D-pad Left no longer works (related to the controller mod maybe)

[D.F.]

Hi folks. I was looking for some advice.

I performed a rotary controller mod a few months ago. I must have done something wrong because it would occasionally mess up when enabling/disabling with the switch I installed.

 

So last night in an act of desperation, I desoldered the wires pertaining to the mod.

 

After assembling everything back together with a disconnected rotary knob, now my dpad "left" no longer works

 

It doesn't look like I left an accidental glob of sodder shorting out two contacts. I don't know what else to do.

 

Does anyone have some tips? I'm fairly experienced with soldering, as I do it for work on occasion. I have tools including a multimeter. I'm just at a loss. There doesn't appear to be any visible damage. Could I have accidentally soldered together some points that aren't clearly visible?

 

I realize it could be a large number of things, but I'm taking the chance that someone is familiar with this and may have experienced it before. Or if someone has performed lots of rotary mods, maybe there's some common issues?

 

Thanks so much for listening and for any advice a user might have. I took all next week off of work and planned on putting in some serious Jaguar time (among other things).

[Zerosquare]

- Check that no pin is broken on the controller's connector (they bend and break quite easily)

- With a multimeter, check the continuity between each pin and the matching wire inside the controller

- If you have another controller, check if it works, to make sure the problem is actually the controller and not the Jaguar

 

[+Stephen Moss]

If all the other directions work that would suggest the issue does not lie with the row strobe, but with the column.

If you have any games that use any or all of buttons 4, 5 & 6, do those buttons work? If so then the issue is limited just to the D-Pad left interface narrowing down the possabilities, if not that would suggest it is a wider issue affecting the entire column.    

[D.F.]

11 hours ago, Stephen Moss said:

If all the other directions work that would suggest the issue does not lie with the row strobe, but with the column.

If you have any games that use any or all of buttons 4, 5 & 6, do those buttons work? If so then the issue is limited just to the D-Pad left interface narrowing down the possabilities, if not that would suggest it is a wider issue affecting the entire column.    

Ah ha! I put in AvP and chose Predator, cloaked, and tried to change vision modes with 6. No dice. I shall assume that 4, 5, and 6 are also out.

 

Having said that, any idea where to start next? This is the first time I've looked at the pinout page showing the rows and columns, but I don't know what comes next. Any advice?

[+Stephen Moss]

Next, with the controller connected to the Jag and the Jaguar on (or an external 5V source powering the controller) I would measure the voltage between pin 10 (GND) and pin 8 of U1 (74HC244).

 

With no buttons pressed you should measure approximately 5V, of you don't the next things to check are...

1. The connection between R2 and the supply, check by measuring the voltage at both ends of R2, both should read approximately 5V.
2. If the R2 voltage appears to be OK turn the power off and measure the resistance between R2 and pin 8 with your meter on a resistance range that overs 4K7 (4700) ohms. You should get a reading of either around 4K7 or 0 depending on which end of R2 you are measuring from. 

 

   

[D.F.]

Stephen Moss, I do get 5v on the test points suggested.

 

Sorry for the late response, I just had the wind taken out of my sails over this whole thing.

[+Stephen Moss]

Sometimes other things just have to take priority.

 

From that it looks like the static side of the input maybe Ok so now we need to look at static conditions on the output side...

1) Check the Voltage between GND (Pin 10 of U1) and Pin 12 of U1, it should be 5V DC, the same as the corresponding input.

2) Check the Voltage between GND (Pin 10 of U1) and Pin 12 of the cable connector (on the PCB not, the Jaguar end of the cable), again you should read 5V DC.

 

On my controller pin 12 is the Teal coloured wire but in case that is not consistent across controllers, the pins are numbers sequentially from 1 to 15, find the middle connector pin (pin 8, no connection) and measure the voltage on the pins either side of it, 5V = Pin 7, 0V = Pin 9 from that you should know which direction to go in to find pin 12.

 

[D.F.]

Will do. Thank you so much for all your time and knowledge. If there was an "AtariAge Gold" I would give you some. I also ordered a new controller from happiestsellerever! on eBay. At least then I'll be able to play the Jag again, until I can troubleshoot and repair the faulty one. That seller has a mixed reputation around here, and seems to have an attitude with some customers. He's got boxes and boxes of new controllers, purchased from a Kaybee Toy Store asset liquidation years ago - which is kinda cool. Set me back $50 but that's life as a Jag owner.

[+LS650]

Wow - $50 plus shipping for a regular controller! 

I can remember when people would throw them in free with other items.  I have about half a dozen kicking around.