fluxit Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Hey Tom(dualcam,) We(the fans) recently succeeded in adding 2600-daptor compatibility to the Retron 77. In testing this, I noticed some strange paddle behavior with my 2600-daptor upon which I thought you might have some insight. I hadn't really used it for paddles before, so I'd not seen this before. I'm using my Coleco Gemini 'Dual Command' paddles in their 'Y' adapter. They are newly repaired and cleaned, FWIW. The 2600-daptor is a 2600-daptor II flashed with the "2600-daptorII TB FB1" firmware. Demons to Diamonds works perfectly. Super Breakout works perfectly. Video Olympics is... strange. It acts as though there is invisible bubble gum sticking the paddle to the screen in a particular spot about an inch up from the bottom for both paddle 1 and 2. On the Retron, and also on my desktop machine in Stella, I get the same effect. When the paddle is about to reach the bottom of the screen, it stops, and there is a dead zone of movement, followed by normal movement *at* the bottom of the screen. Again, the behavior is the same for both paddles(and both players,) and it is entirely consistent. I see something similar in (normal)Breakout, but less pronounced. The paddle 'skips' the dead zone when almost to the left side of the screen instead of doing the virtual shoe in bubble gum routine. In MAME 0.185, Video Olympics(same ROM) skips the dead zone entirely, with the paddle never occupying that space at all AFAICT, using the default paddle settings in MAME, as I'm sure that I could eliminate the dead zone by tweaking settings in MAME. Is my 2600-daptor II malfunctioning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 I'm almost tempted to mod my otherwise useless Sega Sports Pad into a Windows Mouse. Teh three games it works with blow chunks. Thanks for the heads up! No need to mod the controller to use with my adatpers. Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 (edited) Hey Tom(dualcam,) We(the fans) recently succeeded in adding 2600-daptor compatibility to the Retron 77. In testing this, I noticed some strange paddle behavior with my 2600-daptor upon which I thought you might have some insight. I hadn't really used it for paddles before, so I'd not seen this before. I'm using my Coleco Gemini 'Dual Command' paddles in their 'Y' adapter. They are newly repaired and cleaned, FWIW. The 2600-daptor is a 2600-daptor II flashed with the "2600-daptorII TB FB1" firmware. Demons to Diamonds works perfectly. Super Breakout works perfectly. Video Olympics is... strange. It acts as though there is invisible bubble gum sticking the paddle to the screen in a particular spot about an inch up from the bottom for both paddle 1 and 2. On the Retron, and also on my desktop machine in Stella, I get the same effect. When the paddle is about to reach the bottom of the screen, it stops, and there is a dead zone of movement, followed by normal movement *at* the bottom of the screen. Again, the behavior is the same for both paddles(and both players,) and it is entirely consistent. I see something similar in (normal)Breakout, but less pronounced. The paddle 'skips' the dead zone when almost to the left side of the screen instead of doing the virtual shoe in bubble gum routine. In MAME 0.185, Video Olympics(same ROM) skips the dead zone entirely, with the paddle never occupying that space at all AFAICT, using the default paddle settings in MAME, as I'm sure that I could eliminate the dead zone by tweaking settings in MAME. Is my 2600-daptor II malfunctioning? This sounds like the default centering deadzone that Linux evdev applies to analog joysticks. Is your desktop also Linux? Stephen made the "evdev-joystick" utility to allow changing this setting - https://stella-emu.github.io/downloads.html Edit: If the Linux kernal is being rebuilt for Retron 77, perhaps the default value for this deadzone can just be changed in the Linux code to (what I presume is needed) zero. I wish that was the Linux default - it has been nothing but highly annoying as people keep getting tripped up by it. Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ Edited January 30, 2019 by dualcam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 I was thinking it might be the evdev deadzone stuff too. R77 is Linux-based, so it should be easy enough to get evdev-joystick compiled and integrated into a future R77 community build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluxit Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 You are both correct. I installed evdev-joystick and it did resolve the issue on my Mint system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 No need to mod the controller to use with my adatpers. Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ But maybe I want to. ? There's more than enough room inside to fit a Neuteric USB plug, adapter, and required cables... