THECXSTICK ultimate fix

[JetmanUK]

7 minutes ago, MrFish said:

You're right. My mistake. I was confusing you with @chad5200, who is the one that used "Sponge Tape".

 

Too bad the grommet didn't hold up. The idea seemed to be going in the right direction.

 

No worries. 😊

 

Yeah, it didn't seem robust enough, after my comment when I opened the stick to remove it before I returned it I noted that it had shifted slightly.

 

There was also a small indentation, but it was more that the sticky tape had failed. I had pressed it on well, perhaps I was just unlucky with my particular rubber pad not being sticky enough.

 

I had replacements, but I'd already had an epiphany, why try to fix it? It's faulty! Back it went. No regrets. 

Edited April 10 by JetmanUK

[+MrFish]

11 minutes ago, JetmanUK said:

Yeah, it didn't seem robust enough, after my comment when I opened the stick to remove it before I returned it I noted that it had shifted slightly.

 

There was also a small indentation, but it was more that the sticky tape had failed. I had pressed it on well, perhaps I was just unlucky with my particular rubber pad not being sticky enough.

 

I had replacements, but I'd already had an epiphany, why try to fix it? It's faulty! Back it went. No regrets. 

I'm guessing it may need to be something more permanent than a stick-on pad... but, I can understand your frustration; I hate having to fix stuff that's supposed to work to begin with. Fixing used stuff is one thing; fixing stuff that's brand new...

 

[JetmanUK]

15 minutes ago, MrFish said:

I'm guessing it may need to be something more permanent than a stick-on pad... but, I can understand your frustration; I hate having to fix stuff that's supposed to work to begin with.

 

Yeah I just felt - What am I doing?!

 

I've never had a problem with an original CX40, the new CX40+, the Flashback CX40, numerous controllers I have from back in the day, new ones like the Trooper. It's not me 'using it wrong', I had a faulty stick, it's a faulty design, Amazon have a good return policy, any fix if it worked 100% (it never did) may be fleeting anyway, no lasting 40 years (and counting) like my original sticks I still have... Back it went. 

 

The sad thing is it totally soured my experience, I was ready to jump into something I had no prior experience with, Atari 8 bit computers. My first experience was struggling to navigate a menu. 🤷🏻🤦🏻 My second struggling to play a game I've played a million times with a CX40, Bruce Lee (on a Spectrum and C64). A bad start and as I have no nostalgia for the machine, a fatal blow. 

 

I think I just got a particularly bad stick I hope everyone here can enjoy their 400 Mini. For me, I'm out and probably won't be back, unless a new version of the stick is included and a sale price to entice me back. Shame. 

 

I'll stop now as I am usually super positive, this experience has really left me uncharacteristically negative. Meh. 

Edited April 10 by JetmanUK

[FifthPlayer]

7 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

 

I think I just got a particularly bad stick I hope everyone here can enjoy their 400 Mini. For me, I'm out and probably won't be back, unless a new version of the stick is included and a sale price to entice me back. Shame. 

 

I'll stop now as I am usually super positive, this experience has really left me uncharacteristically negative. Meh. 

 

You can't find it within yourself to look past the wonky controller and swap it out for something else?  Kinda sounds like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

[JetmanUK]

1 hour ago, FifthPlayer said:

 

You can't find it within yourself to look past the wonky controller and swap it out for something else?  Kinda sounds like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

No, why should I? I've used a CX joystick since I was a small kid and I've never had an issue with the various iterations I've used. The CX40 s an iconic stick, why would I want to play with something else? They put it in the box, its how it's meant to be played for an authentic experience. To me and many others I'm sure, It IS Atari. 

 

Do other sticks work? Yeah, but that's not the point here. I could play on an emulator with any controller on my PC, I could use my Mayflash adapter and use a real CX40 on my PC. The 400 Mini is supposed to be a total pick up and play trip into a certain era, it's about emersion and fun. 

 

Unlike many others I also didn't really have an issue with the extra buttons, so if the stick didn't have issues I would have used it with my PC. Shame. 

 

And yeah maybe it is... there goes that baby, I knew I needed a smaller plughole. 🤣

 

I do hope they get it fixed and in the meantime that everyone enjoys it, I don't want to take any joy away here, I'm just venting after my bad experience. 😊

[tabytha]

i had good results with just a small square of electrical tape there in the center (instead of using a rubber post or foam tape in the same place). i cut the piece off the roll to be a square, placed it carefully in the center, and behold the stick was giving me joy again (which i guess is it's only job!) i was prepared to put on several layers, but just one did the trick for me

Edited April 11 by tabitha
added more context

[+MrFish]

2 hours ago, FifthPlayer said:

You can't find it within yourself to look past the wonky controller and swap it out for something else?

Look past shelling out essentially $30 for a piece of hardware because Retro Games couldn't be bothered to take the time and get something so basic right? I mean, how hard is it to get the base functionality of a joystick working right, when it's a design that's already been around and working fine for over 40 years? I know there are people who've been able to use them fine as they are; but there seem to be a significant-enough number of people who aren't fine with them.

