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Guruman

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Posts posted by Guruman

  4. Posted

    Has anyone started a compatibility list for modded FB2s?

     

    I think it would be of benefit to know exactly which games are having problems, not only for the hobby people who want to play them, but for those working on Rev. C (just in case there are additional bugs that haven't been caught yet).

     

    Here's my list (unfortunately, many of my carts are still missing!)

     

    Pele's Soccer: no problems

    Pinball (repackaged Atari Pinball): no problems

    Wizard of Wor: no problems

    SwordQuest Fireworld: no problems

    Pac-Man: no problems

    Raiders of the Lost Ark: no problems

    Space Invaders: no problems

    Defender: no problems

    Crystal Castles: display corruption, some blocks never disappear allowing you to rack up thousands of points in seconds and clear levels like mad :)

     

    Towering Inferno: no problems

    Word Zapper: no problems

     

    Star Voyager: no problems

    Cosmic Ark: starfield corruption, no play problems

     

    Tutankham: playfield corruption, playable

    Q-Bert: no problems

     

    Journey: Escape: intro OK; starfield corruption, unplayable (player sprite totally garbled, entire height of screen)

     

    Gas Hog: no problems

     

    Infiltrate: no problems

     

    Space Attack: no problems

    Super Challenge Baseball: no problems

    Armor Ambush: no problems

    BurgerTime: no problems

    Astroblast: slight display corruption, playable

     

    Pressure Cooker: no problems

    The Activision Decathlon: will not start

     

    I haven't tested my paddle games yet, but they all seem to start (Star Wars: Jedi Arena, Demons to Diamonds)

     

    Of course, many games needed disassembly and contact scrubbing using a rotary tool and a wire brush, but most came to life quickly. I was amazed at just how HUGE the BurgerTime PCB is, with its three enormous ICs on it!

     

    I really wish my parents could find the rest of my games ... I have a silver-label Gravitar, among other goodies (Atlantis, Solaris, Spider Fighter, Enduro ... the list goes on and on...)

     

    Please post your success/failure stories.

  5. Posted

    I guess I've watched too many episodes of Junkyard Wars. : )

     

    I agree, they're clunky. My motivation was "How can I do this using as much junk as I can find in my spare parts box, spending as little cash as possible?"

     

    I actually work at an electronics design & manufacturing company. PCB layout and milling can be done on-site. What concerns me with designing and selling anything that's electrical in nature is liability. Of course we're only talking about a potentiometer and a few switches, running off of a SELV, extremely current-limited supply, but things can still go wrong and I can't afford to get sued.

  7. Posted

    I feel so stupid. :)

     

    After rechecking the wiring, I decided to flip the leads on my meter, and voila, some of the leftover circuitry on my mouse was imposing a diode across my fire buttons.

     

    Thanks to dumb luck, that diode was forward-biased when connected to the FB2. D'oh!

     

    After hacking out some ICs and photodiodes, it works much better now.

     

    I have to switch legs on the pot (so that fully CCW is 1 meg and fully CW is 0 ohms) but other than that, I'm in business!

     

    Photos and instructions for those who want to build their own will follow shortly!

  8. Posted

    I downloaded the CX2600 controller schematics from the Archives section of the site to make myself some home-brew paddles for the FB2, as my only other set are somewhere 2000 km away (and date back to my original four-switch model circa 1979). A few old mice, some 1 meg linear pots from (the store formally known as) Radio Shack, some telephone cords and a duplex phone jack, and my paddles are done! (photos to follow, pending resolution of problems)

     

    I've verified the wiring as per the drawing:

     

    - left fire button between pins 4 and 8

    - right fire button between pins 3 and 8

    - left pot connected between pins 5 and 7

    - right pot connected between pins 9 and 7

     

    I've also verified that electrically, everything works:

     

    - normally open-circuit between the fire button pins, continuity when pressed

    - continuity across the pot pins when the pot is fully CCW, approx. 1 megohm when fully CW.

     

    I also verified the pin ordering using one of the FB2 joysticks - the illustrations on the schematic refer to the controller connector facing you.

     

    I then fired up the FB2 and loaded the paddle diagnostic program.

     

    The pot measurement seems to be OK (30 when CCW, 0 when CW).

     

    For some reason, however, it seems to think that the fire button is pressed all the time.

     

    If I go to the regular FB2 menu, the menus scroll by when the paddle is plugged in. This lends weight to the theory that there's a wiring problem.

     

    Is there an oops with the drawing as posted? Is the fire button supposed to be normally-closed? Or do I have an odd intermittant problem that appears when I hook up the controller, and goes away when I return to my workbench?

  9. Posted

    Got mine yesterday, in T-Dot - Zellers - Lawrence Square mall. They had 12 or so on display when I nabbed mine.

     

    Still no sign of them at any of the numerous Wal-Marts and Future Shops that I've checked out.

     

    Eagerly awaiting my parents to dig all of my old carts out of the attic and ship them off to me, so I can give them a spin after I mod the FB2.

     

    One question - do the joys follow the standard pinouts? I need to left-hand-mod one of them for the mrs.

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