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Help: Gorf Joystick Hack
D_Harris:
I'm looking to do a temporary MAME control panel hack using an original Gorf joystick I just dug out, and I was wondering if it is plausible to patch it directly into MAME(via either a MiniPAC or Hydrogen controller).
Since the Gorf joystick has it's own PCB this may not be possible "electronically" speaking At least not for the left and right movements.(The game I'll be practicing on is Satan's Hollow).
The trigger should be possible because I can get continuity between two points on the joystick's PCB when the trigger is pressed. But when I set my DMM on Ohms I get some readings that tell me this is not as simples as just making a circuit connection for left and right. And I don't think that applying power will change this. But please correct me if I'm wrong. (The meter readings I get for the pins (at all five joystick positions) are as follows):
CENTER
----------
Pin #3 & Pin #4 = 77.08
Pin #3 & Pin #5 = 77.04
Pin #3 & Pin #6 = 44.69 / 0.36
UP
---
Pin #3 & Pin #4 = 77.07
Pin #3 & Pin #5 = 77.03
Pin #3 & Pin #6 = 44.69 / 0.36
DOWN
--------
Pin #3 & Pin #4 = 77.06
Pin #3 & Pin #5 = 77.02
Pin #3 & Pin #6 = 44.69 / 0.36
LEFT
------
Pin #3 & Pin #4 = 77.05
Pin #3 & Pin #5 = 77.01
Pin #3 & Pin #6 = 44.69 / 0.36
RIGHT
-------
Pin #3 & Pin #4 = 77.04
Pin #3 & Pin #5 = 77.00
Pin #3 & Pin #6 = 44.69 / 0.36
Nevertheless, if all else fails I'll just have to go with a more mechanical solution, which would take more time.
Thanks a lot.
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
SavannahLion:
You get those readings because the circuit isn't wired properly.
You need to supply +5 volts to pin ten and ground pin 7. At that point you'll get predictable behavior.
I have two Gorf sticks and mapped out the pins at the Wiki. It is possible to wire it to a controller like the KeyWiz or the iPac because the LM339N is an open-collector IC and will happily sink the necessary voltage. Never looked into wiring the stick to any other controller however.
I've pushed the voltage as high as 9v (using a battery during testing) and according to the LM339N data sheet, you could go as high as +36v. I wouldn't dare push it past 9v though. Don't know if the rest of the circuit can take that kind of punishment.
SavannahLion:
Oops, before I forget. When testing the powered circuit, don't use the OHM settings on your multimeter. Use the DC Voltage setting instead.
D_Harris:
--- Quote from: SavannahLion on February 24, 2009, 12:39:33 am ---Oops, before I forget. When testing the powered circuit, don't use the OHM settings on your multimeter. Use the DC Voltage setting instead.
--- End quote ---
Well, I knew that. You just lost me on the other stuff. ;D
You said that the circuit is not "wired properly" which denotes that the joystick needs to be repaired first before I can do anything else, correct?
I know someone with Gorf and Tron joysticks, but arranging the deal and having either of them shipped to me would take too much time.(And I need to get this done pronto).
Neverthless, if a Gorf joystick that is "properly wired" can be connected to the "KeyWhiz" or "IPAC" then I can't see why it would not be the same for a "Hydrogen" controller. After all, don't all of them send +5V to the controls?
So basically the question is as follows. If +5V is applied to a "properly working" Gorf joystick, would there then exist a direct (wire only) "joystick pin" to "controller pin" combination that would allow me to move "Left" and "Right" without needing any other hardware?
Without power applied the only thing I have determined at this point is that the trigger will work with any controller because of the continuity I achieved when pressing it.
BTW. My Gorf joystick only has six pins for for direction and trigger on it's PCB, so I'm not certain what you mean by "+5 volts to pin ten and ground pin 7".
Ok, I just check the pin-outs at http://www.crazykong.com/pins/Gorf.pin.txt
My Gorf joystick only has 6 pins for J2. Pins 1 to 3 do not exist. ??? (I added a third pic in my first post to show this).
Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
u_rebelscum:
OP, did you follow the wiki link?
--- Quote from: D_Harris on February 25, 2009, 12:35:55 am ---You said that the circuit is not "wired properly" which denotes that the joystick needs to be repaired first before I can do anything else, correct?
--- End quote ---
It means you need ground & 5V+ wired (correctly of course) while taking measurements, or you won't get valid readings. Only if your stick has the gnd & pwr wired, and you still get bad readings (& after tripple checking it really is wired correctly), then you can think your stick's board is bad.