Author Topic: Read all 67 pages and made a FAQ (Read 30152 times)

CitznFish · « **on:** March 02, 2003, 02:31:20 pm »

Phew! I think I know just about everything I need to know. Well, prob. not, but I am much more comfortable going forward with my cabinet. I made this FAQ for me, but I am hoping it will be useful to others. Maybe make this a 'sticky' or incorporate the link somewhere on this site?

Feel free to add/update this FAQ.

http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~darrelld/newbie.html

Please remember this is based on what I thought I needed as a newbie to this hobbie.

Cheers!
-CF

Mamezilla · « **Reply #1 on:** March 02, 2003, 02:39:44 pm »

Great idea, thanks !!!

tom61 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 02, 2003, 02:52:42 pm »

Looks like it might be useful. I'll sticky it for awhile for everyone to see.

Sasquatch! · « **Reply #3 on:** March 02, 2003, 04:06:26 pm »

This is VERY cool. Thanks for doing this!

toilet · « **Reply #4 on:** March 03, 2003, 07:10:34 am »

Nice job.

CitznFish · « **Reply #5 on:** March 03, 2003, 01:47:06 pm »

Thaks for the kind words guys.

If you find it useful please post in here.

hyiu · « **Reply #6 on:** March 03, 2003, 02:35:44 pm »

wow... good job.... Thanks....

2slk · « **Reply #7 on:** March 04, 2003, 12:33:08 am »

Kudos!!!

Odonadon · « **Reply #8 on:** March 04, 2003, 01:34:54 pm »

Quote from: CitznFish on March 03, 2003, 01:47:06 pm

Thaks for the kind words guys. If you find it useful please post in here.

Awesome. Mind if we link to it from our respective sites?

Thanks,
Odonadon

CitznFish · « **Reply #9 on:** March 04, 2003, 02:06:12 pm »

link away... i don't plan on removing the document. Hopefully the message board won't be trimmed anytime soon.

1UP · « **Reply #10 on:** March 16, 2003, 12:04:42 am »

Good work! BTW, here's another thing you can do when you find a post useful (and I do this frequently):

Right-click on the link to one of the posts, and select "Open in New Window." Once the thread is in its own window, go to the File menu, select "Save As..." and save the page to disk. Now you have the thread available to read for future use, even if the thread is eventually deleted from the site! I keep a special folder in My Documents where I store BYOAC posts as kind of an online manual to building arcade controls. I also save threads whenever I post a new hack, so I can incorporate the info into my site...

SNAAAKE · « **Reply #11 on:** March 16, 2003, 06:08:33 pm »

what the heck !

I just noticed this thread today

Man I gotta quit drinking...

Anyway VERY good job with all the work you did CitznFis

dag2000 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 25, 2003, 04:48:55 pm »

Good Job! Thanks!

MrBond · « **Reply #13 on:** March 25, 2003, 04:55:42 pm »

Great job, this will save a lot of time!

gyruss · « **Reply #14 on:** April 03, 2003, 10:49:09 pm »

Very nice! Thanks!

nullb0y · « **Reply #15 on:** April 26, 2003, 02:32:11 pm »

very nice i like it

paigeoliver · « **Reply #16 on:** April 27, 2003, 04:09:47 am »

The Smash TV Controls link is botched.

CitznFish · « **Reply #17 on:** April 27, 2003, 09:32:23 pm »

Quote from: paigeoliver on April 27, 2003, 04:09:47 am

The Smash TV Controls link is botched.

I have fixed that link. Thanks for the notice.

Apollo · « **Reply #18 on:** April 30, 2003, 09:24:42 pm »

Great stuff, as someone who is knew to MAME ( I downloaded MAME about 4 weeks ago ) it is a great resource, thankyou.

armad1ll0 · « **Reply #19 on:** June 12, 2003, 04:46:21 pm »

I think that the link's busted again.

Note: only at the time that I posted originally. It's obviously working now. Thanks!!!

CitznFish · « **Reply #20 on:** June 24, 2003, 08:11:13 pm »

Quote from: armad1ll0 on June 12, 2003, 04:46:21 pm

I think that the link's busted again.

which link? they seem to be working...