 

31 minutes ago, JetmanUK said:

No, why should I?

I agree, why should anyone. Are we so desperate for a piece of hardware like this that we should just take anything that gets shoved at us? I'm not, and I won't. They're going to lose business over this joystick; and their attitude of users needing to be more gentle with the joystick isn't a solution. Everybody doesn't use controllers the same, and they should have taken that into account during testing.

 

[JetmanUK]

21 minutes ago, tabitha said:

i had good results with just a small square of electrical tape there in the center (instead of using a rubber post or foam tape in the same place). i cut the piece off the roll to be a square, placed it carefully in the center, and behold the stick was giving me joy again (which i guess is it's only job!) i was prepared to put on several layers, but just one did the trick for me

Wow! A single piece f tape made a difference to yout stick? I am stunned that that has worked for you. Very happy too.

This proves again how variable the hardware is that is out there.

[Sean_1970]

5 hours ago, FifthPlayer said:

 

You can't find it within yourself to look past the wonky controller and swap it out for something else?  Kinda sounds like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

I would agree, but they’re charging £100 for this, not £25. It’s great there’s various fixes and if I had issues I’d opt to fix myself, but I cannot fault people for returning it. Any casual purchaser would do the same, so this oversight will potentially cause lost sales and hopefully a lesson will be learned to do better QA; pick a more reliable partner for manufacturing. Shame really…

[Fred_M]

14 hours ago, Philsan said:

SIO devices don't have CAR compatibility.

Yes, you are right ofcourse 😉 Luckily most of them (or even all?) are available as xex files 😉

 

Other solutions are available too, like the Picocart and the AVG cart.

[Fred_M]

3 hours ago, MrFish said:

I mean, how hard is it to get the base functionality of a joystick working right, when it's a design that's already been around and working fine for over 40 years?

 

 

Yes, it is so weird that RGL chose to make the joystick this way. Even on Aliexpress you can find new counterfeit CX40 joysticks (sadly only db-9) which use microswitches inside for under 10 euros.

 

The64 mini also had a crappy joystick, some people even broke them litterally, but RGL decided to improve that joystick for the64 maxi release.

[JetmanUK]

1 hour ago, Sean_1970 said:

I would agree, but they’re charging £100 for this, not £25. It’s great there’s various fixes and if I had issues I’d opt to fix myself, but I cannot fault people for returning it. Any casual purchaser would do the same, so this oversight will potentially cause lost sales and hopefully a lesson will be learned to do better QA; pick a more reliable partner for manufacturing. Shame really…

Yep, I hope they can turn this round too.

 

And to be fair to me I tried TWO fixes and SPENT MONEY on the DS rubber pads. So time and money was invested from my side into something that should just work. I hardly tapped out without a try. But the fun was gone.

[chad5200]

On 4/10/2024 at 6:53 AM, JetmanUK said:

An update on this, and not a good one.

 

I haven't used the stick for a few days, today I tried it and it seems as if the sticky pad may have become depressed (I know I am with this damn stick too) to an extent where I would say it's functioning the same as when I loosened the screws, that is, it's OK and usable, but definitely not ‘fixed’. Shame

Same thing happened with my joystick.

 

At first it was working great with the mod idea that @tyke offered up.  But now it has gone back to not working.

 

Has anyone "fixed" their joystick with this mod and does it STILL work 100% a week later?  If so, exactly what did you use for your mod?

 

[ErikDavid]

Anyone know if the rubber 3DS covers hold up better than foam-based options? 

Edited April 11 by ErikDavid

[JetmanUK]

9 minutes ago, ErikDavid said:

Anyone know if the rubber 3DS covers hold up better than foam-based options? 

My DS/3DS didn't and it seems @chad5200 didn't either (Unless I have misundertodd what he wrote).

I think a larger item, a larger surface area may stand more of a chance of staying in place.

[tabytha]

8 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

Wow! A single piece f tape made a difference to yout stick? I am stunned that that has worked for you. Very happy too.

This proves again how variable the hardware is that is out there.

i've only seen this one unit, but i was having severe symptoms - if i used a very gentle touch it worked, anything harder (e.g. how i normally use an atari joystick) caused false diagonals.  now, if i push insanely hard (harder than i ever do in real game play) i can still get those false diagonals sometimes, but the stick doesn't feel tight at all and it more than handles the normal range of force i'm going to be using. of course YMMV, but I recommend trying the electrical tape solution to anyone having this issue since it's very easy to try and most people have electrical tape at hand

[SuperZapperRecharge]

4 hours ago, JetmanUK said:

I think a larger item, a larger surface area may stand more of a chance of staying in place.

Yeah the 3DS pad solution failed pretty quickly for me, within a day. The surface area is too small and the pad was easily moved by the joystick. I'm getting a variety of new rubber pads / feet from Amazon soon. It looks like a 2mm - 3mm height should work with a 8-10mm width. This should allow the pads adhesive to provide more grip given the force applied.