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 But maybe I want to. There's more than enough room inside to fit a Neuteric USB plug, adapter, and required cables... There is no mouse acceleration. You might try it first and see if you like it as a desktop mouse, before spending time on modding. Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 (edited) For those that what to play Stella with non-2600 controllers with the 2600 D9, I posted an alternate "2600=daptor" firmware - http://2600-daptor.com/2600-firmware%20D9.htm For non-2600 controllers. it comes up as with the slightly different device name, which means Stella does not recognize it and you are then free to input map it. 2600 controllers still come up as "2600-daptor" and automatically mapped by Stella. Also have an edited 80-stelladaptor-joystick.rules for Stephen's evdev-joystick.tar.xz. Added all the adapters I have that do analog controllers. Tom Edited February 4, 2019 by dualcam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluxit Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 To be perfectly honest, I don't really understand why Stella doesn't provide the option of overriding the Stelladaptor et al. autodetection and setup. It's the one thing that made the '7800 only' firmware that you whipped up for me slightly annoying, as I had no firebutton 0(? IIRC,) so I couldn't use sticks for games in Stella that require a plain old 2600 firebutton. On an unrelated note, the D9 I received last week shows up as Vendor=0001, Product=f6eb. I triple-checked it to be sure. It otherwise seems to work properly. I haven't reflashed it. Is my firmware borked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 It's on the TODO list, for quite some time. Haven't had time to work on Stella for the past while, and probably won't for the next month at least. Dualcam/Tom knows about this, as we communicated about it several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted February 5, 2019 Author Share Posted February 5, 2019 On an unrelated note, the D9 I received last week shows up as Vendor=0001, Product=f6eb. I triple-checked it to be sure. It otherwise seems to work properly. I haven't reflashed it. Is my firmware borked? The VID is "Oops" on my part. Would normally be 04D8 (which is belongs to Microchip who I get the PID's from). Windows caches the device name in the registry, so I make up a different VID/PID when I want to play with the device name. Looks like I shipped some D9's out with a dummy VID still in the firmware. You can reflash to be safe. There are some Stella changes that would be nice, but some of these projects like RetroPie and RetroN 77 are on older Stella versions, Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Yep, any improvements I make (when I eventually get to it) will be for 6.1 and above; I won't be doing any backporting. Although some hope may be in sight for the R77 ... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 Also have an edited 80-stelladaptor-joystick.rules for Stephen's evdev-joystick.tar.xz. Added all the adapters I have that do analog controllers. I'll get this updated in the main download, so others will get it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 I ordered 2 of the Sears Video Arcade II controllers because I have been curious about them for a while. I have never seen it mentioned that the DB9 connectors on these controllers have nubs on the top and bottom which are currently preventing me from using them with the 2600-dapter D9. It appears I would have to force them into the adapter. I guess I can file them off? Is there a technical reason for their existence in the first place? Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 I ordered 2 of the Sears Video Arcade II controllers because I have been curious about them for a while. I have never seen it mentioned that the DB9 connectors on these controllers have nubs on the top and bottom which are currently preventing me from using them with the 2600-dapter D9. It appears I would have to force them into the adapter. I guess I can file them off? Is there a technical reason for their existence in the first place? Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Don't know of a technical reason other might help hold the controller into the console jack. No nubs on my Sears controller, but my 5200 controllers have them. I would file them down if they are causing a problem inserting into the adapter. Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Trying to update the firmware on my 2600-dapter II to make it turn into an AtariVox USB interface. The image from the instructional webpage is accompanied with the instructions: "There is a terminal block along the edge of the circuit board marked 1-6 & C. Insert a jumper wire between terminals C (on end closest to DB9) and 4 (in the middle). If you don't have a wire, you can use a paper clip. The terminals have spring locking clips. Since this jumper is temporary, it is not necessary to try to jam the jumper down to where it is secured into the lock clip. Just needs to be in to where it feels like it is making contact." However, the hardware I have appears considerably different in certain areas, and I cannot locate any circuit board markings of "1-6 & C". Any guidance as to where I should connect the jumper wire would be greatly appreciated. With the above being stated, here's some background. First time around, when everything was first connected I heard the AtariVox melody and the "AtariVox" startup voice. I thought at the time, the firmware was not needed, and I am all set. However, I disconnected the USB/reconnect and now only receive a high pitch squeal which sometimes goes away after several seconds (What seems to be the length of the AtariVox introduction, and then sometimes remains consistent the entire time the device remains connected via USB. The third result is similar the the second, except the sound changes from a high pitch squeal to a loud hum after several seconds. Sometimes, if I remove the audio cable from the Vox and reinsert, the hum or squeal goes away and there's silence. However, that does not change the below configuration/setup issue (I.E. No COM port to reference for Stella). I am running Windows 10 x64 Home. I do not see an entry under Device Manager under Ports (COM & LPT); however, I do have an entry that appears under Control Panel --> Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers. It shows as 2600-dapter D9 as a mouse: I recently tried changing Switch 1 from the down position (All three switches were default/sent positioned down), to the up position with no change in the aforementioned results. I do find the applicable and corresponding HID-compliant mouse entry under 'Mice and other pointing devices' from 'Device Manager' which contains the hardware IDs USB\VID_04D8; but the PID is not PID_000A, it is PID_F6EB. The manufacturer details also do not specify Microchip Technology, Inc; rather, it states Microsoft: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 41 minutes ago, Trebor said: Sometimes, if I remove the audio cable from the Vox and reinsert, the hum or squeal goes away and there's silence. However, that does not change the below configuration/setup issue (I.E. No COM port to reference for Stella). You still need to install software (or Windows need to see it) to have it treated as a COM port. The fact that Windows is not listing it under "Ports" means the device isn't being treated as such. You used to have to install the FTDI drivers that emulate a serial port (ie, a USB-to-serial interface) for the older Avox USB-to-serial adaptor. I don't know exactly what the 2600-daptor needs, but I suspect it's something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 57 minutes ago, stephena said: You still need to install software (or Windows need to see it) to have it treated as a COM port. The fact that Windows is not listing it under "Ports" means the device isn't being treated as such. You used to have to install the FTDI drivers that emulate a serial port (ie, a USB-to-serial interface) for the older Avox USB-to-serial adaptor. I don't know exactly what the 2600-daptor needs, but I suspect it's something similar. I appreciate the response, Stephen. The Atari 7800 MCP DevCart, by CPUWIZ, I utilize does something very similar - It treats the USB device interface as a COM port. I receive a listing under Ports (COM & LPT) without a hitch: Per Tom's page..."An inf driver is needed (below) for Windows prior to 10". I running Windows 10 x64. The issue may be a result of my initial request of how and needing to update the firmware on the device, for it to recognize the AtariVox accordingly. Perhaps initially it was treating it properly, but after the USB disconnect/reconnect, it started treating it like a controller mouse/joystick. I really appreciate your insight, and I am certainly willing to install and do what is necessary to have the Vox interfacing properly, but I also don't want to start bogging my system down with unnecessary software installations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 2 hours ago, Trebor said: However, the hardware I have appears considerably different in certain areas, and I cannot locate any circuit board markings of "1-6 & C". Any guidance as to where I should connect the jumper wire would be greatly appreciated. That is the D9. The AtariVox firmware update is for the II. Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 18 minutes ago, dualcam said: That is the D9. The AtariVox firmware update is for the II. Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ Sorry, my mistake. Does the D9 work with the AtariVox out of the box then? Am I missing something else? *EDIT: Believe I have found the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAtAtari Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) Hi, everyone. I'm having trouble with one of my 2600-Daptor D9's today. It appears to be dead with no LED flashing. I've unplugged it and replugged it, swapped cables, tried different computers, opened it up and tried to update the firmware. Windows doesn't recognize it. Through the same firmware update procedure and same cable, I'm able to update my other D9, which flashes and works just fine, so I think my procedure and cable are correct. Getting out the old multimeter, I can see 5V at various points on the board, so it's getting power. Comparing the PIC chips on the two D9's, I can see the following: Working D9 PIC: - 0.02V on pin 28 (RB7/KBI3/PGD), and 3.32V on pin 14(Vusb), 0.02V on pin 4(RA2/AN2/VREF-/CVREF), Various voltages on pin 13(RC2/CCP1) which appears to be powering the blinking LED). Non-working D9 PIC: 5V on pin 28(RB7/KBI3/PGD), and 0.0V on pin 14 (Vusb), 5V on pin 4(RA2/AN2/VREF-/CVREF), 0.00V on pin 13. Both PIC's get 5V on pin 1(MCLR/VPP/RE3) and pin 20(Vdd). And both are 0.00V on pin 8(Vss) and pin 19(Vss). None of those measurements might be relevant, but I thought they might provide a clue. And I didn't measure all the pins, so if you more measurements, please let me know. Oh, and both D9's have all 3 dip switches in the up (autosense) position, though the broken one has been flipped in lots of combinations over the past couple hours, which I suppose could alter its PIC voltages. Does anyone have any idea what my problem might be? Thanks. Edited June 18, 2020 by OldAtAtari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAtAtari Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 And I need to say this, too, regarding the 2600-daptor: it's awesome. I've used it quite a bit for various controllers on my Linux PC, and now I'm using it on my "multicade" arcade restoration project, and it's worked flawlessly until now. So if anyone finds my post on this thread and is considering getting a 2600-daptor, I say go for it. If this one truly is broken, I'm sure I'll be buying a new one to replace it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dualcam Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 12 hours ago, OldAtAtari said: Hi, everyone. I'm having trouble with one of my 2600-Daptor D9's today. It appears to be dead with no LED flashing. I've unplugged it and replugged it, swapped cables, tried different computers, opened it up and tried to update the firmware. Windows doesn't recognize it. Through the same firmware update procedure and same cable, I'm able to update my other D9, which flashes and works just fine, so I think my procedure and cable are correct. Getting out the old multimeter, I can see 5V at various points on the board, so it's getting power. Comparing the PIC chips on the two D9's, I can see the following: Working D9 PIC: - 0.02V on pin 28 (RB7/KBI3/PGD), and 3.32V on pin 14(Vusb), 0.02V on pin 4(RA2/AN2/VREF-/CVREF), Various voltages on pin 13(RC2/CCP1) which appears to be powering the blinking LED). Non-working D9 PIC: 5V on pin 28(RB7/KBI3/PGD), and 0.0V on pin 14 (Vusb), 5V on pin 4(RA2/AN2/VREF-/CVREF), 0.00V on pin 13. Both PIC's get 5V on pin 1(MCLR/VPP/RE3) and pin 20(Vdd). And both are 0.00V on pin 8(Vss) and pin 19(Vss). None of those measurements might be relevant, but I thought they might provide a clue. And I didn't measure all the pins, so if you more measurements, please let me know. Oh, and both D9's have all 3 dip switches in the up (autosense) position, though the broken one has been flipped in lots of combinations over the past couple hours, which I suppose could alter its PIC voltages. Does anyone have any idea what my problem might be? Thanks. Sounds like the chip died. Will repair/replace the D9 if you return it. Messaging you the address Tom http://2600-daptor.com/ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAtAtari Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Tom, that's an amazing offer. Thank you! Truth is that I've gotten plenty of use out of it already, and lately, with the development of my arcade system, that thing has been plugged in and unplugged a lot of times. I've used and abused it. If it's dead, it's likely my fault. Probably I'll just buy a new one. I'll respond to your IM with a question about that. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldAtAtari Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Just to follow-up here, Tom (dualcam) insisted that I send my broken 2600-daptor back to him, which I did. The firmware had gotten corrupted, so now he has re-flashed it and is sending back to me in working condition. Tom, thank you for your great product and amazing customer support. I really appreciate it! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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