Atariman Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 I've been looking around for controller data on various systems for a project I will be working on VERY soon. I am looking for information about the Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, Jaguar, Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, SNES, Master System, and Genesis. I have been to www.gamesx.com and found information on the 2600, NES/SNES, Jaguar, and Genesis (sadly, no information on the six button controller... ) And have been having a hard time finding information on the other systems. One option I have is actually tearing apart controllers and following traces, but that's really my last resort... Ah, nearly forgot to mention that I'm looking for information on the Intellivision II controllers. It is disappointing that there don't seem to be a ton of technical pages on these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 also forgot to mention that I found references to a promising sounding site - Deathskull Laboratories! - just to find that the site doesn't appear to exist anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Tried emu-docs ? also forgot to mention that I found references to a promising sounding site - Deathskull Laboratories! - just to find that the site doesn't appear to exist anymore. Archive.org, man. http://web.archive.org/web/20060429061826/...tech/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 Of course, now that I've posted this I have since found information on many of the controllers... (ducks as he hears screams of 'dumbass!' come from the boards. ) I still have been unable to find any really good information on the Intellivision II, Colecovision, or 7800, though. I found a table with some voltages for the 7800 controller... but didn't find a whole lot of fulfilling technical information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 Tried emu-docs ? also forgot to mention that I found references to a promising sounding site - Deathskull Laboratories! - just to find that the site doesn't appear to exist anymore. Archive.org, man. http://web.archive.org/web/20060429061826/...tech/index.html oh, heck yes! why didn't I think of the archives. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 Hmm... I'm still having trouble discovering the 7800 controller data and have yet to come across any information for the 6-button genesis controller... And thanks again, Zerosquare - you're a lifesaver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zerosquare Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 You're welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsoper Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 I found a table with some voltages for the 7800 controller... but didn't find a whole lot of fulfilling technical information. Looks like my website is getting praised on AA again. One thing with the CV controller scheme: look out for that table on the Deathskull archive. The pin order 4,3,2,1 should really be 1,2,3,4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted December 7, 2006 Author Share Posted December 7, 2006 I found a table with some voltages for the 7800 controller... but didn't find a whole lot of fulfilling technical information. Looks like my website is getting praised on AA again. One thing with the CV controller scheme: look out for that table on the Deathskull archive. The pin order 4,3,2,1 should really be 1,2,3,4 thanks! that would not have been fun to discover later on and trying to troubleshoot it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsoper Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 thanks! that would not have been fun to discover later on and trying to troubleshoot it. Yeah, it cost me 2-3 hours one night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uzumaki Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 And some blown TTL chips if you tried to build a custom joystick interface using the incorrect pinouts. CV is a major PITA to fix when the problem is not the power supply or the switch. and those joystick port blows really easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted December 8, 2006 Author Share Posted December 8, 2006 And some blown TTL chips if you tried to build a custom joystick interface using the incorrect pinouts. CV is a major PITA to fix when the problem is not the power supply or the switch. and those joystick port blows really easy. Hmm... that's not comforting... I guess I'll have to drag both of my CV's with me to college next semester then just in case... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted January 26, 2007 Author Share Posted January 26, 2007 Ok... The project I am working on is now to the point where I am going to be doing a lot of programming for various systems - I finally got the Analog to Digital conversion working properly (using an analog joystick for the sake of the 5200), so it's time to start mapping buttons and organizing the data in code. I only have one question for now - How reliable is the rest of the information on the Deathskull Labs website? As previously mentioned in this thread, there is an error in the CV pinouts, but are there any other mistakes? Ok, so I lied - I have ONE more question. Anybody know where to find the information on the 7800 controllers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmOneGarand Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I do believe the 6 Buttons Gen controllers all depend upon the IC in the controller, theirs not much of an easy way to rewire it directly if your trying to make some kind of universal controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 See this doc for info on the Genesis 6-button gamepad http://cgfm2.emuviews.com/txt/gen-hw.txt It outputs the buttons through the pins depending on what value is written to pin 7 (I think). Actually, that's the same for the 3-button controller, it's just more complicated to access all 6 buttons. The 7800 stick isn't complicated at all: http://pinouts.ru/Inputs/JoystickAtari7800_pinout.shtml More generally, there is this website; can't vouch for the accuracy: http://pinouts.ru/pin_Inputs.shtml and http://pinouts.ru/pin_Game.