MrBond · « **Reply #21 on:** August 18, 2003, 09:41:35 pm »

just a comment...we're up to 122 pages now on the main forum...hehe

Mugzilla · « **Reply #22 on:** September 24, 2003, 06:52:22 pm »

Wow! Thank you!

Please DO NOT un-sticky this!!! I will be needing it often in the next month or so!

Khindawe · « **Reply #23 on:** September 27, 2003, 10:34:20 pm »

Thanks a lot! This is a great help.

Spartan · « **Reply #24 on:** October 02, 2003, 01:30:08 pm »

Wow -- good job there.

Hakker · « **Reply #25 on:** October 20, 2003, 02:49:19 pm »

Man this is one usefull idea

Thanks alot man this will come in very very handy.

rosico · « **Reply #26 on:** December 29, 2003, 09:33:43 pm »

Thanks as well - the site is quite useful to all of us getting into the scene a bit more.

alphasqorner · « **Reply #27 on:** January 07, 2004, 12:33:53 pm »

This is a damn fine thread! Thanks a whole lot!

Gideon · « **Reply #28 on:** January 15, 2004, 07:38:41 pm »

Hi! Thanks for the FAQ, CitznFish. I return to it often and have a slight suggestion.

I'm not sure if this is asked frequently, but I'm under the impression that it's easy to do: Could you put an entry about interfacing arcade controls to console systems? Though, I can't seem to find a topic in the forums about it, so it's probably really easy. Well, it would make this poor, ignorant person's day if I could be told how to hack console controllers. So, could you perhaps create an entry on it?

Now, I will try and prove that I have a brain:

From what I can tell by opening up an SNES controller, each basic button has two conductor pads that are really close--not touching but close enough so that a signal can make the "jump". The purpose of the exterior button is to depress an insulating rubber pad, covering both of the conductor pads, thus terminating the circuit.

Now, I'm told that arcade controls from Happ's and other similar places do the opposite: They make a closed circuit when the button is pressed as opposed to an open one. So, I theorize that if one wanted to hack an SNES controller, one would solder a single wire onto both "conductor pads" which would run to a NOT switch, which would then run to a generic pin interface (I believe you guys call them Molex connectors).

Did I get everything right? Is that the way to do it? Undoubtedly, I screwed up with some of the terminology, as I have no background whatsoever in electronics. If you knew me personally, you might be impressed that I even made it this far! It's worth mentioning that my conception of a NOT switch is simply that: I have never actually seen one or know what one would look like. Is it a little box? Also, I have never soldered.

Oh, and I understand that my question basically amounts to "How do I hack controls?" because virtually all gamepads must work this way, but it seems that lately, everyone is using console emulators with a keyboard encoder... Which I think I could do.

Sephroth57 · « **Reply #29 on:** January 27, 2004, 10:44:23 am »

bump, thanks for the FAQ i will find it very useful in a week when i start building my monster

paigeoliver · « **Reply #30 on:** February 17, 2004, 05:54:12 am »

I have only personally hacked Nes pads (and seen hacked playstation pads), and they actually work the same way as normal arcade controls (I have also hacked MANY PC gamepads, which are built the same way). Those "really close" traces you are looking at are actually an open circuit, and the rubber pad actually completes the circuit (I don't think it is actually rubber). Most keyboards work pretty much the same way (except they look quite different inside).

If you have a multimeter then you can test this yourself. Set it to check continuity, and you can verify that it is an open circuit, now put one of those rubber pads down, and BAM the circuit closes.

So basically you hack the console controller exactly the way it seems you should, a wire is soldered to each side of the circuit, and your switch goes in the middle. Some use a common ground which reduces the amount of wires to solder.

If you are doing a setup for an older console, then look for an aftermarket "arcade" style joystick to hack rather than a gamepad. They are infinitely easier to deal with, as they often tend to have wires inside that you can splice on, and tend to have more or better points to solder to.

Quote from: Gideon on January 15, 2004, 07:38:41 pm

Hi! Thanks for the FAQ, CitznFish. I return to it often and have a slight suggestion.

