My 2-port having issues with digital sticks - down goes up at first.

[BIGHMW]

I have been having this issue with my 2-port 5200 on a couple of games, mainly Vanguard, and Qix.

 

It seems like, for some weird reason, that when I try to go down on these 2 games (using a Gen 1 Atarimax Ultimate SD multicart) using a digital controller, being either my Retro Game Boyz custom 5200 stick, or any CX40 or CX24 with either generation (AtariAge/Pixels Past or Nimbleswitch) or edition (2600/Sega or 7800) of Redemption 5200, the movement goes up, and that, can be costly.

 

After a game is finished it eventually corrects itself. I tried other ports (.a52 and .bin files) of these two titles, and still, same result. I believe no other games were affected by this problem but if anything comes up I'll let you guys know.

 

Is this an issue with the chip, if it is a Rockwell as I have most recently been reading about it having issues, or something else.

Edited April 30, 2023 by BIGHMW

[+x=usr(1536)]

6 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

when I try to go down on these 2 games

Mindbleach, please 

 

If you swap a standard 5200 controller into the same port, does the problem continue to happen?

 

My guess is that the POKEY trim is getting out of adjustment, and your digital sticks are just on the cusp of where it begins to happen.  Check out the following video:

 

 

[BIGHMW]

I will indeed look into my menu on my Atarimax to seem if I have the test cart program on it and get to work on it. 

Edited May 2, 2023 by BIGHMW

[+-^CrossBow^-]

8 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

I will indeed look into my menu on my Atarimax to seem if I have the test cart program on it and get to work on it. 

Again the most accurate you can get is to use Missile Command with the top removed on the controller to make sure the controller arms are in the exact 9 and 6 positions. If you don't know how to disassemble the 5200 controller, then I strongly advise you to look up some vids on how to do so. It is easy to ruin the flex circuit if don't do it right and part of doing it right means removing the bezel around the Start,Pause, Reset buttons first!

 

[BIGHMW]

12 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Again the most accurate you can get is to use Missile Command with the top removed on the controller to make sure the controller arms are in the exact 9 and 6 positions. If you don't know how to disassemble the 5200 controller, then I strongly advise you to look up some vids on how to do so. It is easy to ruin the flex circuit if don't do it right and part of doing it right means removing the bezel around the Start,Pause, Reset buttons first!

 

I'm severely worried about voiding the warranty on my Best-modded controllers as removing anything will constitute nullification of that warranty.

 

With that said, can I use my Retro Game Boyz 5200 stick with its trim pots on it to do the alignment instead or will that not work, again this happens with mainly Qix, and Vanguard.

Edited May 3, 2023 by BIGHMW

[BIGHMW]

Well it turns out I have BOTH the Pete's cartridge and also the Diagnostic Cartridge v2.3, here they are right here, they were uploaded in 2004 according to their logs.

 

I wonder which ones are legit and fully work, I have SO many versions of them in my files (not on my Atarimax though).

 

 

Diagnostic Cartridge v2.3.bin Pete's Diagnostic Cartridge.bin Pete's Diagnostic Cart.bin Pete's Diagnostics (1982) (Atari).a52 Atari Diagnostics V2.3 (1983) (Atari).bin

[+-^CrossBow^-]

2 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

I'm severely worried about voiding the warranty on my Best-modded controllers as removing anything will constitute nullification of that warranty.

 

With that said, can I use my Retro Game Boyz 5200 stick with its trim pots on it to do the alignment instead or will that not work, again this happens with mainly Qix, and Vanguard.

Didn't realize you had Best controllers. He also likes to put some hot glue into that same screw that has the sticker over it so probably best not to open those up. As for the Retrogameboyz controller I don't know. Because the whole point of having the control arms on an actual controller in the 9 and 6 positions is so that you know for a fact that the controller is pretty much in the dead center. With trim pots on the controller, they allow you to move that center point about to adjust from game to game as needed. So I wouldn't know exactly where on those the dead center positions would be.