back side? Did you open it up and see what's on the inside? what country are you in? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4514384 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 The backside is missing the identification label. About a year ago when I acquired the controller, I have tried to find the controller by the name written on it (Mars) but haven't found nothing. Now I found an advertisement of an identical controller that, according to the seller it is for PC and Saturn (the seller have only the Saturn cable though). Now I am confident do plug it on a PC (as soon as I put it back to work). I hope to reverse engineer its protocol and make a USB adapter for it. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4514746 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 Will it work with this Saturn-USB adapter? https://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/saturn_to_usb_adapter_v2/index.php Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4514956 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 With a proper Saturn cable, sure, but the protocol should be different when working on PC, maybe similar to the Sidewinder that sends controller data on the button lines right after the potx line exceeds a certain voltage. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4515286 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 So at the end of the cable it has the old school DB15 gameport connector? https://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/gameport_to_usb/index.php Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4515681 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 Yes, I have only the PC cable for this controller. Tested using self made PC interface (link) Only first pair of axes (1 /2) and 4 buttons responded, no response in other buttons, no signal of data output on buttons line (like sidewinder). Have yet to try to run on old PC. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4516190 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Maybe this will help: https://code.google.com/archive/p/sw3dprousb/ Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4516828 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChildOfCv Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 17 hours ago, Danjovic said: Yes, I have only the PC cable for this controller. Tested using self made PC interface (link) Only first pair of axes (1 /2) and 4 buttons responded, no response in other buttons, no signal of data output on buttons line (like sidewinder). Have yet to try to run on old PC. It may try to be a "smart controller", where setting a mode will cause button presses to do complex things. Or it may employ a signaling mechanism similar to Sidewinder, but only when you press the right mode button(s). Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4516884 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 1 hour ago, ChildOfCv said: where setting a mode will cause button presses to do complex things. I have monitored the signals on the oscilloscope while I fiddled a lot with the buttons, but no response. 1 hour ago, ChildOfCv said: a signaling mechanism similar to Sidewinder, It is possible, maybe it is necessary to perform a defined pattern of readings within a given time to put the controller in a kind of extended mode, for example perform 3 consecutive readings in less than 16 milliseconds. 4 hours ago, fdr4prez said: Maybe this will help: https://code.google.com/archive/p/sw3dprousb/ Thanks for the link. I have a sidewinder here to interface with usb too and that will be very useful. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4517095 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 2 hours ago, Danjovic said: I have monitored the signals on the oscilloscope while I fiddled a lot with the buttons, but no response. Maybe it is broke and that is why it was in the recycle bin? No markings or such on the interior board or chips? What does it look like in there? Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4517263 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 hour ago, fdr4prez said: Maybe it is broke and that is why it was in the recycle bin? Fortunately it is working, By no response I mean, no response on the buttons lines and the axis other than for a standard analog joystick. The modifier key (M1, M2, M3, MO and EXC.) they do respond as they change the state of the LEDs, but they do not modify the behaviour of the controller, that keeps working just like the PC standard joystick with 4 buttons. I was expecting to see the button lines changing in the form of a clock and a stream of data pretty much like the Sidewinder. Maybe the advanced functions only work on Saturn or the controller requires some activation coming from PC to change from a "compatible mode" to an "advanced mode" where all buttons can be recognized. I haven't opened the controller yet. I don't have much hope to find recognizable chips, but some markings on the board might be useful to bring some light. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4517332 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 On 4/17/2020 at 7:29 PM, Serguei2 said: Can Windows detect it? Tested on a computer with a gameport. Windows XP can not recognize it. you have to choose manually the type of game controller. It can work as a 4 button 2 axis controller and I have figured out that the modes T and S seems to work as turbo modes (auto fire) for the buttons. Giving the options that the are presented to choose I suppose there is a lot of controllers that perform a proprietary initialization. Should investigate it further but need to make a better setup first. 1 Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4518389 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serguei2 Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 On 4/22/2020 at 10:39 PM, Danjovic said: Tested on a computer with a gameport. Windows XP can not recognize it. you have to choose manually the type of game controller. It can work as a 4 button 2 axis controller and I have figured out that the modes T and S seems to work as turbo modes (auto fire) for the buttons. Giving the options that the are presented to choose I suppose there is a lot of controllers that perform a proprietary initialization. Should investigate it further but need to make a better setup first. It might be possible it needs a driver to use all buttons. Some joysticks and gamepads come with a disk/cd installer. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4519621 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danjovic Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Serguei2 said: It might be possible it needs a driver to use all buttons Yeah I believe so! I have bought the controller that I have seen advertised, I hope that it comes with a CD. On the worst case I can use the wiring from saturn cable that will come with the "new" controller and then build a new cable to extract the data using saturn protocol. Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4519685 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serguei2 Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Not directly with Mars gamepads but I found drivers for Saturn controllers. They might work. https://www.aldostools.org/dpad.html Quote Link to comment https://forums.atariage.com/topic/305606-can-anyone-help-to-identify-this-weird-game-controller/#findComment-4519901 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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