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Category Archives: electronics

MAME and paddle controllers

03/05/2010 – 21:02

I just got a Sega Master System paddle controller working with the Retro Adapter. It works perfectly but there is a compatibility problem with some MAME games I had not anticipated. I tried to use it with Arkanoid. That game uses a spinner control which can rotate endlessly clockwise or anti-clockwise, unlike a paddle which [...]

By mojo | Also posted in hardware, Retro Adapter, software | Comments (0)

CA-42 as USB to RS232 converter 5V signal compatibility

26/04/2010 – 00:23

The Nokia CA-42 cable is well known as a cheap USB to RS232 converter. You can get them on eBay for about �1. One thing that was not clear from most of the articles about it is how tolerant the signalling voltage can is. According to the datasheet for the IC used in the CA-42 [...]

By mojo | Comments (0)

AVR / electronics quick reference sheet

23/04/2010 – 18:31

I am working on a quick reference chart (cheat sheet). It’s by no means done but a post over at Adafruit made me think to post it: quickref.pdf

By mojo | Also posted in avr | Comments (0)

Hori Famicom trackball protocol

22/04/2010 – 23:34

I just finished adding support for Famicom/NES trackballs to the Retro Adapter firmware. I can now use it as a mouse :-) The protocol is quite simple. Data is read from the controller in the same way as a normal gamepad. The first 8 bits are the same, followed by 4 bits of y axis [...]

By mojo | Also posted in hardware | Comments (0)

Famicom controller port pinout

19/04/2010 – 00:02

I am in the process of adding support for various Famicom controllers in the Retro Adapter firmware. I have a trackball and a mahjong controller I am working on. I thought it would be easy enough to find the Famicom controller port pinout online, but both of the pages I found (here and here) are [...]

By mojo | Also posted in hardware | Comments (2)

Playstation 2 controller I/O error

12/04/2010 – 18:49

I have been tracking down the last few bug with the Saturn/SNES to Playstation converters. It turns out that some revisions of the PS2 and one PS2 to XBOX 360 converter both have messed up timing. The acknowledge pulses come after the next data byte has started. Official controllers can cope with that, but some [...]

By mojo | Also posted in microcontrollers | Comments (0)

Playstation controller protocol quirks

22/02/2010 – 01:29

Today I discovered why I have been having a few compatibility problems with my Playstation interface code. The PSX uses a SPI bus. The device is supposed to put data on the bus when there is a high to low transition, then read the command on the low to high change. Sure enough the official [...]

By mojo | Also posted in avr, microcontrollers | Comments (9)

2nd DB9 Connector in the works

25/10/2009 – 19:24

I am doing the code for a 2nd DB9 Connector for the Retro Adapter. It converts the DB15 into another DB9 so you can connect two controllers simultaneously for 2 players. Atari/Commodore/Sega controllers are working and I will add support for NES and SNES too. I will probably do N64 as well. The button mapping [...]

By mojo | Also posted in avr, Retro Adapter | Comments (0)

Retro Adapter on sale soon and Retro Adapter Wii

06/09/2009 – 17:45

I will be opening the online shop for sales of the Retro Adapter soon (just waiting for the final parts to come in). Both finished adapters and kits will be available, as well as a selection of connectors. It occurred to me that I can use the same PCB for a Wii/Gamecube version, so I [...]

By mojo | Also posted in avr, hardware | Comments (0)

Final Retro Adapter PCBs arrived!

16/08/2009 – 23:36

The final production Retro Adapter PCBs arrived yesterday. I made one up and it works perfectly. I am very happy with the world Seeed Studio did on them, especially considering they are cheap and accept files in Eagle format (so they do all the conversion or Gerber and any panelization etc). I will put together [...]