pacc76 Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I took my Atari 7800 out to play it before I sell it, and for some reason the right button on the controller won't work. I tried the other controller and it's the same thing. Is there some setting that's on that I need to turn off, or is there some way of fixing this? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 You are playing a game that actually uses the second button, right? There is no special setting. You've either got two broken controllers or a broken controller port, if you're using a two button game and it's not working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) Both of the action buttons on a working Atari 7800 controller should work independently in two-button 7800 games and should also "map" to the CX-40's single action button on single-button 7800 games (and on all 2600 games). This is possible because both buttons are wired together to the 2600 trigger input, but are also wired seperately to the two potentiometer (paddle) inputs. To diagnose the problem, this is the first thing I would try: plug in a 2600 game and see if both buttons on the 7800 controller work. If they do not, it is almost certainly a mechanical problem with the controller or a bad joystick cable. If both buttons work in 2600 mode but only one works in 7800 mode, it could be either a controller problem (a bad cable or a bad resistor) or a problem with the port itself. To test the port, try a two-player 2600 paddle game (if you have a set of working paddles) and see if both paddles work. If neither do, it's a problem with the power pin, and if only one of them does, it's a problem with the potentiometer inputs. If they both work, you'll probably need to replace either your joystick cable (more likely) or one of the resistors inside the joystick. Edited January 12, 2006 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacc76 Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 Is there any way to fix it? Tried em in the second port and again not working. Thanks for the advice so far .. and I have no idea what a potentiometer is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacc76 Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 Also, the left button doesn't work with the 2600 games either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Is there any way to fix it? Tried em in the second port and again not working. Thanks for the advice so far .. and I have no idea what a potentiometer is. 999124[/snapback] What games did you try them on, we need more information from you if you want answers. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) Also, the left button doesn't work with the 2600 games either. 999126[/snapback] You said earlier that the right button wasn't working. Is this the case for both 2600 and 7800 games? Also, does the left button work with 7800 games? Make sure you test with a 7800 game that uses both buttons independently (Asteroids, Xevious, etc.) A potentiometer is the "dial" inside of Atari paddle controllers. The inputs used for these are also used by the 7800 controller buttons (in two-button mode). See my earlier post for a clarification about what needs to be fixed. Edited January 12, 2006 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacc76 Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 Sorry guys, I orginally should have said that neither LEFT button is working, both right ones are fine, my mistake. I tried it with Pole Position II, as well as with Asteroids and Midnight Magic (you launch the pinball by hitting a button). Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) So, the left button does not seem to work with either 2600 or 7800 games. What about the right button? Is it working with 2600 games, or is it only broken in 7800 mode? It sounds to me like you've got some bad joysticks. Edited January 12, 2006 by jaybird3rd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacc76 Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 So, the left button does not seem to work with either 2600 or 7800 games. What about the right button? Is it working with 2600 games, or is it only broken in 7800 mode? It sounds to me like you've got some bad joysticks. 999165[/snapback] Right buttonn works fine. If the joysticks are broken, is it possible to fix them? Also, any idea what I could get for the system? It has the original box and foam packing inserts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Right buttonn works fine. If the joysticks are broken, is it possible to fix them? Also, any idea what I could get for the system? It has the original box and foam packing inserts. 999170[/snapback] It still seems a little strange to me that the same button could be broken on two different joysticks, but I suppose stranger things have happened. Are you certain you've tried both joysticks in both controller ports? Does the right button work on 2600 games, or 7800 games, or both (you started out the thread by saying that it was the right button that was broken, but now it works fine ...)? If indeed the joysticks are broken, you'll either have to replace the cable or one of the dome switches inside the controller. I couldn't tell you which without more troubleshooting (and much more specific information on what is happening). Most 7800 consoles seem to sell for anywhere between $20 and $40 depending on what condition they are in and how many games are included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 (edited) So, the left button does not seem to work with either 2600 or 7800 games. What about the right button? Is it working with 2600 games, or is it only broken in 7800 mode? It sounds to me like you've got some bad joysticks. 999165[/snapback] Right buttonn works fine. If the joysticks are broken, is it possible to fix them? Also, any idea what I could get for the system? It has the original box and foam packing inserts. 999170[/snapback] I'll offer you $25 as is for the lot of it. I pay shipping. Edited January 12, 2006 by silver_surfer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 With the box you could probably get $60 +/- on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacc76 Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 With the box you could probably get $60 +/- on ebay. 999552[/snapback] Thanks, Danno. I think I've figured out that it's just a bad left button. I have gotten one of the controllers' left button to work sometimes, the other one will not work at all. I opened up the controller and guess that one of the small boards that is actually contacted by the button woul dhave to be replaced. Just to clear things up, the right buttons on both controllers have always worked, it was a typo in my original question. So does anyone have any suggestions? Just replace the boards? Is it worth it to repair the controllers if I'm just going to sell it anyway? Also, are the boards interchangeable (i.e. if I wanted to swap in the board for the right button in the place of the left button). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 So does anyone have any suggestions? Just replace the boards? Is it worth it to repair the controllers if I'm just going to sell it anyway? Also, are the boards interchangeable (i.e. if I wanted to swap in the board for the right button in the place of the left button). 999639[/snapback] Yes they are interchangeable. So if you wanted, you could take one of the working right button boards and swap it for a non-working left button board and have one working controller. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacc76 Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 Thanks to all those who helped, I now have one functioning controller. Do I have to replace those boards on the second one, or is there a fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacc76 Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 To update, not fixed the second controller. I switched the boards for the L and R button, which caused the plastic to contact the board at a different (and non worn out) point. So now have 2 working controllers, thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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