COLECOVISION - Warning about using Atari 7800 controllers

[birdie3]

*****WARNING - BE LEARY OF ATARI CONTROLLERS FOR THE CV*****

 

 

bought a CV on the weekend and she worked fine until last night when I tried something I read here in the forums. First, I tried a 7800 pro stick with a y cable and a star raiders controller into joystick port 1 on the CV and... it didnt work. I kinda figured. Next I tried the keypad in port 2 and a 7800 pro stick in port 1 and voila... it worked so damn good. Then, as time progressed, I thought that I would try a joypad because I like the feel of them. This is where the problems start. After this test, I noticed that the joystick response was almost completely gone. I tried every possible (5 of them) 7800 joystick I had to see if the stick was the problem.

 

Now everytime I turn the CV on, all games will automatically start on 2 player mode without any chance for me to select anything on my keypad. Almost as if a button is stuck but it is an internal problem. The CV also does this without any controller plugged in. I could not sleep I was so frustrated. What the heck has happened? Does anyone know how to fix this??

[joeybastard]

It sounds like dirty/bent pins on the controller port. Get a look at 'em and see if they're bent and straighten them if they are. If they need a cleaning,I use Q-tips with some isopropal alcohol on them.

 

Good luck

[lonesome_pa]

I would guess bend pins as well. I had quite a few CV with that problem.

[birdie3]

Are we talking the pins directly inside where the contoller connects or are we talking the pins/contacts where the port itself is soldered onto the mother board of the CV? The reason I ask is that I inspected the unit quite heavily last night and it did not appear that the pins were bent. Does this mean that they are just dirty or did I fry something within the circuit internally or what?? Man, I HOPE THIS WORKS!!!!!!!!!

[lonesome_pa]

As far as I know joysticks wouldn't fry anything as they are not powered themselves. The pins that get bent are generally the 9 pins in the D shaped connector on the CV console, or the male connector as they are sometimes called. Try cleaning the 9 pins in each of the connectors and let them dry then try again and see what happens.

[jsoper]

Well, if it's not bent pins then you fried something on the controller input path. Dan Boris has cv schematics at: http://atarihq.com/danb/ You might need to replace the 74ls541 chips.

 

The 2600 stick with a y-cable is definitely safe to use on cv consoles, just doesn't support 2 button games. There is also a schematic on my webpage below for using genesis controllers on cv systems with both buttons supported. It's a 5+ hour project to do.

[birdie3]

Lovely. I haven't checked yet but I would assume that what jsoper is saying is probably more like what really happened. If you know, could you tell me what would have happened by using a 7800 controller? I actually never used a 2600 controller. First I used a 7800 pro stick and then I used a 7800 joypad. At one point, I split a joypad and a video touch pad into a y splicer direct into one joystick port to see what would happen but this didnt affect it (it actially did NOT work anyway). The problem happened after I started using the 7800 controller in joystick port 1 and the touch pad in port 2. Everything was fine for a minute and then everything started going all funny and then I couldnt gett full response and the game just starts on 2 player at extreme difficulty levels.

[Ze_ro]

I had a similar problem a while back where my ColecoVision would instantly go into some 2 player game (couldn't tell which skill level, so I don't know which button was pressed), and my character would constantly be moving left even without a joystick plugged in at all. I never actually found out what was wrong, but I believe it had to do with the chips that handle the controllers. I've heard they can be damaged, which results in behavior like this. I eventually had to buy a new ColecoVision. I imagine that you'll have to as well, since it sounds like you have the same problem.

 

However, I managed to find an interim solution. For some reason, things worked fine if I plugged in a Genesis joystick! With the Genesis pad plugged in, the blue skill select screen would NOT be skipped, and my character would NOT move left automatically. The only problem of course is that you have no number pad. However, for some reason, hitting random stuff on the Genesis pad ends up generating a keypad press so that you can start the game (although you might get a 2 player mode). This isn't a very good solution of course, but it let me play the odd game of Donkey Kong Jr. Try this and see if it works.

 

[Edit - I should warn you that my broken CV eventually broke down completely to the point where the Genesis trick no longer worked... I don't know if it was because of the controller or what, but it's possible that the Genesis controller ended up damaging something eventually. I don't see how this would happen, and I highly doubt it was because of the controller, but I can't make any guarantees, so be careful. Chances are that your CV is buggered anyways, so it's worth a try]

 

--Zero

[birdie3]

*****UPDATE*******

 

Everything appears to be fixed........ so far.

 

I have had a chance to clean my joystick ports on my CV and this appears to have eliminated the problem. On the weekend, while thinking my CV was toast, I managed to pick up another console. This unit also has the same problem. I have yet to clean the ports on this unit however I am pretty sure this will solve the problem. If anyone knows something I don't here, please tell me. I suggest picking the controllers you like and LEAVING THEM PLUGGED IN PERMANENTLY to avoid this type of problem. BTW - This new CV this picked up is cool because is has an A/V mod.

 

On a side note, after opening up a CV controller, I have determined that these controllers absolutely suck some serious dung. Some suggestions... if you can actually get the stick out of the face plate, try stretching the spring so that it pushes harder on the contacts. This appears to help the connections so you are not pushing as hard to make contact. Otherwise, Atari 7800 controllers work and a CV controller in port 2 for the keypad features will do just fine for 1 player games, or, the super action controllers are nice too.