Jstick

Ok, I had a chance to test this more thoroughly (2 different D9 adaptors on latest MiSTer firmware, 2 USB cables, MiSTer 7800 core and Stella on PC). Here is what I've found: If the dips are set to Autosense, paddles work properly in Stella (tiny bit of infrequent jitter). In MiSTer, there is some jitter at the low end (paddle left) which reduces about half way across the screen and disappears when reaching the right of the screen. If the dips are set to MiSTer mode, there is a large amount of consistent jitter in both Stella and MiSTer. It appears that the scaling may be amplifying the amount of inherent jitter. In all cases, touching the metal shielding immediately and completely eliminates any jitter and paddle movement is flawless. Unfortunately I won't have access to my real 2600 setup for some time to test there, but the paddles worked perfectly on it previously.

I opened my D9 adaptor up as well, and the 2 posts indicated with arrows in the picture are soldered.

I can definitely help with this one: For the paddles to show as 2 controllers, a workaround was implemented in the MiSTer core (the 2600daptor d9 presents paddles as multiple axes on a single controller, MiSTer requires it to be 2 separate controllers). The paddle button mapping is part of that workaround. There is a way to have separate mappings for Paddles and non-paddle games, by using an .mra file. MRA files allow you to have different configurations for the same core. So I have both "Atari 2600 (Paddle)" and "Atari 2600" menu entries, and choose one or the other depending on which type of game I'm playing. Using this method you will only have to do the button mappings once, after which they will never interfere with each other.

I might be able to help with the jitter; I ran into this issue myself with a pair of upgraded Best paddles that work flawlessly on original hardware. In my case, I found that by touching the metal D9 port on the adaptor, the jitter disappeared entirely. I can only assume this is a grounding issue of some sort, but haven’t diagnosed this any further yet.

The point was actually in the second part of that sentence: "When in this mode, you can freely switch between 2600 paddles, joystick, and driving" You had mentioned there is no hard dip setting for the driving controller, but the driving controller is included "2600-daptor" (all down) mode, along with paddles and joystick.

Sorry, have been busy and haven't had a chance to test this further. Something seems strange based on what RockLobster found though, that the driving controller is showing up as an analog axis rather than as a mouse.

The hard dip switch setting is all 3 down: "The Atari 2600 paddles are part of a "2600-daptor" mode. When in this mode, you can freely switch between 2600 paddles, joystick, and driving just like you can with the Original and 2600 II - no need to use Auto Sense." This note: "Atari 2600 Joystick/Driving (driving may be miss-detected, use joystick or paddles, then swap to driving)" only applies when the dips are set to Auto Sense, so it shouldn't be necessary to plug in a joystick first when using the driving controller in "2600-daptor" mode.

I had a chance to try out the driving controller in the 7800 core with the most recent "2600-daptor D9 Mr 230112.hex" firmware you posted. The car in Indy 500 will rotate 90 degrees clockwise, but any further rotation will rotate back to the initial position. This pattern will keep repeating as the wheel is turned. This is with the "Controller Type" option set to "Auto" or "Joystick". Setting this to "Driving Controller" has no effect. Note: I didn't go through the process of mapping the driving controller as a controller, as you mentioned it is emulating a mouse (mice are automatically mapped in MiSTer, they cannot be mapped with the normal controller mapping process).

I like that Best Electronics is one of the floor exhibitors. Funny to see a company in there that is actually still around today.

Ayyyy!

Not sure if you are up to date with recent developments, but the 7800 MiSTer core can perfectly replicate any bankswitch scheme from the original 2600 carts, all the way up to the Pitfall II DPC and Supercharger (it can even load supercharger games via physical audio tape). It's only the modern Melody enhanced games (the "active processors" you refer to) that it doesn't attempt to simulate. From my testing, the 7800 core is at least as accurate as Stella for 2600 games released during the VCS's lifetime.

You can use any USB keyboard, wired or wireless

Apparently made in USA, sticker printed in Canada.

What’s the significance of a “C” prefix on the serial number? C-00543

I'm near the end of a playthrough of this at the moment on the PSX. I've replayed this several times over the years since '96, and still enjoy it. I see it as a puzzle game essentially, so learning the controls and timings are just part of figuring the game out. I may be in the minority, but I am perfectly happy with the PS1 graphics, they've never bothered me.

Not sure if you've seen it, but there's one available right here in this forum:

Actually I've been meaning to ask, have you come up with a fixed schedule for how soon ROMS will become available on your store after a physical release? Just curious; if you are still feeling it out or working through the details that's ok

" It's worthless. Ten dollars from a vendor in the street. But I take it, I bury it in the sand for a thousand years, it becomes priceless... Men will kill for it. Men like you and me."

The name of the game is not printed on the cart; anyone doing enough research to find out the name would likely have discovered the potential value in the process.

Good point! I guess I was thinking more of having breathing room for feedback and iteration with regards to polishing. Being able to post a WIP (like I see many devs here doing), having end users test it out for a while, gathering some feedback, making some changes and then repeating a few times has to be of benefit. Even just the luxury of having some lulls on a project or being able to put your attention on other tasks for a while can give your brain some time to work through problems or consider new approaches. Being in a crunch often just leads to releasing the minimum viable product (Pac-Man, E.T., etc.)

This applies to many original commercial 2600 releases as well (mainly due to extremely short development schedules that were measured in weeks). To me, this is actually where unfair comparisons come into play, where homebrew developers today have the luxury of taking 2 years to polish a game, vs 2 months to hit the Christmas sales window. Fancy new technology or not, you still need time for iteration and polish a to make a really enjoyable game (to Nathan's point).

This is not necessarily true; if you check the link in the first post of the thread you referenced, you'll find it was in fact Sorgelig himself who made the initial suggestion to combine ARM emulation with the FPGA: "I want to bring attention to one interesting thing which can be achieved on MiSTer. It's hybrid emulation. It's where both emulation worlds can meet each other." I think what is discouraged is porting projects directly to the ARM (i.e. Retroarch, etc.), essentially treating the DE-10 Nano as a very underpowered Pi. This type of use seems like strictly an academic exercise to me, and not of much value to the end user.

Still worth it if it leads to even a single $300 purchase of a $120 item. Just means the profit is $150 instead of $180. People will often use the most recent sold listing as a guide (especially for infrequently listed items), so this trick has a fair chance of working for a scarce item.

Could be a fake purchase, just to make it appear to anyone interested that someone had recently paid that amount. (Not an uncommon tactic on eBay to drive up prices)

So you're going to start using the new shells from Audacity?