The Ultimate Intellivision Flashback

[pimpmaul69]

 

Did you find the issue or not? I doubt the issue is with the interface since it works fine with other emulators.

i actually found 3 emulators that have the same issue with it. only happens on player 1 with extension cord used. player 2 has no issues even though the controls are identical on both in all 3 emulators

Edited April 28, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[pimpmaul69]

i actually found 3 emulators that have the same issue with it. only happens on player 1 with extension cord used. player 2 has no issues even though the controls are identical on both in all 3 emulators

found a fourth emulator that has the same problem.

[intvdave]

It must be your setup. No one else is having this problem. Check your modifications. It makes no sense that it works fine with one but not others. If it was a hardware issue, it would not work on any emulator.

[pimpmaul69]

It must be your setup. No one else is having this problem. Check your modifications. It makes no sense that it works fine with one but not others. If it was a hardware issue, it would not work on any emulator.

ive checked it. Works fine with an intellivision controller. Only using an extension cable on player 1 with a coleco controller does this happen. I believe it is possibly a bad capacitor creating signal loss when using a coleco controller with an extension cable and the way that signal is translated. It is 100% not my wiring as it works without an extension cable on player 1.

[+evg2000]

ive checked it. Works fine with an intellivision controller. Only using an extension cable on player 1 with a coleco controller does this happen. I believe it is possibly a bad capacitor creating signal loss when using a coleco controller with an extension cable and the way that signal is translated. It is 100% not my wiring as it works without an extension cable on player 1.

And the same extension cable works fine for player 2?

[pimpmaul69]

And the same extension cable works fine for player 2?

yes all of them work fine on player 2

[intvdave]

Maybe that is the reason the interface is not sold with extension cables (hahahahahahahaahaha)

[pimpmaul69]

Maybe that is the reason the interface is not sold with extension cables (hahahahahahahaahaha)

sucks considering the original cables are about only 4 inches long now which shoulda helped it. Like i said i will just buy another when i got the money and will try to mod this one to cram into an ecs keyboard. Maybe i will get bored and replace the 2 8x 103lf capacitor arrays. Just not that bored yet.

[mthompson]

sucks considering the original cables are about only 4 inches long now which shoulda helped it. Like i said i will just buy another when i got the money and will try to mod this one to cram into an ecs keyboard. Maybe i will get bored and replace the 2 8x 103lf capacitor arrays. Just not that bored yet.

I was able to replicate what you're seeing. I hadn't put extension cables on my Coleco Flashback controllers, but when I did, the player 1 controller gave incorrect signals for the 8 key and the right side button. Doesn't happen without the extension cable or with player 2.

[+5-11under]

Can someone restate the exact set-up that is failing (and what isn't)?

[pimpmaul69]

Can someone restate the exact set-up that is failing (and what isn't)?

using a coleco flashback controller with an extension cable is causing incorrect signals for side button 2 and keypad #8 (forgot about 8 being a problem too) only on player 1 though. Edited April 30, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[+5-11under]

using a coleco flashback controller with an extension cable is causing incorrect signals for side button 2 and keypad #8 (forgot about 8 being a problem too) only on player 1 though.

 

Leading to a Raspberry Pi? How is it connected? Or... basically I'm wondering if somewhere there's a resistor ladder to read in the controller?

[pimpmaul69]

 

Leading to a Raspberry Pi? How is it connected? Or... basically I'm wondering if somewhere there's a resistor ladder to read in the controller?

as far as the ultimate pc interface goes there are 18 capacitors and 2 resistors. The controllers only have 4 resistors. All on the direction controls. And yes we both are using a raspberry pi

[intvdave]

Does the original Coleco controller have the same issue?

[pimpmaul69]

deleted

Edited May 1, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[pimpmaul69]

Does the original Coleco controller have the same issue?

works fine on regular coleco controllers.

[intvdave]

Thanks for testing.

[pimpmaul69]

Thanks for testing.