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 Okay... just need a little clarification before I start hammering out code (and making a cable)... jsoper, I'm thinking that what you meant by the pinout being backwards is as follows: instead of the colecovision pinout being: 1. /North 2. /South 3. /West 4. /East 5. (pin changes voltage) 6. /left fire or SAC Yellow Trigger 7. Quadrature input A 8. (pin changes voltage) 9. Quadrature input B It should be: 1. /East 2. /West 3. /South 4. /North ... (all the rest are the same) is that correct? I was just confused because it matches the Atari 2600 directional pins (and I thought that the colecovision and 2600 used the same layout for that portion of the controller) I noticed that it also mentioned that it is the 9-pin FEMALE D-sub connector (on the joystick) I just want to make sure before I wind up roasting some parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsoper Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 No, read my post. I said the "table" was labeled wrong, it's in the keypad section. Everything else is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 No, read my post. I said the "table" was labeled wrong, it's in the keypad section. Everything else is fine. Ah, sorry. My brain hasn't been functioning very well today - it is muddled with the problems arising from trying to interface a Genesis with a microcontroller. I just can't seem to get my code to work with the Genesis (for 3 button mode). When I try it out on a master system game, it acts like it would with a six button controller. Oh well. More troubleshooting for me! Thankfully, it has been working nicely with the NES, SNES, and Master System (when I use code that I wrote specifically FOR the master system). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted June 16, 2007 Author Share Posted June 16, 2007 Okay... here's the next problem... without an oscilloscope handy, I suspect that my Genesis is treating my microcontroller like a 6-button controller (which supposedly receives 4 select pulses from the Genesis). Is there any way to make the Genesis output one pulse (like it would for a 3-button controller)? I *think* that is probably what my problem is, but after looking over the 3-button controller wiring and layout, all of the resistors I saw were for pullups and the lone capacitor on the board was just between ground and the +5V (nothing special there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur McCalmont Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Hmm... I'm still having trouble discovering the 7800 controller data and have yet to come across any information for the 6-button genesis controller... And thanks again, Zerosquare - you're a lifesaver! The 6-button Genesis controller has a state-machine/bank-switching type output - it's not a simple truth-table. I used an oscilloscope to determine the waveforms several years ago and put them in a binder somewhere, when I find it, I'll take a picture and post it here for everyone. Making a device that reads or emulates that controller isn't a case of "connecting the wires to the correct pins" it requires generating the proper waveform at each pin at the proper time and length of time and then reading results on the output pins. Probably not worth the effort depending on your application. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur McCalmont Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 If I recall correctly the Genesis had 2 incompatible 6-button controllers or multi-player adaptors. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur McCalmont Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 (edited) Hmm... I'm still having trouble discovering the 7800 controller data and have yet to come across any information for the 6-button genesis controller... And thanks again, Zerosquare - you're a lifesaver! The 6-button Genesis controller has a state-machine/bank-switching type output - it's not a simple truth-table. I used an oscilloscope to determine the waveforms several years ago and put them in a binder somewhere, when I find it, I'll take a picture and post it here for everyone. Making a device that reads or emulates that controller isn't a case of "connecting the wires to the correct pins" it requires generating the proper waveform at each pin at the proper time and length of time and then reading results on the output pins. Probably not worth the effort depending on your application. I felt it would be more usefull as it's own topic rather than a post to this topic. Sega GENESIS 6-BUTTON controller waveforms . Edited July 18, 2007 by Wilbur McCalmont Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 Hmm... I'm still having trouble discovering the 7800 controller data and have yet to come across any information for the 6-button genesis controller... And thanks again, Zerosquare - you're a lifesaver! The 6-button Genesis controller has a state-machine/bank-switching type output - it's not a simple truth-table. I used an oscilloscope to determine the waveforms several years ago and put them in a binder somewhere, when I find it, I'll take a picture and post it here for everyone. Making a device that reads or emulates that controller isn't a case of "connecting the wires to the correct pins" it requires generating the proper waveform at each pin at the proper time and length of time and then reading results on the output pins. Probably not worth the effort depending on your application. I felt it would be more usefull as it's own topic rather than a post to this topic. GENESIS 6-BUTTON controller waveforms . Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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