User avatar
EzdineG
Springfield, MO

Posted Sat Dec 22, 2018 2:50 pm

Shot97 wrote:How can you press a button that doesn't even exist on the controller itself? That was a terrible explanation.
He was referring to the select PIN on the controller, not a non-existent button. When you're using a 3 button Genesis controller this pin (7) will be shorted to ground (8) when the third button is pressed. Obviously, this isn't something you want to do - even if you personally haven't fried your C64 - since pin 7 is +5V intended to feed the POT lines.

When you're using a 6 button controller, it's not so clear since this pin becomes a "select" connected to logic in the controller instead of a direct-short switch. Maybe it's only a danger when the Genesis controller is in 3 button mode. Maybe this logic could misinterpret values it "receives" from the C64 and trigger a direct short; I don't believe I'd be interested in finding out.

User avatar
Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Sat Dec 22, 2018 3:02 pm

The explanations are coming back to me now, but he had an awful explanation of it. I still find it unlikely that I've gone 10 years without once hitting the C button on the thing, if that's the case. What I'm saying is, there might be something else to it. I'm not saying it won't happen, but I am saying I've used the controller on the thing for 10 years, and since nobody has offered up an explanation that made sense to me, I am not the kind of person who says better safe than sorry. I've proven too many people wrong in my life to live by that rule. Not that I'm saying I'm right, just that I've never understood what all the fuss was about because I've heard it, and it didn't scare me, and if it's the C button that causes this issue, either I've been very very lucky, or it's not "always" the case that it shorts the sucker out. Maybe it's a revision model, maybe it's 1 out of every 100 times, I don't know, but it feels like there might be more to that story.

However, I will say now, I think I've actually started to understand the actual issue, which is the real reason why I've always refused to care about what people say. If they can't explain it right, I'm going to ignore it. But I will say, I'll just be using my very own thought up adapter which bypasses the wire in question, pin 7. I did it for 5-10 master system games that had issues with the Genesis controller, but now that I'm thinking about it, it absolutely is one of several ways to make a Genesis controller work on a C64. https://youtu.be/TIEwTmUdynQ

User avatar
piper_flatline

Posted Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:57 am

Thanks for the extended info there. I think that you may be right in that people are confusing the C64 issues (if they indeed exist?!?!) with potential issues on the Amiga (someone on another forum said it could fry the Paula chip).

I hooked up my Genesis controller(s) yesterday to my A500 and had no trouble at all. They worked fine. If my Paula chip blows (I am not expecting it to) then I'll report back here. :)

User avatar
piper_flatline

Posted Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:39 pm

Well this thread has a happy ending. As mentioned above, I tried out the Genesis controllers and they worked great, and then a couple of days later at Christmas, I unwrapped a box from my wife...

Image

Hell yeah. :)

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Dec 27, 2018 2:48 pm

Nice!! Those look mint. NOS even.

Classic.

What an awesome thing to find under the tree in 2018!

User avatar
LASooner

Posted Thu Dec 27, 2018 5:24 pm

piper_flatline wrote:Well this thread has a happy ending. As mentioned above, I tried out the Genesis controllers and they worked great, and then a couple of days later at Christmas, I unwrapped a box from my wife...

Image

Hell yeah. :)
Is that TI 99/4a cable adapter on top of the box?

User avatar
piper_flatline

Posted Thu Dec 27, 2018 5:55 pm

LASooner wrote:Is that TI 99/4a cable adapter on top of the box?
Good question. I thought it was a splitter to hook up two joysticks but it doesn't work when plugged into port two. Then I figured it might be a splitter for port one so I can have a mouse and joystick hooked up at once in that port. Haven't tried that yet, though. It came in one of the WICO boxes but it might not be for Amiga. I found some pics online of an Amiga one that looks just like it, so I need to test it some more to see, really.

User avatar
LASooner

Posted Thu Dec 27, 2018 6:50 pm

Good question. I thought it was a splitter to hook up two joysticks but it doesn't work when plugged into port two. Then I figured it might be a splitter for port one so I can have a mouse and joystick hooked up at once in that port. Haven't tried that yet, though. It came in one of the WICO boxes but it might not be for Amiga. I found some pics online of an Amiga one that looks just like it, so I need to test it some more to see, really.
The TI has a single DB9 port that if you want to use Atari style joysticks, you needed an adapter just like that to use them. I know Wico made a version that included an adapter as well as their trackball.

User avatar
Busta Uppa

Posted Wed Apr 05, 2023 2:32 pm

I've got one of these on the way: Brook PS3/PS4 to Mega Drive/PC Engine Super Converter

I'll be using it to plug modern controllers and arcade sticks into a real Genesis, but now I'm wondering if it would work on an Amiga...

Based on the rest of this thread, it sounds like it should at least be "safe"? But if it seems risky, feel free to talk me out of it!

User avatar
druuna333

Posted Sat Jun 10, 2023 8:14 am

I have one of those chinese Genesis clones: it works fine with my msx (with an adapter) but does not work with my Amiga 500. Only the fire button works.
Don't think I can try the msx adapter with the Amiga as seems specific to the msx.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/115682262409?ha ... R5LJ692UYg

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/325400810085?ha ... R7a76d2UYg





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