5200 Controller Troubleshooting

[Emehr]

I recently acquired a 4-port 5200 from eBay. It came with all necessary hookups, a few games, and a controller that was advertised as non-working. The system powers up fine and I get a nice picture on the television but, as expected, none of the controller buttons seem to do anything.

 

I took apart the controller and gave it a good cleaning, reassembled it, and tried it again. No luck. So I disassembled the controller once more so I could map out the pins. Once I knew which pins did what (and cross-checking my work with online docs) I attempted to do some troubleshooting.

 

Now if I'm not mistaken, jumping pins 4 and 7 on the console is the same as pushing "Start" on the controller. However, when I did this nothing happened. I even tried other combos (like pressing "2" (pins 7 + 2) for 2 player). Nothing.

 

Is there something I'm missing? Do I have a semi-working 5200 or is my pin-jumping method incorrect? Thanks in advance.

 

-Jason (who hopes he didn't fry his 5200)

[Emehr]

*bump* (Wow, can't believe it's almost been a year.)

 

Anyway, I've since acquired a rather nasty 5200 controller from a used video game place and, together with my original, have managed to cobble together a clean, lightly greased stick that looks practically brand new (after much cleaning). It even kinda self-centers. Alas I am still left with a controller that doesn't operate the 5200.

 

So...before I plunk down the coin for a rebuild kit for a system that I'm not sure will work even with a perfectly operating controller, I thought I'd bump this thread in the hopes that someone has tried this: is there any way to test the 5200 without the controller?

 

My 5200 still powers up fine and everything. Beyond that I'm not sure if there's something internal that will keep it from functioning even with a working controller.

 

Thanks a lot for any help!

 

Jason

[joeybastard]

I'm guessing you don't have a 5200 tracball to try on it. It sounds like the controller port is damaged. I think some of the 3rd party games didn't require the start button although without having it in front of me, I can't think of one. If you have one of those, maybe you could start the game with a fire button and at least check the other functions(up, down, fire1, fire2, etc).

[joeybastard]

Just browsed thru some 5200 manuals here on AA.

 

Buck Rogers can start from just a fire button

Congo Bongo can be started with the 1 or the 2

Beamrider can be started by numbers(player/level)

 

If you have of those, try starting them and then testing the other functions.

[MrRetroGamer]

This problem is difficult to resolve since you have a console AND a controller (or controllers) in unknown working condition. Although the chances are very good that the controller(s) can be the problem, you can't rule out console problems just yet. It would be best to eliminate one variable for certain, for example have someone test your controller on a known working console. That would take the guess work out of the troubleshooting process. If you don't mind paying shipping, you can send your controller to me and I'll check it out for you!

[+Stephen Moss]

The controller ports on most Atari systems have the pins pulled up to 5V internally via a resistor and the controllers shorts the pins to ground (0V) if you can find a pin out for your controller ports and you can reach them try shorting the relevent pins to ground at the controller port using a piece of wire or low value resistor, say 10 ohms.

 

If you are confident to do this yourself you should not damage your system unless you short the 5V and ground together. If you get the desired responces then its your controller thats the problem.

[MrRetroGamer]

Try this page for the 5200 Controller Pinout

[Emehr]

Thanks for all the responses. I took apart my controller again and cleaned the contact surfaces with an eraser. I am able to get an audio response from my ohmmeter when I complete the circuit with a piece of metal (e.g. I probe pins 4 and 7 on the controller's plug and press "Start" with the piece of metal). However, when I use the rubber pad to simulate a button press, I get a reading of around 500 Ohms. Granted the rubber pads aren't as conductive as my knife blade, I was wondering if this is a normal reading. If so, my controller is operational.

 

try shorting the relevent pins to ground at the controller port

 

So, for example, pins 4, 7, and 15 (GND) would have to be jumped to effectively press Start? Before I was just jumping 4 and 7. In any case, neither method seems to work.

 

I referenced Jay Tilton's page for the pinouts (since I can't seem to find my notes)...

http://users.erols.com/tiltonj/games/tech/...h/5200cont.html

 

@joeybastard: Unfortunately I don't have any other controllers for my system (except the extra controller I used for parts). The only 3rd party game I have is Gyruss. My 7 other games are first party commons. I tried 'm all using every button on the controller.

 

@MrRetroGamer: If I can't find someone locally to check out my controller I may just take you up on your offer!

 

Jason (still plugging away at it)