Bent pins in joystick port light sixer.

[rtwo]

I recently got me another light sixer and noticed that in both joystick ports pin 5 is bent towards pin 8.

I don't think it happend by accident, they both are bent the same way and it looks like they touch pin 8 but I'm not sure. The joysticks work in both ports, I notice nothing strange. I gues a prior owner did this.

Does anyone know what could be the reason for this??, should I try to fix it?

Oh, and it is a PAL version.

[keilbaca]

You can use a flathead screwdriver, and pry them back to straight. I'd also check inside of the system to make sure that the solder joints are still in tact.

 

Both controller ports arent working because one of those pins is ground, therefore grounding out the system.

[shadowdoggie]

You can use a flathead screwdriver, and pry them back to straight. I'd also check inside of the system to make sure that the solder joints are still in tact.

 

Both controller ports arent working because one of those pins is ground, therefore grounding out the system.

 

I think you may have accidentally misread the first post.

 

Sounds like both joysticks ports work, rtwo just wants to know why the previous owner may have purposely bent pin #5.

Is there, for example, some benefit that one receives in game play by doing this? - I believe is the question.

[JingleJoe]

This happens when a faulty controller plug is plugged into a socket, bending the pins. Subsequently certain functional controler plugs will become damaged by being used in a damaged socket, then they go on to damage any more sockets they are used in!

It's the only known mechanical computer virus, it affects almost everything with pins in thier ports (to different degrees, some types of socket are more susceptable than others).

[rtwo]

Both pins in both ports are bent the same way so it does look like it has been done on purpose and not by accident.

[JingleJoe]

Both pins in both ports are bent the same way so it does look like it has been done on purpose and not by accident.

Ah but thats exactly what you'd expect from the mechanical virus, a damaged plug bends the same pins in every socket it is used in!

 

Antivirus:

 

[BigO]

You can use a flathead screwdriver, and pry them back to straight. I'd also check inside of the system to make sure that the solder joints are still in tact.

 

Both controller ports arent working because one of those pins is ground, therefore grounding out the system.

 

I think you may have accidentally misread the first post.

 

Sounds like both joysticks ports work, rtwo just wants to know why the previous owner may have purposely bent pin #5.

Is there, for example, some benefit that one receives in game play by doing this? - I believe is the question.

If the OP tried paddle controllers, the result would be different.

 

I can't guess why this would have been done, but it would have disabled the "left" paddle in both ports, i.e. paddle 1 and paddle 3 (if numbered 1 through 4) In a game like Circus Atari, this would mean that player 1 couldn't play.

 

Maybe it was an attempt to work around a bad/jittery paddle by making player 1 fail quickly so player 2 could play? That's a pretty lame guess though.

 

This would also disable the 1,4,7,* column on the Keypad controller.

 

For the Omega Race booster grip controller, this would have disabled the trigger button (I assume the weapons firing function).

 

 

http://www.atariage....sories_Low.html

 

Pulling that line low by shorting it to ground (pin 8 ) should, essentially, make any single player game act as if the paddle wasn't plugged in so it's not like they were doing a poor man's auto fire or anything.

 

I'd bend them back straight and try some paddle games to make sure the console isn't having a problem with those paddle ports.

Edited May 28, 2010 by BigO

[tetrode kink]

It's possible that it's just a coincidence that the same pins were bent in both of those ports. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

Could also be JingleJoe's explanation - the ports were damaged by the same damaged controller plug.

 

-tet

[BigO]

It's possible that it's just a coincidence that the same pins were bent in both of those ports. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

Could also be JingleJoe's explanation - the ports were damaged by the same damaged controller plug.

 

-tet

Sure, but what fun is that?

[rtwo]

I will try some games with paddle controllers and joysticks, both with one and two players and will post resutls.

If games work without problems I will leave it this way, if not, I wil try to bent them back.

[rtwo]

Tried the paddle controllers, only one was working, the other only the button. Tried to bent the pin back but it broke.

Is it hard to desolder joystick ports from another 2600 and solder those in my light sixer?

[BigO]

Tried the paddle controllers, only one was working, the other only the button. Tried to bent the pin back but it broke.

Is it hard to desolder joystick ports from another 2600 and solder those in my light sixer?

To me, it's no big deal and that's exactly what I'd do if I had a dead 2600 with the same ports.

[A.J. Franzman]

If you have no experience desoldering and removing multi-pin components, it can be quite tricky, especially if you don't have the right tools. However, if the part you want to remove is bad, you can make the job easier by cutting all the pins with some small diagonal cutters, removing the rest of the part, then removing the remaining stub of each pin one at a time with a soldering iron. Then you'll need to clear the solder out of each hole so you can fit the replacement part in.

 

Getting the replacement part removed from a donor console is a whole different story, though.