So i found the issue and a workaround for the coleco flashback controller with extension cables. When you press button 2 and left it acts like your pressing button 2 and key 8 at the same time. The answer is to disable key 8 in all your configs. However key 8 doesnt work at all so it is useless to play coleco, 5200 or intv games that use key 8 with a coleco flashback controller with an extension cable on player 1. Also games that do have something assigned to key 8 are useless when needing to press button 2. Ms pac-man for example when you press button two you move up. Not a big deal since the game does not use button 2. The left direction has a key 8 common and button 2 has the other key 8 common. Some way the adaptors getting confused. There is a 1k resistor between the left direction and the key 8 common that is to decipher pressing left and pressing key 8. This may need a stronger resistor to fix it but it is odd how it works on player 2 controls. But still also odd how key 8 just doesnt work period. Here is the pinout for the coleco keypad for anyone interested.

 

 

Coleco flashback pinout

------------------------------

1. A, (*, 0, # common)

2. 1k Up, (A, B common)

3. Up, Down, Left, Right Common

4. (4, 5, 6, common)

5. 1k Down, (1, 4, 7, * common)

6. 1k Left, (2, 5, 8, 0 common)

7. 1k Right, (3, 6, 9, # common)

8. B (7, 8, 9 common)

9. (1, 2, 3, common)

Edited May 5, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[pimpmaul69]

One change to above statement. Key 8 does not work in jzintv with extension cable and a coleco flashback controller, but does in other emulators. In stella sometimes it acts like key 8 sometimes key 9. In jzintv button 2 is just completely fubar'd.

Edited May 5, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[intvdave]

For those of you interested in ROMs of games Intelligentvision has updated and released, please visit:

 

http://www.intellivision.us/intvgames/orderroms.php

 

I need to finish up Shark Shark Plus and post it on the order page.

 

I am looking to finish up Mystic Castle (a.k.a. Super Pro Thunder Castle) and Super Pro Baseball and making them available.

 

Thanks, David

[Intellinate]

Hey all,

 

I've been following this thread for a while and I know I'm a little late to the party but I finally finished my Ultimate Intellivision Flashback and wanted to get some feedback on it.

 

I used a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B with a 32 GB SD card. I did the install using NOOBS, chose to dual boot and split the card with 27 GB dedicated to Raspbian and the rest to OpenELEC. I used the RetroPie install script to install 3.0b2 with Emulation station and configured it to boot directly to Emulation station. It has a 7 port powered USB hub (5 exposed), USB wifi, and a wireless keyboard. I used the original front controller ports and some extension cable parts so I didn't have to cut the cables on the Ultimate PC interface. To save space, the USB cable between the Pi and the hub is soldered on both ends and the cable for the UPCI is soldered to the pi and has the type B connector on the other end.

The benefits I see with this over the original are:

Raspberry Pi 2s are much more powerful than the first gen. (good for emulators other than jzintv)
Dual boot allows me to use it as a media center when I want to.
The powered hub allows me to plug in multiple USB devices, even power hungry 2.5 in portable USB HDs. (important when you are on the road )
Installing the full version of Raspbian allows me to use a GUI for file manipulation and configuration of system settings. I also like the idea of having the option to use it as a mini computer if I want to.

The drawbacks:
RetroPie 3.0b2 is the only version that can be install by script and it's not 100% ready. It will be easy to upgrade to the final version later, though.

All in all, I think the hardware install came out pretty clean and I'm happy with it. I just have some software tweaks left to do but nothing major

[pimpmaul69]

Im jealous of your flashback top. Both your stickers are perfectly aligned. I have never seen one that perfect. The one i used for my ultimate flashback is almost perfect just slightly off on the bottom sticker.

Edited May 14, 2015 by pimpmaul69

[mthompson]

Intellinate: really nice setup. I agree that having a GUI available on the Pi is a good feature that the latest RetroPie builds have left out.

 

Question: For you guys who have added Bluetooth to the Pi, what product are you using?

[iesposta]

My bluetooth is a "Rocketfish" USB stick.

I have only used it for Wii Classic Controllers.

[pimpmaul69]

Intellinate: really nice setup. I agree that having a GUI available on the Pi is a good feature that the latest RetroPie builds have left out.

 

Question: For you guys who have added Bluetooth to the Pi, what product are you using?

I have a small micro bluetooth keyboard/mouse that others have used. The bt dongle refused to recognize. I used another dongle and got the micro keyboard to sync but when i try to type in commandline nothing happens. Without raspian i cant test it in there. I personally wanna stab myself in the eye trying to use linux so i dont miss it being removed. Too bad im stuck with commandline. At least im used to the commands i need for setting these up.