Edited April 11 by SuperZapperRecharge

[JetmanUK]

43 minutes ago, SuperZapperRecharge said:

Yeah the 3DS pad solution failed pretty quickly for me, within a day. The surface area is too small and the pad was easily moved by the joystick. I'm getting a variety of new rubber pads / feet from Amazon soon. It looks like a 2mm - 3mm height should work with a 8-10mm width. This should allow the pads adhesive to provide more grip given the force applied.

I think my previous idea of the same rubber pads that are on the bottom of the stick is still a good shout.

[Spanner]

How about a small spring to push it away from the board, I am thinking what RGL could add to it, I was just looking at mine(in bits...  ), maybe a key cap spring from a keyboard, that might be the logical answer, it needs a spring to keep the stick straight and its pushed up away from the PCB board, THEC64 Joystick has one you need one to stop the stick been pushed down on PCB board when you grab it fully with your hand and I noticed it has no hole in the middle of the PCB board so the stick does not push agent the PCB and crack it as you push down on the stick or could ware out the PCB at that point, it very close to the left and right lines, weird...  I would of put a hole in the PCB board there so no rubbing can happen.

Quick Joy joystick with hole in the middle of its PCB
 

The Atari2600 Plus joystick has a hole in its PCB, thats what is missing, its missing the hole in the middle of the PCB.

RGL THECXSTICK is on the left the Atari2600 Plus Atari Joystick is on the right

It needs a new PCB with a hole in the middle, unless your good at cutting but there 2 trace lines very close in the middle of the board, left and right traces, if you look where they are its enough space for a hole, they missed it in the factory, it has a design fault, it happens, Sega missed a trace on my first Sega Master System for button 2, it never worked for player 1...  so I had to add a wire to its Db9 port so it would work, that was in 1988...

 

Now I have to put both joysticks back together...

Edited April 13 by Spanner

[Pac-Man Senior]

Yesterday I suffered a setback concerning my "ultimate" fix for the joystick. I played Jumpman Jr., some of the hard levels, and suddenly my Jumpman wasn't - again! - able to go down a ladder. Always down/right, so off the ladder and falling down. And my Bruce Lee wasn't able any more to lay down. It seems like the felt pads were worn out. I've got many of them as a reserve for chairs, mugs etc. So I took two new pads. And I was able to finish the levels of Jumpman. I also tried electrical tape since someone wrote that this would be enough to fix the joystick. In my case it wasn't. I tried one, two or up to four - but no success. And I tried one of the four pads from the joystick - no success too. My joystick likes felt pads. So I can say that my fix has some viariable costs.

[Spanner]

I took some picture of a real Atari Black VCS Joystick, I took it apart and you can see it has a pole in the middle of it and a hole though its pcb so why its a accurate joystick, RGL made the CXSTICK to much like THEC64 RED Joystick, they should of just copied the original Atari joystick and it would worked OK or did it like PLAION did with the Atari2600 Plus do not see why they didn't, they work together to make these.

 

Atari Black VCS 2600 Joystick Teardown

==========================

The good old days how things where built...  a 80s joystick, I think it might of been made for the Darth Vader VCS, not sure when that come out, in the 80s maybe between 1980/82.

Edited April 18 by Spanner

[tabytha]

On 4/11/2024 at 5:43 AM, chad5200 said:

Same thing happened with my joystick.

 

At first it was working great with the mod idea that @tyke offered up.  But now it has gone back to not working.

 

Has anyone "fixed" their joystick with this mod and does it STILL work 100% a week later?  If so, exactly what did you use for your mod?

 

i used a small square piece of electrical tape in the center, it's still working fine after a week of use UPDATE: after playing more extensively, it has failed too, with registering down as down right fairly often... sigh i wil probably open it back up and see what more can be done, but not tonight

Edited April 20 by tabitha

[_The Doctor__]

Defective Design and implementation, I'd say all these need to be returned to the manufacturer. That's the fix, there is no other unless you make your own guts and use a center pilot/pivot hole and pin.

[Spanner]

Its need like a little plastic cup in the middle of the PCB for the middle pole in the center of the stick to sit in so it does not move off center so it always in the center because when it moves is when you get up-left or down-right or if you move right you get right-up, it happens on Donkey Kong at lot when you go up and down ladders, it goes up a ladder by itself and then you hit a barrel, game over ...

Edited April 20 by Spanner

[JetmanUK]

10 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Defective Design and implementation, I'd say all these need to be returned to the manufacturer. That's the fix, there is no other unless you make your own guts and use a center pilot/pivot hole and pin.

This.

All of them need to be returned.

 

Anything you do will not work forever, forever meaning at least 40 years like my original CX40. It will likely only work for days only. 

 

If you have even a hint of trouble return it, it's not going to get better and after decades of using the stick you are not going to learn a new way of using it that tip toes around it's shortcomings.

 

I really hope that they can revise the hardware, it's not an unknown as the CX40+ proved that a modern remake can be excellent. It's all down to budget, can/will they spend the money required to fix the problem?

Edited April 20 by JetmanUK