[1]The C64 Community Loading... This site is best viewed in a modern browser with JavaScript enabled. Tried to Solder a DB9 to TheC64 Joystick Today spannernick1 But its acting weird,I connected all wires to the right pins,On Jumpman when moving left and right he jumps too Like I pushing left and pressing fire and if I go right it just keeps going right and you can't stop it until to take the Joystick out of the DB9, and there no up,When I take the joystick out of the DB9 connector the pads on the board work fine...It just don't work,I might be having a problem cause of Ground or cause its USB...just don't know. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darbyram Did you use a wiring diagram from somewhere? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- spinal Sounds like it's not wired correctly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- spannernick1 No I am using the same way,if you were going to add a DB9 to the C64DTV and i did that to mine a long time ago and it worked fine,I tested all the wires with a multimeter too, there were connecting and going to the right pins,its just TheC64 Joystick ,you can't add one for some reason..ah well,while I was in the joystick I changed the spring inside it and it's more stiffer at moving and more precise now,the problem with the joystick is it needs a stronger spring,in the DTV they use what looks like a C64 Keyboard spring,so I took that out and put it TheC64 joystick with its own spring to make it stronger and stretched them a bit too and it worked... [2]:D The spring is under a plate with four screws in,it look abit like a X.and its red.You have to remove the main board of the joystick to get to it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnnyG This idea came to me today too... if you wire a db9 port in parallel to the mini joystick internals, wouldnt the joystick act like a db9 to usb converter? In theory it should not be hard because there are only 6 wires? If it is not working, i can only guess there is a messy solder which is shorting a connection? I cant speak as an expert because i now regret throwing out all my stuff many years ago [3]:( -------------------------------------------------------------------------- JohnnyG Any success troubleshooting the db9 port? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- johlrogge I tried the same thing and experience the same behaviour. It surprises me since the circuit seems very straight forward. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- tomxp411 It sounds like the TheC64 stick is using a matrix, rather than a common ground. If that's the case, you'll get behavior similar to what you describe: controls won't activate correctly, or you'll get two (or more) controls activated with one button press. A matrix input doesn't make sense for less than 4 inputs, but with with 6 or more inputs, you start seeing a cost savings in terms of pins. (6 inputs uses 5 pins, 9 inputs use 6 pins, and so on.) I haven't looked inside the joystick that comes with the 64 Mini, but with 4 directional controls, a fire button, and at least 4 additional buttons, I wouldn't be surprised if it's using a matrix for input. In that case, you can't wire an Atari style DB9 to this stick; you'd probably be better off at that point trying to build a custom controller using a Teensy. (Something I plan to experiment with.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- spinal [4]tomxp411 build a custom controller using a Teensy Let us know if it works, Arduino Leonardo doesn't. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- tomxp411 [5]spinal From what I've seen, the Arduino USB library isn't as robust as the one in Teensy. I don't actually have a Teensy board yet (that'll have to wait a few weeks for my budget to open up a little), but the Due I'm using as a Commodore keyboard controller right now definitely doesn't work on power-up. I have to unplug and re-connect the Arduino to get it to work. On the other hand, the Teensy-powered USB keyboards I have (about 8 of them) all work nearly flawlessly; the only weird thing about those is that they lose the first keypress after bootup. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- spannernick1 I was thinking maybe something like this with the Arduino Nano but would TheC64 Mini reconise it but add a DB9 connector on the end to replace the arcade joystick..?? [6]IFrame -------------------------------------------------------------------------- spannernick1 Part 2 [7]IFrame Part 3 [8]IFrame What's everybody think,but first watch the videos and then your input is welcome..? IMPORTANT: I need Retro Games to respond to this as well please,I need to know if TheC64 Mini would reconise the Arduino Nano first cause this will be a waste of time if it don't work with it cause TheC64 mini is abit funny with USB devices. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- spinal  1. I don't think Arduino nano has USB capability, just serial only. The usb connector is a serial adapter.  2. Arduino Leonardo / pro micro doesn't work on c64 mini as joystick, I tried. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- TwitchyMcJoe The DigiSpark, which uses Arduino and an ATTINY85, can be used as a HID over usb. There are libraries made just for using it as a joystick. I'd look into those. They're also dirt cheap, so getting one to experiment with would not be an issue. [9]http://digistump.com/products/1 There are generic ones for about $1 on ebay. EDIT: I actually made a custom flight system by using a MEGA connected to one of these over i2c. I had a lot of input options to go with my old gameport joystick. It might (should) work with the Mini, but my experience was on Windows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gurce Just read a post on the fb group of someone having success modding the joystick: https://www.facebook.com/groups/209280506324242/permalink/216226672296292/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- spannernick1 I think mine didn't work cause I have a switch on my Zipstik Joystick. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- References Visible links 1. https://community.thec64.com/ 4. https://community.thec64.com/d/237/8 5. https://community.thec64.com/d/237/9 6. https://www.youtube.com/embed/k2AFp9BOJg8 7. https://www.youtube.com/embed/8nRhouEvgnM 8. https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPNtMlSThwQ 9. http://digistump.com/products/1