Wiring Glitches ....

[bcard74]

Hi all.  Done my bartop, but I am having to go over ALOT of my soldering again as it is my first attempt at it.  I hacked a gameport Sidewinder, and did a pretty messy job overall.  Basically, this is what I am having happen often, perhaps you can tell me if it sounds like a ground problem or just crappy soldering ...

The stick and buttons generally work fine, but occasionally I will hit a combination of buttons or a stick movement that will basically act like hitting the ESC key and out of the game I go.  I have a button wired that is for this purpose ...

There is no real pattern to when it happens and with any specific combo of stick movement or button presses.  Does it sound like a problem where exposed wire is hitting another, or does it sound like a ground problem?  I have one wire soldered to a ground on the gamepad, and then ALL the other grounds off the buttons and stick are just mashed onto that wire.

I appreciate any insight, I realize I have to do a lot of it over because it is half-assed, but you guys may be able to guide in a specific direction to work on.  Thanks.

[liche]

Welcome to the world of the unknown glitch.  There are endless possibilities to what could be causing this.  

1.  Software problem
2.  Wiring short / damaged-pinched wire
3.  Wiring error

However, its best to follow your intuitions.  You claimed you did a half-ass job on your soldering and wiring.  I would take the time to carefully retrace your steps and check all your wiring.  

A.  At a DOS PROMPT or similar or key-press checker program, check to make sure each joystick motion, key press, results in the displayed keystroke you see.  Try to duplicate the error to see if there is a pattern.

B.  Check your wiring thoroughly.  Retrace each wire individually, make sure the wires aren't being pinched or "pulled tight" (no strain relief) etc...  

C.  Check your soldering.  Look for solder-bridges (shorts) between adjacent pads using a magnifying glass.  Or use a multimeter's continuity check and do a matrix check of all your inputs to see if anything looks weird.  For example, if you have 5 inputs, you could do a matrix check by connecting each lead of the multimeter (continuity check function or ohms) in the following way:

1-2
1-3
1-4
1-5
2-3
2-4
2-5
3-3
3-4
3-5
4-5

If any of the inputs have a short (usually buzzer in multimeter continuity mode) or read anything less than 100k ohms (100,000 ohms) in ohm mode, you probably have a problem there.  Or if something looks a bit different as well.  Say every input to itself reads 102k ohms except one that reads say 95k ohms.  That could be the culprit.