Problem with button 2 on Atari joypad controller

[Charlie_]

I have two Atari 7800 Joypad controllers. On one of them there is a problem with button 2. In games like Xevious, button 2 does nothing. Like it is dead. However in 2600/7800 games that use only a single button it works fine. So the button is functioning. The 2nd joypad controller works as it should. So, what could be going on with this one controller and its button 2? 

[CPUWIZ]

First thing you should try, is using the joystick on the second port, to rule out the port being faulty.  Or did you try both on both ports already?

 

 

[Charlie_]

13 minutes ago, CPUWIZ said:

First thing you should try, is using the joystick on the second port, to rule out the port being faulty.  Or did you try both on both ports already?

 

 

Yeah, it's not the port. The other joypad and all proline controllers work fine. I did try port 2 with double dragon.

 

So it is either one of those resistors on the buttons needs replacing or the wire/9 pin female needs replacing.

Does a standard 2600 joystick have the same amount of wires? I'm sure I have some broken ones around....

 

[mimo]

6 hours ago, Charlie_ said:

Yeah, it's not the port. The other joypad and all proline controllers work fine. I did try port 2 with double dragon.

 

So it is either one of those resistors on the buttons needs replacing or the wire/9 pin female needs replacing.

Does a standard 2600 joystick have the same amount of wires? I'm sure I have some broken ones around....

 

Unfortunately not, but sega joystick extenders usually have all pins wired, cheap from eBay and just cut the unwanted end off

[+sixersfan105]

This is a somewhat common thing with the joypads. As you may know, in Europe, Atari not only bundled the joypads with 7800s but also with some 2600 Juniors. From having conversations with a couple of people across the pond in Europe, it is my understanding that Atari made some modifications to the joypads that were bundled with Atari 2600 Juniors, and years later when we try those same joypads designed for use with 2600s with 7800 games, Button 2 doesn't function at all. I know nothing about the technical side, but that's what I have been told, and I have seen it ring true with many joypads.
 

The good news is, this can be repaired so that you have full functionality with 7800 games, and I know @masschamber, for one, has made such repairs.

[pixelatedharmony]

On 12/28/2020 at 3:43 PM, sixersfan105 said:

This is a somewhat common thing with the joypads. As you may know, in Europe, Atari not only bundled the joypads with 7800s but also with some 2600 Juniors. From having conversations with a couple of people across the pond in Europe, it is my understanding that Atari made some modifications to the joypads that were bundled with Atari 2600 Juniors, and years later when we try those same joypads designed for use with 2600s with 7800 games, Button 2 doesn't function at all. I know nothing about the technical side, but that's what I have been told, and I have seen it ring true with many joypads.
 

The good news is, this can be repaired so that you have full functionality with 7800 games, and I know @masschamber, for one, has made such repairs.

I’ve never heard this before, but I’m not at all surprised to discover yet another burrow in the endless rabbit hole that is the 7800.

[Charlie_]

 

On 12/25/2020 at 5:46 AM, mimo said:

Unfortunately not, but sega joystick extenders usually have all pins wired, cheap from eBay and just cut the unwanted end off

Thanks for the advise. I did exactly this and all is well again.

Edited December 30, 2020 by Charlie_

[+jeremiahjt]

I have come across a similar problem in both of my 7800 Joypads recently.  On one of them, the right button works for Donkey Kong Junior, but not Xevious (regardless of difficulty switch position), RealSports Baseball, or Double Dragon (the 4 games I was using to test them).  On the other, the right button works for Donkey Kong Junior and Xevious (regardless of difficulty switch position), but not RealSports Baseball or Double Dragon.  Both worked perfectly before and the port on the system is fine as I can play all games with a Pro-Line.

 

Obviously these kinds of problems have been reported before, but the one working on Xevious and the other not is confusing to me.  I might just go ahead and order two Best Electronics upgrade kits, but not sure yet.