Minimum USB 5V 1A Power Adaptor not enough...

[atwwong]

I discovered that using the minimum power of 5V and 1A for a USB power adaptor is not enough for both an additional (powered VSB) joystick and a USB stick to add files externally. My unit kept losing the HDMI signal to the TV.

 

I changed my USB power adaptor to one with 5V and 1.2A and now I'm having no problems with an additional joystick and USB stick. It may depend on my setup and perhaps the quality of the USB power adaptor, but now things are working more smoothly.

[Spanner]

You should be able to use up to 5v 3a like THEC64 because it uses the same board, I use the Capcom Home Arcade USB power adapter, you can use the power from your PC too but only if its plugged into a powered USB Hub thats plugged into the PC then it works fine.

[Spanner]

And it depends on the 4 port HUB that connected to THEC64 Main board how much power is draws too, it not the same USB Hub thats used in THEC64 so when you plug say 2 joysticks or even 4 joysticks in it, it could draw more Amps so need more then 3 Amp more like 5 Amp, the more devices connected, the more amps you need, because its powering them, joystick need power too and depends on what joystick or Gamepad your using and how much power it needs, not all of them are the same.

Does anyone know if THE400 Mini run correctly if 4 joysticks are connected to it with a power supply 5v 1 Amp, anyone tested it yet, I would as well test it with different USB Gamepads, joysticks too to see what it can handle on that power supply...?

Most 5v 1A power supply are crap so do not see it doing well...  the Amazon Fire Stick power supply is rubbish 4K Max Fire Stick, I tested it on my THEC64 Mini and its HDMI signal kept dropping out.

[WozNYC]

On my 400 Mini, when I connect an original Sony PS4 DualShock controller (wired) performance takes a dump no matter what power source I use.  From the animated Atari logo intro to the carousel movement, the framerate gets noticeably choppy. That's ok because it's not my preferred controller for these kind of games anyway.  My 8BitDo M30 (2.4G white version with USB-C connection) works perfectly.  

[Sean_1970]

2 hours ago, WozNYC said:

On my 400 Mini, when I connect an original Sony PS4 DualShock controller (wired) performance takes a dump no matter what power source I use.  From the animated Atari logo intro to the carousel movement, the framerate gets noticeably choppy. That's ok because it's not my preferred controller for these kind of games anyway.  My 8BitDo M30 (2.4G white version with USB-C connection) works perfectly.  

My PS4 controller works fine wired - possibly my hub has better output?

[atwwong]

I posted in another thread that I am now using a 5V 3A powered USB hub that supplies 2.4A to the mini. I have 4 joysticks/gamepads, a keyboard, and USB stick connected, and everything works great with no power issues.

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/364240-how-do-i-use-a-keyboard/?do=findComment&comment=5442865

Edited April 14 by atwwong
Corrected link

[Spanner]

Just plugged in a 4 port Hub, its a Atolla make USB Hub(cost £16 on eBay, so not a cheap one, it has a sd card slot too) and now my THE400 Mini has started to do HDMI Flicker Mode on the screen( the HDMI signal flickers in and out then blacks out completely so nothing on the screen and only comes back if I unplug the 4 port USB HUB) and my power adapter is 5v 3A...wow, THEC64 Mini/THEC64 and THEA500 Mini all use the same power adapter, its from the Capcom Home Arcade, its gray and uses the same 4 port hub and they work fine with it, is the 4 port hub built in taking more power then it should, I noticed it has a feature on it where it knows what port your in port 1, port 2 port 3 and port 4 so if you plug a joystick into port 2 the emulator knows its in port 2 so no need for a port swapping button, one way to find out is to unplug the built-in 4 port USB Hub and plug in the 4 port hub in the back using it USB port on THEC64 Main PCB board and see if it works OK with it and boots up without seen Flicker Mode( ) if it works OK then its the built-in USB 4 port Hub taken to much power away from THEC64 Main PCB Board so it can not power the HDMI IC on the PCB board properly when a 4 port HUB is plugged in when it should, the other machines can, THEC64 has 4 ports on it and you can plug in a 4 port USB Hub too.

This is so weird...

Edited April 21 by Spanner

[Spanner]

Here is a picture of the 2 THEC64 boards side by side: THE400 Mini and THEC64 Main PCB Boards.

[Spanner]

4 hours ago, Spanner said:

Here is a picture of the 2 THEC64 boards side by side: THE400 Mini and THEC64 Main PCB Boards.

This board has been used now use in 4 products: THEC64, THEVIC20, Capcom Home Arcade and THE400 Mini... what's next, ZX Spectrum 48k...  it runs OK BTW on THEC64/THE400/THEA500, PCUAE ZEsarUX Mode, it even emulates the ZX Spectrum Next plus the Amstrad CPC and PCW.

Oh and I tested it by disconnecting its 4 port Hub and only having my one connected at the back and now no more HDMI Flickering, so its the 4 port USB Hub at the front thats using more power.

Edited April 21 by Spanner

[Spanner]

This is what it looks like in the Capcom Home Arcade, it has a MMC instead of a nand and 512 ram and is a Alwinner H3.

It has Wifi and a place where you can solder on a sd card slot.

Edited April 22 by Spanner