joystick question

[super_dos_man]

the joystick turns right but nothing happens on the screen, so when I turn right on the joystick the guy/creature/starship/whatever does nothing and can only move up down and left. any solutions for this problem?

[ATARIPITBULL]

First off, what kind of joystick is it? Is it the regular Atari 2600 joystick, or is it a aftermarket stick?

 

[A.J. Franzman]

Aside from telling us what type of stick it is, have you tried a different stick in the same port, or the "problem" stick in the other port (using an appropriate game) or on a different console?

 

If the problem does not follow the stick, the most likely cause is a broken, bent, or pushed-in port pin. Other possibilities would include a broken solder joint at the port, a broken circuit track on the motherboard, a bad resistor or capacitor, or one of two possible bad ICs depending on the exact version of the console.

 

If the problem is confirmed to be in the stick and it's a stock CX-40 stick or similar clone, the possibilities include: broken right directional wire (brown) either within the cable or at the board connector, broken or "migrated" click dome on the circuit board, or broken plastic stick handle core. Dirty contacts under the click dome (as well as the underside of the dome itself) are possibilities too, though this usually gives intermittent response instead of no response at all.

Edited July 20, 2006 by A.J. Franzman