I'm not sure if this is asked frequently, but I'm under the impression that it's easy to do: Could you put an entry about interfacing arcade controls to console systems? Though, I can't seem to find a topic in the forums about it, so it's probably really easy. Well, it would make this poor, ignorant person's day if I could be told how to hack console controllers. So, could you perhaps create an entry on it?

Now, I will try and prove that I have a brain:

From what I can tell by opening up an SNES controller, each basic button has two conductor pads that are really close--not touching but close enough so that a signal can make the "jump". The purpose of the exterior button is to depress an insulating rubber pad, covering both of the conductor pads, thus terminating the circuit.

Now, I'm told that arcade controls from Happ's and other similar places do the opposite: They make a closed circuit when the button is pressed as opposed to an open one. So, I theorize that if one wanted to hack an SNES controller, one would solder a single wire onto both "conductor pads" which would run to a NOT switch, which would then run to a generic pin interface (I believe you guys call them Molex connectors).

Did I get everything right? Is that the way to do it? Undoubtedly, I screwed up with some of the terminology, as I have no background whatsoever in electronics. If you knew me personally, you might be impressed that I even made it this far! It's worth mentioning that my conception of a NOT switch is simply that: I have never actually seen one or know what one would look like. Is it a little box? Also, I have never soldered.

Oh, and I understand that my question basically amounts to "How do I hack controls?" because virtually all gamepads must work this way, but it seems that lately, everyone is using console emulators with a keyboard encoder... Which I think I could do.

Gideon · « **Reply #31 on:** February 23, 2004, 03:43:00 pm »

Thank you very much. As you can see, I've been pretty confused about the subject! So, it's good to have a knowledgdable person teach me.

Rando · « **Reply #32 on:** December 08, 2010, 09:49:30 am »

Quote from: CitznFish on March 02, 2003, 02:31:20 pm

Feel free to add/update this FAQ.

http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~darrelld/newbie.html

Please remember this is based on what I thought I needed as a newbie to this hobbie.

Hi,
New guy here looking at sticky pages and links, and the above link doesn't appear to work any longer? Is there a newer option?

Thanks!
Randall

newmanfamilyvlogs · « **Reply #33 on:** December 08, 2010, 09:57:04 am »

Being almost 7 years old, it's certainly all outdated, even if it were available.

If you really want to see what it said, here is a google cache copy:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~darrelld/newbie.html

it just all links back to old forum threads.

Encryptor · « **Reply #34 on:** December 08, 2010, 07:23:40 pm »

It's too bad the OP didn't put it into a PDF file. I'm sure there is still a lot of good information in it for a noob.

Encryptor

docrings · « **Reply #35 on:** January 04, 2012, 11:25:00 pm »

~~http://www.xmarks.com/site/www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~darrelld/newbie.html~~

...Darn... fini... done... gone.... dead.

Who is the moderator on this site?

PL1 · « **Reply #36 on:** December 31, 2012, 08:29:10 pm »

Quote from: docrings on January 04, 2012, 11:25:00 pm

~~http://www.xmarks.com/site/www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~darrelld/newbie.html~~

...Darn... fini... done... gone.... dead.

Who is the moderator on this site?

Here's a link to the Internet Wayback Machine archive of the FAQ.

This should be good for a long time, but we really should consider updating and hosting the FAQ on-site -- once the wiki logins are fixed.

[/broken record mode]

Scott

Batapotamus · « **Reply #37 on:** October 15, 2013, 10:44:15 pm »

hmmm... still dead

Thanks anyway.

PL1 · « **Reply #38 on:** October 15, 2013, 10:53:59 pm »

Quote from: Batapotamus on October 15, 2013, 10:44:15 pm

hmmm... still dead Thanks anyway.

The Wayback Machine link just above your post is still good -- badly outdated, but still available.

For anyone who missed it, use this link to the FAQ, and ignore the dead ones.

Scott

PL1 · « **Reply #39 on:** December 06, 2013, 02:56:10 am »

Now that the new Wiki is up and running, there's a new FAQ entry for anyone who wants to contribute fresh topics and/or info.

Scott


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